Post Game: An expected result but still a frustrating loss

[NDSUSR]

Then stop making stupid excuses that you would have won at home. You know it could have just as well be a 30 point spread. You need to re-watch the game.

Perhaps you need to.....at WaGriz you wouldn't have gotten away with the penalties you did. The noise factor would have been reversed, although I'm told the noise was a let down at the Fargodome - not really impressive. You got how many false starts when you had a quiet crowd....how many do you think you would've had here? lmao.....not sure you can count that high.

The Griz feed off the crowd. I won't say we would've won that game at home yesterday. I will GUARANTEE we would've.

Lol. Come on now. I have tried to be civil on this board but this is idiotic.
Montana squeaked by SD and beat a DII team.
Dont be ridiculous. NDSU wins this game at any stadium.

We can play that game too...

NDSU squeaked by Weber State and beat a DII team. (Incarnate Word, even though they are an FCS team, was DII last year and still plays like a DII program)

These whole "we beat this team worse than you beat that team" is just ridiculous. Any Given Saturday.

Well we also beat Iowa State and Montana.
ISU by 20 and btw... Weber by 17. Not exactly squeaking by.
Not to offend, but has anyone here considered that NDSU played a terrible game?

 

[IdaGriz01]

...
That comment shows what a fossil he is. I am surprised that he does not install the wing-T offense for Christ's sake. Nothing changes until he goes.

If that quote is even close to accurate -- and I have no reason to doubt it -- then it's down-right scary. The kindest thing one can say is: "The game has passed him by."

I said in the run-up to the game that this staff (or at least the HC) seemed to be committed to a run-first style of offense ... and that that could be disastrous. NDSU has proven, time and again, that they can stuff the run (and that includes against FBS teams that supposedly have "better" material). Was that wrong? Nope ... and it was entirely predictable. I would not presume to say what the proper strategy might have been, but "generally" one needs to be more flexible and creative. You do not play to your opponents strength (run defense), and ignore your own weaknesses (an inexperienced OL).

Note that if mixed run/pass team abandons its run game during a game, the opponent will rush the qb even harder and with abandon. UM couldn't protect JJ as it was. Abandoning the run would have had some downsides. I'm not suggesting that more passes might not have been in order, but our pass game was having problems too. Had JJ gotten good protection, he would have picked NDSU apart. It would have been a different game.

Totally agree that a team cannot "abandon" the run game. And perhaps there is no real answer when the D has a Buchanan-level player (or players) against your newbies. But pounding your head against a wall without trying something different is a formula for futility.

FWIW, and apropos of nothing, way back in the day, I played in a wing-T, as well as some other "fossil" formations. It's hilarious when you see a modern team throw something along those line at an opponent as a surprise factor -- just a few times. Nobody knows who the hell their man is.

 

[Fahque]

... the last thing Coach Delaney said as he closed the banquet was, (I'll paraphrase because I don't recall his exact words) "Many people say we should be running more of a spread offense or a run-n-gun style of play. I'm here to tell you that we are going to play REAL football and that means sticking to a hard-hitting running game!" I know Delaney personally and have chatted with him in his office several times. He is a great guy and I think he has made a difference in the areas of concern we had when he was hired. However, with this statement in mind, is there really any chance that we will see the kind of offense that might make better use of players like JJ or Travon or Henderson? What we saw yesterday was an attempt at REAL football and I think we would have done better with a little more variety.

That comment shows what a fossil he is. I am surprised that he does not install the wing-T offense for Christ's sake. Nothing changes until he goes.

If that quote is even close to accurate -- and I have no reason to doubt it -- then it's down-right scary. The kindest thing one can say is: "The game has passed him by."

I said in the run-up to the game that this staff (or at least the HC) seemed to be committed to a run-first style of offense ... and that that could be disastrous. NDSU has proven, time and again, that they can stuff the run (and that includes against FBS teams that supposedly have "better" material). Was that wrong? Nope ... and it was entirely predictable. I would not presume to say what the proper strategy might have been, but "generally" one needs to be more flexible and creative. You do not play to your opponents strength (run defense), and ignore your own weaknesses (an inexperienced OL).

Note that if mixed run/pass team abandons its run game during a game, the opponent will rush the qb even harder and with abandon. UM couldn't protect JJ as it was. Abandoning the run would have had some downsides. I'm not suggesting that more passes might not have been in order, but our pass game was having problems too. Had JJ gotten good protection, he would have picked NDSU apart. It would have been a different game.

I agree that we do need a running game. But, the running game doesn't only need to consist of runs straight up the middle that go nowhere

 

[qwerty15ster]

We were not out-coached. We were out-executed. This is a very good team we played.

One thing I'm not sure has been mentioned. Gutsy call to go for on 4th down against such a strong D. Nice play call as well.

 

[ranco]

Perhaps you need to.....at WaGriz you wouldn't have gotten away with the penalties you did. The noise factor would have been reversed, although I'm told the noise was a let down at the Fargodome - not really impressive. You got how many false starts when you had a quiet crowd....how many do you think you would've had here? lmao.....not sure you can count that high.

The Griz feed off the crowd. I won't say we would've won that game at home yesterday. I will GUARANTEE we would've.

Lol. Come on now. I have tried to be civil on this board but this is idiotic.
Montana squeaked by SD and beat a DII team.
Dont be ridiculous. NDSU wins this game at any stadium.

We can play that game too...

NDSU squeaked by Weber State and beat a DII team. (Incarnate Word, even though they are an FCS team, was DII last year and still plays like a DII program)

These whole "we beat this team worse than you beat that team" is just ridiculous. Any Given Saturday.

Well we also beat Iowa State and Montana.
ISU by 20 and btw... Weber by 17. Not exactly squeaking by.
Not to offend, but has anyone here considered that NDSU played a terrible game?

Are you saying NDSU played a terrible game?? They didn't. In fact, they played a great game. zero turnovers and just a handful of penalties. They didn't keep themselves out of the end zone, our D kept them out of the end zone. We played well, but not great. NDSU gets credit for that.

 

[AZGrizFan]

Perhaps you need to.....at WaGriz you wouldn't have gotten away with the penalties you did. The noise factor would have been reversed, although I'm told the noise was a let down at the Fargodome - not really impressive. You got how many false starts when you had a quiet crowd....how many do you think you would've had here? lmao.....not sure you can count that high.

The Griz feed off the crowd. I won't say we would've won that game at home yesterday. I will GUARANTEE we would've.

Lol. Come on now. I have tried to be civil on this board but this is idiotic.
Montana squeaked by SD and beat a DII team.
Dont be ridiculous. NDSU wins this game at any stadium.

We can play that game too...

NDSU squeaked by Weber State and beat a DII team. (Incarnate Word, even though they are an FCS team, was DII last year and still plays like a DII program)

These whole "we beat this team worse than you beat that team" is just ridiculous. Any Given Saturday.

Well we also beat Iowa State and Montana.
ISU by 20 and btw... Weber by 17. Not exactly squeaking by.
Not to offend, but has anyone here considered that NDSU played a terrible game?

Is it possible that might have been because of the efforts of your opponent? :roll:

 

[BadlandsGrizFan]

Our offense is Bipolar and you can bet every game that when mid 3rd quarter comes around we completely abandon any trace of a game plan and yell EVERYMAN FOR HIMSELF...PANICCCCCC coach Delaney is a dog shit leader!

 

[NDSUSR]

Lol. Come on now. I have tried to be civil on this board but this is idiotic.
Montana squeaked by SD and beat a DII team.
Dont be ridiculous. NDSU wins this game at any stadium.

We can play that game too...

NDSU squeaked by Weber State and beat a DII team. (Incarnate Word, even though they are an FCS team, was DII last year and still plays like a DII program)

These whole "we beat this team worse than you beat that team" is just ridiculous. Any Given Saturday.

Well we also beat Iowa State and Montana.
ISU by 20 and btw... Weber by 17. Not exactly squeaking by.
Not to offend, but has anyone here considered that NDSU played a terrible game?

Is it possible that might have been because of the efforts of your opponent? :roll:

I am not trying to diminish the strength of your D, they played very well as I have posted several times. But truthfully, NDSU played below average. Penalties in the red zone and returns killed us, red zone play selection was a mystery to all of us and our secondary gave up long pass plays on blown coverage. That is not typical for a NDSU team. Much improvement is needed.

 

[first11]

Total of 17 pts. separating us from #1bison and a3-1 FBS team.......not to bad considering all circumstances

 

[Mousegriz]

I support the run game and it's importance to most teams in most games. Griz needed more Saturday and didn't get it against a very strong defense with an inexperienced O-Line. Up the gut doesn't allow fast pursuit and looks great when it works and less so when it doesn't. But a team has to go there and keep at it. Why do some on here assume that instead of going "up the gut" you just go outside and all kinds of holes start to open?

My question the past two games has been having Van start the game. If my recollection is correct Canada didn't play at all in the 1st quater vs. South Dakota and wasn't it at least 2 or 3 series before he got in vs. NDSU. Announcers mentioned Canada's north/south running vs. Van's east/west and that has been my observation. If you want to establish the run in some form early I think you should go with your best north/south guy early.

 

[billingsgriz]

I agree with RobGriz: poor O line recruitment under Mick and PFLU and only 1 O lineman in 2013 class under Mick has come back to bite us, big time !!! Water under the bridge now, so yes, I will quit beating this dead horse. :dead:

Hopefully, our line will get bigger, stronger, and better as the year progresses. I did notice we averaged about 3.5 yards a rush against NDSU vs. about 2 yards a carry vs. Wyoming, so maybe we are improving !!!

I guess if we are going to lose, now is the time to do it, not the playoffs, where it is one and done. I think if we play The Bison again this year, the results might be different from Saturday's.

And I also agree with PlayerRep: there is no such animal as a moral victory--a loss is a loss. For a loss, we played well on D. We held them to 22 points at their place, Iowa State, which just beat Iowa of The Big Ten a week ago in Iowa City, allowed The Bison to score 34 points on them in Ames, Iowa, their home in The Big 12 . We only allowed The Bison 22 points at their home dome in Fargo, still not a win, but definitely reason for hope--especially if our O line can keep improving at opening up holes for the running game so that our future games don't see our opponent with a 2-1 advantage in time of possession.

And maybe, hopefully, we have finally found a kicker in Sullivan !!! We are going to need a good kicker in upcoming games that are close.

 

[PlayerRep]

I support the run game and it's importance to most teams in most games. Griz needed more Saturday and didn't get it against a very strong defense with an inexperienced O-Line. Up the gut doesn't allow fast pursuit and looks great when it works and less so when it doesn't. But a team has to go there and keep at it. Why do some on here assume that instead of going "up the gut" you just go outside and all kinds of holes start to open?

My question the past two games has been having Van start the game. If my recollection is correct Canada didn't play at all in the 1st quater vs. South Dakota and wasn't it at least 2 or 3 series before he got in vs. NDSU. Announcers mentioned Canada's north/south running vs. Van's east/west and that has been my observation. If you want to establish the run in some form early I think you should go with your best north/south guy early.

I agree with your second para in particular. Canada came in on the second series, tho.

 

[Mousegriz]

Van was in on the first series that was my point. Canada may have come in the second series but know he sat the 1st quarter vs. USD. The first offensive play of the game "juke and drop" by Van isn't high on the list of plays I want to see. Canada may not get a hole either but if there is one, he'll get to it quicker.

 

[PlayerRep]

Van was in on the first series that was my point. Canada may have come in the second series but know he sat the 1st quarter vs. USD. The first offensive play of the game "juke and drop" by Van isn't high on the list of plays I want to see. Canada may not get a hole either but if there is one, he'll get to it quicker.

Oops, my bad. Canada was in on the second series. And I just looked at the play-by-ball to confirm that.

 

[AZGrizFan]

Total of 17 pts. separating us from #1bison and a3-1 FBS team.......not to bad considering all circumstances

:lol: :lol: :lol:

My exact thoughts this Monday morning. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[AZGrizFan]

We can play that game too...

NDSU squeaked by Weber State and beat a DII team. (Incarnate Word, even though they are an FCS team, was DII last year and still plays like a DII program)

These whole "we beat this team worse than you beat that team" is just ridiculous. Any Given Saturday.

Well we also beat Iowa State and Montana.
ISU by 20 and btw... Weber by 17. Not exactly squeaking by.
Not to offend, but has anyone here considered that NDSU played a terrible game?

Is it possible that might have been because of the efforts of your opponent? :roll:

I am not trying to diminish the strength of your D, they played very well as I have posted several times. But truthfully, NDSU played below average. Penalties in the red zone and returns killed us, red zone play selection was a mystery to all of us and our secondary gave up long pass plays on blown coverage. That is not typical for a NDSU team. Much improvement is needed.

And my point is they may just have played below average because of the efforts of their opponent. Every mistake isn't made in a vaccuum. Using your logic I could say the Griz just played a crappy game.

 

[Bizon]

Every year the bison have a bad game or two. This was one of them. We played terrible and still won. Dominated the line of scrimmage and time of possession as well as first downs etc. We haven't allowed a point in 2nd half yet. We lost our record setting QB and 20 other seniors as well as entire coaching staff and AD and still are 4-0. If I were the other four teams we just beat I'd be worried? Hopefully our QB progress's at a rapid rate? if so I don't think a rematch would even be close. We doubled the griz up with a so so team now I cant imagine how bad the score would be at playoff time. Just my opinion

 

[mcg]

Every year the bison have a bad game or two. This was one of them. We played terrible and still won. Dominated the line of scrimmage and time of possession as well as first downs etc. We haven't allowed a point in 2nd half yet. We lost our record setting QB and 20 other seniors as well as entire coaching staff and AD and still are 4-0. If I were the other four teams we just beat I'd be worried? Hopefully our QB progress's at a rapid rate? if so I don't think a rematch would even be close. We doubled the griz up with a so so team now I cant imagine how bad the score would be at playoff time. Just my opinion

Right I get it. The play of the team on the other side of the line had nothing to do with the NDSU performance Saturday, it was just sort of a random 'bad game'.

 

[PlayerRep]

Well we also beat Iowa State and Montana.
ISU by 20 and btw... Weber by 17. Not exactly squeaking by.
Not to offend, but has anyone here considered that NDSU played a terrible game?

Is it possible that might have been because of the efforts of your opponent? :roll:

I am not trying to diminish the strength of your D, they played very well as I have posted several times. But truthfully, NDSU played below average. Penalties in the red zone and returns killed us, red zone play selection was a mystery to all of us and our secondary gave up long pass plays on blown coverage. That is not typical for a NDSU team. Much improvement is needed.

And my point is they may just have played below average because of the efforts of their opponent. Every mistake isn't made in a vaccuum. Using your logic I could say the Griz just played a crappy game.

My NDSU friends said that NDSU played well, but the UM defense was damn tough, and NDSU just couldn't get in the endzone. And that was frustrating. And, except for a big play or two and at a couple of other times, NDSU controlled the UM offense. JJ said the UM offense didn't perform very well or well enough, and that was attributable at least in part to how good NDSU was. There is no way that NDSU wasn't up for this game and didn't play well. I agree with you, AZ. Others, please stop with this nonesense. I agree with you, AZ. I'd love to get another shot at NDSU later in the season, hopefully after our offense is better. I would guess that UM has alot more potential to improve more during the season than NDSU does, but, of course, NDSU doesn't have to improve much because they are already there.

 

[Grisly Fan]

Every year the bison have a bad game or two. This was one of them. We played terrible and still won. Dominated the line of scrimmage and time of possession as well as first downs etc. We haven't allowed a point in 2nd half yet. We lost our record setting QB and 20 other seniors as well as entire coaching staff and AD and still are 4-0. If I were the other four teams we just beat I'd be worried? Hopefully our QB progress's at a rapid rate? if so I don't think a rematch would even be close. We doubled the griz up with a so so team now I cant imagine how bad the score would be at playoff time. Just my opinion

Right I get it. The play of the team on the other side of the line had nothing to do with the NDSU performance Saturday, it was just sort of a random 'bad game'.

Yes of course, isn't it obvious???? Of course, the Griz just randomly had a bad game too. They could have been playing the Scottsdale Fighting Artichokes and would have still lost. NDSU players were just meat puppets.