2023 Football Season

[UND08]

1 hour ago, AJS said:

Basing on just yesterday, agreed. If UND wins next Saturday and gets left out @ 7-4, you won’t hear me complain. Some of their losses have been bad. Some of their wins have been ugly. I’ll go as far as to say, they don’t only have to win against ISU-R, it has to be in convincing fashion. 

Agreed...you can't look borderline incompetent in three of your four losses, when 4 of your wins are against teams with 4 wins or less (and another against a non-scholarship team).  And I don't even want to get into yesterday (but I will).  It was USD's turn to play mind-bogglingly poorly (fumble going into the end zone, pick in the end zone, opening kickoff return)...and we just couldn't take advantage.  Our offense was held out of the end zone against both USD and UNI...that's unacceptable to me!  Danny's honeymoon is over in my book...

Last year we beat UNI at home, a 7-4 YSU on the road, and a 7-4 ACU team at home.  Our schedule strength was much better than this year's in my opinion.  And all that got us a road playoff game as a bubble team.  Every opportunity we've had to win a big game outside of NDSU this year we've squandered and squandered badly.

I really sincerely expected better from this program this year.  Either UNI or USD needed to be a win...and our offense completely soiled the bed in both.  To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement.  And oh by the way...Illinois State dominated Murray and comes in to the Alerus next week NEEDING a win.  I'd expect to get their best shot.  I don't even want to think about what this board will look like if we lay an egg next Saturday.  Hell I'll probably be contributing to the destruction...

It didn't need to be that way...we're better than this.  We had a program changing win...and we absolutely squandered it.  Ugh...hurts to think about.

[CMSioux]

So far I have made 8 of the 10 games (last year I made 7) The results have not always been to my liking but it's a game to me and I enjoy the tailgating, the road trip and meeting people at the event. I saw 7-4 in this season with a loss to Moo U, so there was a step up. Of course I would like better but I still enjoyed the season because every year the number of seasons I have left to enjoy goes down by one.  

[geaux_sioux]

3 hours ago, Midwestern Hawk said:

I think Chaves and most of the boosters are content with 5-7 wins, especially after beating the Bison this fall.  

 

3 hours ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Yep. Status quo. No more progression; is Chaves content? Probably. 

Have either of you ever talked to him?

[UND-FB-FAN]

3 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

 

Have either of you ever talked to him?

Without disclosing too much, up to this point, he’s chosen to not address it (one way or the other). This dates back to 2018. That’s fine, probably not something to comment on. I’m certainly not single-handedly providing any buyout, so again, that is fair. 

[geaux_sioux]

I would love to switch to the defense that USD runs. I’m sick of watching our blitzing LBs get stonewalled by OL. I’d rather rush 4 and get pressure. More like those good New York Giants teams. 3-4 is a beautiful chaos when it works but I feel the highest level of consistent defense can come from a 4-3 with a good DL. 

[F'n Hawks]

1 minute ago, geaux_sioux said:

I would love to switch to the defense that USD runs. I’m sick of watching our blitzing LBs get stonewalled by OL. I’d rather rush 4 and get pressure. More like those good New York Giants teams. 3-4 is a beautiful chaos when it works but I feel the highest level of consistent defense can come from a 4-3 with a good DL. 

Frustrating to continuously bring 5 and not get any pressure.

[UND-FB-FAN]

3 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

I would love to switch to the defense that USD runs. I’m sick of watching our blitzing LBs get stonewalled by OL. I’d rather rush 4 and get pressure. More like those good New York Giants teams. 3-4 is a beautiful chaos when it works but I feel the highest level of consistent defense can come from a 4-3 with a good DL. 

I think 3-4 or 4-3 is fine. Defense did fine yesterday. Offense scored 0 points, and was the problem. But no question defense has been the issue several other times this season. It’s not base alignment (4-3 or 3-4) that’s the issue in my opinion, but more so coaching of fundamentalism. Missed tackles, too many yards on long-distance downs, which are typically favorable (2nd and long, 3rd and long, etc), mistimed penalties (PI, roughing the passer) on critical downs, etc.

[wheelsup]

2 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:

We have big, mobile LT and LG.
We have a big, strong RB who is deceptively fast.

Sounds like the 1982 Washington NFL team. (Yes, that’s Stone Age history to some of you.)

Someone introduce the “counter trey” concept to Danny.
https://studentofthegame101football.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/play-design-the-famous-counter-trey/

UND showed the template on how we can win this year against NDSU.  For some reason Danny has been unwilling to build on that gameplan.  If we went with that yesterday we would have won the game and the UNI game would have been substantially different as well.  The o-line is one of the strengths of this team particularly the run blocking.

[wheelsup]

2 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

I think 3-4 or 4-3 is fine. Defense did fine yesterday. Offense scored 0 points, and was the problem. But no question defense has been the issue several other times this season. It’s not base alignment (4-3 or 3-4) that’s the issue in my opinion, but more so coaching of fundamentalism. Missed tackles, too many yards on long-distance downs, which are typically favorable (2nd and long, 3rd and long, etc), mistimed penalties (PI, roughing the passer) on critical downs, etc.

Agree 100%.  Defense has done enough this year.. maybe a little surprising as bad as they have been in stretches, but neither of the two terrible defensive games have cost us as the offense bailed them out(by the way Tommy played great in both of those games).  Its been the failure of the offense in big games that has been the story to me.  They completely failed at UNI, USD, two quarters at Indiana State.

Before this year started, I was 100% on board and excited with Danny as our future head coach.  After this year I am not.  He hasnt been willing to adapt to the strengths of this team.  Tommy has looked great against mediocre/terrible teams and has looked terrible against good teams.  The outlier has been the NDSU game where all he had to do was turn around and hand the ball off.  AT times I wonder if our unwillingness to throw quick slants or quick passes over the middle has been Tommys inability to see over the linemen and so its why he hold the ball so long.  

Anyhow if those are his limitations.. and you arent willing to bench him.. play to his strengths and run the ball.

[UND08]

20 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

I would love to switch to the defense that USD runs. I’m sick of watching our blitzing LBs get stonewalled by OL. I’d rather rush 4 and get pressure. More like those good New York Giants teams. 3-4 is a beautiful chaos when it works but I feel the highest level of consistent defense can come from a 4-3 with a good DL. 

I'm not paid to coach football...so take this for what it's worth (and that's likely not much):

Our interpretation of the 3-4 when we are rushing only 4 or 5 is GARBAGE!!!  Wide receivers running wide open all damned day and QBs with time to set up, step up and throw to open receivers...it's trash frankly.  We seem to do a really poor job of disguising our blitz/coverage schemes...it's easy for opponents to pick up (see their passing yardage).  If it's not that...then it's the players we have not being able to make plays...which is also not good.

 

 

[fightingsioux4life]

31 minutes ago, CMSioux said:

So far I have made 8 of the 10 games (last year I made 7) The results have not always been to my liking but it's a game to me and I enjoy the tailgating, the road trip and meeting people at the event. I saw 7-4 in this season with a loss to Moo U, so there was a step up. Of course I would like better but I still enjoyed the season because every year the number of seasons I have left to enjoy goes down by one.  

I enjoy tailgating before games as much as anybody.

I enjoy meeting people at tailgating.

I am well aware that the world doesn't stop spinning on its axis if we don't win.

I am all for enjoying life while we are alive (the recent loss of Katie Richards hammers that home).

But that is not what this thread or forum is about.

This thread is about the 2023 FB season and where we stand as a team and a program.

And the biggest problem with our program is not people like @UND-FB-FAN or myself. It is posts and attitudes like this, where 7-4 is considered good enough and we shouldn't say one negative thing about it. It is attitudes like this that convince people like Chaves and Armacost that a change is not needed and everything is just fine as it is. It is this same philosophy that has held back all our non-hockey programs for the past 15 years (ever since we moved up from D-II to D-I). The attitude of "I don't like we lost, but these are just 'student-athletes', so it doesn't really matter if we win or lose" is simply not appropriate for a Division I collegiate athletics program like UND.

This is not high school, where if the team never wins anything, it doesn't matter. And as long as we keeping running this athletic department like that, we will continue experiencing more of the same around here.

If you want to focus on having a positive attitude about life in general, go read Zig Ziglar.

Because that is not what this forum is about. This is the toy department of life. And it is not asking too much to expect something decent under the tree once in awhile.

[iramurphy]

I hate to bring reality into the equation. This CMSioux’s post isn’t “the biggest problem” for UND athletics. The biggest problem is our coaches and players are struggling and that has nothing to do with a loyal fan who enjoys the game experience. He makes it clear he doesn’t like our lack of success but stated why he still likes UND FB. He didn’t say it doesn’t matter if we win or lose. He says nothing about his philosophy regarding sports or anything else. What is impressive is that he attends so many games both home and away. That is something fans can do to help our programs. 

This forum represents only a small number of all UND fans.  The anonymity afforded us empowers us to not only opine regarding teams, coaches, fans or administrators, we can do so without having to divulge anything about ourselves that might give us credibility among other readers. I like it to get information and entertainment. Money is the driving force behind so much in college athletics. That is how we might affect changes when needed. Change won’t come because of what we post on a fan forum. 
 

 

 

[fightingsioux4life]

6 minutes ago, iramurphy said:

I hate to bring reality into the equation. This CMSioux’s post isn’t “the biggest problem” for UND athletics. The biggest problem is our coaches and players are struggling and that has nothing to do with a loyal fan who enjoys the game experience. He makes it clear he doesn’t like our lack of success but stated why he still likes UND FB. He didn’t say it doesn’t matter if we win or lose. He says nothing about his philosophy regarding sports or anything else. What is impressive is that he attends so many games both home and away. That is something fans can do to help our programs. 

This forum represents only a small number of all UND fans.  The anonymity afforded us empowers us to not only opine regarding teams, coaches, fans or administrators, we can do so without having to divulge anything about ourselves that might give us credibility among other readers. I like it to get information and entertainment. Money is the driving force behind so much in college athletics. That is how we might affect changes when needed. Change won’t come because of what we post on a fan forum. 

Thank you for proving my point.

[geaux_sioux]

Also: have we learned our lesson about the magic carpet and wearing cleats yet? I’d trust the home teams understand what works best on that stuff and they have a ton of guys wearing turf shoes and indoor soccer shoes on most wr and db. 

[shep]

45 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Thank you for proving my point.

NO ONE is happy about yesterday.

NO ONE is happy with 7-4

NO ONE is happy with a 1st round playoff loss.

[F'n Hawks]

39 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Also: have we learned our lesson about the magic carpet and wearing cleats yet? I’d trust the home teams understand what works best on that stuff and they have a ton of guys wearing turf shoes and indoor soccer shoes on most wr and db. 

Smith was slipping all over the place yesterday. Didn’t look to see what he was wearing though.

[HoopsFan03]

11 minutes ago, F'n Hawks said:

Smith was slipping all over the place yesterday. Didn’t look to see what he was wearing though.

He had normal cleats on I believe 

[geaux_sioux]

16 minutes ago, F'n Hawks said:

Smith was slipping all over the place yesterday. Didn’t look to see what he was wearing though.

Cleats. 

[iramurphy]

4 hours ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Thank you for proving my point.

You are welcome I think. You made a number of points. I’m not sure which one you think I proved. I agree that neither you nor UND FB Fan are the problem with our FB program but neither is CMSioux nor those who don’t lose sleep over our favorite sports. All that does is make you tired the next day.
 I would guess wins and losses matter to anyone who played or coached high school sports and their parents and fans. 
Get your letter sent to Santa and I hope you get the gift of your dreams. 

[CMSioux]

3 hours ago, fightingsioux4life said:

I enjoy tailgating before games as much as anybody.

I enjoy meeting people at tailgating.

I am well aware that the world doesn't stop spinning on its axis if we don't win.

I am all for enjoying life while we are alive (the recent loss of Katie Richards hammers that home).

But that is not what this thread or forum is about.

This thread is about the 2023 FB season and where we stand as a team and a program.

And the biggest problem with our program is not people like @UND-FB-FAN or myself. It is posts and attitudes like this, where 7-4 is considered good enough and we shouldn't say one negative thing about it. It is attitudes like this that convince people like Chaves and Armacost that a change is not needed and everything is just fine as it is. It is this same philosophy that has held back all our non-hockey programs for the past 15 years (ever since we moved up from D-II to D-I). The attitude of "I don't like we lost, but these are just 'student-athletes', so it doesn't really matter if we win or lose" is simply not appropriate for a Division I collegiate athletics program like UND.

This is not high school, where if the team never wins anything, it doesn't matter. And as long as we keeping running this athletic department like that, we will continue experiencing more of the same around here.

If you want to focus on having a positive attitude about life in general, go read Zig Ziglar.

Because that is not what this forum is about. This is the toy department of life. And it is not asking too much to expect something decent under the tree once in awhile.

Thankfully UND has fans like you to balance out fans like me. 

[UND-FB-FAN]

15 hours ago, shep said:

NO ONE is happy about yesterday.

NO ONE is happy with 7-4

NO ONE is happy with a 1st round playoff loss.

Since apparently no one is happy (or content?), what will be done to incite change? Extend the status quo? Pretty sure anyone from any background can tell you that is not the solution, but yet what was done in 2021? What will be done in 2023?

I suspect the “easy button” (i.e., the inexpensive option) was engaged back in 2021/2022, but that can’t be done the second time around for Chaves. 

[The Sicatoka]

In my mind there's more than "playoffs" on the line Saturday. 

The team has melted down since the NDSU game. 

[UND-FB-FAN]

17 hours ago, iramurphy said:

The biggest problem is our coaches and players are struggling and that has nothing to do with a loyal fan who enjoys the game experience.

What is impressive is that he attends so many games both home and away. That is something fans can do to help our programs. 

These two points are not clear-cut or inarguably. But it’s been expanded on ad nauseam, so I think it’s not worth getting into too much again.

I will just say having fans who want UND to do better than they’ve been doing is important, but simply just attending games won’t be sufficient to help the program by itself. Donations ($) will help, along with a proactive, aggressive athletic department. What is the current overall philosophy of fans and the athletic department? That will extrapolate towards success or lack thereof on the football field. 

[SiouxHawkGuy]

On 7/14/2023 at 7:55 PM, SiouxHawkGuy said:

I have this feeling we beat the Bison but then lose to South Dakota. 

Well well well

[UND-FB-FAN]

6 minutes ago, SiouxHawkGuy said:

Well well well

The trends of the program are well-established at this point.