2016 Season

[Gothmog]

13 hours ago, ClassB said:

To say they won't meet in the playoffs before 2019 is to say that they won't both make second round in the same year (basically). Which we, at UND, don't see happening.

You should first be focused on making the playoffs, and then on winning games in the playoffs. What team the NCAA decides you should play in the playoffs is irrelevant.

 

[jdub27]

Just now, Gothmog said:

You should first be focused on making the playoffs, and then on winning games in the playoffs. What team the NCAA decides you should play in the playoffs is irrelevant.

Are you confused on how regionalization applies in the playoffs? If you actually understood it, you wouldn't be confused on why what he said is pretty spot on. Your comment is a good example of why FargoU and MVFC fans made themselves look silly throwing temper tantrums when the brackets were announced.

[Gothmog]

4 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

Are you confused on how regionalization applies in the playoffs? If you actually understood it, you wouldn't be confused on why what he said is pretty spot on. Your comment is a good example of why FargoU and MVFC fans made themselves look silly throwing temper tantrums when the brackets were announced.

I am not confused about regionalization. What he said is probably correct, but who cares? The playoffs are about advancing and winning championships. It makes no difference who you play. The goal is to be the best ... you do that by beating whomever the NCAA puts in your way.

 

[UND1983]

1 minute ago, Gothmog said:

I am not confused about regionalization. What he said is probably correct, but who cares? The playoffs are about advancing and winning championships. It makes no difference who you play. The goal is to be the best ... you do that by beating whomever the NCAA puts in your way.

Right.  Except if your not one of the best teams and there happens to be an upset in your bracket, meaning you get to play a worse opponent, and possibly at home now because you're ranked higher.  That never happens, though.  

[jdub27]

10 minutes ago, Gothmog said:

What he said is probably correct, but who cares?

Apparently you do since you took the time to respond nonsensically to it. And again, if the teams you play in the playoffs are irrelevant, why all the conspiracy theory stuff coming out of Fargo and the MVFC fan bases on how the bracket was set up?

[Gothmog]

1 minute ago, UND1983 said:

Right.  Except if your not one of the best teams and there happens to be an upset in your bracket, meaning you get to play a worse opponent, and possibly at home now because you're ranked higher.  That never happens, though.  

Sure, matchups and home field advantage can make a difference. So what? Those things aren't controllable.

[siouxfan512]

Ok, I think we've all made our point here.

Does it matter who we play in the playoffs? No, it truly is about getting in, winning games and winning Championships.

Would it be fun to play NDSU in a playoff match? Of course .... is it fun to play the Gopher in a post season in hockey? The game would get super hyped up, and I for one would love to play the Bison again before 2019. (Of course maybe you don't want to play NDSU based on their playoff history over the past 5 years, no denying what they have done is unbelievably impressive. Though they will not win championships from here until eternity, so eventually these team will even out. UND is certainly trending in the right direction.)

As for regionalization, I understand trying to control travel costs, but it really is stupid. If I had been a Bison fan I would have been somewhat irritated as well. Fun thing about the playoffs is to see new teams. I know there has been talk, but I'm not sure if there has been a decision. They need to extend the seeding process to we see some better match ups.

[UND1983]

13 minutes ago, Gothmog said:

I am not confused about regionalization. What he said is probably correct, but who cares? The playoffs are about advancing and winning championships. _{^{It makes no difference who you play.}} The goal is to be the best ... you do that by beating whomever the NCAA puts in your way.

[siouxfan512]

So anyway, UND in 2016 ....

What will likely be our biggest Stregths and Weaknesses?

Strength: Run game, defense (front 7)

Weaknesses: Passing game (potential, but a lot to prove), defense (secondary, you and potential, but a lot to prove)

thoughts?

[UNDBIZ]

2 minutes ago, siouxfan512 said:

So anyway, UND in 2016 ....

What will likely be our biggest Stregths and Weaknesses?

Strength: Run game, defense (front 7)

Weaknesses: Passing game (potential, but a lot to prove), defense (secondary, you and potential, but a lot to prove)

thoughts?

With only one returning starter on the OL, I'm afraid the run game could take a few weeks to heat up.

[siouxfan512]

6 minutes ago, UNDBIZ said:

With only one returning starter on the OL, I'm afraid the run game could take a few weeks to heat up.

It could, hopefully not too bad though, I was just about to post something about the game against Bowling Green. They will really want to get Santiago going against them. I know teams change from year to year, but just look at the stat totals from Georgia Southern in their bowl game.

It would definitely be nice to get Santiago, Oliveira, Neverman, Norberg and Gordon going. I think that will be a game, where you just keep running and rotating guys. Keep hammering them with fresh legs. I especially like the rotation of Santiago and Oliveira with their different styles, that really became hard for some of our opponents to defend at the end of last season.

Georgia Southern Passing

	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Kevin Ellison	3/5	65	13.0	1	0	87.0
Favian Upshaw	1/3	17	5.7	0	0	99.9
TEAM	4/8	82	10.3	1	0	--

Bowling Green Passing

	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Matt Quinn Johnson	15/34	246	7.2	3	0	65.7
TEAM	15/34	246	7.2	3	0	--

Georgia Southern Rushing

	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Favian Upshaw	12	199	16.6	4	80
Wesley Fields	9	75	8.3	1	26
Kevin Ellison	13	70	5.4	0	18
Matt Breida	15	68	4.5	1	36
LA Ramsby	12	44	3.7	1	15
Derek Keaton	1	15	15.0	0	15
Chaz Thornton	2	-3	-1.5	0	3
TEAM	68	452	6.6	7	80

[UND1983]

7 minutes ago, siouxfan512 said:

So anyway, UND in 2016 ....

What will likely be our biggest Stregths and Weaknesses?

Strength: Run game, defense (front 7)

Weaknesses: Passing game (potential, but a lot to prove), defense (secondary, you and potential, but a lot to prove)

thoughts?

Worried most about OL.  Front seven should be strength of the defense. 

[siouxfan512]

2 minutes ago, UND1983 said:

Worried most about OL.  Front seven should be strength of the defense. 

Yeah, imagine what 2017 and 2018 will look like with a seasoned O-Line and a mature Santiago and Oliveira. That could get really fun.

[Longtime fan]

29 minutes ago, siouxfan512 said:

So anyway, UND in 2016 ....

What will likely be our biggest Stregths and Weaknesses?

Strength: Run game, defense (front 7)

Weaknesses: Passing game (potential, but a lot to prove), defense (secondary, you and potential, but a lot to prove)

thoughts?

I'm in agreeance with you.

Strengths: punting game, kicking game,  defensive front 7, by game 4ish 5ish the o line will hopefully be a strength and the running game will flourish. 

Weaknesses: punt and kickoff coverage, secondary is still very young but have a lot of talent so looking for a much better results and passing game.  

Very excited to see the experience factor this year as there is massive  amounts of returning players everywhere.   The o oline has the most holes to fill and are short on numbers, but definitely not short on talent.   

Our front 7 will be incredible this  year.  Thy are deep, talented and now have the experience.  Can't wait for them and the linebackers to compliment each other. 

Excited!!  I see a 9-2 record barring injuries.  On the injury front,  Und is now in year three and with this last recruiting class they are able to have the next man up motto and be assured a little better results and the coaching staff has recruiting very well.  Young and talented.  

[darell1976]

17 hours ago, nd1sufan said:

I didn't think I said UND football was in the toilet now or wil be in the future. All I was saying is the when UND fans are saying they won't be caught off guard and affected by the Fargodome atmosphere the next time they play the is not true. None of the players in 2019 will have played there before and you can't prepare them without actually having been there before. And 2019 is the next time the are scheduled to play. Anytime before that is very speculative, even if both make the playoffs. I will take that bet if anyone wants it. Not that UND doesn't make the playoffs, because I think they will, but that they won't meet in the playoffs before 2019?

I guess RT must have pulled a miracle in 1994 when UND went to the dome and beat the !@#$ out of them 34-13. Atmosphere helps but when your opponent is better than the home team atmosphere means nothing, maybe that's why we were 4-1 in the dome before 2015. Better team wins reguardless of home field.

[gundy1124]

39 minutes ago, UND1983 said:

Worried most about OL.  Front seven should be strength of the defense. 

about the OL, Stockwell, Cox, Bell, Miller, all Juniors with playing time, that should help having 4 upper classmen in 2 deep.  My guess is 3 of them start........but a lot of spots wide open.

[siouxfan512]

26 minutes ago, darell1976 said:

I guess RT must have pulled a miracle in 1994 when UND went to the dome and beat the !@#$ out of them 34-13. Atmosphere helps but when your opponent is better than the home team atmosphere means nothing, maybe that's why we were 4-1 in the dome before 2015. Better team wins reguardless of home field.

Its definitely fun to know that we played well in the past, but I'd me much happier if we go 4-1 in our next 5 games in the Fargo dome.

[siouxfan512]

I had the below information in a previous post, but it should be noted that it looks like Roger Lewis declared for the NFL Draft and there are some strong rumors that Gehrig Dieter is transferring to Alabama. Definitely a huge hit to their passing game, in addition to Matt Johnson graduating.

 

Bowling Green (9-3) (7-1 conf.)

Finished 1^st in the Mid-American Conference – East (Plays N Illinois this weekend for conference championship)

Won 2 games vs Big 10 (Maryland and Purdue)

Key Departures:

• QB Matt Johnson (4465 Yds, 41 TDs,
• RB Travis Greene (1036 Yds,  12 TDs)
• DB Dernard Turner (4 int, 1 TD)

Key Returning Players:

• WR Gehrig Dieter (82 Rec, 882 Yds, 9 TDs)
• WR Roger Lewis (76 Rec, 1401 Yds, 14 TDs) (Hi Roger, I’d like you to meet Cole Reyes J )
• WR Ronnie Moore (62 Rec, 818 Yds, 5 TDs)
• DB Alfonso Mack (5 int)

 Rankings withing MAC

• Scoring – 1^st – 44.2 PPG
• Rushing – 5^th – 178.2 YPG
• Passing – 1^st – 387.8 YPG
• Scoring D – 8^th – 27.8 PPG
• Rushing D – 7^th – 166.2 YPG
• Passing D – 11th – 255.2 YPG

This will be a much bigger test than playing Wyoming. Fortunately, BGSU will be losing a monster of a QB, as well as their senior RB. Unfortunately, BGSU will likely start James Knapke (6-2, 237) at QB, and he will have several dangerous receivers still on the roster. Knapke took over for an injured Matt Johnson in 2014, and threw for 3173 yards and 15 TDs. It is also worth noting that while BGSU loses starting RB Travis Green, they will still have Fred Coppet who still rushed for just over 700 yards 4 TDs. His average per carry was actually slightly better than Greene, and without Will Ratelle on the field, our linebackers will need to step up (Hopefully Taj Rich comes back really strong).

I don’t think BGSU will be as good next year as they were this year, but they will still be a very strong team. Probably not a game you expect to win, but definitely need to be competitive, and if the defense plays well, and our offense is clicking, then who knows. Santiago can always be a game changer and Oliveira will only get better. If Keaton starts next season where he left off, then there is certainly potential in this matchup. Needless to say, this would be UNDs biggest win at the D1 level if they could pull it off.

[darell1976]

38 minutes ago, siouxfan512 said:

Its definitely fun to know that we played well in the past, but I'd me much happier if we go 4-1 in our next 5 games in the Fargo dome.

This program will get there we are only 2 seasons removed from Muss and we were a playoff team (in everyone's eyes except the committee) by 2019 this UND team with all the Bubba players and a growing fan base will give the Bison a run for their money.

[JohnboyND7]

1 hour ago, darell1976 said:

I guess RT must have pulled a miracle in 1994 when UND went to the dome and beat the !@#$ out of them 34-13. Atmosphere helps but when your opponent is better than the home team atmosphere means nothing, maybe that's why we were 4-1 in the dome before 2015. Better team wins reguardless of home field.

So if I had a slow day of work and decided to look at past posts, I wouldn't find any posts of yours suggesting that NDSU may not have won all these home playoff games if they had to play road games?  

I wonder why teams typically have better records at home rather than away?

[siouxfan512]

37 minutes ago, darell1976 said:

This program will get there we are only 2 seasons removed from Muss and we were a playoff team (in everyone's eyes except the committee) by 2019 this UND team with all the Bubba players and a growing fan base will give the Bison a run for their money.

Completely agree, this team is certainly headed in the right direction. I was more commenting that as we bicker with bison fans we can keep going back to the good old d2 days where we had some success in Fargo. Different times, different teams, different level of competition .... like you said, 2019 should be a much better game, given where UND is going with their team right now. I full expect the Bison to be competitive for years to come. They may not win the championship every year, but with the program they have built they will very competitive for a long time.

[UND-FB-FAN]

2 hours ago, darell1976 said:

II guess RT must have pulled a miracle in 1994 when UND went to the dome and beat the !@#$ out of them 34-13. Atmosphere helps but when your opponent is better than the home team atmosphere means nothing, maybe that's why we were 4-1 in the dome before 2015. Better team wins reguardless of home field.

I love the enthusiasm for the 2016 season as I am as excited as anybody, but let's not get carried away. Home-field advantage is a real thing, especially with college football and a dome. NDSU's current home-field advantage with noise is far greater than what they had in the 1990s. That's what playing for championships will do. UND had the same thing during the 2001 playoff run in the Alerus. 

[The Sicatoka]

Tell me about the offensive line.
I'll know how things are going from that. 

[darell1976]

35 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

I love the enthusiasm for the 2016 season as I am as excited as anybody, but let's not get carried away. Home-field advantage is a real thing, especially with college football and a dome. NDSU's current home-field advantage with noise is far greater than what they had in the 1990s. That's what playing for championships will do. UND had the same thing during the 2001 playoff run in the Alerus. 

That Bison guy said UND doesn't stand a chance because they haven't experienced the Fargodome atmosphere, well they didn't in 1994 the first UND-NDSU game in the dome and that atmosphere died with our touchdowns against the Bison. Yes home field is a big part of the game but if your team doesn't come to play it's not going to help much. 

[Gothmog]

On 2/10/2016 at 7:57 AM, Matt said:

I don't know what the '19 game will look like, but I also thought it delusional to think '15 would look like '11.

Between regionalization and teams moving up, all bets are off.

 

Absolutely right. UND fans have been forecasting NDSU's fall (and UND's rise) for years now. They're no more likely to be right now than they were in January 2012 when NDSU's current run started.

Things have changed since 2003. The question is: has UND changed enough to keep up? The answer is unclear.