UND game

[martymoose]

Did anyone notice if Sibley came back into the game after he went down with that injury?

I was wondering the same thing. Toward the end of the game, he was on the sideline running back and forth a little looking like he was testing it out, so that has to be a good sign. I sure didn't see him after that (but with my angle, I may have missed him)

I didn't see him come back after going down. Hopefully it's not serious.

 

[martymoose]

So the loss is a tough one to swallow, but hey, we we're right there. Heck, if their kicker misses one of his four FG attempts and we're talking about a close win rather than a close loss.

Some thoughts:

- Low penalties again, which over the years has been a problem. Good to see.

- Turnover battle won.

- I think two plays that didn't go our way that decided the outcome of the game was the fumble by Kuresa and the 74 yard punt by UND's punter.

- I'd rather our opponent do the flea flicker play with a terrible outcome. Although if we were to have pulled that, would it have been different? #armchairquarterback

- Offensive play calling was a bit suspect at times. There's wanting to win the trenches, but damn, when you're getting stuffed by a pretty damn good defense on the run, you need to improvise.

- The word is out, don't kick the ball off to Dawson.

- Hats off to North Dakota's defense.

- So we took a punch to the face and lost. It's how this team responds that I really want to see. We don't need a win next week, but we need to work on some things offensively. The real test is on the 17th...

 

[bigskyconf]

So the loss is a tough one to swallow, but hey, we we're right there. Heck, if their kicker misses one of his four FG attempts and we're talking about a close win rather than a close loss.

Some thoughts:

- Low penalties again, which over the years has been a problem. Good to see.

- Turnover battle won.

- I think two plays that didn't go our way that decided the outcome of the game was the fumble by Kuresa and the 74 yard punt by UND's punter.

- I'd rather our opponent do the flea flicker play with a terrible outcome. Although if we were to have pulled that, would it have been different? #armchairquarterback

- Offensive play calling was a bit suspect at times. There's wanting to win the trenches, but damn, when you're getting stuffed by a pretty damn good defense on the run, you need to improvise.

- The word is out, don't kick the ball off to Dawson.

- Hats off to North Dakota's defense.

- So we took a punch to the face and lost. It's how this team responds that I really want to see. We don't need a win next week, but we need to work on some things offensively. The real test is on the 17th...

We need 7 DI wins for playoff consideration. Getting a win next week (and that game is a winnable game) is one less conference win we have to get.

With four quarterbacks on the field at the same time, the element of surprise is there, if we are willing to take it. So far, the offense has been pretty vanilla and the conference is catching on to it. I've never been a coach, but I would think that just a couple small tweaks here or there may do well, as long as we don't go overboard (like throwing a flea-flicker into quadruple coverage). But most college football coaches have more football knowledge in their right thumb than I have in my whole brain, which is why I don't like to be critical of coaches too often (even interim coaches).

 

[Alan1]

If you keep running the ball into the line and you get stuffed every time, why do you keep doing it if you want to win the ball game?

 

[scooter1]

If you keep running the ball into the line and you get stuffed every time, why do you keep doing it if you want to win the ball game?

My thoughts exactly. My gut feeling says Barnum is very hesitant to open up the playbook for one of (or some combination of) the following:

- the success of the team thus far has been to stay conservative, play field position, and capitalize on the opponents' miscues, as opposed to taking risks and "taking it to" the defense

- there's not a great deal of confidence in our passing game as a whole

- He's saving the best for last ! (this is my favorite)

 

[CaseyOrourke]

If you keep running the ball into the line and you get stuffed every time, why do you keep doing it if you want to win the ball game?

My thoughts exactly. My gut feeling says Barnum is very hesitant to open up the playbook for one of (or some combination of) the following:

- the success of the team thus far has been to stay conservative, play field position, and capitalize on the opponents' miscues, as opposed to taking risks and "taking it to" the defense

- there's not a great deal of confidence in our passing game as a whole

- He's saving the best for last ! (this is my favorite)

IMHO, the loss may have been a heart breaker, but I don't think it is a season breaker. I'm thinking that BB may be using the running game to lull teams into thinking we might be a one trick pony and then surprising them with an overwhelming passing game.

We may actually air it out against North Texas, because from what I'm reading on their forums, their run defense and their defensive backfield are both, and I quote directly from them, HORRIBLE.

They say that Vegas hat UNT a one point underdog against PSU. The game also happens to be their homecoming, and they are showing some anxiety about the possibility of a loss to an FCS team

 

[faithinviks]

Great game by North Dakota. They did what they had to do.

PSU has been exposed. All that talent on offense yet as bad an offensive performance I have ever seen from any football team. Kudos to UND but really PSU could do nothing. We saw signs of this at the WOU game. I don't think the coaches can fix this.

It makes me sick that we probably have the best defensive unit in 15 years and the one of the weakest offensive teams in forever.

@VikThunderous is right. I have hesitated to weigh in this year and sound a warning since we have been winning but it became obvious to all in this game. We have improved this year at almost every position except the offensive line. We are having a tough time stopping penetration in the middle and we aren't getting much if any push when it counts. It started to show up in our second game. If you look at our rushing yards this year most have come from QB scrambling or one of the backs bouncing to the outside. Most of our best passes have come after Alex has been forced from the pocket and hits someone while scrambling.

The Oline has gotten a bit worse every game. It's tough to see because when Davis was here that was our strongest area. When you choose to punt the ball with only a half a yard to go at mid field with under 4 minutes only needing a field goal to win it means Barnum himself has no confidence in the offensive line.

I've been asking some parents and players what's up. What i'm hearing is several things. We brought in a 22 yr old first year Oline coach who has played less than some of our own guys and can't offer much teaching, apparently he is not allowed to make the tough decisions day to day because he must check with Barnum which in turn has hurt morale on the line, Davis used to really teach and prepare for upcoming teams in the film room and that's not happening anymore, and all this results in us getting beat in the middle by poor execution and missed assignments. People aren't sure if it is coaching or players or both...

I sure hope Washington State was not the high point of the season. Barnum's doing a better job with calling the offensive plays this year, special teams are playing great, Alex and Josh K are adding a nice spark, the defense has become the highlight of the season and all in all the attitude is more relaxed by players and coaches. I don't know, maybe what I am seeing and hearing is wrong but it sure seems to me if we don't start making some big changes on the offensive line we are in trouble the rest of the season.

If we can't trust the offensive line to get us 1/2 a yard with the game on the line, we will be lucky to pull out more than 1-2 more wins the rest of this season...