Week 3: UND @ Missouri St. Bears

[UND1983]

When you have a boatload of issues to deal with you tend to not care about the scoreboard because all those issues make the scoreboard an ugly sight.  

[dlsiouxfan]

And yet they found guys like Hendrickson Hardin Golladay and Edwards who nobody had ever heard of. They were just too hit and miss.

 

Can we quit with the hero worship of Golladay and Edwards?  Golladay was physically gifted athlete who turned in some great performances and a lot of average ones.  He ultimately quit on this program so really doesn't need to continue to praised on this board.  Edwards was an average athlete and below average football player who quite frankly wouldn't have started on most of our Division II teams.  He also quit on this program and no longer needs to be praised on this board.

[Sioux Nation]

Didn't see the game but saw RMU and SJSU games and one thing that I can't seem to figure out is why the OC isn't trying to help things out on offense by using his mobile QB as an actual mobile QB. The appeal of Mollberg is that he can do it with his feet as opposed to Bartels who is completely stationary. So why not start instituting some basic offensive concepts when you have a weak line, i.e. roll-outs, bootlegs, and options. This offensive line simply cannot hold a pocket, so the QB has no time to throw and is forcing things. So move the pocket, or at least make it so that the defense has to actually work instead of just continually putting the offense in situations it cannot win. 

 

Not impressed by Rudolph at all. Through three games there has been no improvement from the offense. Defense is coming around and really held out for as long as it could yesterday. Offense needs a complete makeover right now and schematically things can be done to help. Instead they are pounding their head against the same wall.

I understand many of you on this board are hard core Sioux football fans. It always amazes me that any negative posts receive so many "Give Bubba a chance" or "Mussman left the cupboard bare". Listen, there is no doubt that this team has minimal talent. I couldn't agree more with you about Rudolph. Probably the most arrogant assistant coach I have ever met. I have followed UND for over 20 years now and Rudolph has the attitude that he "knows it all". At least he has finally started playing a RB with some size who doesn't get tackled easily. The offensive line is not playing well. You can't blame everything on Molberg because he doesn't have much time. Rudolph has his two prized freshmen and JC transfer wide receivers on the field. Are you telling me Bridges and Young don't at least deserve a shot after watching the fiasco on Saturday? This current group of wide receivers drops passes and blocks very poorly if you watched the game. Now, here is where I blame coaches. If Rudolph knows what he has offensively, then game plan accordingly! The defense has played with heart and effort. They do not quit and their first half was solid. Did MSU make better adjustments....hell yes they did! The difference is that the defense was at least in the game. The offense has been inept all season. You can blame lack of talent but that can't go hand in hand with inferior coaching. Rudolph needs to make some personel changes and look at himself in the mirror. As I mentioned in another post, Montana, Montana State, and Eastern Washington are going to be ugly.

[iramurphy]

Always educational to get the experts post game take on things. I hope some of you won't jump in front of a train this week. I sent a friend a note: We don't have a QB that can carry this team right now. Our receivers can't get open and they are dropping passes. ( If they can't catch a pass when they get hit or can't win the possession battles neither QB is going to be successful). Our RB and Oline are struggling and our kicker has been inconsistent. Other than that I don't see how anyone can stop us from scoring.

Defensively we are better than last year but gave up 38 pts to a good but not great FCS team. Bubba was pretty realistic when he took this job and knows we need talent upgrades and improve depth across the board. We have some decent players on this team. We need to develop great players and improve virtually everywhere. The job the coaches and kids have is to get better everyday and help their teammates get better everyday. I hope they are smart enough to ignore the media and not log on to blogs. They also need to believe they can compete at this level. Doesn't really matter what we think. ( except for gfhockey, I think he is one of the coaches disguised as a sometimes oil worker who hangs out at the local truck stop in the am and Judy's after practice).

[Shawn-O]

Always educational to get the experts post game take on things. I hope some of you won't jump in front of a train this week. I sent a friend a note: We don't have a QB that can carry this team right now. Our receivers can't get open and they are dropping passes. ( If they can't catch a pass when they get hit or can't win the possession battles neither QB is going to be successful). Our RB and Oline are struggling and our kicker has been inconsistent. Other than that I don't see how anyone can stop us from scoring.

Defensively we are better than last year but gave up 38 pts to a good but not great FCS team. Bubba was pretty realistic when he took this job and knows we need talent upgrades and improve depth across the board. We have some decent players on this team. We need to develop great players and improve virtually everywhere. The job the coaches and kids have is to get better everyday and help their teammates get better everyday. I hope they are smart enough to ignore the media and not log on to blogs. They also need to believe they can compete at this level. Doesn't really matter what we think. ( except for gfhockey, I think he is one of the coaches disguised as a sometimes oil worker who hangs out at the local truck stop in the am and Judy's after practice).

You are on a blog and it was a bit long winded!

[MoSiouxFan]

You are on a blog and it was a bit long winded!

That's OK.  I've always respected his opinion.

[Shawn-O]

That's OK by me. I've always respected his opinion.

The Cliffs Notes: QB, RB's, WR's no good. No good on either of the line of scrimmage. LB's and DB's suck. Sure hope they don't log into the internet.

[Shawn-O]

Smart enough to jgnore the blogs... Maybe they're Amish give me a god damn break.

[Irish]

The Cliffs Notes: QB, RB's, WR's no good. No good on either of the line of scrimmage. LB's and DB's suck. Sure hope they don't log into the internet.

Cliff's Notes addendum - you other posters suck too.

[Matt]

UND's defense was on the field too much given how the game played out. First off, time of possession only works as an advantage if total yards are relatively even between both squads.

 

FACT: That was not the case in yesterday's game. UND had only 166 total yards whereas Missouri State had 384 total offensive yards. That means, with Missouri State's additional minute of possession, they were actually moving the ball up and down the field, not just sitting on it. 

 

FACT: UND only converted 16.6% of their third down opportunities (3-18); that's horrible! In other words, if you have the ball 29 and a half minutes of the game but you only go three and out and then punt, it means nothing for the defense. The defense needs time to rest but it also needs momentum to feed off of. UND's offense did nothing but kill any momentum the defense created via stops and turnovers. So, as for time of possession, yes it was even, but UND's defense was put into horrible situations due to the offense's ineptitude. Therein lies the major issue.

 

As for second half adjustments and so forth, Missouri State has way more talent. Are you debating that? Most of the time talent shows best in the second half after teams are worn out leaving room for advancement in terms of score margin. Bubba could have made all the adjustments he wanted but the offense just didn't have the physical toughness and player execution necessary to move the ball. As Mike Ditka once said, "Players can both win games and lose games. Coaches can't win games, but they can lose them." There's no way the coaching staff could have won yesterday's game; UND's offense, at every position, is below average in terms of talent and/or execution. That took a toll on the defense as the game progressed. Ultimately, UND's offensive players needed to make a play and they did no such thing. 

 

As for fans' expectations, part of the issue is certain posters continue to praise players that they have never seen and those players have never actually performed big on the college stage. I admit I am partly guilty of this due to optimism I wish to possess. This raises expectations. Very few of the players on UND's offense were highly sought after recruits and the few that were are under performing. You can't blame coaches when the cupboard is absolutely bare on the offensive side of the ball. Now, there are some things that the players could improve on and, hopefully, with that the offense improves as the season progresses. Bottom line, UND needs several new players to be lining up on offense in the coming years. 

 

 

Lastly, did you really expect the defense to carry the ENTIRE load and win the game? Does any team, high school, college, or pro, expect that? No. You said

"Defense I thought played better than the other two (at least for a half), but not nearly well enough to win on the road."; .

 

Well, last I check UND scored zero points. Despite what the defense does, UND will always lose when they score zero points....

Your analysis of the D makes them look even worse.  The TOP by quarter is nearly identical but the MSU D got stops.  The UND D did not. Not because they were on the field more (the myth), but because they couldn't get a stop.

 

I do agree MSU has better players, but are they better than SJSU? Montana?  Montana State?  They are not an elite team as evidenced by how close this game was until the second half.

 

And yes, UND will always lose when they score zero, so I will reiterate I was not comparing the culpability of the O vs D in this loss.  All 3 phases had major breakdowns.

[Matt]

Show up next Saturday vs Stony Brook and help add to the enthusiasm in the Alerus on gameday. That will help the team the most in the short term. This team needs talent and Bubba seems to be collecting it via his first couple recruiting classes. For now, just support the team and hope for some wins. Criticize the coaches only after they've had a couple seasons to acquire their type of recruits.

This is a head scratcher.

 

Coaches make mistakes.  It is ok to point out when that happens, and when we do point it out, it does not mean they should be fired any more than when an O lineman gets beat for a sack he should have his scholarship pulled.

 

It is just a mistake.

[UND-1]

I understand many of you on this board are hard core Sioux football fans. It always amazes me that any negative posts receive so many "Give Bubba a chance" or "Mussman left the cupboard bare". Listen, there is no doubt that this team has minimal talent. I couldn't agree more with you about Rudolph. Probably the most arrogant assistant coach I have ever met. I have followed UND for over 20 years now and Rudolph has the attitude that he "knows it all". At least he has finally started playing a RB with some size who doesn't get tackled easily. The offensive line is not playing well. You can't blame everything on Molberg because he doesn't have much time. Rudolph has his two prized freshmen and JC transfer wide receivers on the field. Are you telling me Bridges and Young don't at least deserve a shot after watching the fiasco on Saturday? This current group of wide receivers drops passes and blocks very poorly if you watched the game. Now, here is where I blame coaches. If Rudolph knows what he has offensively, then game plan accordingly! The defense has played with heart and effort. They do not quit and their first half was solid. Did MSU make better adjustments....hell yes they did! The difference is that the defense was at least in the game. The offense has been inept all season. You can blame lack of talent but that can't go hand in hand with inferior coaching. Rudolph needs to make some personel changes and look at himself in the mirror. As I mentioned in another post, Montana, Montana State, and Eastern Washington are going to be ugly.

 

Not like you have an agenda or anything, right?  You are the only guy on here that mentions Young in damn near every post. He didn't play with the last staff and hasn't played with this one.  Figure it out.  

 

You are also the first person that I know of to call Rudolph "arrogant".  He is a great guy and about as down to earth as anyone.  Could he be a stubborn offensive coordinator who wants to do it his way?  Like most every other OC, yes.  

[MafiaMan]

Football should be the #1 sport at UND, not hockey.

It's not the fault of UND hockey fans that it isn't...

Football should probably be the #1 sport at schools like Indiana and Kentucky too, but it's not.

I'd like to think that hockey and football can co-exist at UND. Unfortunately, I think that that's a minority opinion.

[darell1976]

It's not the fault of UND hockey fans that it isn't...

Football should probably be the #1 sport at schools like Indiana and Kentucky too, but it's not.

I'd like to think that hockey and football can co-exist at UND. Unfortunately, I think that that's a minority opinion.

2001 we won a NC in football and played in the NC game in hockey. They can co-exist its just UND has had a great coach year after year from Hak to Blais to Gino, where in football it was good from RT to Lennon, and hopefully with Bubba.

[Oxbow6]

It's not the fault of UND hockey fans that it isn't...

Football should probably be the #1 sport at schools like Indiana and Kentucky too, but it's not.

I'd like to think that hockey and football can co-exist at UND. Unfortunately, I think that that's a minority opinion.

If Florida's MBB program can flourish in the shadow of it's FB program absolutely no reason both sports at UND can't be top notch.

[MafiaMan]

If Florida's MBB program can flourish in the shadow of it's FB program absolutely no reason both sports at UND can't be top notch.

It sure helps when you make the right coaching hire and win back-to-back championships...

[jdub27]

I put 100% of the blame for the state of this program on Brian Faison.  The man is incompetent.  This is what happens when you take two months to hire a foootball coach because you're a total idiot.  UND should have fired his ass yesterday!

Mussman was let go on November 18.  Bubba was hired December 24.  One week beyond the required 30 day posting period.

 

 

Bubba..."I'm not concerned with the scoreboard". You better be pretty soon...the casual fan who might come to a UND home game isn't looking at the #daybyday crap. They, me included, want to see something that remotely resembles a competitive FB team...in all 3 phases not just one phase like last night. I'm not a continued season ticket holder to hear the 7-8 year old rec soccer mantra of "not concerned with the scoreboard" BS. The Alerus will be bare for the BS games if this mentality doesn't change.

Someone cue the Herm Edwards video footage please!!!

I'm not a fan of the scoreboard thing but Bubba did directly address it at the luncheon a couple weeks ago and how it was being misunderstood.  His said his point with the phrase is that he wants people to be able to watch the team and not know whether they are up 20 or down 20 (or 30 or 40.....) and not that they don't care whether they win or lose, because they do.  He wants the team to give the same effort regardless of what the scoreboard says. The same can definitely not be said of the past few years, the second the team got down, they folded, outside of the USD game in 2011 I guess.

 

No disagreement from me that if they turn in another performance or two like they did this past weekend, you can come up with all the clichés you want, but people aren't going to show up. The effort thing was just the cherry on top of watching the team getting run out of their own building the past few years, they need to be competitive or the crowds won't show.

[Oxbow6]

Mussman was let go on November 18.  Bubba was hired December 24.  One week beyond the required 30 day posting period.

 

 

I'm not a fan of the scoreboard thing but Bubba did directly address it at the luncheon a couple weeks ago and how it was being misunderstood.  His said his point with the phrase is that he wants people to be able to watch the team and not know whether they are up 20 or down 20 (or 30 or 40.....) and not that they don't care whether they win or lose, because they do.  He wants the team to give the same effort regardless of what the scoreboard says. The same can definitely not be said of the past few years, the second the team got down, they folded, outside of the USD game in 2011 I guess.

 

No disagreement from me that if they turn in another performance or two like they did this past weekend, you can come up with all the clichés you want, but people aren't going to show up. The effort thing was just the cherry on top of watching the team getting run out of their own building the past few years, they need to be competitive or the crowds won't show.

Agree with what you are trying to say but if a casual UND FB fan living in Fargo picked up the Forum newspaper and read that quote by Bubba I bet there was no rush and will be no rush to grab tickets to this Saturday's game.

[gundy1124]

Always educational to get the experts post game take on things. I hope some of you won't jump in front of a train this week. I sent a friend a note: We don't have a QB that can carry this team right now. Our receivers can't get open and they are dropping passes. ( If they can't catch a pass when they get hit or can't win the possession battles neither QB is going to be successful). Our RB and Oline are struggling and our kicker has been inconsistent. Other than that I don't see how anyone can stop us from scoring.

Defensively we are better than last year but gave up 38 pts to a good but not great FCS team. Bubba was pretty realistic when he took this job and knows we need talent upgrades and improve depth across the board. We have some decent players on this team. We need to develop great players and improve virtually everywhere. The job the coaches and kids have is to get better everyday and help their teammates get better everyday. I hope they are smart enough to ignore the media and not log on to blogs. They also need to believe they can compete at this level. Doesn't really matter what we think. ( except for gfhockey, I think he is one of the coaches disguised as a sometimes oil worker who hangs out at the local truck stop in the am and Judy's after practice).

 

I agree we don't have a QB to carry the offense right now.  The O was terrible on 3rd down, but let's look at 1st down, too.  We had 20 1st down plays (not counting the kneel down) for 66 yards, for a 3.3 yard average.  Take out one 16 yard run on 1st down and we had 19 1st down plays for 50 yards, for a 2.63 yard average.  2nd and long sucks.  Every team has bad 1st down plays, but you have to mix in some 6,7,8 yard plays to get drives going, opens up the playbook.  I think Rudolph needs to focus on 1st down, maybe mix in a jumbo set or unbalanced line, maybe a play action to TE.....whatever, but focus on 1st down success.  Maybe we need a little more trickeration to mask talent deficiencies.  One more thing, we don't have an offensive identity. 

[jdub27]

Agree with what you are trying to say but if a casual UND FB fan living in Fargo picked up the Forum newspaper and read that quote by Bubba I bet there was no rush and will be no rush to grab tickets to this Saturday's game.

He must have been hearing similar comments on how its coming across because it was kind of odd that he made a point to directly address it.  Again, no disagreements that out of context or by itself, it looks like they aren't real concerned how the season ends, which is pretty far from the truth. 

[darell1976]

If you all want to know how bad our offense is just look at the stats i posted in the 2014 stats thread. The NCAA stat site isn't updated so I went with just within the conference for comparison and its UGLY!!!!

[UND-FB-FAN]

I honestly don't think Rudolph is running an ineffective offense; however, the players just haven't made plays in it.

Two options, AND BOTH REQUIRE TIME:

1) Current players better adapt to new system (they've only played three games in it!) and begin to perform better, particularly up front in the offensive line.

2) Acquire new players (recruits, transfers, etc.) that are more talented and can play better versus the competition.

Either way, this will not happen overnight. This project is going to take time. I'm hoping for a combination of both options that allows the team to continual improve, even this season believe it or not.

[iramurphy]

You are on a blog and it was a bit long winded!

Thanks I thought I was being interviewed by ESPN. If you knew me, this was an abreviated comment.

[JohnboyND7]

Playing home games indoors on a lightning-quick surface would seem to favor a run-oriented, clock-chewing offensive scheme, yes? How about adopting the Wing-T?

I'd make a yearly trek to watch football if UND ran the Wing T. I enjoy those types of offenses.

[iramurphy]

The Cliffs Notes: QB, RB's, WR's no good. No good on either of the line of scrimmage. LB's and DB's suck. Sure hope they don't log into the internet.

That is why you read the book and not the cliff notes if you want an A instead of a C. 

 

I didn't say our kids were "no good".  We aren't playing well right now.  I think we have 2 capable QB's but neither have played to their potential.  If the Oline will open some holes, I think are RB's are adequate but we don't have breakaway speed..  The receivers need some work, but there is potential. Right now the QB needs to get the ball where the receiver has a better chance than the d back and if they don't make the catch,  the receiver can't let the d back get a pick.  If the QB throws to a wide open LB it is on the QB.The O line is a work inprogress. On paper there is no reason they can't improve but blocking schemes can be complicated and I am not sure what the problem is.  At some point on each play you need to either drive the opponents ass off the line of scrimmage so there is a seam for the RB or protect the QB.  We are struggling with both.  Defensively we are getting better play from the DB's, and the linebackers are more athletic.  D-line play is better but we lack depth. We need Hinosa and the other injured guys to be healthy.  

 

Bottom line is we are who we are and need to commit to getting better each play of each game and practice. Defense needs to build on last weeks first half.  A work in progress. I will keep coming to games, cuz I think it will be worthwhile to see how these kids develop and how the staff can keep them playing hard and not quitting and develop this program back to championship caliber.