ISU Game Day Thread

[77iceman]

Maybe, but when you lose a big chunk of the one on one battles in a football game you usually don't win.  Our secondary got owned by a couple good WR's and we got zero pass rush and that isn't on the coaches, it's on the players not making plays.  You could see they tried to free guys up with some stunts but it didn't work either.  Even with the injuries I think the defense overall was probably the most disappointing thing to me yesterday and that has largely to do with expectations. 

Maybe more correct to say it was on everyone.  I watched UND linebackers dropping back into coverage WAY more than in any other game, which I assume was in response to whatever the saw on the practice field this last week.  They were not playing their typical UND style defense, and it didn't do the job.

There is more to the game than just what we see on saturday, and I, for one, have to trust that the coaches felt that running their typical scheme would have rendered even worse results.

But I'll be honest . . . they sure are fun to watch this year!  It's like Christmas every weekend . . . you just have no idea what you're going to get

[ksixpack]

Someone please tell me why we played such a soft defense? Why no blitzing? Why didn't we try to jam the receivers on the line? We couldn't cover them so why not be more aggressive? We really made it very easy for their QB and offense. Everybody knew we would have trouble with pass coverage so why not try to disrupt their timing? That, to me, was extremely disappointing!

[Dagger]

It is impossible to figure out FCS football.  Portland State has 2 FBS wins.  Weber State  beats Montana in Montana.  Und beats Portland State on the road and loses to Idaho State at home. .  The Bison lose to Montana and turns around a gives  up no yards in rushing the next 2 weeks  and than gives up 255 yards in rushing yesterday.    I guess it goes to show that no matter who you are playing you better strap it on.  No wins are for sure.  UND can not afford any more injuries.  They already have more than they handle.  It might not be a good time  to play Weber.  

[Irish]

Someone please tell me why we played such a soft defense? Why no blitzing? Why didn't we try to jam the receivers on the line? We couldn't cover them so why not be more aggressive? We really made it very easy for their QB and offense. Everybody knew we would have trouble with pass coverage so why not try to disrupt their timing? That, to me, was extremely disappointing!

If someone had been in a coma for several years and wandered into the game towards the end of the third quarter they would have thought we were still in the Muss era.  Nothing is more frustrating to me than not blitzing or pressuring the quarterback, playing loose in the secondary, and then getting gashed 15-20 yards at a time up and down the field.

[MoSiouxFan]

Haven't read through the thread to know if this has been mentioned already, but there was so much buffering on the Eversport webcast yesterday that it was almost unwatchable.  Wondering if anyone else had the same problem.

[bang]

Haven't read through the thread to know if this has been mentioned already, but there was so much buffering on the Eversport webcast yesterday that it was almost unwatchable.  Wondering if anyone else had the same problem.

I did as well which was almost as frustrating as our defense was. 

[UND92,96]

Someone please tell me why we played such a soft defense? Why no blitzing? Why didn't we try to jam the receivers on the line? We couldn't cover them so why not be more aggressive? We really made it very easy for their QB and offense. Everybody knew we would have trouble with pass coverage so why not try to disrupt their timing? That, to me, was extremely disappointing!

I believe UND blitzed on the play Idaho St. had a screen called, which resulted in a touchdown. It was just one of those days. The bottom line to me is that with Reyes out, UND's offense needed to win the game yesterday. And despite committing too many turnovers, it was well on its way to doing so...until Studsrud got hurt.

[MoSiouxFan]

I believe UND blitzed on the play Idaho St. had a screen called, which resulted in a touchdown. It was just one of those days. The bottom line to me is that with Reyes out, UND's offense needed to win the game yesterday. And despite committing too many turnovers, it was well on its way to doing so...until Studsrud got hurt.

Right, and it wasn't just Reyes that was out; we were missing a total of 4 first game starters (Arnell, Greely, and Rich, in addition to Reyes).  What defense wouldn't feel the effects of the loss of four starters.

[bang]

The gap between James and Reyes is just amazing. James is simply a step too slow to be a good or efficient Safety at this level. Changes the whole defense and limits what can be done as far as stunting. I have no problem with how Schmidt called the game. Certain things need to be accounted for in order to send any of your backs after the QB. One thing would be trust in your safeties to be just that, a safety against a big play. Yesterday our safeties gave no indication they were capable of taking risks. 

[UND-FB-FAN]

Very frustrating loss yesterday. You hate to blame a loss on injuries, but when you have little depth and you lose your starting QB (who is better than Bartles, plain and simple), it's too much to overcome. 

UND will get better with depth over the next couple of seasons considering how impressive the recruiting has been with Bubba. So, in the short-term, it's crucial that impact players like Reyes, Greely, and Studsrud get healthy and get back in the lineup. 

[Matt]

Definitely didn't see this one coming.  I'm a big believer in the day by day philosophy, but ISU is doing their own significant reclamation project so losing to them on homecoming doesn't fit with the day by day mantra.

I love that the defense is so tough against the run, but we are seeing in the BSC the bottom of the conference will still beat you if you can't defend the pass...and score points on your end.

Every team can point to key injuries that is forcing backups into significant playing time at important spots so while it certainly plays a big role in wins and losses, it has more to do with how your team responds to them rather than if you have them because most everyone does.

[UND-FB-FAN]

The gap between James and Reyes is just amazing. James is simply a step too slow to be a good or efficient Safety at this level. Changes the whole defense and limits what can be done as far as stunting. I have no problem with how Schmidt called the game. Certain things need to be accounted for in order to send any of your backs after the QB. One thing would be trust in your safeties to be just that, a safety against a big play. Yesterday our safeties gave no indication they were capable of taking risks. 

Absolutely. Without Reyes, Rich, and Greely, the talent deficiency on the defense is significant. The defense just couldn't execute yesterday, which is on the players out there as much as it is on the coaches. William James is not a DI safety and that showed yesterday. Hopefully Reyes and Studsrud are back in the lineup against Weber State, because those two make a big difference.

[UND-FB-FAN]

Definitely didn't see this one coming.  I'm a big believer in the day by day philosophy, but ISU is doing their own significant reclamation project so losing to them on homecoming doesn't fit with the day by day mantra.

I love that the defense is so tough against the run, but we are seeing in the BSC the bottom of the conference will still beat you if you can't defend the pass...and score points on your end.

Every team can point to key injuries that is forcing backups into significant playing time at important spots so while it certainly plays a big role in wins and losses, it has more to do with how your team responds to them rather than if you have them because most everyone does.

Untimely injuries can be variable in terms of their ultimate impact. For example, do you think an injury to a starting safety (e.g., Reyes) would affect the passing defense more or less than an injury to a backup cornerback? Of course the starter, particularly one of the best starters on the entire team, would be more valuable than a backup player. Bottom line, you can't just say "every team can point to key injuries," because several teams have injuries more impactful than others.

Generalized statements in regards to injuries are often just that: too generalized. 

[zonadub]

Haven't read through the thread to know if this has been mentioned already, but there was so much buffering on the Eversport webcast yesterday that it was almost unwatchable.  Wondering if anyone else had the same problem.

I finally gave up on the web stream when the score was 31 - 22. Checked the score when I shut down eversport and UND was behind 37 - 31 with just under 5 minutes in the game. Must have been half a quarter behind or more.

[UND92,96]

I realize it would take some time, but would Seibel potentially be more valuable to the program at safety than receiver? I believe he was actually recruited as a safety.

Edited October 11, 2015 by UND92,96

[sioux24/7]

Anyone else notice the ISU players on the sideline during the game especially after the missed 4th down at the end? Absolutely classless....

Edited October 11, 2015 by sioux24/7

[UND-FB-FAN]

Anyone else notice the ISU players on the sideline during the game especially after the missed 4th down at the end? Absolutely classless....

Yes, many aspects of yesterday's loss were painful. 

[bang]

Absolutely. Without Reyes, Rich, and Greely, the talent deficiency on the defense is significant. The defense just couldn't execute yesterday, which is on the players out there as much as it is on the coaches. William James is not a DI safety and that showed yesterday. Hopefully Reyes and Studsrud are back in the lineup against Weber State, because those two make a big difference.

I liked what O'brien did yesterday. But, the talent gap between the other two positions (especially safety) changes our whole defense. It's been said many times it takes 11 guys. That was really evident yesterday. 

[UND-FB-FAN]

I realize it would take some time, but would Seibel potentially be more valuable to the program at safety than receiver? I believe he was actually recruited as a safety.

Need way more talent at WR before UND could afford to make that switch. 

[bang]

Anyone else notice the ISU players on the sideline during the game especially after the missed 4th down at the end? Absolutely classless....

What happened? 

[sioux24/7]

What happened? 

I guess it wasn't anything too bad just rubbed me the wrong way. They were turned around towards the student section raising there hands for them to stand up and what not. Like I said nothing too bad but with how frustrated I already was I was not happy.

[homer]

if you don't think those wins were lucky and not against good teams then what are your thoughts against Montana Montana state weber and cal poly? My thoughts are that we will lose all of those games. If we are a good team and not a lucky one we could win one or two 

I don't think any of our 4 wins were lucky.  We outplayed our competition 13 of those 16 quarters.  Controlled the games for most of those 13.  

I need to get word on what Studsrud's injury is but I think we win 2 of those 3 games above. Possibly all 3.  We match up better with those teams than a team that runs 3-5 WRs and throws it 60 times a game. 

[sioux24/7]

Also, can we try something else with Iwarri Smith? I am fine with running a sweep with him occasionally but every time he is on the field we have to either run the sweep or fake it? Really?

[bang]

I guess it wasn't anything too bad just rubbed me the wrong way. They were turned around towards the student section raising there hands for them to stand up and what not. Like I said nothing too bad but with how frustrated I already was I was not happy.

Ya, you see that stuff. I think in our Muss era the couple of road wins we managed our players did the same sort of stuff. I really don't think that happens with Bubba but you can't stop all the little stuff. Give them some up downs at practice on Monday. I'm sure those players were getting it the whole game from the student section. 

[UND-FB-FAN]

Just rewatched the 4th down pass to Santiago for the first time, and man, that was definitely interference. UND screwed up in many areas yesterday (turnovers, coverage, etc.) so that last play wasn't the whole story, but still, the refs botched that one.