Things to look forward to

[geaux_sioux]

Ruhe. One catch and he showed something we haven't seen from a TE in a long long time. He looked big tall fast and strong. He should develop quite nicely.

[Cratter]

Couple times the corners were just a step/second off from a pick/knockdown.

Few more games and their timing might improve.

[CMSioux]

Only caught the first half but liked what Alex T brings - sounds like he let a punt get behind him in the second half but gotta appreciate him coming north for one season.

[Nodak78]

Things to look forward to.  Tillman, Hinojosa, Reyes, Ruhr, Taubenheim.  But importantly gang tackling and playing with heart.  We took a whooping but I see promise this season.  Our defense last year would have given up a 100 against this team.  Looking forward to how much progress we make this next week.

[Nodak78]

We rushed for 118 yards.   Good things to come.

[gfhockey]

guys we played an fbs team

 

relax

[Csonked Out]

I was expecting a blowout this game not because I am not a fan, but because you don't play 5+ true freshman, turnover almost a 1/3 of your roster, and have a new offensive line and immediately be successful. I was hoping that secondary play would be a bit more aggressive and improve, and that tackling would be better. I also was looking to see about in game adjustments by the coaching staff and how play calling would go. Here are my thoughts:

 

1) We will not abandon the run.

    It was refreshing to see us continue to try and make the run work instead of just giving up after half a quarter. They tried to make some adjustments after the 1st quarter and did find some success in the power running game. This line just isn't athletic enough yet to pull very successfully against FBS dlines. The line is young and inexperienced and will improve, I was just happy to see them stick with it. Simmons will be a decent player as well, will be good enough to give the ball to 15-20 times/game.

 

2) Corners are much improved

    You can tell the improvement with your own eyes. They are being coached to be more aggressive and jump routes, the timing just needs to improve though. I expect to see far more interceptions this year, and I also expect to see teams struggle to throw against us as we get to the back end of the season.

 

3) Tackling is improved

    Is it where we want it to be? No, but the games were almost unwatchable last year it was so bad. The guys aren't missing as many tackles, although position on some of them is still a problem. We certainly have work to do and limiting YAC(yards after catch) and the linebackers pass coverage should improve this year.

 

This defense is going to be good, Tillman is certainly capable and Brown and Carter did a fine job on the other side of the field. I was a bit concerned about the Dline, but the true freshman was making some noise last night and Hinojosa was doing a good job in the middle.

 

We have things to build off of guys, I was expecting a 3-8 season and that is fine by me as long as we are improving day by day. I am happy that a lot of Bubba's players he brought in are already making an impact and am excited to see what he can do with another years worth of players to build around. The compete level is up and this team cares. It is only up from here.

 

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone and thank god football is back again!

[MafiaMan]

Green jerseys at home.

[DT94]

We did get blown out. With that said, we didn't look that bad. The oline played well for being a first year together. The running game at times was very nice. The dline played well with just not having the proper angles at time, including my boy. Which is taken care of with repetition.

 

For what the score says, it was a blowout. But I feel very good about this team and the staff. The team never quit and I did not see them get down.

 

I feel good about the things to come.

[geaux_sioux]

Will Rattelle had himself a nice game. He looked fast and strong and when he got to guys they went down. He should have a fine year.

If Reyes makes that pick and Pickaski doesn't whiff on that third down block on our first drive I think the game would have been totally different. Those are plays that will be made in a game or two.

[geaux_sioux]

We did get blown out. With that said, we didn't look that bad. The oline played well for being a first year together. The running game at times was very nice. The dline played well with just not having the proper angles at time, including my boy. Which is taken care of with repetition.

For what the score says, it was a blowout. But I feel very good about this team and the staff. The team never quit and I did not see them get down.

I feel good about the things to come.

I thought 94 held things up pretty well. With more game reps and rotation thanks to Cheatom and Walker being back he'll be fresh all game and hopefully very disruptive. The DL as a whole is already light years ahead of last season.

[gfhockey]

How's your boy doing? Saw he got a little nicked up

[homer]

I'm glad the coaches and players now have a film they can evaluate that is against someone other than ourselves.  I expect some shuffling on the depth chart based on performances last night.   

[DT94]

As for the game thread, did anybody really think we were going to win or even play well? Did you think the coaches were going to show anything special for this game? My opinion is they knew what was going to happen. For all of you saying SJSU is not a good team, your wrong. High profile offense. Not a Auburn, FSU, Bama, but a good FBS team.

 

you take this as a scrimmage and see whats wrong. For a first year coach to come here with the "problems you on this thread said he inherited", Hell, we did pretty good.

 

Yes we do have ALL undersized linemen. But, $h!t, they ALL showed heart. Evryone showed heart. That is enough in a game like this. Face it, we got out matched. For what you want to say, D1 is D1 and teams will get better talent than any D1-AA, D2, etc.

 

Use this game as a measuring stick, not as season determining. Next week is when it counts. Like wise do not measure SJSU on this game, measure them next week against Auburn.

 

Listen, I do not want to sound like I'm coach of the year or Mr. Experience; with that said, Jordan has won everywhere since high school, and I've been there. His brother is a class 8A state champ in football in Florida last season at LB. Minnesota had a winning season. Im saying this, UND will have a POSITIVE year this year. Mark my words. We will surprise the Bison fans. Yes those bison fans who forgot what a piece of $h!t they were a few years ago and come here and think that team walks on water. Our time will come sooner than later.

 

Bubba BALL will surprise everyone.

[SWSiouxMN]

Ratelle, Idayo, Rich and Labat as our linebacking corp.

The home opener

A beer and a burger tailgating

Next Saturday when we take our frustrations out on Bobby Mo. 

[UNDColorado]

Will Ratelle really had a great game. I was also impressed with the athletic ability of Taj Rich. Tillman and 94 look like great additions. Molberg looked much improved from last year.

 

I was happy to see much improved tackling; last year was terrible in this regard.

 

Also, great to see freshman kicker nailing a 42 yard FG.

 

We will get better!

[Teeder11]

+

 

Mollberg looked poised in the pocket and stepped up to make his last second reads and then delivered pretty good strikes.

 

Mollberg is a running threat.

 

Simmons showed flashes of what I think he's capable of

 

Jer might have figured out how to make cuts, make defender miss and get outside, though it was mostly against second-string FBS ballers.

 

Kyle Ruhe, enough said.

 

Walker and Ferguson show great promise for the future

 

KR game surprised me against FBS competition  (Tillman and Dev)

 

Kickers did not do anything that cost us, and did a lot to help us. That is encouraging

 

Dranka and Greely will only get better from here.

 

Shea Walker and Tank Harris will do a lot to help once they are ready to return

 

Line-backing corps looks solid (Ratelle, Rich, Labat and Idowu) 

 

Will Ratelle, enough said.

 

Still have not seen what Jenkins will bring to the table

 

Missed opportunities:

 

Tillman, Reyes, and Labat were in good position for INTS but just missed.

 

FB missed a key blocking assignment

 

One bad drop by the WR corps

 

Chop block call negated a nice gain

[Cratter]

I'm looking forward to Bubba having some balls.

Good job on going for it on fourth and one.

[geaux_sioux]

Barring injury catastrophes I think we'll look back at this season and be thoroughly impressed with how much better the team is the last week vs the first. There were some good signs last night and I think things will be basically figured out by players and coaches by the end of the year. I'm not saying playoffs but I'm saying by the end of the year we should have a team that would have given SJSU a very competitive game.

[Let'sGoHawks!]

Barring injury catastrophes I think we'll look back at this season and be thoroughly impressed with how much better the team is the last week vs the first. There were some good signs last night and I think things will be basically figured out by players and coaches by the end of the year. I'm not saying playoffs but I'm saying by the end of the year we should have a team that would have given SJSU a very competitive game.

Man I thought the same thing. I guess we will see in the coming weeks.

[geaux_sioux]

Man I thought the same thing. I guess we will see in the coming weeks.

Once the OL gels and the fr and first time starters we will be a decent team. I still need to watch a couple more games to really make a true prediction for any game outcome or expectations.

[UND-FB-FAN]

Barring injury catastrophes I think we'll look back at this season and be thoroughly impressed with how much better the team is the last week vs the first. There were some good signs last night and I think things will be basically figured out by players and coaches by the end of the year. I'm not saying playoffs but I'm saying by the end of the year we should have a team that would have given SJSU a very competitive game.

Although UND definitely was blown out, I like the way the team looked under Bubba in terms of the attitude and philosophy. I love the physical ground and pound approach on offense and the aggressive mindset on defense. By the end of the season, those "almost" interceptions and "almost" big runs will actually happen, and the team will be much improved … I hope.

[NewUNDAlum]

I too like the philosophy of the team.  If this makes any sense, we had a willingness to play physical as opposed to previous years when we just looked like wimps.  The problem with this team is that the willingness to be physical isn't matched with the physical ability to do so.  I know we are beating a dead horse talking about the line play on both sides of the ball but we are outclasses in those two areas but especially the defensive line.  In a 34 defense the most important position is the nose.  You need a big strong immovable object to make it work.  Without it, guards get to the second level and even good linebacker play gives the offense a 3 yard gain.  That just isn't good enough.  #1 priority for Bubba in recruiting this year has got to be along the defensive line.  Even if they are development guys you have got to recruit body frames along the front. 

[UND-FB-FAN]

I too like the philosophy of the team. If this makes any sense, we had a willingness to play physical as opposed to previous years when we just looked like wimps. The problem with this team is that the willingness to be physical isn't matched with the physical ability to do so. I know we are beating a dead horse talking about the line play on both sides of the ball but we are outclasses in those two areas but especially the defensive line. In a 34 defense the most important position is the nose. You need a big strong immovable object to make it work. Without it, guards get to the second level and even good linebacker play gives the offense a 3 yard gain. That just isn't good enough. #1 priority for Bubba in recruiting this year has got to be along the defensive line. Even if they are development guys you have got to recruit body frames along the front.

Both sides of ball are important in terms of the lines. If Bubba can keep adding up quality offensive and defensive linemen, the team will improve year after year. Remember, Francis is a young offensive lineman in the program and we get another year with LG Brandon Anderson and RT Sean Meehan; they will improve over the course of the season with footwork and leverage. That will increase the physicality of the oline. Same goes for defensive line with young players like Dranka, Greeley, Harris Carrothers and Hinojosa. This team is young; slow but sure improvement will happen.

[Oxbow6]

I'm looking forward to Bubba having some balls.

Good job on going for it on fourth and one.

This...^^^.