scores in the missouri valley

[HerdBot]

Looks like Indiana State beat SDSU 41-30. They must be better than we thought. They put up 500 yards on the Jacks.

Missouri State is up on SIU in the 4th.

Suddenly MSU looks tougher than they did when they gave up 71 points last month.

Western Illinois absolutely destroyed Illinois State.

UNI won a close one vs Youngstown

[DjKyRo]

Like I posted in the other thread - whatever your opinion on the Bison you can't look past the faults of the other teams. SIU just got handed a loss after giving up 51. At the same time, Missouri State still can't play defense. SDSU gave 41 to a team we held to 15. I like our chances to go 3-0.

[Bisonwinagn]

If the Bison clean up the mental mistakes they should go 3-0. The problem at times this season and last year is they can't consistently play without making them. Let's hope they figure it out and the rest of the season could be fun.

[NWNDBison]

You can bet the team knows what happened with the competition today, too. It may be hush-hush on the practice field. But they know. That should serve as motivation to win out!

[Gully]

You can bet the team knows what happened with the competition today, too. It may be hush-hush on the practice field. But they know. That should serve as motivation to win out!

It didn't matter IMO. If they win out, they're in no matter what anyone else does.

[DjKyRo]

If the Bison clean up the mental mistakes they should go 3-0. The problem at times this season and last year is they can't consistently play without making them. Let's hope they figure it out and the rest of the season could be fun.

Let's take a look at the penalty situation across the season for the Bison thus far: (Location - penalties, yards)

@ Kansas - 13, 105
@ Northern Iowa - 9, 77
vs Morgan St. - 5, 60
vs South Dakota - 4, 49
vs Western Illinois - 8, 50
@ Youngstown State - 5, 43
@ Illinois State - 10, 95
vs Indiana State - 14, 128.

That gets us an average of 8.5 penalties for 78.9 yards per game. Now, every team is going to have penalties and we've had our fair share of bogus calls but it is what it is and we can sure cut down on that. That said, out team hasn't been the penalty machine some posters make it out to be but 80 yards a game is a pretty good chunk of change. Looking at the home vs. away numbers:

Home - 7.75, 71.1*.
Away - 9.25, 80.0
*-Bear in mind that this is a little skewed by two pretty bogus DPI calls in the In.St. game, without which that number goes down to 64.3 pypg, but again, it is what it is.

So again, penalties are bad but every team is going to get them and predictably the home numbers are less daunting, and we've got our two toughest matchups of the three remaining at home. We've had our share of false starts, delays of game, and a couple others that are ENTIRELY mental and can be fixed with a little focus, so it's not as bad as it seems.

Now, the other area of complaint for this team has been third down conversions, both for us and against us. Again looking across the season to this point:
(Location - NDSU - Opponent)

@ Kansas - 2-13 - 4-15
@ Northern Iowa - 6-16 - 3-12
vs Morgan St. - 3-11 - 5-17
vs South Dakota - 6-10 - 7-16
vs Western Illinois - 3-13 - 7-13
@ Youngstown State - 2-8 - 11-16
@ Illinois St. - 1-8 - 9-19
vs Indiana St. - 4-12 - 3-15

Over the season these numbers give us a total of 27-91 [29.67%] for, 49-133 [36.82%].

Now, both those numbers can obviously tell us a bit. It shows that NDSU, averaging 23.6 PPG*, is either not being forced into 3rd downs often or is being forced into 3rd downs with less offensive snaps being taken. At the moment I'm unable to find any statistics relating to offensive snaps but once I do I'll plug them in here - I'm inclined to think it's a mix of the two (for example, the huge plays the Bison had against USD vs. the two sustained drives that were ended on bad turnovers at Illinois St.) but regardless our third-down rate needs to get better and it's one of the things I agree with "the haters" on - it flat out needs to get better, and I think it will as we play at home and play against some suspect defenses (who gave up 51, 41, and 41 this week).

* 22.0 in MVFC play, 25.3 after Week 2.

Conversely, it says that our defense has been doing quite well keeping the the opposing team down at under 50% conversion, and I think it's a few untimely conversions that have given Bisonville the inclination that our D gives up a lot of third downs. The key is to look at the difference in opportunities on each side - NDSU has faced 40 less third downs than opponents and while our conversion rates aren't great that has to say something about the team, but I haven't put enough thought into whether that's a positive or negative statistic when viewed in the context of the team's play.*

*IE, if we're not facing third downs due to conversions on 1st and 2nd or if we're not getting that many drives on offense to have opportunities to convert, which obviously means we're getting less chances to score.

Obviously I've been bored at work tonight, and (SPOILER ALERT) this comprises a fair bit of my next BI article. What all this tells me is that our mistakes aren't as monumental as some posters have made them out to be, we still have issues and I personally feel those will be improved upon with two home games upcoming.

[IzzyFlexion]

That gets us an average of 8.5 penalties for 78.9 yards per game. .

Wow. Pretty big numbers. Maybe I missed it or maybe it's because I read at a 4th grade level, but do you have the penalty numbers for the opponents?

[Herd]

Watched the players press conf (free) for Mo St after they beat SIU (for the 1st time in their careers). Those players have some serious heart and shed a few tears after the game, it meant that much to them to get a W vs. SIU!! Cody Kirby is a hell of a player. The coach was so excited he was giddy.

If the bison have enough heart to win at home the next 2 weeks, winning in Springfield will be very tough. That's a team with a lot of seniors, and a huge heart. Not a good place to be finishing your season needing a win. Let's hope MO state isn't 6-4 heading into our contest. SDSU, watch out next week, should be a great game.

Bison, you got to want it, you got to taste it, you have to give it all! MO state clearly did on this day. That's the kind of press conference I show my players and say, "Men, this is playing with a purpose, this is playing with Heart!"

What separates the teams in the Valley this year? It certainly isn't talent, it is who is willing to commit on a given day. You have 9 teams all capable of winning, and 9 teams capable of losing on a given day.

[SDbison]

Let's take a look at the penalty situation across the season for the Bison thus far: (Location - penalties, yards)

@ Kansas - 13, 105
@ Northern Iowa - 9, 77
vs Morgan St. - 5, 60
vs South Dakota - 4, 49
vs Western Illinois - 8, 50
@ Youngstown State - 5, 43
@ Illinois State - 10, 95
vs Indiana State - 14, 128.

That gets us an average of 8.5 penalties for 78.9 yards per game. Now, every team is going to have penalties and we've had our fair share of bogus calls but it is what it is and we can sure cut down on that. That said, out team hasn't been the penalty machine some posters make it out to be but 80 yards a game is a pretty good chunk of change. Looking at the home vs. away numbers:

Home - 7.75, 71.1*.
Away - 9.25, 80.0
*-Bear in mind that this is a little skewed by two pretty bogus DPI calls in the In.St. game, without which that number goes down to 64.3 pypg, but again, it is what it is.

So again, penalties are bad but every team is going to get them and predictably the home numbers are less daunting, and we've got our two toughest matchups of the three remaining at home. We've had our share of false starts, delays of game, and a couple others that are ENTIRELY mental and can be fixed with a little focus, so it's not as bad as it seems.

Now, the other area of complaint for this team has been third down conversions, both for us and against us. Again looking across the season to this point:
(Location - NDSU - Opponent)

@ Kansas - 2-13 - 4-15
@ Northern Iowa - 6-16 - 3-12
vs Morgan St. - 3-11 - 5-17
vs South Dakota - 6-10 - 7-16
vs Western Illinois - 3-13 - 7-13
@ Youngstown State - 2-8 - 11-16
@ Illinois St. - 1-8 - 9-19
vs Indiana St. - 4-12 - 3-15

Over the season these numbers give us a total of 27-91 [29.67%] for, 49-133 [36.82%].

Now, both those numbers can obviously tell us a bit. It shows that NDSU, averaging 23.6 PPG*, is either not being forced into 3rd downs often or is being forced into 3rd downs with less offensive snaps being taken. At the moment I'm unable to find any statistics relating to offensive snaps but once I do I'll plug them in here - I'm inclined to think it's a mix of the two (for example, the huge plays the Bison had against USD vs. the two sustained drives that were ended on bad turnovers at Illinois St.) but regardless our third-down rate needs to get better and it's one of the things I agree with "the haters" on - it flat out needs to get better, and I think it will as we play at home and play against some suspect defenses (who gave up 51, 41, and 41 this week).

* 22.0 in MVFC play, 25.3 after Week 2.

Conversely, it says that our defense has been doing quite well keeping the the opposing team down at under 50% conversion, and I think it's a few untimely conversions that have given Bisonville the inclination that our D gives up a lot of third downs. The key is to look at the difference in opportunities on each side - NDSU has faced 40 less third downs than opponents and while our conversion rates aren't great that has to say something about the team, but I haven't put enough thought into whether that's a positive or negative statistic when viewed in the context of the team's play.*

*IE, if we're not facing third downs due to conversions on 1st and 2nd or if we're not getting that many drives on offense to have opportunities to convert, which obviously means we're getting less chances to score.

Obviously I've been bored at work tonight, and (SPOILER ALERT) this comprises a fair bit of my next BI article. What all this tells me is that our mistakes aren't as monumental as some posters have made them out to be, we still have issues and I personally feel those will be improved upon with two home games upcoming.
Get over yourself Dj........calling people "haters" because they point out facts and want to discuss the weakness is entirely BS. NDSU's third down conversion percentage is pathetic.
When NDSU's offense goes on short drives the defense plays too long. Ultimately a tired defense will give up the big play and allow more 3rd down conversions. NDSU's offense needs to get that 3rd down conversion rate up to around 50% during these last 3 games or you can kiss qualifying for the playoffs goodbye.

[mgbison]

I never thought i'd say this this year, but I agree with SD on this stat. We need to have better execution on 3rd downs to win all three games. The funny thing about the next 3 games is that we could easily win all 3 games by 20 points or lose all 3 games by 20 points, depending on what versions each team we see.

[SDbison]

I never thought i'd say this this year, but I agree with SD on this stat. We need to have better execution on 3rd downs to win all three games. The funny thing about the next 3 games is that we could easily win all 3 games by 20 points or lose all 3 games by 20 points, depending on what versions each team we see.
Hopefully we see an improved and more consistent Bison team next week against SIU and then a little more improvement each week therafter. Even if the next 2 games are W's the Bison need to be more consistent, much improved and more confident going into the game at Missouri State. New found confidence and some fire will go a long way to make the final game a W for NDSU.

[#1BISONFAN ASHLEY]

MSU is a really tough game, they have improved a lot. I say if we beat SIU next week by at least 10 we'll go 3-0

[DjKyRo]

Wow. Pretty big numbers. Maybe I missed it or maybe it's because I read at a 4th grade level, but do you have the penalty numbers for the opponents?

The numbers I have tell me it's surprisingly even -

NDSU: 68-607
Opponents: 67-615.

[semobison]

Well, when you are penalized as much as we have and by far lead the league in sacks against, you are going to have a lot of 3rd and longs! If you go to the MVFC website and look at the league stats only, you would wonder how we have 2 wins. The only decent stat is points allowed, where we are 3rd, I believe. Offensively we are at the bottom or near the bottem in everything!...but, its a crazy league, we have 3 games left, and a chance for a playoff berth! We need to play better than we have in previous conference games for this to happen though!

[DjKyRo]

Curiously enough, semobison, NDSU has an advantage in TDs of 24-15 against opponents. Obviously curbstomping USD and Morgan St. skews that a bit but the team's had more success than a few untimely mistakes. While that offense has translated to 5-3, it goes to show we can make things happen and it's about minimizing mistakes.

[80ALUM]

Get over yourself Dj........calling people "haters" because they point out facts and want to discuss the weakness is entirely BS. NDSU's third down conversion percentage is pathetic.
When NDSU's offense goes on short drives the defense plays too long. Ultimately a tired defense will give up the big play and allow more 3rd down conversions. NDSU's offense needs to get that 3rd down conversion rate up to around 50% during these last 3 games or you can kiss qualifying for the playoffs goodbye.

Don't be too hard on DJ. He is, after all, a product of the generation of "participation ribbons", "everyone's a winner", & "keeping score is bad for self-esteem" .;)

[semobison]

USD and Morgan were non confwerence games. On the MVFC website, there is a conference only stat section. Its ugly!

[ndsubison1]

Let's take a look at the penalty situation across the season for the Bison thus far: (Location - penalties, yards)

@ Kansas - 13, 105
@ Northern Iowa - 9, 77
vs Morgan St. - 5, 60
vs South Dakota - 4, 49
vs Western Illinois - 8, 50
@ Youngstown State - 5, 43
@ Illinois State - 10, 95
vs Indiana State - 14, 128.

That gets us an average of 8.5 penalties for 78.9 yards per game. Now, every team is going to have penalties and we've had our fair share of bogus calls but it is what it is and we can sure cut down on that. That said, out team hasn't been the penalty machine some posters make it out to be but 80 yards a game is a pretty good chunk of change. Looking at the home vs. away numbers:

Home - 7.75, 71.1*.
Away - 9.25, 80.0
*-Bear in mind that this is a little skewed by two pretty bogus DPI calls in the In.St. game, without which that number goes down to 64.3 pypg, but again, it is what it is.

So again, penalties are bad but every team is going to get them and predictably the home numbers are less daunting, and we've got our two toughest matchups of the three remaining at home. We've had our share of false starts, delays of game, and a couple others that are ENTIRELY mental and can be fixed with a little focus, so it's not as bad as it seems.

Now, the other area of complaint for this team has been third down conversions, both for us and against us. Again looking across the season to this point:
(Location - NDSU - Opponent)

@ Kansas - 2-13 - 4-15
@ Northern Iowa - 6-16 - 3-12
vs Morgan St. - 3-11 - 5-17
vs South Dakota - 6-10 - 7-16
vs Western Illinois - 3-13 - 7-13
@ Youngstown State - 2-8 - 11-16
@ Illinois St. - 1-8 - 9-19
vs Indiana St. - 4-12 - 3-15

Over the season these numbers give us a total of 27-91 [29.67%] for, 49-133 [36.82%].

Now, both those numbers can obviously tell us a bit. It shows that NDSU, averaging 23.6 PPG*, is either not being forced into 3rd downs often or is being forced into 3rd downs with less offensive snaps being taken. At the moment I'm unable to find any statistics relating to offensive snaps but once I do I'll plug them in here - I'm inclined to think it's a mix of the two (for example, the huge plays the Bison had against USD vs. the two sustained drives that were ended on bad turnovers at Illinois St.) but regardless our third-down rate needs to get better and it's one of the things I agree with "the haters" on - it flat out needs to get better, and I think it will as we play at home and play against some suspect defenses (who gave up 51, 41, and 41 this week).

* 22.0 in MVFC play, 25.3 after Week 2.

Conversely, it says that our defense has been doing quite well keeping the the opposing team down at under 50% conversion, and I think it's a few untimely conversions that have given Bisonville the inclination that our D gives up a lot of third downs. The key is to look at the difference in opportunities on each side - NDSU has faced 40 less third downs than opponents and while our conversion rates aren't great that has to say something about the team, but I haven't put enough thought into whether that's a positive or negative statistic when viewed in the context of the team's play.*

*IE, if we're not facing third downs due to conversions on 1st and 2nd or if we're not getting that many drives on offense to have opportunities to convert, which obviously means we're getting less chances to score.

Obviously I've been bored at work tonight, and (SPOILER ALERT) this comprises a fair bit of my next BI article. What all this tells me is that our mistakes aren't as monumental as some posters have made them out to be, we still have issues and I personally feel those will be improved upon with two home games upcoming.

In the words of Raheem Morris: "Stats are for losers." :p