Syracuse: Pregame Thread


Learning how to win, is the toughest thing to get when playing football. You need how to play when you are ahead and need to put the game away. You need to find a way to come back from being down, make a big stop, get a big turnover, or make a speical teams play and excute in the closing minutes. This team has shown it can do it. Each win reinforces the idea in every player that we are going to win, we will find a way. BEAT SYRACUSE! It maintains a undefeated season.
 


The Cuse has been cursed since they abandoned Archibald Stadium.

<img src="http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/boards/attachment.php?attachmentid=1731"/>

Some would argue it was short sighted, gone were the Glory Days of Floyd Little, Jim Brown, Ernie Davis. It was all chucked in favor of moving to an all purpose domed facility. And while the talent sometimes has surfaced, they are still looking in the rearview mirror.

Look what happend to Miami when they abandoned the Orange Bowl and it was torn down.

These teams have no hope of returning to their former glory.

All we need to do is jump on them early and remove all doubt.
BEAT SYRACUSE!

Moved to an all purpose domed facility... Sounds familiar!
 

Been lurking at the Syracuse fan site.

They are mostly confident (as others have noted) but I don't think they've seen the Gophers improvement memo yet.

Hope the 2012 team shows up in spades Sat night!

Go Gophers! In Kill I Trust!
 


Man... abandoned the old yard for an all-purpose dome.

Seriously. I see similarities between these programs from reading their history and their message board. Ha. Their fans seem to be a lot like ours.
 

I was a tad nervous when 'Cuse hung with USC for a half or so, but absolutely, they played down to Stoney Brook last week, who I've never even heard of. We have to TCB and execute obviously and having a passionate 12th man would help too, but I see no reason we shouldn't have a very good chance at being 4-0 by the close of business Saturday.
 

I read some of the stories linked to on the Syracuse site. It seems like the Offensive line is solid on the left, young and undersized at center (280), and a work in progress on the right. I think Claeys just might be able to exploit that. There were almost no stories about the defense so I suspect there are some problems there.
 

I was a tad nervous when 'Cuse hung with USC for a half or so, but absolutely, they played down to Stoney Brook last week, who I've never even heard of. We have to TCB and execute obviously and having a passionate 12th man would help too, but I see no reason we shouldn't have a very good chance at being 4-0 by the close of business Saturday.

There's a guy by the name of Eric Kaler who came from there.
 



I don't know about the rest of you but I am a tad concerned this game could become a shootout. We all know Shortell can throw, but I think we're better off staying somewhat conservative with the football and trying to establish the run game early on. Establish control on the LOS, grind the clock, and keep their O off the field. That said, I would like to see us keep them off balance with the occasional intermediate pass on 1st or 2nd down.

Of course, if we haven't figured out Limegrover calls a conservative game by now, we haven't really been watching.
 

Sandell just tweeted:

Note from practice yesterday: Saw DE D.L. Wilhite in an orange no-contact jersey. Kill declined to give details on the injury. #Gophers

Watched the tape again. Wilhite took a big hit to the head when Hageman accidentally ran into him in 4th Q. Could be possible concussion
 

Sandell just tweeted:

Note from practice yesterday: Saw DE D.L. Wilhite in an orange no-contact jersey. Kill declined to give details on the injury. #Gophers

Watched the tape again. Wilhite took a big hit to the head when Hageman accidentally ran into him in 4th Q. Could be possible concussion

If this were a concussion, I don't think he would have been practicing. My guess is he's nursing something and they don't want to aggravate it but he'll still go Saturday.
 

Sandell just tweeted:

Note from practice yesterday: Saw DE D.L. Wilhite in an orange no-contact jersey. Kill declined to give details on the injury. #Gophers

Watched the tape again. Wilhite took a big hit to the head when Hageman accidentally ran into him in 4th Q. Could be possible concussion

Was DL the guy that got banged up on their last drive that stopped the clock when he couldn't get off the field? For the other side of the stadium I thought it was more of a leg injury but that isn't worth the paper it's written on.
 



I don't know about the rest of you but I am a tad concerned this game could become a shootout. We all know Shortell can throw, but I think we're better off staying somewhat conservative with the football and trying to establish the run game early on. Establish control on the LOS, grind the clock, and keep their O off the field. That said, I would like to see us keep them off balance with the occasional intermediate pass on 1st or 2nd down.

Of course, if we haven't figured out Limegrover calls a conservative game by now, we haven't really been watching.

I'd be shocked if the Gophers don't try to grind out 250 yards on the ground in this game. Syracuse knows Max can throw, they'll likely be more prepared for the Gophers to throw than if Gray was in, and yet they also probably know that with a more inexperienced QB the Gophers will try to establish the ground game.

This can't be an easy game to prepare for when it comes to Syracuse defensively. Very little tape on Shortell, and not 100% sure what the Gophers will try to establish offensively. I think the Gophers hammer it on the ground relentlessly and throw just enough to keep the safeties away from the LOS.
 

BTN predicts....

Syracuse (1-2) vs. Minnesota (3-0) – 8 p.m. ET, BTN/BTN2Go
Tom’s pick: Minnesota, 30-28 – The teams will trade points, as the Golden Gophers offense will look strong with Max Shortell pushing the buttons. The difference between the schools? Defense. Minnesota’s is better, but it will be tested by a strong Orange passing game.
Brent’s pick: Syracuse, 31-27 – Orange quarterback Ryan Nassib is tearing it up, averaging 379.7 passing yards and three touchdowns per game, and he’ll provide Minnesota’s surprising defense its biggest test to date.

http://btn.com/2012/09/19/week-4-we-predict-all-10-big-ten-games/
 

I'd be shocked if the Gophers don't try to grind out 250 yards on the ground in this game. Syracuse knows Max can throw, they'll likely be more prepared for the Gophers to throw than if Gray was in, and yet they also probably know that with a more inexperienced QB the Gophers will try to establish the ground game.

This can't be an easy game to prepare for when it comes to Syracuse defensively. Very little tape on Shortell, and not 100% sure what the Gophers will try to establish offensively. I think the Gophers hammer it on the ground relentlessly and throw just enough to keep the safeties away from the LOS.

I agree. The best way to keep a high powered passing offense off the field is to chew clock. Hopefully they don't stick with it past the point of usefulness like they did early last week though.
 

I really think a key will be getting the crowd into it early and getting an early lead. It sounds like it's shaping up to be a fairly good crowd, and with it being Syracuse's first road game it could be a rude awakening for some of them.
 

A chance to go (4-0)...under the lights on a nice night...a full stadium - this should be crazy. If you have a chance and don't go to this game your not much of a Gopher football fan.
 

A chance to go (4-0)...under the lights on a nice night...a full stadium - this should be crazy. If you have a chance and don't go to this game your not much of a Gopher football fan.

Of course, I'll be up in Minnesota from Chicago this weekend .... but for my cousin's wedding north of the Cities which is happening late afternoon/evening reception. Not that I'm not happy to be there, but man, I'd love to be at the bank and WHO SCHEDULES A WEDDING DURING COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON??!
 

I scheduled my wedding during college football season... but it's over the bye week. Priorities.
 

As odd as it seems, this will be Shortell’s third game in a row playing.

Syracuse may change their game plan a little, but basically we will see the same quarterback on film to review and plan for.
Their passing attack maybe one of the best we will see, so I am glad we didn’t play Syracuse first.

They do have to travel to us, play outside with all our heat and humidity issues (see MTSU). Plus, it is a later night for them (see UNLV).:rolleyes:

I keep wondering if we will see more passes to the TEs?
 


Big Ten stock report: Week 4

Stock up

A.J. Barker: When searching for playmakers among Minnesota receivers this offseason, we rarely mentioned Barker's name. Hard to blame us there, since the junior had one career catch coming into this season. But Barker now has a pair of 101-yard games and four touchdowns this season, ranking third in the Big Ten in receiving yards. "The biggest thing is he's healthy," head coach Jerry Kill said. "He's had a lot of hamstring problems. He's playing full speed and is a very gifted athlete. He runs very good routes and has good hands, and he's playing with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder, which is a good thing."

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/58991/big-ten-stock-report-week-4-3

Go Gophers!!
 




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As odd as it seems, this will be Shortell’s third game in a row playing.

Syracuse may change their game plan a little, but basically we will see the same quarterback on film to review and plan for.
Their passing attack maybe one of the best we will see, so I am glad we didn’t play Syracuse first.

They do have to travel to us, play outside with all our heat and humidity issues (see MTSU). Plus, it is a later night for them (see UNLV).:rolleyes:

I keep wondering if we will see more passes to the TEs?

Don't forget that Dome teams can't play in the cold. We certainly heard that enough the past 30 years between the Vikes and the Gophs. So we got that going for us...
 

And Syracuse is at an even bigger disadvantage because their dome is 90 degrees inside. Carrier Dome doesn't have air conditioning ... what a fail.
 




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