NDSU - NCAA Quarterfinals

[bobo]

Not to look back in the mirror, but that 2nd NDSU game will be a great learning experience for our players and coaches moving forward. After watching that Montana game last night, it became more obvious that we missed a terrific opportunity. I have no doubt we could have beaten them again last week if we had moved our DL more and we blitzed them on 3rd downs to speed up their QB. If we had not forgotten how we got up fast on them in the first meeting by getting the ball to our best WR early and often. And most important, used the formations that worked in the first game just flavor them up a little different and heavy play action to protect our QB because he can’t run. Learning experiences!

[yoteforever]

There’s no question we were in the hunt. We belonged. The fact remains that last Saturday NDSU came to Vermillion to extract blood, and they did. They were embarrassed by our win in Fargo. The motivation of revenge is strong. That’s why many people say it’s tough to beat a good team twice. In my mind we were not intimidated by the so called “big stage or bright lights”. These kids are tougher than that. NDSU literally played flawlessly. Never made a mistake. No penalties, perfectly thrown balls and secured catches. The Bison team that played in Missoula last night would’ve gotten beat by 10 or more last week in the Done.

But that’s sports. There’s something to be said about the building of a program. It takes time and talent. This year my hope is the groundwork has been laid. To say USD will be on the tips of tongues of FCS sports pundits my answer is not yet. Win again, get seeded and win some post season games and then I’ll say we’re on our way.

The truth of the matter is SDSU and NDSU has gained and earned that reputation. Much like Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan at the highest level. SDSU’s team this year seriously might be one of the best all time in FCS history. I think they’ll take the Grizz to the woodshed Jan. 7th. They literally haven’t played a bad game yet. But think about how both the XDSU;S have established themselves. The Bison literally have a 50 year tradition. The Jacks have come in the scene the last 12 years. But the Jacks stumbled for many years before they broke the ice and made the championship game. The schools have invested in football. Fans show up to games and are loud. Fans give far more money than what ours do. It’s a fact.

The job of our new AD should be to capitalize on the success of the 2023 season. Raising money is always tough, but it might be a little easier to do it this coming year based on the success our team had this year. Selling season tickets, clothing sales….all of it goes into the pot of success. Build momentum. Get our alumni involved. We can and we will get better. USD has a golden opportunity to set a new path of success. I hope we get it done.