Shotgun thoughts of this afternoon's game
by GopherNation on Sep 27, 2008 8:15 PM CDT
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As I think back about this game I am disappointed and then I think of things that were encouraging. Then I think it wasn't as close as the final score indicated, but then I think we played hard till the end and did some nice things in the forth quarter. A play or two and this game could have spun way out of control, but a play or two our way and this game could have stayed close.
Moral victory? They say there is no such thing but for this team, this year I think this could have been. Showing some fight and doing some good things on both sides of the ball shows that this team is better and while we aren't ready to compete for a Big Ten title, we are ready to compete in the Big Ten.
What I didn't like...
We couldn't stop them on third down. I thought that we often slowed their offense on first and second down but then we gave up way too much on third down. Officially they were five for 11, but it felt like they converted at a much higher rate. After forcing a three and out late in the first quarter, we really didn't stop them until the forth quarter. Defense just couldn't get them off the field.
We were awful on third down. Four of 15 is bad on two fronts. First it is just a bad conversion rate and getting into 15 third down situations means we could't ever get 10 yards on the first two plays of each set. We often got 5 or 6 yard chunks, followed by 2 yards and then third and short which we couldn't convert.
Rushing defense. This is obvious when your opponent rushes for 279 yards on the ground. Tackling was an issue but so where the massive holes for Wells/Herron. I know this is a great rushing team with a tremendous rushing quarterback, but 279 is unacceptable if you want to stay in the game.
What I liked...
Weber had a pretty solid game and really was a leader in the forth quarter. 23-36 is pretty good, especially when you consider that Decker was covered very well all day. He did throw an intercpetion which was a forced pass that was dramatically underthrown, but one INT on the road against the best of the Big Ten isn't exactly a terrible day. So all in all he was solid and got better as the game went along.
BPT was pretty good in coverage. He was the coverage on a Robiskie TD, but he also led the team in tackles and had three impressive pass break ups. Given time, receivers are going to get open, but BPT made a few nice plays. He was the lone member of the secondary who had a good day.
Not giving up in the forth quarter and this team fought til the end. They showed some heart and i think we'd all agree that the 2007 Gophers would have been steamrolled in the forth quarter.
What did you think?
This wasn't all that much fun to watch, but I still have hope for finishing in the middle of the Big Ten. What did you like or dislike?
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there's plenty to like...
I liked brewster in the post game press conference
he made it perfectly clear we went into columbus to come out on top and that the team and himself were disappointed that theydidn’t
now we all know that timmy likes to exaggerate so translating this is he saying “we are no longer the doormat of the big ten and we are going to play with some confidence no matter who we are playing or where we are playing”
I think another positive is looking down our schedule every home game is completely winnable I honestly think we take all of them and possibly an away game (like purdue since they lost to notre dame today) or heck even an upset down the road at illinois or wisconsin
in all honesty I think we just have to get reajusted to big ten play and I think this team is ready to make a step towards getting some respect
gotta plug those holes on run defense though luckily no one on the rest of our schedule is quite like the pryor/wells combination although I wasn’t too impressed with pryor’s passing abilities
got to come back and take care of an average indiana team at home next weekend for the first conference win of the brewster era
In All Honesty
I Think the Gophers Looked Pretty Damn Good against a Very Very Good Ohio State football squad, Its Not Out of the Relm of Possibility that these gophers could very well Win out, Could Be Tough against Wisconsin, Illinois and Even Michigan, But i certainly Think its possible
Nothing to be ashamed of
This buckeye team was extremely talented, healthy, and experienced. We have a very very young team. What we got to do now is do our best to improve. Our guys just have to concentrate on preparing for the next game, and don’t let this loss get them down. I think down the road we can compete with Ohio State, but not today. Keep up the good work recruiting, Brew!
Going in the right direction
It was, at times, a good game and at others we looked a little overwhelmed. I think we can take away some very good things from the game. Recruiting wise it should show new would be recruits that WE ARE going to win in the future and this program is going forward. We need to get another receiver to step up and make some Decker like plays because as was the case against Ohio he is going to get more coverage. Brew has to keep their heads up and get them ready for the next game. He can get this team to a bowl game this year and that would be great at this point for the team and program.
____________________________
Todd Thomas
Poor Showing
As expected, we cannot, nor have we ever been able to, stop or even contain a running QB. Expect the same frustrations against Illinois with Juice Williams. Here is my breakdown of the remaining games:
Indiana – Victory. Just feels right. QB is or could be hurt for the Hoosiers…this needs to happen. Chance of Gopher Victory…70%.
Illinois – We have very little shot at beating Illinois, AT the refurbished Memorial Stadium down in Champaign. It is their homecoming too. I just can’t see this happening. Chance of victory, 20% (turnover based…if we can get turnovers in a +2 margin or better, we can possibly take them).
Purdue – Definitely not as good as predicted pre-season. Struggling in Tiller’s final curtain call. Painter has shown flaws, and they have struggled against lesser teams. I give this game a 50% chance for victory.
Northwestern – Fitzy has the Cats playing hard and winning ugly, VERY ugly. We just seem to really struggle against NW for some reason. If we can contain their running game, we can win. I’d give us a 50% chance to win this game as well.
Michigan – Confident after beating a good Wisconsin team…I don’t like our shot here. It IS at home….doubtful, but not impossible. 35% chance of victory.
Wisconsin – Nope. I’ll be at this game as I have all these games at Wisconsin, and I’ve never seen them win. Why is this year different? Two years ago I arrived at the game 2:00 into the first quarter…and we were losing by two touchdowns. We just can’t get the job done at Madison…oh, and did I mention, the Badgers are just MUCH better than we are? Chance of victory, 10% (and that includes +2 turnover ratio!).
Iowa – We win this game. Chance of victory is healthy….75%. Season is closing out, youth is no longer a factor…I like it.
Brew still talks too much.
“We are going to win every game” may or may not be a good thing to say IF he had EVER won one Big Ten game. Give me a break!! Win ONE Big Ten game or be seen by non Kool Aid drinkers as being silly.
The last time we lost to IU at home was 1993! It is a simple must win game or we will be very well set up to finish last in the Big Ten for the second straight year. Sorry, but this is the problem with playing actual Big Ten football games. You need to win or shut up. OK Brewster? Do it.
The rest is just boyish hype.
You're right about IU....
…. Brewster needs his first Big Ten win. It needs to be against an IU team that was whipped by Ball State. I’m confident it can happen.
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.
Glass Half Full
No, the game wasn’t as close as the score indicates. But I did like the attitude. We played until the final gun—and that says a lot. They could have easily packed it in and gone home.
It isn’t productive to complain about referees, but I feel like there were two crucial bad calls that went against us in the first half that could have made the game a lot closer. First, there was a TERRIBLE spot on an Eskride run that was clearly a first down and instead resulted in 3rd and 1 followed by a foul start penalty that made it 3rd and 6. We failed to convert. Secondly, the Simmons fumble was really bad—his forward progress was clearly stopped well before the ball came out. I still don’t think we would have won, but I think it would have been a lot more interesting.
The D-line was dominated at time—hence the huge rushing day OSU. But a lot of those yards came from Pryor who escaped sacks and turned them into positive yardage. Wells had some big runs, which isn’t good, but at other times we did a good job of containing.
I still want to see more from our other WRs. That will be a key to the rest of the Big 11 schedule. OSU is the toughest team we will play.
I don’t know what to think about the rest of the conference now. Some games yesterday were surprises to me. No way I thought Purdue would lose to Notre Dame…perhaps Purdue isn’t as good as I thought. I can’t believe Michigan beat Wisconsin—at least we play the Wolverines at home; but I’m not as confident about that game now. I also continue to be surprised by Northwestern. I thought for sure Iowa would win that one at home. Northwestern is doing enough to get by, and we haven’t won a Big 11 game in a long time.
Still, I think all of our conference games at home are winnable; I remain cautiously optimistic about the rest of the season. Next week is a must win for our program.
I have to admit I watched the first half at a bar, and then listened to the rest on the radio:
I liked
- Garrett Brown and Eric Small played well in the first half. I know Beanie had one huge hole up the middle but where was the linebacker. They were in the backfield a half dozen times. Small also ripped the ball away from Beanie.
- Ben Kuznia made a few nice catches, but still, he is only a 4-5 yard route guy.
- That we didn’t give up and that Weber finally made a play on that pitch to Spry.
I disliked
- Weber’s inaccuracy – he was terrible at times.
- Our running game was pathetic. What worked – going outside on options. We rushed too much out of the shotgun.
- Linebacker play was horrible and we missed numerous tackles in the backfield.
The difference in this game is Terrelle Pryor. Todd Boeckman clearly was the problem on the offense.
by HutchLeaderGuy on Sep 28, 2008 11:11 AM CDT reply actions
Fans always think it is the QB who threw the ball wrong.
If the receiver runs a faulty route it the QB who gets the blame.
Sometimes it is the QB
When balls are one-hopping receivers or the ball is overthrown wide open receivers in the end zone – that’s on the QB.
Weber doesn’t have the wide outs, I agree, but he missed a lot of throws yesterday, including that horrible pick near the end of the first half.
by HutchLeaderGuy on Sep 28, 2008 8:40 PM CDT up reply actions
Loon is right, Spry screwed up twice
which led to an interception and a fumble. I have some doubts about Spry. He should have stepped up by now. We need one of the freshman or Pittman to step up and be a player. Kuznia has done well, but he is a third receiver at best.
Pittman or Green should have their feet wet by now...
…. The fact that they don’t is troubling. What’s the point of playing creampuffs if you can’t get your kids some action?
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.
I am not trying to pick a fight with this comment, but as .....
…a malcoordinated, old, white guy, there really is something to being smart as well as “talented”. Yes, in a perfect world every kid with talent has enough brains. Every kid with speed who weighs 165 pounds is a great blocker.
The problem with recruiting “speed, speed and more speed” is that may be all you get. An ACT score of 10 is damn near impossible if you know your own name. IMHO, a class of such recruits would be very unhelpful in the long run no matter how fast they are. They just won’t know what to do in every regard.
Loon, again with assuming academics
Show me some concrete evidence that good football players are certain academic risks. But are you trying to make a correlation that the better the athlete the worse they are academically? Is there any evidence to support this?
Glen Mason brought in three star after three star recruit and was unable to graduate 50% of his players which ranked 11th in the B10. In your world does that mean 4-star recruits means that will drop to 40%?
Of course D1 football players are academic risks when compared to the general student body but I don’t think there is ANY direct correlation between speed and ACTs.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
I can not imagine what you are saying in that last line.
Is there a racial component to speed? Yes or No.
Is there a racial component to ACT scores? Yes or No.
Is there, therefore, “ANY correlation between speed and ACTs”? Yes or No.
I, therefore, give YOUR question back to you to answer with your brain.
my question is what are you even talking about?
“The problem with recruiting "speed, speed and more speed" is that may be all you get. An ACT score of 10 is damn near impossible if you know your own name. IMHO, a class of such recruits would be very unhelpful in the long run no matter how fast they are. They just won’t know what to do in every regard.”
What did that mean? It seems to me that you keep telling us that the better athletes we bring in, the worse they will be academically. But is there any evidence to support that theory besides your anecdotal theories. Based on what I think you are saying Ohio State, Florida, USC and the rest of the best recruiting classes over the last few years will produce the lowest graduation rates.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
Certainly
At Miami U it is not possible to be a football player and flunk out until your eligibility is over. THEN they flunk you out. At the U, we have a middle position. Basket Weaving I and II are good to go, Basket Weaving IV get trickey.
Just answer the questions in my above post and you will get the scientifically measured correct answers. Leave the PC hat off. Some kids have both and they are stapped up by the elite programs, the rest of us fight over less speed or less brain power.
Loon....
It’s nice to have you back and all, but why’d you disappear for four weeks while the Gophers were winning? I’m cool with negativity and don’t completely discount your opinion (though I think slow kids can easily suck on the ACTs, I knew many of them) but to comment just when the Gophers makes it seem like their failure is almost personal for you.
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.
agreed
I’m done engaging this time. You can’t have a conversation with someone who puts their own presuppositions above any evidence (sounds like Reusse). Then the story changes as we go, I’m done.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
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