Welcome to the Big Sky

[clawman]

What kind of splash do you plan to make in the conference this year? I am a native of Aberdeen so have been watching the Dakota schools for a long time.

How does your team look this year? I know, I know, every team thinks they are going to make a playoff run and take home the big trophy, but seriously, how is your team. Looking forward to seeing you guys on our red turf!

[108498]

I do not believe we will make it to the playoffs by any means. We are the best we have been in a few years; however, this is the bigsky we are talking about. We are at a point where we should not be blown out of a game, but this season is more about getting the fans into the game.

The biggest reason why we have no chance is becuase of our saftys on defense. If anyone breaks through the middle, rounds the corner, or gets a pass of we are at a great disadvantage. five wins is great coming to the big sky. Morse then that I say we beat a team we should not beat.

[darell1976]

What kind of splash do you plan to make in the conference this year? I am a native of Aberdeen so have been watching the Dakota schools for a long time.

How does your team look this year? I know, I know, every team thinks they are going to make a playoff run and take home the big trophy, but seriously, how is your team. Looking forward to seeing you guys on our red turf!

First welcome to the board clawman....UND IMO is not going to be at the top of the Big Sky at least not this year. If Braden Hanson turns out to be the QB we all have heard in practice and UND gains an air attack then I see UND going 7-3 (minus the DII game) overall and 6-2 in the BSC is possible. Playoffs could be calling our name at the end of the year. At least this year will give this team a full conference experience and consistancy in scheduling. Its hard to go from a FBS team one week to a DII team to a FCS team back to a DII team. Enough of that crap, now its 8 Conference games and 3 OOC games which could include a non DI team (which I hope this is the last of this) and a FBS team. UND needs to think about 7 DI wins and getting non DI teams on the schedule is not going to do it. So hopefully our recruiting for this period in time pays off. No nickname issue no distractions....just FOOTBALL!!!

[Dagger]

I think the only way they would pull his redshirt is if they seriously think that we have real chance at making the playoffs and doing something in the playoffs. To think that, they would have to have total confidence that Hanson will get the job done at quarterback. Everyone has to remember that both our quarterbacks for the future will be first year players..

[Sioux27]

I think the only way they would pull his redshirt is if they seriously think that we have real chance at making the playoffs and doing something in the playoffs. To think that, they would have to have total confidence that Hanson will get the job done at quarterback. Everyone has to remember that both our quarterbacks for the future will be first year players..

Huh?

With our schedule of games and getting 7 DI wins, the playoffs are probably not too realistic. I'm not sure who we are pulling the redshirt off just yet but Hanson is the hope and prayer of this years playoff potential.

HOWEVER, getting to the playoffs this year would be a major accomplishment compared to the "non playoff" team for nearly 20 straight years to a team from the south.

[Cratter]

You you people serious? The playoffs are very real. Sioux will easily win the Big Sky! It's a little mans league.

[bincitysioux]

What kind of splash do you plan to make in the conference this year? I am a native of Aberdeen so have been watching the Dakota schools for a long time.

How does your team look this year? I know, I know, every team thinks they are going to make a playoff run and take home the big trophy, but seriously, how is your team. Looking forward to seeing you guys on our red turf!

North Dakota was quite solid last year. Offensively, we were one player away from being very special. It is possible that problem has been remedied by an FBS transfer. Defensively there was a major defect in defending the pass that IMO was a much more glaring problem. If there is any sort of improvement in that area, than I think we will be quite competetive.

I think worst case scenario, we finish 6th in league play. Best case scenario, I think we finish 3rd and make the playoffs. I'm quite confident that this year's squad will end the year in the top half of the the conference standings. Where exactly, is anybody's guess......................

[Siouxperfan7]

Playoffs, while it should be a goal every year, is going to be a lofty one this year. With the unfortunate non-D1 game to start off the season, it leaves us only 10 games to get the 7 that is probably needed to get into the playoffs. In those 10 games, 1 is an FBS team and 5 of hem arepicked to finish in the top 5 of the Big Sky. So we are going to need to get some big wins against some good teams this year. If we play good and win some of those games early, it can be done, but it will be a challenge. the good thing is I tink this team is up for the challenge and will definetely be competitive in every game we play this year. Win the games you are supposed to win, and win a couple that you aren't and we will be right there at the nd of the year.

[The Sicatoka]

Watch the language.

Next time I have to remove posts I remove people.

Signed,

The Management

[Bison06]

As an outsider, I see the 2012 season for UND as very tough to predict.

This winter after last year's season, I would have predicted a very different outcome for UND's season.

I originally saw it playing out like this: UND has been a team built in the "Midwestern style" mold for as long as I can remember. They are tough team who knows how to stop the run and has a great offensive line year in and year out. They had the ability to pass, but from my perspective at least had always been a "establish the run to set up the pass" type of team. And UND has been very good at running the ball over the years as a result.

Coming into the big sky with the stop the run/establish the run style of play I believe would have been an advantage at first.(See NDSU's success against the big sky style of play) I thought that UND would win a lot of games in the first couple of year because they had a different style. I thought UND would eventually try to match the style of play in the Big Sky and then struggle for a number of years as a result of trying to play someone else's game with what are usually inferior athletes. Let me explain the inferior athletes comment. Compared to teams on the coasts and in the south, I believe that both NDSU and UND are at a disadvantage in terms of raw talent. I have seen superior athletes on most teams that NDSU has played over the years and we beat them with great coaching and assignment sound football. Don't get me wrong both NDSU and UND have great athletes, but as a general rule I believe it to be true, you're welcome to disagree if you like. UND would eventually realize the strength of UND has been stop the run/establish the run and return to that style of play after 4-5 years of struggling.

What I see now is actually concerning in terms of how I had predicted UND's entrance into the big sky. Concerning because I believe that in a way UND is already trying to match the big sky style of play by having more of a sling the ball around 4 and 5 receiver sets attack on offense. I see UND struggling more than they would have as a result of "changing" their style of play to match the big sky and doing so with lesser athletes in most cases.(see above explanation).

Again this is just my perspective on the events so I may be way off, after all know one knows for sure how events will play out. But, I think UND will struggle in the Big Sky until they return to UND football of old.

I am not here to rain on your parade at all. I just see UND trying to fit into the big sky style of play vs. making the big sky adjust to how UND plays.

[UNDColorado]

That was a very fair assessment. I agree that we are an establish the run to set up the pass type of team. However, I have not seen much to indicate that we are straying from that philosophy. If you are going off of what you have seen in camp this fall it may seem that we are trying to sling the ball around; but this is a result of an already strong and proven running game. At this point we need to work on our passing game simply because we now have the talent and depth to get back to where we were in the early-mid 2000's. The last couple years was terrible because we could use the run to set up passing situations but the we just couldn't execute on a consistent basis.

I agree that we need to use the ground and pound game to our advantage as I imagine a few teams in the Sky might not be able stop us for an entire game; knowing that we can finally pass the ball so they wont stack the box like the past couple years.

[jpiehl]

As an outsider, I see the 2012 season for UND as very tough to predict.

This winter after last year's season, I would have predicted a very different outcome for UND's season.

I originally saw it playing out like this: UND has been a team built in the "Midwestern style" mold for as long as I can remember. They are tough team who knows how to stop the run and has a great offensive line year in and year out. They had the ability to pass, but from my perspective at least had always been a "establish the run to set up the pass" type of team. And UND has been very good at running the ball over the years as a result.

Coming into the big sky with the stop the run/establish the run style of play I believe would have been an advantage at first.(See NDSU's success against the big sky style of play) I thought that UND would win a lot of games in the first couple of year because they had a different style. I thought UND would eventually try to match the style of play in the Big Sky and then struggle for a number of years as a result of trying to play someone else's game with what are usually inferior athletes. Let me explain the inferior athletes comment. Compared to teams on the coasts and in the south, I believe that both NDSU and UND are at a disadvantage in terms of raw talent. I have seen superior athletes on most teams that NDSU has played over the years and we beat them with great coaching and assignment sound football. Don't get me wrong both NDSU and UND have great athletes, but as a general rule I believe it to be true, you're welcome to disagree if you like. UND would eventually realize the strength of UND has been stop the run/establish the run and return to that style of play after 4-5 years of struggling.

What I see now is actually concerning in terms of how I had predicted UND's entrance into the big sky. Concerning because I believe that in a way UND is already trying to match the big sky style of play by having more of a sling the ball around 4 and 5 receiver sets attack on offense. I see UND struggling more than they would have as a result of "changing" their style of play to match the big sky and doing so with lesser athletes in most cases.(see above explanation).

Again this is just my perspective on the events so I may be way off, after all know one knows for sure how events will play out. But, I think UND will struggle in the Big Sky until they return to UND football of old.

I am not here to rain on your parade at all. I just see UND trying to fit into the big sky style of play vs. making the big sky adjust to how UND plays.

I seriously doubt the UND coaches are going to change their style of play to match someone else's if their style of play has been working fine.

[UND-1]

As an outsider, I see the 2012 season for UND as very tough to predict.

This winter after last year's season, I would have predicted a very different outcome for UND's season.

I originally saw it playing out like this: UND has been a team built in the "Midwestern style" mold for as long as I can remember. They are tough team who knows how to stop the run and has a great offensive line year in and year out. They had the ability to pass, but from my perspective at least had always been a "establish the run to set up the pass" type of team. And UND has been very good at running the ball over the years as a result.

Coming into the big sky with the stop the run/establish the run style of play I believe would have been an advantage at first.(See NDSU's success against the big sky style of play) I thought that UND would win a lot of games in the first couple of year because they had a different style. I thought UND would eventually try to match the style of play in the Big Sky and then struggle for a number of years as a result of trying to play someone else's game with what are usually inferior athletes. Let me explain the inferior athletes comment. Compared to teams on the coasts and in the south, I believe that both NDSU and UND are at a disadvantage in terms of raw talent. I have seen superior athletes on most teams that NDSU has played over the years and we beat them with great coaching and assignment sound football. Don't get me wrong both NDSU and UND have great athletes, but as a general rule I believe it to be true, you're welcome to disagree if you like. UND would eventually realize the strength of UND has been stop the run/establish the run and return to that style of play after 4-5 years of struggling.

What I see now is actually concerning in terms of how I had predicted UND's entrance into the big sky. Concerning because I believe that in a way UND is already trying to match the big sky style of play by having more of a sling the ball around 4 and 5 receiver sets attack on offense. I see UND struggling more than they would have as a result of "changing" their style of play to match the big sky and doing so with lesser athletes in most cases.(see above explanation).

Again this is just my perspective on the events so I may be way off, after all know one knows for sure how events will play out. But, I think UND will struggle in the Big Sky until they return to UND football of old.

I am not here to rain on your parade at all. I just see UND trying to fit into the big sky style of play vs. making the big sky adjust to how UND plays.

UND is not changing their style of play. I don't know where you read that but your entire post is based on a false information. They are working on passing early because that is an area that needs the most work right now. They will run the ball 35-40 times if its working.

[UNDvince97-01]

As an outsider, I see the 2012 season for UND as very tough to predict.

This winter after last year's season, I would have predicted a very different outcome for UND's season.

I originally saw it playing out like this: UND has been a team built in the "Midwestern style" mold for as long as I can remember. They are tough team who knows how to stop the run and has a great offensive line year in and year out. They had the ability to pass, but from my perspective at least had always been a "establish the run to set up the pass" type of team. And UND has been very good at running the ball over the years as a result.

Coming into the big sky with the stop the run/establish the run style of play I believe would have been an advantage at first.(See NDSU's success against the big sky style of play) I thought that UND would win a lot of games in the first couple of year because they had a different style. I thought UND would eventually try to match the style of play in the Big Sky and then struggle for a number of years as a result of trying to play someone else's game with what are usually inferior athletes. Let me explain the inferior athletes comment. Compared to teams on the coasts and in the south, I believe that both NDSU and UND are at a disadvantage in terms of raw talent. I have seen superior athletes on most teams that NDSU has played over the years and we beat them with great coaching and assignment sound football. Don't get me wrong both NDSU and UND have great athletes, but as a general rule I believe it to be true, you're welcome to disagree if you like. UND would eventually realize the strength of UND has been stop the run/establish the run and return to that style of play after 4-5 years of struggling.

What I see now is actually concerning in terms of how I had predicted UND's entrance into the big sky. Concerning because I believe that in a way UND is already trying to match the big sky style of play by having more of a sling the ball around 4 and 5 receiver sets attack on offense. I see UND struggling more than they would have as a result of "changing" their style of play to match the big sky and doing so with lesser athletes in most cases.(see above explanation).

Again this is just my perspective on the events so I may be way off, after all know one knows for sure how events will play out. But, I think UND will struggle in the Big Sky until they return to UND football of old.

I am not here to rain on your parade at all. I just see UND trying to fit into the big sky style of play vs. making the big sky adjust to how UND plays.

Hard to argue with any of this.

I certainly can understand your "concerns".

Having said that, I think UND is pumping up the passing game because of how consistently inept it had been the last couple years. This will only help them execute their running game and keep teams from stacking the box.

I guess I would rather have a team that is more than capable of passing the ball, than not. I do not think for a second that they will get away from their running game.

FWIW - UND was 3-1 last year against the Big Sky. This year's team will probably be better than last year's.

[Bison06]

UND is not changing their style of play. I don't know where you read that but your entire post is based on a false information. They are working on passing early because that is an area that needs the most work right now. They will run the ball 35-40 times if its working.

I am basing this off of what is said on here about focusing on the pass this year and also on the way UND has recruited for the 2012 class and the 2013 class. Lot's of receivers, smaller RB's.

[JohnboyND7]

Huh?

With our schedule of games and getting 7 DI wins, the playoffs are probably not too realistic. I'm not sure who we are pulling the redshirt off just yet but Hanson is the hope and prayer of this years playoff potential.

HOWEVER, getting to the playoffs this year would be a major accomplishment compared to the "non playoff" team for nearly 20 straight years to a team from the south.

NDSU made the playoffs. Never was able to get home games for one reason or another. In fact, I believe the last time the two teams played in the playoffs NDSU laid a whooping on UND. The year before, UND beat NDSU in the playoffs.

FWIW - UND was 3-1 last year against the Big Sky. This year's team will probably be better than last year's.

UND played only one team from the Big Sky last season and that was a winless team. UND played against three Great West teams who will also be in the Big Sky this upcoming season. I'm interested in seeing how UND plays the typically good Big Sky teams like EWU, M State, Montana.

I am basing this off of what is said on here about focusing on the pass this year and also on the way UND has recruited for the 2012 class and the 2013 class. Lot's of receivers, smaller RB's.

Sounds like Big Sky ball to me.

[Bison06]

Hard to argue with any of this.

I certainly can understand your "concerns".

Having said that, I think UND is pumping up the passing game because of how consistently inept it had been the last couple years. This will only help them execute their running game and keep teams from stacking the box.

I guess I would rather have a team that is more than capable of passing the ball, than not. I do not think for a second that they will get away from their running game.

FWIW - UND was 3-1 last year against the Big Sky. This year's team will probably be better than last year's.

I agree, it makes sense that UND would have success against Big Sky teams early on. But, from my understanding, and it appears some disagree with me, it looks like UND is getting away from the power game and I think that could be cause for concern.

Like I said, just one man's prediction so even though I would like to think so, it isn't the word of God. As one of my coaches used to say L-J-SHIPO. Let's Just See How It Plays Out.

[bambinobliss]

You you people serious? The playoffs are very real. Sioux will easily win the Big Sky! It's a little mans league.

Atta boy (or not) Cratter. That's the kind of spirit that every fan should bring to the table. ND's game against us (the Viks) will be a good measure of where ND's chances are of running the table in the Big Sky, because that is probably what you will need to do to win it. Hope everybody stays healthy and is up for the challenge.

P.S. I don't know if I've mentioned this in another post somewhere, but I really respect and enjoy this forum - your contributors are informed, and though passionate, are also practical. I also enjoy the banter between ND & NDS. It's healthier than what I see on a few of the other forums, and I think your moderators know when to draw the line.

Good luck this season and into the future (except against us, of course) !

[bisonboone11]

Huh?

With our schedule of games and getting 7 DI wins, the playoffs are probably not too realistic. I'm not sure who we are pulling the redshirt off just yet but Hanson is the hope and prayer of this years playoff potential.

HOWEVER, getting to the playoffs this year would be a major accomplishment compared to the "non playoff" team for nearly 20 straight years to a team from the south.

Yeah, those approximately 20 years between winning national championships was quite a drought for NDSU.

Seriously though, I think it would be a major accomplishment if UND makes the playoffs this year, especially with the schedule they have. I would be very impressed. I really didn't follow UND over the past few years, but from what it sounds like, they have been pretty inconsistent, beating some good teams, but losing to or barely beating weak teams (NAIA or UNC). They will have to be much more consistent to be successful with this year's schedule. Sounds like the FBS transfer at QB should help significantly though.

[dlsiouxfan]

I am basing this off of what is said on here about focusing on the pass this year and also on the way UND has recruited for the 2012 class and the 2013 class. Lot's of receivers, smaller RB's.

Looking back UND has been pretty balanced between the run and the pass for the majority of the last 10-15 years. The last few years have been the exception due to how poor the QB play has been. If you look at UND's national championship team and most of the playoff teams you could almost argue that some of those teams were pass first, as opposed to run first.

UND's recruiting hasn't changed but actually reflects the continuation of this strategy. UND has always had large possession receivers (Lueck, Stottleman, Trenbeath) to complement smaller, quicker receivers (Dressler, Dan Graf). Theyv'e also generally based their RB recruiting on speed of the player with less of a focus on size (i.e. Strouth, Beatty, Jim Miller were all different body types but were all RB's at UND). NDSU recruits RB's the same way because the guys who are 6'2", 220lbs and run a 4.4 aren't playing at this level unless they have off the field issues that scared off larger programs. The defense will be the same attacking defense it always has been.

[Risky]

Just curious. Why are there so many Bison fans on here assessing the relative strength or weakness of UND's football team. What do they know and why do they care?

[TBR]

Personally, I like fans of other teams logging in, for the most part. There have been some noteable exceptions. I suppose there are as many reasons for Bison fans logging in as Bison fans that log in. Those reasons range from wanting a stimulating discussion to having no life.

[MoSiouxFan]

Just curious. Why are there so many Bison fans on here assessing the relative strength or weakness of UND's football team. What do they know and why do they care?

Bison06 and bisonboone11 have made constructive comments/observations and added to the discussion; I have no problem with that.

[CMSioux]

Just curious. Why are there so many Bison fans on here assessing the relative strength or weakness of UND's football team. What do they know and why do they care?

It's called obsession.

[Risky]

There a couple of Bison fans that actually add something to the conversation, but there are many that don't.