Golden Nugz 11.2.09 - It's a good Monday!
by GopherNation on Nov 2, 2009 9:30 AM CST
in Golden Nuggets
16 comments
Well Gopher fans, how does this Monday feel compared to last week? None of the fine writers here at TDG had or took the time to wrap things up following Saturday's game so let's start off the Nugz with what went great for the Gophers in their big win over Michigan State.
- Offensive Playcalling - this was the most dynamic game plan we have seen in a long time. It begs the question why did we not throw the ball down field in the first 8 games of the season? Especially with Eric Decker as a known and feared commodity, why not throw the ball down field to your other playmakers? Regardless, I loved the game plan and the way we attacked the Spartan defense. This is the first game that I can point to in the Brewster era where I believe we won the coaching battle and it was against a quality coaching staff on the other sideline.
- Offensive Line play - It wasn't perfect and there were a number of penalties (i.e. back to back false starts by Wills), BUT this was the best the OL has played all year. Weber racked up yards and had time to throw several deep balls. Why? Because he had the time to do so. The run game weak, with only 89 total yards, but Michigan State is very good against the run. But with all of the accolades coming in for the offense, let's not forget how well the OL played.
- Adam Weber - after a couple bad games on top of a mediocre and inconsistent season, Adam Weber finally returned. 19/31, 416 yards, 5 TDs and 1 pick (where his receiver was literally tackled). Not much else needs to be said but what was most impressive to me was the 4th quarter drive after Michigan State had taken their first lead of the night. Adam Weber has typically been at his worst when the pressure is notched up and his team absolutely needed a big drive (see Cal and Wisconsin 4th quarters). But this time he goes 2/3, 55 yards and the game winning TD. Included in this short drive was a 7 yard scramble for a first down on 3rd and 3. I wasn't sure that we'd be able to overcome the momentum that Michigan State clearly had entering the 4 quarter but we did.
The glaring black spot on the game was of course the incredible amount of penalties. Brewster and "not comment on Big Ten officiating" all he wants but his team committed 17 penalties for 157 yards!!! Some were mistakes, some where stupid and some were just guys playing football but you can't blame 17 penalties on the refs. Even if they got a few wrong you are still a dozen or more. That is unacceptable.
- Adam Weber was the Big Ten's Offensive player of the week. This really shouldn't be a surprise as he racked up over 400 yards in the air and 5 TDs.
- What is a bit of a surprise is Garret Brown winning the Big Ten's co-defensive player of the week. He doesn't usually get much press but Brown is one of my favorites on the Gopher squad. He is a really bright and personable kid.
- More to come, but Trevor Mbakwe will officially not be allowed to play. This is disappointing news but I have no qualms with Maturi's decision. Things like this need to be resolved before something like playing basketball is allowed. You have the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty, but basketball is not a right it is a privilege. I like the message this sends that playing athletics at the U of Minn is a privilege and you should treat it as such. I hope he is innocent and that his name gets cleared of this, but at that time he should be allowed to play basketball for the Gophers.
- MGO has their Big Ten recruiting rankings and currently the Gophers sit at 8th in the Big Ten (9th in his rankings because they include Notre Dame). Adding 4-star RB, Josh Huff will make a big difference but as it stands this is not shaping up to be an outstanding class on paper. Until we land Seantrel of course.
- Hassan Mead won the Big Ten Cross Country Championship. The team finished 3rd and this was Mead's second individual Big Ten CC Championship.
- Finally, be sure to check out the Daily Norseman to get your coverage on the huge Vikings win at Lambeau yesterday. Or check out Acme Packing Co. to read Packer fans jumping off the same cliff Gopher fans were jumping off last week.
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What?
•MGO has their Big Ten recruiting rankings and currently the Gophers sit at 8th in the Big Ten
How is this possible when Rivals has us at 27th nationally? How can they be so far off one another? One of these services is dead wrong and I hope its MGO.
bear in mind
he didn’t have the Huff commitment factored in. We were not 27th nationally before that one.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
by GopherNation on Nov 2, 2009 12:08 PM CST up reply actions
Easy.
MGoBlog is a bunch of whores, as can be expected by a biased blog. We could just as easily have GN put together a recruiting ranking list putting Michigan 8th.
Everyone fails. The successful learn from their failures. I just wish we'd quit giving ourselves so many learning opportunities.
by WhiteSpeedReceiver on Nov 2, 2009 1:00 PM CST up reply actions
MGO rankings don't make sense
We have better scores than Wisconsin in both Rivals and ESPN but rank below them? He even says Rivals ranking gets the highest weighting. Also, Illinois only has 9 recruits so that cannot be considered a good class regardless of average.
MGO uses an average per recruit
Rivals uses a point system giving points to 3 star recruits or higher. 4 and 5 star recruits get a much higher ranking. By MGO’s system a team with (5) 4 star recruits and (5) 3 star recruits would score the same as a team with (10) 4 star recruits and (10) 3 star recruits. Of course the difference on Rivals would be extremely dramatic.
It looks like on paper that we are gong to have another solid recruiting class just like last year. With the very recent additions of Hawkins and huff, this class is starting to take shape and I don’t think it is fair to say it is a down year. We have 12 recruits that are ranked a 5.6 or higher on Rivals. This class would already equal on paper any class ever brought in under Mason. Let’s not forget that we have another 8 or 9 players to go.
2002-2006
In these 5 years we had a grand total of (3) 4 star recruits on Rivals. Their data only goes back to 2002. Our classes consistently ranked in the 55-65 range nationally. There are a lot of areas where Brewster deserves to be critisized, but recruiting isn’t one of them. We aren’t going to constantly land top 20 classes, I’ll take what we’ve done the past 2 years on the recruiting trail any day.
That's just absurd
A Michigan blogger thinks we’re falling behind from a recruiting standpoint, so it must be so.
If we fill the remaining slots with 3-star players and maybe a 4-star or two, we’ll end up with a top 30-35 class according Rivals. Too bad their rankings mean nothing relative to the recruiting service juggernaut that is MGOBlog.
Like I said
It does not make any goddamn sense. Why the hell does this idiot thinks he needs to go making up his own ranking system for? Professional recruiting service rankings don’t work for him? It must be because Michigan can be ranked higher this way.
Brian is a stats kind of guy and I’m betting he has a rationale for why he does things this way. GN, are you aware of what that is? (I don’t have time to go blundering about MGO looking for it.)
Not saying his version is right (I think it underrates us considerably)…just saying that he isn’t some fly by night blogger. He tends to put a lot of thought and effort into what he does.
calm down a little
he isn’t saying that the Gophers are terrible or that your mom is ugly. Based on the numbers this is weaker than the previous Brewster classes. There are a number of low three-star guys and others that committed here because it was their only legit offer.
It is just a list, it isn’t that big of a deal.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
by GopherNation on Nov 2, 2009 12:11 PM CST up reply actions
I’m going with MGOBlog on this one. They are the preeminent recruiting service in the world, after all….
Unreal to me that this warranted a bullet point in the Nugz. Even more surreal is that you use it as a basis for “as it stands this is not shaping up to be an outstanding class on paper.” Are we now using a Michigan blogger as a primary source when gauging our recruiting success?
it isn't an outstanding class
it is better than any Mason class and it is a “good” class, but it is not outstanding. There are a LOT more 5.6 3-star guys rather than the 5.7’s we had a year ago. Adding Huff helps a LOT, but before that it was Brewster’s worst full class.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
by GopherNation on Nov 2, 2009 12:13 PM CST up reply actions
it made the Nugz because it was interesting and it generated discussion!
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
by GopherNation on Nov 2, 2009 12:13 PM CST up reply actions
Michigan State-Gopher game pick
Buck Bravo had the Gophers and 7 points with his pick of 24-17 not bad for the star guy. Who in their right mind could have seen 42 points for the gophs. Michigan State certainly needed a win, and this game showed a lot of character on the part of the gophers, coming back against a team that nearly defeated Iowa. Proud of the gophs at this time!
by bobbyspringfield on Nov 2, 2009 2:12 PM CST reply actions
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