Bidago Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 some one need to explain what the figure of speech " toe to toe" actually means
TBR Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 I guess I don't consider Illinois a regional state. Most of the recruits out of the Chicago area had never heard of UND before they were recruited. Plus, I can guarantee none of their personal top 25 schools included UND. Kids from the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin do however value UND to at least some degree. It's that familiarity that breeds passion for playing UND football. Chicago seems like a great place to recruit to me with its obviously large recruiting base. It is much more of a geograhical fit for us than our Big Sky competition and unlike the MVFC schools we can offer regular trips to exotic destinations like California and the Montana Rockies.
UND-FB-FAN Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 I was tailgating yesterday like every homegame and I always make sure to watch the team walk through the crowd to the stadium...Here is what I saw...Too many kids with earphones in and staring down at the ground. What does that tell you as a Sioux fan? Do these kids even want to be here and why is the team not trying to draw some intensity away from the crowd outside the stadium? I'm not asking for the team to sit down and have a beer and a brat with me, but at least show some excitement and intensity. To top it off, Coach Mussman is walking in with headphones as well...jesus, has anyone seen a prime time coach wearing headphones during a team walk into the stadium????? Gotta make a change or we will be stuck in mediocrity for a long time! Saturday's team entrance onto the field was the most unenthusiastic, lackluster team entrance I've ever seen. Motivation partly falls under the coaches' responsibilities. This team is not nearly confident enough to win big games.
BobIwabuchiFan Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 some one need to explain what the figure of speech " toe to toe" actually means I think its an ol boxing term...when they use to fight toe to toe and take hit after hit until your opponent gave up or was knocked out....I could be wrong...
geaux_sioux Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 Saturday's team entrance onto the field was the most unenthusiastic, lackluster team entrance I've ever seen. Motivation partly falls under the coaches' responsibilities. This team is not nearly confident enough to win big games. And yet they played motivated. Strange how that works.
UND-FB-FAN Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 And yet they played motivated. Strange how that works. Yeah, that 21 point loss was quite the effort. 3
BobIwabuchiFan Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 Saturday's team entrance onto the field was the most unenthusiastic, lackluster team entrance I've ever seen. Motivation partly falls under the coaches' responsibilities. This team is not nearly confident enough to win big games. I guess that was what I was trying, unsuccessfully I guess, to state with my post...the team doesn't even look you in the eye and they should be helping get the crowd get worked up and let it translate into the game. I have always jumped out of the line to give a high five to the coach and have never seen him with a set of headphones on before - it was disturbing to me that he feels he needs to drown out the fans to get a better focus into the game - some people are uncomfortable with the press and the fans, but I don't think you can have this weakness and be a top coach in the FCS.
Oxbow6 Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 Yeah, that 21 point loss was quite the effort. Well played... 1
Hawkster Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 Yeah, that 21 point loss was quite the effort. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
TBR Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 Yeah, a 21 pt loss is nothing to celebrate...but...at least I saw enough from the team to think that the rest of the season is worth following which is more than I thought after the MSU game.
geaux_sioux Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 Yeah, that 21 point loss was quite the effort. So they didn't play with the most passion and effort of the year? The defense didn't hold EWU well below their season averages and do better than Oregon St? So you went from expecting UND to get blown out by 50+ to thinking they needed to shut them out for the effort to receive any credit? Keep moving the line. 1
Oxbow6 Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 Bottomline... got 4 tickets in 204 to both games and they are yours if you want them. Just PM me an address and they go in mail tomorrow. Tickets have been claimed for both games...
UNDBIZ Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 So they didn't play with the most passion and effort of the year? The defense didn't hold EWU well below their season averages and do better than Oregon St? So you went from expecting UND to get blown out by 50+ to thinking they needed to shut them out for the effort to receive any credit? Keep moving the line. You're right, the bar had been moved down to around 6 feet under. They played with more passion than they did against the Montana's, against whom they played with ZERO passion. EWU slept on us and ended up "only" scoring 35 points and "only" winning by 3 touchdowns.
Oxbow6 Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 EWU slept on us and ended up "only" scoring 35 points and "only" winning by 3 touchdowns. If I took one thing from this Saturday's game it was this...^^^^^^^. Or EWU is the most overrated team in FCS.
BigGame Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 Damn, some people on here just can't allow themselves an inch. Seriously, you don't think they deserve some credit for playing better or better than expected on the defensive side of the ball? EWU didn't have a great game but if you can only bash and get zero positives out of the game you are sorry. The defense didn't lose this game, the offense did which hasn't been what they should be the entire year but the defense has been improved the last two games. If the defense played like that last season UND wins at least 2 more games. Is the defense isn't good but at least they haven't quit and are making some progress in the right direction. Still a ton of problems overall and likely the staff or parts of the staff need to go, but some can't give any credit at all. 1
UNDBIZ Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 Damn, some people on here just can't allow themselves an inch. Seriously, you don't think they deserve some credit for playing better or better than expected on the defensive side of the ball? EWU didn't have a great game but if you can only bash and get zero positives out of the game you are sorry. The defense didn't lose this game, the offense did which hasn't been what they should be the entire year but the defense has been improved the last two games. If the defense played like that last season UND wins at least 2 more games. Is the defense isn't good but at least they haven't quit and are making some progress in the right direction. Still a ton of problems overall and likely the staff or parts of the staff need to go, but some can't give any credit at all. The team exceeded expectations against EWU. That's all the credit I'll give them. In reality, the expectations were so horrific coming into this game that it would have been difficult for the team to play down to them. Watching the game, I saw far more simple EWU mistakes on offense than good plays by the UND defense. I'm tired of hearing how we should be happy to lose to good teams by "only" 3 touchdowns. I'm tired of hearing that maybe Muss should be given another year to right the ship after squeaking past the worst team in the conference and losing to one of the top 3 conference teams by "only" 21 points. There are no more excuses available for this team to be where it is and I'm not going to lower my standard for the team to "well at least we finished just 1 game under .500." Also, I'm not going to say the defense is moving in the right direction based on their play in 1 game against a team that thought it was on a bye week. 1
Oxbow6 Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 Damn, some people on here just can't allow themselves an inch. Seriously, you don't think they deserve some credit for playing better or better than expected on the defensive side of the ball? EWU didn't have a great game but if you can only bash and get zero positives out of the game you are sorry. The defense didn't lose this game, the offense did which hasn't been what they should be the entire year but the defense has been improved the last two games. If the defense played like that last season UND wins at least 2 more games. Is the defense isn't good but at least they haven't quit and are making some progress in the right direction. Still a ton of problems overall and likely the staff or parts of the staff need to go, but some can't give any credit at all. I was at the game...for every snap. Did they play better than vs. the Griz and Cats...yes but they were so, so awful in those 2 games that I expected them to play "better" but "better" is a relative term in this scenario. If you want to see that game and their play as a big leap...jump!!! We played "better"...aka...not awful but EWU didn't play well either. If this is a high point of the season under Muss...no thanks!!! Maybe I'm too frustrated to see the upside but this is 6 years of really, at best, medicore FB. 1
UNDBIZ Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 I was at the game...for every snap. Did they play better than vs. the Griz and Cats...yes but they were so, so awful in those 2 games that I expected them to play "better" but "better" is a relative term in this scenario. If you want to see that game and their play as a big leap...jump!!! We played "better"...aka...not awful but EWU didn't play well either. If this is a high point of the season under Muss...no thanks!!! Maybe I'm too frustrated to see the upside but this is 6 years of really, at best, medicore FB. And at worse, a loss to an NAIA team who outplayed us and multiple lopsided losses against anybody remotely good and Idaho. 2
geaux_sioux Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 I was at the game...for every snap. Did they play better than vs. the Griz and Cats...yes but they were so, so awful in those 2 games that I expected them to play "better" but "better" is a relative term in this scenario. If you want to see that game and their play as a big leap...jump!!! We played "better"...aka...not awful but EWU didn't play well either. If this is a high point of the season under Muss...no thanks!!! Maybe I'm too frustrated to see the upside but this is 6 years of really, at best, medicore FB. Alot of times when EWU 'made mistakes' the UND defense was in good position. There were only a couple of plays where EWU missed on a play and the defense wasn't there to force a difficult throw. Other than the two long pass plays there weren't alot of breakdowns. Adams made a few special plays in tough situations that the defense defended pretty well but still got beat. You can't expect a team to out of nowhere turn it on and play a perfect game. They took multiple steps forward against EWU which is encouraging. If they continue to improve on defense, which I think they will as Kuksa continues to play better with every snap, they could help the team win the majority of the remaining games. If the running game can get going and they don't turn the ball over on offense we could have a totally different team on our hands near the end of the season than the one we saw get stomped by the Montanas.
TheFlop Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 So they didn't play with the most passion and effort of the year? The defense didn't hold EWU well below their season averages and do better than Oregon St? So you went from expecting UND to get blown out by 50+ to thinking they needed to shut them out for the effort to receive any credit? Keep moving the line. Oh the line has been constantly moving for quite awhile but not in the right direction. The line has moved so far south that people are looking at a 21 point loss at home as a positive? Personally, it seemed like EWU was just bored during this game....almost like when a prize fighter toys around with a weaker oppenent rather than just knocking him out in the first round. EWU made almost no attempt to throw deep during the entire game, which has worked frequently against UND this year.
TheFlop Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 Alot of times when EWU 'made mistakes' the UND defense was in good position. There were only a couple of plays where EWU missed on a play and the defense wasn't there to force a difficult throw. Other than the two long pass plays there weren't alot of breakdowns. Adams made a few special plays in tough situations that the defense defended pretty well but still got beat. You can't expect a team to out of nowhere turn it on and play a perfect game. They took multiple steps forward against EWU which is encouraging. If they continue to improve on defense, which I think they will as Kuksa continues to play better with every snap, they could help the team win the majority of the remaining games. If the running game can get going and they don't turn the ball over on offense we could have a totally different team on our hands near the end of the season than the one we saw get stomped by the Montanas. I think the whole point is that this team shouldn't be a team that has to out of nowhere turn it on and play a perfect game. This program should at least be at the stage by now where a loss like this to EWU is considered one of the one or two low spots of the year, and not one of the high points. I think this team will be lucky to split the last two home games with Northern Colorado and Sac State.
geaux_sioux Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 EWU made almost no attempt to throw deep during the entire game, which has worked frequently against UND this year. That's not really their thing this year. They don't have those 3 studs that could all go deep at WR like last year.
BigGame Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 The team exceeded expectations against EWU. That's all the credit I'll give them. In reality, the expectations were so horrific coming into this game that it would have been difficult for the team to play down to them. Watching the game, I saw far more simple EWU mistakes on offense than good plays by the UND defense. I'm tired of hearing how we should be happy to lose to good teams by "only" 3 touchdowns. I'm tired of hearing that maybe Muss should be given another year to right the ship after squeaking past the worst team in the conference and losing to one of the top 3 conference teams by "only" 21 points. There are no more excuses available for this team to be where it is and I'm not going to lower my standard for the team to "well at least we finished just 1 game under .500." Also, I'm not going to say the defense is moving in the right direction based on their play in 1 game against a team that thought it was on a bye week. I am certainly not happy with the product on the field but the defense played better than I have seen in a while. They still weren't good but I see some improvement so I mention it. I knew the defense wouldn't be good this season, but I am more disappointed in the offensive production and in particular the passing game. Idaho State is no longer the worst team in the conference that with be either Davis, Weber, or UNC. They also tackled better against Idaho State, but the secondary is bad and EWU didn't take advantage for most of the game, but they looked pretty good stopping the run early which I didn't think I would see this year. I guess I don't see talking about a few positives as "making excuses"
BigGame Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 Oh the line has been constantly moving for quite awhile but not in the right direction. The line has moved so far south that people are looking at a 21 point loss at home as a positive? Personally, it seemed like EWU was just bored during this game....almost like when a prize fighter toys around with a weaker oppenent rather than just knocking him out in the first round. EWU made almost no attempt to throw deep during the entire game, which has worked frequently against UND this year. So in a loss with all the negative you aren't able to look for or find any positives? I think I am considered a negative person to some extent but most of you blow me away.
Matt Posted October 14, 2013 Posted October 14, 2013 I will concede the defense beat expectations. This is solely due to expectations being ridiculously low. The offense scored one TD. Against the 9th ranked scoring defense in the conference. 72nd ranked nationally. This team won't win another game doing that.
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