2021 SMSU Mustangs

[SW_Mustang]

Made it up too (or down too, rather) Aberdeen for week two.

Was actually impressed with our D-Line for once. Had NSU scrambling, lots of short gain, no gain, and TFL plays. Wasn't too happy with the secondary.

Haidet looks like a good QB, but he just doesn't have the support on offense. Did anyone catch that snap that hit him in the head? That was... bad. Really bad. Beyond embarrassing.

Recievers did a better job this week, but they still need work. Running backs were great, QB even had some decent runs.

Still though, we played them a lot better than I thought. Stangs held them to 1 TD in the first half and no penalties. We can also claim the first ever TD scored at DBS (but not the first PAT, doh!)

[NSICFballFan]

Made it up too (or down too, rather) Aberdeen for week two.

Was actually impressed with our D-Line for once. Had NSU scrambling, lots of short gain, no gain, and TFL plays. Wasn't too happy with the secondary.

Haidet looks like a good QB, but he just doesn't have the support on offense.

SMSU looked much improved this week. If they continue improving (I expect they will) they'll give some teams trouble Week 5+. Unfortunately, that is the toughest stretch of the schedule.

D-line cost SMSU a few games in 2019. Sauter made sure that was not going to be the case this szn. D-line dominated NSU O-line.

Wish Haidet had another szn and more time to work with the offense.

[MrMustang]

another sizeble loss in a winnable game, Games that need to win to have a winning record. we sure talk a lot of smack for being behind all the time

[SW_Mustang]

SMSU looked much improved this week. If they continue improving (I expect they will) they'll give some teams trouble Week 5+. Unfortunately, that is the toughest stretch of the schedule.

D-line cost SMSU a few games in 2019. Sauter made sure that was not going to be the case this szn. D-line dominated NSU O-line.

Wish Haidet had another szn and more time to work with the offense.

The next three games will be really telling, IMO. If we can't pull of 2-3 wins...

What frustrates me is how we always seem to be in "rebuilding" mode. I don't mind being hopeful, but it's gotta pay off dividends at some point.

[Stanger86]

There really seemed to be growth in the first few years under Sauter, with two winning seasons in three years. But none in the four seasons played since and I'm not sure I see it changing soon.

[SW_Mustang]

There really seemed to be growth in the first few years under Sauter, with two winning seasons in three years. But none in the four seasons played since and I'm not sure I see it changing soon.

If I counted right, we're 13-32 since beating UMD in 2016 - that was our last statement win. A 27% win percentage. 2014 was not a great year either, but we capped it off with a big win over Winona State and came back to our best season in D2 (record wise).

I'm not sure if it's a culture thing, a coaching thing, a player attitude thing - probably some of all of the above. The weird thing is, we've had a lot of talented guys come through in that time. Guys like Daniel Davis, I mean.

I wrote this season off well before it started. We didn't stand a chance, but I'm taking that opportunity to find silver linings in a group of guys who are doing the best that they can. There's very little else to do in SWMN besides watch the Mustangs, so I'm gonna make the most of it...

[MrMustang]

well, let's see what happens on Saturday in St. Paul

[Tundra_Man]

well, let's see what happens on Saturday in St. Paul

I think the key is stopping their run game, because from what I saw their QB needed a lot of development to become an effective passer.

[Stanger86]

An interesting week around the NSIC has me feeling better about this team. Are we great? Clearly not. But I do think we have had some positives when a lot of the narrative has been negative.

The interesting thing about this team is that it's very different from what we've become accustomed to under Sauter on offense.

179.8 ypg rushing - most since 2015, third-highest under Sauter and fourth all-time.
134.5 ypg passing - least since 1999, previous low under Sauter was 209.8
62 plays per game - usually over 75 under Sauter

A Sauter-led team has finished a season under 400 pass attempts just once (382 in 2012). The 2021 Mustangs are currently on pace to throw just 291 passes. That's happened just 3 times here since 1980.

[NSICFballFan]

A Sauter-led team has finished a season under 400 pass attempts just once (382 in 2012). The 2021 Mustangs are currently on pace to throw just 291 passes. That's happened just 3 times here since 1980.

Gotta love Sauter's flexibility. I know he wants to sling the ball but putting the team in the best position to win is most important. A few teams in the NSIC (BSU) are throwing the ball much more than they should be.

[SW_Mustang]

Glad that we pulled this one off. Next week is very winnable too.

[MrMustang]

They certainly played better.

Still so much disfunction but we played hard.

Delay of game from the 1 on 1st and goal. HOW THE HELL DOES THAT HAPPEN????????? If nothing else call your standard run if not sure. my gosh.

And we still sure chirp a lot for a 1-3 team. Fine it is what it is, But we were 0-3 and losing yet talking a lot of trash. wow

We also used a timeout on 4th down at about the 20, only then to kick the field goal. If you are gonna kick it , kick it, no reason to burn a precious 2nd half time out.

The effort was there. the heart was there and it was much better.

[MrMustang]

I will say I am impressed with Coach Sauter's ability to improvise the offense to personal. First time since about 2002 we haven't had a stud qb. To his credit Coach Sauter has built a good line and made it function.

Defense is better than the past. There are some hope there for the future if they get better. DBS were bad early and we made a couple of changes which was good too see too.

[UMary1]

I will say I am impressed with Coach Sauter's ability to improvise the offense to personal. First time since about 2002 we haven't had a stud qb. To his credit Coach Sauter has built a good line and made it function.

Defense is better than the past. There are some hope there for the future if they get better. DBS were bad early and we made a couple of changes which was good too see too.

Sauter seems very invested in the program. Not sure whats being said this year. I have been following the NSIC for years now and would like to get on here more. Its great to see the effort you all put in. I just had a question with coaching changes. I know its early but I was wondering how much outside influences sway an AD when picking a coach or coordinator. Any stories where an AD had their guy and calls are made for someone else. Reason I ask is I have a sense we'll be seeing changes next year. Not specifically at UMary but all over as coaches move on. I see Sioux Falls former D coordinator is doing great things for Samford. Just thought I would throw it out there.

[Stanger86]

Here's an interesting numbers breakdown going back to when Blake Gimbel got hurt against MSUM in 2017.....

We won that game to move to 1-1. Barely beat Minot the next week. That 2-1 start pushed us to 15-10 (.600) over 2.25-year period. But since then, we were 7-26 (.212) going into Saturday's win over UMary.