Spring Ball

[SiouxFan100]

31 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Undersized.

So did our offensive line man handle our nose guards?

the offense must have had success running up the middle or is our o line not ready to exploit yet?

[geaux_sioux]

42 minutes ago, SiouxFan100 said:

So did our offensive line man handle our nose guards?

the offense must have had success running up the middle or is our o line not ready to exploit yet?

It seemed like most runs either got stuffed big time or had nice gains. It was back and forth.

[AJS]

From a couple days ago:

https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/4597923-rb-depth-chart-pro-potential-and-new-offense-review-heralds-und-football-mailbag

Defensive line is likely UND's biggest need in recruiting after spring ball in terms of players ready to see the field right away.

UND's coaches think Jalen Morrison can be a quality starting nose.

They've also rotated defensive end Carl Engwall into the middle on occasion.

I'd expect an addition of a nose in the form of a junior college transfer or FBS dropdown following spring ball.

This could be a more pressing need in 2020 when UND plays a Missouri Valley schedule than in 2019 against the Big Sky slate because of the difference in how the leagues use fullbacks and power-run schemes.

[The Sicatoka]

On the Weah run: 19 better fix his tackling form or he’ll be in concussion protocol sooner than later. 

[Midwestern Hawk]

15 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

On the Weah run: 19 better fix his tackling form or he’ll be in concussion protocol sooner than later. 

Thought the same thing.  #37 got the best of that collision.

[geaux_sioux]

19 minutes ago, Midwestern Hawk said:

Thought the same thing.  #37 got the best of that collision.

Looks to be wearing 5 now

[UND-FB-FAN]

14 hours ago, ND1 said:

Grover looked good at QB, made the best throws of all QBs

Grover had a few overthrows that were ugly. Ketteringham is a lock to be the starter in 2019.

Grover vs. Zimmerman for No.2 QB is still up in the air I’d say. 

[Fry Bread]

3 hours ago, geaux_sioux said:

Undersized.

I think they are going to miss the size Greer, Tank, and Cieslak brought 

[gundy1124]

3 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:

On the Weah run: 19 better fix his tackling form or he’ll be in concussion protocol sooner than later. 

The challenge is there is nothing to tackle on a guy like Weah.  The Jacks had an RB back in the day, short but strongest guy on the team.  We had 4-5 face mask penalties, just not much to tackle.  Howe at 6' 4" would just jump on the guy, the RB came up to his waist.  So, it's easy to say 19 should tackle better but mark my words, Weah will present all sorts of tackling problems in his career.

[Fry Bread]

4 hours ago, geaux_sioux said:

Here’s the run I mentioned.

 

Impressive 

[sioux24/7]

38 minutes ago, gundy1124 said:

The challenge is there is nothing to tackle on a guy like Weah.  The Jacks had an RB back in the day, short but strongest guy on the team.  We had 4-5 face mask penalties, just not much to tackle.  Howe at 6' 4" would just jump on the guy, the RB came up to his waist.  So, it's easy to say 19 should tackle better but mark my words, Weah will present all sorts of tackling problems in his career.

I’m pumped for him and that we maintained his redshirt. 

[SiouxFan100]

1 hour ago, gundy1124 said:

The challenge is there is nothing to tackle on a guy like Weah.  The Jacks had an RB back in the day, short but strongest guy on the team.  We had 4-5 face mask penalties, just not much to tackle.  Howe at 6' 4" would just jump on the guy, the RB came up to his waist.  So, it's easy to say 19 should tackle better but mark my words, Weah will present all sorts of tackling problems in his career.

If Gundy is impressed and pumped than I am impressed and pumped 

[TBR]

Weah looked good against UNC in Greeley last fall, a game that I attended. He was put in late in the game with things well under control, so I thought they were just letting the 1st through 3rd stringers some rest in garbage time. Before I had time to think much more about who he was he scored on a nice run in which he had to carefully pick his way through the defense. 

[Ozzie82]

Welp, there's been the predictable amount of chatter about the spring game. Very few observations here, very little media (although I expect UND football 360 would have an article at some point, and Midco is supposed to produce a "Day by Day" segment). The football program didn't put much into it, and they aren't getting much out of it. There isn't a lot of buzz following the event.

 

As stated by other posters earlier, there are some programs who are de-emphasizing the spring game, while others still make it an event. By creating a graphic advertising the game, and by inviting recruits, UND has chosen to make it a "thing."

 

To me, it begs the question: what is the purpose of the spring game? For most programs it has 3 purposes. One, it's the 15th - and final - practice of spring. That was accomplished, and we hope it was productive (especially for the offense because of the new system).

 

Two, it's to impress recruits. Since UND invited recruits, clearly they are hoping to make an impression on them. Judging by social media here were a good sized group of recruits there. I was there; I didn't see anything that would have screamed to an potential recruit, "Man, this is really fun! The players are having a great time! I have to be a part of this!" I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary that prioritized recruiting, it was simply an opportunity for recruits to watch practice. No music, no announcer, no fun drills, nothing in the stands to generate excitement. Making recruiting a priority is the backbone of most schools that still do this event and that's not the case here at UND.

 

Three, it's to generate excitement for the upcoming season, to sell tickets, to make a positive brand impression. I think they failed on this point; I don't think the spring game generated any kind of excitement. I said to myself multiple times while I was there, "Why would anyone come to this? Unless you are a parent, a girlfriend, or a huge football fan, there is nothing here that would draw the average fan or family to attend this." Flat out - it was boring. And I LOVE football.

 

In summary, I continue to think that the spring game as a missed opportunity. Every year less and less effort is put into it; at this point they should probably just cancel it. Hell, if you've ever been to a regular practice they have music... they should just make it a regular practice, not advertise it, and be done with it.

[gundy1124]

2 minutes ago, Ozzie82 said:

Two, it's to impress recruits. Since UND invited recruits, clearly they are hoping to make an impression on them. Judging by social media here were a good sized group of recruits there. I was there; I didn't see anything that would have screamed to an potential recruit, "Man, this is really fun! The players are having a great time! I have to be a part of this!" I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary that prioritized recruiting, it was simply an opportunity for recruits to watch practice. No music, no announcer, no fun drills, nothing in the stands to generate excitement. Making recruiting a priority is the backbone of most schools that still do this event and that's not the case here at UND.

Maybe we are more concerned about football players that want to play football vrs. the football players that seem more worried about 60 twitter posts about being awesome, 26 offers and counting, committing-decommitting-committing-decommitting, smack talking, dancing on the sidelines, 24 arm bands, than playing football.  

[UND1983]

360 is going to live chat tomorrow.

 

 

[Ozzie82]

49 minutes ago, gundy1124 said:

Maybe we are more concerned about football players that want to play football vrs. the football players that seem more worried about 60 twitter posts about being awesome, 26 offers and counting, committing-decommitting-committing-decommitting, smack talking, dancing on the sidelines, 24 arm bands, than playing football.  

In the recent past they've had combinations of music, an announcer, and fun drills and it does not appear that it led to an increase in the type of player you're talking about. 

[Sioux94]

1 hour ago, gundy1124 said:

Maybe we are more concerned about football players that want to play football vrs. the football players that seem more worried about 60 twitter posts about being awesome, 26 offers and counting, committing-decommitting-committing-decommitting, smack talking, dancing on the sidelines, 24 arm bands, than playing football.  

I could be wrong, but haven't you said in the past that having new, flashy or cool uniforms is important for recruiting?  Or maybe that was Geausioux.   I'd rather have a fun atmosphere as a recruit over flashy uniforms. 

I'm ok not keeping score and what not for the spring game, but I remember when Nevermann made that one move in a drill in spring practice that got people all excited.  From the sounds of it the general opinion is that the spring game this year was extra boring.  It really wouldn't take too much to make it a little more exciting.  I was looking forward to it being streamed, but maybe with the new offense this year they purposely didn't stream it?  We have a pretty big game the second game of the year, might be able to show a few things in that game that we won't show verses Drake. 

[geaux_sioux]

53 minutes ago, Sioux94 said:

I could be wrong, but haven't you said in the past that having new, flashy or cool uniforms is important for recruiting?  Or maybe that was Geausioux.   I'd rather have a fun atmosphere as a recruit over flashy uniforms. 

I'm ok not keeping score and what not for the spring game, but I remember when Nevermann made that one move in a drill in spring practice that got people all excited.  From the sounds of it the general opinion is that the spring game this year was extra boring.  It really wouldn't take too much to make it a little more exciting.  I was looking forward to it being streamed, but maybe with the new offense this year they purposely didn't stream it?  We have a pretty big game the second game of the year, might be able to show a few things in that game that we won't show verses Drake. 

Recruits like a good uniform. Hell, even meet and potatoes NDSU has an alternate helmet that gets a ton of love and it has zero resemblance to anything in their programs history. If something with a little flash can catch the eye of a recruit or two and year that can put us over the top we’d be crazy to not try and capitalize on that. 

[gundy1124]

35 minutes ago, Sioux94 said:

I could be wrong, but haven't you said in the past that having new, flashy or cool uniforms is important for recruiting?  Or maybe that was Geausioux.   I'd rather have a fun atmosphere as a recruit over flashy uniforms. 

I'm ok not keeping score and what not for the spring game, but I remember when Nevermann made that one move in a drill in spring practice that got people all excited.  From the sounds of it the general opinion is that the spring game this year was extra boring.  It really wouldn't take too much to make it a little more exciting.  I was looking forward to it being streamed, but maybe with the new offense this year they purposely didn't stream it?  We have a pretty big game the second game of the year, might be able to show a few things in that game that we won't show verses Drake. 

Could be me.  The reason I am "pro-uni" with multiple combinations is because it's fun/exciting on "game day" itself, when it counts. 

[Ozzie82]

20 minutes ago, gundy1124 said:

Could be me.  The reason I am "pro-uni" with multiple combinations is because it's fun/exciting on "game day" itself, when it counts. 

The first "when it counts" is getting the best players on your team. Cool unis are not what fans think about them on game day, it's about what recruits think about the unis. It's about the Jimmys and Joes. I would hope the spring game is about creating an environment where kids can't wait to play there some day. What I saw on Friday was not that.

[UNDBIZ]

 

[gundy1124]

4 hours ago, Ozzie82 said:

The first "when it counts" is getting the best players on your team. Cool unis are not what fans think about them on game day, it's about what recruits think about the unis. It's about the Jimmys and Joes. I would hope the spring game is about creating an environment where kids can't wait to play there some day. What I saw on Friday was not that.

What's our record in spring games?

"When it counts," that is.

I have no idea what you want to argue about so I will change my mind.  The spring game is the most important game of the year and we should have crappy uniforms but super good players.

[gundy1124]

On 4/13/2019 at 9:02 AM, geaux_sioux said:

Here’s the run I mentioned.

 

#19, Ty Shannon, Accordian Player of the Game.  He's no slouch.

[UND-FB-FAN]

5 hours ago, Ozzie82 said:

The first "when it counts" is getting the best players on your team. Cool unis are not what fans think about them on game day, it's about what recruits think about the unis. It's about the Jimmys and Joes. I would hope the spring game is about creating an environment where kids can't wait to play there some day. What I saw on Friday was not that.

I do agree a successful program philosophy is far more about the prospective recruits and CURRENT players than the alumni and fans of yesteryear. The alumni and fans (aka us on this forum) may not like to hear that, but UND football support will definitely be there - regardless of the uniforms or spring game antics - if the team wins a bunch in the fall.

Guess what folks-  really good recruits/players are those who do such winning. Not those in the stands whose time has passed.

Awful basic lesson here I guess but I just wanted to remind everyone that UND does perhaps need to step up its approach some in order to better appeal to talented recruits. Yes, that does include improving uniform/helmet alternates and the spring game.

With that said, MOST IMPORTANTLY, HPC Phase II would do far more for UND football than 10 beautiful uniform combos and a flawless spring game combined, but it requires big $$$ that UND doesn’t have [yet].