Same honest opinion

[tjbison]

Re: Same honest opinion

USD played the game of their transition to beat MN but the gophers also were in a mode that I don't think anyone cared and probably some harsh feeling with Brewster. My take from what I seen whent he Yotes came to Fargo last year.

Depth - serious problem and was very noticeable in the 2nd half
Speed - Team speed was lacking, NDSU has some team speed, but UNI seems to be the fastest overall
Coaching - Ed made some good choices and BAD but this was probably due to the fact that we outplayed the yotes at every position in the 2nd half.

The Valley teams generally keep games really close in the 1st half and thats were the deep and conditioned teams separate themselves which was hugly evident in our win at Montana St. they plum got wore down with our RB and DL rotations.

USD will probably struggle as they are newbies from Transition in a league that has gotten stronger top to bottom, but also their recruits should change in the talent they can draw by being in a stable AQ league that is considered a "power" Conference in the FCS.

[da_coach]

Re: Same honest opinion

If you can hang with Cal Poly and UC Davis, you can probably hang with most of the teams from the Valley.

Problem is, usually the top 2-3 teams in the Valley are just a notch up from "most of teams".

The biggest difference I think the U will face is the week in, week out grind of the season in the Valley.

There will be no more Cal Poly one week, tiny school easy win the next.

It's UNI one week, Youngstown the next, Mo state the next, Western Ill, ...

Like coyote fan mentioned, you can't have the inconsistent play week up and week down, or you're going to be looking at a poor conference record.

And like tjbison said, depth is a huge factor, both in games...but more importantly through the season. Teams WILL get banged up.

[yoteforever]

Re: Same honest opinion

If you can hang with Cal Poly and UC Davis, you can probably hang with most of the teams from the Valley.

Problem is, usually the top 2-3 teams in the Valley are just a notch up from "most of teams".

The biggest difference I think the U will face is the week in, week out grind of the season in the Valley.

There will be no more Cal Poly one week, tiny school easy win the next.

It's UNI one week, Youngstown the next, Mo state the next, Western Ill, ...

Like coyote fan mentioned, you can't have the inconsistent play week up and week down, or you're going to be looking at a poor conference record.

And like tjbison said, depth is a huge factor, both in games...but more importantly through the season. Teams WILL get banged up.

This makes the most sense to me. I think it is the rigors of the league that will take its toll. Although UNI was better than we were, we did play them down tot he wire last year. We played NDSU with the exception of the 3rd quarter implosion. That won't always happen, but it did, and we paid for it. No matter what everyone thinks of Minnesota, it was a Big 10 win. They did beat Iowa in the last game, so it wasn't like they are a D-2 team.

I think the fact you probably don't get a breather from one week to another is what makes this hard to predict. Personally speaking, I think we will finish around 5th-6th. But that is just a guess. From there we will know where we are at and recruit accordingly.

[tjbison]

Re: Same honest opinion

This makes the most sense to me. I think it is the rigors of the league that will take its toll. Although UNI was better than we were, we did play them down tot he wire last year. We played NDSU with the exception of the 3rd quarter implosion. That won't always happen, but it did, and we paid for it. No matter what everyone thinks of Minnesota, it was a Big 10 win. They did beat Iowa in the last game, so it wasn't like they are a D-2 team.

I think the fact you probably don't get a breather from one week to another is what makes this hard to predict. Personally speaking, I think we will finish around 5th-6th. But that is just a guess. From there we will know where we are at and recruit accordingly.

Well I rewatched the DVR of this particular game last night after my post and I have to say you are wrong on this, our D-line physically dominated your Oline we had some DUMB offensive mistakes in the first half, and it all started clicking in the second with DJ rolling off 150 yards on the ground and finished with 250net 3tds on 20 carries with a long of 67, plus after half is when our o-line took control. and like I said earlier your team speed is lacking, our D was 2 steps faster than your offense and if you watch that game again its very evident. But like I said if you can recruit the right types that will change.

[Theee Catrabbit]

Re: Same honest opinion

I don't think you Rock bottom out......but......

SDSU loss (swagger is back and sumner)
NDSU loss (always a good team)
UNI loss (currently own the conference)
ISU-R loss (upswing, getting a lot of FBS transfers for some reason)
ISU-B loss (not a joke anymore, 2 years from now everyone will have issues with this team)
MSU loss (always an underrated team in the conf IMO)
SIU loss (Always good)

WIU Win (erratic play and coaching, you'll catch them napping)
YSU Win (I just gave you YSU, not sure why, probably because they have a flightless bird as a mascot which is not indigenous to their area, that bugs me.)

That'd be my honest answer.

[tjbison]

Re: Same honest opinion

I don't think you Rock bottom out......but......

SDSU loss (swagger is back and sumner) I hope this is on TV
NDSU loss (always a good team)
UNI loss (currently own the conference)
ISU-R loss (upswing, getting a lot of FBS transfers for some reason)
ISU-B loss (not a joke anymore, 2 years from now everyone will have issues with this team) Everyone did have troubles last year
MSU loss (always an underrated team in the conf IMO)
SIU loss (Always good)

WIU Win (erratic play and coaching, you'll catch them napping)
YSU Win (I just gave you YSU, not sure why, probably because they have a flightless bird as a mascot which is not indigenous to their area, that bugs me.) YSU wins Hands down especially at the Ice Castle

That'd be my honest answer.

added in bold