Post Game Thread: Gophers 1-0 After 23-10 Win Over Buffalo

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PJ always runs his lead backs into the ground. By the time they might get drafted, they are pretty beat up.

The new QB has an accurate, rocket arm. He seems to go through his reads really well. His lack of mobility might be an issue against B1G DL's and LB's. If he stays long enough and they give him decent receivers, he could be the best gopher QB ever.
 

Lindsey could have thrown for 400 yards had a few balls been caught and they hadn't stopped throwing with 8 minutes left in the game.

I predict that sometime this season he will be the first Gopher QB to do it since Weber in 2009 (Michigan State). He out-dueled Kirk Cousins in that game.
 

We answered one big question last night. Lindsey can play. I watched the first half of Rutgers vs. Ohio before watching the Gopher Game. AK looked exactly the same, Lindsey looks light years ahead of where AK ever will be.

We didn't answer two big questions:

The Oline looked brutal at times, and mostly average to below average. We didn't sustain drives, the run blocking looked pretty weak until the final drive, when the Buffalo defense was gassed. The Pass blocking was wildly inconsistent. Line development at the U hasn't been a thing under Fleck. I think they will more consistent as the games go on, but still a major concern. No matter who good Lindsey is, if we can run, and he has to run for his life somewhat regularly, we're in trouble.

Wide Receivers: as a whole, not impressed with what we saw last night. A few nice plays, Smith got open on a missed assignment by Buffalo, but showed he is the most talented reciever on the roster. Unfortunately, I think Perich was the 2nd best reciever out there (not because that's bad, but because I was hoping at least one of the others would show something against weaker compeittion. When the competition ramps up, this group is a concern.

The defense, for the most part, played well. Buffalo's TD was not a missed assignment, Brown got faked out of his jock. The Buffalo reciever was good, though, and one bad play in the first game of the year is nothing to be concerned about, given his play last year. I am worried about the corners. Baronowski looked good. I'm convcerned if he's hurt, but it didn't look major last night, so hoping he's OK.

Coaching
PJ still has his boot firmly on Harbaugh's throat once we get inside the 20. I won't comment on this again this year, as I don't believe after 8 years and 1 game this approach will change (regardless of the OC).

PJ lack of using games like this to get reps for his players is consistent and maddening, as well as over use of starters. Nestor had some great plays, he had some not so great plays. Why not give the other DBs at least a handful of plays to get their feet wet, nothing from the Buffalo QB or Nestor said taking him for a series would be a mistake. Running Taylor repeatedly on that final drive, particularly when we got into Buffalo terroritory is just stupid. We saw there is more talent at RB. Share the load a little (Taylor 11 carries, Davis 3, Turner 1). How many RBs does he have to sideline to understand that.
 

I'm gonna disagree on the overuse of DT down the stretch.

PJ puts people out there he can trust to close out a game. Davis and Turner have not been in this program long enough for PJ to 100% trust them to ice the game.

DT finished with 30 carries, so not a huge load.
 

I was at the game and haven't dug through all the threads but why was there no targeting on that one play?
 


Word said:
I was at the game and haven't dug through all the threads but why was there no targeting on that one play?
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My guess is that after years and years, there's still no consistency on targeting. Smith was on his backside, and got hit in the helmet. Defenseless player and contact to the head or neck area were certainly obvious. And even if it wasn't seen live, that's reviewable, and they reviewed that play.
 

NotAFanOfBecky said:
My thoughts being at the game and watching live:
-Crowd was better than expected for the opponent and timing, beautiful weather and overall great atmosphere. Man I love college football!
-Drake can really throw a nice ball, made a few bad decisions but that’s to be expected, lots to build on.
-Oline clearly needs time to gel, saw a lot of mental mistakes that lead to pressures/runs getting stopped. They work that out and they could be good.
-WRs didn’t get a lot of separation on a lot of plays. I think Buffalo D is a quality one.
-Dline could be really good. Smith and Eastman are beasts. Pretty nice rotation of guys.
-Karmo is going to be a player, he made plays and can see why Fleck said he will get reps. Very impressed with some of what he did.
-kicker boomed kickoffs and hit his FG but seemed to have a weird low trajectory?
Fun first game, looking forward to the season!
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Regarding the O-line...

On the sack of Lindsey, the DT stunted around the end and the DE took a hard inside rush. Roy responded correctly: (i) punched the DE inside to Johnson; and (ii) dove out to meet the stunting DT. But Johnson messed up: he stayed engaged with the DT, when he should have let the DT stunt and be dealt with by Roy, and he should have engaged the DE that was passed to him by Roy.

Tackles and guards gotta work as a unit. It'll come. Keep in mind Roy is a freshman (who looked DAMN GOOD to my eyes) and Johnson played center last year. Give 'em a few games, they'll be clicking.
 


Throwing the ball this year is going to be a must as it's obvious teams are going to focus on Taylor. I'm extremely encouraged by what I saw last night. The QB's arm is as good as advertised, and while he made a few bad decisions he also made some good ones too. I'm very excited to have this guy as my QB potentially for the next four years. WR depth remains a concern but at least Smith looks like he has good potential. I also liked the way our offense attacked in the red zone & 2-minute offense. It shows they have confidence in the QB and will give future opponents more to think about.
 




Buffalo, Miami OH, and Ohio are pretty much the consensus top 3 picks in the MAC. Ohio put up 31 on Rutgers and lost by 3. Miami was down 3-0 at half and 10-0 after 3 quarters to Wisconsin, but they did get statistically battered.

MN outgained Buffalo by about 300 yards and about 20 more first downs. If any 2 of the 5 issues below get cleaned up, MN wins the game by 30 points and many are talking about their outside chances at the playoffs today:
  1. Finish in the red zone
  2. Run the ball more effectively early in the game
  3. Catch the football
  4. Don’t fall down and kick the ball to a defender
  5. Don’t give up big plays on D as nobody but OSU/Oregon is going to walk it down on them
 


In terms of the red zone struggles and PJ stifling the offense, I recall three separate red zone possessions where Drake lobbed the ball into he endzone corner (one was the near pick). The throws weren't great, but Lemeke was pretty open on one of them. The red zone offense wasn't purely vanilla, our receivers just needed to get open.
 



jamiche said:
PJ always runs his lead backs into the ground. By the time they might get drafted, they are pretty beat up.

The new QB has an accurate, rocket arm. He seems to go through his reads really well. His lack of mobility might be an issue against B1G DL's and LB's. If he stays long enough and they give him decent receivers, he could be the best gopher QB
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He's no Michael Vick but he didn't look like a statue. He took one bad sack but I thought moved around and out of the pocket very well.
 

mngg11 said:
In terms of the red zone struggles and PJ stifling the offense, I recall three separate red zone possessions where Drake lobbed the ball into he endzone corner (one was the near pick). The throws weren't great, but Lemeke was pretty open on one of them. The red zone offense wasn't purely vanilla, our receivers just needed to get open.
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I'm as critical of this coaching staff as any but dropped passes and a could of bet inadvised throws really aren't coaching issues at least directly. Now, the coaching staff needs to go out and recruit some better pass catchers for next year if we want to keep#5 around.
 


Unregistered User said:
I'm gonna disagree on the overuse of DT down the stretch.

PJ puts people out there he can trust to close out a game. Davis and Turner have not been in this program long enough for PJ to 100% trust them to ice the game.

DT finished with 30 carries, so not a huge load.
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Thinking more big picture, you gain trust by giving players a chance. The game was over, even if Buffalo stripped the ball and got a TD, they're offense had one drive the entire game. I'd rather take a chance against Buffalo with little chance it would blow us up, then, god forbid, lose DT late in a meaningful game and have to ice it with someone PJ doesn't trust, and the player knows it
 


Unregistered User said:
I'm gonna disagree on the overuse of DT down the stretch.

PJ puts people out there he can trust to close out a game. Davis and Turner have not been in this program long enough for PJ to 100% trust them to ice the game.

DT finished with 30 carries, so not a huge load.
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I thought I was the only one. I’d rather have the guy out there you can trust unless the game is completely out of reach. I understand the other argument but feel like it is getting overly criticized. Just one fans opinion.
 

People are aware that Cam Davis has carried the ball over 250 times and fumbled once and AJ Turner has carried it about 150 and fumbled once?

Skill wise, Taylor is a better back and offers you more getting yardage, fine, but that theory doesn't hold water because PJ decided they both could come in on the first series of 3 plays and got 4 yards (Davis) and 5 yards (Turner) to get the first first down after a DT rush for 2 yards on 1st. Davis then came and took more carries later

so if they're good enough to be out there on the first sequence of 3 plays when there's the most time on the clock, why not when there's 3:30 to go after which time Taylor took 7 more carries to their 0?

Particularly with a DT who was limping earlier and has had issues with health in the past? 30 carries is a ton, particularly in a game that was hard hitting and physical. He would lead the NCAA in attempts if he did that over a season (Jeanty took 374 totes over 14 games to lead NCAA last year). In 2023, 297 carries led the NCAA. I don't think we quite realize that 30 carries is a massive workload
 
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matt said:
I do not understand why this coaching staff keeps giving Geers chances in the passing game. He has had a terrible case of the drops his entire time at Minnesota. Do the coaches not see this in practice? Or were they not watching the games last year? Why, after all of that, is he still such a core part of the passing game?
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I like Geers a lot. I think he can be a game changer this year with the new QB. That said, the second drop that hit him right in the hands was cringe worthy. I just think he’s talented enough to where you have to roll with him and hope he can put the drops behind him.
 

caliGopher said:
We answered one big question last night. Lindsey can play. I watched the first half of Rutgers vs. Ohio before watching the Gopher Game. AK looked exactly the same, Lindsey looks light years ahead of where AK ever will be.

We didn't answer two big questions:

The Oline looked brutal at times, and mostly average to below average. We didn't sustain drives, the run blocking looked pretty weak until the final drive, when the Buffalo defense was gassed. The Pass blocking was wildly inconsistent. Line development at the U hasn't been a thing under Fleck.
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So Big Dan, JMS and Ersery being drafted
And playing in The League doesn’t count as development 🤔
caliGopher said:
I think they will more consistent as the games go on, but still a major concern. No matter who good Lindsey is, if we can run, and he has to run for his life somewhat regularly, we're in trouble.

Wide Receivers: as a whole, not impressed with what we saw last night. A few nice plays, Smith got open on a missed assignment by Buffalo, but showed he is the most talented reciever on the roster. Unfortunately, I think Perich was the 2nd best reciever out there (not because that's bad, but because I was hoping at least one of the others would show something against weaker compeittion. When the competition ramps up, this group is a concern.

The defense, for the most part, played well. Buffalo's TD was not a missed assignment, Brown got faked out of his jock. The Buffalo reciever was good, though, and one bad play in the first game of the year is nothing to be concerned about, given his play last year. I am worried about the corners. Baronowski looked good. I'm convcerned if he's hurt, but it didn't look major last night, so hoping he's OK.

Coaching
PJ still has his boot firmly on Harbaugh's throat once we get inside the 20. I won't comment on this again this year, as I don't believe after 8 years and 1 game this approach will change (regardless of the OC).

PJ lack of using games like this to get reps for his players is consistent and maddening, as well as over use of starters. Nestor had some great plays, he had some not so great plays. Why not give the other DBs at least a handful of plays to get their feet wet, nothing from the Buffalo QB or Nestor said taking him for a series would be a mistake. Running Taylor repeatedly on that final drive, particularly when we got into Buffalo terroritory is just stupid. We saw there is more talent at RB. Share the load a little (Taylor 11 carries, Davis 3, Turner 1). How many RBs does he have to sideline to understand that.
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jamiche said:
PJ always runs his lead backs into the ground. By the time they might get drafted, they are pretty beat up.
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We are paying DT legit NIL money to be our featured back. He's the guy, we are going to feed him the rock. I think many guys here are overreacting to that final drive - it's the first game of the season and you want to give your guys the reps and break them in. Now, if we're up 42-7 on NW State next week and PJ has DT out there in the 4th, that's a problem.
 

GophEnEspaña said:
We are paying DT legit NIL money to be our featured back. He's the guy, we are going to feed him the rock. I think many guys here are overreacting to that final drive - it's the first game of the season and you want to give your guys the reps and break them in. Now, if we're up 42-7 on NW State next week and PJ has DT out there in the 4th, that's a problem.
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EXACTLY!

I actually laugh out loud when I read comments about Fleck "running his lead back into the ground". You'd better buckle up, buttercups, because our best player is going to have the ball in his hands A LOT this season. I know; shocking, right? Go ahead and gasp, and clutch those pearls of yours!

People love to bitch, and they will find something to complain about, no matter how weak the complaint may be. This particular one borders on being ridiculous.
 
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PMWinSTP said:
No, long time fan here. I never felt Bulls could get anything going
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matt said:
I do not understand why this coaching staff keeps giving Geers chances in the passing game. He has had a terrible case of the drops his entire time at Minnesota. Do the coaches not see this in practice? Or were they not watching the games last year? Why, after all of that, is he still such a core part of the passing game?
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They have a hard time changing gears…
 

There is some really good commentary on this thread. I am impressed with the knowledge that many posters on this board have. My own observations...

1) I don't get down to many home openers but I was in the stadium for this one. Perfect night for football. Gate line was terrible and I didn't make it in until about 30 seconds before kickoff. Other than that... a great night at the stadium. Decent crowd and awesome student section until halftime.

2) Drake - this is well covered. The guy can play. He looks to me like the most natural thrower we have had since Adam Weber. Going to be a great one. I don't think he will be much of a threat to run it though. And Buffalo's D was strong up front and the backers were good. Secondary... not as much. So it will be great to see if Drake can continue his passing performance against teams with tighter coverage.

3) Our D - This unit is legit. Smith is a stud, but our whole D line did well. I was a little worried about our corners but they did a really nice job for the most part. That long Buffalo TD was ugly and I couldn't tell what happened there from a coverage standpoint. The safeties are good of course, and the corners did a nice job defending one on one. Our secondary can tackle as well. They were 100 percent better than what Buffalo had in their defensive secondary.

4) Geers - I think he is going to be a weapon this year. Yes, he had some drops but the kid has shown he can catch(anyone remember the TD catch against Wisconsin last season? He is also a capable blocker.

5) DT in the game so long - I actually did not mind this. I was really concerned about our run game as we weren't really able to pound it consistently until late in the game. It was nice to see our OL and DT take control of that game at the end.

6) Koi - As we know, he is a game breaker. For all of the talk about him playing offense... did he ever line up on the offensive side past the first series? If he did, I missed it.

7) "Fancy stuff" - In the first quarter we did a bit of direct snaps to DT, with sometimes Koi and DT in the backfield together. We did a QB sneak with Geers under center. These gadget things rarely seem to go for more than two yards, and the sneak failed. I'm not sure I'm a fan of this.

Overall this was a win against a good MAC team. I wish the score would have been more convincing but we were clearly the better, more athletic team. I was happy with what I saw and it was a great night for football. Very fun, encouraging way to start the season!
 

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