2017 Season

[F'n Hawks]

We will have a better team but a tougher schedule.

Need somebody to step up alongside Deion Harris, there will be a huge competition at that spot.

Losing Coe will hurt but Oline will still be good

Wanzek and Toivenen will keep on getting better, hopefully Clive gets a medical redshirt and can come back for next year.

Special teams need to be solid next year, UND is built to win by playing good defense, being successful running the ball and being solid on special teams 

[geaux_sioux]

11 minutes ago, F'n Hawks said:

We will have a better team but a tougher schedule.

Need somebody to step up alongside Deion Harris, there will be a huge competition at that spot.

Losing Coe will hurt but Oline will still be good

Wanzek and Toivenen will keep on getting better, hopefully Clive gets a medical redshirt and can come back for next year.

Special teams need to be solid next year, UND is built to win by playing good defense, being successful running the ball and being solid on special teams 

Other than the FBS game we really don't know if the schedule will be tougher. We need secondary help, a safety to go with Reyes and a corner unless Hunt and Holm can step up. Also a fast WR and another good QB. Can't be one deep with those.

[SiouxVolley]

This team is only getting deeper, so special teams should get better.  We had surprising freshman contributors this year, and expect more of that next fall.  Our recruiting seems to get better every year under Bubba.  Only a few plays from an unbeaten season - and those losses key on special teams.

[geaux_sioux]

Looking forward who do we lose? Coe is a huge loss, he was a key player for us. Mathewson provided good leadership. Reed covering punts. Jonson and Labat were really good for us but I think we have great depth and will minimize those losses. Baker is another big one but again the depth at LB is really good. Johnson was very good for us at DE but the depth thing once again covers that loss. It appears that we should improve next year. OL should look something like Stockwell, Aplin, Rooney, Taylor, Blair. Not bad. If we get Georges back and add a couple of other speed guys the offense could really be something next year. We have 1/2 of a nice secondary, the other 1/2 is horseshit. If we can fix that we will have a nice season. I'm very optimistic for the future... man this loss stings though.

[HawkinNutts]

Does anyone have a two deep of the  2016 team they could post? just want to see who we lose and where there may be holes.  

 

[fightingsioux4life]

26 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Looking forward who do we lose? Coe is a huge loss, he was a key player for us. Mathewson provided good leadership. Reed covering punts. Jonson and Labat were really good for us but I think we have great depth and will minimize those losses. Baker is another big one but again the depth at LB is really good. Johnson was very good for us at DE but the depth thing once again covers that loss. It appears that we should improve next year. OL should look something like Stockwell, Aplin, Rooney, Taylor, Blair. Not bad. If we get Georges back and add a couple of other speed guys the offense could really be something next year. We have 1/2 of a nice secondary, the other 1/2 is horseshit. If we can fix that we will have a nice season. I'm very optimistic for the future... man this loss stings though.

This is how I feel as well. The guys will learn from this and work that much harder to prevent it from happening again.

[AJS]

The way the season ended hurts, they lost a game they shouldn't have, but man should next year be fun. This was a 9-2 team that won a share of the Big Sky title and was a seed in the playoffs that brings 7 players recognized by the Big Sky back. 

QB - Studsrud (SR) Heidelbaugh (SO): All eyes on Heidelbaugh, he needs to become a reliable backup. 

RB - Everyone returns

OL - 9 of the 10 players on the 2 deep return. Losing Coe hurts, but you can't ask for much more with depth returning

WR - Georges is the big ?, they return their top 4 receivers in Stanley, Toivanen, Wanzek and Mercer. Georges would make this a very, very good corps

TE - Lose Mathewson, but will be a much better unit with Cloyd getting a year of experience, he's going to be very good

Overall, this should be a very good unit. I'd like to see them try to get a JUCO backup if they don't think Heidelbaugh can take the reigns if Keaton gets hurt. Depth at every other position will not be a problem. They lose 4 of 23 players on the last two deep chart (includes Bartles, Reed)

DL- Lose Noah Johnson, but return a very deep group that was one of the best in FCS

LB - This is the position hit hardest, but still have O'Brien, and really liked what Rodgers and Lawrence brought as Freshman

DB - Return their starting 4 which include two Big Sky all First teamers, one being the Big Sky DPOY. Hunt and Holm will only grow as they both played huge minutes as Freshman

Lose 5 of 22 players on the last two deep chart

On paper next year should be the best team UND has had. Any redshirt freshman that should make impacts next year? 

[AJS]

49 minutes ago, HawkinNutts said:

Does anyone have a two deep of the  2016 team they could post? just want to see who we lose and where there may be holes.  

 

http://www.undsports.com/pdf9/5116807.pdf  Page 14

[geaux_sioux]

 

[geaux_sioux]

 

[AJS]

Starting off this post like my last, this was a 9-2 team that shared the conference title and was awarded a seed. Looking at the depth chart, they bring back a lot of all conference players, plus a great quality of depth (beyond the 2 deep chart). Although they had a great record, they had a very favorable schedule which played into their record. Not only who they played, but getting the tougher opponents at home. They had trouble putting away teams and playing complete games. I'm not trying to take anything away from this team, but want to look at what needs to be done for this team to take the next step. Might not be regular season record wise next year, but a team that is better overall. My question is what areas do they need to improve in next year to be better? Where did the struggle this year? A couple I've thought of

• O-line play: This group improved throughout the year, they had to replace 4 starters last year and was the main reason for a sluggish start. Next year they return 9 of 10 on the depth chart. 
• DBs: Improved this year, lead the nation in INTs, but still were shaky. It seemed most teams could throw at will on them whenever they wanted. They return everyone including Reyes and Harris. Is the answer Hunt and Holm just need another year under their belt? Same with Arnell? 
• QB Depth - Do they have anyone besides Keaton who can come in and play well if needed? JUCO transfer to backup? 
• Special Teams: Worst in FCS, will improved depth help out, new coach?

Outside of their linebacker core, they don't have a position where they need a wholesale change like O-line was this year (harder group to replace). What's exciting is each year there seems to be less and less major holes on the team. With what they have returning, I truly believe they'll have what it takes to be a Top 5 team in the country and a legitimate title contender. 

*How in the hell is their Bye week the last week of the season again?

 

[darell1976]

At the beginning of the year focus was getting to the playoffs (winning the BSC was a great bonus) now with this much experience coming back we need to not only knock off Montana in Missoula but beat EWU at the Alerus, win the BSC outright and get playoff wins. An FBS win at Utah would be amazing! Is it August 31st yet?

[Oxbow6]

Next season's mantra "Not one and done"?

Schedule will be more difficult but next year's team should be stout.

[shep]

I see Cloyd come in to a game and see a physical specimen who was rarely used. Why lift the RS if you're not using him?

[homer]

Tough schedule next year but looks good not having Weber or Cal Poly on it.  

May have to make a trip to Montana next year if I can.  Would like to take a game in out there.  

WTF is up with another bye at seasons end.   I think if there was any rust yesterday is was between WR and QB.  

[shep]

WR and QB need lots of work. Missed catches combined with poor passes is really the reason why everyone is mad about yesterday. If a couple of the drives in the 4th Q could have been continued, momentum shifts and it's off to EWU. Instead Studs missed guys or guys missed catches. It's not play calling- it's execution. Sorry that doesn't allow for a coach as scapegoat.

[bang]

29 minutes ago, shep said:

WR and QB need lots of work. Missed catches combined with poor passes is really the reason why everyone is mad about yesterday. If a couple of the drives in the 4th Q could have been continued, momentum shifts and it's off to EWU. Instead Studs missed guys or guys missed catches. It's not play calling- it's execution. Sorry that doesn't allow for a coach as scapegoat.

The problem I have is that today our passing game was off. The jets sweeps and all the other gimmick plays with the exception of the first TD was a failure. We found good success between the tackles and didn't stick with it. In fact went almost completely away from it when we were up 17. Richmond made adjustments on both sides of the ball. That won them the game. It sucks to lose a game getting outplayed but it's totally maddening to get out coached. With that said I don't think that happened often this year. Everybody has bad games. The coaching staffs timing for a bad game was awful. 

[MadScout03]

The dropped balls were crucial, no doubt. With all of the great catches we saw by the receiving corps this year, I'm still surprised there were so many drops. But the missed FG, blocked punt, and running into the kicker penalty is (in my opinion) what really did us in. No question. 

[bang]

5 minutes ago, MadScout03 said:

The dropped balls were crucial, no doubt. With all of the great catches we saw by the receiving corps this year, I'm still surprised there were so many drops. But the missed FG, blocked punt, and running into the kicker penalty is (in my opinion) what really did us in. No question. 

You're right, special teams were awful. They put our defense in some bad spots. Not that our defense in the second was great. Hunt was picked on something fierce. 

[shep]

8 minutes ago, MadScout03 said:

The dropped balls were crucial, no doubt. With all of the great catches we saw by the receiving corps this year, I'm still surprised there were so many drops. But the missed FG, blocked punt, and running into the kicker penalty is (in my opinion) what really did us in. No question. 

I don't disagree with your last sentence, but IF WR's make catches AFTER the running into the punter and the blocked punt, we move the chains and get MO back on our side.

[MadScout03]

Absolutely. There were plenty of opportunities to take the game back. 

[AJS]

1 hour ago, shep said:

I see Cloyd come in to a game and see a physical specimen who was rarely used. Why lift the RS if you're not using him?

This. Cloyd is possibly the best player of last years class and they burned a year playing him on Special Teams and running a couple routes a game. Did he even have 5 catches on the year? Awful decision by the coaching staff. 

[bang]

9 minutes ago, AJS said:

This. Cloyd is possibly the best player of last years class and they burned a year playing him on Special Teams and running a couple routes a game. Did he even have 5 catches on the year? Awful decision by the coaching staff. 

That's a tough one. Obviously it didn't workout to what they wanted but they also were probably thinking ahead to next year and wanted reps in this year. 

[UND-FB-FAN]

Tight End combo of Luke Fiedler and Alex Cloyd will be a very good one for UND in 2017. The offense will need to utilize their pass catching ability more. 

[northdakota18]

Looking at next years schedule, initial gut feeling is that the Eastern Washington game will be for the sole right to the big sky championship. Feel like the team as a whole will take another step forward as they have every year with Bubba, and start putting some teams away rather than nearly every game coming down to the wire. Yesterday sucked but remember that in our 3 losses we lost by a combined 8 points.. Mussman's last season we went 3-8 and lost by a combined 174 points (over 3 TD's per loss) - really puts into perspective how far we've come.

The future is bright