2019 Season

[SkoHawks]

I feel like there's a lack of experienced depth on the OL, but not necessarily a lack of talent. I don't think OL will be a weakness, I'm expecting a few guys to break out. Projected starting OL looks good to me plus one of Helgren/Russo, Ventrelli is talented, Mortels solid if he can get healthy, and Nguon is a Swiss army knife that can be used in about any OL position, very valuable. 

[UND1983]

36 minutes ago, ND1 said:

Is it just me, but damn every year we seem to be  thin or lack depth on the o-line !

We have been D1 for how many years now and this is still a recurring concern from year 1???

frustrating!

Probably a reason the OL coach got replaced..aye?

[geaux_sioux]

39 minutes ago, SkoHawks said:

I feel like there's a lack of experienced depth on the OL, but not necessarily a lack of talent. I don't think OL will be a weakness, I'm expecting a few guys to break out. Projected starting OL looks good to me plus one of Helgren/Russo, Ventrelli is talented, Mortels solid if he can get healthy, and Nguon is a Swiss army knife that can be used in about any OL position, very valuable. 

I like our situation at guard and center. Hopefully some of the young tackles blossom.

[Ozzie82]

45 minutes ago, SkoHawks said:

I feel like there's a lack of experienced depth on the OL, but not necessarily a lack of talent. I don't think OL will be a weakness, I'm expecting a few guys to break out. Projected starting OL looks good to me plus one of Helgren/Russo, Ventrelli is talented, Mortels solid if he can get healthy, and Nguon is a Swiss army knife that can be used in about any OL position, very valuable. 

You nailed it. The 1's will be good. The 2's are inexperienced but talented; the hope is that they grow significantly during camp. 

Knopf had his hits and misses recruiting wise (for instance, Hergel and Waletzko most recently are studs, some others not as much), which isn't a surprise considering how hard it is to project offensive linemen. Of course more recruiting hits are preferred, but I think he was replaced mostly because of the lack of growth each season on the field. The new coach is excellent; if there is significant growth on the line this year, I do not expect him to be at UND long term. We don't know how well he recruits, but he sure can coach.

Speaking of how hard it is to recruit/project college OLs, this is an excellent recent article on the subject (subscription required; the Athletic is excellent): 

https://theathletic.com/720233/2018/12/18/college-football-recruiting-offensive-linemen/

[SiouxFan100]

32 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

I like our situation at guard and center. Hopefully some of the young tackles blossom.

One of many things you have taught me over the years is that the tackle position is harder to fill. I get more excited when we get tackle recruits than guards.

[SIOUXFAN97]

18 hours ago, Sioux94 said:

Ditto. Who is going to organize a pool where we can bet which game we get a punt blocked? 

and said punt is reason we miss the playoffs by one game?

[SiouxFan100]

I want to make the playoffs because we are good - I would take backing in but let’s earn it.

Earn it by playing and coaching to our abilities. Being sloppy and allowing blocked punts means we don’t deserve.

Bad breaks will happen. Good plays by our opponents will happen. Crap happens.

Good teams overcome and win. I want this year’s team to be something we are proud of. I want us to win because we are good!

[ND1]

I see Fruend had their baby girl at 3 am and he was back to practice by 8am!!

[SiouxFan100]

1 hour ago, ND1 said:

I see Fruend had their baby girl at 3 am and he was back to practice by 8am!!

I don’t think this is a good thing 

to do it all over again I would place a LOT more value on family than work

just me

[geaux_sioux]

1 hour ago, SiouxFan100 said:

I don’t think this is a good thing 

to do it all over again I would place a LOT more value on family than work

just me

He’s a family man, no worries here

[UND-FB-FAN]

4 hours ago, SiouxFan100 said:

I don’t think this is a good thing 

to do it all over again I would place a LOT more value on family than work

just me

oh ...

I think Danny will be just fine. 

[siouxfan512]

 

4 hours ago, SiouxFan100 said:

I don’t think this is a good thing 

to do it all over again I would place a LOT more value on family than work

just me

If I read correctly earlier, this is baby #3. Guy is veteran now; join the 3 club Danny.

I'm sure him and his wife were on the same page on this one, and he was probably right back to the little one after practice. I'm all for enjoying your time with the kiddos, especially when they are new, but the reality is, even in the hospital, you can't hold them 100% of the time, they are getting tested a lot, feeding, or sleeping. Its a lot of sitting on a crappy couch/chair and watching bad tv, with a few very memorable moments mixed in.

As other's have said, I'm sure Danny is fine, and really .... his family business is none of ours, right? haha

 

[OgieOgilthorpe]

Drake: W but closer than we'd like so we'll worry about the offense, but they're still working out the bugs

NDSU: L by 21 but better game than 3 years ago. UND offense sees some flashes of what the new offense is capable of against a very good D. 

Sam Houston: W in convincing fashion 

EWU: L but give them a good fight. Their aerial firepower will be too much for our D and will out gun UND to pull ahead late in the 3rd quarter

UCD: L another tough loss but gives the team a good gut check to bend but not break

ISU: W Absolute blowout W 

Cal Poly: W in convincing fashion

Montana State: W in a barn burner

Weber State: L in a barn burner

N Colorado: W to keep playoff hopes alive

Southern Utah: W UND has shaken off their injury bug from years past, beats a tough team in a must win game in front of a big deserving crowd at the Alerus and lands a long awaited playoff spot again to revenge the fluke home playoff loss to the spiders. 

Should be in a good spot to have a favorable match-up in the first round that I don't see them losing. 

I believe they'll run into a higher caliber team in the 2nd round that they'll stick with but will be outmatched by. Good progressive season and Bubba is back on track and realizes Rudy was his giant clumsy heavy handcuff.

 

[UNDColorado]

Great mailbag article from Mr. Miller: https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/football/4616325-Herald-UND-football-mailbag-QB-future-breakout-candidates-and-record-prediction#.XVcGeBqYdXg.twitter

 

[Dustin]

7 minutes ago, UNDColorado said:

Great mailbag article from Mr. Miller: https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/football/4616325-Herald-UND-football-mailbag-QB-future-breakout-candidates-and-record-prediction#.XVcGeBqYdXg.twitter

 

I hope we are better than 6-5.

[OgieOgilthorpe]

My pointless unpopular predictions based off of evaluations mostly obtained by the 2nd half of last season. 

One of the 2nd or 3rd string RBs will be more valuable to the team than JJ. I think JJ will have his bone breaking moments and some break-free long TDs, but game in and game out I think this offense will rely much more on a faster, pass catching RB that can keep up with the faster pace. With the new O style contributed with his injury prone body and playing style, dare I wager someone else will double his all purpose yardage plus some. Camcam

Rudy broke Kett so he will continue to struggle when UND faces a tough D-line and LB combo. His performance in the last game of the season has destroyed nearly all confidence I had in him. I have NEVER seen a QB decline as distinctly or as steadily as he did last season...and it's not even close. It was a sight to see, and his long-term confidence and ability to perform under pressure are most likely gone. He will struggle in games where he's seeing constant pressure and Danny will not hesitate to pull him and give Zim a shot (unlike Rudy). Zim will use his mobility but will struggle with decisions. I think UND will run into a QB debate starting late in the 3rd quarter against NDSU and it probably won't be settled until the last couple games of the season. 

I think the defense will flip 180 from their norm of being strong with the run game but weak with aerial attacks. I have confidence in the LBs, but it won't be enough to make up for the weaker DLINE lineup they have this season. Sure they have a few great pass rushers and pursuers, but they don't have nearly enough guys that can hunker down and absorb the blow for the LBs to clean-up so things will get messy and 5-6 yard runs will be constant. With a veteran backfield, athletic LB core, and some good pass rushers, I think the air will mostly be locked down outside of the EWU game. Teams will exploit the weakness and will run run run and it'll pressure the offense to keep up. Thankfully I think the offense will break enough big plays to avoid the constant 3 and outs we saw in the 2nd half of the year that just killed the D.  

I think special teams will be improved but will still be embarrassingly behind for this level of football. There will be blocked punts, short kickoff issues, and the other same issues we saw last year but there will be a marginal improvement to our FG kicking abilities. Kostich should have been gone along with Rudy last year. Outside of the kicker, the ST problems weren't talent issues. 

I think the OL and some of this new RB talent is going to be the bright spot on this 2019 team and they will keep this squad in every game. I think there will be a new combo of thunder and lightning and I think Zim is going to see the field more than expected and will make some plays with his legs. 

Unfortunately the team's strongest position group will not see an enormous up-tick in productivity compared to last season, even with the more favorable offense just due to the QB struggles. We can hope they all stay healthy and can make some plays after the catch to keep the sticks moving. 

 

[Irish]

22 minutes ago, Dustin said:

I hope we are better than 6-5.

If we are 6-5 Bubba should be looking for a job.  Remember back when he refused to deal with Rudy and it cost us a couple of seasons (to say nothing about special teams).  Consensus here was that this was squarely on Bubba.  This is his 6th year and if we are only 6-5 and missing the playoffs again he clearly is not getting it done.  

[AJS]

8-3 winning out at home and @ ISU and Poly. I really do think this team has an incredibly high ceiling. 

[geaux_sioux]

DL has me scared to death right now. If they surprise we could be a very good team. If they flounder against the run we could be in trouble and the NDSU game will be worse defensively than last time.

[SiouxFan100]

If we only would have known a few years ago that Tank and friends were going to graduate last year.

[JohnboyND7]

58 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

DL has me scared to death right now. 

That's never fun.

[SWSiouxMN]

4 hours ago, AJS said:

8-3 winning out at home and @ ISU and Poly. I really do think this team has an incredibly high ceiling. 

Its where I am at

Take care of business at home

Beat the teams you need to beat

[fightingsioux4life]

21 hours ago, UNDColorado said:

Great mailbag article from Mr. Miller: https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/football/4616325-Herald-UND-football-mailbag-QB-future-breakout-candidates-and-record-prediction#.XVcGeBqYdXg.twitter

Pretty pessimistic attitude from Mr. Miller overall. 6-5 finish, this guy isn't ready, that guy isn't eligible, two more are injured and on the shelf, no QB ready to play for next year, blah, blah, blah. I certainly hope the team is better off than that.

[geaux_sioux]

1 hour ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Pretty pessimistic attitude from Mr. Miller overall. 6-5 finish, this guy isn't ready, that guy isn't eligible, two more are injured and on the shelf, no QB ready to play for next year, blah, blah, blah. I certainly hope the team is better off than that.

He’s usually not mr sunshine with his predictions.

[Wilbur]

I'm in the 7-4 boat.  I think they surprise one of the teams they aren't supposed to beat and then have an ISU or Montana State loss.  

Although, I'd take 1-10 if they beat NDSU in Fargo.