Playoffs Second Round 12/6/25: UND @ Tarleton State

[gfhockey]

35 minutes ago, cowboys5xsbs said:

I'm not convinced Tarleton is that much better than Tenn Tech.  What is their signature win this season.  I am cautiously optimistic that this is going to be a game we should win because the team is battle tested against some of the best FCS teams and from what I can tell Tarleton has a cupcake schedule.

They beat army whom beat k state

[gfhockey]

18 minutes ago, Sioux94 said:

They beat Army, who beat Kansas State. What is our signature win, Youngstown? And that is when we were rolling on offense,  that is not the case now. 

Remember when it was 10-6 at the end of the 3rd quarter last week? We get a couple TD'S in 4th quarter and now we are some kind of unstoppable juggernaut? 

I hope we come out of our slump, but call me not surprised if it is midway through the 2nd quarter and we are feeling just like we felt last week about our offense. 

Agreee

 

it all comes down to our line and push them around to establish the gun game

[gfhockey]

If we can’t get the dogs, barking and eating treats, it could be a long day chasing the kitty

[geaux_sioux]

37 minutes ago, cowboys5xsbs said:

I'm not convinced Tarleton is that much better than Tenn Tech.  What is their signature win this season.  I am cautiously optimistic that this is going to be a game we should win because the team is battle tested against some of the best FCS teams and from what I can tell Tarleton has a cupcake schedule.

It’s another highly talented Southern team that doesn’t want to get punched in the mouth for 60 min.

[UNDBIZ]

I'm hopeful the running game improvement under Romfo was actually a result of 1. using our power backs and 2. the O line knowing they were actually run blocking rather than guessing on an RPO.  Hopefully that can be carried forward.

[fightingsioux4life]

1 hour ago, Sioux94 said:

They beat Army, who beat Kansas State. What is our signature win, Youngstown? And that is when we were rolling on offense,  that is not the case now. 

Remember when it was 10-6 at the end of the 3rd quarter last week? We get a couple TD'S in 4th quarter and now we are some kind of unstoppable juggernaut? 

I hope we come out of our slump, but call me not surprised if it is midway through the 2nd quarter and we are feeling just like we felt last week about our offense. 

Nobody is suggesting this. But it's okay to be optimistic about this team and program again. Our defense is one of the best in all of FCS. Our offense should focus on sustaining long drives that end in TDs. If we can do that, I think we win on Saturday.

[Dustin]

I've seen some good flashes on offense the last couple games to make me believe they can pull through if the defense keeps up their spectacular play.  Game-tying drive, which required a successful 2-point conversion, showed some moxie that had been missing in other games in similar situations.  Getting Z back to sort of resurrect a power run game in the 4th quarter is another example.  Getting Deng Deng involved in the passing game has given us an option for moving the chains and getting in the end zone.  Scoring 31 (like was done in each of the last two games) can get you a long ways when complimented by a stout defense.  Now imagine if our offense actually clicks on all cylinders for a whole game.

[Dustin]

2 hours ago, Sioux94 said:

What is our signature win, Youngstown?

I would also say going on the road and handily beating SUI was a nice feather in the cap.

[AJS]

Some keys offensively.

• Health of Fleming / Ziebarth. When was the last game both played? Fleming is WR1. The passing game is different when he's available (which last week he was not). Ziebarth can be such a great compliment to Seidl. Rotate the RB's, this will help Seidl as well! 
• Play calling. Mix it up, spread the ball around (get the TE's involved!). Use high % passes. On the first 3rd and short do not either (1) Hand if off up the middle (2) Throw a 40-yard low % pass. 

When this offense was rolling, they were getting a lot of guys the ball and rolling 3 RB's. Also, weren't turning the ball over. 

Need FG kicker this weekend as well.

As well as the defense played last weekend, if they perform the same offensively, they'll lose this Saturday. Feeling optimistic though. This offense could just be a delicate ecosystem. Build everything up around the QB, mix it up. They can do this.

[Nodak78]

2 hours ago, geaux_sioux said:

It’s another highly talented Southern team that doesn’t want to get punched in the mouth for 60 min.

agree.  this defense of JYDs will punch them early, fast and often.  

[RhettRingers]

Is it Saturday yet?

[The Sicatoka]

There's a real chance our Saturday QB depth chart reads: Romfo, Sulik, Higgins ... 

[Brim006]

To be Frank, Jerry has been playing like dog sheet for like 5 weeks straight now. He went from 22TDs and 2INTs in his first 8, to 4TDs and 8INTs in the past 5. That is a brutal swing for the worse, and I didn't foresee it magically swinging back again anytime soon anyways, so this change is actually welcomed IMO. I see the silver lining --- having a fresh guy, motivated by a 2nd chance in his final season, who has tons of experience running the offense as a decent upgrade right at this moment despite clearly being a downgrade in general as an overall QB. Maybe Jerry has already been playing hurt? Hurt something in the USD game? Seems like the only reasonable explanation, but unfortunately we have often seen studs at UND regress as the season goes on and as their careers go on...both miserable trends to notice. But maybe it was an injury he's been playing through in this case. 

More importantly about this QB change, during the 360 interview, the OC did mention both QBs have their own mix of favorite plays, which is going to push the OC to mix things up a bit now with Romfo at the helm. And we all know a play calling shake up is long overdue so I think that is the biggest plus here if Romfo plays. Additionally, it seemed very clear that other teams have figured out UND's offense, and it was finally showing up on the scoreboard. New QB (even as a downgrade), new plays, hopefully new life and new burst of offense when it matters most. 

Additionally it appears Tar State's D kind of sucks, so I have hope the O can punch several through, and the D can do their thing. 

[Wildfan]

13 minutes ago, Brim006 said:

To be Frank, Jerry has been playing like dog sheet for like 5 weeks straight now. He went from 22TDs and 2INTs in his first 8, to 4TDs and 8INTs in the past 5. That is a brutal swing for the worse, and I didn't foresee it magically swinging back again anytime soon anyways, so this change is actually welcomed IMO. I see the silver lining --- having a fresh guy, motivated by a 2nd chance in his final season, who has tons of experience running the offense as a decent upgrade right at this moment despite clearly being a downgrade in general as an overall QB. Maybe Jerry has already been playing hurt? Hurt something in the USD game? Seems like the only reasonable explanation, but unfortunately we have often seen studs at UND regress as the season goes on and as their careers go on...both miserable trends to notice. But maybe it was an injury he's been playing through in this case. 

More importantly about this QB change, during the 360 interview, the OC did mention both QBs have their own mix of favorite plays, which is going to push the OC to mix things up a bit now with Romfo at the helm. And we all know a play calling shake up is long overdue so I think that is the biggest plus here if Romfo plays. Additionally, it seemed very clear that other teams have figured out UND's offense, and it was finally showing up on the scoreboard. New QB (even as a downgrade), new plays, hopefully new life and new burst of offense when it matters most. 

Additionally it appears Tar State's D kind of sucks, so I have hope the O can punch several through, and the D can do their thing. 

Timing of the turn-around stat wise also aligned with Javance going down with injury it seemed. Could be feeling less competition at practice, or just trying to force too much and being put in situations that the earlier games he was not, such as short yardage when Javance was coming in for some of those in a Quincy type setup (less successful than Quincy but similar setup). 

You could kinda see it progress in loss of confidence when we may end up in 3rd or 4th and short and not have the under center short yardage setup, and Jerry would either opt to try to force a home run ball, or the QB counter play from shotgun. Operating on 1st or 2nd down more often gives a little more freedom feeling of not having to force it and let the play develop, as if it got to 3rd down they had been confident the first half the year they could convert it and have the new set of downs.

[Big Green]

5 minutes ago, Wildfan said:

Timing of the turn-around stat wise also aligned with Javance going down with injury it seemed. Could be feeling less competition at practice, or just trying to force too much and being put in situations that the earlier games he was not, such as short yardage when Javance was coming in for some of those in a Quincy type setup (less successful than Quincy but similar setup). 

You could kinda see it progress in loss of confidence when we may end up in 3rd or 4th and short and not have the under center short yardage setup, and Jerry would either opt to try to force a home run ball, or the QB counter play from shotgun. Operating on 1st or 2nd down more often gives a little more freedom feeling of not having to force it and let the play develop, as if it got to 3rd down they had been confident the first half the year they could convert it and have the new set of downs.

There have been 5 times this year that Jerry has had double digit rushing attempts.  They have lost all 5 times.  Seems like he is keeping the ball more,  need to let the running backs handle the running.   Should help with Gavin back and Chuck not needing to worry about the 4 game limit to keep his red shirt.

 

[SIOUXFAN97]

it's not like ike came from texas or ucla....if WE can see what the play is before they snap it (qb lead draw from shotgun on 4th down) wtf you think the defense sees/knows...

if simon starts on sat and it's a combo of the same old crap from last year (short hops and playing in that 10yd box) AND this year (puzzlin' play calls=ppc)....ike can go back to bemidji...

but what if jack is thrown out there as a one game tryout/show me what you got....?  make the throws he can make...no INT's...hand it off..win the game

will be interesting to see what happens with ike and whatever qb he uses on saturday....either way can't wait.

bone by bone

[forksandspoons]

6 minutes ago, Big Green said:

There have been 5 times this year that Jerry has had double digit rushing attempts.  They have lost all 5 times.  Seems like he is keeping the ball more,  need to let the running backs handle the running.   Should help with Gavin back and Chuck not needing to worry about the 4 game limit to keep his red shirt.

 

Too much RPO. 

[CMSioux]

Maybe it's obvious but I also think that having Z back means less burden on SS - seemed like his number was being called on a majority of offense plays plus special teams. He seemed to handle it but hoping him having fresher legs will mean more explosive plays. I also think our issue with third/fourth and short will disappear with Z back. 

[SIOUXFAN97]

11 minutes ago, CMSioux said:

Maybe it's obvious but I also think that having Z back means less burden on SS - seemed like his number was being called on a majority of offense plays plus special teams. He seemed to handle it but hoping him having fresher legs will mean more explosive plays. I also think our issue with third/fourth and short will disappear with Z back. 

puzzlin' bc chuck and z jr could've been used a lot more in z sr's absense....to keep ss fresh...

[Dustin]

I just want to pause for a moment to reflect that we are all here talking about a SECOND playoff game.  And signing day is tomorrow, so it's fun to have a present AND a future to be excited about.

[Wildfan]

27 minutes ago, Big Green said:

There have been 5 times this year that Jerry has had double digit rushing attempts.  They have lost all 5 times.  Seems like he is keeping the ball more,  need to let the running backs handle the running.   Should help with Gavin back and Chuck not needing to worry about the 4 game limit to keep his red shirt.

 

Feel like if he takes the RPO and doesn't hand it off, he is going to qb counter it, rarely seems that he goes with a rollout to set up a pass out of that. At some point now you think that most teams would bite on him trying to run for the stick out of the fake handoff, and open up a pass opportunity outside the hashes.

[Wildfan]

1 minute ago, Dustin said:

I just want to pause for a moment to reflect that we are all here talking about a SECOND playoff game.  And signing day is tomorrow, so it's fun to have a present AND a future to be excited about.

hopefully we keep capturing some exciting players that chose UND over the other regional offers like we have a few of in the last couple years. Also need to retain what we can from productive players. 

Good sign that this team showed us in the first half that they can play with and have a chance to beat anyone. Which has risen our expectations from a rebuilding year to wanting more, and with the regular season losses to the other Dakota's now want to see this team get back to first half play, and continue and see how far they can go. I would love for a 2nd upset, and get to the 3rd round (quarterfinals?)

[The Sicatoka]

1 hour ago, Dustin said:

I just want to pause for a moment to reflect that we are all here talking about a SECOND playoff game.  And signing day is tomorrow, so it's fun to have a present AND a future to be excited about.

Ok, you win.