Gameday: F'N Hawks vs Bobcats

[AJS]

5 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

When is this going to change? Every year, we are "starting over" with the offensive line. It is becoming a tired old refrain around here. 

Agreed, but when you have 3 starters out (SR, SR, JR), this is what you get. Positives being if they had a healthy OL, I don't think it would have made a difference. This was strictly on the defensive side of the ball. The defensive display as bad as it looked really wasn't all bad on 1st and 2nd down. I've never before and probably never again will see a team complete over 80% of their 3rd / 4th downs. 

Positive being we've seen what a UND defense is capable under Bubba. This is a situation where they don't have ILB's. Is that on the coaching staff, yes, but when you have what you think is your 2 deep going into Spring camp and 0 can play right now, it's tough. Having a healthy Rodgers / Larson at ILB would have made a huge difference the last two weeks. Add on top of that your two best CB's, it changes things. 

[fightingsioux4life]

1 minute ago, moser53 said:

Grand Forks, UND are being put in a tough postion. Three losses still hope. 

Don't give up. Stay positive.

Craig Bohl was 3-8 in 2009 at SU. 

This is what I am trying to do: Focus on the long-term and not the short-term.

But it's hard to do when people were so excited about this team coming into this season. 

[UND-FB-FAN]

UND pulls in over 12,000 for their first two home games ... only for them to get blown out. Figures...

This is embarrassing. Tough situation.

Go UND

[fightingsioux4life]

Just now, AJS said:

Agreed, but when you have 3 starters out (SR, SR, JR), this is what you get. Positives being if they had a healthy OL, I don't think it would have made a difference. This was strictly on the defensive side of the ball. The defensive display as bad as it looked really wasn't all bad on 1st and 2nd down. I've never before and probably never again will see a team complete over 80% of their 3rd / 4th downs. 

Positive being we've seen what a UND defense is capable under Bubba. This is a situation where they don't have ILB's. Is that on the coaching staff, yes, but when you have what you think is your 2 deep going into Spring camp and 0 can play right now, it's tough. Having a healthy Rodgers / Larson at ILB would have made a huge difference the last two weeks. Add on top of that your two best CB's, it changes things. 

Bubba and his staff have three full recruiting classes under their belts. When you consider they started out with next to nothing and there is always some attrition, that doesn't leave much room for error when it comes to injuries. This is the most banged-up this team has been since 2002...and before that, 1989.

I am not calling for regime change....except for maybe Rudolph. We spent most of the first half running up the middle for no gain and then punting. That put the defense in an impossible position. Time for new leadership on offense. Otherwise, stay the course.

[F'n Hawks]

1 minute ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Bubba and his staff have three full recruiting classes under their belts. When you consider they started out with next to nothing and there is always some attrition, that doesn't leave much room for error when it comes to injuries. This is the most banged-up this team has been since 2002...and before that, 1989.

I am not calling for regime change....except for maybe Rudolph. We spent most of the first half running up the middle for no gain and then punting. That put the defense in an impossible position. Time for new leadership on offense. Otherwise, stay the course.

After watching this game, Firing Rudolph is the least of our problems.

[siouxfan512]

I blame Tom Miller.

[NoDaks]

As a former Offensive lineman, the excuses and passes are pretty sad. We were expected to perform starting Day 1, regardless of age. You were recruited to play this level for a reason. If you can't win  the game yourself, just don't cost the team the game. That simple. If your over matched, focus on walling guys off, not moving them. The team goes where the OLine goes.

[AJS]

I'm interested in the football minds that have watched this program closely. Outside of the obvious coaches, does anybody believe Bubba and most his staff isn't the answer or is this one of those 100 year floods where everything goes wrong from a personal / injury standpoint? Having watched this team over the past 2 years, I believe it's the latter. 

I said it before, but we throw the expectations out the window, we have to look at this from a rebuilding standpoint. Having an OL like we had today might not be what we need to dominate the line today, but give it a season to a mature and we could have 2 years with 4/5ths of it. Rastas is getting important reps to hopefully be a back up next year with experience. CB's that still have 2 / 3 years left after this year. Depth is an issue this year, but hopefully getting youth in their now, will pay off in years to come. 

[Feff]

1 minute ago, NoDaks said:

As a former Offensive lineman, the excuses and passes are pretty sad. We were expected to perform starting Day 1, regardless of age. You were recruited to play this level for a reason. If you can't win  the game yourself, just don't cost the team the game. That simple. If your over matched, focus on walling guys off, not moving them. The team goes where the OLine goes.

Thank you for saying this. There are few excuses I can give the line this year. To me it looks like there is no desire to put the defensive guy into the ground. Where's the mean? Running the ball isn't just technique, it's also mentality. You have to have the attitude you are going to smack the guy across from you and push them back. Too often the line goes nowhere or goes backward, even on power runs. 

[fightingsioux4life]

2 minutes ago, NoDaks said:

As a former Offensive lineman, the excuses and passes are pretty sad. We were expected to perform starting Day 1, regardless of age. You were recruited to play this level for a reason. If you can't win  the game yourself, just don't cost the team the game. That simple. If your over matched, focus on walling guys off, not moving them. The team goes where the OLine goes.

So you think high school kids should be able to come on campus and immediately start performing at a high level? It doesn't work that way in any sport, especially FB. "Next man up" only works when you have built quality depth throughout the program and that doesn't happen overnight. Bubba and company are in this for the long haul and I believe our best days are ahead of us.

[Longtime fan]

2 hours ago, Old Time Hockey said:

Maybe we can cut a few more programs and get more $'s to throw at this team.  That would fix everything!

Go smoke a cock.....you add nothing to the football forum.  

[Midwestern Hawk]

Pretty hard to win when you can't stop the other team running the ball and you can't run the ball.  Not sure where we go from here?  Does anyone have any idea when we get some if the injured oline and ilb back?  Not excusing some of the coaching problems, just some major holes in key positions.

[geaux_sioux]

What happened to our DL? We lost one guy and the unit is trash. I get why the LBs suck. But the DL? That's supposed to be the backbone of this defense. To a man, every single player digressed from last season. It would appear complacency set in over the off season. Same thing happened to Muss' team after the Great West title. I also don't care if a fr OL has to play, they need to at least get their hands on a guy and move them. We've been smashed in the trenches this year. This team is soft. They have no edge. We need to run the table to make the playoffs. That ain't about to happen. Time to bench guys that aren't getting it done for someone who is young and hungry and live with their mistakes.

[fightingsioux4life]

Just now, geaux_sioux said:

What happened to our DL? We lost one guy and the unit is trash. I get why the LBs suck. But the DL? That's supposed to be the backbone of this defense. To a man, every single player digressed from last season. It would appear complacency set in over the off season. Same thing happened to Muss' team after the Great West title. I also don't care if a fr OL has to play, they need to at least get their hands on a guy and move them. We've been smashed in the trenches this year. This team is soft. They have no edge. We need to run the table to make the playoffs. That ain't about to happen. Time to bench guys that aren't getting it done for someone who is young and hungry and live with their mistakes.

I thought the linebackers were the backbone of a 3-4 defense?

[geaux_sioux]

Just now, fightingsioux4life said:

I thought the linebackers were the backbone of a 3-4 defense?

No. The DL take up the blockers and the LBs run around and clean up everything else. Right now our LBs and getting blown up by OL.

[Longtime fan]

13 minutes ago, AJS said:

I'm interested in the football minds that have watched this program closely. Outside of the obvious coaches, does anybody believe Bubba and most his staff isn't the answer or is this one of those 100 year floods where everything goes wrong from a personal / injury standpoint? Having watched this team over the past 2 years, I believe it's the latter. 

I said it before, but we throw the expectations out the window, we have to look at this from a rebuilding standpoint. Having an OL like we had today might not be what we need to dominate the line today, but give it a season to a mature and we could have 2 years with 4/5ths of it. Rastas is getting important reps to hopefully be a back up next year with experience. CB's that still have 2 / 3 years left after this year. Depth is an issue this year, but hopefully getting youth in their now, will pay off in years to come. 

Bubba and Schmitty are the answers for the program.   Rudolph is very comparable to what comes out my dogs ass. The defense is absolutely decimated with injuries.  UND relies on the ILB and NT to make the plays in a 3-4 base.   UND has a 195lb walk on and a 200 converted OLB playing inside. Their hands are tied.  It will be like this all year.   Opposing teams will carve UND up the middle. Deion and  Cole are out....both all Americans plus Evan.   Just an unbelievable amount of injuries.  

  Could UND run the style of offense that both USD and mont st run???  They use the time clock while actually gaining yards and scoring.  

Bubba failed big time at the end of the first half.   

Not sure UND sees .500 this year 

disappointing 

[darell1976]

Still time to turn it around, however a lot of work has to be done to do it. 

[fightingsioux4life]

4 minutes ago, Longtime fan said:

Bubba and Schmitty are the answers for the program.   Rudolph is very comparable to what comes out my dogs ass. The defense is absolutely decimated with injuries.  UND relies on the ILB and NT to make the plays in a 3-4 base.   UND has a 195lb walk on and a 200 converted OLB playing inside. Their hands are tied.  It will be like this all year.   Opposing teams will carve UND up the middle. Deion and  Cole are out....both all Americans plus Evan.   Just an unbelievable amount of injuries.  

  Could UND run the style of offense that both USD and mont st run???  They use the time clock while actually gaining yards and scoring.  

Bubba failed big time at the end of the first half.   

Not sure UND sees .500 this year 

disappointing 

Comment of the day! Thanks for making me laugh on a day like this! 

[Midwestern Hawk]

4 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

I thought the linebackers were the backbone of a 3-4 defense?

It all feeds on on itself.   Schmidt wants to blitz 85% if the time.   Much less effective when they are gouging us up the middle in first down for 5plus yards.  Give MSU, credit for taking advantage of our undersized ILB, I believe #15 is a linebacker on the roster.  Big guy taht can run north and south and did today.

I don't think the DL is playing up to par, but even when the LBers are in position to make a play they are being dragged for a couple extra yards.

[moser53]

22 minutes ago, NoDaks said:

As a former Offensive lineman, the excuses and passes are pretty sad. We were expected to perform starting Day 1, regardless of age. You were recruited to play this level for a reason. If you can't win  the game yourself, just don't cost the team the game. That simple. If your over matched, focus on walling guys off, not moving them. The team goes where the OLine goes.

Online play over the years has been good at UND . Cross your fingers on the kid fron Manitoba coming here we need hin. 

Question what positions are the easiest to recruit  to. I would think linebacker and running back.

[Midwestern Hawk]

4 minutes ago, darell1976 said:

Still time to turn it around, however a lot of work has to be done to do it. 

Possible but unlikely if we cant stop the run.

[Longtime fan]

The D is way to small....how many times did mont st just fall forward for 3-4 or 5 yards.   Way way to small.   Frustrating to watch....I could only imagine how frustrating it is  for Schmitty and bubba  

[NoDaks]

11 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

So you think high school kids should be able to come on campus and immediately start performing at a high level? It doesn't work that way in any sport, especially FB. "Next man up" only works when you have built quality depth throughout the program and that doesn't happen overnight. Bubba and company are in this for the long haul and I believe our best days are ahead of us.

No, i understand if a true freshman struggles. Even red shirt freshman, but after that, it's either not recruiting very well or just not performing. But to be positive, 2 conference losses looks like it could win the conference, anything is still possible, just need one win to get things going again. One difference I have realized is when the hockey team gets embarrassed, the next game is always a must watch because they come out wanting to make up for the embarrassment. Thought I would see the same thing today, and didn't.

[Longtime fan]

1 hour ago, northernraider said:

Might give my homecoming tickets away and take my guest to a Blue Bombers game instead. Except, not sure i could give them away.

Good....don't need you.  Finding out who the real fans are.    You are not one of them. 

[fightingsioux4life]

2 minutes ago, NoDaks said:

No, i understand if a true freshman struggles. Even red shirt freshman, but after that, it's either not recruiting very well or just not performing. But to be positive, 2 conference losses looks like it could win the conference, anything is still possible, just need one win to get things going again. One difference I have realized is when the hockey team gets embarrassed, the next game is always a must watch because they come out wanting to make up for the embarrassment. Thought I would see the same thing today, and didn't.

I am looking forward to the day when we don't have to start true freshmen OR redshirt freshmen. The program isn't there yet. But I think it will be.