SUU game

[mg2009]

Way to hold on for the win guys.

I understand students were AWOL once again... Is Memorial the answer??

i've been in favor if this for years

[Cratter]

Students in line for hockey right now. Good idea by the administration to do the priority line for the student fans who wanted both. Nice win UND.

[Cratter]

The return for a touchdown was a big spark. And the roughing the kicker. This game could have went either way pretty easy. Big d stop with the forced fumble.

[Oxbow6]

The return for a touchdown was a big spark. And the roughing the kicker. This game could have went either way pretty easy. Big d stop with the forced fumble.

Exactly...UND made a couple more big plays.

[Cratter]

Full moon? Three missed extra points.

[Cratter]

Go back to Memorial where the highest season average EVER was 9,100. I think not. Well in hindsight we could have 9,000 seats and average almost a sellout a game. I hear that's an important stat. Percent capacity.

[Oxbow6]

Go back to Memorial where the highest season average EVER was 9,100. I think not. Well in hindsight we could have 9,000 seats and average almost a sellout a game. I hear that's an important stat. Percent capacity.

If today's game would've been outdoors, you maybe would have had 3k returning to watch 2nd half after that messy 1st half. My buddy even commented at least we were indoor to watch this game as tough as much of it was to watch.

[jdub27]

Crowd wasn't sure what to think, didn't real feel like UND won the game, but second half was much better than the first. SUU's coach is going to be sick when he watches the film but neither team played their best. Credit to UND for taking advantage, making the stops when they needed to and pulling out the win. Muss made a few calls that he would have been crucified for had they not converted but they were the right call and worked out. Good win, now a week off to heal and go out to Greeley and finish the year with a winning record.

I didn't watch the SUU/EWU game last week but I assume they played quite a bit better last week than this week...

Also want to add, as much as I've been critical of Mackey, myself and everyone around me could not figure out how he was called for PI on that 3rd and long. Maybe it looked different from another angle, but looked to be a pretty poor call from where we were.

[UND92,96]

It seems hard to believe that UND is actually 4-4 vs. Big Sky opponents despite giving up over 500 yards per game in the process.

[Cratter]

How are we doing compared to the big sky preseason polls?

[UND92,96]

How are we doing compared to the big sky preseason polls?

Currently tied for 6th. Media had UND 6th, and coaches 10th.

[FSSD]

Exactly...UND made a couple more big plays.

I think UND had +2 on the turnovers.

[homer]

Nice win guys. Glad the seniors left the Alerus with a win. Get a win vs. Northern Colorado in a couple weeks and finish over .500.

[Oxbow6]

I'll set over/under on SUU total yards at 540.

Under...SUU had 520

UND only 308

2 plays were key to the win IMO: Hardin's KO TD return and roughing the punter on SUU in 3rd that keep UND socoring drive alive.

Was nice to see old UND FB...running it up between the tackles with success. With a marginal D, and that's being generous, running the ball and keeping the D off the field is paramount to success moving forward into next season.

[sprig]

Also want to add, as much as I've been critical of Mackey, myself and everyone around me could not figure out how he was called for PI on that 3rd and long. Maybe it looked different from another angle, but looked to be a pretty poor call from where we were.

That call was as wrong as it appeared to you. Replay showed clearly the ball would have been intercepted, but the SUU receiver went on the defense and knocked the ball away, preventing an interception. Good play by the SUU receiver, and not a penalty on anyone.

[UNDColorado]

I was at this one in person and I have to say the crowd was a bit weak. Low numbers, students sitting down, lack of enthusiasm...it's almost like the fans are trained for hockey because hockey is more of sit and react, whereas football should be rowdy and loud the entire time. It was just odd to say the least.

Mackey is a poor excuse of a football player...terrible at his position and just an all around jackass.

Tough start but we won in the end so I am happy there but we need some changes to say the least.

Looking forward to seeing the boys out in Colorado next week!

[southpaw]

I was at this one in person and I have to say the crowd was a bit weak. Low numbers, students sitting down, lack of enthusiasm...it's almost like the fans are trained for hockey because hockey is more of sit and react, whereas football should be rowdy and loud the entire time. It was just odd to say the least.

Mackey is a poor excuse of a football player...terrible at his position and just an all around jackass.

Tough start but we won in the end so I am happy there but we need some changes to say the least.

Looking forward to seeing the boys out in Colorado next week!

I noticed that too. Always the first one up in a guys face. I guess he has a short memory cause he was getting burned all day.

[UND92,96]

Statistics rarely tell the whole story, but in UND's case, it's pretty bizarre that it has a 3-4 Big Sky record despite being:

10th in scoring offense;

11th in total offense;

12th in scoring defense;

12th in total defense; and

10th in turnover margin.

(all of the above are conference-only stats).

About the only key statistic that UND ranks highly in is penalties, as it has the fewest in the conference.

[geaux_sioux]

Was anyone else impressed with the defense in the second half? Without that bs pi on a 3rd down, where Mackey played great D for maybe his 5th time ever, call that gave SUU 7 points the D pitches a shutout on a team with a sure fire NFL prospect at QB. The first half sucked all around but the 2nd half is always more important and yesterday the team finished the way I wish they had all year.

[UND92,96]

Was anyone else impressed with the defense in the second half? Without that bs pi on a 3rd down, where Mackey played great D for maybe his 5th time ever, call that gave SUU 7 points the D pitches a shutout on a team with a sure fire NFL prospect at QB. The first half sucked all around but the 2nd half is always more important and yesterday the team finished the way I wish they had all year.

Certainly the defense played much better in the second half. But on the other hand, SUU gained 157 yards rushing, after only gaining 23 last year against UND, and the passing yardage was almost identical (353 last year, 363 this year). I just feel like our expectations have lowered so much that 500-plus yards and 29 points seems like a relatively good performance, when in reality it would have been considered almost disastrous in any other season.

[Oxbow6]

I just feel like our expectations have lowered so much that 500-plus yards and 29 points seems like a relatively good performance, when in reality it would have been considered almost disastrous in any other season.

This...^^^^^^^^^^

[geaux_sioux]

Certainly the defense played much better in the second half. But on the other hand, SUU gained 157 yards rushing, after only gaining 23 last year against UND, and the passing yardage was almost identical (353 last year, 363 this year). I just feel like our expectations have lowered so much that 500-plus yards and 29 points seems like a relatively good performance, when in reality it would have been considered almost disastrous in any other season.

The standards for me are the same. For this team they have been below the standard in every game. But the turn around from the first half to the second half yesterday showed alot of mental toughness which has been absent most of this year. 7 points in a half is great for any defense against a good team. It was a breath of fresh air to see a runner get stopped for a short gain or even a loss for the first time this year. To meet the standard the defense needs to be tough all the time and stuff the run with regularity and be aware on long passes like the good old days with Donavan Alexander. Yesterdays second half was only a glimmer of hope, something to build on perhaps.

[bincitysioux]

I'm usually pretty reluctant to criticize officials, but I agree that pass interference call on Mackey was pretty weak. That play, and the one where Mackey got the interception, were probably the two best defensive plays of Mackey's UND career.

[bincitysioux]

That was an extremely entertaining game! Last two games at the Alerus this season were great!

Defense played pretty well in the second half and got some key stops, so hats off to them. Much like they did in the second half of the Montana game and in quarters 2 and 3 against NAU and Cal Poly. They really need to learn to do it for an entire game now.

It's not like the Sioux ran all over SUU, but it sure was nice to see the run game, specifically Mitch Sutton, take charge when they were needed to. Playing defense is much tougher for the opponent when they have to defend both the run and the pass.

Whatever happened to the vaunted North Dakota pass rush? If I get time, I wanted to re-watch the game and see how many times we brought 4 and 5 guys. They got to Sorenson a few times, but there was at least one time where I saw him make a phone call while he was in the pocket waiting for the receivers to finish running their routes.

Good win for the team. Now take a weekend off, heal up, and go crush the UNC Bears................

[UND92,96]

The standards for me are the same. For this team they have been below the standard in every game. But the turn around from the first half to the second half yesterday showed alot of mental toughness which has been absent most of this year. 7 points in a half is great for any defense against a good team. It was a breath of fresh air to see a runner get stopped for a short gain or even a loss for the first time this year. To meet the standard the defense needs to be tough all the time and stuff the run with regularity and be aware on long passes like the good old days with Donavan Alexander. Yesterdays second half was only a glimmer of hope, something to build on perhaps.

I understand that your standards haven't necessarily changed. I just want to emphasize that if your defense has comparable numbers to Idaho State's, generally speaking you're probably going to end up with a won-loss record similar to Idaho State's. Somehow UND has managed to avoid that this year. But the odds aren't in our favor if we see similar defensive numbers again.