Week 3 UND at the big SDSU

[UND-1]

I would put them on par with Ball St. from 2006 at best. Not nearly as good as CMU from 2007. Not a college FB expert by any means, but I thought the MAC was generally down overall the year we played NIU.

Point still remains we haven't beat a FBS team. That needs to change. The a88 whooping at Idaho was an embarrassment.

You need to think before you type. Ball State was 5-7 that year. NIU ended up 11-3 and won their bowl game. Ball State has been good twice in the past how many years.....25? And it wasn't that year.

[UND-1]

UND had their chance vs. NIU and Fresno State and could not pull it off. Simple as that.

[82SiouxGuy]

I bet the SDSU coach, who's team is heavily favored to win this game Saturday, won't play the "percentages". I bet he goes for it on the4th down a couple of time when the percentages say he should punt. And his team has everything to lose.

This SDSU coach also talked about not punting at all this year. He was going to think about going for it on 4th down every time. He has already backed down from that. Yes, he is more likely to go for it on 4th down than the average coach. It doesn't mean that he is a good example to follow. If you asked 100 head coaches, he would probably rank number 100 as least conservative. I want a coach that is going to take some chances from time to time, but not take stupid chances. Those are for fantasy football, or Madden, not for actual games.

[JohnboyND7]

IMO....

2010 NIU > 2007 CMU > 2006 Ball St

The fact that ndsu beat that CMU team by 30 was impressive. Still their most impressive FBS win.

That Central Michigan team was pretty good. I'm still thinking NDSU's best game against an FBS is the first Minnesota game. Played a typical Minnesota team(made a bowl, blew a 30-some point lead to Texas Tech I believe).

With at best a bad offense the D had to be perfect to win those period. This year is different, we just need more time of possession to give the d a rest. A nice long drive will make a huge difference.

I'm with you on that. A bad offense can make a solid defense look bad, specially late in games. UND will snag a win sooner or later. Kills me to say it but it is a matter of time.

NDSU has got a solid formula down, run the ball, pass effectively, don't beat yourself. Oh, and believing you can win is huge too. Our first W against Minnesota they scored in like 3 plays, same with Colorado State, team didn't get rattled.

[SIOUXFAN97]

my hangup with muss in that fresno game is that when they took possession of the ball down six with a few minutes left he should have told his players and coaches....4 downs, no punts, lets go win this damn game....

[JohnboyND7]

my hangup with muss in that fresno game is that when they took possession of the ball down six with a few minutes left he should have told his players and coaches....4 downs, no punts, lets go win this damn game....

I'm with you on that. Sometimes you gotta get ballsy. Down 6. One guaranteed possession. It's go-time.

[Oxbow6]

You need to think before you type. Ball State was 5-7 that year. NIU ended up 11-3 and won their bowl game. Ball State has been good twice in the past how many years.....25? And it wasn't that year.

I'll take that under advisement, Mr. Corso!

That year (2006) was when QB Nate Davis was a Fr. When he took over late in the year and they were pretty good to end the season winning 3 of their last 4 with that loss to then #2 Michigan by 8.

[Oxbow6]

my hangup with muss in that fresno game is that when they took possession of the ball down six with a few minutes left he should have told his players and coaches....4 downs, no punts, lets go win this damn game....

Exactly...and I don't think many would have had an issue with that...including his players!

[UND-1]

I'll take that under advisement, Mr. Corso!

That year (2006) was when QB Nate Davis was a Fr. When he took over late in the year and they were pretty good to end the season winning 3 of their last 4 with that loss to then #2 Michigan by 8.

So after all that, you are convinced that a 5-7 Ball State team is as good as an 11-3 Northern Illinois team.

Also, Nate Davis wasn't the QB when NDSU played them, which is what we are talking about.

[Oxbow6]

So after all that, you are convinced that a 5-7 Ball State team is as good as an 11-3 Northern Illinois team.

Also, Nate Davis wasn't the QB when NDSU played them, which is what we are talking about.

To answer your first question...in the last month of that 2006 season, yes. But at the time of the game vs. 'SU, thinking back probably not compared to NIU. I'll give you that.

But Davis did play against NDSU and threw a TD.

[Let'sGoHawks!]

I think this could be like the Northern Iowa game of the ol d2 glory days. Hope I am right...

[GeauxSioux]

I read where SDSU has a revolving kicker situation. The one who does the best in practice during the week, is the one who plays on Saturday. Could this be an opportunity for a block party? As this week has progressed, I have become more confident in UND's chances.

27-24 UND, with one blocked kick.

[WeAreNorthDakota]

It's as simple as this: If the defense tackles like every UND defense I can remember, we'll have a chance. If the defense tackles like they did against Portland State last week, we will not have a chance.

[Matt]

It's as simple as this: If the defense tackles like every UND defense I can remember, we'll have a chance. If the defense tackles like they did against Portland State last week, we will not have a chance.

This is not the UND defense that any of us remember. When they lose but play a respectable game, everyone needs to remember the sky isn't falling. There's an entire conference schedule to go through.

[darell1976]

I predict 28-24 SDSU. But I hope I am wrong and UND can come away with an upset. If UND wins they better show up in the top 25....they deserve it.

[Aztecbill]

This is not the UND defense that any of us remember. When they lose but play a respectable game, everyone needs to remember the sky isn't falling. There's an entire conference schedule to go through.

If they lose and look a kinda bad, everyone needs to remember the sky isn't falling. There's an entire conference schedule to go through.

Cal Poly lost 49-21 last year and still had a pretty good year.

[UND92,96]

With so few difference-makers on offense, and a pretty erratic defense during the transition, the fact that UND has been in a position to win a couple of games in the fourth quarter against FBS teams is quite an accomplishment IMO, particularly against Northern Illinois. Now, the offense appears to be legitimately explosive for the first time since 2007. If the special teams are strong as usual, and the defense can just play respectably, who knows what might happen?

[Aztecbill]

I think SDSU's defense will create problems for UND. The way Rocky runs the 3-3-5, can be very hard on QBs that aren't real experienced. The Aztecs send a bunch of players on pass plays. The QB will only have a couple of seconds, if that, to get the ball off. A real big offensive line is great against big strong defensive linemen, but can be a problem against smaller, quicker, blitzing LB, and CB.

Any running game better be between the tackles because the Aztecs speed on defense gets a lot of players to the edge.

[BigGreyAnt41]

Will there be a webcast of this game? I don't recall seeing anything earlier in the week.

[Hawkster]

It's probably been posted here somewhere, but what time is kickoff, our time?

[montysdsu]

Have you ever had to deal with the name "Aztecs" being considered hostile and abusive to native americans?

About the same time the heat came down on you guys it came down us from a small group of Latino students. There was some talk of losing the name. The president pulled the human mascot and the knickname Monty Montezuma from campus, such as our convience stores on campus were called Monty's. A group of alumni began buying tickets in the arena and football stadium in each section and brought back the mascot as an unofficial mascot. A few years later the mascot was brought back officially, no nickname, he's just the Aztec Warrior and they worked with historians to develop a historically and culturally appropraite mascot.

[bincitysioux]

Remember the leads we had against Idaho (we were blowing them out just before the half) ...........................

It was 14-10 at halftime......................................

[JohnboyND7]

About the same time the heat came down on you guys it came down us from a small group of Latino students. There was some talk of losing the name. The president pulled the human mascot and the knickname Monty Montezuma from campus, such as our convience stores on campus were called Monty's. A group of alumni began buying tickets in the arena and football stadium in each section and brought back the mascot as an unofficial mascot. A few years later the mascot was brought back officially, no nickname, he's just the Aztec Warrior and they worked with historians to develop a historically and culturally appropraite mascot.

if only teh UND's did that. Oh wait, they didn't . Love giving you guys crap. Take it in stride.

Wouldn't be completely shocked if UND won. They have a chance.

[bincitysioux]

And UND never got the ball back. I get what you are saying and but again this was an opportunity against a FBS team...a team you are heavily favored to get beat by...badly. You play those percentages in a game in most circimstances...not that game. 4 and 15 was about the same percentage as punting and getting the ball back, which we didn't. Frenso, if you remember really started to stuff if down our throats running it late 3rd into the early 4th quarter. You punt in that situation if that scenerio presented last week vs. PSU. Against a FBS team...on the road, why not go for it? Just my opinion.

It was 4th an 15 from Fresno's 42 yard line with over 3 minutes to go. UND had two time-outs left and a QB that had completed less than 50% of his passes for the day and was averaging 8 yards per completion. Up to that point, North Dakota's defense had held Fresno to less than 60 yard rushing for the whole game. They got pinned back to the 11 yard line to start the drive. They gained 30+ yards of field position by avoiding a likely unsuccessful 4th down conversion. That was the absolute best case scenario in that situation. But then Fresno ended up busting of an 18 yard run. They nearly got a quarter of their rushing yards for the entire game at the most inopportune time for the Sioux.

Since UND had such great success running in that game, I suppose they could have handed it off to Miller on 4th and 15................ But then when he didn't convert, there still would have been many folks here saying Mussman is too conservative, and "playing not to lose".

Mussman doesn't have a Playstation conroller in his hands when he is coaching. He is actually doing this for a living......................................

[Oxbow6]

Mussman doesn't have a Playstation conroller in his hands when he is coaching. He is actually doing this for a living......................................

And that's why he did not have the stones to go for it. Easy way out...that's what coaches do as to not take heat to protect their jobs. They can all go back to the "percentages" said I need to do this. I get it and I don't blame him for making the "percentage" call. It was the right call based on the "numbers" and the right call in probably any other scenerio. Again, what did UND have to lose? Answer that please??? On the road vs. FBS team who was heavily favored to kick your a88 and you have the opportunity to get your 1st FBS win in this new era. We can agaree to disagree here. It wasn't a bad call, just not the right call IMO under the set of circumstances that presented. Arm chair QBing I know, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn before!

In Muss we trust!!