Onside kick!

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Ogie Ogilthorpe

Ogie Ogilthorpe

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Sorry, from a special teams geek;

It may not be an exaggeration to say that was one of the most well-executed onside kick I've ever seen, and by a backup PK, no less.

> Kicking team stayed onsides (too easy to overlook, their eagerness usually leads to an offsides)
> Absolutely perfect kick by Wettstein; high bounce, came down just after 10 yards

> Last, but definitely not least; the first guys downfield DID THEIR JOBS by taking out the two guys on the receiving team. THAT is coaching. Everybody wants to be the guy to get the ball. All too often, you've got a half dozen guys on the kicking team trying to come up with the ball. When you have the numbers advantage, like they did, somebody has to take care of the only guys that could recover the ball on the receiving team. Once that was done, recovering the kick was a formality.

100% perfect.

Side note: After a year and a half, I'm convinced that C. Lewis is the worst DB to ever wear a Gopher uniform. Absolutely embarassing and painful to watch. Manuel has to be HORRIBLY, EPICLY bad to not be getting snaps in front of Lewis. Even if you hate the idea of JUCO's, this team needs one or two JUCO DB's for next year.
 

Agree with you 100% on the on-side kick. That was textbook.

With respect to DB's the last 40 years have been awash with bad ones.
 

Thee Onside Kick!

Is anyone on this board going to talk about that onside kick??? Well played and it took guts to call for it!
 

I thought it was going out of bounds. Was pleasantly surprised that we recovered. Great call. Great execution. Hats off to Wettstein for a perfect kick.
 

He has been our onside guy all year.

It was a great kick though.
 


Great call and shocked Iowa! That is what we needed to charge up the place and take control! I love this coach and I know big things are ahead for this program!!! Even before this win I believed it!!!
 

I agree with the thoughts on the onside kick. Perhaps the one run by the Steelers in Super Bowl XXX was just as good, but this one fooled everyone on the Hawk kick return team. The two guys up front, before they were knocked to the ground, had no idea what was going on.
 

By far my favorite part of the play was Wettstein fake out, stutter step. I could watch it a 100 times.
 




Since BTN cut it out of the rebroadcast ($@&!), and I forgot to DVR the game live ($&@?!$&), is there a clip available online?
 

Perfect execution by the Gophers which was nice to see in a year full of mental mistakes and self-inflicted wounds. I was surprised that Iowa was not more prepared for at least the possibility of an onside kick. I feel great for the players getting the win yesterday. All they have been hearing all season is how worthless they are and how they are not good enough to be competitive in the Big Ten.

Glad to see Floyd staying in Minneapolis for another year. Probably a long shot to snag the axe as well but if the Badgers players are reeling enough from watching their NC hopes go down the toilet you never know.
 

I'll echo that question. Any video highlights of the game? Can't find anything on ESPN or BTN. Heard the game on the radio and mmissed the news.
 

Great analysis, Ogee - and you are a kicking guru, if anyone would know, it would be you!

Not sure if anyone else heard Kill with Gaardsy on KFAN yesterday, but he talked about the onside kick. He said they practice it every Friday, and he knows if the practice goes well on Friday, they could use it on Saturday. They executed it perfectly on Friday, so he knew he could use it. That, and the D was exhausted, which made his decision even more clear.
 



I loved Kill's decision there. Great call and great execution. But honestly, how does Ferentz not see that coming? I knew it was coming and I don't make $3.5 million a year to win football games.
 

BarnBoy said:
I'll echo that question. Any video highlights of the game? Can't find anything on ESPN or BTN. Heard the game on the radio and mmissed the news.
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Here is the You Tube video from Gopher Athletics

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/t6-1M_NnRnM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 


Studwell55 said:
And the lone Iowa defender gets absolutley annihilated.
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Every time I saw the replay, I marveled how that guy got absolutely tattooed and still walked off the field. Tremendous hit by whichever Gopher drilled him.
 

How could you call anything but the onside kick at that point? I was listening on the radio and it never entered my mind that the Gophs were going to kick it away.
 

If I'm seeing it right (didn't DVR the game) it looks like Patrick Sveum and Grayson Levine (Levine with the primary hit) lighting up the one guy. Great coaching, top to bottom on that play.
 


Wettstein rocked it! Can it get any better?? Am looking forward to seeing him being used more by the Gophers, he's proven he can do the job!! Nice to see him & the other walk-ons get the opportunity to show what they can do.
 

One of the Great Works of Art in the Western World

MrC said:
Since BTN cut it out of the rebroadcast ($@&!), and I forgot to DVR the game live ($&@?!$&), is there a clip available online?
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MrC,

1. They have been replaying it on the postgame broadcast with Glen Mason and Gerry DiNardo. I forgot what the name of the program is. But they have replayed it with wide angle lens and again with another closer narrower angle lens, probably a different camera. OK, I found it, the name of the BTN program is "The Final Drive," might be able to find a link to it here http://btn.com/shows/final-drive/

2. This onside kick was an absolute thing of beauty, it should forever be enshrined in the Louvre, Hermitage, National Gallery, Kunsthistorisches Museum, our National Art Gallery, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Chicago Art Institute, Walker Art Gallery, and the Weisman Art Museum on campus (to name a few).
 

1999...don't you mean....

6 Nov 1999 said:
2. This onside kick was an absolute thing of beauty, it should forever be enshrined in the Louvre, Hermitage, National Gallery, Kunsthistorisches Museum, our National Art Gallery, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Chicago Art Institute, Walker Art Gallery, and the WETTSTEIN Art Museum on campus (to name a few).
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Go Gophers! Let's Beat Sparty! In Kill We Trust!
 

Did anyone else notice that Wettstein put his plant foot past the 30 yard line before he struck the ball? I admit, I don't know the rule so maybe the kicker has free reign but if he doesn't, shouldn't that have been offsides? If you watch the video, it is clear. Anyone out there have a good grasp of this rule interpretation? Not that it matters since it was never called but did we get away with one there?
 

Hawthorne injury means more Wettstein?

Did anyone see him try to kick during warmup? His leg gave out during a kickoff try. It looked like the kind of injury that would take a month to heal.
 

skiumah2 said:
Did anyone else notice that Wettstein put his plant foot past the 30 yard line before he struck the ball? I admit, I don't know the rule so maybe the kicker has free reign but if he doesn't, shouldn't that have been offsides? If you watch the video, it is clear. Anyone out there have a good grasp of this rule interpretation? Not that it matters since it was never called but did we get away with one there?
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There is an exception for the kicker. There is a rule that keeps the kicking team from blocking anyone from the receiving team before the ball has gone 10 yards. That was close, but the officials were right in not calling it.
 

skiumah2 said:
Did anyone else notice that Wettstein put his plant foot past the 30 yard line before he struck the ball? I admit, I don't know the rule so maybe the kicker has free reign but if he doesn't, shouldn't that have been offsides? If you watch the video, it is clear. Anyone out there have a good grasp of this rule interpretation? Not that it matters since it was never called but did we get away with one there?
Click to expand...

MaxyJR1 said:
There is an exception for the kicker. There is a rule that keeps the kicking team from blocking anyone from the receiving team before the ball has gone 10 yards. That was close, but the officials were right in not calling it.
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Kickers cannot be offside on kick-offs or free kicks. The other kicking exception is the holder. Think about it--since he has a knee on the ground, he is technically down when he receives the snap...

Hey--Ellestad's onsider against the Hogjowls last year is an easy #2 on the all-time Gopher onside kicks of all time. Ferentz has to be seeing those two kicks in his nightmares...
 

I agree Ogee, great play. I too love the kicking game. My son kicked in college, so near and dear to me. I will say that kickers get to spend a lot of time playing with kicks like this. Kickers have plenty of time throughout the season to just mess around kicking.
 

I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure it was #6 (McKnight or Carter; almost positive it was McKnight because of his height - the guy looks too tall to be Carter -but I can't convince myself he would be used in this way) and Hill (I know Hill was one of the two) that blasted #3 for Iowa.
 

And for our friends down south that are now claiming on their forum that a number of Gophers players were offsides when the ball was kicked. I just pulled this screen shot from the replay. It is actually from just after the ball was struck. Please point out all the offside Gophers.

6299073499_c30c26c360.jpg

I hope the photo works.
 

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