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I'm hearing that he's damned near unblockable coming off the edge. If he can develop the LB instincts fast enough it'd be fun to see him get some time.

What part of "I don't have any evidence one way or the other" did you not understand? You seem fond of throwing out serious allegations and using highly critical language with nothing to back it up. If you have more to share, enlighten us. Please.

Seems to be blind loyalty to the OC that I just don't understand. Bubba is a defensive coach. Deep down he has to know how much fun it would be as a DC to line up against his own team's offense. If his next opponent was an offense that couldn't figure out a way to keep Santiago, Oliveira and Johannesson all on the field at once (or throw to a TE more than once or twice a game) he'd be laughing all day Sunday and ready to play on Tuesday. At least I hope he would.

I'm not disputing this because I don't have any evidence one way or the other, but those are pretty bold statements to make. Without naming names, can you give any detail on what kinds of things were going on? We all know about the suspensions - but that doesn't automatically mean guys are "cancers." So other than what we can read in the newspaper, what else is/was going on?

If you have inside information you’d like to share, please do. Have there been issues? Clearly yes. Did some players make bad decisions? Also clearly yes. All I’m saying is that I have heard some things that suggest that not all of these guys are getting a fair shake. Some are being swept up in situations where one may be guilty and another may not. Arrests are not convictions. Accusations are not proof. It wasn’t that long ago that a drug task force in the Twin Cities was found to be overly zealous in their work because there was pressure to show results. Things are not always as they seem. As an example, here what I have heard about one of the incidents you’re referring to. It’s second hand - so I don’t take it as fact - but as information that may or may not be true: A Grand Forks resident had a laptop go missing and was assumed to be stolen. While looking around for the laptop, this person found a “bag of drugs” and called the police. The police investigated and asked questions about who else lived in the building - and specially asked if any football players lived there. Somehow that turned into a warrant and an apartment was searched. No sign of a laptop. No sign of anything illegal. After swabbing for chemical residue and finding some trace of drug(s) - not sure what - arrests were made. All of the residents of the apartment were arrested. Again - that’s the story I heard. The full truth is almost certainly somewhat different. But if any of that is true - there’s more than one culture that’s concerning.

It was a mix. Reyes was in a game. Harris was while running sprints before fall camp even started. Rodgers was in a game. No real pattern that I’ve seen.

Here’s to that being the case. The injuries put a number of young guys into starting or significant roles that they weren’t ready for - either mentally or physically. Those guys still played - because there weren’t other options. Maturity goes a long way - so I’m hoping to see some transitions - from young men to just plain men. As for the bad apples - I don’t know exactly who you’re referring to, but I can guess. I have heard some troubling things, though, that aren’t about bad apples but about how some players are treated. Let’s all remember that there are two sides to a story. The people in authority can’t tell all that they know, and the players don’t necessarily have the platform to be able to tell what they know. So many relevant facts don’t see the light of day. All we really know is suspensions have been handed out and players have been dismissed. Time will tell whether these were isolated incidents or indications of a team culture in need of change.

Hard to know. AJ missed much of the season, Cox was out for a few games, and we started the game yesterday with two freshmen and a sophomore. We finished the season with maybe two healthy seniors on the OL. I'm looking forward to seeing Mortel, Nguon, Rooney, Tobin, Helgren and others play together in the next few years. And give them an offense that's less predictable and everything gets easier. The line was certainly not dominant this year, but no unit on the field was dominant. It was just a frustrating and disappointing year across the board.

No.

Just a few thoughts: - Did we throw to the TEs even once on Saturday? Cloyd was catching balls all over the field against UNC two weeks ago and I don’t think he got a ball this week. Fiedler was back, too, and didn’t get a sniff. You had a beat up QB to start the game - quick passing should have been the plan going in and the TEs should have been major targets. - The draw play on 3rd and 10 is a “fireable offense.” Even If Santiago scores it’s a dumb call. Two weeks ago we had the ball on the 1, we put Brady in the slot and ran the jet sweep to him. Another fireable offense. - Zimmerman looked really good. But let’s remember it was in the 2nd half of a game where we had barely shown a pulse on offense. Who’d be shocked if the Sac St. D had relaxed a bit? He did well and threw some nice balls, but it’s WAY too early to anoint someone as the ‘18 starter. I want to see a wide open battle for the job regardless of who the OC is. - Studsrud has earned my respect forever. His toughness and competitive spirit overcome some of his shortcomings. There may be better QBs but the dude’s a gamer and I’ll take a team full of guys like that any day. - Our O and D lines have not been physical enough this year, as others have pointed out. I don’t have a fix, but we’re not winning enough battles up front. - I’m no fan of Rudy, but it’s not his job to catch the ball. The dropsies have got to get cured.

Sac State was 6-16 on 3rd down too. This was soooo winnable. Excuse me, but I have to go throw up now.

A draw on 3rd and 10?!? Seriously!?

I actually didn’t have a problem with that decision. Two time outs and Sac State has gone conservative in Q4 - playing not to lose on O. We forced the punt and have good field position with enough time. Another drop...

2-for-13. OK - I’ll stop now. Point’s been made.

On a good note: Freshman Ty Shannon is a special teams ace. Dude flies down the field and makes tackles out of nowhere.

Update: 2-for-12

2 for 9 on 3rd downs and inability to stop the big pass play is the difference in this game.

Ca_ I volunteer at __ Alerus C__ter to try and get the ref_ee’s mic_one to w__k? 2nd g_me in a __ where the ________ worked at ___! !#?* it!

With all due respect, the last group of Mussman recruits are seniors - so they should be among your better players. You're leaving out some awfully talented players, starting with Santiago and Oliveira, along with Wanzek and Toivenen who are not flashy but young and solid at the WR spot. Mason Bennett, Donnell Rodgers are bona fide playmakers. Evan Holm looks to be the real deal. We're all tired of hearing about Elijah Grady, but you have to include him when you're talking about recruits. It's not all doom and gloom. There's no question that there's reason to be concerned about the results on the field, but I challenge anyone to play a game without 60% of your starting OL, your two NFL prospect DBs and several of the backups, and your best LBs and see what happens. This team looked good in Utah, looked good against Missouri State (yeah, I know...), but then the injuries started to mount. When that happens you lose talent, you lose leadership, you lose experience. I realize message boards are a place to vent, and we all had high expectations coming into this season, but I'm not ready to start doubting the staff that we were all praising a year ago.

Injuries, effort, depth... all are problems at this stage. 3/5 of the offensive line is out. Half or more of the defensive backfield and line backing crews are out too. It's a shame to see and hard to watch.

I'm counting on the possibility that the team was a bit overconfident going into the USD game. While the Utah score ended up looking decisive, the game itself was pretty competitive and the team seemed to think it was a winnable game. Missouri State was perhaps the worst way to follow up - a team that just was outclassed from the word go and the game was never in doubt. The Hawks got beat in every phase of the game last week, and this team is not that bad and USD is not THAT good. The other thing, having seen him twice, is that Streveler gives this team fits. He was a one-man wrecking crew last year (until he started throwing pick-sixes like they were Tootsie Rolls at a 4th of July parade), and was clearly having a ball against us last week. Schmidt has to be happy he won't have to face him again... So - more focused, more humble, more determined. But still banged up and still not very imaginative on offense. Hawks 20 Bobcats 14

Like almost everyone else on the team, Dussold did not have a good game at USD. I thought he was only okay vs. Missouri State. His best game was at Utah. Seems to get hang time, but not much for distance. That's just an impression based on watching the games, not looking at stats. Some of the punts last week got significant yards after bouncing on the turf, so the stats aren't necessarily the best indicator. If it doesn't improve this week it's time to give Meindel a shot, even if it's just for Dussold's motivation.

No doubt. Dude is fun to watch.

He's running and throwing pretty well. I didn't see any big hit on him here.

Sitting here in Vermillion - it's embarrassing. Dominated in all phases. And Streveler is a wrecking ball. The Yotes sure look like a playoff team today, and the Hawks absolutely don't. For those that are watching on TV/online I'm curious how the officiating looks. Toivenen got held badly right on the sideline and the flag didn't come out. Can't blame this on the striped guys but it looks a little uneven from the cheap seats.