North Dakota State defeats Youngstown State 48-7

[Pizza]

I think the problem is a common one at 1-AA (FCS) level. Only 65 schollies, everyone recruiting offense first to run the spread, defense is an afterthought. It's tough to stop the spread and similar passing offenses. I don't care who you are. Not enough scholarships to be great at every position, 22 deep on both offense and defense. It is what it is, unless you catch lightening in a bottle.

It's tough to tackle in space. Need to be a great athlete to look good when u are on n island. And with the spread, it puts everyone, (not just Db's) on a an island.

Montgomery is fine by me. He's the guy that is changing this team for the better. Wolford made a great choice there. Give our D Coord a couple of years.

YSU will make the playoffs. Should have made it last year, as we were clearly one of the best 20. This year there is no doubt about that. Unless the selection committee is completely ignorant of football.

That is progress.

And Wolf and Strollo, as much as you may "question" them....have us on the proper trajectory.

Did NDSU run the spread?    Hmmmm must have missed that.

Lechter.....we have lot's in common....you gotta PM me.

I was trying to be nice.

With that said, for the the rest of the readers.......The NFL runs TE's down hill (did you watch the NE Patriots today ).

At the local HS level....Mooney and to a lesser extent....Ursuline and lower level, successful teams ....(over the last 50+years).....runs downhill.

[Bisonbacker]

Waited 24 hrs to post about the game.  After reading some of what everybody said...I am as disappointed at ur fans as i am about the team.

1. Wolford came here to upgrade the program.  Yea there were good players here and yea there were players that wasnt so good. Would we have BEAT PITT with the old coach.   Hell NO!!!!.  He treated those games as a lay down. 
No
2. So if we go on iaa assumption that this team was doing just fine,,,did the past coach beat Northern Iowa? Did the past coach coach up his players? So i say sour grapes to anybody that seems to think this proram was in good hands 4 years ago...it wasnt.

3.  We all new our D was the problem and I want to think we need to give the New D coach a little more time, he didnt recruit those kids and if we dont see improvement, they will have to go get the righ kid.

4. We got beat by a great team.  They beat us up physically for 4 qtrs and they had tremendous depth.

5.  They had this game on there mind since we beat them and then the schedule gave them a big favor by having us come back there back to back years.

We are still light years ahead of where we were 4 years ago.  I think this is a playoff team its a long season and everbody needs to believe these guys can and will get to the playoffs!

no

What you are saying does make sense when you read it Go, but factor in this:

1. We did not hire either of the two coordinators. We were not asked about our opinion. Wolf hired them. Did we ask for a new DC this year? Hiring a DC from Florida was clearly a mistake ...I sad it the day he was hired. We cannot give them excuses. If we are going to use that analogy, whey did we not give coach H 2 or 3 more years to install the spread? I will tell you why, because no one cared about that ...they just wanted to win. Likewise, no one cares if Wolf had to replace his DC ...we want to win.

2. We can easily make the play-off I agree. However, there will never ...and I repeat NEVER be any respect for us unless we take home the title this year ...hopefully seeing NDSU again along the way. We were not even competitive yesterday. NDSU is not even close to as good as some of you think they are. There running game is never going to hold up & Jensen is too immobile ...he is not Kurt Hess.

Wow no Kurt  Hess.   Did you watch the game yesterday . Jensen is a winner .   Hess I'm sure is OK but I wouldn't trade you  qb’s.   Oh and no worries about our running game you didn't even see ojuri.   Looking forward to seeing you guys again.

[IAA Fan]

Waited 24 hrs to post about the game.  After reading some of what everybody said...I am as disappointed at ur fans as i am about the team.

1. Wolford came here to upgrade the program.  Yea there were good players here and yea there were players that wasnt so good. Would we have BEAT PITT with the old coach.   Hell NO!!!!.  He treated those games as a lay down. 

2. So if we go on iaa assumption that this team was doing just fine,,,did the past coach beat Northern Iowa? Did the past coach coach up his players? So i say sour grapes to anybody that seems to think this proram was in good hands 4 years ago...it wasnt.

3.  We all new our D was the problem and I want to think we need to give the New D coach a little more time, he didnt recruit those kids and if we dont see improvement, they will have to go get the righ kid.

4. We got beat by a great team.  They beat us up physically for 4 qtrs and they had tremendous depth.

5.  They had this game on there mind since we beat them and then the schedule gave them a big favor by having us come back there back to back years.

We are still light years ahead of where we were 4 years ago.  I think this is a playoff team its a long season and everbody needs to believe these guys can and will get to the playoffs!

What you are saying does make sense when you read it Go, but factor in this:

1. We did not hire either of the two coordinators. We were not asked about our opinion. Wolf hired them. Did we ask for a new DC this year? Hiring a DC from Florida was clearly a mistake ...I sad it the day he was hired. We cannot give them excuses. If we are going to use that analogy, whey did we not give coach H 2 or 3 more years to install the spread? I will tell you why, because no one cared about that ...they just wanted to win. Likewise, no one cares if Wolf had to replace his DC ...we want to win.

2. We can easily make the play-off I agree. However, there will never ...and I repeat NEVER be any respect for us unless we take home the title this year ...hopefully seeing NDSU again along the way. We were not even competitive yesterday. NDSU is not even close to as good as some of you think they are. There running game is never going to hold up & Jensen is too immobile ...he is not Kurt Hess.

Please explain how you come to this conclusion?

Not really. I assume you are talking about the Hess vs. Jensen comment? I have watched Jensen play many more times than you have watched Hess; the differences are obvious. In the past two seasons I have watched 6 Bison games & every single YSU game. I simply state my observations.

You can explain it as sour grapes if you want ...I really do not care. Although I love having your fans on the board & I wish you all the luck the rest of the way out; this post is not about NDSU, it is about YSU. This game simply amplified the failures of this staff's defense and special teams coverage. I remember YSU coming out of the locker room last year in Fargo ...YSU switching to a base 4-3 & though it would last about 1-series ...it lasted the rest of the game. Could we not even learn from the one ounce of success we had last year?

[ysuguins4]

They are the better team, but the turnovers made it much worse than it should have been.  I was disappointed that we did not run the ball more.  Last year we averaged 5 yards a carry, and in the limited carries that Cook and Pace had Saturday they averaged 5 and 6 yards respectively.  Our coaches have got to come up with something to get our defense off the field on 3rd down.

[ysubigred]

WOW!! Calm down people!! I hate when the 49ers come to town. Last time this happened we took a beating the next Saturday.

Just think "IF" the "D" and special teams was as good as you all think they should be we'd be playing in OT right now 7-7 LOL!! Give NDSU credit they came to play YSU looked like they were still in the hotel.

  Give equal suck credit  to the whole team from the water boy to the AD Saturday!! I'm not sure what game you all were watching but the high powered offense looked like ass also. YSU will rebound keep the faith!! 

[ysubigred]

Waited 24 hrs to post about the game.  After reading some of what everybody said...I am as disappointed at ur fans as i am about the team.

1. Wolford came here to upgrade the program.  Yea there were good players here and yea there were players that wasnt so good. Would we have BEAT PITT with the old coach.   Hell NO!!!!.  He treated those games as a lay down. 
No
2. So if we go on iaa assumption that this team was doing just fine,,,did the past coach beat Northern Iowa? Did the past coach coach up his players? So i say sour grapes to anybody that seems to think this proram was in good hands 4 years ago...it wasnt.

3.  We all new our D was the problem and I want to think we need to give the New D coach a little more time, he didnt recruit those kids and if we dont see improvement, they will have to go get the righ kid.

4. We got beat by a great team.  They beat us up physically for 4 qtrs and they had tremendous depth.

5.  They had this game on there mind since we beat them and then the schedule gave them a big favor by having us come back there back to back years.

We are still light years ahead of where we were 4 years ago.  I think this is a playoff team its a long season and everbody needs to believe these guys can and will get to the playoffs!

no

What you are saying does make sense when you read it Go, but factor in this:

1. We did not hire either of the two coordinators. We were not asked about our opinion. Wolf hired them. Did we ask for a new DC this year? Hiring a DC from Florida was clearly a mistake ...I sad it the day he was hired. We cannot give them excuses. If we are going to use that analogy, whey did we not give coach H 2 or 3 more years to install the spread? I will tell you why, because no one cared about that ...they just wanted to win. Likewise, no one cares if Wolf had to replace his DC ...we want to win.

2. We can easily make the play-off I agree. However, there will never ...and I repeat NEVER be any respect for us unless we take home the title this year ...hopefully seeing NDSU again along the way. We were not even competitive yesterday. NDSU is not even close to as good as some of you think they are. There running game is never going to hold up & Jensen is too immobile ...he is not Kurt Hess.

Wow no Kurt  Hess.   Did you watch the game yesterday . Jensen is a winner .   Hess I'm sure is OK but I wouldn't trade you  qb’s.   Oh and no worries about our running game you didn't even see ojuri.   Looking forward to seeing you guys again.

Hey BB!! Give it up already.. According to some on here our QB should be inducted into the Pro football hall of fame in two years LOL!!!

[IAA Fan]

Wow no Kurt  Hess.   Did you watch the game yesterday . Jensen is a winner .   Hess I'm sure is OK but I wouldn't trade you  qb’s.   Oh and no worries about our running game you didn't even see ojuri.   Looking forward to seeing you guys again.

Of course he is a winner (speaking of Jensen). Never said he was not. I like him quite a bit. I mentioned Ojuri absence before the game, as it is always a team's #2 back that nails YSU. Has been that way as long as I can remember. I think the differences are quite substantial between the two of them. I like the way your OC changes up the look on the O-line. You could have a "thunder and lightening" set back there. Would love to see you again, but I do not see it in the cards for 2012. Just too many issues. Maybe if we have some minor improvements and both NDSU and YSU are in the west bracket in the post-season. Not likely though, as NDSU will be seeded, YSU will be lucky.

[pioneer9]

It's kind of amazing how quickly everyone seems to be throwing in the towel for this season.... Reality is YSU is still sitting at 4-1 and still ranked #9.  They have victories over two playoff caliber teams (NIU and Albany will both be ranked before the season lets up) and a Div 1 BCS Program (I dont care how bad they supposedly are). Losing to NDSU, despite how good this YSU team is, was always a possibility, even a probability.  The only thing everyone is concerned with is the score... the fact they got beat 48-7. But anyone who has ever actually suited up to play football knows the following:

(1) Turnovers change games
You don't win games against top-ranked teams turning over the ball, let alone 3 times in the first half, all resulting in short fields and a total of 21 points

(2) Momentum is everything
As soon as Hess threw the pick-6 he was out of that game mentally.  He is a not a bad QB... but he is a streaky QB.  It's usually either all good or all bad with Hess.  After the third pick, all he did was miss wide open receivers and make bad decisions.  On the contrary, in the UNI game he made a big play in the third and from then on out it was big play after big play.  He's that guy you have to get confident in the early goings to have him for the rest of the game

(3) Have to appreciate the concept of bad days
This sounds so much like an excuse but, come on, it was obvious.  Our best YSU team didnt step foot on the field Saturday.  The only consistently bad performance we have had all year is D-Line play/pass rush and some holes in the secondary here and there.  Offense looked way out of form.  QB was frazzled. Defense was put at a disadvantage all game long because of turnovers.  That game on another day was 35-28.  It just wasnt that day...

I am begging people not to give up on this team just yet. If nothing else this might be a good thing for them. Because I can tell you if I was a player on this team... I'm waking up everyday thinking, "there will be NO MORE BAD DAYS."  We cant afford it. YSU has 6 games left on the docket.  Win even three and they are probably in.  Personally, I expect a rebound against ILL St. and at least 3 after that.  I could pretty realistically see 8-3 or 9-2

[HLecter]

Nobody is giving up.  I'm just saying we need to score 40 a game to gaurantee wins.

[ysubigred]

It's kind of amazing how quickly everyone seems to be throwing in the towel for this season.... Reality is YSU is still sitting at 4-1 and still ranked #9.  They have victories over two playoff caliber teams (NIU and Albany will both be ranked before the season lets up) and a Div 1 BCS Program (I dont care how bad they supposedly are). Losing to NDSU, despite how good this YSU team is, was always a possibility, even a probability.  The only thing everyone is concerned with is the score... the fact they got beat 48-7. But anyone who has ever actually suited up to play football knows the following:

(1) Turnovers change games
You don't win games against top-ranked teams turning over the ball, let alone 3 times in the first half, all resulting in short fields and a total of 21 points

(2) Momentum is everything
As soon as Hess threw the pick-6 he was out of that game mentally.  He is a not a bad QB... but he is a streaky QB.  It's usually either all good or all bad with Hess.  After the third pick, all he did was miss wide open receivers and make bad decisions.  On the contrary, in the UNI game he made a big play in the third and from then on out it was big play after big play.  He's that guy you have to get confident in the early goings to have him for the rest of the game

(3) Have to appreciate the concept of bad days
This sounds so much like an excuse but, come on, it was obvious.  Our best YSU team didnt step foot on the field Saturday.  The only consistently bad performance we have had all year is D-Line play/pass rush and some holes in the secondary here and there.  Offense looked way out of form.  QB was frazzled. Defense was put at a disadvantage all game long because of turnovers.  That game on another day was 35-28.  It just wasnt that day...

I am begging people not to give up on this team just yet. If nothing else this might be a good thing for them. Because I can tell you if I was a player on this team... I'm waking up everyday thinking, "there will be NO MORE BAD DAYS."  We cant afford it. YSU has 6 games left on the docket.  Win even three and they are probably in.  Personally, I expect a rebound against ILL St. and at least 3 after that.  I could pretty realistically see 8-3 or 9-2

^^ My new best friend^^  Finally someone who knows what in the hell they are talking about.

[ysubigred]

Nobody is giving up.  I'm just saying we need to score 40 a game to gaurantee wins.

LOL!! it's going to be a long season then.  Any team with half a coach can figure out this offense (NDSU , Albnay).  There is some teams coming up that play great "D" (SDSU) in particular SIU looks to have found their way also. 

[IAA Fan]

Who is giving up? Just because we complain does not mean we have given up. Complaining is the only reason people tailgate! 

I do not think 'just anyone' can figure out this offense. Not at our level. It is going to work, but you are right ...and it is VERY dependent on the QB. Hess is the man for the job. My concern is the lack of progress on D and special teams. We were off for a week and could still not develop a pass rush. NDSU is as stagnant as we are. Make a quality adjustment and they are done ...ala 2011 vs. YSU. However, they are very strong & most teams at the I-AA level do not have the depth to shift styles of defense. I guess that is an advantage of having 85-scholarships at the IA level.

[tony]

I'll be surprised if your team doesn't bounce back strongly after this loss. Just seems like your team has that kind of character. Good luck the rest of the season - it'd sure be great to see a rematch late in the playoffs.