Sioux Falls Week

[The Phoenix]

15-13...are you kidding me!?! How are we to beat 2 GWFC teams now after beating DII SF by TWO!!!! And to come back to win it is even more sad. This team should be ashamed and Muss should be back on the hot seat. If he can't fire up his team he is worthless.

Well, I am sure that Sioux Falls teams was really, really tough. Those boys for UND played their butts off. We cannot ask for more.

[jedi]

Mussman has got to go. He should never have been hired as head coach in the first place, since he had no head coaching or DI experience when he got the job.

Meanwhile, NDSU gets the former defensive coordinator from Nebraska and is racking up a bunch of signature wins against DI programs. As much as I hate NDSU, I envy the success their football program has had since make the jump to FCS.

Today's game was an embarrassment to UND football. The result is no better than a loss in my book.

[darell1976]

Mussman has got to go. He should never have been hired as head coach in the first place, since he had no head coaching or DI experience when he got the job.

Meanwhile, NDSU gets the former defensive coordinator from Nebraska and is racking up a bunch of signature wins against DI programs. As much as I hate NDSU, I envy the success their football program has had since make the jump to FCS.

Today's game was an embarrassment to UND football. The result is no better than a loss in my book.

I agree. Its bad that we have to come from behind in our own place to beat a DII team that is in transition. What the hell is up with that team?

[UND-FB-FAN]

Mussman has got to go. He should never have been hired as head coach in the first place, since he had no head coaching or DI experience when he got the job.

Meanwhile, NDSU gets the former defensive coordinator from Nebraska and is racking up a bunch of signature wins against DI programs. As much as I hate NDSU, I envy the success their football program has had since make the jump to FCS.

Today's game was an embarrassment to UND football. The result is no better than a loss in my book.

Unfortunately, the direction of this program has got to change. In other words, there needs to be staff turnover – including Mussman. The football program has been a complete joke the last few years and there is no question about that. Any UND fan knows this and should expect better and deserves better. Whether it’s the “just try stay in the game” mindset utilized in FBS games or the “just try to win the game” mindset emphasized in today’s game, the leadership of this team is pathetic in comparison to what it was during the Lennon era. Everyone knows Mussman never should have been hired in the first place and it has shown. For whatever reason, the optimistic outlook by UND supporters has attempted to ignore this; however, today’s game vs. Sioux Falls is just too much. Being playoff eligible next season will give us an opportunity to actually hire someone who can lead a program and make intelligent decisions. NDSU’s success should most definitely be attributed to the former FBS coach Craig Bohl. Despite how much I envy NDSU football, they have a program that is very legitimate at the FCS level and that is due to their leadership. A football team takes the attitude of their head coach. There is no reason UND shouldn’t be around NDSU’s level. Our recruiting, leadership, and organization have been mediocre at best. Of course, it all starts with the atrocious hire (or should I say ridiculous, unwarranted promotion) made by UND to start the FCS era. In respect for the fans that truly care and deserve to see better, make the move Faison.

There is not a single FCS program that expects to "just beat" a division II team. In UND's case, it definitely should not take a last play FG to win the game. That is just ridiculous. Don't give Sioux Falls too much credit - they are still Division II. That's obviously the approach Mussman took and the team had no confidence and they played down to the level of Sioux Falls. As far as preparing a team psychologically, today was a failure for UND.

[jedi]

Two points must be made...

1. A win is a win and a loss is a loss, margin of victory is meaningless. Running up the score on a weak opponent may be fun for classless programs like NDSU, but I would like to think that our team is above such behavior.

2. Let's give credit where credit is due, Sioux Falls is actually pretty good.

1. There is a huge difference between not running up the score and almost losing the game. I wish we would have had the luxury of choosing not to run up the score in this game.

2. USF is not that good. They started the season 0-3.

[UND-FB-FAN]

Ya know... when you say things like that you're no better than the fans of D1 teams who refuse to give credit to anybody that is a "lowly" I-AA school.

Point taken - but an FBS team still should never give an FCS team so much credit to where they think they shouldn't win. Any FBS team should EXPECT to beat an FCS team just like any FCS team should EXPECT to beat a DII team. In terms of today's game, I think Sioux Falls is a good team just not a team that should require a last second FG to beat. Too much credit is being given to them only because we aren't examining UND’s own performance as a team. UND just didn't play well; therefore, they made SF look better than they actually are. This isn't the Sioux Falls team of a couple years ago - this team lost 3 straight to start their season. UND was not mentally prepared and it showed in poor play. I understand that Sioux Falls may have looked impressive, but in my opinion it was only because of very poor play from UND.

[moser53]

Two points must be made...

1. A win is a win and a loss is a loss, margin of victory is meaningless. Running up the score on a weak opponent may be fun for classless programs like NDSU, but I would like to think that our team is above such behavior.

2. Let's give credit where credit is due, Sioux Falls is actually pretty good.

I agree Dave. UNDs defense has been ok this year. It doesn't matter what league you play in NFL,college or high school. If your QB play is subpar you will struggle. More wins than losses so I guess we are going in the right direction.

[UND-FB-FAN]

I agree that you should never go into a game playing down a level not expecting to win, and I agree that we should not have needed a last second FG to get the win. But my point was that going into the game I expected Sioux Falls to put up a good fight today, and to their credit they did (even more so than I thought they would). Did the Sioux play their besy game today? No they didn't, but I don't like to see comments being made that come across as disrespecting the opponent based solely on the division that they compete in. Let's leave the putting down other divisions to the Bison fans.

I respectfully disagree. I don't believe the only basis I had for being upset with today's performance was the fact that Sioux Falls is Division II. That is just a single factor; nonetheless, it cannot be ignored. There are several other factors and the one I chose to emphasize in my earlier post was coaching. I do believe Sioux Falls outcoached UND today and UND will not be as successful as we want them to be if the coaching trends that have been set the previous few seasons continue.

.

[Irish]

Two points must be made...

1. A win is a win and a loss is a loss, margin of victory is meaningless. Running up the score on a weak opponent may be fun for classless programs like NDSU, but I would like to think that our team is above such behavior.

2. Let's give credit where credit is due, Sioux Falls is actually pretty good.

What are you smoking?

[BobIwabuchiFan]

I think we need to schedule Sioux Falls again since it will most likely be the last time we hear the word Sioux attached to any UND event in the near future once our weeny SBOHE gets make their inevitable decision to remove the nickname...At least the Cougars represented the Sioux name well which is more than can be said for our team today....

[jedi]

I think we need to schedule Sioux Falls again since it will most likely be the last time we hear the word Sioux attached to any UND event in the near future once our weeny SBOHE gets make their inevitable decision to remove the nickname...At least the Cougars represented the Sioux name well which is more than can be said for our team today....

I'm surprised you ventured over from the hockey message board.

[Wilbur]

So from reading the paper this morning, I guess I took a couple of things from Mussman....

~Playing like crap against weaker opponents is okay as long as you win.....

~He can't motivate his team to play against an opponent that embarrassed his team at home the last time they played.....

~He doesn't like playing in games his team should win....

~In relation to point above, is glad to boast about 6-3 record with half of those wins against NAIA schools....

Get a new coach in here...with the new QB from Detroit Lakes...and start over. This isn't the mentality I remember seeing with Sioux football.

[TBR]

What we need is wins over UCD and USD, then all the concern over not beating SF by enough points goes away. Then we can say with regard to yesterday's game that a win is a win. Well, at least I'd say that...unlike most of you I feel that way already, but I tend to take games one at a time for the fun of it rather than over-thinking about the long term strategic significance of point differentials.

[bisoninnwmn]

Two points must be made...

1. A win is a win and a loss is a loss, margin of victory is meaningless. Running up the score on a weak opponent may be fun for classless programs like NDSU, but I would like to think that our team is above such behavior.

2. Let's give credit where credit is due, Sioux Falls is actually pretty good.

"classless programs like NDSU"......really?

I don't come over here too much cus UND/NDSU references become a "pissing" match. But this statement is total bunk....period!

[Teeder11]

What we need is wins over UCD and USD, then all the concern over not beating SF by enough points goes away. Then we can say with regard to yesterday's game that a win is a win. Well, at least I'd say that...unlike most of you I feel that way already, but I tend to take games one at a time for the fun of it rather than over-thinking about the long term strategic significance of point differentials.

Then what good would message boards be?

[Teeder11]

"classless programs like NDSU"......really?

I don't come over here too much cus UND/NDSU references become a "pissing" match. But this statement is total bunk....period!

Oh poor, baby. Grow some skin and consider the source! Thanks for your interest, though.

[klendog]

So from reading the paper this morning, I guess I took a couple of things from Mussman....

~Playing like crap against weaker opponents is okay as long as you win.....

~He can't motivate his team to play against an opponent that embarrassed his team at home the last time they played.....

~He doesn't like playing in games his team should win....

~In relation to point above, is glad to boast about 6-3 record with half of those wins against NAIA schools....

Get a new coach in here...with the new QB from Detroit Lakes...and start over. This isn't the mentality I remember seeing with Sioux football.

Being a UND student for 7 years (undergrad and grad) and a U of Sioux Falls fan for 10 more before that....i couldn't agree more. I'm giving USF credit...again they outcoached Mussman. This guy is a joke, at this point next year we will be 1-7, just one notch above northern colorado at the basement of the league standings.

[The Phoenix]

Guys, I appreciate the spirit, but your football program will never be as good as NDSU's. Simply, you care too much about hockey to have the will to do what is needed. Best case is you will be a middle of the road Sky school.

Really, not intended as a slam, but this is the best you can hope for.

[Hayduke]

Guys, I appreciate the spirit, but your football program will never be as good as NDSU's. Simply, you care too much about hockey to have the will to do what is needed. Best case is you will be a middle of the road Sky school.

Really, not intended as a slam, but this is the best you can hope for.

Overall, UND has a winning record against NDSU in football.

NDSU will never win a true D-1 championship in any sport. FCS doesn't count.

UND has 7 and more coming.

Being subpar to UND is the best the Bison can hope for, and this IS meant as a slam.

[BigGame]

Guys, I appreciate the spirit, but your football program will never be as good as NDSU's. Simply, you care too much about hockey to have the will to do what is needed. Best case is you will be a middle of the road Sky school.

Really, not intended as a slam, but this is the best you can hope for.

I think UND football program can be as good or better than NDSU. Is it right now? Obviously not, but things can change dramatically in a couple years. I do agree that football will never have the importance at UND like football has at NDSU. That is because UND is a hockey first school and every other sport seems to be more of an afterthought and NDSU seems to be football first.

[BobIwabuchiFan]

I'm surprised you ventured over from the hockey message board.

I'm surprised you even view the hockey board...isn't that against your better judgement to give a crap about the only sport that financially supports all the other programs??? Yah, I probably am anomaly to your way of thinking when I feel justified tailgating and paying to go to the football games to only watch a half-ass performance by our team and not start falling all over them for winning in the last seconds. The biggest problem with the football team is not the nickname supporting hockey fans, but the poor product and coaching going on in the sport of Football at UND...Try there first and you might be able to solve the problem before we become the second Northern Colorado!

[SiouxDini]

Being a UND student for 7 years (undergrad and grad) and a U of Sioux Falls fan for 10 more before that....i couldn't agree more. I'm giving USF credit...again they outcoached Mussman. This guy is a joke, at this point next year we will be 1-7, just one notch above northern colorado at the basement of the league standings.

Mussman is NOT a head coach. He cannot motivate his players to "run through a wall" for him. That is the job of the head coach to lead and motivate and he simply can't do it. He should be coaching the offensive line for this club and that's it. Faison needs to get a pair and fire Mussman ASAP.

[bincitysioux]

I agree that the way the game unfolded yesterday was amazingly embarrassing.

But I think it is way off base to claim that Mussman got out-coached yesterday. I didn't see any evidence of it. USF competely took away our run game for the first 3 quarters. Any team that does that, whether it be Montana St. or Morningside is going to have a chance to beat North Dakota. This is a very one dimensional team, and it has nothing to do with coaching, rather it is a result of personnel and talent. UND won virtually every statistical battle in the game, but because we couldn't run the ball effectively, many offensive drives stalled. Despite Goska's adequate play over the last 3 weeks, he just isn't capable of doing it with no run game to compliment him.

UND would have never trailed in the game if not for Coach Kelling's inept pass defense schemes that, as usual, allowed a few big plays. If any coach on the staff warrants excessive criticism, it is him. The pass defense has regregressed every year since 2007.

[zonadub]

I am still in the get Bob Nielson corner, he has been nothing short of great at UMD. However, for those of you who feel that the next head coach must have D-I experience, I submit the name of Mike Stoops. He was dropped by the Arizona Wildcats this fall after a poor start, but had taken over a program that was consistently in the bottom third of the PAC 10 and made contenders out of them. Another plus for UND is that he was a successful football coach at a basketball school, so he would not have a complex about UND being a hockey school (as Nielson has been able to do at Duluth).

from ESPN.com:

Known for his emotional sideline behavior, Stoops was the co-defensive coordinator on his brother Bob's staff at Oklahoma when he was hired as Arizona's head coach in 2004.

After five seasons of building the program, Stoops seemed to have the Wildcats back among the top teams in the Pac-10, leading them to a pair of eight-win seasons and trips to the 2008 Las Vegas Bowl and the Holiday Bowl the next year. ...

Stoops, 49, inherited a program in the absolute dregs in 2004. The Wildcats hadn't posted a winning season since 1998. After a slow start, he led Arizona to three consecutive bowl games.

[CMSioux]

Guys, I appreciate the spirit, but your football program will never be as good as NDSU's. Simply, you care too much about hockey to have the will to do what is needed. Best case is you will be a middle of the road Sky school.

Really, not intended as a slam, but this is the best you can hope for.

Please don't insult us with your lack of knowledge of history not only has UND beaten ndsu more overall, they owned the bison the last decade they played.