Minnesota Football Loss To TCU: Mitch Leidner, Julian Huff, & Gophers Students Stroll Through Twitterland

Admittedly this was a difficult Stroll Through Twitterland for me. Not because the Gophers loss, losses happen, but the reaction from fans and media was difficult for me to read. I don’t want to come across as a Mitch Leidner apologist. Mitch has his deficiencies, yet he also brings a lot to the table. But the vitriol that was thrown Mitch’s way after this game really got to me.

The general consensus was this game was lost because of Mitch and I completely disagree with that sentiment. I'll concede the point he didn't go out and win this game for the Gophers but he definitely wasn't the reason they lost the game like so many have made out. Maybe it is the painkillers I am currently on, but I saw a quarterback who made the correct reads, a QB who stood tall in a pocket that quickly collapsed behind a makeshift offensive-line, a QB who had six passes dropped on him and a QB who didn't have much of a running game to work with for most of the game.

Sure some of those six drops weren't necessarily the prettiest of balls, but they were still there and they were catchall balls. If the Gophers want to take the "next step" those balls have to be caught. Heck, Nugget dropped an easy swing pass that he easily could have picked up 10-15 yards, if not more, and they ended up having to punt one play later. So is it Mitch's fault that Nugget simply dropped that pass?

If we would have been told before the game that Mitch was going to go 18-35 for 197 yards, with a touchdown pass, without an interception and a chance to win or tie the game with under a minute to go, I think all of us would have taken that. So why the vitriol? Is it Mitch's fault Nugget fumbled on the 3 yard line? Is it Mitch's fault he was trucked on his blindside from an unblocked DE? Is it Mitch's fault Campbell dropped a guaranteed pick-6? Please help me understand how this is being placed at Mitch's feet?

Now that I got that out, let's take a trip down the rabbit hole known as Twitter. These were the main hashtags for this game.

#SkiUMah

#Gophers

#TCUvMINN

If any of you are not following former Gophers Offensive Lineman @Derek_S_Burns please log onto Twitter right this second and give him a follow. It's ok, I'll wait for you to return....

Now that you have returned, Derek is a must follow because he takes his followers to class after every game with analysis only a former player could give. He points out the good, he points out the bad, but he sees the game differently from you or me. This is just one example of many:

Nice block by Maye and nice read by Smith on this power out of pistol pic.twitter.com/oklXvsMLZT

— Derek Burns (@Derek_S_Burns) September 5, 2015

I've been critical of the student section through the years but they deserve mad props for their showing on Thursday and another former Gopher Offensive Lineman @MrThorman agrees.

@GopherFootball, please tell the student section THANK YOU! We need them every home game. #SkiUMah

— Mr.Thorman (@MrThorman) September 4, 2015

Thursday was a record setting crowd and @GopherFootball talks about all of the Gophers in the stands.

Tonight's attendance: 54,147, a complete sellout with a whole lot of #Gophers. #SkiUMah

— Minnesota Football (@GopherFootball) September 4, 2015

@OffDutyBill with a perfect summation of this game in my opinion.

Gophers just not clean enough to pull this off. Plenty of opportunities...not nearly enough conversions. #TCUvMINN

— William Monigan (@OffDutyBill) September 4, 2015

Nugget Williams may get Cobbed once again by Rodney Smith and I would be ok with this. He has a gear that Nugget just doesn't have. @ChrisLongKSTP may have noticed the same thing.

Rodney Smith's making a name for himself here, #Gophers fans.

— Chris Long (@ChrisLongKSTP) September 4, 2015

I won't typically do this, but I am going to add my own tweet this week because I think it's how we all feel after watching a True Freshman playing his first game completely change the way TCU played offensively. It was clear by the end of the night TCU was doing everything they could to avoid Julian Huff. I also kept thinking this was the lesser recruited Huff brother; so how good is Jacob going to be?

I heart you Julian Huff.

— Darrell Vitullo (@dvits14) September 4, 2015

Last but certainly not least, our very own @GoAUpher sums up exactly how I feel about the way Mitch was being treated by fans and media after the game.

When you see Twitter blame Mitch for a patchwork OL while demanding a frosh starter. pic.twitter.com/Dn5iC3qmlL

— Chris H. (@GoAUpher) September 5, 2015

So there we have it, another quick Stroll Through Twitterland. Hopefully next week we can celebrate a victory over a good Colorado State team.

What were your favorite tweets of the week?

#SkiUMah