UND at a rainy MSU

[UND-FB-FAN]

I didn't see the second half but MSU is a run based/screen pass team for the most part.  They were also missing some starters at WR so they may have been conservative for that reason.  I doubt they pulled off the gas much as the game really wasn't in hand and part of the scoring came from a pick 6.  The offense wasn't lighting it up in the first half either.

 

 

Montana State didn't have the ball much in the 2nd half relative to UND; that is, they didn't have the opportunity to play conservative. UND outplayed Montana State in second half, simple as that. However, as we all know, football is a four quarter game and UND did not win the first half. 

 

One thing to be optimistic about is mistakes. Mistakes can be corrected, and if the offense plays with less mistakes (no turnovers, botched handoffs and center-QB exchanges, etc.), UND will be even better. How good? This team is a 0.500 team if the defense keeps playing the way it is and the offense improves its timing and discipline. 

[mksioux]

Everyone needs to show up and cheer the defense on against Montana next Saturday. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA0n_Cw6E0g

[dmksioux]

A few thoughts, although admittedly, I didn't see much of the game yesterday. Coming into the season, I wasn't going to measure success for this team by wins and losses. I was looking for a team that played clean football (eliminates mistake/penalties), a team that played better football (fundamentals/heart) and got better as the season progressed. After seeing the first home game against "Bobby Moe," I wasn't too optimistic this would happen. But a few games later, I think we are seeing this team make some steps in the right directions. The defense is worlds better than it was the last few years. Still not where it needs to be, but definitely improving each game. The offensive production is progressing at a much slower pace but still is progressing. Keep in mind that our starting receivers were not seeing any playing time last year and our starting running back the last couple games is a converted linebacker who wasn't listed as a running back until game two this year. I'm not ready to anoint Bubba as our savior but he has addressed and corrected a few of the issues our program has had over the past few years. Looking forward to Saturday's game against the Griz to see if we continue taking steps forward.

[geaux_sioux]

Mollberg ha a decent game. He also was very close to throwing 4 ints..... He needs to clean those throws up.

[UND-FB-FAN]

Mollberg ha a decent game. He also was very close to throwing 4 ints..... He needs to clean those throws up.

That pick six he threw in the second quarter was a killer. Have to protect the football and not give away easy scores, especially with how the offense has been playing. The offense did okay in the second half when Norberg was having success running the ball though. Very imperative the offensive line plays well for the offense to be successful.

[geaux_sioux]

How about that d holding their leading rusher to -18 yards. We gave them nothing on the ground.

[geaux_sioux]

That pick six he threw in the second quarter was a killer. Have to protect the football and not give away easy scores, especially with how the offense has been playing. The offense did okay in the second half when Norberg was having success running the ball though. Very imperative the offensive line plays well for the offense to be successful.

It was almost 3 pick 6's

[Hayduke]

Good effort.  I think UND is making progress.

 

It's good to get excited about this game, but...it's still a loss.  

 

I still hope we can end up with five wins. 

[iramurphy]

No surprise offense developing slower than defense. Bubba and staff are rebuilding a program not a team. The first thing we need is to be competitive. We then need to develop consistently and then develop into a power program. I can't explain the pick six but Mollberg can play and excel. Whomever the QB is will also need to develop that ability to be competitive, and Mollberg has shown he can be but he needs to make that next step to being consistent. He hasn't done that yet but he has the potential to be a dominant QB at this level. Last year neither QB knew who would play, nor for how long and there was no scheme to what the offense was doing. The oline play was suspect and neither QB was allowed to develop as they might have. Once Mollberg earned the job, Bubba and staff have decided to allow him the opportunity to develop into the QB he has the potential for. I can't explain the poor read on the pick 6, but when we open the play book he is much more effective and we still aren't seeing the run option packages he is capable of. The defense under Schmidt has made great strides. We need patience with our freshmen kickers and oline. There are no moral victories but in developing the program we need to see the team getting better each day and each week. I think we see that the last 2 weeks. This week is a big week for these kids to stay focused and maintain some consistency. Another plus was only 3 penalties yesterday. Patience can be difficult and frustrating, but necessary.

[geaux_sioux]

No surprise offense developing slower than defense. Bubba and staff are rebuilding a program not a team. The first thing we need is to be competitive. We then need to develop consistently and then develop into a power program. I can't explain the pick six but Mollberg can play and excel. Whomever the QB is will also need to develop that ability to be competitive, and Mollberg has shown he can be but he needs to make that next step to being consistent. He hasn't done that yet but he has the potential to be a dominant QB at this level. Last year neither QB knew who would play, nor for how long and there was no scheme to what the offense was doing. The oline play was suspect and neither QB was allowed to develop as they might have. Once Mollberg earned the job, Bubba and staff have decided to allow him the opportunity to develop into the QB he has the potential for. I can't explain the poor read on the pick 6, but when we open the play book he is much more effective and we still aren't seeing the run option packages he is capable of. The defense under Schmidt has made great strides. We need patience with our freshmen kickers and oline. There are no moral victories but in developing the program we need to see the team getting better each day and each week. I think we see that the last 2 weeks. This week is a big week for these kids to stay focused and maintain some consistency. Another plus was only 3 penalties yesterday. Patience can be difficult and frustrating, but necessary.

What about those three other throws that hit MSU players? I love Joes arm but he's an int machine.

[UND92,96]

Good effort.  I think UND is making progress.

 

It's good to get excited about this game, but...it's still a loss.  

 

I still hope we can end up with five wins. 

 

If the team can stay relatively healthy, I think this is very realistic. The Portland St., UNC, Weber St., NAU and SUU games are all legitimately winnable if the offense gets a little consistency.

[iramurphy]

What about those three other throws that hit MSU players? I love Joes arm but he's an int machine.

What about them? They must have been poor throws. My point is that they are going with him and obviously don't believe they have a better alternative or they would have made the change. Most of the good coaches I have talked to think he can be the guy. They don't see Bartles as a better choice. He was given the job last year and replaced when he couldn't get the job done. Had Mussman stayed with him I think he might have gotten better. They switched to Joe and had they remained with him, I think he would have gotten better as the season went along had they stayed with him. I see the same mistakes you do, I just think they needed to go with one of these guys and allow them to develop. If you think we as fans see something the coaches don't I respectfully disagree. When I was a Cowboys fan cuz of family, Romo was allowed by Parcells to develop into a Pro-Bowl QB but he made throws just as bad. Whether it be Bartles or Mollberg one of them has got to be allowed to develop as a leader and playmaker. Neither of them stepped up last year and both had ample opportunity. Bartles needs to be ready and if he gets on the field again he will need to be near perfect to unseat the starter. That is what it took last year against SD State for Mollberg to unseat Bartles. If Bartles was the starter this year Bubba would likely be going with him and Joe would need to be ready then perfect to get the job back. It usually doesn't work well to be changing week to week, series to series if you don't have a better alternative.

[geaux_sioux]

I don't want to see musical qbs, I do want to see his decision making improve though.

[iramurphy]

I don't want to see musical qbs, I do want to see his decision making improve though.

Agree. Needs to continue to improve and expand upon the successes he had yesterday and learn from the mistakes. I have never understood the passes thrown short to a wide open receiver or int into coverage but the upside is still pretty good. I do get the passes thrown that give the receiver the chance to make a play but could get picked. If you can't throw theses passes with confidence that your receiver will go get the ball and if they can't make sure it isn't picked you won't be able to pass at this level. The ones that can't happen are the ones like yesterday's pick six.

[geaux_sioux]

He does throw one hell of a deep ball. The WRs do need to attack the ball better. OL needs to continue to improve. But Joe really needs to get to the point where the game slows down and he's in control. He's played a lot for a soph, that needs to start to pay dividends.

[SiouxFan100]

I watched the first half but missed the 2nd half expecting a blowout. I was pleasantly surprised with the final score. We are showing improvement and potential. I just wanted to go to a few games this year expecting UND to play tough and have a chance. Well, we have it. We have a chance against Montana. What I don't like is bad center/qb snaps and then having coaches say that we need to work on it. There is a minimum you expect and you shouldn't have that part of your game go bad ever. You shouldn't catch a punt on your five yard line and then say we need to get smarter. You are playing DI and you are supposed to be smart. You shouldn't have your qb say I need to get better on my reads - that is another minimum that you expect a D1 qb to already have. That said, easy for me to say sitting on my couch!!

[82SiouxGuy]

I watched the first half but missed the 2nd half expecting a blowout. I was pleasantly surprised with the final score. We are showing improvement and potential. I just wanted to go to a few games this year expecting UND to play tough and have a chance. Well, we have it. We have a chance against Montana. What I don't like is bad center/qb snaps and then having coaches say that we need to work on it. There is a minimum you expect and you shouldn't have that part of your game go bad ever. You shouldn't catch a punt on your five yard line and then say we need to get smarter. You are playing DI and you are supposed to be smart. You shouldn't have your qb say I need to get better on my reads - that is another minimum that you expect a D1 qb to already have. That said, easy for me to say sitting on my couch!!

Since you see the same quotes from NFL players and coaches, I don't think people should be surprised that those issues happen in college football.

[iramurphy]

He does throw one hell of a deep ball. The WRs do need to attack the ball better. OL needs to continue to improve. But Joe really needs to get to the point where the game slows down and he's in control. He's played a lot for a soph, that needs to start to pay dividends.

Agree

[bang]

No surprise offense developing slower than defense. Bubba and staff are rebuilding a program not a team. The first thing we need is to be competitive. We then need to develop consistently and then develop into a power program. I can't explain the pick six but Mollberg can play and excel. Whomever the QB is will also need to develop that ability to be competitive, and Mollberg has shown he can be but he needs to make that next step to being consistent. He hasn't done that yet but he has the potential to be a dominant QB at this level. Last year neither QB knew who would play, nor for how long and there was no scheme to what the offense was doing. The oline play was suspect and neither QB was allowed to develop as they might have. Once Mollberg earned the job, Bubba and staff have decided to allow him the opportunity to develop into the QB he has the potential for. I can't explain the poor read on the pick 6, but when we open the play book he is much more effective and we still aren't seeing the run option packages he is capable of. The defense under Schmidt has made great strides. We need patience with our freshmen kickers and oline. There are no moral victories but in developing the program we need to see the team getting better each day and each week. I think we see that the last 2 weeks. This week is a big week for these kids to stay focused and maintain some consistency. Another plus was only 3 penalties yesterday. Patience can be difficult and frustrating, but necessary.

I know you feel sticking with Mollberg is the right move but what do you think of Norberg? Also, what's your thoughts on what needs to be done with the OL?

[geaux_sioux]

Did anyone notice our 2 point play? What a great play. The defense had no chance.

[Teeder11]

Did anyone notice our 2 point play? What a great play. The defense had no chance.

 

I noticed that, too. That was pulled off with confidence.  Two other things stood out in hindsight under the coulda, woulda, shoulda category:  Where does the game end up if Joe eats it instead of the pick 6  and what happens if Norberg keeps his feet on that shoe string tackle? There was nothing between him and the endzone.  Oh well.

[geaux_sioux]

I noticed that, too. That was pulled off with confidence. Two other things stood out in hindsight under the coulda, woulda, shoulda category: Where does the game end up if Joe eats it instead of the pick 6 and what happens if Norberg keeps his feet on that shoe string tackle. There was nothing between him and the endzone. Oh well.

The other side of the coin has about 3 more MSU TDs and one less for us though. We do need to make that extra play every quarter to win against better teams.

[iramurphy]

I know you feel sticking with Mollberg is the right move but what do you think of Norberg? Also, what's your thoughts on what needs to be done with the OL?

Norberg runs hard and will continue to get better. He is still learning the position but making progress. Oline has improved some but needs to continue to get better. Garmin is very quick but won't run anyone over. If oline can give those guys some seems to hit we may get better faster. We need more than one RB and we haven't thrown much to our backs or TE's. A work in progress to develop the program. This weekend will measure if we can improve upon our successes the last 2 weeks. Long way to go yet but we need get better game to game ( I think that is Bubba's philosophy). Defense is much improved but also needs to get better week to week. We will have our ups and downs the rest of the season but I think it's coming.

[geaux_sioux]

Norberg runs hard and will continue to get better. He is still learning the position but making progress. Oline has improved some but needs to continue to get better. Garmin is very quick but won't run anyone over. If oline can give those guys some seems to hit we may get better faster. We need more than one RB and we haven't thrown much to our backs or TE's. A work in progress to develop the program. This weekend will measure if we can improve upon our successes the last 2 weeks. Long way to go yet but we need get better game to game ( I think that is Bubba's philosophy). Defense is much improved but also needs to get better week to week. We will have our ups and downs the rest of the season but I think it's coming.

They did feature Iverson pretty well. He's such a good athlete at FB that they need to get him involved more.

[The Sicatoka]

I'm glad someone mentioned just 3 penalties for just 15 yards. <-- That's been fixed; but it requires vigilence.

I'm very happy about second half time of possession (20 of the 30 minutes for UND).

I am extremely disappointed in the 'epic fail' of the center exchange. That must be fixed and stay fixed.

This game was one step. A good one. But just one. Stay the course. Keep fixing; keep working; keep building.

Day by day.