All things TCU

LOL - Speaking of being predictable, picking us to win 99% of the time is pretty close to being predictable. Keep up the good work. By the way, as far as I know doing research on the other other team before you make a prediction is not prohibited here, at least not yet. But I must admit, by predicting the Gophers to win 99% of the time must save you a lot of time.

Lots-Of-Love to you too.
 

I still don't understand how anyone can say we "match up well" against TCU. They completely dominated us in every facet last year. I don't care who their LBs are, last year they stonewalled our O-line so bad they didn't have a LB that needed to make a tackle. Our offense did nothing against them except a garbage time TD by Streveler. I get that it's a new year, we'll be more prepared, it's at home, etc etc. And I think it might even be relatively close. But our defense struggles with running QBs. And our offense struggles when teams take away the run. TCU's strengths are Minnesota's biggest weakness.
 

I still don't understand how anyone can say we "match up well" against TCU. They completely dominated us in every facet last year. I don't care who their LBs are, last year they stonewalled our O-line so bad they didn't have a LB that needed to make a tackle. Our offense did nothing against them except a garbage time TD by Streveler. I get that it's a new year, we'll be more prepared, it's at home, etc etc. And I think it might even be relatively close. But our defense struggles with running QBs. And our offense struggles when teams take away the run. TCU's strengths are Minnesota's biggest weakness.
Go back and rewatch the game Dawson was all over the field shooting gaps and disrupting plays he played a very important part is the stonewalling of our offense!
Dawson's stats 9 solo tackeles 6 asst. tackles 4 tackles for loss 1 pass break up and 1 qurterback hit
 

I still don't understand how anyone can say we "match up well" against TCU. They completely dominated us in every facet last year. I don't care who their LBs are, last year they stonewalled our O-line so bad they didn't have a LB that needed to make a tackle. Our offense did nothing against them except a garbage time TD by Streveler. I get that it's a new year, we'll be more prepared, it's at home, etc etc. And I think it might even be relatively close. But our defense struggles with running QBs. And our offense struggles when teams take away the run. TCU's strengths are Minnesota's biggest weakness.

While I think we have a chance in this game, I tend to agree that some Gopher fans are trying too hard to talk themselves into winning this game. TCU is very, very good. Just go back and watch their game against Ole Miss. And I don't really care that they lost some guys on defense. Gary Patterson always has a good defense and I expect them to reload and be good again.
 

In checking Killer Frogs, I have now learned that those TCU kids were just learning their offense when the Gophers played them last year. They were only playing with one hand because they were reading their playbooks with the other. Also, due to coaching friendships TCU took their foot off the gas in a game that could have been much worse.

Although I sort of chuckled, like any opinion like that - there may be something to it - I have no idea. Were the Gophers at a disadvantage because they didn't have TCU's new offense on film to study before the game, or was TCU at a disadvantage because they hadn't worked the kinks out of it yet? Did the Gophers self-destruct with the 5 turnovers or were they simply a side effect of being overmatched? Did the atmosphere and not knowing the eventual success TCU was going to have last year work to the Gophers demise? Will the tables turned to this year's game being in MN be a big difference? All I know is it should be fun to watch.

All in all I am not seeing many TCU fans worrying too much about their team's trip up north. But to their credit they don't seem like a bad trash talking bunch either. If the Gophers had the season TCU had last year, I probably wouldn't worry much either. Well, actually it is complicated. The more I think of it no matter how good the Gophers get within my lifetime I will always have enough memories to never take any BCS opponent completely for granted.
 


In checking Killer Frogs, I have now learned that those TCU kids were just learning their offense when the Gophers played them last year. They were only playing with one hand because they were reading their playbooks with the other. Also, due to coaching friendships TCU took their foot off the gas in a game that could have been much worse.

Although I sort of chuckled, like any opinion like that - there may be something to it - I have no idea. Were the Gophers at a disadvantage because they didn't have TCU's new offense on film to study before the game, or was TCU at a disadvantage because they hadn't worked the kinks out of it yet? Did the Gophers self-destruct with the 5 turnovers or were they simply a side effect of being overmatched? Did the atmosphere and not knowing the eventual success TCU was going to have last year work to the Gophers demise? Will the tables turned to this year's game being in MN be a big difference? All I know is it should be fun to watch.

All in all I am not seeing many TCU fans worrying too much about their team's trip up north. But to their credit they don't seem like a bad trash talking bunch either. If the Gophers had the season TCU had last year, I probably wouldn't worry much either. Well, actually it is complicated. The more I think of it no matter how good the Gophers get within my lifetime I will always have enough memories to never take any BCS opponent completely for granted.

I think it was a little of "all of the above" are true to a certain extent (with one exception), and agree it will be fun to watch how it plays out. The one exception being TCU taking the foot off the pedal, while repeated often, was certainly not true in the sense of pulling starters early or ratcheting down the play calling to only vanilla runs early in the 2nd half. Boykin continued to play until essentially no time was left, and they continued to attempt to throw down the field until it was over.
 

I think it was a little of "all of the above" are true to a certain extent (with one exception), and agree it will be fun to watch how it plays out. The one exception being TCU taking the foot off the pedal, while repeated often, was certainly not true in the sense of pulling starters early or ratcheting down the play calling to only vanilla runs early in the 2nd half. Boykin continued to play until essentially no time was left, and they continued to attempt to throw down the field until it was over.

As I showed a few months ago, their tempo was still about 3 plays per minute in the second half. That's fast. Their throw:run ratio was about 3:1 if I recall. Excrement analysis by TCU fans.
 

Hey Gophers! Looking forward to visiting the Twin Cities in a couple weeks. Ready to get this season underway.



I am well aware of the Big 12's defensive reputation, but TCU has been 1st or 2nd in total defense in the Big 12 each of its 3 years in the league (yes, TCU was #1 last year even with that debacle at Baylor). Patterson's teams are built around speed on defense (bend, don't break) and reloading on defense year after year---they have been for 15 years now, and I wouldn't expect there to be a drastic fall off this year. There's a reason Patterson's name comes up in every list of the best defensive coaches in CFB, and he's done it with 2 and 3-star recruits. No doubt they will likely surrender more points than last year's team, but the biggest losses were in the secondary and the line should be stout. My biggest concern for the defense early on in the season is penalties and bone-headed mistakes by the young guys. In short, I don't think youth at LB and safety alone is going to be a difference-maker in this game.

The Gophers' secondary is going to have to slow the game down and force TCU to run the ball. Even if TCU's defense struggles early in the season, no one wants to get into a shootout with Boykin, especially if Gray and Doctson are available and playing at full speed. The offense the Gophers saw in Fort Worth last year was inexperienced and sloppy. That offense had only played FCS Samford and eventual 1-11 SMU. After a tight game against OU and the fourth-quarter meltdown at Baylor, the Frogs' offensive coordinators decided to slow the offense down a notch. The defense got gassed against Baylor because the offense was playing too fast and coming off the field too quickly. It had been an emotional game, and the wheels came off. What was an absolute nightmare (and the risk of the up-tempo, no-huddle) was tempered later in the season by slowing down a bit. The offense got better and helped the defense by going a bit slower; meanwhile, the defense got better conditioned and after Baylor we never saw them get gassed late in a game.

I think Minnesota's opening relies on strong secondary play, forcing the TCU offense to run the ball and run the clock, exploiting mistakes made by TCU's young secondary and out-performing expectations on offense (it will take more than 30 points to win this game). I think the lines are about fair (TCU by 14) only because of Boykin. But if you look at last season's results and stats, TCUs struggles mostly came on the road (Baylor, West Virginia, Kansas). So, a Thursday night game in Minneapolis is no small factor in this one. I think it's going to be a fun game and can't wait to get up there. Really enjoyed all the Gophers fans that came down to Fort Worth last year. And no matter what happens 2 weeks from tonight, I wish y'all all the best the rest of the season.

Good points, although things change from year to year. Your offense benefitted somewhat from a pretty strong defense. Conversely, if Minnesota's offense can find a pulse this year, it's going to help our defense.

You had a great team last year, no doubt. Should have definitely made the CFP over Oregon (in my eyeball-based opinion) but I understand the "reasons" and SOS and don't want to rehash all that. Despite the losses of some really good players, history suggests Coach P. will field a strong defense. But, until they hit the field we won't really know. Same goes for MN this season. Will 30 points be enough? Maybe...none of us really know what our teams will do, how the second stringers will perform, etc.

Looking forward to a better game this year...
 

I still don't understand how anyone can say we "match up well" against TCU. They completely dominated us in every facet last year. I don't care who their LBs are, last year they stonewalled our O-line so bad they didn't have a LB that needed to make a tackle. Our offense did nothing against them except a garbage time TD by Streveler. I get that it's a new year, we'll be more prepared, it's at home, etc etc. And I think it might even be relatively close. But our defense struggles with running QBs. And our offense struggles when teams take away the run. TCU's strengths are Minnesota's biggest weakness.

You could be right but what happened last year does not necessarily mean it is going to happen again this year. In game where emotions and football bounces play a role anything can happen. Just saying.
 



Everyone is talking about our D vs. their O and our O vs. their D, but I think a key to this game could be special teams. Last year among other things, we had horrible field position all game. I don't believe that will happen this year. Also with the speed we have on the team in the return game, one Kick off or punt return could be the difference or at least it would fire up the sold out crowd.
 

I think it was a little of "all of the above" are true to a certain extent (with one exception), and agree it will be fun to watch how it plays out. The one exception being TCU taking the foot off the pedal, while repeated often, was certainly not true in the sense of pulling starters early or ratcheting down the play calling to only vanilla runs early in the 2nd half. Boykin continued to play until essentially no time was left, and they continued to attempt to throw down the field until it was over.

I remember them throwing a deep ball with less than 5 minutes left in the game. I was a little surprised. They essentially still ran their offense. Maybe scaled back a little but not as much as some people are saying. Plus we didn't turn it over as much in the 2nd half so they didn't have nearly as good of field position when starting their drives.
 

TCU's top punt returner quits the team:

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Go Gophers!!
 





It is too bad the Big 12 did not have a championship game. IMHO, TCU would've won the championship over Baylor.
 


<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Go Gophers!!
 

To have any success on Sept 3rd, the Gophers will need to play an almost flawless game, and that may still not be enough to get a win:

Roderick Williams will need to have the breakout game of his career. He will need to punish TCU secondary. If Williams and company can get running down hill the Gophs might actually have a chance.

TCU won the special teams last year with a big punt return and 3 field goals, 2 of which were 46 yarders. Gophers have to turn the tables from last year and I believe they can.

Keep Boykin in the pocket and hit him again and again and again.

I will be happy if this game is still in doubt going into the 4th quarter and if two of my predictions come true. Go Gophers

BTW, my wife and I coming up to the game from Houston with 3 of our TCU friends, looking forward to a great time in the cities for a few days.
 

Congrats from a Frog Fan on your back-to-back 8 win seasons and especially for getting the Little Brown Jug back. Mrs. Toadally and I will come see your TC region for the first time while we take in a Big-10 live game (also for the first time). I am aware we are going up against a storied program with seven NCs to its credit, though both our teams are working our way back from some lean years/decades.

Gotta warn ya: I'm going all-in on "Our Heroes" this year. This team is the real deal, and I hope it results in our third NC. I haven't had that feeling since the 2010 season which was our first ever 13-0 record, capped off by beating the Badgers in the Rose Bowl, 21-19.

Is it me, by the way, or are those Wisconsin fans the largest collection of anal apertures ever assembled in one place? I don't know if it's an age thing, or being from the South, but all their f-bombs during the national anthem, and during the trophy presentation did it for me. But they got their revenge by turning belly up and spreading their legs to t OSU in the championship game...knocking us out of playoff contention...Screwuum, sez I!

We should credit either your team's defense or our early break-in period with the new NHHU offense with holding us to the fewest points we scored all last season. Your secondary looks even more dangerous this year, so you might get two INTs from us this go around and make a real dog fight of it. We'll need four TOs ourselves, like last year to feel comfortable, but our young back seven may not be assumed to do that this early in the year.

Maybe we can take a punt to the house this year, but our player that ran back your first punt to your own 18 yard-line now wants to play QB elsewhere. We may have a freshman returning punts instead which is never a calming prospect.

Can we take comfort in not having to face your monster TE and RB (Cobb) this year, or do have even better players there now? I take some comfort in facing the same QB, as a game-manager QB is seldom the type to beat us. The accurate deep passer is the guy who gives us fits. Although I saw where Liedner has cured some footwork issues he said plagued him some last year. If he's a new man, then it's a new ball game.

Also, if you can run inside against our new linebackers, it could mean a long day for us on that score. Our other two guys last year were 4.8 and 5 flat in the 40 and went 230-233 lbs or so. The newbies weigh only 215, but run a 4.5, so might be used in coverage more than last year. I don't know why, but we find LBs every year, even when the cupboard seems sparsely stocked. Warning, Gary Patterson always tries to stop the run first, even if he has to put nine in the box.

Our D line is our strength -- the best we've had in 15 years -- and will have to ease the burden on our back seven. They came on really strong in the last 3-4 games of 2014. If your O line is a big strength for the Gophers, then we will have our defensive work cut out for us as we did against the Badgers.


I'm afraid it's going to be a closer game in your stadium than it was in our playpen. Somewhere up there Jim Wacker will be saying "UNBELIEVABLE" as two of his teams square off for a widely televised game that means something to both programs and to the national rankings. It's nice to be relevant again. Maybe see ya somewhere in Section 204.
 

Congrats from a Frog Fan on your back-to-back 8 win seasons and especially for getting the Little Brown Jug back. Mrs. Toadally and I will come see your TC region for the first time while we take in a Big-10 live game (also for the first time). I am aware we are going up against a storied program with seven NCs to its credit, though both our teams are working our way back from some lean years/decades.

Gotta warn ya: I'm going all-in on "Our Heroes" this year. This team is the real deal, and I hope it results in our third NC. I haven't had that feeling since the 2010 season which was our first ever 13-0 record, capped off by beating the Badgers in the Rose Bowl, 21-19.

Is it me, by the way, or are those Wisconsin fans the largest collection of anal apertures ever assembled in one place? I don't know if it's an age thing, or being from the South, but all their f-bombs during the national anthem, and during the trophy presentation did it for me. But they got their revenge by turning belly up and spreading their legs to t OSU in the championship game...knocking us out of playoff contention...Screwuum, sez I!

We should credit either your team's defense or our early break-in period with the new NHHU offense with holding us to the fewest points we scored all last season. Your secondary looks even more dangerous this year, so you might get two INTs from us this go around and make a real dog fight of it. We'll need four TOs ourselves, like last year to feel comfortable, but our young back seven may not be assumed to do that this early in the year.

Maybe we can take a punt to the house this year, but our player that ran back your first punt to your own 18 yard-line now wants to play QB elsewhere. We may have a freshman returning punts instead which is never a calming prospect.

Can we take comfort in not having to face your monster TE and RB (Cobb) this year, or do have even better players there now? I take some comfort in facing the same QB, as a game-manager QB is seldom the type to beat us. The accurate deep passer is the guy who gives us fits. Although I saw where Liedner has cured some footwork issues he said plagued him some last year. If he's a new man, then it's a new ball game.

Also, if you can run inside against our new linebackers, it could mean a long day for us on that score. Our other two guys last year were 4.8 and 5 flat in the 40 and went 230-233 lbs or so. The newbies weigh only 215, but run a 4.5, so might be used in coverage more than last year. I don't know why, but we find LBs every year, even when the cupboard seems sparsely stocked. Warning, Gary Patterson always tries to stop the run first, even if he has to put nine in the box.

Our D line is our strength -- the best we've had in 15 years -- and will have to ease the burden on our back seven. They came on really strong in the last 3-4 games of 2014. If your O line is a big strength for the Gophers, then we will have our defensive work cut out for us as we did against the Badgers.


I'm afraid it's going to be a closer game in your stadium than it was in our playpen. Somewhere up there Jim Wacker will be saying "UNBELIEVABLE" as two of his teams square off for a widely televised game that means something to both programs and to the national rankings. It's nice to be relevant again. Maybe see ya somewhere in Section 204.

"My heart is pumpin', and my corpuscles are jumpin', baby, I'll tell ya. - Jim Wacker, an enthusiastic entertaining great coach and man of integrity.
 

Congrats from a Frog Fan on your back-to-back 8 win seasons and especially for getting the Little Brown Jug back. Mrs. Toadally and I will come see your TC region for the first time while we take in a Big-10 live game (also for the first time). I am aware we are going up against a storied program with seven NCs to its credit, though both our teams are working our way back from some lean years/decades. Gotta warn ya: I'm going all-in on "Our Heroes" this year. This team is the real deal, and I hope it results in our third NC. I haven't had that feeling since the 2010 season which was our first ever 13-0 record, capped off by beating the Badgers in the Rose Bowl, 21-19. Is it me, by the way, or are those Wisconsin fans the largest collection of anal apertures ever assembled in one place? I don't know if it's an age thing, or being from the South, but all their f-bombs during the national anthem, and during the trophy presentation did it for me. But they got their revenge by turning belly up and spreading their legs to t OSU in the championship game...knocking us out of playoff contention...Screwuum, sez I! We should credit either your team's defense or our early break-in period with the new NHHU offense with holding us to the fewest points we scored all last season. Your secondary looks even more dangerous this year, so you might get two INTs from us this go around and make a real dog fight of it. We'll need four TOs ourselves, like last year to feel comfortable, but our young back seven may not be assumed to do that this early in the year. Maybe we can take a punt to the house this year, but our player that ran back your first punt to your own 18 yard-line now wants to play QB elsewhere. We may have a freshman returning punts instead which is never a calming prospect. Can we take comfort in not having to face your monster TE and RB (Cobb) this year, or do have even better players there now? I take some comfort in facing the same QB, as a game-manager QB is seldom the type to beat us. The accurate deep passer is the guy who gives us fits. Although I saw where Liedner has cured some footwork issues he said plagued him some last year. If he's a new man, then it's a new ball game. Also, if you can run inside against our new linebackers, it could mean a long day for us on that score. Our other two guys last year were 4.8 and 5 flat in the 40 and went 230-233 lbs or so. The newbies weigh only 215, but run a 4.5, so might be used in coverage more than last year. I don't know why, but we find LBs every year, even when the cupboard seems sparsely stocked. Warning, Gary Patterson always tries to stop the run first, even if he has to put nine in the box. Our D line is our strength -- the best we've had in 15 years -- and will have to ease the burden on our back seven. They came on really strong in the last 3-4 games of 2014. If your O line is a big strength for the Gophers, then we will have our defensive work cut out for us as we did against the Badgers. I'm afraid it's going to be a closer game in your stadium than it was in our playpen. Somewhere up there Jim Wacker will be saying "UNBELIEVABLE" as two of his teams square off for a widely televised game that means something to both programs and to the national rankings. It's nice to be relevant again. Maybe see ya somewhere in Section 204.
Very nice assessment. You became this board's best guest poster with this line "are those Wisconsin fans the largest collection of anal apertures ever assembled in one place?"
Enjoy the Twin Cities and what should be a great game as you laid out in your post.
 

He also mentioned that WI screwed them out of the CFP. Classic WI, always losing when you want them to win and winning when you want them to lose.
 

Congrats from a Frog Fan on your back-to-back 8 win seasons and especially for getting the Little Brown Jug back. Mrs. Toadally and I will come see your TC region for the first time while we take in a Big-10 live game (also for the first time). I am aware we are going up against a storied program with seven NCs to its credit, though both our teams are working our way back from some lean years/decades.

Gotta warn ya: I'm going all-in on "Our Heroes" this year. This team is the real deal, and I hope it results in our third NC. I haven't had that feeling since the 2010 season which was our first ever 13-0 record, capped off by beating the Badgers in the Rose Bowl, 21-19.

Is it me, by the way, or are those Wisconsin fans the largest collection of anal apertures ever assembled in one place? I don't know if it's an age thing, or being from the South, but all their f-bombs during the national anthem, and during the trophy presentation did it for me. But they got their revenge by turning belly up and spreading their legs to t OSU in the championship game...knocking us out of playoff contention...Screwuum, sez I!

We should credit either your team's defense or our early break-in period with the new NHHU offense with holding us to the fewest points we scored all last season. Your secondary looks even more dangerous this year, so you might get two INTs from us this go around and make a real dog fight of it. We'll need four TOs ourselves, like last year to feel comfortable, but our young back seven may not be assumed to do that this early in the year.

Maybe we can take a punt to the house this year, but our player that ran back your first punt to your own 18 yard-line now wants to play QB elsewhere. We may have a freshman returning punts instead which is never a calming prospect.

Can we take comfort in not having to face your monster TE and RB (Cobb) this year, or do have even better players there now? I take some comfort in facing the same QB, as a game-manager QB is seldom the type to beat us. The accurate deep passer is the guy who gives us fits. Although I saw where Liedner has cured some footwork issues he said plagued him some last year. If he's a new man, then it's a new ball game.

Also, if you can run inside against our new linebackers, it could mean a long day for us on that score. Our other two guys last year were 4.8 and 5 flat in the 40 and went 230-233 lbs or so. The newbies weigh only 215, but run a 4.5, so might be used in coverage more than last year. I don't know why, but we find LBs every year, even when the cupboard seems sparsely stocked. Warning, Gary Patterson always tries to stop the run first, even if he has to put nine in the box.

Our D line is our strength -- the best we've had in 15 years -- and will have to ease the burden on our back seven. They came on really strong in the last 3-4 games of 2014. If your O line is a big strength for the Gophers, then we will have our defensive work cut out for us as we did against the Badgers.

I'm afraid it's going to be a closer game in your stadium than it was in our playpen. Somewhere up there Jim Wacker will be saying "UNBELIEVABLE" as two of his teams square off for a widely televised game that means something to both programs and to the national rankings. It's nice to be relevant again. Maybe see ya somewhere in Section 204.

I can try to answer some of these questions for ya'. There are others on the board who are more knowledgeable about this year's team however.

By all accounts, including our D Coordinator, he expects this year's D to be the best he's had in Minnesota. We are returning most of the defensive secondary and two outstanding corners. Our D line was young in some spots last year so those guys will have a year under their belts and should improve. At LB, we lost a good one to graduation in Wilson, and my opinion is that we MAY take a step back at MLB this year. Really, everywhere else their should be improvement.

On Offense, I think most of us our cautiously optimistic. I feel like because of some decisions the coaches have made with position changes that we must be pretty solid at RB. I think it's safe to assume we have more WR threats this year compared to last. As far as QB is concerned, I think Mitch takes another modest step forward this year, but his success as well as the success of WR and RB will be largely dependent upon-and this is the biggy- O Line play. I think we need to take another big step forward on the O Line this year to start competing with the best teams, including your TCU.
 

I'm really upset I can't come up there for the game. I love MN, especially in the early fall. Y'all are my 2nd favorite B1G team (don't throw stones, but I grew up in Nebraska). Agreed to earlier comments about Wisky fans being asshats. They were one of the worst fan bases I have ever encountered at a game (rivaled Texas Tech, which is saying a lot).

I may have drank way too much purple drank this offseason, but I just don't buy the "2nd year so everyone has seen the offense and it won't be as effective" thing. Last year was a ton of fun for us, bc I certainly didn't expect the level of success we had, so it'll be hard to match the FUN this year since expectations are so high. Senior-laden OL, fastest player in CFB at wide out (and hopefully Doctson will be healthy and ready to go too), Aaron Green as feature RB (who some NFL guys have called a surprise to watch out for to turn in a 1st rd draft-worthy senior season), and Boykin, who is in his 2nd year in the system and has become an incredible student of the game.

Defensively, fans and players alike have just grown to trust Coach P to "find a guy", as he's done his whole career here at TCU. Several defensive guys said that exact thing when asked about replacing several guys during Big 12 media days. At LB, Sammy Douglas is getting his chance to shine (he's a Junior who was the top LBer in the state his SR year of HS). He's been a lights-out ST guy so I'm looking forward to seeing how he fairs as a feature guy in the middle of our 4-2-5. Mike Freeze is the other projected starter. He's a freshman who enrolled early and has been turning heads. He got overlooked by a ton of programs bc he didn't play for a year in HS due to injury. Coaches have said he's a freak and a great student of the game.

I think DMN's prediction for the game was very generous towards the Frogs. I see more of a 38-24 type of game going in TCU's favor. Excited to see how it all plays out!
 


I'm curious how patterson teams typically handle true power rushing attacks.
They just don't see that type of offense in the BIG12 and really didn't from us last year either.
Any history of beating bruising rushing teams besides the obvious wisky rose bowl?
I see nugget really hammering that defense early and often.
 

I'm curious how patterson teams typically handle true power rushing attacks.
They just don't see that type of offense in the BIG12 and really didn't from us last year either.
Any history of beating bruising rushing teams besides the obvious wisky rose bowl?
I see nugget really hammering that defense early and often.

They've done a pretty good job against the run against LSU and Michigan State the past few years as well.

http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=323640127
http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=332432628
 



I'm curious how patterson teams typically handle true power rushing attacks.
They just don't see that type of offense in the BIG12 and really didn't from us last year either.
Any history of beating bruising rushing teams besides the obvious wisky rose bowl?
I see nugget really hammering that defense early and often.

You mean besides shutting down David Cobb/Minny last year? :p Off the top of my head... Adrian Peterson/OU in 2005, Garrett Wolfe and NIU (nations leading rusher) to 20-something yards in 2007 Poinsettia Bowl, Air Force ran their triple option stuff every year in the MWC.

The strength of Patterson's 4-2-5 is shutting down the run. It is a very rare occasion for anyone to have a good amount of rushing success against this D. The weak spot is the deep ball, since normally there is only 1 safety back playing center field, vs. A 4-3/Tampa 2 where you've got 2.
 




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