Reasons for Optimism

[MDtoGF]

This article focuses on more than the record, but more on the culture of Bubba's staff. things are a lot different this offseason than the last 3-8 year. 

https://seamoresports.com/2017/11/14/und-football-2017-a-look-at-the-culture-bubba-has-built/

[SkoHawks]

Optimism? Wrong forum....

 

Thanks for posting, will check it out. 

[Siouxphan27]

Lameism. 

[nodak651]

Right now I wish grand forks had a guy like Dan Cole to put a negative spin on everything.  I'll be optimistic after the playoffs end.

[gundy1124]

7 hours ago, MDtoGF said:

This article focuses on more than the record, but more on the culture of Bubba's staff. things are a lot different this offseason than the last 3-8 year. 

https://seamoresports.com/2017/11/14/und-football-2017-a-look-at-the-culture-bubba-has-built/

A strecth at 3-8.  It would be a better article with a 6-5 record as a disaster year.

[SWSiouxMN]

6 hours ago, nodak651 said:

Right now I wish grand forks had a guy like Dan Cole to put a negative spin on everything.  I'll be optimistic after the playoffs end.

Give me a couple 13-14 seconds and I might be able to find someone

[90siouxfan]

I thought sure some clown would be exuberant that we retained Rudy!!

[The Sicatoka]

13 hours ago, SWSiouxMN said:

Give me a couple 13-14 seconds and I might be able to find someone

"We don't know that." 

IALTO. 

[bincitysioux]

My reasons for optimism:

• Donnel Rogers & Cam Hunt on the field at the same time
• Deion Harris
• Olivera, Santiago, and Johannesen
• An O-Line that will be a year older, more experienced, and hopefully, bigger and stronger
• Fewer injuries
• A coaching staff that hopefully learned some valuable lessons this season, and will have a new found sense of urgency

[shep]

5 minutes ago, bincitysioux said:

My reasons for optimism:

• Donnel Rogers & Cam Hunt on the field at the same time
• Deion Harris
• Olivera, Santiago, and Johannesen
• An O-Line that will be a year older, more experienced, and hopefully, bigger and stronger
• Fewer injuries
• A coaching staff that hopefully learned some valuable lessons this season, and will have a new found sense of urgency

I'm hopeful that Larson, Morrison and Honerlaw also bring it to the D next year.

A different QB will make a big difference too.

[Sioux94]

3 hours ago, shep said:

I'm hopeful that Larson, Morrison and Honerlaw also bring it to the D next year.

A different QB will make a big difference too.

A QB that can drop dimes on the deep ball may finally help stretch the field.  

[UND-FB-FAN]

13 hours ago, bincitysioux said:

My reasons for optimism:

• Donnel Rogers & Cam Hunt on the field at the same time
• Deion Harris
• Olivera, Santiago, and Johannesen
• An O-Line that will be a year older, more experienced, and hopefully, bigger and stronger
• Fewer injuries
• A coaching staff that hopefully learned some valuable lessons this season, and will have a new found sense of urgency

The hopefulness of the final point is telling. We'll see; I'm not holding my breath. 

[AJS]

This year the offense was average and the defense was well below average. Reasons for optimism:

• O-Line have solid returners, many were freshman / sophomores this year
• RB's
• Legitimate depth at QB
• CB's will be greatly improved - Harris / Holm are an excellent starting pair, Blubaugh / Hunt / Carter will give this unit incredible depth
• Rogers / Larson / Cam will be a great ILB group
• RS Freshman D-Line mixed with Tank / Cieslak / Bennett

 

[geaux_sioux]

Everyone is assuming Harris will be back at 100% to start the year. An Achilles injury to a CB can be devistating. He may never be the same. I hope he can come back better than ever for next year but I’m not exactly expecting it.

[Midwestern Hawk]

8 hours ago, AJS said:

This year the offense was average and the defense was well below average. Reasons for optimism:

• O-Line have solid returners, many were freshman / sophomores this year
• RB's
• Legitimate depth at QB
• CB's will be greatly improved - Harris / Holm are an excellent starting pair, Blubaugh / Hunt / Carter will give this unit incredible depth
• Rogers / Larson / Cam will be a great ILB group
• RS Freshman D-Line mixed with Tank / Cieslak / Bennett

 

I am hopeful that you are correct, but Bubba and staff needs to get everyone on the same page and get them so that 95% of their focus at UND is school and football.

[nodak651]

8 hours ago, geaux_sioux said:

Everyone is assuming Harris will be back at 100% to start the year. An Achilles injury to a CB can be devistating. He may never be the same. I hope he can come back better than ever for next year but I’m not exactly expecting it.

yeah... didn't it pretty much end Mollberg's career?  I think his dad said that it had something to do with the position change when he posted on here a while ago.  

Anyways, as far as next year, I think we will be better simply because we will have a better QB.  Keaton is a below average quarterback when he is not running the ball, which he didn't this year.  He averaged 21.7 rushing yards per game this year.  He was in the bottom half of the league in QB efficiency.  The coaches might throw the ball around a little bit more with a better quarterback next year. 

We have talked a lot this year about coaches utilizing the players that they have, and they did not have a good quarterback, so they ran the ball more than most here would have liked.  With a better qb, even with the same amount of attempts, we will see a more balanced offense next season.  I like Keaton, but even Zimmerman already looked better than him this year.  As much as I like the guy, Keaton had a terrible deep ball.

That said, I am still in the fire Rudolph camp, but I don't see that happening.

[geaux_sioux]

40 minutes ago, nodak651 said:

yeah... didn't it pretty much end Mollberg's career?  I think his dad said that it had something to do with the position change when he posted on here a while ago.  

Anyways, as far as next year, I think we will be better simply because we will have a better QB.  Keaton is a below average quarterback when he is not running the ball, which he didn't this year.  He averaged 21.7 rushing yards per game this year.  He was in the bottom half of the league in QB efficiency.  The coaches might throw the ball around a little bit more with a better quarterback next year. 

We have talked a lot this year about coaches utilizing the players that they have, and they did not have a good quarterback, so they ran the ball more than most here would have liked.  With a better qb, even with the same amount of attempts, we will see a more balanced offense next season.  I like Keaton, but even Zimmerman already looked better than him this year.  As much as I like the guy, Keaton had a terrible deep ball.

That said, I am still in the fire Rudolph camp, but I don't see that happening.

Rudolph ended Molbergs career.

[UND-1]

14 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Rudolph ended Molbergs career.

Not true at all, and if it is then Schleusner and Mussman ended his career, also, because they didn't think he was the guy either.

[geaux_sioux]

He was playing well enough as a soph to be giving the job for his career. Rudolph preferred the little quick qb who could only throw 40 yards and under at a 50% clip and throw more ints than tds as a senior. 

[UND-1]

41 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

He was playing well enough as a soph to be giving the job for his career. Rudolph preferred the little quick qb who could only throw 40 yards and under at a 50% clip and throw more ints than tds as a senior. 

Wrong.  Two different staffs deemed him "not their guy".  That is a fact.

[UND-FB-FAN]

56 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

He was playing well enough as a soph to be giving the job for his career. Rudolph preferred the little quick qb who could only throw 40 yards and under at a 50% clip and throw more ints than tds as a senior. 

Mollberg had all the tangibles to be a good quarterback. I think he just needed the coaching and system to put it altogether. Unfortunately, Rudolph didn't provide him that. The Mussman system in 2013 wasn't good either as the running game and defense were non-existent (throwing to Hardin and Golladay were pluses, though).

[geaux_sioux]

13 minutes ago, UND-1 said:

Wrong.  Two different staffs deemed him "not their guy".  That is a fact.

So the staff had him start 7 and appear in 10 games and that was because he was deemed "not their guy"?  

PASSING	GP-GS	Effic	Cmp-Att-Int	Pct	Yards	TD	Long	Avg/G
Joe Mollberg	10-7	117.6	141-241-13	58.5	1729	7	80	172.9
Ryan Bartels	8-4	130.3	116-190-6	61.1	1396	8	75	174.5

[geaux_sioux]

2 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Mollberg had all the tangibles to be a good quarterback. I think he just needed the coaching and system to put it altogether. Unfortunately, Rudolph didn't provide him that. The Mussman system in 2013 wasn't good either as the running game and defense were non-existent (throwing to Hardin and Golladay were pluses, though).

Right before he got injured he was showing that he was making the next step. I felt he was on the verge of actually being a really good/great qb for us then his achilles ruptured and Rudy had his opening to bury him on the depth chart.

[UND-1]

3 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

So the staff had him start 7 and appear in 10 games and that was because he was deemed "not their guy"?  

PASSING	GP-GS	Effic	Cmp-Att-Int	Pct	Yards	TD	Long	Avg/G
Joe Mollberg	10-7	117.6	141-241-13	58.5	1729	7	80	172.9
Ryan Bartels	8-4	130.3	116-190-6	61.1	1396	8	75	174.5

Yep.

[UND-FB-FAN]

4 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Right before he got injured he was showing that he was making the next step. I felt he was on the verge of actually being a really good/great qb for us then his achilles ruptured and Rudy had his opening to bury him on the depth chart.

I do recall his progress up until that 2014 SUU game; however, I think the receiving corps and running game (or lack thereof) would've still limited his success that season. I understand your point of view, just don't completely agree with it. Now, if he was in a system with better receivers and running backs, it could've been a different story.