Those of us who were at the game...your thoughts?

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Yah-E

Yah-E

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My thoughts...

Great Gopher fans show....everywhere I went in Orlando, I saw Maroon and gold
Although the stadium was recently renovated, it still looked old
Official merchandise availability was a joke (Maroon Citrus Bowl shirt were limited)
Missouri fans were quiet and non-confrontational
Cool to see Eric and Jessie Decker there on the sideline
Goldy Gopher was the tallest Goldy I've ever met (he was about 6'3-5")
We lost due to turn overs
Pissed at why we allowed 50 secs to run off to finish the half with 2 TOs left
Mase (#1) was on fire
D was amazing, kept us in the game
Mitch was horrible all around except for that one series where we scored
More Gopher fans than Mizzou fans
Was hoping for more sun
Fighter jets flying by after the national anthem was a pleasant surprise
Did not like the acapala group version of the national anthem
Mizzou's kicker for kickoff was on fire
 

Yah-E said:
My thoughts...

Great Gopher fans show....everywhere I went in Orlando, I saw Maroon and gold
Although the stadium was recently renovated, it still looked old
Official merchandise availability was a joke (Maroon Citrus Bowl shirt were limited)
Missouri fans were quiet and non-confrontational
Cool to see Eric and Jessie Decker there on the sideline
Goldy Gopher was the tallest Goldy I've ever met (he was about 6'3-5")
We lost due to turn overs
Pissed at why we allowed 50 secs to run off to finish the half with 2 TOs left
Mase (#1) was on fire
D was amazing, kept us in the game
Mitch was horrible all around except for that one series where we scored
More Gopher fans than Mizzou fans
Was hoping for more sun
Fighter jets flying by after the national anthem was a pleasant surprise
Did not like the acapala group version of the national anthem
Mizzou's kicker for kickoff was on fire
Click to expand...

I wasn't at the game but don't agree with these two points. D was good in the first half, got gashed in the 2nd. It may have been because they were tired but either way they didn't play amazing.

Leidner was not horrible. Two bad turnovers, yes. But he played one of his better games all year.
 

Don't necessarily agree with your game breakdown, but I thought the stadium was kind of a bust even after renovations. As I mentioned in the game thread, the bleacher seats were falling off in the student section which resulted in a lot of fuss with moving students around.

Game experience was fun; tailgate was awesome; very nice to see the MN turnout; stadium and area were a bust, though.
 

Came up from Lot L, saw no signs of blight in the area on the way to the stadium. Stadium itself? Very nice overall. Wide concourses. Average line length for food, rest rooms. Had a little trouble hearing the PA system clearly in P37, where we were. Loved the anthem, hated the non-partisan dance squad and piped in noise for their routines. Gopher band: never better, never bigger. Awesome sound & loved that the competing schools' bands almost NEVER played over each other.

Felt like it was our day to shine. Was for about 3 quarters of the game. Thought we'd find a way to prevail. Disappointed in our coaching staff for the first time all year. Special teams were atrocious. Loved the warmth & the (rare) sun. Hope we can go back and win the darn thing soon!
 

One other little complaint: Where were all the wings? Between tailgate and the stadium, there were no buffalo wild wings! (That I know of at least). Thought that was funny.
 


Nax91 said:
Don't necessarily agree with your game breakdown, but I thought the stadium was kind of a bust even after renovations. As I mentioned in the game thread, the bleacher seats were falling off in the student section which resulted in a lot of fuss with moving students around.

Game experience was fun; tailgate was awesome; very nice to see the MN turnout; stadium and area were a bust, though.
Click to expand...

I've never understood why we stand on the bleachers. Do people not realize that everyone has the same view if you stand on the concrete?
 

afurry91 said:
I've never understood why we stand on the bleachers. Do people not realize that everyone has the same view if you stand on the concrete?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's a good point. I am not sure I understand either. I just went with it, otherwise I am never able to see haha!
 

Great to see all the maroon and gold. Gopher fans WILL travel.

Losing sucked...but...can't lose a January 1 bowl game if you're NOT IN a January 1 bowl game.

Loved being at the Citrus Bowl today. Had a blast.

Also, got to see Bleed again in person. I am not worthy...

Go Gophers!
 

Anyone have an estimate as to how many Gopher fans were there?
 



My expectations were not very high, but made the last minute decision for my bride & me to drive down from Hilton Head. Did not think we would be able to match up with Mizzou. I was wrong and this game was totally winnable.

Victories are created by plays. Good ones and bad. It was our 8 or 9 bad plays that cost us the game.

1 & 2. Leidner's 2 fumbles.
3. Edward's dropped pass.
4 & 5. The two break away runs.
6. The dropped interception on the goal line that almost certainly would have been a 90 yard pick 6.
7. Leidner overthrowing a wide open (Frechte?) late. Probable misspelled his name.
8. The mishandling if the clock at the end of the game.
9. The roughing the passer penalty on third and incomplete.

To be sure Mizzou had theirs too, but that's their problem. Bottom line...too darned many missed plays. This team today was very good...but. We coulda and shoulda won. But we did not.

I'll tell you one thing, this is going to be a real good team next year, if 1 thing happens. Kill and OC must treat our offense as a complete package. As they did today.
 

Of course I forgot the fumbled punt.
 

Game:
First 28-minutes were, for the most part, good. Last 32-minutes was a mixed bag of mostly bad. Special teams were anything but.

Fans:
Decent showing by the Gopher fans who did their part making noise. Mizzou fans were a decent bunch. Announced 48K attendance was disappointing.

Stadium:
The Good - it was updated. The Bad - it was updated in a bad way. Lacks pizazz. Restrooms small wthe an insufficient number of urinals and hard to get in and out of. Can't imagine what kind of sh!t hole that place was before the update.

Battle of the Bands:
MN clearly superior to Mo's.
 

Yah-E said:
My thoughts...

Great Gopher fans show....everywhere I went in Orlando, I saw Maroon and gold
Although the stadium was recently renovated, it still looked old
Official merchandise availability was a joke (Maroon Citrus Bowl shirt were limited)
Missouri fans were quiet and non-confrontational
Cool to see Eric and Jessie Decker there on the sideline
Goldy Gopher was the tallest Goldy I've ever met (he was about 6'3-5")
We lost due to turn overs
Pissed at why we allowed 50 secs to run off to finish the half with 2 TOs left
Mase (#1) was on fire
D was amazing, kept us in the game
Mitch was horrible all around except for that one series where we scored
More Gopher fans than Mizzou fans
Was hoping for more sun
Fighter jets flying by after the national anthem was a pleasant surprise
Did not like the acapala group version of the national anthem
Mizzou's kicker for kickoff was on fire
Click to expand...

Mitch was horrible all around? What game were you watching? Take out the two fumbles and he had his best passing game of the season. Would have close to 300 yds if Berkley doesn't drop a perfectly thrown pass.
 



Didn't care for Orlando.

We stayed downtown and nothing was really within close walking distance.

Overcast and humid. Blah.

Game left me pissed off.

I'm down with Gopher football till signing day.
 

Minus the outcome, my overall experience was great. The stadium was pretty decent in the lower bowl seating and bathrooms. Being the BWW bowl, I had more than expected some wing stands, but saw none. The scoreboard keeper is a failure....i saw faster updates on downs, ball-on and ytg at hs fields than this place. The parking and shuttle couldn't have been easier, which helped us skip a lot of the hood the stadium is surrounded by.
It was very frustrating watching ML7 make great plays, then have THREE fumbles. And the D to make huge plays, then get spread out with no safety in the middle and their draw plays gashed us. Time and again...
Kill moved the ball before half with a minute left and three timeouts, and just pissed it away.
One thing's for sure, Kill is a program builder, but never has been a big game coach.

Overall, a great turnout by Gopher fans, at times a show of hope, and long moments of "here we go again", but we have a lot of very good players coming up next year, and have potential to go 10-2.
 

And another thing about the stadium, apparently the upper deck sucked.... according to friends of my parents down here in Kissimmee, the stadium is in two stage construction, first was the lower bowl and scoreboard, and the second is a new upper deck. So if we're invited back next year, that should be a better experience.
 

I also thought Mitch threw the ball really well.. Mizzou did a good job defending the run after Nugget's big TD run. I thought the Gophers secondary did a great job in coverage all day. BBC got turned around on that TD pass, but they played great.
One of the few times this year that our special teams were outplayed.
 

Here's my brain dump from the trip and the game (lots of random stuff here):

1) Florida: I've usually stayed in the nicer areas when travelling here. This time, I was in the stadium area in Tampa. Quite an eye opener. Maybe it was just New Years Eve, but it got pretty wild. The traffic was really heavy almost all the time. That would get annoying. Really lousy drivers - how in the world do you end up in a swamp on perfectly dry roads. I saw this several times on the way up from Tampa to Orlando.

2) Tailgating: A good contingency of Gopher Fans. I was planning on crashing a tailgate or two (and donating to the cause) but was a little disappointed. It's probably just being in a different venue, but I felt a little awkward. I did try to find the open tailgate from the Florida Gophers, but there was no way of knowing which ones they were. I did ask to join one and the people were accommodating. Nice people from Florida, but it was a large family (kind of felt like the 5th wheel). Another tailgating group struck up a conversation with me and invited me to join in. These guys were great! They were Gopherhole lurkers, so we had a lot in common. Thanks guys!!

3) Pre-game: You got the feeling that this was a big game - much bigger than I expected. Lots of celebrity sightings and just the overall feel. It was up a couple notches from even B1G games. Mizzou had a good contingency, but there were more Gopher Fans there. Minnesota travels well for a big game. Fans were loud! Citrus Bowl Stadium was just OK. I cannot imagine how bad it was before the renovation.

4) Fans: I met a lot of Gopher fans from all over the country. I think a lot of people from around the U.S. have adopted us as an up and coming program (kind of like Kansas State). Being called "Gophers" is intriguing as well (who doesn't love a cute fuzzy animal). Plus, there are people that are bigger College Football fans than me - I didn't think this was possible, but yes.

5) Gophers: Since I was by myself, I had time to watch the technical aspects of the game. I think a big boost to our receiving corp would be some receivers who have that "sense" of when to work back to the QB. I think we're so disciplined that our receivers run the crisp patterns and then turn and start blocking once Leidner gets in trouble. KJ Maye is starting to take some of his feel for the situation and work back toward Leidner. If our other receivers did this, I think we'd be a little more successful passing. The pockets we created against Mizzou collapsed quickly. If we had our receivers working back and Leidner stepping up into the pocket, it would be hard to stop. Also, we could use a few 3-step drops. It goes without saying; Maxx is 1st round pro material. He also seems to have that sense of when to work back toward the ball. I was so proud of the U of Mn. Our players and coaches left it all out on the field. They gave it all. So did the fans.

6) Got to meet Eric Kaler. I told him thank you for all he's done for the U of MN. He told me he's really happy with the direction the Athletic Department (especially football). I'm sure he's used to hearing a lot of negative, so he seemed very happy to have someone gushing over the efforts made by him and the staff.

I loved making the trip. Even though I am physically and emotionally drained, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Go Gophers!
 

Yah-E said:
My thoughts...
Mitch was horrible all around except for that one series where we scored
Click to expand...
How is it possible to watch that game and come away with the opinion that Leidner was horrible?? Maybe it's just me but Leidner's passing performance gives me much more hope than I had prior to the game that he can make a jump next season and be a competent throwing QB.
 

Studwell55 said:
Didn't care for Orlando.

We stayed downtown and nothing was really within close walking distance.

Overcast and humid. Blah.

Game left me pissed off.

I'm down with Gopher football till signing day.
Click to expand...


I guess My son and I were just thrilled to be down their for the game, being it was our first bowl game. Sitting with other Gopher fans was awesome, overall I didn't feel that bad after the game we just didn't play well enough or coach well enough to win, the best team won.
 

Rescooter said:
Here's my brain dump from the trip and the game (lots of random stuff here):

1) Florida: I've usually stayed in the nicer areas when travelling here. This time, I was in the stadium area in Tampa. Quite an eye opener. Maybe it was just New Years Eve, but it got pretty wild. The traffic was really heavy almost all the time. That would get annoying. Really lousy drivers - how in the world do you end up in a swamp on perfectly dry roads. I saw this several times on the way up from Tampa to Orlando.

2) Tailgating: A good contingency of Gopher Fans. I was planning on crashing a tailgate or two (and donating to the cause) but was a little disappointed. It's probably just being in a different venue, but I felt a little awkward. I did try to find the open tailgate from the Florida Gophers, but there was no way of knowing which ones they were. I did ask to join one and the people were accommodating. Nice people from Florida, but it was a large family (kind of felt like the 5th wheel). Another tailgating group struck up a conversation with me and invited me to join in. These guys were great! They were Gopherhole lurkers, so we had a lot in common. Thanks guys!!

3) Pre-game: You got the feeling that this was a big game - much bigger than I expected. Lots of celebrity sightings and just the overall feel. It was up a couple notches from even B1G games. Mizzou had a good contingency, but there were more Gopher Fans there. Minnesota travels well for a big game. Fans were loud! Citrus Bowl Stadium was just OK. I cannot imagine how bad it was before the renovation.

4) Fans: I met a lot of Gopher fans from all over the country. I think a lot of people from around the U.S. have adopted us as an up and coming program (kind of like Kansas State). Being called "Gophers" is intriguing as well (who doesn't love a cute fuzzy animal). Plus, there are people that are bigger College Football fans than me - I didn't think this was possible, but yes.

5) Gophers: Since I was by myself, I had time to watch the technical aspects of the game. I think a big boost to our receiving corp would be some receivers who have that "sense" of when to work back to the QB. I think we're so disciplined that our receivers run the crisp patterns and then turn and start blocking once Leidner gets in trouble. KJ Maye is starting to take some of his feel for the situation and work back toward Leidner. If our other receivers did this, I think we'd be a little more successful passing. The pockets we created against Mizzou collapsed quickly. If we had our receivers working back and Leidner stepping up into the pocket, it would be hard to stop. Also, we could use a few 3-step drops. It goes without saying; Maxx is 1st round pro material. He also seems to have that sense of when to work back toward the ball. I was so proud of the U of Mn. Our players and coaches left it all out on the field. They gave it all. So did the fans.

6) Got to meet Eric Kaler. I told him thank you for all he's done for the U of MN. He told me he's really happy with the direction the Athletic Department (especially football). I'm sure he's used to hearing a lot of negative, so he seemed very happy to have someone gushing over the efforts made by him and the staff.

I loved making the trip. Even though I am physically and emotionally drained, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Go Gophers!
Click to expand...


+1
 

Rescooter said:
Here's my brain dump from the trip and the game (lots of random stuff here):

1) Florida: I've usually stayed in the nicer areas when travelling here. This time, I was in the stadium area in Tampa. Quite an eye opener. Maybe it was just New Years Eve, but it got pretty wild. The traffic was really heavy almost all the time. That would get annoying. Really lousy drivers - how in the world do you end up in a swamp on perfectly dry roads. I saw this several times on the way up from Tampa to Orlando.

2) Tailgating: A good contingency of Gopher Fans. I was planning on crashing a tailgate or two (and donating to the cause) but was a little disappointed. It's probably just being in a different venue, but I felt a little awkward. I did try to find the open tailgate from the Florida Gophers, but there was no way of knowing which ones they were. I did ask to join one and the people were accommodating. Nice people from Florida, but it was a large family (kind of felt like the 5th wheel). Another tailgating group struck up a conversation with me and invited me to join in. These guys were great! They were Gopherhole lurkers, so we had a lot in common. Thanks guys!!

3) Pre-game: You got the feeling that this was a big game - much bigger than I expected. Lots of celebrity sightings and just the overall feel. It was up a couple notches from even B1G games. Mizzou had a good contingency, but there were more Gopher Fans there. Minnesota travels well for a big game. Fans were loud! Citrus Bowl Stadium was just OK. I cannot imagine how bad it was before the renovation.

4) Fans: I met a lot of Gopher fans from all over the country. I think a lot of people from around the U.S. have adopted us as an up and coming program (kind of like Kansas State). Being called "Gophers" is intriguing as well (who doesn't love a cute fuzzy animal). Plus, there are people that are bigger College Football fans than me - I didn't think this was possible, but yes.

5) Gophers: Since I was by myself, I had time to watch the technical aspects of the game. I think a big boost to our receiving corp would be some receivers who have that "sense" of when to work back to the QB. I think we're so disciplined that our receivers run the crisp patterns and then turn and start blocking once Leidner gets in trouble. KJ Maye is starting to take some of his feel for the situation and work back toward Leidner. If our other receivers did this, I think we'd be a little more successful passing. The pockets we created against Mizzou collapsed quickly. If we had our receivers working back and Leidner stepping up into the pocket, it would be hard to stop. Also, we could use a few 3-step drops. It goes without saying; Maxx is 1st round pro material. He also seems to have that sense of when to work back toward the ball. I was so proud of the U of Mn. Our players and coaches left it all out on the field. They gave it all. So did the fans.

6) Got to meet Eric Kaler. I told him thank you for all he's done for the U of MN. He told me he's really happy with the direction the Athletic Department (especially football). I'm sure he's used to hearing a lot of negative, so he seemed very happy to have someone gushing over the efforts made by him and the staff.

I loved making the trip. Even though I am physically and emotionally drained, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Go Gophers!
Click to expand...

+1 Hope to post more later. "Paying for my sins". Much to catch up on today. Hope to share more.

Mizzou deserves much credit. There team played very well and deserved the win. They could have folded early, but stood in there after taking some pretty good early shots.There fans were good sports. Wish they were in the BigTen.

Our team,(and coaching staff) should not hang there heads. Played well could have won the game. Now the team is realizing they can play with anyone. Next step is to retain hold of the victories they have in hand. I am looking forward to the remainder of the 2015 Gopher football starting with signing day.
 

beatles said:
How is it possible to watch that game and come away with the opinion that Leidner was horrible?? Maybe it's just me but Leidner's passing performance gives me much more hope than I had prior to the game that he can make a jump next season and be a competent throwing QB.
Click to expand...

People will see what they want to see.
 



Like others have said, I don't like Orlando either. However, we had a great time throughout the week. The weather was okay - some more sun would have been nice, but it's hard to complain about it (bowl games in other parts of the country were MUCH colder than Orlando this year).

All week long, everywhere we went, it seemed as though Gopher fans FAR outnumbered Mizzou fans. We also definitely had more fans at the game itself. Overall attendance was a little disappointing, but I'll blame that on Mizzou fans not traveling as well as Gopher fans :)

I'm happy that under the new bowl structure, we cannot be selected to the same bowl game again for at least 5 more years. I look forward to going somewhere new again next year!

Happy New Year!
 

Leidner had the highest QB rating of anyone that played yesterday. Look it up. Fumbles have got to go.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Anyone have an estimate as to how many Gopher fans were there?
Click to expand...

Here are a few photos I took 16 minutes before kickoff. I did notice that during the game, the endzones filled in so I would guess that when this photo was taken, there were about 20% of people still buying t-shirts, beer and funneling in.

Announced crowd was 48,XXX (someone correct me). There were more Minnesota fans, probably 60/40 or 55/45. Minnesota on the left, Mizzou on the right.

xmixdt.jpg


Minnesota Side:

f225xc.jpg


Mizzou Side

2e1rn5u.jpg
 



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