BarnWinterSportsEngelstad Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 UND football players know there's very little wiggle room left in the 2021 season if the Fighting Hawks are going to make the FCS playoffs for the fourth time in six seasons. They also know they'd need to win while traveling to play one of the hottest teams in the country. No. 22 UND visits No. 4 Southern Illinois on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Carbondale in a matchup of two teams with opposite momentums. https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/football/7234415-UND-players-feel-the-urgency-as-No.-22-Fighting-Hawks-travel-to-No.-4-Southern-Illinois Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarnWinterSportsEngelstad Posted October 13, 2021 Author Share Posted October 13, 2021 CARBONDALE — Two West Coast road trips, and two top-25 opponents to open Missouri Valley Football Conference play was tough enough for North Dakota's football team. "Well I think we're disappointed overall, but I do believe our guys will really fight, and we have a really big opportunity in front of us on Saturday, which is what we need at this point," said UND coach Kyle "Bubba" Schweigert, a former defensive coordinator at SIU under Dale Lennon from 2008-13. "We lost to North Dakota State, who's 2-0 in the league, and South Dakota, who we knew was going to be a very tough opponent on the road, and so you're 0-2 and you really gotta stay in the moment, is what we're preaching to our guys. And I know our guys are talking amongst ourselves, and when we talk to our leadership we understand that this is a really pivotal game and we've gotta get on the win side in the conference race. For our season, that would give us a big boost to go down and get a big win on the road." https://thesouthern.com/sports/college/salukimania/siu-football-fighting-hawks-struggling-to-finish-off-drives/article_568c29bd-a7a6-520c-a362-4716a0c9cb35.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJS Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 I'm coming at this as a realist. This is a game that UND will not win. It's not happening. I'm viewing this game from a different point of view than I would usually. I'm looking for passion, defense to continue to play well. Offensively, take that step forward, start heading in the right direction, give the fans hope for future games. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarnWinterSportsEngelstad Posted October 13, 2021 Author Share Posted October 13, 2021 Bubba has been is this house many times, we do have a Puncher's Chance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sioux24/7 Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 14 minutes ago, AJS said: I'm coming at this as a realist. This is a game that UND will not win. It's not happening. I'm viewing this game from a different point of view than I would usually. I'm looking for passion, defense to continue to play well. Offensively, take that step forward, start heading in the right direction, give the fans hope for future games. This is how I’m feeling. I will tune into the game but I’m not confident. Defense may give us a chance, although not if SIU pounds the rock like USD was able to. Javon Williams really scares me. Offense, I just don’t know anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxfan512 Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 Bubba cost us the NDSU game. From what I saw, Danny didn't create anything offensively in the USD game. Defense seems to be the only piece of this puzzle keeping it together. What happened to our creativity on offense? Clearly our O-Line isn't up to last year, but how the hell do we not adapt to that and get the QB out in space more. All I know is these team became a lot less interesting and fast. I'm hopeful they can salvage the season, but definitely not confident. The NDSU loss should of happened, but it was more understandable. Losing to USD should not have happened. I don't care if its a road game, that is one you have to win. After last spring, this is disappointing to say the least. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kab Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 Just no excitement with this team im looking at at 38 to 12 loss at siu on the road, outside game, who knows what the weather brings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geaux_sioux Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 I didn’t believe in this team after the first game and I still don’t. The defense has been better than I thought but the offense has been absolutely terrible this far. Pair that with the fact that SIU is riding high but will also be out for revenge and we will need to see a totally different UND team on Saturday for us to have a chance. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxbow6 Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 35 minutes ago, siouxfan512 said: Bubba cost us the NDSU game. From what I saw, Danny didn't create anything offensively in the USD game. Defense seems to be the only piece of this puzzle keeping it together. What happened to our creativity on offense? Clearly our O-Line isn't up to last year, but how the hell do we not adapt to that and get the QB out in space more. All I know is these team became a lot less interesting and fast. I'm hopeful they can salvage the season, but definitely not confident. The NDSU loss should of happened, but it was more understandable. Losing to USD should not have happened. I don't care if its a road game, that is one you have to win. After last spring, this is disappointing to say the least. That first statement will ultimately define this season. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irish Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 52 minutes ago, BarnWinterSportsEngelstad said: Bubba has been is this house many times, we do have a Puncher's Chance! If only our offense could punch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geaux_sioux Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 I will be happy if I see a team that fights for 4 quarters. An actual 4 quarter performance. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 I just don't see this team winning at SIU. Tough that we are talking about a team not playing with any passion after that NDSU game where a lot of guys battled like hell. @ SIU.....loss 2-4. Western.....win 3-4 @ Missouri State....Loss 3-5 Youngstown....win 4-5 Illinois State...Win 5-5 @ SDSU....loss 5-6 So you've got to flip two of those road losses to make the playoffs. Maybe they beat Missouri, but I just can't see them winning in Brookings. Have to go 5-1 at this point to make the postseason..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiouxFan100 Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 I would like to think we always have a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tnt Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 I think this game is critical in that if we lose this game, I think you lose a lot of guys mentally for the remainder of the season. If you lose the team mentally, I could see an exodus at the end of the year from guys that think they can find greener pastures. It is hard to know the mindset of a lot of the players, but hopefully Kyle Hergel is an example that spots on "more desirable" destinations don't always pan out like they think they will. Let's hope this weekend goes well, and they don't have to go down that path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux94 Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 43 minutes ago, SiouxFan100 said: I would like to think we always have a chance. For me the thing that makes me have a sliver at a chance is.....SIU is riding super high after the SDSU win. It's their Homecoming......so they may be coming in over confident in this game thinking they are just going to curb stomp us (which is a possibility). I'm hoping our offense comes out with a sense of purpose like the Utah State game and we somehow pull the upset. This is wishful thinking though, and I know the odds are not good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post bincitysioux Posted October 13, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted October 13, 2021 I expect North Dakota will win this game. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarnWinterSportsEngelstad Posted October 13, 2021 Author Share Posted October 13, 2021 4 hours ago, bincitysioux said: I expect North Dakota will win this game. Hoping you do expect the W. Never know on this board if posts are serious or purple. Lot of negative arrows being shot at the home team recently. I'm thinking we are over our Herd letdown in SD. The Salukis likely be a little over confident. We lost by 6 & 7 in the Valley, remember the MVFC reputation. Pollsters haven't given up on us yet. Plenty of Hawk fans be cheering on Saturday. The unpredictables happen, look at last week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geaux_sioux Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 I don’t buy that the Salukis will be overconfident for this game since they were noticeably salty about the ass kicking we handed them last spring. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kab Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 63 degrees and 11 MPH wind is predicted at game time looks like good weather to bring home a victory but having my doubts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forksandspoons Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 Need to run for 200+ yards. I think the Hawks can win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UND-FB-FAN Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 In Bubba‘s tenure, these are the kind of games that UND plays well in. Pressure is off after 0-2 conference start, must win, nobody gives you a chance, UND will probably win this football game. Unfortunately, UND likely will still lose another game or two this season and will miss the playoffs. Ultimately finishing around 0.500 as we have come to expect. What else is new, history repeats itself … 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiouxFan100 Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 I have a good feeling about this game. We aren’t as good as we hoped but we aren’t as bad some think. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBR Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 On 10/13/2021 at 11:26 AM, tnt said: I think this game is critical in that if we lose this game, I think you lose a lot of guys mentally for the remainder of the season. Looks to me like a lot of the guys have already checked out mentally. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdub27 Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 47 minutes ago, TBR said: Looks to me like a lot of the guys have already checked out mentally. Based on what? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBR Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 2 hours ago, jdub27 said: Based on what? Pre-snap penalties. Body language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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