The Missouri Valley Conference is the best league in FCS for exactly what we saw today. Indiana State came in with a solid game plan and came out of Fargo with a game-changing win for its program. It’s not too long ago the Sycamores were known for it’s 33 game losing streak, now Trent Miles has Indiana State at 5-2, 3-1 in the Valley and in serious consideration for a playoff spot. As for NDSU, today was a clunker, pure and simple, the Bison played a sloppy game and lost. Jeff and I recap the game here with the postgame show, I’ll be back later on Sunday with some musings from the bunker as we get set for what should be a thrilling 2nd half to the 2012 FCS season. Thanks to everyone for the interaction on Twitter and the live blog, great stuff as always!
It’s certainly not time to jump off the bandwagon, considering there are only what, 3 or 4 teams left in FCS that are undefeated. But game planning is where this loss started. I thought Indiana St. had a great game plan on both sides of the ball. The Bison defense adjusted and did well, giving up only 3 points. The offense on the other hand was lifeless. After a one week suspension, Sam was tentative or lost, or both. The Bison offensive line was so passive and lacked aggression. Yes, the Bison lost one game last year and won the National Championship, so this is not the end of the world. Again it may be the proverbial wake up call. But regardless, Indiana St. did not impress me, and they were able to get a win on the back of two interception TD returns. What is more telling is that Indiana St. showed no respect for the Bison WR’s, stacking 8 on the line, and having the TV announcers saying Bison WR’s are creating no separation and possibly losing the best of the WR to another shoulder injury may be the plot line for the rest of the season. All that being said, I expect to see an angry Bison team the rest of the year, and for the coach’s to not be out game planned. Thank you Sycamore’s for the slap in the face, and watch out South Dakota.
Offense laid an egg…it happens. Defense gives up less than 200 yards and a FG and we still lose.
Watch out USD.
Kids are kids, as Kolpack said. That’s why this game is on Bohl and his staff.
I stated in a previous Blog post that Bohl’s comments to Kolpack about the Sagarin ratings were dumb, and I meant it. I compared those comments to his saying in 2010 that they didn’t need to win at Missouri State to make the playoffs, which guaranteed they would lose that game and they did. After all of these years Bohl still does not understand the basics of how to handle the psychie of 19-20 year olds. You don’t tell them how good they are, they listen to him, when in doubt Craig, kept your trap shut. Poor execution happens due to poor preparation which is the direct result of poor coaching. The outcome of this game was sealed on Tuesday when Bohl should have said “I don’t know anything about the Sagarin ratings, all I know is that we have a very good Indiana State team coming to town and we have a very tough game to prepare for”. But, that is not what he said. Dumb.
And for the record Dom, NDSUs points per game given up by the defense will NOT go down even though they technically only gave up 3 pts. The official statistics only takes into account points scored in a game, regardless of who actually scores them. Last year the Bison offense got lots of credit for MWill’s pick sixes. The pick sixes yesterday go against the Bison D even though they did not give them up. If you check the NCAA, the are now giving up basically 10 points per game, up from their 8.5.
Don’t agree.
Nothing wrong with Coach Bohl saying they are a good team….they are. What the he** is the point of making a statement if you are going to sugar coat it.
The offense laid an egg. Is this on the coaches because they didn’t ‘prepare’ the team right? NO WAY Maybe Ind State had something to do with it. Just because a team loses doesn’t mean they didn’t prepare properly. Maybe the other team was just better that day.
IMO, the coaching staff is a very good one and they will get them ready for USD.
NDSU did not lose because of four sentences that Bohl said about the Sagarin.
To think that we lost the game because of Bohls comment is just assinine.
It would seem the Bison have found the outhouse.
Fire vigen ndsu won in spite of him last year and yesterday was a case of his horrible play calling and why are we passing when we are in game tying position unacceptable. ISU scouted vigen he doesnt adjust
I don’t think play calling had anything to do with it. A lot of it was just poor execution by the players.
You could have Vince Lombardi, Bear Bryant and Tom Landry coaching the NDSU Bison offense from their graves on Saturday, but ISU was a better team. Give a team credit, and don’t always blame someone. Good teams lose sometimes.
Videos aren’t showing up on my iPhone or iPad.
Give it a shot again. Changed the embed code from Flash only to one that supports HTML5.
Indiana St. was not a good football team. Don’t put lipstick on this loss Dom. We played terrible and gave a game away to a team that if they do make the playoffs will be done in the first round. The wins vs. UNI and Youngstown are starting to look like the easy part of our schedule. I think both those teams are overrated and Youngstown joins UNI at home for the playoffs.
coming off a suspension, why didn’t Crockett get the start? Everyone knows he is that much better. IMO Oujori should be the number 3 back behind Crockett and the Freshmen kid.
I agree 100% with Crockett starting and getting more touches than Ojuri. I understand the coaches don’t want to wear out a running back with too many touches, but Crockett has an explosiveness that Ojuri does not have. Even without the Ojuri suspension Crockett should be starting. Ojuri is a good back but doesn’t appear to have that extra gear that Crockett has. A talent like his should not be sitting half the time. Keep the 2 back system but find about 5 more touches a game for Crockett.
Crockett is pretty banged up. Still Ojuri doesnt seen to have it this year.