BTN Weekly Press Conference brings sanity

[killme]

I watched the press conference today on BTN2go and was reassured about many things regarding the state of the program, and specifically the offense. Coach Kill did a nice job of assessing and explaining areas of concern expressed on GH. If any of you are interested in viewing it, here's the link.
http://www.btn2go.com/game/jerry-kill-press-conference1
Kill talked about our QB situation, including Demry Croft. He seems to have identified our first-quarter issues (perhaps he read it here), and despite all the awful injuries, his confidence about what this team can accomplish did not appear to be any lower than the preseason.

Coach Claeys also had some great explanations, as usual, about where our defense is. We're in good hands there. In fact, JK mentioned an opposing coach (I think he was talking about Bobo), who compared the Gopher defense to those in the SEC.

Coach Limegrover surprisingly talked as if he knows what he's doing. We may see Gentry make a splash soon.

 

[jaymil]

I really liked Coach Kill's quote about how much heat Leidner takes despite not being a professional player. It's something that some Gopher fans need to take to heart. He's just a college kid as are the rest of the team. Try to remember that in the heat of the moment during games when something bad happens. Same kind of thinking as "Friend of the U"'s thread.

And FWIW, when Croft was brought up Kill smiled like, "Are people really thinking Croft should play instead of Mitch?". Said he's coming along nicely but has a lot of developing to do.

 

[Killjoy]

I watched the press conference today on BTN2go and was reassured about many things regarding the state of the program, and specifically the offense. Coach Kill did a nice job of assessing and explaining areas of concern expressed on GH. If any of you are interested in viewing it, here's the link.
http://www.btn2go.com/game/jerry-kill-press-conference1
Kill talked about our QB situation, including Demry Croft. He seems to have identified our first-quarter issues (perhaps he read it here), and despite all the awful injuries, his confidence about what this team can accomplish did not appear to be any lower than the preseason.

Coach Claeys also had some great explanations, as usual, about where our defense is. We're in good hands there. In fact, JK mentioned an opposing coach (I think he was talking about Bobo), who compared the Gopher defense to those in the SEC.

Coach Limegrover surprisingly talked as if he knows what he's doing. We may see Gentry make a splash soon.

I watched the press conference also and had the same reaction that you did. The coaches seemed to be calm, focused, and very aware what they need to do to get better. There was no signs of Chicken Little and Sanity ruled!

 

[t-docious]

This links to last weeks presser. Navigate up top to find todays

 

[killme]

I watched the press conference also and had the same reaction that you did. The coaches seemed to be calm, focused, and very aware what they need to do to get better. There was no signs of Chicken Little and Sanity ruled!

Thanks to your post last week, I was able to watch and immediately put it on my weekly calendar. I also enjoy the Thursday radio show and arrange my schedule around these events. After watching the games, I enjoy these more than anything else. Reading the media's stories is good, but I'm trying to put together a TODO list with any others. DL65 takes good care of me on Sunday mornings when I'm at church. Last year, I thought somebody was posting post-game interviews and videos. I haven't looked those up yet. Maybe I can put a list together with links that would be an "everything in one spot" post. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Killjoy]

Thanks to your post last week, I was able to watch and immediately put it on my weekly calendar. I also enjoy the Thursday radio show and arrange my schedule around these events. After watching the games, I enjoy these more than anything else. Reading the media's stories is good, but I'm trying to put together a TODO list with any others. DL65 takes good care of me on Sunday mornings when I'm at church. Last year, I thought somebody was posting post-game interviews and videos. I haven't looked those up yet. Maybe I can put a list together with links that would be an "everything in one spot" post. Any help would be appreciated.

The weekly Gopher podcast with Mike Grimm would be another good one add to the list. Could somebody post the location where a person could connect to the podcasts? Also Gopher Radio with Ryan Burns is outstanding.

 

[scools12]

I's a big relief knowing that Killjoy and killme are in agreement.

 

[Ole]

I really liked Coach Kill's quote about how much heat Leidner takes despite not being a professional player. It's something that some Gopher fans need to take to heart. He's just a college kid as are the rest of the team. Try to remember that in the heat of the moment during games when something bad happens. Same kind of thinking as "Friend of the U"'s thread.

And FWIW, when Croft was brought up Kill smiled like, "Are people really thinking Croft should play instead of Mitch?". Said he's coming along nicely but has a lot of developing to do.

I saw Mitch today on campus riding his scooter with his shades and a smile.
I couldn't help but be reminded that he looked like a typical big goofy Minnesotan college kid, just like I was.
Bridgewater has accomplished less in this town than Mitch has and I've not heard a peep about how bad some of those throws were last night.
Yes, just as bad as some of Mitch's have been.
The difference is Mitch won and threw 2 TDs.
Where's the stupid Souhan troll column about how it's time to play Taylor Heinike?
We'll be just fine once the team heals up, and the offense figures out what it's bread and butter will be for the season.

 

[Schnauzer]

It seems like yesterday... Gopherhole melting down after a loss to South Dakota at home. You know things have come a long ways when meltdowns like those have been replaced by meltdowns after a road win over Colorado State.

 

[BilldGopher]

It seems like yesterday... Gopherhole melting down after a loss to South Dakota at home. You know things have come a long ways when meltdowns like those have been replaced by meltdowns after a road win over Colorado State.

I told Mrs. BillD after the South Dakota loss that Coach was under double-secret probation after that one.

And yes, we've certainly had more to melt down over than now.

 

[Sparlimb]

I really liked Coach Kill's quote about how much heat Leidner takes despite not being a professional player. It's something that some Gopher fans need to take to heart. He's just a college kid as are the rest of the team. Try to remember that in the heat of the moment during games when something bad happens. Same kind of thinking as "Friend of the U"'s thread.

And FWIW, when Croft was brought up Kill smiled like, "Are people really thinking Croft should play instead of Mitch?". Said he's coming along nicely but has a lot of developing to do.

If Mitch plays awful, I'm not going to sugar coat my comments because he's in college. Just like praise heaped on him or anyone else won't be tempered by their age. "Gee, that was a fantastic passing game, for a 21 year old..."

To me, the only place fans step over the line is when they either contact a player directly (never a good idea) or they attack the person instead of their play. Mitch could be the worst QB in the history of the school and still be a great guy. And fact is, 99.9% of us don't know him, so it's best to just assume he is a good guy...

 

[Sparlimb]

It seems like yesterday... Gopherhole melting down after a loss to South Dakota at home. You know things have come a long ways when meltdowns like those have been replaced by meltdowns after a road win over Colorado State.

I was at that game and rode home on the bus with some very happy South Dakota co-eds. So I was happy someone was happy...

 

[gopherhoopsguy]

I don't know Mitch personally or have never attached him as a person. I can say the QB then. The QB play has been terrible if that makes everyone feel warm and fluffy inside.

What scares me now is the QB gets a couple cream puffs so his numbers will be decent. Then coaches and a few fans will think the QB or should I call him a TE has turned the corner and here comes the BIG Ten see the same crap we saw the last 2 years can't complete passes fumbles. And we lose a couple close games because we were to stuborn to try QB 2A and 2B.

 

[Maximus]

Bridgewater has accomplished less in this town than Mitch has and I've not heard a peep about how bad some of those throws were last night.

Some of the threads over on the Viking board at KFAN:

2016 draft: Jones, Cook or Hackenberg???
Laughable Hail Mary
Bridgewater = TJack 2.0
Bridgewater can't throw a deep ball for chit
Official Tedward excuses thread!!
NO MORE BRIDGEWATER
Teddy's side arm circus act

Mitch is now in his second full season as a starter. If Teddy has a season opener like last night to start 2017 (his second full season as starter) he will get blasted. Just like Ponder. Just like T-Jack.

 

[Sparlimb]

Some of the threads over on the Viking board at KFAN:

2016 draft: Jones, Cook or Hackenberg???
Laughable Hail Mary
Bridgewater = TJack 2.0
Bridgewater can't throw a deep ball for chit
Official Tedward excuses thread!!
NO MORE BRIDGEWATER
Teddy's side arm circus act

Mitch is now in his second full season as a starter. If Teddy has a season opener like last night to start 2017 (his second full season as starter) he will get blasted. Just like Ponder. Just like T-Jack.

Questioning Teddy Football is just crazy talk.

 

[homermn]

Didn't our QB give us a chance to win the game? Wasn't this supposed to be a close game, we should win, and we did? Don't all teams play cream puffs to help their programs? Mitch will get better and we'll be fine, nothing is ever linear.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

"But, but, but, but, but.......I think Leidner is a bad QB - therefore he is a bad QB, because I said so!"

I am at the point now where I really hope the coaches do play Croft and Perra in the next two games - and when they do not turn out to be some combination of Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath and God, I will come on here and gently suggest to the QB experts on this board that maybe - just maybe - they aren't as smart as they think they are.

 

[jonnyganas]

The noise of criticism will always be there, regardless of success. I'll ignore the noise, let the coaches coach, and watch the wins pile up.

 

[cjbfbp]

I don't know Mitch personally or have never attached him as a person. I can say the QB then. The QB play has been terrible if that makes everyone feel warm and fluffy inside.

The QB play has not been "terrible." Leidner has been wildly inconsistent - Jekyll and Hyde. He's been both great and awful even within the same game against the same opponent. Some of that inconsistency is on him and I hope he can become more consistent. Some of it has been due to the struggles of the offensive line. And some of the problems can be expected with an offense that is still finding its way after losing a few players who were go-to guys for multiple years.

 

[killme]

The QB play has not been "terrible." Leidner has been wildly inconsistent - Jekyll and Hyde. He's been both great and awful even within the same game against the same opponent. Some of that inconsistency is on him and I hope he can become more consistent. Some of it has been due to the struggles of the offensive line. And some of the problems can be expected with an offense that is still finding its way after losing a few players who were go-to guys for multiple years.

And, some of his struggles are due to the fact that it's the hardest position in sports.

 

[cjbfbp]

"But, but, but, but, but.......I think Leidner is a bad QB - therefore he is a bad QB, because I said so!"

I am at the point now where I really hope the coaches do play Croft and Perra in the next two games - and when they do not turn out to be some combination of Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath and God, I will come on here and gently suggest to the QB experts on this board that maybe - just maybe - they aren't as smart as they think they are.

I hope they do start playing one of them - not to replace Leidner - but to have a backup quarterback who might be expected to do something more than just not lose yards if and when Leidner has to leave the game.

 

[goldy93]

I hope they do start playing one of them - not to replace Leidner - but to have a backup quarterback who might be expected to do something more than just not lose yards if and when Leidner has to leave the game.

My guess is that we will be seeing Streveler in there quite a bit this week and then we will hear people complain about how we do not have a passing game as we run for 350+ yards against the Golden Flashes.

 

[cjbfbp]

My guess is that we will be seeing Streveler in there quite a bit this week and then we will hear people complain about how we do not have a passing game as we run for 350+ yards against the Golden Flashes.

You mean like last year against San Jose State where the team rushed for 380 yards, Streveler rushed for 167, but was 1 of 7 (for 7 yards) passing with 1 interception? As I recall, that performance didn't make too many people feel very good (me included). That performance would be fine if you played a lousy SJSU or Kent State every week. The team rushed and received for combined 387 yards against a San Jose State team that went 3-9 with wins over North Dakota (not state), UNLV, and 4-8 Wyoming. Even with all of Leidner's troubles last week the team had 417 yards against a presumably much better Colorado State.

 

[highwayman]

"But, but, but, but, but.......I think Leidner is a bad QB - therefore he is a bad QB, because I said so!"

I am at the point now where I really hope the coaches do play Croft and Perra in the next two games - and when they do not turn out to be some combination of Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath and God, I will come on here and gently suggest to the QB experts on this board that maybe - just maybe - they aren't as smart as they think they are.

God, I hope not Joe Namath. He won one big game and he's a HOF QB. Would you vote him in on his numbers?

1886/3762 passes 50.1% 197 yards/game 5 yards an attempt 173 TDs 220 Int

HOF QB Joe Namath. Everyone frickin loved the guy...he's just a winner...blah blah blah. The guy was under .500 as a starter.

Mitch plays WAY better and a much better game manager.

And he's a winner.

 

[Maverick]

How was smoking Joe in college?

 

[jonnyganas]

You mean like last year against San Jose State where the team rushed for 380 yards, Streveler rushed for 167, but was 1 of 7 (for 7 yards) passing with 1 interception? As I recall, that performance didn't make too many people feel very good (me included). That performance would be fine if you played a lousy SJSU or Kent State every week. The team rushed and received for combined 387 yards against a San Jose State team that went 3-9 with wins over North Dakota (not state), UNLV, and 4-8 Wyoming. Even with all of Leidner's troubles last week the team had 417 yards against a presumably much better Colorado State.

Leidner was hurt and didn't start that game, so I doubt we will see the Streveler read-option show for 4 quarters like the SJSU game.