2nd Half Play

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minibeaver

minibeaver

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Great win for our guys and Kill. We got a look at how explosive our offense can be. When we got up on them and they started passing I knew we had them right in our defenses wheel house.

In the second half, I couldn't tell if Purdue made the right adjustments, we came out flat, or our play calling changed. Any one have theories?

Either way, great win for our young team. We needed it
 

Well Kill said after the game that the team had no idea how to react being up 27 points at half. I think he's probably right. I didn't watch the second half, but it sounds like Nelson didn't have any passing yards in the 2nd half? Well, I guess I watched up to the Carter pick 6, which was a hell of a play. We probably kept playing a lot of guys and the fact we're not that much better than Purdue started to catch up with us. No turnovers really helped in this one. We'll have to play a complete game next week to have a chance...
 

On offense, we were pretty much running out the clock the entire second half, since our first legitimate possession was when it was 44-7, so I'm not too worried about the offensive play in the second half.

Yeah, the defense let up quite a few big plays and points, but I'm still not putting too much into that second half. They were on the field for almost the entire half, and their new quarterback helped them out a lot. However, I will say that pretty much our entire defense bit on every single screen play in the second half.
 

Can't speak to the first two but Gopher play calling did change. They only threw the ball five times in the 2nd Half and one attempt was to the Tight End on the last drive After the two quick scores in that Half they were up 44-7 and Kill just wanted to grind out the clock and keep Nelson healthy.
 

The play calling became VERY conservative. I'm okay with it. It was a blow out. Not by the box score, but Purdue never had a chance and the Gophers coasted to the finish line. Something that I am okay with. Good win.
 


Yeah, I'm also not too worried about the way the second half progressed. It is actually how playing conservative is supposed to work (as boring as it was to watch). It took Purdue a long time to score and we ran time off. I wouldn't read too much into the offense not doing much.

I think another thing is that Marve is a much better QB than TerBush. They looked way better with Marve out there.
 

Agreed; to all. Conservative play calling led to decreased T.O.P, which led to a tired defense? I'll buy it. Those screens were still pretty effective for Purdue; something we may want to work on this week. All in all great win and I'll take it however we can get it.
 

Gophers played like crap the second half. Kill basically flat out said it.

Don't try to sugarcoat it.
 

station19 said:
Gophers played like crap the second half. Kill basically flat out said it.

Don't try to sugarcoat it.
Click to expand...

Ya, those 5 second half passes really allowed them to get something going offensively. You can't ask your defense to stop them when they are on the field for 75% of the half. If Jerry wanted them to play well, he shouldn't have handcuffed the offense.
 



How many times did Nelson run in the second half?

We didn't try anything. Which I was fine with.

I think Kill was more angry with the defense in the second half. They lost their edge.

Happy to win!!

One more win and it's time to break out the Bowl Game Blazer™.
 

its hard to stay focused when you win the game in the 1st quarter
 

I was really surprised Purdue didn't go to Marve sooner than they did because Terbush was having a terrible game (some caused by us, some self inflicted).

I am sure the defensive coaches are not thrilled with the 21 points allowed in the 2nd half but I don't think anyone is going to be too alarmed given the overall result of the game. First half was a lot of fun to watch.
 

Ever watch football? With a 44-7 lead you deflate the ball, kill the clock, and avoid injury. Nothing else. Perfectly played.
 



Studwell55 said:
One more win and it's time to break out the Bowl Game Blazer™.
Click to expand...

Indeed. If we get that additional win, I like our chances of going bowling in Texas. I'd guess we will play in the bowl game at the historic Cotton Bowl in Dallas, or in the bowl game in beautiful Reliant Stadium in Houston.

Both are good options.
 

highwayman said:
Ever watch football? With a 44-7 lead you deflate the ball, kill the clock, and avoid injury. Nothing else. Perfectly played.
Click to expand...

That's what I'm sayin. Not concerned one single iota with any success Purdue had moving the ball and scoring. Defense was also playing even more bench guys than usual.

If anything, pleasantly surprised to some extent with how they were able to run the ball when Purdue knew what was coming. And that's with an O-Line of FR and SO. Impressive.
 

Here's my take, and I am far from a coach, although my "analysis" does cause me some concern:

When the Gophers have a lead, they go into a defense that typically has 4 down linemen, two fast linebackers (today, for most of what I saw was Manuel and Cooper) and 5 D-backs. In other words, speed every where they could put it.

And what we've seen the opposing team do at this time was to run occasionally, and with great success, right up the middle. And running quick slants or bubble screens where the receiver quickly heads to the middle of the field (again with great success).

The coaches know far more that I will ever know about football, and in previous games this strategy has resulted in a "bend don't break" defense that has had some success. Purdue certainly had more success in the second half going against this defense.

Kill and staff are preaching, coaching, and placing speed everywhere they can on defense, and I'm going to give them time to make this their identity, but sometimes it's hard to mentally get on the same page they are on.

I'd write more, but I was at a fund raiser tonight, and am still in the process of getting a little "pissed up" so I'll just stop here.

I'm quite thrilled with how the entire team played today, and I hope they use today's success as great building blocks for the next year, and years into the future.
 

Unregistered User said:
Here's my take, and I am far from a coach, although my "analysis" does cause me some concern:

When the Gophers have a lead, they go into a defense that typically has 4 down linemen, two fast linebackers (today, for most of what I saw was Manuel and Cooper) and 5 D-backs. In other words, speed every where they could put it.

And what we've seen the opposing team do at this time was to run occasionally, and with great success, right up the middle. And running quick slants or bubble screens where the receiver quickly heads to the middle of the field (again with great success).

The coaches know far more that I will ever know about football, and in previous games this strategy has resulted in a "bend don't break" defense that has had some success. Purdue certainly had more success in the second half going against this defense.

Kill and staff are preaching, coaching, and placing speed everywhere they can on defense, and I'm going to give them time to make this their identity, but sometimes it's hard to mentally get on the same page they are on.

I'd write more, but I was at a fund raiser tonight, and am still in the process of getting a little "pissed up" so I'll just stop here.

I'm quite thrilled with how the entire team played today, and I hope they use today's success as great building blocks for the next year, and years into the future.
Click to expand...


It really depends upon how you think about success. The Gophers were up 44-7 and yes, Purdue scored 3 TDs. However, that prevent defense (with all the speed) gave up two of the TDs on drives of over 10 plays. The only play they really gave up down the field was the last TD of the game. So yes, the defense allowed Purdue to score points. However, it was done in a way that was essentially "if you want to run and throw screens and make it a 20 point game, that's fine, but you're not going to beat us deep". We didn't get beat deep and despite moving the ball very little in the 2nd half, they didn't have anything close to enough time to even make it a game. So yeah, they were successful against that defense in putting up points, but not in making it a game.
 

station19 said:
Gophers played like crap the second half. Kill basically flat out said it.

Don't try to sugarcoat it.
Click to expand...


Did you watch the game? We threw the ball for almost over 200 yards in the first half and attempted 5 passes all of the second half. It was a prevent defense and run out the clock offense.
 

I thought the second half was fine. Carter came very close to another pick six and we had another pick overturned by a replay. I was encouraged that we had some success running the ball in the 4th quarter. Kirkwood and Williams will hopefully continue to have more success the next 4-5 games.
 

The Gophers dominated every facet of the game after that first series. It was over very early. Purdue did a helluva job in garbage time. Somewhere, Tim Brewster and Adam Weber were smiling.
 

Weber's probably smiling because he's getting an NFL paycheck.
 

Great game yesterday. The only concerning thing was getting beat by the bubble screen too often.
 


Bob_Loblaw said:
Did you watch the game? We threw the ball for almost over 200 yards in the first half and attempted 5 passes all of the second half. It was a prevent defense and run out the clock offense.
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did you listen to kill after the game? because he said it.

i didn't like the conservative play calling because i am a gopher fan and i am conditioned to expect massive second half implosions, but when kill said that he was unhappy with the second half play i felt a bit better.
 

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