Positives Thread

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Section2

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We've dissected this game and coaching staff to death, let's devote some space to some positive takeaways:

1) Mitch had a great ballgame. To my recollection, ALL of his passes were catchable, and most were pressure passes. Throws came out on time and he didn't take bad sacks. The throw to Still was a BEAUTY of a back shoulder throw, we haven't seen that throw before. He received some good luck in this game with some tips, but overall played a near flawless game against a tough defense.

2) Run defense. This was a very good o line and a staff that likes to hit you with the power running game and they've been very successful. We shut them down.

3) Turnovers. None. Enough said. As Kill constantly preaches, don't turn the ball over and you have a chance to win, and we sure did.

Feel free to add your own positives.
 

Brandon Lingen was a nice surprise. He won't make anyone forget Maxx, but he's going to be a really good player.

With apologies to Eric Murray, Cody Poock is this team's defensive MVP.

The team got solid contributions from Youshob Timms and Andrew Stetler at DT against what is a pretty good offensive line.
 

Section2 said:
We've dissected this game and coaching staff to death, let's devote some space to some positive takeaways:

1) Mitch had a great ballgame. To my recollection, ALL of his passes were catchable, and most were pressure passes. Throws came out on time and he didn't take bad sacks. The throw to Still was a BEAUTY of a back shoulder throw, we haven't seen that throw before. He received some good luck in this game with some tips, but overall played a near flawless game against a tough defense.

2) Run defense. This was a very good o line and a staff that likes to hit you with the power running game and they've been very successful. We shut them down.

3) Turnovers. None. Enough said. As Kill constantly preaches, don't turn the ball over and you have a chance to win, and we sure did.

Feel free to add your own positives.
Click to expand...

Slight adjustment to #1, while Mitch played one of his best games all year he did have some throws that should have been picked (one to Lingen and the pick 6 Peppers dropped). Also on the throw to Still I am pretty sure that was not intentional placement but rather a case of a receiver making a nice adjustment on a bad throw. Doesn't change that fact that he had a strong game though.

I would add that the emotion level was great, probably the most fired up I have seen the team for a game all season.

Rolling up over 400 yards against Michigan's defense was impressive. Only problem was settling for field goals instead of getting TD's. The game-plan on both offense and defense seemed solid and Michigan definitely did not seem ready for what the offense was throwing at it which means that we finally broke some tenancies.
 


Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
This thread is bound to be short-lived.
Click to expand...

BS.

That's the best the team has played since TCU, and the offense was better in this game.

Mitch was on. He deserves credit when he plays like that.

Receivers caught balls that they should and for the first time, maybe a few made plays on balls that were not perfect. Still is becoming more of a threat which is exciting.

The running game was not explosive, but still ran tough and kept their D honest.
There were a few near breakout runs that maybe our freshmen RB's break off in the future with a little more strength work.

Oline held up relatively well.

Lingen is starting to show shades of Maxx-esque talent.

On defense the Dline actually hit the QB for the first time in awhile. Stelter is much better than I ever thought he'd be.

Run D held up well against a powerful ground game. Poock is a future all B1G type guy if he can stay healthy.

D-backs were active.

Special teams wasn't great in coverage, and the punting was just ok.
BUT
Santoso kept us in that game more than people realize, really good on field goals and his kickoffs kept Peppers from getting going more than he already did.

We lost and it sucks, but that was big boy B1G football. It reminded me of the type of games we've seen from top tier teams like an MSU/Nebraska, OSU/MSU, OSU/wisky, Michigan/MSU, etc. Tough, hard fought, and mistake free on both sides.

I worry about maintaining the level of intensity going forward, but if that team shows up against any of the rest of the teams on our schedule they have a good chance to win. The future looks bright for next season also so long as things don't get weird in the coaching dept. I can't see a key position that will be downgraded next year other than maybe punter and DE.
 


Explosive plays:

Once again the defense did a good job minimizing long plays. I know Michigan isn't considered a great offense but they do have a lot of good athletes. Held them to only two plays longer than 15 yards.

On the other side of the ball, our offense had nine plays longer than 15 yards. Great to see.
 

The throw to Still was a terrible throw, not a back shoulder. Get real. Mitch got lucky. He should have had three interceptions including a pick six. Great play by Still.
 

Great effort & game plan overall. The ins & outs/Xs & Os have been thoroughly discussed, but overall love the effort. If we play up to our potential, we should be able to pick up a couple more wins this season. Hopefully the trip to OSU doesn't take the wind out of our sails.
 

beavergopher said:
The throw to Still was a terrible throw, not a back shoulder. Get real. Mitch got lucky. He should have had three interceptions including a pick six. Great play by Still.
Click to expand...

And yet other QBs do that exact same thing all the time. See one on one coverage, let the receiver make a play.
 



Ole said:
Special teams wasn't great in coverage, and the punting was just ok.
BUT
Santoso kept us in that game more than people realize, really good on field goals and his kickoffs kept Peppers from getting going more than he already did.
Click to expand...
I loved watching Peppers get so frustrated on kickoffs. But man, that guy is good.
 

beavergopher said:
The throw to Still was a terrible throw, not a back shoulder. Get real. Mitch got lucky. He should have had three interceptions including a pick six. Great play by Still.
Click to expand...

Great play by Still. FIFY
 

Another positive for the future in my opinion is the production from the underclassmen. The 461 yards of rushing and receiving broken down by class:
- Seniors: 95 yards (20.1%)
- Juniors: 22 yards (4.8%)
- Sophomores: 111 yards (24.1%)
- Freshman: 233 yards (50.5%)

That 74.6% of the offense coming from underclassmen RBs, WRs, and TEs.
 

We now are not satisfied with moral victories we know we can play with any team
 



I'll say this, even with the game costing blunder at the end, Claeys out coached Harbaugh.

Harbaugh's not a 'new' coach....
 

The negative Nancys love to come into these threads and try taint them. Why don't you guys go post in your own threads?

I'd like to add back-to-back 300-yard passing games for Mitch, including many pretty spirals, varying touch, and I don't recall any drops. I'd rather see Mitch underthrow the deep balls by a yard than overthrow them. It's been said the young receivers can go get the ball. Starting to see it. Lots of great individual plays on offense and defense in this game. That had been missing far too often.
 

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
This thread is bound to be short-lived.
Click to expand...

LOL - Yep - Right before your post MNVCGUY posted

Slight adjustment to #1, while Mitch played one of his best games all year he did have some throws that should have been picked (one to Lingen and the pick 6 Peppers dropped). Also on the throw to Still I am pretty sure that was not intentional placement but rather a case of a receiver making a nice adjustment on a bad throw. Doesn't change that fact that he had a strong game though.

I would add that the emotion level was great, probably the most fired up I have seen the team for a game all season.

Rolling up over 400 yards against Michigan's defense was impressive. Only problem was settling for field goals instead of getting TD's. The game-plan on both offense and defense seemed solid and Michigan definitely did not seem ready for what the offense was throwing at it which means that we finally broke some tenancies.
Click to expand...

He is never comfortable with just a positive statement. For some reason he seems to be driven to play the "Debbie Downer" role. I think it must be built into his DNA. It is not a problem but it is amusing.:rolleyes:
 


Killjoy said:
LOL - Yep - Right before your post MNVCGUY posted



He is never comfortable with just a positive statement. For some reason he seems to be driven to play the "Debbie Downer" role. I think it must be built into his DNA. It is not a problem but it is amusing.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

The original comment said ALL of Mitch's throws were catchable and that the one to Still was a BEAUTY. I apologize for pointing out that while he had a very good game ALL his throws were not perfect and that credit on the pass to Still should go to Still and not Leidner because Still bailed him out by making a great adjustment on a poorly thrown ball.

So to the forum police I apologize for my post being only 97% positive as opposed to going the whole 100% with it.
 

beavergopher said:
The throw to Still was a terrible throw, not a back shoulder. Get real. Mitch got lucky. He should have had three interceptions including a pick six. Great play by Still.
Click to expand...
Oh thank you for telling us where that ball was intended to go. Leidner played a great game.
 

killme said:
The negative Nancys love to come into these threads and try taint them. Why don't you guys go post in your own threads?

I'd like to add back-to-back 300-yard passing games for Mitch, including many pretty spirals, varying touch, and I don't recall any drops. I'd rather see Mitch underthrow the deep balls by a yard than overthrow them. It's been said the young receivers can go get the ball. Starting to see it. Lots of great individual plays on offense and defense in this game. That had been missing far too often.
Click to expand...
Well said and what about KJ making those clutch catches and Leidner delivering on that final drive.
 

MNVCGUY said:
The original comment said ALL of Mitch's throws were catchable and that the one to Still was a BEAUTY. I apologize for pointing out that while he had a very good game ALL his throws were not perfect and that credit on the pass to Still should go to Still and not Leidner because Still bailed him out by making a great adjustment on a poorly thrown ball.

So to the forum police I apologize for my post being only 97% positive as opposed to going the whole 100% with it.
Click to expand...

Now, now ... the thread was NOT titled 97% Positive Thread.
Observation: Overall, the people who tend to bitch more seem more defensive. Just own it. Forum Police really have no legal or moral power over you.
 


Despite missing our DB's for much of the season, the Gophers are still the 16th ranked pass defense in the nation.
 

I was super excited to see the team compete on both sides of the ball, with energy and emotion both offense, defense and special teams. It was the most complete Gopher team I thought live all year. The only thing I thought didn't go well were the punts and the execution of time-outs. To me the staff and the players are still learning, and gelling as a team. They now have belief they can win, and can win against anybody, now it is learning how to win consistently and how to handle the winning, and success part of it, as well as dealing with set backs or defeats that will be the next step or stage. I was really impressed with the Gophers effort on Saturday night, and it was fun football game to be at. I really hope they can upset Iowa in Iowa City and hold on to Floyd that would make all of the crap things that have gone wrong this year more worthwhile.
 

Not much gets said about Wolitarsky's emergence as a solid possession receiver in his junior season primarily from the slot.
He's put together a nice string of performances.
I'm really happy for him, and what he brings to the squad.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
Brandon Lingen was a nice surprise. He won't make anyone forget Maxx, but he's going to be a really good player.

With apologies to Eric Murray, Cody Poock is this team's defensive MVP.

The team got solid contributions from Youshob Timms and Andrew Stetler at DT against what is a pretty good offensive line.
Click to expand...

I read that Lingen had the 1st 100 yard game for a Gopher TE since Ben Utecht in 2001. I would imagine that Lingen's numbers this year as a soph are better than Maxx's as a redshirt freshman.
 

I think it is a good sign that all of the feedback from the recruits this weekend has been positive and there does not seem to be any wavering in their commitment. I personally hope that Claeys is named permanent Head Coach quickly to maintain the momentum we have with this recruiting class.
 


Ole said:
BS.

That's the best the team has played since TCU, and the offense was better in this game.

Mitch was on. He deserves credit when he plays like that.

Receivers caught balls that they should and for the first time, maybe a few made plays on balls that were not perfect. Still is becoming more of a threat which is exciting.

The running game was not explosive, but still ran tough and kept their D honest.
There were a few near breakout runs that maybe our freshmen RB's break off in the future with a little more strength work.

Oline held up relatively well.

Lingen is starting to show shades of Maxx-esque talent.

On defense the Dline actually hit the QB for the first time in awhile. Stelter is much better than I ever thought he'd be.

Run D held up well against a powerful ground game. Poock is a future all B1G type guy if he can stay healthy.

D-backs were active.

Special teams wasn't great in coverage, and the punting was just ok.
BUT
Santoso kept us in that game more than people realize, really good on field goals and his kickoffs kept Peppers from getting going more than he already did.
Click to expand...

I was going to respond to this thread because I thought there were lots of positives, but then I read your post and realized I didn't have to. All I can say is, "Well done!"
 

DC26 had arguably his best game as a Gopher.
 

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