UND versus NDSU - 1st DIV I Conference Game 2020 Rona moved to 2021 @ Manure Pit - RIVALRY?

[UNDBIZ]

11 hours ago, Sioux94 said:

My head tells me UND 24-17, but my heart tells me different.  It's been a rough 10 years.....I need to see us do it before my heart can believe it.  

[Wilbur]

I know little in the world of football compared to Bubba or Entz, but I just can't believe that NDSU would start Zeb on Saturday.

Giving the kid the benefit of the doubt.  Is he playing that poorly, or has the bar been set by past Bison QBs who are or will be wearing NFL uniforms?

From what I see the Freshman gives them a better chance to win.

[Midwestern Hawk]

5 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

I know little in the world of football compared to Bubba or Entz, but I just can't believe that NDSU would start Zeb on Saturday.

Giving the kid the benefit of the doubt.  Is he playing that poorly, or has the bar been set by past Bison QBs who are or will be wearing NFL uniforms?

From what I see the Freshman gives them a better chance to win.

Miller as QB gives the Bison the threat of a QB that can run, but I would guess limits lots of other parts of the playbook.  All but one of the drives with Miller went nowhere.  Zeb's pocket presence is that of a statue.

[Bison06]

23 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

I know little in the world of football compared to Bubba or Entz, but I just can't believe that NDSU would start Zeb on Saturday.

Giving the kid the benefit of the doubt.  Is he playing that poorly, or has the bar been set by past Bison QBs who are or will be wearing NFL uniforms?

From what I see the Freshman gives them a better chance to win.

 

18 minutes ago, Midwestern Hawk said:

Miller as QB gives the Bison the threat of a QB that can run, but I would guess limits lots of other parts of the playbook.  All but one of the drives with Miller went nowhere.  Zeb's pocket presence is that of a statue.

Miller, though inexperienced, fits the mold of the successful NDSU QB’s. Extremely limited sample size obviously, but he also seems to have a bit more “gamer” in him. Making things happen when a play breaks down and you have to move on from option A.

[Siouxperfan7]

33 minutes ago, Midwestern Hawk said:

Miller as QB gives the Bison the threat of a QB that can run, but I would guess limits lots of other parts of the playbook.  All but one of the drives with Miller went nowhere.  Zeb's pocket presence is that of a statue.

Freshman quarterbacks have fared well for NDSU in the past.  But started a true freshman making his first career start against the top team in the conference (who is also an in state rival) is a lot to ask for.  This is the biggest game for UND football in the D1 era.  And they are going to bring their A game.  Scrambling QB's can be successful, but one thing that happens if the scramble and hold the ball to long is they get hit.  Regardless of who is taking the snaps for the Bison on Saturday, the we are going to have to get to the QB.  Bison fans will fail to admit this, but UND has a really good defense.  And they are going to bring it from everywhere on Saturday.  It may be "Miller Time" for Bison fans, but we are going to make him feel like he just drank a case of Miller after the game!!! 

[Siouxperfan7]

Hawks +3.5 for Saturday.  We are the underdogs.  Just the right mindset the team needs to have entering this game.  

[Bison06]

10 minutes ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

Freshman quarterbacks have fared well for NDSU in the past.  But started a true freshman making his first career start against the top team in the conference (who is also an in state rival) is a lot to ask for.  This is the biggest game for UND football in the D1 era.  And they are going to bring their A game.  Scrambling QB's can be successful, but one thing that happens if the scramble and hold the ball to long is they get hit.  Regardless of who is taking the snaps for the Bison on Saturday, the we are going to have to get to the QB.  Bison fans will fail to admit this, but UND has a really good defense.  And they are going to bring it from everywhere on Saturday.  It may be "Miller Time" for Bison fans, but we are going to make him feel like he just drank a case of Miller after the game!!! 

Bison fans won’t fail to admit that UND has a solid defense. I’ve said it here, I’ve read it on Bisonville, every analysis of the game I’ve seen mentions UND’s defense as a strength. 

[Midwestern Hawk]

48 minutes ago, Bison06 said:

 

Miller, though inexperienced, fits the mold of the successful NDSU QB’s. Extremely limited sample size obviously, but he also seems to have a bit more “gamer” in him. Making things happen when a play breaks down and you have to move on from option A.

I agree with your thoughts on the "gamer" aspect, although the sample size is very limited.  He also needs to learn to get out of bounds and protect himself.  He took several hard hits during his limited plays Saturday including a shot near the goal line on the last drive.  If that was anyone besides a DB who hit him, likely would be Zeb for sure this Saturday.

[Bison06]

5 minutes ago, Midwestern Hawk said:

I agree with your thoughts on the "gamer" aspect, although the sample size is very limited.  He also needs to learn to get out of bounds and protect himself.  He took several hard hits during his limited plays Saturday including a shot near the goal line on the last drive.  If that was anyone besides a DB who hit him, likely would be Zeb for sure this Saturday.

I agree. Miller needs to learn that ASAP or his season won’t last long. I think every QB needs that lesson as they move from HS to college and then again from college to NFL. Those hits are so much harder as you move up each level, can’t get away with trying to truck linebackers and safeties in college like you can as a stud HS quarterback.

[Hardcore Hawk]

15 minutes ago, Bison06 said:

I agree. Miller needs to learn that ASAP or his season won’t last long. I think every QB needs that lesson as they move from HS to college and then again from college to NFL. Those hits are so much harder as you move up each level, can’t get away with trying to truck linebackers and safeties in college like you can as a stud HS quarterback.

We know Miller is more mobile, but I think the big question is how well does he do throwing? There's gotta be some reason Zeb won the job originally. IIRC, he had a very good back shoulder throw to Watson early on in the game. I think that's going to be the big thing. UND typically has done a good job with containing QBs, but if he starts picking apart the secondary, who has been the weakness so far of the defense, it'll be a long day.

[Dustin]

4 minutes ago, Hardcore Hawk said:

picking apart the secondary, who has been the weakness so far of the defense

Don't we have incredible depth and talent at Cornerback?  Or is it against other positions in which opponents are having success?  It seems strange that, of all things, this would be our vulnerability.

[Bison06]

15 minutes ago, Hardcore Hawk said:

We know Miller is more mobile, but I think the big question is how well does he do throwing? There's gotta be some reason Zeb won the job originally. IIRC, he had a very good back shoulder throw to Watson early on in the game. I think that's going to be the big thing. UND typically has done a good job with containing QBs, but if he starts picking apart the secondary, who has been the weakness so far of the defense, it'll be a long day.

That back shoulder throw was actually from Miller.

Zeb clearly showed something in practice that made him the starter, I doubt they are going to write him off completely, especially if Miller struggles. Lots of question marks for NDSU heading into the rest of the season.

I’m actually really enjoying the uncertainty this year. First season in about 7 years that I’ve actually been paying close attention because there is a feeling we may actually lose that didn’t exist in the past few years. Not intending to sound arrogant, just stating the odd reality of being bored when the outcome seems predetermined 

[jdub27]

23 minutes ago, Dustin said:

Don't we have incredible depth and talent at Cornerback?  Or is it against other positions in which opponents are having success?  It seems strange that, of all things, this would be our vulnerability.

We do and I would say they have been playing a bit below the expected level going into the season. Also probably fair to say that because of the talent that is (expected to be) there, they are also leaving them out on an island and not bringing as much help over the top, so any mistakes are amplified. 

[Hardcore Hawk]

4 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

We do and I would say they have been playing a bit below the expected level going into the season. Also probably fair to say that because of the talent that is (expected to be) there, they are also leaving them out on an island and not bringing as much help over the top, so any mistakes are amplified. 

The corners, I think, haven't been bad by any means. I think the safeties get caught too often on play action and are slow to recover and protect against the deep ball. It just seems like too often there is a wide receiver running free over the middle when the corners want to hand off coverage to the safeties but the safeties are out of position. 

[UNDBIZ]

3 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

We do and I would say they have been playing a bit below the expected level going into the season. Also probably fair to say that because of the talent that is (expected to be) there, they are also leaving them out on an island and not bringing as much help over the top, so any mistakes are amplified. 

Agreed.  Our defense asks A LOT of the CBs.  Goal #1 for them is simply to keep everything in front of them and not give up the home run.  Our defense often relies on the opposing offense getting too aggressive or making a mistake to get off the field.  If they're patient enough to dink and dunk their way down the field 5 yards at a time, we usually let them.

[Siouxperfan7]

Some great quotes from Bisonville on this game.  Always fun to see a sense of doubt amongst the Bison faithful!!

 

"I’ll mark myself in the camp who didn’t want it interesting again... I also said that when they joined the Valley it would only be a matter of time. Did not think it would happen this soon."

"If Zeb starts I dont think NDSU can win this game. If Cam starts I don't know if NDSU can win this game."

"I’m certainly not convinced that we’re actually good this year, that’s for sure."

[geaux_sioux]

2 hours ago, Midwestern Hawk said:

Miller as QB gives the Bison the threat of a QB that can run, but I would guess limits lots of other parts of the playbook.  All but one of the drives with Miller went nowhere.  Zeb's pocket presence is that of a statue.

Zeb is a D2 Drew Bledsoe 

[FlinFlan80]

At the end of the day, I see NDSU using their two horses at TE to attempt to gain leverage on UND. Should be a similar test to when UND faced SDSU, however I didn't expect SDSU to come out throwing deep ball haymakers like they did. I think UND's offense can pump in three TDs and do their part, but I think they will struggle to run the ball like they have. They won't be completely stopped, but it will be much tough with the DL they will face. I've watched every UND game and all but one NDSU game and I see this one being an absolute class. Tommy has passed every test so far, but this is his biggest one yet. Is it Saturday yet?

[geaux_sioux]

57 minutes ago, Dustin said:

Don't we have incredible depth and talent at Cornerback?  Or is it against other positions in which opponents are having success?  It seems strange that, of all things, this would be our vulnerability.

We do but it’s the nature of our defense. We leave those guys on an island often. When we do that we need pressure. 

[Dustin]

Say our rush attack is stymied and we have to throw the ball - are we prepared to win through the air?  I would say "yes" from what I've seen so far.

[Sioux94]

51 minutes ago, FlinFlan80 said:

At the end of the day, I see NDSU using their two horses at TE to attempt to gain leverage on UND. Should be a similar test to when UND faced SDSU, however I didn't expect SDSU to come out throwing deep ball haymakers like they did. I think UND's offense can pump in three TDs and do their part, but I think they will struggle to run the ball like they have. They won't be completely stopped, but it will be much tough with the DL they will face. I've watched every UND game and all but one NDSU game and I see this one being an absolute class. Tommy has passed every test so far, but this is his biggest one yet. Is it Saturday yet?

Kind of glad we had that SDSU game and they started throwing bombs, which worked early, then we seemed to adjust.  Hopefully if NDSU tries this we are a little more prepared for it and can adjust quicker if needed.

I think we are going to have to count on Tommy winning this game for us.  NDSU is going to stack the box to stop Weah and the run game.  Tommy had a lot of passing yards last week, I think he'll likely need 250+ again this week for us to put enough points on the board.  Let's see if Tommy "all he does is win games" Schuster can come up with another one on Saturday! 

Danny will need to call his best game of the year Saturday. 

[Sioux94]

Does anybody know if there are any watch parties in the Mesa area?  I think Bison fans would go to RT O'Sullivans for games, and there was a UND watch party for the Hockey Championship a few years ago.  Anybody know if anything is happening this year? 

[siouxfan512]

43 minutes ago, Sioux94 said:

Does anybody know if there are any watch parties in the Mesa area?  I think Bison fans would go to RT O'Sullivans for games, and there was a UND watch party for the Hockey Championship a few years ago.  Anybody know if anything is happening this year? 

Not sure about Mesa, but I was just in Scottsdale for the past week. Hiked Camelback Mountain while wearing my UND shirt and got about 5 "Go Sioux!" comments on the way down. Also ran into some Yotes fans at the top.

[JohnboyND7]

1 hour ago, Sioux94 said:

Does anybody know if there are any watch parties in the Mesa area?  I think Bison fans would go to RT O'Sullivans for games, and there was a UND watch party for the Hockey Championship a few years ago.  Anybody know if anything is happening this year? 

It appears NDSU also has parties at some place called JJ Madisons.  UND's website doesn't have the same sort of deal it appears.  I'm sure if you show up to an NDSU one there will be some other UND folks as well.  You might get peed on if one if the bigger girls can't find a bathroom but other than that you should be fine amongst the Bison fans.  

https://undalumni.org/WatchParty

[geaux_sioux]

1 hour ago, Dustin said:

Say our rush attack is stymied and we have to throw the ball - are we prepared to win through the air?  I would say "yes" from what I've seen so far.

I don’t think so. We don’t have 2012’s wr group that could separate from any DB at multiple levels. If it’s obvious we need to pass I think we’ll struggle.