Before you throw them under the bus

[Gophs]

I'm not saying that Minnesota will win Saturday. But I do believe this week of practice should be intense and highly spirited. That just might lead to a better played game by the Gophers. For anyone who has ever played organized football, the week of practice following a bad loss is one of hardest and toughest. Everyone is pissed and embarrassed that they lost. Coaches are pissed ... Hell, even ball boys are pissed. It can be pretty nasty.

Aside from the poor play, the fact that the team walked off the field without singing the Alma Mater should give the team incentive to redeem itself and prove something to the students, alumni, fans and even the media.

We all think Brewster is gone, but he still wants to save face. It will be up to him to light a fire. If he can do that and the captains like Weber get a mean streak in them, it might not be as bad as everyone is making it out to be. This is when the Gophers need to grow up and find themselves. But if they can't do that and come out flat against USC, you might as well hand Brewster his walking papers at 7 p.m. Saturday night.

This program, as well as this team, is in a tough spot. I agree with Doogie that if the Gophers win, Brewster should still lose his job. But I think this team has to play for more than just themselves or for Brewster. If they truly care about the university that is giving them a free education and a chance to play football in a great stadium with passionate fans, the 2010 Gophers need to go into Saturday and play for the future of the program.

Because if Brewster is gone and the U wants to bring in a quality coach, he will have to see that this team does have talent and is competitive. If not, don't expect a June Jones or a Troy Calhoun to come in and save the program. We'll have another low-cost, inexperience coach to bitch about for the next four years,

That's just one Gophers fan's opinion.

 

[Ron Johnson Super Fan]

But if they can't do that and come out flat against USC, you might as well hand Brewster his walking papers at 7 p.m. Saturday night.

I'm a bit concerned about Brewster losing the team after this week. If he has it will be very apparent and he will indeed be a dead man walking. Hopefully everyone will come together and give a spirited effort. The season doesn't have to be a total loss.

 

[Ewert86PC]

I'm not saying that Minnesota will win Saturday. But I do believe this week of practice should be intense and highly spirited. That just might lead to a better played game by the Gophers. For anyone who has ever played organized football, the week of practice following a bad loss is one of hardest and toughest. Everyone is pissed and embarrassed that they lost. Coaches are pissed ... Hell, even ball boys are pissed. It can be pretty nasty.

Aside from the poor play, the fact that the team walked off the field without singing the Alma Mater should give the team incentive to redeem itself and prove something to the students, alumni, fans and even the media.

*cut to end*

Leaving the field without singing the Alma Mater is a slap in the face to the rest of the University, students, educators, alumni, support staff, et al. Brewster has a team that feels entitled to self-importance. He should strip Weber and Kirksey of their Captain status for not staying out on the field and showing leadership.

 

[Schnoodler]

We will see what this team is made of. This is the most talented team the Gophers have had in probably the last twenty years. And they lost to USD. It's time for some team leadership. I haven't seen it on the field in a very long time.

If they want to save this program they need to quit being vast underachievers and start over achieving. I don't think they have a chance against USC, because it's a terrible matchup. USC's strength is our weakness. But we better right this ship and do some damage in the Big Ten or it's the end of the line for Brewster and this staff.

What will this team do. roll over and fade away or stand up and fight?

 

[thailleagle]

We will see what this team is made of. This is the most talented team the Gophers have had in probably the last twenty years. And they lost to USD. It's time for some team leadership. I haven't seen it on the field in a very long time.

If they want to save this program they need to quit being vast underachievers and start over achieving. I don't think they have a chance against USC, because it's a terrible matchup. USC's strength is our weakness. But we better right this ship and do some damage in the Big Ten or it's the end of the line for Brewster and this staff.

What will this team do. roll over and fade away or stand up and fight?

Most talented in 20 years? On what side of the ball? At what position?

 

[acemac]

We will see what this team is made of. This is the most talented team the Gophers have had in probably the last twenty years. QUOTE]



????? Really?


give me one name from this team of a player that has proven they are more talented then any player from 01-04....

 

[strokemonster]

Offensively, our stats under Brewster don't hold a candle to previous years. Defensively, we have shown recent improvement but Saturday's game was so bad that I'm not sure we can even draw any conclusions on any progress there either. This is a sad, sad situation. I don't want to see another lost recruiting class. I hope playmakers will step forward against USC and bring mainstream Gopher fans back into the fold.

 

[HawksR1]

gophs can rebound

My Hawks looked terrible against UNI last year and rebounded
I still think you guys can win several games yet this year; you have some experience on offense and are getting the safeties back

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

I think Schnoodler has been taken in by the star system. That's OK as a lot of people do the same. The talent may be there but overall it is not ready to play like talented players do. To date, no one on this squad remotely compares to guys like Utecht, Spaeth, MB3, etc.

I have not given up on this team although pulling off 6 wins looks rather dim at this time.

 

[gold04]

Schnoodier,

You post a lot of good things, but the most talented team in twenty years, shows you are drinking way too much kool-aid. I'd say Masons teams that went 10-3 and 8-4 were definetly more talented. If we win the rest of our games I'll agree with you, but right now we can't beat South Dakota.

 

[Monty519]

I think we do have OVERALL the most talent we've had in ages, more depth. Problem is, we have no studs right now who have stepped up, and that's gonna be the killer on Brewster's recruiting if something doesn't pop up quick. Mason's recruiting was iffy at best, but his BEST talent beats Brewster's BEST talent thus far. We haven't seen guys like Laurence Maroney, Maron Barber, Ben Utecht, and then stud lineman like Esslinger, Hamilton, etc. Even defensively (early on), we had some great pieces, though that was a lot of Wacker's work.

Who knows what a guy like Hasan Lipscomb could have meant to the running game by now? What if we did land LaMichael James? You can recruit well and fill your team with solid guys, but if you don't have some studs on your squad to carry you through, it's gonna be tough sledding. If Mason never landed Laurence Maroney, he's probably fired sooner than he was. Maroney was a guy who put punch into that lineup, a homerun hitter any time he touched the ball. We don't have that right now. Guys like that can change entire perspective, cause they can carry squads to more wins than the overall talent may indicate. Florida doesn't land Tim Tebow, and do they win two titles? Not a chance IMO. Boise State, do they roll without Kellen Moore? Unlikely.

Basically, I'm saying Brewster needs his "studs" to show up, whomever they are. If they don't, they won't get far.

 

[Governor Sibley]

This is the most talented team the Gophers have had in probably the last twenty years.

 

[Go Gophers Rah]

Put me down as thinking that our Gophers will play much better this Saturday. Granted, I don't think it will be victorious - just not embarrassing.

 

[wait!what?]

Thank goodness we have run out of border states!

 

[GopherFB]

The good news is that USC isn't as good as their ranking.

The bad news is that they are still 10x better than SD and we couldn't beat them.

Barring the Gophers comming back to finish 6-6 on the season with 2 of those wins comming over Wisconsin,Iowa,USC,Ohio State or Penn St. Brewster should be fired.

Right now this team is looking like a 3 win team, tops.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Most talented in 20 years? On what side of the ball? At what position?

Perceived talent and actual talent are two completely different things. I have no idea what "talent" you are referring to because their are a handful of guys playing on Sundays that played together 5-7 years ago and the current roster has virtually ZERO NFL talent.

 

[Monty519]

The good news is that USC isn't as good as their ranking.

The bad news is that they are still 10x better than SD and we couldn't beat them.

Guess what? MTSU is better than SD, and we beat them on the road. So basically, any given week, things can turn quickly. So goes the nature of college football.

 

[GopherFB]

Guess what? MTSU is better than SD, and we beat them on the road. So basically, any given week, things can turn quickly. So goes the nature of college football.

That's debatable. We beat MTSU by 7, lost by 3 to SD. Hard to tell by looking at those two games which team is better for sure but I would say MTSU may be a little better.

The Gophers D played a lot better vs MTSU, but then they didn't have an athlete like Warren and most of the rest of the teams we play this season will have several of them like him or better.

IMO, the SD game is more of an indicator of where or D is than the MTSU team who was missing it's star QB who would have done the same thing to our D as Warren did.

 

[FireDaveLee]

My personal opinion: Let the season play out.

If things go how they may seem destined to, the coaching situation will take care of itself.

However, there is ample opportunity for things to change for this team, starting this week.

 

[scools12]

We will see what this team is made of. This is the most talented team the Gophers have had in probably the last twenty years.

this has been a fashionable arugment by many on this board. must be the star rankings or the team rankings you find on various sites that have lead many to belieive this.

there may or may not be more talent overall than was the norm under the previous regime. however the previous regime though not being able to get over the hump did get the available talent to improve over time.

that has not been the case under this regime. though I don't think the QB is anymore talented than any of the recent QB's I think most would say at least Cupito seemed to imnprove as time went on and not regress as the case seems to be with Weber.

this is a bad analogy since the talent level and coaching ability is no where near the same as Alablama. Alabama is starting young guys on defense without much game experience but with the coaching and their athletic ability they cam make up for mistakes they make.

the point being the Gophers though more talented than South Dakota couldn't make up for their mistakes based on talent alone. this to me shows that the coaching is subpar.

the previous regime which I was glad to see gone at least appeared to coach the talent better than this current regime.

 

[gopherfaith]

We will see what this team is made of. This is the most talented team the Gophers have had in probably the last twenty years. And they lost to USD. It's time for some team leadership. I haven't seen it on the field in a very long time.
If they want to save this program they need to quit being vast underachievers and start over achieving. I don't think they have a chance against USC, because it's a terrible matchup. USC's strength is our weakness. But we better right this ship and do some damage in the Big Ten or it's the end of the line for Brewster and this staff.

What will this team do. roll over and fade away or stand up and fight?

This is what I agree with most--I have not felt any strong leadership going on out on the field, not really even during the MTSU game, which we won. I want to be able to SEE the leadership, the motivation, the intensity, on the field, on the sidelines, all over TCF Stadium. That to me will make a huge difference between the two games we've seen so far this season and what may come. Start with USC.

 

[csom_1991]

Talent

If Mason had focused on recruiting rather than on his next job, he would have won a few Big Ten titles and we may have been able to establish something longer term. Heck, at one point, Minnesota could have pointed at MBIII, LM, Russell, and Tapeh and sold recruits that this school mints NFL running backs. The one unforgivable thing Brewster did was to change the running scheme - this was the only part of the team that actually worked consistently. Ball control was Mason's winning formula because he knew we didn't have stars or depth on D. Brewster's entire philosophy on football was a horrible mismatch from day 1. If we would have had Adam Weber for 4 years under Mase, we definitely would have won a Big Ten title with Brewster, we are hoping to get to 3 wins. We need to get an identity back and I am 100% behind running the football (be it ZBS or power).

 

[thailleagle]

Perceived talent and actual talent are two completely different things. I have no idea what "talent" you are referring to because their are a handful of guys playing on Sundays that played together 5-7 years ago and the current roster has virtually ZERO NFL talent.

Me or him? Cuz I don't think we have the "Most Talented Team" in the last 20 years right now...

Especially compared to squads like 1999 & 2003 & arguably 2005...