UND-MSU Game Thread

[Wilbur]

The past three weeks, although all wins, have caused some concern. I for one will be happy to see the end of Chris Belmore's career. He's made a lot of plays, but the team always seems to play different with him on the field. And he's good for at least one turnover a game. The Sioux absolutely need Manke against Omaha next week. Hopefully he's ready to go.

[SiouxMeNow]

What a lackluster performance. This is no where close to the team we had at Northern Iowa. The second half was tough to watch. When we have the ball on offense with a lead, we get extremely conservative, especially if we are struggling. The play calling reminded me of the Omaha game of last year. how many times in the second half did we open a series with a run of less than 4 yards? If not for a couple of great goal line stands, this would have been a totally different game - one we might have lost. I hope we can pull it together soon. It's tough to watch a talented team play this way week after week. And what is this fascination with Bellmore that the coaching staff seems to have?

2 words for ya! REED MANKE - back next week! (hope he isn't rusty!)

[Holdem]

Nice win today. Mankato wasnt it?

[bincitysioux]

Attendance was 11,463. Average so far this year is 10,268.

I don't like Belmore.

[Sioux27]

I was at the game yesterday and thought this was as good as Belmore has played in a very long time. With that said, it was a very painful game to watch in terms of the 2nd half. The fumble really wasn't Belmores fault considering he was blindsided and he was nearly in the throwing motion (I will give him a little love on this turnover). Brent H went from not punting in the first half to nearly needing ice on his sore leg in the second half. Our offense completely changes its composure with Mr Belmore on the field. I hope we get our #1 QB back and he is not rusty!

UNO............point spread..........

With a healthy Manke (Sioux by 10)

With a healthy Belmore (Mavs by 21)

This is the first time since 1993 when I have actually predicted a Sioux loss. Sorry, but in my "maturing" years, reality seems to become more apparent everyday. In the 90's most game predictions were preceded by a 12 pack and usually followed by the statement "I have 4 years of eligibilty left".

[HockeyMom]

We had crappy seats yesterday- which I wouldn't have minded- and, yes it was my fault cause I didn't pick them up until Thursday......BUT something happened that really wrecked the game for us and I'm still a little upset by it.

We sat down, and were there for all of two minutes, and the jerk in front of us turned around and barked at the avatar, because she accidentally kicked the back of his seat with her little flip flop. Okay, she's a kid, she told me that she only did it once and it was an accident. Mr. HockeyMom missed it because he was two seats down from her, and he said when we were discussing it in the car after the game that he would have let the jerk have it had he seen or heard him. The seats in the Alerus Center suck, and if someone on the end of the row moves, you can feel it several seats away. When the game got a little boring, this fat ass decided to sprawl out, put his arm on the top of the two seats on each side of him and then put his stinky work boots over the seats in front of him-now taking up four seats. Worse yet, a woman sat down in the seat beside his boot, did he move it? Hell no. He sat there like a fat lazy blob and I didn't see him cheer once.

I apologize for the rant, but if you're going to go to the game and act like this......don't even go. My kids don't run around at games, they sit and watch and cheer. They don't need to be barked at because of a foot to the back of the seat.

Thank you, that is all.

[UND92,96]

I was at the game yesterday and thought this was as good as Belmore has played in a very long time. With that said, it was a very painful game to watch in terms of the 2nd half. The fumble really wasn't Belmores fault considering he was blindsided and he was nearly in the throwing motion (I will give him a little love on this turnover). Brent H went from not punting in the first half to nearly needing ice on his sore leg in the second half. Our offense completely changes its composure with Mr Belmore on the field. I hope we get our #1 QB back and he is not rusty!

UNO............point spread..........

With a healthy Manke (Sioux by 10)

With a healthy Belmore (Mavs by 21)

This is the first time since 1993 when I have actually predicted a Sioux loss. Sorry, but in my "maturing" years, reality seems to become more apparent everyday. In the 90's most game predictions were preceded by a 12 pack and usually followed by the statement "I have 4 years of eligibilty left".

It's hard to be overly optimistic about this game. For one thing, UND is 3-7 vs. UNO over the past decade. Obviously the offense is struggling with Belmore at the helm, and even assuming Manke plays this week (and I believe he will), it's going to be asking a lot to expect him to be all that sharp after being off nearly a month. And UNO has played very well after their lop-sided loss to NW Mo. State.

I guess the positive is that unlike the past few years, UNO doesn't have that big-play receiving threat like Krause or Denney. I think they're going to just pound the ball right at the UND defense, and besides the tight end, I don't think they can hurt you throwing the ball. The question is, will our defense be as strong vs. the run as it's been in the past? We haven't played a run-first team for some time. Without Digger, I'm uncertain how UND will stack up against this type of offense, although I have a lot of faith in the d-line and Brennan. I predict this will be one of those 20-point games that we've seen so often over the years. Whichever team can score 20 points probably wins. I would like to think even if Reed isn't 100%, he can find a way to move the ball against a good, but not great UNO defense. Their achilles heel is, like always, pass defense. UND didn't exploit that weakness last year, but of course that was with Belmore playing. I would like to think the same mistakes won't be made again. It's time to break the curse of Pat Behrns.

[Irish]

What worries me the most about the UNO game isn't the uninspired play by the Sioux lately. It's the offensive play calling. The second half of the Mankato game reminded me of last year's Omaha game - a first down run for 3 yards or less followed by a very predictable series. We seem to think that if we let the clock run for three plays and then punt we can rely on our defense to hold. We were 3 goal line stands from getting knocked off. I thought we learned our lesson last year, but apparently not. Contrast our second half selection on Saturday with the Northern Iowa game. I know that Bellmore doesn't move the offense, but come on - open it up a little. In my opinion, this conservative streak is the only chink in Lennon's coaching armour. It seems to come out at the worst times. I don't think that Mussman could call a turkey like this without Lennon's support. I hope we come ready to win next week. We're at our worst in the second half with a lead.

[Shawn-O]

Just rolled in last night after a great weekend of games. Some random football thoughts:

1. Bobby Stroup is all over the place. This kid is a very, very good football player. I have seen the next Digger.

2. From midway through the 2nd Q on, this game was brutal to watch. Absolutely no flow with all the penalties, incompletions, etc. Painful. Part of that was MSU's offensive style, I suppose.

3. Offensively, the Sioux will need to be better against the likes of UNO and USD to win. I won't go into a Belmore speil, it's been discussed ad nauseum. I agree that we need Manke healthy, like yesterday.

4. Not sure what Dale was thinking at the end of the first half by letting the clock run all the way down and settling for three. Why not take a shot or two at the end-zone? We were baffled.

5. A shout out to the "SIOUX CREW". In Madison, "Jump Around" means what it says, get off your seat, jump around, and shake the place. At the Alerus, it means get off your seat, jump to the nearest aisle, and find the exit as quickly as possible.....of course this only applies to about 50% of the section that was still at the game. It was only 17-3. Pretty weak.

[UND92,96]

4. Not sure what Dale was thinking at the end of the first half by letting the clock run all the way down and settling for three. Why not take a shot or two at the end-zone? We were baffled.

Normally, I like to see an offense be aggressive in that circumstance. However, I didn't really have a problem with settling for the field goal. I have to wonder if maybe Lennon and Mussman wanted to be extra careful after the interception thrown around the goal line vs. Augie that was returned for a td.

[Sioux-cia]

I have to wonder if maybe Lennon and Mussman wanted to be extra careful after the interception thrown around the goal line vs. Augie that was returned for a td.

That was our thinking.

[Shawn-O]

Normally, I like to see an offense be aggressive in that circumstance. However, I didn't really have a problem with settling for the field goal. I have to wonder if maybe Lennon and Mussman wanted to be extra careful after the interception thrown around the goal line vs. Augie that was returned for a td.

I think this program is VERY well coached. But if this is the case, then no wonder the kid's confidence is shattered. We'll agree to disagree.

[UND92,96]

I think this program is VERY well coached. But if this is the case, then no wonder the kid's confidence is shattered. We'll agree to disagree.

I don't think Belmore's confidence problems have anything to do with the coaches. I think once he started turning the ball over late last year, it became a vicious cycle--turnovers made him tentative, which led to even more turnovers.