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Gameday: UND @ MSU 3PM


geaux_sioux

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48 minutes ago, UND08 said:

I don't disagree with you on the offensive efficiency, and perhaps I should place more emphasis in my posts regarding the fact that I don't think our offense is anywhere close to where it should be from an efficiency standpoint.  I would however say that the talent argument is relative (I think our defensive talent is much greater right now than it was in 2001...especially in the secondary - which is hard to say knowing we gave up 3 rushing touchdowns the entire 2001 season!).  In all honesty I wanted to use stats from the 2001 NDSU game, mainly because they were a premiere opponent at the time and also partly because if I remember right that CWU game was played on a Friday afternoon in a brutal wind (I was a junior in HS on my way to our season opener listening on the radio...UND football has been in my blood for years haha), but I think the point I'm trying to make is that we are likely going to work towards the type of team that scores somewhere around 25-27 points per game and gives up around 10-15.  That's the formula that won us a title in 2001, and that's the formula that much of our staff is familiar with.  That involves grinding out long drives and chewing up clock.  I think we did a better job of that last week against MSU, but we missed 2 field goals and should have had a td but our LT got a 15 yard personal foul that wiped 7 points off the board.  If you add those back we end up with 27 points.  If Santiago doesn't fumble we may only have given up 12.  I think a lot of us would be happy with a 27-12 road victory over MSU...but we can't shoot ourselves in the foot, that's how we get games that are closer than they should be.  I might be in the minority, and it's hard for me to say this publicly, but with where our offense is right now I think Oliviera is a better choice for a primary back.  He does a better job of grinding out yards and keeping the offense on schedule, and that's going to be crucial against a team like Poly this weekend.  I like the idea of using Santiago in ways to get him out in space (along with seemingly everyone else on this board).  I'm hopeful that we get to that point.  22 carries for Oliviera/15 for Santiago/5 for Studsrud with 23 passes (5 to Santiago) would be ideal if I was up in the box.

 

I'm trying to picture what it will be like if the focus eventually shifts from stopping Santiago and only him. Right now we can exploit that by not using him in a traditional way which seems crazy but it worked last week. It was strange to see how different their defense was last week when John wasn't on the field.

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Santiago will be fine. He is pressing right now trying to hit the big one. While I didn't like it at the beginning of the year I think he needs to be back returning kicks. He has the potential to score every time and usually flips the field at the very least. Getting Seibel back (hopefully this week) will help the passing gave as he will go across the middle for us and get some dirty yards.  Can't agree more that we need to involve our TE's. Especially with everyone stacking the box. When we go to 31 personnel our splits are small and the defense stacks the box even more and we are averaging around -1 yard a carry out of it. Let's throw a bit out of it. 

Excited for this weekend!

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15 minutes ago, siouxfb said:

Santiago will be fine. He is pressing right now trying to hit the big one. While I didn't like it at the beginning of the year I think he needs to be back returning kicks. He has the potential to score every time and usually flips the field at the very least. Getting Seibel back (hopefully this week) will help the passing gave as he will go across the middle for us and get some dirty yards.  Can't agree more that we need to involve our TE's. Especially with everyone stacking the box. When we go to 31 personnel our splits our small and the defense stacks the box even more and we are averaging around -1 yard a carry out of it. Let's throw a bit out of it. 

Excited for this weekend!

Agree 100% on him returning kicks.  He's an explosive player and it might be a good way to build confidence with a big return.  Holm is pretty green and doesn't add a whole lot back there at this point.  I think Santiago will be fine as well...but I think he can be most dangerous for us in space...and we should look for ways to get him to that point more.  I'd like to see a lot of the time where both Santiago and Oliviera are on the field...let defenses try to scheme for that!

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