Tangolou

It's obvious that I need a attitude adjustment. I've got a bad case of "glass half empty" going on. Here's to my favorite team wearing my favorite helmets, providing that boost! For the love of God, GET IT DONE!

Wow, that's what you got out of that? To clarify, its my opinion that we have failed to win "Big Games" because our players aren't as good as the top competition in this division. I believe we need a better roster, which of course is on the coaches. My point was that we didn't get crushed by SDSU because we didn't line up correctly or called the wrong plays. It was because they destroyed us at the line of scrimmage with bigger, stronger and faster players.

When we played SDSU, Nick Saban could have been our coach and the result would have been the same. We need NDSU to cough up the ball a couple times to have a chance. Otherwise they will man handle us up front and Miller will run for 150. It is always about the line of scrimmage.

Western Illinois has the worst rushing offense in the FCS and second worst sack rate. Defensive front should have their best chance of winning a one on one this week. We'll see..

I believe that Bubba has done many wonderful things for this program. He has his hands all over these facility improvements. He has engaged former players and donors in a way that wasn't happening prior to his arrival. He has improved the overall skill level of the team. That said, we still are not close to the skill level needed to win a title. We are a good FCS team, we can beat the UNI's and the SIU's of FCS but not the big boys.

When Roger Thomas took over the program, UND lost every head to head recruiting battle against NDSU. After a year or two they started winning a few. By the time Lennon took over, they were winning most of the recruiting battles. It can be done, you just need the right people in charge.

I don't really buy into the "Big Game" theory. If we are honest with ourselves, we have never been the favorite in a "big game". If we had SDSU's roster and lost then I could buy it. To me, it's not that Bubba chokes in big games, it's that Bubba doesn't build a roster to win big games...

^^^This.

The sad part is that no amount of practice will change any of this. The players aren't good enough to be FCS title contenders. Our D front never wins a 1 on 1. It's the recruiting, this staff cannot identify D1 talent. I hear a lot about finding kids that fit our culture? I like to find some talent and teach them culture.

This is correct. We don't have the same level of players that the top 2 teams in our conference have. We do not have any defensive players that would start at either of the SU's. Offense might have a couple but not many. This is the problem. I'm not sure if it's because they won't come here or if our coaches can't identify them.

The Good, Bad and the Ugly. Start with the good. RB Z looked really good, even before his second half run. If he learns to be patient behind his linemen, he will be very good. Feeney also looked good. It doesn't seem like it would be a train wreck if Schuster went down. Good on him for sticking with it. The Bad. Defense looked no different than last years horror show. None of the front 7 can beat their man one on one. Only pressure comes from sellout blitzes. The Ugly. Kicking is plain terrible. From field goals to extra points to kickoffs. Nothing more to say about that.

I thought you were the "Lake Crowd"??

The start of football season is always exciting! After seeing the depth chart, It will be interesting to see if scheme and coaching make a big difference. Last year's safety play was the worst it's been in decades and I was surprised to see the same guy back there. I hope coaching matters, time will tell..

I don't disagree with any of this.

I think the answer is Bob Babich and he was the least successful of all of them. My main point is almost all coaching hires are connected to the school or AD, not just at UND.

Hiring the best coach available make sense but for reference, name me the the last NDSU coach that didn't come from their own coaching tree?

The hardest part of all of this is that the players aren't good enough. It's that simple. I'm sure they are good kids but it's easy to see that we have smaller, slower and weaker players than the best teams at this level. I don't think it's a game plan problem, it's a recruiting and development problem. Too small and weak but we make up for it by being slow.

This is why they should never have let the general public decide. The "public" is generally stupid and it gives people who only want to sabotage the issue a vote. That was dumb.

Going for it from your own 20, with a lead, has doomed this team. That was so stupid that the football gods will never forgive us.

This is correct. I got to the SU game at 12:00, I do not have a parking pass or a tailgating spot. I paid the $10 and asked the kid where to go and he pointed to what has to be the diamond or emerald club parking. I drove in and there was no one there to tell me where to go so I parked 50 yards from the front door.

Nick Saban has said, "when you are in a must have situation, think players not plays". When they went for it on 4th down and 2, it should be in the hands of your best player.

Got in line at the concession stand with 6 people in front of us. It took 20 minutes to get a hot dog. People are lined up to give you money and you couldn't possibly take it any slower. Terrible...

On the bright side, #11 Coley looked very good all day, plays fast. The down side is Maag. He is either hurt or he has lost a step. I thought we would be unstoppable by now but I was wrong, he hasn't brought much to the table....

Yep, they're trash....

USU 27 UND 13 Tough day for the O Line..