2022 Football Season

[iramurphy]

34 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Ouch, but the truth. Does Billy Chaves want to do anything cutting edge? 

More importantly, do you and I?  It’s up to you and I and everyone else who wants to win Championships to fund this. Chaves can’t officially do this. His job is to increase coaches salaries, make sure we have max scholarships available and improve facilities. Now is the opportunity for you and I and the rest of us to stop being “complacent “ and contact Gundy who likely knows how to put our money to work. Time to stop talking and start becoming part of the solution. It can help get faster, bigger, stronger players. It will help recruit players who are recruited by other FCS and FBS schools. If you and I want things to change then we need to act, not talk. 
Too many people have the answers as long as someone else pays for it. I learned a long time ago, I can’t make decisions about other peoples money. 

[iramurphy]

2 minutes ago, gundy1124 said:

Right!!  Keep the studs we currently have for one more year is step 1!!  I swear I would head this up but my plate is overflowing right now.  This sounds like a job for a recently retired guy.

Good idea. I’m not retired. Lol. 

[jdub27]

17 minutes ago, Dustin said:

Was there a reported bid that was higher from anyone else?  Montana?

 

14 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Well we outbid NDSU so you never know. That would be an interesting number.

Wouldn't be shocked if Montana's was quite a bit higher than UND's, possibly even double.

Attendance was 13,390. Tickets were $35 each (student tickets were only $5). Assume they sold 12,500 at $35, that's $437,500. Take out $150,000 for expenses (guessing at this point) and they could bid just under $300,000 with no sweat. They have the ability to put out a big number and make sure they are hosting. Obviously that continues to carry weight with the committee....

[UND-FB-FAN]

28 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Apparently bidding. Dollar Bill went in with the hammer.

Absolutely, and since UND didn’t have to pay that, funnel that to the student-athletes. Let’s build some championship rosters. 

[UND-FB-FAN]

6 minutes ago, iramurphy said:

More importantly, do you and I?  It’s up to you and I and everyone else who wants to win Championships to fund this. Chaves can’t officially do this. His job is to increase coaches salaries, make sure we have max scholarships available and improve facilities. Now is the opportunity for you and I and the rest of us to stop being “complacent “ and contact Gundy who likely knows how to put our money to work. Time to stop talking and start becoming part of the solution. It can help get faster, bigger, stronger players. It will help recruit players who are recruited by other FCS and FBS schools. If you and I want things to change then we need to act, not talk. 
Too many people have the answers as long as someone else pays for it. I learned a long time ago, I can’t make decisions about other peoples money. 

You are correct. The NCAA has just recently allowed this with NIL, and as Gundy states, do we want to act now and get things going or wait to be behind the eight ball? 
 

Let’s get something formed, so that we can get folks to push this forward. I - as well as others I am sure - would be apart of that championship building movement.  

[gundy1124]

4 minutes ago, iramurphy said:

Good idea. I’m not retired. Lol. 

I wasn't sure.......any recently retired guys want to head this up?  I will be Treasurer.   

[iramurphy]

3 minutes ago, gundy1124 said:

I wasn't sure.......any recently retired guys want to head this up?  I will be Treasurer.   

I would think obvious group to approach is the FB alumni. They are already funding multiple endowments that are either in or approaching the 6 figure range.  At homecoming one alumnus proposed $1,000,000 donation with strings, but those dollars would go to UND so can’t be part of NIL. All of this needs to be done outside UND and many present donors may then choose to donate for NIL rather than directly to UND. Not sure  if anyone wants to take this on. FB alumni tend to donate to scholarships and right now funding phase 2. This won’t happen overnight but I think initially it might be GF businesses who will benefit from using athletes for marketing. 

[iramurphy]

22 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Absolutely, and since UND didn’t have to pay that, funnel that to the student-athletes. Let’s build some championship rosters. 

Those dollars can’t be diverted to NIL unless some were a commitment from donors to help with the bid. Otherwise I would assume they can be used for athletic dept. priorities. 

[jdub27]

25 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Absolutely, and since UND didn’t have to pay that, funnel that to the student-athletes. Let’s build some championship rosters. 

Your forgetting the $150-200,000 (estimating) in revenue that didn't come in that was going to fund the majority of that bid.

[gundy1124]

4 minutes ago, iramurphy said:

I would think obvious group to approach is the FB alumni. They are already funding multiple endowments that are either in or approaching the 6 figure range.  At homecoming one alumnus proposed $1,000,000 donation with strings, but those dollars would go to UND so can’t be part of NIL. All of this needs to be done outside UND and many present donors may then choose to donate for NIL rather than directly to UND. Not sure  if anyone wants to take this on. FB alumni tend to donate to scholarships and right now funding phase 2. This won’t happen overnight but I think initially it might be GF businesses who will benefit from using athletes for marketing. 

On it.

[Irish]

1 hour ago, iramurphy said:

I can. As I said before, I’m not one of the decision makers. I don’t think there is going to be a change based on the contract and based on a Big Sky and MVFC  championships and this years playoff team. I had higher hopes for this years team as did many of the rest of you.
My expectations are for us to be better next year. We have a good nucleus of RBs, TEs, OL, WRs and 2 returning QBs who have proven they can be effective. These guys all need to continue to get better. We need to improve every position and our depth with our guys we redshirted and any new transfers. We can’t afford to lose any through the portal.

Defensively is a different story. We need help across the board even though we have a handful of guys who have shown they can play. We need to improve our depth in addition to adding starting talent at the obvious positions. Hopefully our new kicker will be as good as advertised. 

The coaches have from now until next fall to move things forward. I will continue to support the program and the coaches hired to get the job done.  I’m just a fan like the rest of you. The fan forum is entertaining and a source of information for me. It should be ok to have different perspectives. 

I think it's great to have different perspectives and always appreciate yours. Always well thought out.  I hope we can take the next step next year.  And it's not like people who complain here don't support the team in other ways - most like me have season tickets and many have joined whatever Club (Coaches etc) that they can afford.  We all want the same thing.  Thanks for your reply.  

[nodak651]

Many think Bubba has peaked and the program can't get any better (under Bubba).  I'm not so sure about that, especially if Bubba revamps the defense.  I still see a pretty clear trend of improvement.  This is UND's overall Massey rating since UND began its transition.  This ranking includes FBS teams.  Bubba has steadily improved the program and he doesn't even have the new coaching offices or locker rooms yet.  Bubba has been doing this with mostly D2 players, according to many.  Recruiting should improve once the new facilities are built, and I think this program will continue to improve as well.

[MNHawk]

Let’s set some expectations for next year so no one can say we are moving goalposts throughout 2023. What would Bubba have to do in 2023 in order for you to be happy to keep him for 2024?

Make the playoffs? Top 8 seed? Quarterfinal appearance? 

I would need to see a quarterfinal appearance or a second round appearance+a win over NDSU in order to feel like we are moving the program forward and be happy keeping Bubba for 24. 

[Siouxperfan7]

When predicting the 2022 season, how many of us on here had UND going 9-2 and being a seeded team?  How many had UND going 4-7 and missing the playoffs by a wide margin?  I think many of us had UND in the 6-8 win range and saying that we needed at least 7 wins to make the playoffs.  Well that's exactly what they did.  Now that doesn't mean that our expectations should be higher than that. Winning the MCFC and being a seeded team in the playoffs which sets us up for a run at a National Championship should be the goal every year.  Did this team fall short of that?  Yes.  But this team did finish 7-4 and made it into the playoffs.  That should be the low bar every year, but we still achieved that.  Need to surpass that going forward.  Anything short of winning a National Title can be looked at as a failed season.  Bu, t a 3rd place finish in the Valley with a playoff berth should be considered a success.

[nodak651]

15 minutes ago, MNHawk said:

Let’s set some expectations for next year so no one can say we are moving goalposts throughout 2023. What would Bubba have to do in 2023 in order for you to be happy to keep him for 2024?

Make the playoffs? Top 8 seed? Quarterfinal appearance? 

I would need to see a quarterfinal appearance or a second round appearance+a win over NDSU in order to feel like we are moving the program forward and be happy keeping Bubba for 24. 

I think that is too arbitrary simply because such a big factor in playoff success is luck in the matchups.  If UND got placed in an easy bracket and won, would that really indicate they are any better?  

[CMSioux]

2 hours ago, iramurphy said:

I can. As I said before, I’m not one of the decision makers. I don’t think there is going to be a change based on the contract and based on a Big Sky and MVFC  championships and this years playoff team. I had higher hopes for this years team as did many of the rest of you.
My expectations are for us to be better next year. We have a good nucleus of RBs, TEs, OL, WRs and 2 returning QBs who have proven they can be effective. These guys all need to continue to get better. We need to improve every position and our depth with our guys we redshirted and any new transfers. We can’t afford to lose any through the portal.

Defensively is a different story. We need help across the board even though we have a handful of guys who have shown they can play. We need to improve our depth in addition to adding starting talent at the obvious positions. Hopefully our new kicker will be as good as advertised. 

The coaches have from now until next fall to move things forward. I will continue to support the program and the coaches hired to get the job done.  I’m just a fan like the rest of you. The fan forum is entertaining and a source of information for me. It should be ok to have different perspectives. 

Based on the seeding and placement criteria, it seems going 8-3 would have had us in the exact same situation.

[UNDBIZ]

11 minutes ago, CMSioux said:

Based on the seeding and placement criteria, it seems going 8-3 would have had us in the exact same situation.

At 8-3 the committee might respect the bid.

[Dustin]

How realistic is it to have a revamped FCS selection format by 2023?  Is there enough of a stink being made about '22 that off-season coaches meetings, etc. will spur change?  Seeding 16 teams seems like the obvious solution.

Talking expectations for UND in '23:

Offense - find a suitable replacement for Hoosman (maybe that's Smith, maybe not), continue to gel as O line, Tommy takes off a couple more times per game when that's what defense gives you, continue to score 30+ 

Defense - make the first tackle, bolster up the roster with some transfers, implement some sort of new wrinkle in the 3-4 to better fit the scheme to actual players, reduced points allowed (preferably under 20, but that might be such a big step in one year), force more turnovers

Special Teams - improved kick coverage, improved place kicking, continue blocking punts

Season goals - beat NDSU at home, no bad losses (for the record, I don't believe we had any in '22, but I know that could be debated), quarterfinal appearance at the very least (quarterfinal win preferred, that would put us past anywhere we've previously been)

[UND08]

31 minutes ago, MNHawk said:

Let’s set some expectations for next year so no one can say we are moving goalposts throughout 2023. What would Bubba have to do in 2023 in order for you to be happy to keep him for 2024?

Make the playoffs? Top 8 seed? Quarterfinal appearance? 

I would need to see a quarterfinal appearance or a second round appearance+a win over NDSU in order to feel like we are moving the program forward and be happy keeping Bubba for 24. 

I'll try to keep them realistic without sugar coating things...

Drake - Win by 40+ against a non-scholarship team

NAU - Win by 10+ at home against a lower-level Big Sky opponent not at altitude

Boise - Loss but competitive (similar to Nebraska but hopefully a bit closer)

SDSU - Loss in a tough game on the road, hopefully we can put the fear of god in them.  I think we need to win 1 of SDSU/UNI/NDSU

WIU - Win by 20+ against a bad WIU team at home

NDSU - I don't expect a win here but I would argue we need it.  Being objective I'm going to a say a loss but my heart hopes otherwise

UNI - Tough road game against a team that underperformed their talent level this year...must win on the schedule

ISU - See WIU

Murray State - Win by 10+ - see ISU and WIU but game is on the road

USD - Dakota Dome is our Kryptonite - this is a must win

ISU - Will hopefully have a ton to play for that weekend, game is in the Alerus so I feel good.

I see 4 losses minimum in that schedule thinking realistically based on what I've seen in Bubba's era at UND (Boise/SDSU/NDSU/one of UNI or USD).  A good performance would have us 8-3 (beating both UNI and USD on the road).  If we do that, I doubt we'll be seeded but we SHOULD get a home game and win one playoff game.  If we go 7-4 it'll be very similar to this year (one of the last teams in or out of the field, no favors on a matchup).

Parts of this schedule are easier than last year (Murray not as good as ACU, NAU at home, swap out Youngstown and SIU for WIU and ISU-r), but parts are tougher (at UNI, at SDSU and especially at USD where we NEVER seem to play well).  It's basically "wash rinse and repeat" in my book.

Should our expectations be better than that?  Absolutely!  The hard truth of the matter is that if 7-4/8-3 is the best we can do, we will get left in the XDSUs dust even more than we already are.  I get that people like Bubba and that the players work hard, but this is D1...winning is important.  7-4 is the bare minimum in my book, and I'd certainly like to see us look competent accomplishing that.  There are aspects of this program that are absolute head-scratchers to me...and that can't happen going forward if we want to compete at the level that I think we should be at.

My expectation for this program next year is 8-3, seeded or not we make the round of 16.  Anything after that is gravy.  I think it's realistic...but I'm not interested in another repeat of this year.

Also if we mail in a 4th quarter for a moral victory like we did against NDSU ever again I'm done with this program.  That was ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE in my book!

[UNDBIZ]

2 minutes ago, Dustin said:

How realistic is it to have a revamped FCS selection format by 2023?  Is there enough of a stink being made about '22 that off-season coaches meetings, etc. will spur change?  Seeding 16 teams seems like the obvious solution.

I'd think having a solid, written format would be difficult, but I guarantee the committee will prioritize differently in 2023 than they did this year (they always do).

[Dustin]

4 minutes ago, UND08 said:

I think it's realistic...but I'm not interested in another repeat of this year.

8 wins next year is necessary (even if the 8th win doesn't come in the regular season) to show growth. 

[geaux_sioux]

Gotta think the offense will be better at every spot with the exception of RB. Need to hit a transfer there again to compliment what we currently have.

D can’t possibly be worse right? It’s gonna be transfer city on d. Better simplify things so the transfers can actually play game 1 and be comfortable.

This year our toughest games were kind of spread out. Next year we have a five game stretch of Boise, SDSU, WIU, NDSU, UNI. That’s tough. Add in USD on the road and our schedule is tougher next year in my eyes. I’m comfortable predicting 6 wins. Those 5 other games will be a test and a half.  Gotta see some splashes in the portal to feel confident about next year at all.

[Oxbow6]

16 minutes ago, UND08 said:

I get that people like Bubba and that the players work hard, but this is D1...winning is important.  7-4 is the bare minimum in my book, and I'd certainly like to see us look competent accomplishing that.  There are aspects of this program that are absolute head-scratchers to me...and that can't happen going forward if we want to compete at the level that I think we should be at.

Also if we mail in a 4th quarter for a moral victory like we did against NDSU ever again I'm done with this program.  That was ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE in my book!

Lots of good stuff in your post.

NDSU took UND's face and rubbed it into the turf in the 4th quarter and UND didn't seem to care. Totally agree. That was embarrassing.

[Goose15]

11 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Gotta think the offense will be better at every spot with the exception of RB. Need to hit a transfer there again to compliment what we currently have.

D can’t possibly be worse right? It’s gonna be transfer city on d. Better simplify things so the transfers can actually play game 1 and be comfortable.

This year our toughest games were kind of spread out. Next year we have a five game stretch of Boise, SDSU, WIU, NDSU, UNI. That’s tough. Add in USD on the road and our schedule is tougher next year in my eyes. I’m comfortable predicting 6 wins. Those 5 other games will be a test and a half.  Gotta see some splashes in the portal to feel confident about next year at all.

Don't completely disagree with RB next year, but do have confidence in Ziebarth from the small sample size we have seen.  A transfer is still needed for some depth as well as hopefully a couple of RB's in this years recruiting class.  For the high school guys would like to see a guy who is in an Isaiah Smith mold and another scat back like Mitchell and Skokna. 

[petey23]

2 hours ago, Dustin said:

How much of our defensive problems can be attributed to missing the first tackle?

Quite a few. I quit counting missed tackles at about 15 and Weber had only run 9-10 plays