Sioux95

Agree that one was on the coaches

In the paper before the NAU game, Muss implied we were a young team. seniors a juniors eat first and there only about 20 of them... I count twelve senior starters, 17 seniors all together. This doesn't add up. Just another case of Muss trying to lower everyone's expectations and make excuses?

Is it possible to watch a recorded video of the gAme on big sky tv /America one?

Bartels actually showed good mobility on several occasions last week

I have no real preference for one over the other, but if you want a fair comparison, Bartles needs to play the last two games. We have nothing to play for, so this is a no brainer in my opinion.

I am with Hockey Bob on that, and I am not just saying that to put an end to this ridiculous, off-topic debate. Hockey was an easy ticket in the early 90s and stands were empty by the third period. Football was an awesome atmosphere. If football gets back to winning, there won't be much conversation about Hockey taking fans or resources away from football. With the exception of the Montanas, UND would draw as well or better than most of the Big Sky...but the winning has to come first.

Agree completely here. Another quote from muss before the game was something to the effect that bauman was going to get either 150 or three hundred yards, hopefully we would be able to hold him to 150. Well, I think his season average is a little under 150 per game. So our goal was to get buy with holding to his season average and hope he doesn't double that up on us. Time to start setting the bar a little higher.

I saws several plays tonight that made me wonder if UNDs players were just trying to make sure we didn't cover the points spread. Wow! But on the bright side,Bartles looked pretty good, especially considering he hasn't played in a while. His mobility was much better than he was showing in the beginning of the year, and more what I was hoping for when I watched his high school film a couple of years ago. And, although it wasn't an official turnover, we finally stripped someone of the ball. Good job Zeb. If we aren't going to ever play rich or Labatt, maybe we move Zeb to LB?

Light bulb just turned on. If we can hire a less than attractive coach with a good looking wife, we will nail it on the recruiting trail. This should really be the number one criteria if we hire a new coach.

I would also like to see Bartles play some, but PSU wasn't the game to do this. We needed Molberg mobility. The last half of the sac state game would have been better place to try Bartles. If we are in a similar situation in any of our next few games I wouldn't at all mind seeing Hanson or Bartels play. If for o other reason than to see them get some experience for the day they will need to fill in due to injury.

Is muss in the first year of a three year contract or the second?

y Bartels would have probably been sacked ten times today. His best chance at getting playing time is to stay at UND and wait for an opportunity fill if after a Molberg injury which is probably going to happen if our O-line doesn't get better. How can our O-line be so bad? Mussman played the o-line for Pete's sake. I agree that our RBs are undersized, but Miller had no problem running between the tackles against Fresno state a couple of years ago. This position has steadily gotten worse every year. How can we not find a play that works whe we know they are rushing 7? A middle screen? Trips on the right with somebody isolated on the left? Screen to the running back in the backfield? Something. Can we stop handing the ball off to Jackson in the backfield? I think everyone has that figured out. On the bright side, defense played well today

Agree with this but am concerned that if Bartels doesn't get some playing time, he may decide to go elsewhere. Hopefully he realizes that it is likely he will eventually get his chance due to injury sometime over the next couple years. I don't remember too many years when we had the same QB start the entire season.

Perfect. Thank you

And the message is "I have no respect for the players on this team". Say what you want, it was classless and if he wants to call someone out, there more productive ways to do it than lowering himself and university to that level.

I thought Muss's comment about the players being divas was classless. The team is made up of student athletes, not professionals. How would you feels as a parent of one of those players? It is one thing to call out poor play but you do that with limiting playing time, rigorous and punishing practice drills, demanding more from your players in ways that don't resort to name calling. ADs and coaches in college athletics have the trust of kids and their families. they have a responsibility to provide a good environment for the student athletes in their programs. I don't like what I am seeing at UND right now, but I have some confidence that Faison will straighten this situation out. I can't see him letting this go on much longer when it is really starting to reflect poorly on the University.

That shouldn't be the case. our last two recruiting classes have talent, and if we can pick up some d backs and linemen, we should be in reasonable shape. Don't forget that a new coach might bring some recruits with him that we wouldn't have otherwise had a chance at.

I still think the last two recruiting classes have talent, but am more than little worried that this is gonna be a down year for recruiting unless there is a coaching change very soon. A quick turnaround d for UND football is a very legitimate possibility under the right circumstances.

We win this game and win out from here. Muss saves his job and the fire muss thread reaches 242 pages by this time next year, rivaling the Fire Lennon threads on the Saluki message board.

They will get there chance. Muss in particular will get his chance. If a former offensive lineman and offensive coordinator can't develop a good offense over the next 5 games when he has one of the best receiving corps in the country, it would be hard to argue that he should stay. this is really in his hands and the AD should be able to make a very informed decision at the end of the year.

I haven't seen much of tyre Ivery (spelling?) lately. Was hoping he could turn in to a good cornerback. Is he still getting some playing time?

Montana got their QB back this year and we lost ours from last year.

No one is saying that and no one is saying muss should keep his job. The team was in the game until the wheels came off later in the game with three consecutive turnovers. This is better than anyone expected given the way the past three games went. Just trying to give credit where credit is due. We have the talent to play in this conference and the expectation should be that we see that talent on a consistent basis. If we don't, there should be a change in the personnel responsible for the product we see. This includes players and coaches.

I liked what I saw on the field today, which is the first time I can say that this season. The defense played well with the exception giving up some big pass plays. the offense was moving the ball well but turnovers killed us. I hope I am seeing the start of a turnaround for this team. I don't think player talent is an issue on this team, but getting the talent out of the players on a consistent basis is. I think Muss has his fate in his own hands...motivate the players, work harder at showing leadership, raising expectations,playing disciplined, and win out and he keeps his job another year. I hope the AD dept recognizes that there shouldn't be any excuses for anything less that this for the rest of the season. And I hope muss realizes setting high standards and getting the best out of his players isn't something he is inherently good at and he needs to improve in this aspect.

I keep hearing about the mental side when we have players with talent who aren't playing. Is our defense that complicated? Or better question, is it unecessarily complicated? If we simplify the defense we gain two things. Better talent on the field and players playing faster. Not sure what we are gaining by having a defense that takes some kids three years to learn. Especailly if we are going to give 500 yards a game. We all know that a good teacher can get more kids to understand d complex material than a poor teacher can. So maybe the other possibility here is the coaching staff is doing a poor job of breaking the defensive schemes down into terms the players can understand.