Bad Day/Good Day

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Indi1006

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Bad:

1) Kill and staff. Hard to figure some of the stuff they did today.
2) Fruechte and Gray: Fruechte needed to find the ball and go get it and missed several key blocks. Gray today seemed about 1/2 interested. Really bad play by these two.
3) Stoudemire has to make that play as a fifth year senior; back breaker.
4) Nelson: Just a shade off today but still not terrible and I love the kid. See number 2 above.
5) The officials. The two interference calls that weren't led to two Michigan TDs.
6) Our fans: Not many there and those that were became disheartened pretty quickly. We really didn't do anything to help our team's cause today.

Good:

1) OL opened holes and protected well
2) RBs ran hard; I was wrong earlier when I said we didn't have a B10 caliber RB on the roster.
3) Thompson came out on fire in the first half and really made some nice plays
4) DTs played well. Disrupted the run game and pressured; particularly early.

All in all, a frustrating day but in a different way than last year against Michigan, for example. If we could have made a few big plays, caught a break or two from the officials we should/could have been right there fighting for the win.
 

Our run O failed to convert twice on 1st and goal inside the five yard line and numerous other 3rd and 1 situations. I'm not sure I'd give the line and the runningbacks a thumbs up today. We moved the ball pretty well, but couldn't convert runs in key situations.

The best positive that I take from this game is that we weren't totally blown out, I don't think anyone got hurt, and we get to play Illinois next week for a chance at a bowl game. I was ready to move on before the final whistle.

Oh....and no turnovers. That was a positive change from the other B1G losses.
 


Indi1006 said:
6) Our fans: Not many there and those that were became disheartened pretty quickly. We really didn't do anything to help our team's cause today
Click to expand...
The team didn't do much to help the fans, either. I'm a little tired of so much pissing on the fans on this board. Anyone that shows up and cheers for the Gophers is fine with me.
 

Good:

1. I was impressed with Kirkwood although he didn't have the stats. I like the way he runs. I just wish he would get serious about getting in to a RB's body. He's too big. If he could hit those holes just a tad quicker he would be great.

2. Pass protection was good for the most part.

3. KJ could turn into a special teams threat as he gets older. Liked him on that return today. He doesn't dance around like stoudermire and just gets you some hard earned yards. Would like to see him tried out on punts. He seems more elusive than Barker.

4. Derrick Engel is quietly playing good football. He had a great catch (albeit incomplete) on the sideline that was just barely out of bounds and ran a great slant route on 3rd down that went for about 20 yards.

5. Eldred punted the ball well today. It was nice to have the other team struggle punting and not us.


Bad:

1. I agree with you on Fruechte. He is simply bad at seeing the ball once it's in the air. He can't adjust. Alot of people will blame those throws on Nelson. Nelson had some overthrows to Gray and Andre in the 4th quarter, but those balls to Fruechte need to be tracked by the WR.

2. I was frustrated with the tackling. We leave our feet far too often and just dive at the legs. Michigan made us pay every time.

3. Wilhite missed contain on several plays, specifically the play that Gardner ran in for a TD (among many other missed tackles).

4. Stoudermire is not a good kick returner. Highly overrated. Could be a little rust due to always being kicked away from but he did not impress. You can't dance back there like he does. Too much lateral movement.

5. Play calling: I realize it's Kill's game plan to run run run, but he doesn't have the personnel in place to consistently execute that game plan. The decision making on 4th down has already been dissected.

6. Penalties: some phantom calls but a lot of drive killing mistakes (chop block in first quarter for example)

7. DB's didn't come to play. They played off the receivers and got beat deep several times (Gardner didn't always see it).

8. RED ZONE OFFENSE!!!! UGGHHH!
 


I was really disappointed in our 3rd down defense today. They put Michigan in several 3rd and longs, but couldn't get off the field. The PI in the end zone didn't help, but they left a lot of plays on the field. Getting the ball in the hands of the offense or forcing a field goal could have gone a long way in switching momentum.

Another thing that disappointed me were some of Nelson's throws towards the sidelines. The ball seemed to take forever to get to the open receiver, giving the defender ample time to make a break on the ball. I'm not really sure if the play was always to the wide side of the field, the receivers weren't coming back to the ball, or it has to do with arm strength. There were probably 3-4 of these plays that were open but the ball didn't get there quick enough.
 

Gray stopped on 2 big pass plays to jump and catch and evidently his ankle is not healed, because he jumped about 6 inches. On a big run, he didnn't even attempt to block. Hurt himself badly with the scouts.
 

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