UND at Southeast Louisiana Game Thread

[mksioux]

UND got a beat by a mediocre FCS team. It's not the end of the world, but comeback or no comeback, it's certainly not a moral victory. Clearly UND needs to get A LOT better in the secondary.

[fightingsioux4life]

UND got a beat by a mediocre FCS team. It's not the end of the world, but comeback or no comeback, it's certainly not a moral victory. Clearly UND needs to get A LOT better in the secondary.

I share your feelings on this. However, I am viewing this as a five year process and we are only 5 games into it. If we are still getting torched downfield two years from now, then I'll be concerned. But I think by that time Mussman and his staff will have more speed and depth in the program and we'll start having more success.

[sIoUxPeRsTiTiOuS]

UND got a beat by a mediocre FCS team. It's not the end of the world, but comeback or no comeback, it's certainly not a moral victory. Clearly UND needs to get A LOT better in the secondary.

Part of me says you are right, but the other part of me says SELA might not be mediocre. I guess only time will tell. I heard they played Louisiana Tech really tough a couple weeks back.

[bincitysioux]

UND got a beat by a mediocre FCS team. It's not the end of the world, but comeback or no comeback, it's certainly not a moral victory. Clearly UND needs to get A LOT better in the secondary.

I share your feelings on this. However, I am viewing this as a five year process and we are only 5 games into it. If we are still getting torched downfield two years from now, then I'll be concerned. But I think by that time Mussman and his staff will have more speed and depth in the program and we'll start having more success.

I agree with mksioux. The team showed alot resilience, but IMO we should beat a middle-of-the-pack SLC team. Obviously SLU's athleticism was the decisive factor in this game. They were the better team, and congrats to them on a good win.

The secondary has been a problem for several seasons now. I've said all year that we have better players in the defensive backfield than in recent seasons, but we continue to get torched for long pass plays. Unless the pass defense tightens up quickly, these high scoring, nail-biter games will be the theme of the season.

[jimdahl]

UND got a beat by a mediocre FCS team. It's not the end of the world, but comeback or no comeback, it's certainly not a moral victory. Clearly UND needs to get A LOT better in the secondary.

Reminds me of your question a few pages back. Each could have gone the other way and the Sioux won one and lost one 38-35, but we also saw tonight's defensive problems last week when playing a questionable FCS team. Whether SELA is better than expected or not doesn't affect that. Like fightingsioux4life said, the Sioux have a few years of I-AA/increased scholarship recruiting ahead of them before we can really start to judge where the transition will land them in FCS, but no doubt things are going to have to speed up and tighten up if that's going to be where we want them to.

I've never been much for moral victories myself, but it would have been a lot more annoying to have the team roll over when sliding toward an unexpected blowout rather than fight back to keep it close. Though not a moral victory, I view it as sufficient incentive to continue to tune in.

[mksioux]

Reminds me of your question a few pages back about whether this team is as good as those of the past few years. The Sioux won one 38-35 and lost one 35-38, but we also saw tonight's defensive problems last week when playing a questionable FCS team. Like fightingsioux4life said, the Sioux have a few years of I-AA/increased scholarship recruiting ahead of them before we can really start to judge where the transition will land them in FCS, but no doubt things are going to have speed up and tighten up if that's going to be the top half.

I've never been much for moral victories myself, but it would have been a lot more annoying to have the team roll over when sliding toward an unexpected blowout rather than fight back to keep it close.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they didn't quit and fought back into the game. I just don't believe in moral victories when playing a team in the same division, especially an unranked one. Going into the season, this game appeared to be a very winnable one. Perhaps SE LA is a lot better than expected. I sure hope so.

[jimdahl]

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they didn't quit and fought back into the game. I just don't believe in moral victories when playing a team in the same division, especially an unranked one. Going into the season, this game appeared to be a very winnable one. Perhaps SE LA is a lot better than expected. I sure hope so.

Yep -- fighting back to stay in the game doesn't erase that a lot of us expected or hoped it would go far better, but it's certainly better than not fighting back and instead getting clobbered. It also makes it a lot easier to be optimistic about the future, which is why we tune in during the transition.

As I said in my last post, I don't see SE LA potentially being better than expected as making much of a difference, because the Sioux had some of the same problems last week against a not-great FCS team. There are simply some things the Sioux need to tighten up and improve on to consistently win games like this.

[bincitysioux]

Interesting Box Score from this game....

FIRST DOWNS

27 UND

13 SLU

RUSH YARDS

117 UND

82 SLU

PASS YARDS

319 UND

269 SLU

TOTAL OFFENSE

436 UND

361 SLU

TIME OF POSSESSION

34:10 UND

25:50 SLU

TURNOVERS

2 UND

0 SLU

FINAL SCORE

35 UND

38 SLU

Those two turnovers were probably alot more costly than some of the big plays given up by the secondary.

[sultan]

All in all it was a good performance. Obviously we gave up to many big plays. We were better in almost every statistical category but of course that can be misleading. Listening to the post game of their broadcast their coach was very complimentary. He said UND was very, very good team. They went on to say that UND of course can't make the playoffs this year because they are in transition but that they thought UND definitely would be a top 10 or 15 team if they were elgible. High praise. The future is very bright.

[Matt]

All in all it was a good performance. Obviously we gave up to many big plays. We were better in almost every statistical category but of course that can be misleading. Listening to the post game of their broadcast their coach was very complimentary. He said UND was very, very good team. They went on to say that UND of course can't make the playoffs this year because they are in transition but that they thought UND definitely would be a top 10 or 15 team if they were elgible. High praise. The future is very bright.

I thought this team is eligible to be ranked in the top 10 or 15?

[bincitysioux]

They can be ranked, but can't make the playoffs.

[sultan]

We haven't played the quality enough schedule yet to be ranked. I think he was just speculating what he thinks we would be if we had played a stronger schedule at this point. It is still nice to hear.

[fightingsioux4life]

Personally, I don't care about poll rankings at this point. We are in Year 1 of the transition. Now by Year 3, I think it will matter more if we are ranked because that is when we will start measuring ourselves against other FCS programs. But the first two years are about bringing in better athletes and adjusting to the rules and the pace of the game.

[bincitysioux]

Personally, I don't care about poll rankings at this point. We are in Year 1 of the transition. Now by Year 3, I think it will matter more if we are ranked because that is when we will start measuring ourselves against other FCS programs. But the first two years are about bringing in better athletes and adjusting to the rules and the pace of the game.

To me, the polls are very important over the next 4 years. With no play-offs to shoot for, my #1 goal for the football team will always be to win the Great West title, and #2 will be to finish the season in the Top 25.

[fightingsioux4life]

To me, the polls are very important over the next 4 years. With no play-offs to shoot for, my #1 goal for the football team will always be to win the Great West title, and #2 will be to finish the season in the Top 25.

I could see us finishing in the Top 25 next season assuming our recruits pan out and we don't get banged up too bad. But we don't have the schedule strength this season to pull it off.

[bincitysioux]

I could see us finishing in the Top 25 next season assuming our recruits pan out and we don't get banged up too bad. But we don't have the schedule strength this season to pull it off.

Might be right, but ya never know. We've been getting votes every week of the season. Alot will depend on how we perform against Southern Illinois and through the GWC schedule.

[WYOBISONMAN]

The bottom line, FCS is a lot tougher day in and day out than D2. Also, it will be a couple years until you are up to 63 scholies. The depth issue is huge. I listened to the last qtr. and a half and UND put up a hell of a fight. The Louisiana announcers thought SELA was going to tank and loose it.

[BigGame]

Yep -- fighting back to stay in the game doesn't erase that a lot of us expected or hoped it would go far better, but it's certainly better than not fighting back and instead getting clobbered. It also makes it a lot easier to be optimistic about the future, which is why we tune in during the transition.

As I said in my last post, I don't see SE LA potentially being better than expected as making much of a difference, because the Sioux had some of the same problems last week against a not-great FCS team. There are simply some things the Sioux need to tighten up and improve on to consistently win games like this.

I do agree with what you are saying (or typing) but injuries that happen throughout the course of a season do have an effect on any expectations. It isn't an excuse, but with a healthy secondary this game could have had a much different result. I don't think UND has been as good on the defensive side of the football the last 3 years or so and that needs to change.

[dlsiouxfan]

The bottom line, FCS is a lot tougher day in and day out than D2. Also, it will be a couple years until you are up to 63 scholies. The depth issue is huge. I listened to the last qtr. and a half and UND put up a hell of a fight. The Louisiana announcers thought SELA was going to tank and loose it.

If you're talking dollars then you're wrong UND funded 59.5 scholarships this season and will fund 63 next season. If you're talking talent with a full 63 scholarships of D-1 caliber players and depth then you're probably correct. With the way Bison fans play loose with the facts on this website I just want to make sure your being factual with your criticisms. UND is new to D-I and this game proves that we still have some areas to improve upon and that's what the transition is for. Overall I still believe we're ahead of NDSU at a similar point in the transition. We have the opportunity to be force to be reckoned with in FCS football we just need to give Mussman a couple recruiting classes and then you'll really start to see us break through.

[slulionsfan]

If you're talking dollars then you're wrong UND funded 59.5 scholarships this season and will fund 63 next season. If you're talking talent with a full 63 scholarships of D-1 caliber players and depth then you're probably correct. With the way Bison fans play loose with the facts on this website I just want to make sure your being factual with your criticisms. UND is new to D-I and this game proves that we still have some areas to improve upon and that's what the transition is for. Overall I still believe we're ahead of NDSU at a similar point in the transition. We have the opportunity to be force to be reckoned with in FCS football we just need to give Mussman a couple recruiting classes and then you'll really start to see us break through.

Just wanted to stop in and say the Fighting Sioux have a good football team and fought hard tonight...at the end, I had visions of our game with Central Arkansas last year, and thought we might cough up another one in the last seconds, but I guess '08 is a different year for the Lions...good luck...I'll be a Sioux fan the rest of the way!!!

[dlsiouxfan]

Just wanted to stop in and say the Fighting Sioux have a good football team and fought hard tonight...at the end, I had visions of our game with Central Arkansas last year, and thought we might cough up another one in the last seconds, but I guess '08 is a different year for the Lions...good luck...I'll be a Sioux fan the rest of the way!!!

Thanks for the compliments. I look forward to our rematch in 2010 at our house and hopefully we'll have a different outcome. Your my darkhorse pick to win the Southland. I think you guys will turn some heads this season in the SLC. Good Luck!

[rellim]

Sultan wrote "All in all it was a good performance. The future is very bright." I agree. Couple things: Big passing plays killed the Sioux. Stop one of those and we win. Intentional grounding call was assisted by the home fans, several seconds after the play was over. We are good up front but not great. I was invited by Ryan Kasowski's parents to meet their son Ryan after the game. He and every player and coach I met were top notch. Anyone who meets these kids and their parents is going to come away impressed. Lastly, a Southeastern fan sought out some Sioux fans after the game because he wanted our coach or athletic director to know how impressed he was with the Sioux players and fans. Good stuff! Our program is in very good hands!

[slulionsfan]

Sultan wrote "All in all it was a good performance. The future is very bright." I agree. Couple things: Big passing plays killed the Sioux. Stop one of those and we win. Intentional grounding call was assisted by the home fans, several seconds after the play was over. We are good up front but not great. I was invited by Ryan Kasowski's parents to meet their son Ryan after the game. He and every player and coach I met were top notch. Anyone who meets these kids and their parents is going to come away impressed. Lastly, a Southeastern fan sought out some Sioux fans after the game because he wanted our coach or athletic director to know how impressed he was with the Sioux players and fans. Good stuff! Our program is in very good hands!

The intentional grounding call was obvious to everybody in the stadium except the referee, because he's watching for holding and hits on the QB...with the QB out of the pocket, the ball has to cross the line of scrimmage on a throw-away and it came up about four or five yards short...should have had another grounding call earlier in the game but didn't get a call...as for the Sioux program, I'd say they're very good hands...very well-coached football team, which we all knew coming in.

[slulionsfan]

Thanks for the compliments. I look forward to our rematch in 2010 at our house and hopefully we'll have a different outcome. Your my darkhorse pick to win the Southland. I think you guys will turn some heads this season in the SLC. Good Luck!

Appreciate the vote of confidence...McNeese is still pretty loaded but we do get them at home...plus we've matched up well with them over the years, except for last year...Sam Houston and UCA are both loaded offensively...we just have to get healthy...we've been in five consecutive, very physical ballgames and are missing several starters and contributors...played without two starting D-linemen tonight, including our best pass rusher...our starting running back is banged up and can barely run though he's giving it a go...missing two offensive linemen, including a starter, and had third go down tonight...we've been playing all year without our best WR and it looks like he's decided to go ahead and take a medical redshirt...I've never seen anything like it...I know you guys were are banged up as well, especially losing a starting O-linemen earlier this week...but that's life in D-I football...nobody feel's sorry for anyone...put the next guy in and let 'er rip!!!

[rellim]

Sultan wrote

"The intentional grounding call was obvious to everybody in the stadium except the referee, because he's watching for holding and hits on the QB...with the QB out of the pocket, the ball has to cross the line of scrimmage on a throw-away and it came up about four or five yards short...should have had another grounding call earlier in the game but didn't get a call...as for the Sioux program, I'd say they're very good hands...very well-coached football team, which we all knew coming in."

Well stated and I'll leave it at that. Btw, all y'all have a very nice stadium and quality team. Also seem to be well coached. Congrats and best of luck the rest of the way.