Some Perspective

[Coyote Fan]

Whether it's true or not, whatever the reason is, USD gives off a completely different auro now vs only as few as 4 games ago.

I can't help but think back to after the Northern Colorado game. The team that walked off the field that day vs the team that celebrated the victory over the Gophers certainly seems light years apart. Of course in actuality there are only 3 games in between UNC and U of M, add in an off season and here we sit. Some may say it was just a horrible Gopher team. It wasn't just that. USD made big strides in beating S Utah only a week after UNC. I think possibly the biggest step may have been going onto the road and winning at Cal Poly to end the season last year. I know I felt, and I am sure the team too that the impact of winning those last two games would carry into the winer and spring. I think it's fair to say that absolutely was the case.

Sometimes USD can have trouble building off momentum but now they are riding a very good stretch of 4 games now. I can't think of a time where USD played this good for 4 games in a row (minus C Florida to an extent) since at least 2006. Hopefully the Yotes can keep this good play up for the majority of the season. There will be plenty of fun games and good tests, especially at home.

So everyone is feeling good about things but I think the Coyotes can still improve on the defensive side of the ball. If Morrell gets the D on track this USD team can be scarey good provided they keep up what they have going on.

The team we have taking the field right now will be largely what we see for the next two years or stronger. There are only a very small handful of seniors that will be gone after this season. Even after 2 years USD will be fully developed with scholarships with the seniors being all D1 recruits unless there are any 5 year players.

As a fanbase we now need to not sell ourselves short. We know the Yotes have it in them, now it's just a matter of going out and executing every week. It certainly appears that with Ed, Wes and Chuck in charge that USD in good hands. There are very few teams now in FCS (and maybe none) that should come into the dome for a USD home game where we shouldn't know that USD will at least have a legitimate fighting chance to win. Whether it be through the eyes of USD people or outsiders the Coyotes and the gap between the Dakota States should no longer be a significant difference. It's still a BIT of an advantage but those that still choose to put the programs on completely different pedastals need to come off their soapbox.

With all that said and with all the positivity (and rightly so) USD still does need to remember that Northern Colorado was not that long ago. USD will need to continue to strive to get better but now they can do so with the confidence that they now have that was impossible to be there before these last few games. Now USD isn't just winning games, but winning big games on the road. Arguably USD is doing a better job on the road now in D1 then they did when they were D2. That to me is what amazes me most about the recent happenings.

[usdfbalum]

There are a number of things that have come together for the Yotes:

1. Key D1 recruits are contributing now and have had time to develop and are now on the field.
2. The O coordinator is getting better every game.
3. Even though the score may not show it: The USD Defense is playing better. Tackling is solid, pursuit to the ball is getting to where it needs to be, and I believe scheme-wise Morrell will put the guys in position to make plays. (I have always believed that without a quality defense you cannot be a consistently competitive road team.)
4. The Offensive Line is big and physical and seem to have improved again this year.

I was concerned that our play at QB could be hampered by a hangover from losing Noah - big shoes to fill. Dante casts his own shadow now.

These guys are building their own tradition, and I cannot help but believe that every time they take the field they will expect to win.

[HadleyCoyote]

One of the things that sticks in my mind about the UM game that showed me this team has really turned a corner:

Our offense was deep in our own territory, at the closed end of the stadium right next to the student section and the band. The students and the band were blaring away – it was deafening. I kept waiting for reality to set in and the collapse to begin. If it was going to happen, this was the time. But it didn’t. These guys knew they could win and weren’t intimidated. That’s a big step for a team to take – especially on the road under those conditions.

[Coyote Fan]

Hadley,

I thought the same thing. They just were not to be denied and proved it over and over again in what would seem to be in the most unlikely of circumstances. The mainly U of M crowd, the stadium, everything. The Yotes were awsome.

It wasn't just that the Yotes responded but it was the way they responded that impressed me as well. It seemed like the offense had a mentality that they weren't just going to fall in the trap of running right at the Gophers. Some teams kind of go into a shell when they are ahead or better yet when they are barely ahead and their lead has just been cut into. That was kind of the story of much of the game in how USD responded to being one bad offensive possession away from having the Gophers possibly take over the game but at minimum take the lead. USD did truley take it to the Gophers. Wes really have an attacking mentality. He did so as a quarterback and now as a coach. He doesn't just do it with recklass abandon though because USD kind of picked their moments. Whatever it was the playcalling was just about as good as it possibly could have been.