Anybody else notice....

[Gopher028]

That since Michigan, that we've played worse and worse and worse?

From Northwestern....to Purdue....and now Illinois!?

This team is getting worse at tackling, blocking, catching..
the only improvement might be Leidner throwing, but...damn

And most of all, the Coaching and play calling is getting worse.
I swear, if I hear Kill come out and say "we didn't execute", i'm
done with him. I don't care where he's come from or what he's done,
this is all bad coaching.

 

[jaymil]

To be fair, if David Cobb doesn't lose all responsibility and hangs onto the ball we probably win. Our defense had them figured out. That's definitely on player execution.

 

[Gopher07]

Players gotta play too. I don't know if it's all the coaches fault. I just think we're not a generally good team - closer to the preseason predictions than the midseason predictions.

 

[Sparlimb]

Players gotta play too. I don't know if it's all the coaches fault. I just think we're not a generally good team - closer to the preseason predictions than the midseason predictions.

It's the coaches fault we play the two worst teams in the Big Ten and we don't look like we prepared at all. Kill said on his tv show this week that the games are often lost on Tuesday's. Well we were damn lucky to beat Purdue and we got what we deserved today.

 

[Gopher07]

It's the coaches fault we play the two worst teams in the Big Ten and we don't look like we prepared at all. Kill said on his tv show this week that the games are often lost on Tuesday's. Well we were damn lucky to beat Purdue and we got what we deserved today.

I hear ya, just think if our kids make catches and don't fumble the ball we probably have a W. Coaches need to have the team ready to play out of the gates, and they haven't the last two weeks.

 

[1983]

That since Michigan, that we've played worse and worse and worse?

From Northwestern....to Purdue....and now Illinois!?

This team is getting worse at tackling, blocking, catching..
the only improvement might be Leidner throwing, but...damn

And most of all, the Coaching and play calling is getting worse.
I swear, if I hear Kill come out and say "we didn't execute", i'm
done with him. I don't care where he's come from or what he's done,
this is all bad coaching.

If you watched the game, you saw poor execution by our quarterback and saw that our young team is vulnerable to making mistakes. We are playing BIG teams and unless your a great team, you cant make so many mistakes and win. Kill is doing an awesome job. We are 3 and 1 in our last four games, BIG games. I watched decades of 3 win seasons and 1 BIG win a year. We are good but certainly not great and for sure not getting worse.

 

[Sparlimb]

I hear ya, just think if our kids make catches and don't fumble the ball we probably have a W. Coaches need to have the team ready to play out of the gates, and they haven't the last two weeks.

Well to me the game was lost at 14-0. We weren't ready. 7 days after having to squeak out a win for the same dang reason. Season very well could be a train wreck the rest of the way.

 

[gopher7]

To be fair, if David Cobb doesn't lose all responsibility and hangs onto the ball we probably win. Our defense had them figured out. That's definitely on player execution.

Yeah, I was thinking about that. It's hard to be hard on Cobb since he has been phenomenal this year, but there is a time and a place to fight for extra yards, and on 3rd and 15, deep in your own territory, when you have 4 defenders around you and trying to protect a lead is not one of them.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

I agree with the OP. I thought NW exposed our defense by attacking the edge. We responded by sending the LBs outside but that left us weak up the middle. Some of it is experience but I'm not liking the trend.

 

[FreakyDeke]

That since Michigan, that we've played worse and worse and worse? From Northwestern....to Purdue....and now Illinois!? This team is getting worse at tackling, blocking, catching.. the only improvement might be Leidner throwing, but...damn And most of all, the Coaching and play calling is getting worse. I swear, if I hear Kill come out and say "we didn't execute", i'm done with him. I don't care where he's come from or what he's done, this is all bad coaching.

What improvement has Leidner made?

 

[gopher7]

If you watched the game, you saw poor execution by our quarterback and saw that our young team is vulnerable to making mistakes. We are playing BIG teams and unless your a great team, you cant make so many mistakes and win. Kill is doing an awesome job. We are 3 and 1 in our last four games, BIG games. I watched decades of 3 win seasons and 1 BIG win a year. We are good but certainly not great and for sure not getting worse.

The defense has been woefully under-prepared the last two weeks, and that is coaching. We have given up 6 first half TD drives of 63+ yards to Purdue and Illinois (playing without their starting QB). To the coaches credit they have made adjustments and the team played much better in the second half, but still our first half performances the past two weeks against two bad teams has been abysmal, and each time it has put us in a hole. We are extremely lucky not to be 0-2 the past two weeks.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Beat Northwestern on a fluke kick return. Beat Purdue on a fluke 50+ yarder. Ran out of flukes against Illinois and got curb stomped by a ****ty team in the first half. And only beat that same ****ty team by 7 in the 2nd half.

 

[Yew512]

That since Michigan, that we've played worse and worse and worse?

From Northwestern....to Purdue....and now Illinois!?

This team is getting worse at tackling, blocking, catching..
the only improvement might be Leidner throwing, but...damn

And most of all, the Coaching and play calling is getting worse.
I swear, if I hear Kill come out and say "we didn't execute", i'm
done with him. I don't care where he's come from or what he's done,
this is all bad coaching.

wow dude relax should we get Brewster back

 

[Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0]

To be fair, if David Cobb doesn't lose all responsibility and hangs onto the ball we probably win. Our defense had them figured out. That's definitely on player execution.

I would like to see our defense stuff an opponent who is struggling like Illinois and hold them to 10 points or less. The Cobb fumble doesn't come into play then. It looks like what is happening with the defensive front is the thing that I feared most. The freshmen up front may be wearing down and aren't being as effective as they were earlier.

 

[Spoofin]

Bad game. We aren't as good as some thought, but not as bad as today. When you have an inconsistent QB your team will be...well...inconsistent.

 

[Gopher028]

To be fair, if David Cobb doesn't lose all responsibility and hangs onto the ball we probably win. Our defense had them figured out. That's definitely on player execution.

Yes, but when you're relying on one RB to carry the ball 35 times/gm almost exclusively between the tackles, things like this are bound to happen.

Have 3 other pretty good backs with fresh legs, who hardly see the field.

 

[50PoundHead]

The defense has been woefully under-prepared the last two weeks, and that is coaching. We have given up 6 first half TD drives of 63+ yards to Purdue and Illinois (playing without their starting QB). To the coaches credit they have made adjustments and the team played much better in the second half, but still our first half performances the past two weeks against two bad teams has been abysmal, and each time it has put us in a hole. We are extremely lucky not to be 0-2 the past two weeks.

My feeling as well. I really think a lot of Claeys as a coach, but he's got to dial it back or mix it up early. This is the third week in a row when opposing offenses have been successful at "counter-punching" (my term) against us. We're not staying in our lanes and we're losing contain. We made Reilly O'Toole look like Braxton Miller in the early going. Absolutely no excuse for that.

 

[50PoundHead]

I agree with the OP. I thought NW exposed our defense by attacking the edge. We responded by sending the LBs outside but that left us weak up the middle. Some of it is experience but I'm not liking the trend.

And I think that's because of the wide sets of the DE's and the fact that they don't play contain in the base defense. Add to that the fact we seem to stunt with our tackles, there's no one reading. Hageman was inconsistent, but you can see how he's missed.

 

[John Galt]

Beat Northwestern on a fluke kick return. Beat Purdue on a fluke 50+ yarder. Ran out of flukes against Illinois and got curb stomped by a ****ty team in the first half. And only beat that same ****ty team by 7 in the 2nd half.

Fluke talk is for losers. Are you going to argue that we lost today because of a fluke David Cobb fumble.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Fluke talk is for losers. Are you going to argue that we lost today because of a fluke David Cobb fumble.

We likely did lose because of that.

But it's not a fluke because Cobb has a fumbling problem. 2 fumbles last year. 4 fumbles through 8 games this year. Although it's likely because he's overworked.

 

[saintpaulguy]

The old Amtrak station on Transfer Road has a car on the side line labeled the Dagnay Taggart.

 

[John Galt]

We did.

Most football games are won because of a few plays. Against NW and Purdue, we made a few more plays. Today we didn't.

This team won't beat anyone if they can't consistently run the ball. With the exception of Cobb's one long run, that's what happened today.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Beat Northwestern on a fluke kick return. Beat Purdue on a fluke 50+ yarder. Ran out of flukes against Illinois and got curb stomped by a ****ty team in the first half. And only beat that same ****ty team by 7 in the 2nd half.

Executing isn't a fluke to me. A fluke is something that is lucky like if we would have gotten a good hop on the Cobb fumble and it goes out of bounds.

 

[John Galt]

We likely did lose because of that.

But it's not a fluke because Cobb has a fumbling problem. 2 fumbles last year. 4 fumbles through 8 games this year. Although it's likely because he's overworked.

LOL, that couldn't possibly be because he's carried the ball twice as much, huh? How many other fumbles has he had this year in the 4th quarter?

 

[mnsportsgeek]

LOL, that couldn't possibly be because he's carried the ball twice as much, huh? How many other fumbles has he had this year in the 4th quarter?

So you're saying a fumble lost every other game is acceptable?

If running him 28 times a game is going to cause him to lose the ability to hang on to the ball, then I blame that on the coaches. But a running back turning the ball over every other game is not acceptable.

 

[John Galt]

So you're saying a fumble lost every other game is acceptable?

It shouldn't be that surprising given how many carries he gets. On the list of problems with the team, Cobb fumbling ranks in the 1000s....

 

[mnsportsgeek]

It shouldn't be that surprising given how many carries he gets. On the list of problems with the team, Cobb fumbling ranks in the 1000s....

I'm not saying it's one of the bigger problems on the team. We played a pretty crummy game in all facets, but spotting the other team 7 points in the final 7 minutes largely contributes to a 4 point loss.

Remember when Adrian Peterson had a fumbling problem? Remember how much coverage it got and how every announcer mentioned it multiple times a game? He averaged a fumble every other game during that stretch where he was labeled "fumble prone". Cobb has the same average this season.

 

[GophersInIowa]

It shouldn't be that surprising given how many carries he gets. On the list of problems with the team, Cobb fumbling ranks in the 1000s....

The bigger issue for me is when/how he is fumbling. Most of them aren't in situations where he is hit hard or a defender gets their helmet on the ball. There's no excuse for the fumble today. Shouldn't happen.

 

[MaxyJR1]

I agree. I think Wisconsin having both byes early in the season has kept the from getting in rhythm. Byes can be good, but when you're trying to get QB's figured out and in rhythm it hurts. Lots of off time. They played the first of 6 straight and looked good.

 

[John Galt]

The bigger issue for me is when/how he is fumbling. Most of them aren't in situations where he is hit hard or a defender gets their helmet on the ball. There's no excuse for the fumble today. Shouldn't happen.

It happened in large part because even on 3rd and 15, Illinois had so little respect for our passing game that they had 4 guys hitting him at the line of scrimmage.