LkvlleUNDFan

Okay Schmitty - halftime is critical for the D. Gotta figure some $&@# out!

228 to our 149. 21-19 Hawks with :40 in the half.

How can we look so good against the run at times and then give up drives like the last two? Givin’ up yards like a hot knife through butter.

130+ yards rushing with 10:00 left in Q2. OL is moving guys and making holes.

I say “bring it.” I mean, if we can’t laugh at ourselves that means everyone that’s laughing is laughing AT us. Plus, I admire anyone who makes the bold move to jump on the opposing team’s board and make a contribution. Except for those trolls about 80 miles south of here. They should just keep playing Fortnite in mom’s basement.

Flounder from Animal House (RIP)

I'm not here to disagree, but I will say that it appeared on the SHSU blocked punt that one of our OL "upbacks" made the wrong decision to double the guy coming up the middle instead of taking the guy on the outside that blocked the kick. It was his first game action - and who knows how much experience he has on specials? Again, specials are a concern - but it's hard to say whether coaching can stop a player from making a bad decision.

A few bullets after being in Huntsville - not that I can improve on Ozzie82's fantastic update: It was HOT. Seriously hot - and the field had to be 10-15 degrees hotter until the sun went down. The fact that Deion Harris was the only guy I saw that cramped up was huge. I really wish that the Bearkat fan that was standing behind the UND fan section and chirping all game about how "they can't beat us!," or "we're gonna blow this team out!" had stuck around until the end of the game. Shocking, I know, but he was nowhere to be found after Kett hit Izzy for the big gainer. Huh. OL wasn't perfect, but pass protection was pretty good overall. For all the concerns expressed on this board, with good reason, this unit is shaping up and is nowhere near the weak link some were predicting. I had a chance to ask Noah Wanzek about the winning TD. The camera angle on the feed didn't really show how great a catch that was. Kett's throw was more of a zing than a loft and I don't think Wanzek could see the ball in the air. I asked him what % of the ball's flight he saw, and he said all he knew was that it was on the "other side" of the defender. He made the move to get to that side at exactly the right time and had his hands up and ready. Very good on-target throw and an even better catch. Kicking game was better. Kick coverage was better as a result. Still gave up some return yards, but that's a good team we played. Have to give some credit to them, too. Not sure why Santiago fair caught one of the kickoffs - or whose decision it was to do it. As dangerous as he is, I'd only want him to fair catch in special circumstances. As frustrated as some of you watching at home were during the 3rd quarter, the mood in the stadium was probably worse. Nobody was happy, except for maybe Evan Holm's parents. The Hawks looked like the Bearkat TD to open the half took all the wind out of their sails and it felt like this was going to be one of those "shoulda won" games, even though the D was still showing up big. I can't say I have any reason or desire to return to Huntsville. Sorry - that was an unnecessary cheap shot. Speaking of penalties... we still had too many dumb ones. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Fix it or it will cost us a game. See you all at the Alerus on Saturday!

It's more than technique though. There seems to be a lack of aggressiveness. In the Washington game I watched one of our DB's give up on about the 5 yard line even though the Husky receiver had been slowed down by two other UND defenders. Total lack of aggressiveness. I've also seen too many plays so far where one of the DBs has slowed a guy down and there's no 2nd or 3rd guy coming in to finish the play. Maybe it's the whole targeting thing - wanting to avoid a PF and getting tossed? But we're giving up more yards after contact than I'd like to see in the secondary. I trust that the coaches have seen it too and have addressed it, but on the field it's still an issue to improve on.

He didn't practice all week. He sure showed up big when we needed him!

This has been an issue in all three games so far. Practice this week might be a little rough. Tackling 101. Missing some thumpers in the dbackfield and failure to wrap up has really hurt us.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! Closest to the final and nailed the margin.

A few things after being at the game: Amazing experience. Had the opportunity "sailgate" on a really impressive boat before the game. Once in a lifetime. (It's good to know people who know people.) OLine - better than I expected and played pretty solid pass protection. Run blocking was tougher, but overall I'm encouraged. DLine & LBs - Solid pressure all game. It wasn't Sack City, but UWs QB was harrassed and took a number of good hits. Run D - back to where this team was 2-3 years ago. WR - just like last week, separation was hard to get. RB - I'm not sure Brady was hurt. He got a few carries later in the game, which tells me he was in the penalty box for something. DB - Gotta tighten up that outside coverage. On to Texas. Can't wait!

I couldn't take it anymore and used the ignore function. My blood pressure dropped 10 points immediately. May have been a life or death decision.

Whoa, hey now, it's not like the Alerus had 9 months to test it or make adjustments...

That's what the Hawks did against MVSU and people complained we only won by 28. As a first outing it was far from perfect, but this formula isn't about winning pretty.

It's always hard to assess a team after Game 1. So much can change over the season, and even from week to week, but: MVSU's OLine was probably the worst I've seen at this level. Our DLine and LB's had a fun game, and took advantage of the weakness. The MVSU QB is sore today, I'm sure. Ketteringham - we're going to like watching him play Rudolph - mixed it up more than past years. Even in a game where you want to keep things kind of vanilla, there was rhythm and flow to the offense. Lots of weapons on this team. WRs - lots of comments about the drops. My thought during the game was that the MVSU DBs were always in position to make the play. I don't remember a drop that wasn't a contested catch. I don't know if MVSU's DB crew is top-notch or not, but our guys had trouble getting free. I'm not worried about the drops - lack of separation was more the issue. Team - played a lot of guys last night. Lots of younger guys got a decent # of plays. Injuries - no major ones. Jade Lawrence left the game and was wearing a boot on the sidelines. Tank Harris left the game, looked like an ankle, but was walking pretty well on the sidelines. I think that was more precautionary to take him out. Looking forward to Seattle and UW next week!

And he's going to be tested all game every game with Harris on the other side. Let's hope this was rust.

Winner of the prediction contest?

I'm pretty sure I wrote this in another post a while back, but it came up again in a recent conversation. I'm still hearing that Austin Gordon is virtually unblockable off the edge. He's small enough to get under the OTs but strong enough to toss them aside if he catches one leaning, and fast enough to beat them around the corner. Probably not an every down kind of LB, but more of a pass rush/blitz specialist. I'll wait to see him in game action, but the comments I've heard are awfully promising.

Well, send me a message if you do. I'll be happy to share a beverage with a displaced but loyal UND fan!

FYI - Maybe someone else has posted this already, but the Sam Houston web site shows a 6 PM start time for the 9/15 game in Huntsville. The UND site hasn't been updated yet. I'm hoping to combine business with pleasure and make the trip to Huntsville. Because football. In Texas.

I know this is pure fantasy, but do we really have to mention Grady ever again? If the dude wanted to be playing football, he'd be playing. From what I've been told by guys on the team that knew him: He didn't take his final exams after the season was over his freshman year. That's the move of someone who doesn't plan to be back or to go somewhere else. He doesn't need the scholarship $. He had a child at home and wanted to be more present. He had a second chance and didn't even show up. He stiffed some of his teammates on paying rent and just left his stuff in the apartment (XBox, etc.). Didn't reply to voicemails, texts, etc. from the guys that thought of him as a friend. He was a great talent. But to blame the coaching staff for not retaining him seems unreasonable. He DIDN'T want to be here. End of story.

I know I'm late to this party, but I actually thought it was a terrible event. We all know UND doesn't have the budget to do an extravagant event, but you can't make this a recruiting tool if everyone is bored. The venue isn't great for fans, but so much more could have been done to make people feel welcome, build some excitement, and have recruits driving home thinking, "yeah, I'd like to go there..." Glitz isn't Bubba's style or his strength, but nobody chooses UND football for glitz anyway. Just make it a little more engaging for the people that took time out of their day (and drove through a snowstorm) to get there. Good news is, the boys got their rings yesterday!