Sioux95

Don't agree with this one. We were close late in the game against Cal Poly and NAU. 2 years ago what would any of us have thought our chances would be against the top FCS teams in the country in our first year of eligibility? Montana and SUU will be tough games and losses there won't mean the team was a huge let down. Our defense, on the other hand, was a let down and some changes need to be made there.

4 and 7 is a legitimate possibility, but keep in mind that the only game we haven't had a chance to win going half way into the 4th quarter is the EWU game. The D-line appears to playing better over the past couple of weeks as far as getting some penetration/pressure, and we can definitely score some points. I wonder if the defense just plain doesn't have the speed needed to compete with the top teams in the Big Sky... I guess I had unrealistic expectations for how this team would do after we beat PSU and played with SDSU. We may only win a game or two from here on out, but from what I saw yesterday I think we can expect that we have a fighting chance in all of these games, and for our first year in the big sky, I can live with that. I don't think last year's team would be accomplishing what this year's team is showing if they had to play to the same schedule - we are improving and will continue to do so.

Hope your right, and hope Hanson gets the call. It's a no brainer to make NAU prepare for two different quarterbacks by saying its a game time decision. Just not sure if Muss will stick with one QB...

Back in the late 90s and up through the end of our DII era, UND consistently had a good showing on the conference all academic team and was one of the best ranked teams in the country on a consistent basis. This is one of the things I always liked about UND athletics compared to another school to the south frequently mentioned on this board. At the DII level, I think good academics and good results on the field go hand in hand. Not sure if that is the case at the FCS level or not. Does UND still put a lot of players on the all academic team? How about Montana, EWU, Montana State?

My predictions: Braden Hanson completes 75% of his passes. Mussman coaches this game from the UND sideline ( I have it from a reliable source that it wasn't just a coincidence that Mussman and the EWU coach looked alike, they actually switched sidelines last game and coached each others team. Now you know why we didn't go for it on 4th and 1 in the 3rd quarter. Obviously EWU's coach did a much better job at coaching our players to play poorly than Muss did with the EWU players. Not surprised I guess.) The players realize that if they are going to win games, they need to take it solely upon themselves to play with heart, intensity, and discipline. Our coaching staff can't help them here. As a result, our rushing game is decent and and Jer Garmin has a nice run early in the game. Unfortunately he trash talks NAU's strong safety and gets drilled the next play. (Don't get me wrong, I like Jer, just don't know that he is the type of player that should be doing anything to inspire the other team to hit him harder.) Jackson has a career day, taking advantage of Hanson's ability to throw over the middle. Our defense holds NAU to 350 yards rushing. Miller and Sutton combine 170 yards. Mackey gives up two touchdowns, waving his arms in a cross-wise manner to signal no catch while the refs raise their arms in a bilateral vertical manner to signal touchdown. We have at least one successful trick play. Mersereau fumbles a punt, has one interception, and misses tackles that account for 180 of NAU's 350 yards rushing. Jablonski has 2 sacks, J Nelson has one. Regardless of what really happens, I expect a close game. This is what UND football should be capable of - close games against good teams. The team needs to expect this as well and play with some authority.

Marcus did a great job filling in when Hanson was out, but I don't find much wrong with what the coaches did with the QB position last night. Hendrickson's passing accuracy was starting to get to be an issue. So, Start Hendrickson and see if the O-line is capable of handling their D-line and protecting Hanson who was still not at 100%. Once that is established, see what Hanson can do. Hanson started out 4 of 8, and then went 12 of 14. Once the game is out of hand, get Hanson out of there so he doesn't over stress the leg when we have nothing to gain. Turnovers and poor defense took away from what I thought was a pretty good showing in his first real game experience. I think he is the clear choice right now, not because the coaching staff has shown no confidence in Hendrickson and somehow damaged Hendrickson's ability to lead the team, but because Hanson is clearly a better passer and will make defenses respect us as a dual threat offense. Again, Marcus did a great job in his back up role, but on the first drive against EWU he had one incomplete pass and I think every other play after that was a run. it wasn't exactly like he was carrying the team on his shoulders... .

10 and 3 over the last 20 years. We would get thumped this year, but then we would still be 10 and 4.

Agree about the lack of intensity and effort. You see it on both sides of the ball. Players not finishing blocks, D backs not hitting people. The opposing teams running backs know that if they can stay on their feet, they can make a big play because the defensive pursuit won't be there. I am not impressed that the coaching staff hasn't been able to inspire and demand better effort.

This was as painful a game as I have seen UND play since the 1980s. UND will certainly do what it takes to establish themselves as a good program in the Big Sky, but the next month of football could be painful to watch. The defense had some moments of brilliance, but very often showed plain poor technique. Does anyone in the secondary like to hit people? It sure doesn't seem like it.

Agree that this game isn't over. I still think this is a good match up for our team. I knew the secondary was an issue, but didn't expect the kickoff coverage to stink. They should be able to shore up the kick off coverage, and maybe go 50/50 on stopping EWU. They need to score just about every possession though

Northern Colorado will probably be the only game we are favored to win from here on out.

I think Hendrickson made plays against PSU and SDSU by relying completely on timing. Get the ball, wait 2 seconds, chuck it deep. Cal Poly and EWU have figured this out - disrupt the long routes and you've stopped Hendrickson. Hanson brings better reads and the ability to adjust. He's the man as far as I am concerned.

I think we could still win this game. we've had some sacks. Improvements in the secondary play is needed if we want a chance.

he was in. Try again, and again

The problem is this may be our best match/chance to win in the next month.

I would like to see Hanson from here on out. Let's see what he can do. Nothing to loose at this point. We need passing accuracy more than scrambling ability if we want to have a prayer in this game.

I am getting tired of seeing Hardin overthrown.

is that merserau's 2nd or 3rd fumble this year?

You gotta like Hanson's ability to find the open receiver.

who missed that tackle on ESU's first play of the drive?

Our defense has showed EWU early that they need to assume we are going to miss tackles and the extra effort is worth it on every play. Not a good way to start the game. Looks like our offense will score some points though!

Golladay will have his break out game. We get one sack, and can't keep EWU under 45 points. Miller returns to form at running back and scores on a long run. EWU quarterback rushes for 70+ yards. Hanson won't play yet and EWU makes our quarterback look bad by interfering with the timing on the routes. ( (I really hope I am wrong about this one.) EWU 48 - UND 31

I am still wondering what kind of team we have. Are we a team that found a way to let Portland State come close to forcing overtime, could have lost to Sac State if the defense didn't have a lot of luck on their side, and lost to Cal Poly at home with a porous defense? Or are we a team that came very close to blowing the Portland State game wide open, dominated Sac State in the second half, and was driving for the winning score against Cal Poly midway into the 4th quarter? Hopefully we get a positive answer to this question this weekend!

I would think Hanson will be the clear choice next week. Still hope to see a package put in place where we can use Hendrickson once in a while to keep the defense guessing.

Nice to get the win and see the offense start to run the ball, but we need to find something that works on D. We got a lot of breaks in this game - turnovers, field position, good spots from the officials. The outcome of this game could have been very different. The next 5 weeks of the schedule will be brutal and I think we will need to play better than we did tonight to win any of these games. But, it appears we are headed in the right direction. On another note, the TV announcers comments about the Fighting Sioux nickname were hilarious!