2017 Season

[RavenousUte]

15 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

Those three guys have five or six (or more) coming at them on any given play.

You need to rotate them through to stay fresh. 

And this is why teams use hurry up offenses... so you can't rotate defenders.

[AJS]

I do think the increased expectations have really magnified the injuries that have taken place this season, which I do agree aren't that different than most years. What's pretty amazing is where this program is at. Depth is the name of the game, I realize that, but we aren't worried about the starting 11 that will be trotting out their next Thursday, but depth issues at certain positions. This program has come along way, when you look at this team as a whole and you can really only point to two position groups (S & ILB) on the entire team where there are really any worries about depth.

Rereading Craig's article, it appears Larson is still very much in the discussion this year, just not Game 1. I don't think the moves today create any big waves for the year. You'd like to keep the RS on Shannon, but it happens. Turner will now supply depth at LB and not Safety (would still like to see him at Safety one day), as they wait for Larson to get healthy. Then Disterhaupt can move back outside.

 

[Sioux95]

Any chance we would run some base sets with four legitimate d line guys in and just 3 linebackers?  Basically similar to what we often do when we bring on OLB  up to the line, but less disguised.  Seems like an option given our depth.  

[Longtime fan]

3 hours ago, gundy1124 said:

Maybe we shouldn't have 36 defensive linemen when only 3 are on the field at a time.  Compare that to 4 LBs on the field and 4 DBs on the field, base package and up to 6 DBs if we had the personnel.  Just a thought.

Minus true freshman,  there's 9 d lineman for 3 positions and 13 OLB/ILB for 4 positions on the roster.    Outside of Donnell there is literally no player with game time play at  ILB for UND.  The unexpected retirement of O'Brien was a massive blow.   O'brien was the qb on D.  The starting  LB crew would of been stout this year with Connor, Jake, Donnell and either jade, haas or tanner.   As it is, they are very young and very lightweight.  Noah brings size and speed , albeit young.   If he does come back the OLB will be very good/great and active with Jake moving back and will have some depth ......it's the ILB that's a bit worrisome.

OLB: Jake and haas I would say be starters with jade and tanner backing them up.  Great two deep there. 

ILB: Donnell and Noah starters with rastas and maybe oscar for two deep?  Donnell- stud, Noah, I believe is a stud, rastas needs another 25-30 lbs but is an animal.    Oscar looks pretty good, Dijon seems a little lost currently, cam still injured......few question marks but overall a nice looking crew.  

Cbs:  had Deion not been injured, they would of been extremely talented two deep.

Deion- all American

torrey- fresh all American 

evan- speed speed speed and looks a little bigger this year

tyus- started 1 1/2 years before injury.  

All played as true fresh.  

Bollant is an experienced speed guy...he might contribute a little this year.? The transfer of carter, the would of been senior did not help.  I thought he was very talented. He also played as a true fresh.  Not to mention jahmere would of been a senior this year as well.  That would of given UND a talented three deep at the cb position.  I will add that if Jeremy chinn had not changed his mind....he would be starting opposite of Torrey this year.  He was a first team freshman all American last year for SIU.  

With Deion out blubaugh looks ready to play. Stout young man.  Hieptas looks really good as well  

Coaches have done a great job of recruiting here just some unfortunate circumstances 

Safety :  Rudolph injury hurts immensely as I thought he had a chance to start.   Oozes talent but very green at the position.

injury to Tamas.  His hudl tape is very impressive.  Looks like he's trying to get on the field but seems to be showing some pain as he rubs his chest/shoulder area quite often.  Hope he's good to go. 

seniors cole and flowers provide talent, great leadership and experience......but then who?   If tamas and Andre were not injured this group would of had a nice two deep as well. Cole is most likely to miss some games, as he has every year, so there needs to be someone to step in and it sounds like the coaches are impressed with Shannon. Having a true freshman back at safety is a bit unnerving however.   I have a love/hate for vashon.  At times he looks like a starter then other times, not so much!  Canady looks the part, hope he can answer when called upon. 

 This is the one position on D that has had some issues proving itself outside of Cole in bubbas time. 

Overall UND has done a great job of recruiting but due to unfortunate circumstances, transfers and injuries some positions are rail thin, namely/currently  at safety and ILB.  Football is a contact sport and there will obviously be injuries  but und seems to be hit in areas where they are already the most inexperienced at.  

 

[gundy1124]

1 hour ago, Longtime fan said:

Minus true freshman,  there's 9 d lineman for 3 positions and 13 OLB/ILB for 4 positions on the roster.    Outside of Donnell there is literally no player with game time play at  ILB for UND.  The unexpected retirement of O'Brien was a massive blow.   O'brien was the qb on D.  The starting  LB crew would of been stout this year with Connor, Jake, Donnell and either jade, haas or tanner.   As it is, they are very young and very lightweight.  Noah brings size and speed , albeit young.   If he does come back the OLB will be very good/great and active with Jake moving back and will have some depth ......it's the ILB that's a bit worrisome.

OLB: Jake and haas I would say be starters with jade and tanner backing them up.  Great two deep there. 

ILB: Donnell and Noah starters with rastas and maybe oscar for two deep?  Donnell- stud, Noah, I believe is a stud, rastas needs another 25-30 lbs but is an animal.    Oscar looks pretty good, Dijon seems a little lost currently, cam still injured......few question marks but overall a nice looking crew.  

Cbs:  had Deion not been injured, they would of been extremely talented two deep.

Deion- all American

torrey- fresh all American 

evan- speed speed speed and looks a little bigger this year

tyus- started 1 1/2 years before injury.  

All played as true fresh.  

Bollant is an experienced speed guy...he might contribute a little this year.? The transfer of carter, the would of been senior did not help.  I thought he was very talented. He also played as a true fresh.  Not to mention jahmere would of been a senior this year as well.  That would of given UND a talented three deep at the cb position.  I will add that if Jeremy chinn had not changed his mind....he would be starting opposite of Torrey this year.  He was a first team freshman all American last year for SIU.  

With Deion out blubaugh looks ready to play. Stout young man.  Hieptas looks really good as well  

Coaches have done a great job of recruiting here just some unfortunate circumstances 

Safety :  Rudolph injury hurts immensely as I thought he had a chance to start.   Oozes talent but very green at the position.

injury to Tamas.  His hudl tape is very impressive.  Looks like he's trying to get on the field but seems to be showing some pain as he rubs his chest/shoulder area quite often.  Hope he's good to go. 

seniors cole and flowers provide talent, great leadership and experience......but then who?   If tamas and Andre were not injured this group would of had a nice two deep as well. Cole is most likely to miss some games, as he has every year, so there needs to be someone to step in and it sounds like the coaches are impressed with Shannon. Having a true freshman back at safety is a bit unnerving however.   I have a love/hate for vashon.  At times he looks like a starter then other times, not so much!  Canady looks the part, hope he can answer when called upon. 

 This is the one position on D that has had some issues proving itself outside of Cole in bubbas time. 

Overall UND has done a great job of recruiting but due to unfortunate circumstances, transfers and injuries some positions are rail thin, namely/currently  at safety and ILB.  Football is a contact sport and there will obviously be injuries  but und seems to be hit in areas where they are already the most inexperienced at.  

 

2 points

1- as we have seen, this staff likes to drop safeties to LBs, maybe need to start with more safeties.  If an LB gets to 250, that could be an easy position change to D end.  D lineman don't  move the other way.

2- Half of the LBs on the roster might as well be on the Cleveland Indians roster in the Major League movie. 

[Sioux94]

Just watched the Richmond game from last year.  I should have stopped the tape with 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter........Ugh that final 19 minutes is tough to watch.  Remembered momentum shifting after the running into the kicker, forgot we also got a punt blocked in the 4th quarter as well which gave them 3 points.  Sure hope the special teams figures sh*t out this year, because punt team last year was horrible.

Think I'll need to watch some more positive highlights tomorrow or later this week.

[Longtime fan]

9 hours ago, gundy1124 said:

2 points

1- as we have seen, this staff likes to drop safeties to LBs, maybe need to start with more safeties.  If an LB gets to 250, that could be an easy position change to D end.  D lineman don't  move the other way.

2- Half of the LBs on the roster might as well be on the Cleveland Indians roster in the Major League movie. 

Yeah they basically start 4 safeties  with all the OLB being converted safeties.  A lot of 6'2" 200 close to the line.  

[gundy1124]

6 hours ago, Sioux94 said:

Just watched the Richmond game from last year.  I should have stopped the tape with 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter........Ugh that final 19 minutes is tough to watch.  Remembered momentum shifting after the running into the kicker, forgot we also got a punt blocked in the 4th quarter as well which gave them 3 points.  Sure hope the special teams figures sh*t out this year, because punt team last year was horrible.

Think I'll need to watch some more positive highlights tomorrow or later this week.

I re-watched last week - it was tough.  Your observations are spot on.  Right before the blocked punt our O-line had a horrible 3rd down pass protection.  

Also, O'Brein and Bakkar could not make open space tackles on high caliber players. 

How about the 1st drive, we miss a field goal, very make-able!!  

[Siouxperfan7]

 

UND sells nearly 1,200 new football season tickets as season opener looms

http://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-football/4316772-und-sells-nearly-1200-new-football-season-tickets-season-opener-looms

[ND1]

Shout out to Midco and UND for putting on a great fanfest event last night!!  The largest turnout I have seen.  

[BarnWinterSportsEngelstad]

On 8/24/2017 at 9:32 AM, gundy1124 said:

I re-watched last week - it was tough.  Your observations are spot on.  Right before the blocked punt our O-line had a horrible 3rd down pass protection.  

Also, O'Brein and Bakkar could not make open space tackles on high caliber players. 

How about the 1st drive, we miss a field goal, very make-able!!  

That game still hurts, so many things went wrong in the last 19 minutes, or if just a few would of went the other way. Hopefully is an experience that helps build the team.

[fightingsioux4life]

1 hour ago, BarnWinterSportsEngelstad said:

That game still hurts, so many things went wrong in the last 19 minutes, or if just a few would of went the other way. Hopefully is an experience that helps build the team.

It was a young team that didn't know how to close out a big game. That experience will help them in the long run.

[UND Fan]

2 hours ago, ND1 said:

Shout out to Midco and UND for putting on a great fanfest event last night!!  The largest turnout I have seen.  

Glad to hear there was a great turnout.  What took place - was there a walk-through practice?

[ND1]

UND Players had the youth football players run drills for an hour, followed up with free pizza and meet/great with all players and coaches 

[UND Fan]

 

14 minutes ago, ND1 said:

UND Players had the youth football players run drills for an hour, followed up with free pizza and meet/great with all players and coaches 

Cool - thanks!

[darell1976]

I missed out on the fan fest but saw pics of people getting yard signs, where can I get one?

[Midwestern Hawk]

On 8/23/2017 at 2:48 PM, SIOUXFAN97 said:

are we really that thin at linebacker (larson) u when a true freshman getting hurt is gonna cause us this much shuffling of positions?

Seems strange that a true freshman going down would cause this  much change.  What about the other true frosh ILB?  Reynolds?  Is he in the mix?  Are Geier and Nevermann struggling?  Was the other True frosh(Larson) that good or the other guys struggling that much?  What about Safety?  I guess Turner moving to OLB opens the door for Shannon who I have read could use another year to mature his body but is  a great athlete.  Salt Lake can' tget here fast enough!

[UND Dood]

1 hour ago, darell1976 said:

I missed out on the fan fest but saw pics of people getting yard signs, where can I get one?

I need a yard sign also

[UNDColorado]

Two deep for Utah is out:

http://millersports.areavoices.com/2017/08/26/und-releases-2-deep-for-utah/

One glaring thought: I do not like seeing Cole Reyes in the punt return 2 deep. We cannot afford to lose him.

[SIOUXFAN97]

aplin ahead of both tobin and bell?

no jj anywhere?

reyes still returning punts????? stupid

[UND-FB-FAN]

3 minutes ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

aplin ahead of both tobin and bell?

no jj anywhere?

reyes still returning punts????? stupid

Special teams is a key component of the game. Overlooking it has cost UND in the past. Perhaps time to start using more talented players. Blocked punts and botched punt returns are unacceptable.

[ND1]

6 minutes ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

aplin ahead of both tobin and bell?

no jj anywhere?

reyes still returning punts????? stupid

JJ is banged up a bit and will probably not play in Utah, should be good for potato bowl 

[SIOUXFAN97]

17 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Special teams is a key component of the game. Overlooking it has cost UND in the past. Perhaps time to start using more talented coaches. Blocked punts and botched punt returns are unacceptable.

fixed

[Teeder11]

6 minutes ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

fixed

Take your meds.

[MoSiouxFan]

1 minute ago, Teeder11 said:

Take your meds.

Amen.