WIU at North Dakota State (11/7/2015)

[sealhall74]

What a day for them Bison. With this beat down, I think they just moved into #2 slot in FCS rankings thanks to everyone ahead of them except Jacksonville going down. For the Bison, there is no difference between #1 and #2 except on January 10th.

[BobLovely]

So, any former coaches, players, or football parents want to chime in....what does the coach tell his team in the locker room after a game like today?

Typical "coach speak" after such a devastating loss:

"We played awful today and we deserved to lose this game. We need to put this game behind us, stay together as a team and keep working toward our goals. We can still make this a winning season. Let's have a safe trip home, get some rest and then get back to work."

There is really not much else any coach can say to the team after such a loss. Coaches do their best to prepare their teams to compete but ultimately, the players play the games and they need to motivate themselves and execute on the field.

Bob

[sealhall74]

So, any former coaches, players, or football parents want to chime in....what does the coach tell his team in the locker room after a game like today?

Typical "coach speak" after such a devastating loss:

"We played awful today and we deserved to lose this game. We need to put this game behind us, stay together as a team and keep working toward our goals. We can still make this a winning season. Let's have a safe trip home, get some rest and then get back to work."

There is really not much else any coach can say to the team after such a loss. Coaches do their best to prepare their teams to compete but ultimately, the players play the games and they need to motivate themselves and execute on the field.

Bob

Back in my day, after a loss like this, Coach would say "Nobody talks on the trip back home. I want you to think about what happened today." These days, it might be slightly different "No talking or headphones ...". Bob, your message would be left for the team meeting once we got home. Can a college coach actually do something like this to instill some discipline in the ranks?

I have to say we just looked totally unprepared and even unwilling at times to engage physically. Coaches cannot do much about the latter except put some people on the bench and give others a chance. Still, the Bison do deserve credit. Coaches made adjustments during the year to restore their smashmouth power game. The Wentz injury may have been the best thing that happened to them.

[Necks2003]

At least basketball starts next week. That was flat out hard to watch. They are a descent team, but we made them look much better than they are.

[BobLovely]

A great quote from former Western coach Darrell Mudra:

"Practice belongs to the coaches, the game belongs to the players."

His philosophy with a doctorate in Psychology was that the players have to take responsibility for the outcomes on game day. This is one reason why he coached from the press box.

I believe Western has a good coaching staff and some very talented athletes. I would submit that we are still short on elite FCS level talent in order to compete at the upper echelon of the division. It takes a program time and patience to build up talent level sans critical FBS transfers.

Bob

[wiu712]

Write-up about the game from the Fargo newspaper:
http://www.inforum.com/sports/3878218-b ... s-59-7-win

[ST_Lawson]

Well, I made it to about halftime before I had to turn it off. Just couldn't stand to see us get beaten so badly. I did check the scores periodically though, just to see if we'd actually get some points.

So, as for the game, I don't think there's much to be said. We didn't play great, but I think against a mid-level (in the conference) team we'd have been competitive...probably like the game against YSU. The problem was, we were going against a team fighting for a top seed in the FCS playoffs (for home-field advantage through the playoffs), on their first game back home after an embarrassing loss to a team they should have beaten. The Bison were angry and looking to make a BIG statement and unfortunately, we happened to be the team they made the statement against. I think if it was Indiana State or Youngstown State...they would have been beaten down just as badly.

Time of possession was horrible....NDSU had the ball for 73% of the game. We weren't able to get any running game going which forced us to throw a lot more often than we like to. It's not the worst thing if Norvell is having a good day and hitting Lenoir and Borsellino, but he just wasn't for the most part...just like when we were up against YSU. When you have a lot of incomplete passes and aren't getting many first downs, you don't take up much clock time on your side.

So...we didn't play well, and we did it against a team that was playing completely out of their minds...I think NDSU could have beaten just about any college football team outside of maybe the top 15-20 FBS teams yesterday.

Anyway, playoffs are now not an option. At best, we can finish 6-5 if we win out, but if we don't figure out how to remember how to play like we did earlier in the season, then I don't think we win another one. We've got a game at ISUb, which we can win if we play well. Sycamores got blown out by UNI (at the dome) by almost the exact same score as we did. Actually, halftime score was exactly the same (38-0). NDSU and UNI both got 7 in the 3rd and 14 in the 4th to both finish with 59 points in the game. Only difference was that ISUb was able to score twice in the 3rd (as opposed to our 1 TD in the 3rd)...with a missed XP, they ended up with 13 vs our 7. After that, home against SDSU who is also gunning for a high playoff seed and just gave Illinois State their first FCS loss (by 5 points).

As for the coach...yes, there are complaints to be made, but regardless of whether or not you think he "should" be fired...I don't think that's a possibility at this point. Whatever the buyout is for his contract...we can't pay it. Yes it was an embarrassing loss (especially considering the airtime on ESPN for the "behind the defender's back" TD catch for Vraa), but it was one game. Overall, Coach Nielson has improved the team every year he's been here. It's not a fast improvement, but it is moving up (so far...we'll see how this season plays out). We're not in a position to be firing coaches and eating their contract right now.

[sealhall74]

Well, I made it to about halftime before I had to turn it off. Just couldn't stand to see us get beaten so badly. I did check the scores periodically though, just to see if we'd actually get some points.

So, as for the game, I don't think there's much to be said. We didn't play great, but I think against a mid-level (in the conference) team we'd have been competitive...probably like the game against YSU. The problem was, we were going against a team fighting for a top seed in the FCS playoffs (for home-field advantage through the playoffs), on their first game back home after an embarrassing loss to a team they should have beaten. The Bison were angry and looking to make a BIG statement and unfortunately, we happened to be the team they made the statement against. I think if it was Indiana State or Youngstown State...they would have been beaten down just as badly.

Time of possession was horrible....NDSU had the ball for 73% of the game. We weren't able to get any running game going which forced us to throw a lot more often than we like to. It's not the worst thing if Norvell is having a good day and hitting Lenoir and Borsellino, but he just wasn't for the most part...just like when we were up against YSU. When you have a lot of incomplete passes and aren't getting many first downs, you don't take up much clock time on your side.

So...we didn't play well, and we did it against a team that was playing completely out of their minds...I think NDSU could have beaten just about any college football team outside of maybe the top 15-20 FBS teams yesterday.

Anyway, playoffs are now not an option. At best, we can finish 6-5 if we win out, but if we don't figure out how to remember how to play like we did earlier in the season, then I don't think we win another one. We've got a game at ISUb, which we can win if we play well. Sycamores got blown out by UNI (at the dome) by almost the exact same score as we did. Actually, halftime score was exactly the same (38-0). NDSU and UNI both got 7 in the 3rd and 14 in the 4th to both finish with 59 points in the game. Only difference was that ISUb was able to score twice in the 3rd (as opposed to our 1 TD in the 3rd)...with a missed XP, they ended up with 13 vs our 7. After that, home against SDSU who is also gunning for a high playoff seed and just gave Illinois State their first FCS loss (by 5 points).

As for the coach...yes, there are complaints to be made, but regardless of whether or not you think he "should" be fired...I don't think that's a possibility at this point. Whatever the buyout is for his contract...we can't pay it. Yes it was an embarrassing loss (especially considering the airtime on ESPN for the "behind the defender's back" TD catch for Vraa), but it was one game. Overall, Coach Nielson has improved the team every year he's been here. It's not a fast improvement, but it is moving up (so far...we'll see how this season plays out). We're not in a position to be firing coaches and eating their contract right now.

Several incredible pictures of that Vraa catch posted as link over on Bisonville. I did not realize he was elevated so much. That is some great body control.

http://timsanger.zenfolio.com/p10101345 ... #h65ca642a

[wiu712]

Western's record under Coach Nielson:
2013: 4-8
2014: 5-7

We are currently 4-5 with two games remaining: At Indiana State on November 14 and home with South Dakota State on November 21.

We will need one win to match last year's win total. Two wins would give us a winning record at 6-5.

[letsgonecks]

Anyone know why Nichols wasn't playing. We still get crushed in this game, but pretty sure Dallas doesn't get posterized by Vraa on that play. Was actually a bad pass that Nichols would have likely made a play on. Could have changed the outcome of the game......could have made it much closer and only lost by 4 TD's!!!!!

Norvell's pick was bad. Knew before the play where he was going. That's ok if you get a read on the defense pre-snap. A little motion left by Borsellino and then back right would have shown zone and hopefully eliminated that pass. I like the fact they weren't throwing a sideline pass, but come on and maybe that's why we never throw over the middle!!!!!