Prepare for an agonizing non-conference

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Certainly Gopher fans know to take nothing for granted. But if we're sweating the Eastern Illinois or MTSU games into the 4th quarter, it will be disappointing.
 


Killjoy said:
Then why are you making a point out of? As die hard said "Why wouldn't it be improved?"
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Really? You can't imagine a scenario where the QB position is no better than last season? Obviously we all want it to be so, but sometimes things don't quite work out as we hope, right?

Tell me, in which Big Ten win did Leidner impress you the most? Was it the Northwestern game in which all our scores came when Nelson was behind center? Was it the Nebraska game, when his single completion for 7 yards destroyed the Blackshirt defense? Or maybe it was his 2 yards rushing in that game? Well, he did bounce back in the Indiana game, still with only one completion, but for 27 yards this time? Maybe it was his stellar performance in the PSU game - no, wait he didn't play in that game.

If you want to criticize Nelson's play, fine, go ahead, there's plenty of ammo. But to pretend that we don't lose our best QB by a long shot is silly.
 


I just hope the staff decides to pass quite a bit more in the non-conference slate than they did last season. I felt like a lot of what was done against the NMSU's of the world would not be repeatable against B1G defenses and we'd need to show more of a passing attack to be able to run effectively.

This year will be interesting. A lot of people of people focus on the four wins, but the Gophers scored a total of 30(!) points in their four conference losses and it's tough to make a case that they were truly competitive in any of those games (MAYBE MSU...maybe). The offense has to improve by leaps and bounds over what it showed for much of the season if this team is going to take a step forward.
 

EG#9 said:
I just hope the staff decides to pass quite a bit more in the non-conference slate than they did last season. I felt like a lot of what was done against the NMSU's of the world would not be repeatable against B1G defenses and we'd need to show more of a passing attack to be able to run effectively.

This year will be interesting. A lot of people of people focus on the four wins, but the Gophers scored a total of 30(!) points in their four conference losses and it's tough to make a case that they were truly competitive in any of those games (MAYBE MSU...maybe). The offense has to improve by leaps and bounds over what it showed for much of the season if this team is going to take a step forward.
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They were "competitive" in both the MSU and Wisconsin game. Wisconsin they were a overthrow away from tying if I recall correctly???

Definitely got our brains beat in by Michigan and Iowa didn't leave us much hope by jumping out to an early lead in the 2nd quarter.
 

They went 4-0 in the noncon and kept the passing attack hidden from Con opponents- that's a decent strategy. Sadly, they believed in the running game so strongly that they overstayed the game plan into the IA and MI games.

a middle of the road passing attack would have had MN in some NYD bowl. you don't think Limegrover is/was awake at night knowing that his key position was the weakest link.
Again, for those that thought the leash was short last year on the qb well, this year it's gonna be nuts cuz Limey is gonna tinker with that QB spot until he gets what is needed.
 




wait!what? said:
They went 4-0 in the noncon and kept the passing attack hidden from Con opponents- that's a decent strategy. Sadly, they believed in the running game so strongly that they overstayed the game plan into the IA and MI games.

a middle of the road passing attack would have had MN in some NYD bowl. you don't think Limegrover is/was awake at night knowing that his key position was the weakest link.
Again, for those that thought the leash was short last year on the qb well, this year it's gonna be nuts cuz Limey is gonna tinker with that QB spot until he gets what is needed.
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This is good stuff. I agree with you on the short leash, however, we're going to need someone whose ability is at least close to what they're replacing. Is Streveler "the Man"? Right now it's a crap shoot. We have someone with the goods, but is not necessarily ready to just step right in and have us not experience a drop-off. Every other position offers a little margin for mistakes....the QB position can turn a game around either way. Is Limey ready to throw the dice - I don't think he is unless Leidner really fails.

We're very deep in every position if you compare it to our QB situation. Being as important as it is, I don't see much middle ground. Our choice by the "experts" of 5th in the West is safe - but I see us either being 2nd or 3rd or 7th. The defense will take us to a good place, but unless we put some points on the board, it's not going to be as awesome as we hope.
 

GhostofBronko said:
Really? You can't imagine a scenario where the QB position is no better than last season? Obviously we all want it to be so, but sometimes things don't quite work out as we hope, right?

Tell me, in which Big Ten win did Leidner impress you the most? Was it the Northwestern game in which all our scores came when Nelson was behind center? Was it the Nebraska game, when his single completion for 7 yards destroyed the Blackshirt defense? Or maybe it was his 2 yards rushing in that game? Well, he did bounce back in the Indiana game, still with only one completion, but for 27 yards this time? Maybe it was his stellar performance in the PSU game - no, wait he didn't play in that game.

If you want to criticize Nelson's play, fine, go ahead, there's plenty of ammo. But to pretend that we don't lose our best QB by a long shot is silly.
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I am afraid I didn't make it clear what I was talking about. When I made that comment I was not analyzing the play of Nelson vs. Leidner. My only point is that Leidner's QB play will very likely be better. Both the offensive team and Leidner will be both more mature and experienced. Maturity and experience are big driver of improvement. Is it guaranteed? Of course not but the these factors bode well that thing will be better. Add to that a two to four new and/or returning very good freshmen and it is hard not to be optimistic that the QB play will be better.
 

BarnBoy said:
We sound like we're improving in every aspect. Bigger, faster, stronger. But don't expect that to translate to "putting teams away early" in the non-conference.

My theory: We're in for some agonizing non-conference first halves.

1. The Wins
Look at our 9 wins in non-conference under Kill. (We had three losses in Year One to USC, NMSU, and NDSU).

Opponent: First Half Lead / 3rd Quarter Lead / 4th Quarter Lead
'11 Miami Oh: 3 / 0 / 6
'12 UNLV: 4 / -3 / 0 (OT Win)
'12 New Hampshire: 23 / 30 / 37
'12 W Michigan: 11 / 11 / 5
'12 Syracuse: 4 / 11 / 7
'13 UNLV: 3 / 14 / 28
'13 New Mexico St: 20 / 16 / 23
'13 W Illinois: 1 / 3 / 17
'13 San Jose State: 3 / 12 / 19

New Hampshire and New Mexico State were relatively easy wins from start to finish. But look at the other 7 games. Halftime leads of only 3, 4, 11, 4, 3, 1 and 3 with eventual wins of 6, 0T, 5, 7, 28, 17 and 19.

2. The Losses
What's also interesting is that we outscored the competition (in the second half) in all three non-conference losses.

Opponent: First Half Lead / 3rd Quarter Lead / 4th Quarter Lead
'11 USC: -16 / -12 / -2
'11 NMSU -7 / -14 / -7
'11 NDSU -14 / -14 / -13

Net, net:
Prepare for four weeks of GopherHole experts telling you we are "limiting the playbook" or "we aren't very good" with a double helping of "we'll get killed in the B1G if we do this". I predict GopherHole will be in full melt-down mode for the first half of three or maybe all of four of our non-conference games.

Kill will not win the game in the first half, but he might lose it. Our game plan seems to be predicated on time of possession, making fewer mistakes, and being better conditioned. That doesn't normally translate to jumping out to huge leads. We will cut you 100 times and bleed you to death.
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I'd believe you if we hadn't started last season 0-2 with two miserable losses where we weren't even competitive. Maybe opening up the playbook in the non conference would have kept us from pissing our pants against Iowa.
 

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