2025 Non-UND FCS News/Scores Thread

[F'n Hawks]

34 minutes ago, iramurphy said:

We desperately need a QB coach who can develop talent. Jerry regressed as the season went along and finished with 11 interceptions and < 60% completion rate both of which were worse than last year. I would excuse his dismal play against Tarlton cuz he probably shouldn’t have been playing much less kept in the game after it was clear he was struggling. 
He has the physical tools as does Sulik. Whichever of the 2 can learn to get through their reads quicker and develop the confidence and leadership skills needed to audible out of poor play calls should be an upgrade over this past year. A QB coach is essential in their development. 

Looking back, I bet Schmidt wishes he had Freuchte coach WR’s or something and then bring in a QB coach.

[UND-FB-FAN]

43 minutes ago, iramurphy said:

We desperately need a QB coach who can develop talent. Jerry regressed as the season went along and finished with 11 interceptions and < 60% completion rate both of which were worse than last year. I would excuse his dismal play against Tarlton cuz he probably shouldn’t have been playing much less kept in the game after it was clear he was struggling. 
He has the physical tools as does Sulik. Whichever of the 2 can learn to get through their reads quicker and develop the confidence and leadership skills needed to audible out of poor play calls should be an upgrade over this past year. A QB coach is essential in their development. 

Unfortunately this also lends itself to the argument that we need a new direction offensively since Fruechte has connected himself to that position.

I know it may sound like these things are not mutually exclusive (in other words we could keep Fruechte as OC and just hire a QB coach) but I believe they are in fact mutually exclusive.

Another issue is that in this day and age audibles out of calls is entirely on the OC/play caller and not on the QB/QB coach. UND’s OC has the ability to run a check with me at the line, seeing what the front and coverage alignment (2 high vs 1 high) will be and then adjust from there. If that is not happening, then it’s on the OC, not the QB. Not to mention the OC is controversially on the field and not in the box where many play callers are located for strategic purposes.

Just my 2 cents. We will see …

[Shawn-O]

48 minutes ago, iramurphy said:

We desperately need a QB coach who can develop talent. Jerry regressed as the season went along and finished with 11 interceptions and < 60% completion rate both of which were worse than last year. I would excuse his dismal play against Tarlton cuz he probably shouldn’t have been playing much less kept in the game after it was clear he was struggling. 
He has the physical tools as does Sulik. Whichever of the 2 can learn to get through their reads quicker and develop the confidence and leadership skills needed to audible out of poor play calls should be an upgrade over this past year. A QB coach is essential in their development. 

I don’t suppose Brooks is ready to leave the wealth management game?  

[forksandspoons]

Hilarious. Where are Dom and McFeely’s 20 posts about viewers?! I thought NDSU brought the eyeballs to FCS 🤣 more proof those two are just arms of NDSU Athletics pushing their favorite team.

 

[Bison Dan]

21 minutes ago, forksandspoons said:

Hilarious. Where are Dom and McFeely’s 20 posts about viewers?! I thought NDSU brought the eyeballs to FCS 🤣 more proof those two are just arms of NDSU Athletics pushing their favorite team.

 

Do you think being on ABC might make a difference.

[UND69er]

2 minutes ago, Bison Dan said:

Do you think being on ABC might make a difference.

Probably due to some fresh faces on the tube rather than watching NDSU .......again!

[Bison Dan]

2 minutes ago, UND69er said:

Probably due to some fresh faces on the tube rather than watching NDSU .......again!

Yeah you go with that!

[forksandspoons]

5 minutes ago, Bison Dan said:

Do you think being on ABC might make a difference.

Certainly. And those two constantly talk about the numbers when SU plays on ABC like the only reason people are watching is because the bison are playing 

[UND69er]

2 minutes ago, Bison Dan said:

Yeah you go with that!

Any idea what the population of Philadelphia is and the Villanova following?  Illinois State?  Cal Davis? etc. Fargo is flyover land baby. 

[AJS]

5 minutes ago, Bison Dan said:

Do you think being on ABC might make a difference.

Of course. ABC > ESPN > ESPN2 > ESPNU

Any team for example the #’s will be twice as much on 2 > U. The feeling I get and others clearly is that the Fargo media pushes a narrative that when NDSU gets a big #, it’s because they are a national brand that people care about (false). But when they get 80K for a prime time game against SDSU, they sweep those under the rug.

[forksandspoons]

😆

The highest viewership from last weekend was Saturday’s South Dakota at Montana game on ABC, drawing 1.9 million viewers. That’s the most-watched FCS quarterfinal game since 2016. For comparison, last year’s quarterfinal game on ABC of Mercer at NDSU drew 1.4 million viewers

[The Sicatoka]

9 minutes ago, forksandspoons said:

😆

The highest viewership from last weekend was Saturday’s South Dakota at Montana game on ABC, drawing 1.9 million viewers. That’s the most-watched FCS quarterfinal game since 2016. For comparison, last year’s quarterfinal game on ABC of Mercer at NDSU drew 1.4 million viewers

Both were on ABC so that excuse rings hollow. 

 

[homer]

37 minutes ago, Bison Dan said:

Do you think being on ABC might make a difference.

Good to see you are still reading the board Dan.  Pretty quiet this year.

[Hawkster]

I'm still overjoyed over the Bison pulling what has to be the biggest choke job ever in FCS playoffs.   I hope the knife burns hot whenever they watch the rest of the playoffs.   Let's see how cocky they are after this.

[geaux_sioux]

1 hour ago, homer said:

Good to see you are still reading the board Dan.  Pretty quiet this year.

Should change his name to Micro Dan

[Bison Dan]

29 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Should change his name to Micro Dan

https://us1033.com/ndsu-breaks-record-for-most-tv-viewers/

[geaux_sioux]

14 minutes ago, Bison Dan said:

https://us1033.com/ndsu-breaks-record-for-most-tv-viewers/

Maybe measure in centimeters so you can get a bigger number?

[jdub27]

1 hour ago, Bison Dan said:

https://us1033.com/ndsu-breaks-record-for-most-tv-viewers/

A title game drew more than a quarterfinal game??
Who would have thought?

Brawl 2.0 should put up some numbers this weekend. Similar window as Tulane/Ole Miss on TNT, which shouldn't be much of a game and on a bad channel. NFL has a 4pm game which doesn't help though.

[Sioux94]

He's definitely got that link saved in his favorites so he can bust it out on a moments notice. 

[iramurphy]

On 12/14/2025 at 2:26 PM, UND-FB-FAN said:

Unfortunately this also lends itself to the argument that we need a new direction offensively since Fruechte has connected himself to that position.

I know it may sound like these things are not mutually exclusive (in other words we could keep Fruechte as OC and just hire a QB coach) but I believe they are in fact mutually exclusive.

Another issue is that in this day and age audibles out of calls is entirely on the OC/play caller and not on the QB/QB coach. UND’s OC has the ability to run a check with me at the line, seeing what the front and coverage alignment (2 high vs 1 high) will be and then adjust from there. If that is not happening, then it’s on the OC, not the QB. Not to mention the OC is controversially on the field and not in the box where many play callers are located for strategic purposes.

Just my 2 cents. We will see …

OC can change call up to 15sec left on play clock or ball is snapped. After that it’s up to the QB. They need to be quick and they need to be right. I prefer a QB willing to audible out of a bad call.

We also need staff who can recognize when a player shouldn’t be playing. 
 

[UND-FB-FAN]

1 hour ago, iramurphy said:

OC can change call up to 15sec left on play clock or ball is snapped. After that it’s up to the QB. They need to be quick and they need to be right. I prefer a QB willing to audible out of a bad call.

We also need staff who can recognize when a player shouldn’t be playing. 
 

Yep, but that’s just the coach-to-player communication device. OC (with technically the help of a group of players/back up QB) can signal in a change at anytime, as long as you have enough time to actuate it. Ultimately, the QB should be given full autonomy, but the coaches can have full control also if they want, meaning it’s only partially on the kids. The coaches need to shoulder their fair share of responsibility in the offensive failures. They have the ability to audible into the right call, and as such, UND should be able to score more than what they did. 

Many components here: execution, player talent, communication, play-calling, and syncing it all together. 

[iramurphy]

59 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Yep, but that’s just the coach-to-player communication device. OC (with technically the help of a group of players/back up QB) can signal in a change at anytime, as long as you have enough time to actuate it. Ultimately, the QB should be given full autonomy, but the coaches can have full control also if they want, meaning it’s only partially on the kids. The coaches need to shoulder their fair share of responsibility in the offensive failures. They have the ability to audible into the right call, and as such, UND should be able to score more than what they did. 

Many components here: execution, player talent, communication, play-calling, and syncing it all together. 

Yup. As many have said, we need to get better. 

[SIOUXFAN97]

On 12/18/2025 at 8:37 AM, forksandspoons said:

😆

The highest viewership from last weekend was Saturday’s South Dakota at Montana game on ABC, drawing 1.9 million viewers. That’s the most-watched FCS quarterfinal game since 2016. For comparison, last year’s quarterfinal game on ABC of Mercer at NDSU drew 1.4 million viewers

apathy in cass county has officially set in

[Sioux>Bison]

On 12/18/2025 at 8:26 AM, Bison Dan said:

Do you think being on ABC might make a difference.

The Fargo lapdogs never give the credit to the channel their games are on so why start now? They are a little slow to admit people are watching espn because it’s ESPN not because the boring bison are playing…….

[Sioux>Bison]

On 12/18/2025 at 8:37 AM, AJS said:

Of course. ABC > ESPN > ESPN2 > ESPNU

Any team for example the #’s will be twice as much on 2 > U. The feeling I get and others clearly is that the Fargo media pushes a narrative that when NDSU gets a big #, it’s because they are a national brand that people care about (false). But when they get 80K for a prime time game against SDSU, they sweep those under the rug.

Exactly if a million people wanted to watch the bison they would regardless the channel. Can’t take credit for viewers both ways! Half their hillbilly fans don’t even have cable or streaming so I guess count them out!