2023 Football Season

[The Sicatoka]

2 minutes ago, sioux24/7 said:

For those that want Bubba gone immediately, who are you looking at as serious possible candidates? 

UND gonna UND. 

There's a reason Schmidt is at Washington with DeBoer: Freund is the heir apparent. 

UND gonna UND. 

If all that were to come about, let's hope Danny is smart enough to reboot the defense. 

[MNHawk]

19 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

... unless he chooses to resign (and take a cushy position with UNDAA&F, and he'd be really good at that). 

Is there any reason to believe that this is a possibility?

[The Sicatoka]

Just now, MNHawk said:

Is there any reason to believe that this is a possibility?

Do people buy lottery tickets? 

[Dustin]

7 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

There's a reason Schmidt is at Washington

Not sure about others, but I was surprised that Schmidt had such an opportunity.  I never thought his defenses were anything special, either.  After Holinka became DC, I thought the defense was actually better.  Until this year.  Maybe my memory is not serving me correctly.

[forksandspoons]

37 minutes ago, Dustin said:

Not sure about others, but I was surprised that Schmidt had such an opportunity.  I never thought his defenses were anything special, either.  After Holinka became DC, I thought the defense was actually better.  Until this year.  Maybe my memory is not serving me correctly.

I think Schmidt had decent defenses that were put in bad positions quite frequently by Rudy’s offenses 

[Und246]

Defense Defense Defense

[Dustin]

19 minutes ago, forksandspoons said:

I think Schmidt has decent defenses that were put in bad positions quite frequently by Rudy’s offenses 

That could be.

[Sioux94]

39 minutes ago, Dustin said:

Not sure about others, but I was surprised that Schmidt had such an opportunity.  I never thought his defenses were anything special, either.  After Holinka became DC, I thought the defense was actually better.  Until this year.  Maybe my memory is not serving me correctly.

Under Bubba's first year with Schmidt as DC....there was a huge turnaround from Mussman's last year.  We were horrible on defense under Mussman, Bubba'Schmidt's first year was drastic change......and our D was pretty good that first year....with pretty much the same players, that screams better coaching.  There were some times though where the defense did not play that great over the years after that though, but perhaps it's as much to do with the Jimmies and Joes on the field sometimes, I dunno.  And agree with you we also thought Holinka was great the first few years and this year is horrible  I think this year has a lot to do with.....we need quicker/faster/stronger players on D.  Either way, ultimately Holinka is responsible for the defense.

[GoHawks]

The defense has to change by next year no question about that. I think we just need get rid of this awful 3-4 defense. Yeah, Alabama and Georgia run it but UND is not even close to that and will never be. A 215 pound OLB is not going to match up very well with let's say a 300 plus pound lineman or even a TE at times. UND is not going to stop the run with this type of defense. They have to make a change and recruit just like the SU's. Hate saying that but it's the truth. This defense does not work with the type of talent that you get in the FCS it just doesn't!

[The Sicatoka]

The 3-4 was installed to counter the NDSU veer. I haven't seen the veer in decades. 

What's the defensive schema to stop the xDSUs today? 

[geaux_sioux]

1 minute ago, The Sicatoka said:

The 3-4 was installed to counter the NDSU veer. I haven't seen the veer in decades. 

What's the defensive schema to stop the xDSUs today? 

The irony of this is how bad we are against running qbs even though we use a system designed to stop……. Running qbs 

[Dustin]

1 minute ago, The Sicatoka said:

What's the defensive schema to stop the xDSUs today?

BINGO!  Implement that.  Even if you have to fudge a little by telling the players "This defense is designed to stop the NDSU offense" like Dale Lennon told his defensive players 30 years ago.  Make the players believe.

[Siouxperfan7]

Rushing yards given up per game:

Nebraska  -  244

UNI            -  115

SIU            -   148

YSU           -   178

SDSU         -   95

ACU           -   122

INST           -   126

USD            -   97

NDSU         -   363

Weber        -   330

 

We gave up over 200 yards rushing 3 times.  Nebraska, NDSU, Weber.  Is it an issue?  Sure.  But it's not like we are giving up huge amounts on the ground every game.  Yes, we gave up a bunch the last two weeks and to very good teams.  Giving up 300+ rushing yards 2 weeks in a row is alarming.  ut it was definitely not the trend all season.  Not saying we can't improve, but not like we were awful at stopping the run all year.

[The Sicatoka]

Weber and NDSU have mammoth, gargantuan offensive lines. They shoved our 3 DL wherever they wanted them and still had two guys to attack the second level (our LBs). 

If you run a 3-4 you must have a NG that can consume the center and a guard (see: Tank Harris). 

[Sioux94]

34 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

Weber and NDSU have mammoth, gargantuan offensive lines. They shoved our 3 DL wherever they wanted them and still had two guys to attack the second level (our LBs). 

If you run a 3-4 you must have a NG that can consume the center and a guard (see: Tank Harris). 

I thought Orlando was going to be that guy....given his size coming out of HS and being a wrestler.  

[UND-FB-FAN]

1 hour ago, GoHawks said:

UND is not going to stop the run with this type of defense. They have to make a change and recruit just like the SU's.

Sounds good, but that’s a hell of a lot harder than it sounds. You can’t just simply re-label your defense from a 3-4 to a 4-3 and then expect instant results. You have to actually recruit and develop better players, on par with NDSU and SDSU, which this UND coaching staff has not proven they can do.

[AJS]

Ventrelli confirmed via an IG post that he will be returning next year. Huge!

[UND-FB-FAN]

1 hour ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

We gave up over 200 yards rushing 3 times.  Nebraska, NDSU, Weber.  Is it an issue?  Sure.  But it's not like we are giving up huge amounts on the ground every game. 

It’s an issue against good teams, basically. But being poor against the run versus good teams is what gives you 1 playoff victory in the past 9 seasons. 

[UND-FB-FAN]

1 hour ago, The Sicatoka said:

Weber and NDSU have mammoth, gargantuan offensive lines. They shoved our 3 DL wherever they wanted them and still had two guys to attack the second level (our LBs). 

If you run a 3-4 you must have a NG that can consume the center and a guard (see: Tank Harris). 

This is correct. In fact, more specifically, you need 3 linemen that can consume the entire line of scrimmage. UND can’t control the line of scrimmage against good programs, like Weber and NDSU. Adding a 4th linemen if they went to a 4-3 base won’t help if said 4th linemen isn’t a better player than what they’ve been recruiting/developing. Having 4 average linemen is not necessary better than having 3 average linemen. It’s all still average.

[jdub27]

LB's had plenty of changes to make tackles the last few weeks. Missing the starters and having dinged up guys forced to play more snaps than they should wasn't good. Need to keep building depth.

[SooToo]

1 hour ago, The Sicatoka said:

Weber and NDSU have mammoth, gargantuan offensive lines. They shoved our 3 DL wherever they wanted them and still had two guys to attack the second level (our LBs). 

If you run a 3-4 you must have a NG that can consume the center and a guard (see: Tank Harris). 

You can argue strength, mobility, technique, etc., but NDSU's "mammoth, gargantuan offensive lines" are essentially the same size as UND's. True, also, for Tank Harris, who was listed at 6'3" and 287, compared to Craig Orlando at 6'3" 290,  Jalen Morrison at 6'2" and 290, Elijah Beach at 6'3" and 290.

[Sioux27]

17 hours ago, Midwestern Hawk said:

You make an interesting point about the transfer portal.  How many of the really good UND players, and for that matter other great FCS players, would have transferred out in the past after a really good freshman year?  Gonna be fascinating to see how this all pans out.

Ryan Chappel I'm thinking would have found a different path.

[Sioux27]

1 hour ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

Rushing yards given up per game:

Nebraska  -  244

UNI            -  115

SIU            -   148

YSU           -   178

SDSU         -   95

ACU           -   122

INST           -   126

USD            -   97

NDSU         -   363

Weber        -   330

 

We gave up over 200 yards rushing 3 times.  Nebraska, NDSU, Weber.  Is it an issue?  Sure.  But it's not like we are giving up huge amounts on the ground every game.  Yes, we gave up a bunch the last two weeks and to very good teams.  Giving up 300+ rushing yards 2 weeks in a row is alarming.  ut it was definitely not the trend all season.  Not saying we can't improve, but not like we were awful at stopping the run all year.

No need to rush the ball when you get no pressure on the QB and they chuck it around for multiple big plays a game.

[nd1sufan]

49 minutes ago, SooToo said:

You can argue strength, mobility, technique, etc., but NDSU's "mammoth, gargantuan offensive lines" are essentially the same size as UND's. True, also, for Tank Harris, who was listed at 6'3" and 287, compared to Craig Orlando at 6'3" 290,  Jalen Morrison at 6'2" and 290, Elijah Beach at 6'3" and 290.

NDSU’s OL is big but for the most part are tall, big and can move. You don’t see many 6’1 or 6’2 300 lber’s on the NDSU OL. Most are 6’5 to 6’7 and around 300 lb’s. If you look at Mauch, Zabel, Miler before he got hurt and Volson from last year, they are big and athletic enough to move and get out into the 2nd layer of the defense. Some teams come in with an OL all over 300 lbs but they can’t move at all. I have not watched enough of UND this year to know exactly what UND’s OL is like exactly. 

[The Sicatoka]

9 minutes ago, nd1sufan said:

Some teams come in with an OL all over 300 lbs but they can’t move at all. 

See: Weber State

They just bulldoze straight ahead for the most part.