BTN's Dienhart: Here's what I learned in Week 8 (Minn should stick w/ Nelson at QB)

[BleedGopher]

per Deinhart:

6. Minnesota should stick with Philip Nelson at quarterback. He didn’t get the start at Northwestern—Mitch Leidner did. But Nelson was the more effective of the signal-callers. He hit 8-of-11 passes for 112 yards with a touchdown and also ran nine times for 26 yards, picking up a game-icing first down on his final carry. Leidner was 1-of-3 passing for 11 yards with 27 yards rushing. Stick with Nelson, Goldy.

http://btn.com/2013/10/20/dienhart-heres-what-i-learned-in-week-8/

Go Gophers!!

 

[BleedGopher]

ESPN: What we learned in the Big Ten: Week 8

5. Quarterbacks shuffle again at Minnesota and Indiana: If you can figure out the quarterback situations for either the Gophers or the Hoosiers, please let us know. After going back and forth between Mitch Leidner and Philip Nelson -- who appear to share similar skills -- Minnesota seemed to settle on Leidner as its starter. But then Nelson came in and played much better in relief while leading the team to a big victory at Northwestern. Is Nelson back to being the guy? Or is this just a ride-the-hot-hand situation? Similarly, we were confused as to why Kevin Wilson had been reluctant to anoint Nate Sudfeld as the Hoosiers' main signal-caller despite Sudfeld's gaudy numbers this season. Wilson insisted that Tre Roberson still had a role, and Roberson gave the team a huge spark at Michigan with 288 passing yards. Sudfeld threw a costly interception late after Roberson got dinged. Perhaps both teams can juggle two quarterbacks as effectively as Northwestern has done for the past year and a half.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/87001/what-we-learned-in-the-big-ten-week-8-6

Go Gophers!!

 

[patrick08]

Just like the guys on ABC after Leidner's performance against Michigan said "Minnesota has found their QB". It is clear that whoever plays well will get the approval of the fans and the media. Let's say we come out flat against Nebraska and Nelson struggles and then they put in Leidner and he leads us to an upset victory. Who do you think they will say should start?

 

[50PoundHead]

I like the two-headed monster for now. If one of the guys nails down the job by totally out-performing the other, great. If not, they both bring some things to the table. I just wish either of them could hit a receiver in stride, but that will come with experience. I don't cotton to the "we're young" mantra, but these guys are both still young and relatively inexperienced.

 

[MNGoldenGophers1]

I too liked that Claeys went with hot hand. Time will sort this all out.

 

[GophersInIowa]

I think both guys will play the rest of the year. Just go with the hot hand.

 

[howieramone]

I think both guys will play the rest of the year. Just go with the hot hand.

+1

 

[RunGopherRun]

I prefer Leidner, but think that Nelson and he have a very similar skill set. As a Leidner leaner, it bugs me that his performance yesterday is being deemed terrible by many. Sure his stat line was not great, but he also had a drop from Maxx at the beginning of the game, and a 13 yard completion eliminated by a phantom "illegal formation" penalty. (Am I way off base or was Engel on the line at the bottom of the screen?) I really like the way that Leidner plays, and besides the missed deep ball to Maxx, he threw the ball ok. But if Nelson keeps winning games, who am I to complain?!?!

 

[GophersInIowa]

I prefer Leidner, but think that Nelson and he have a very similar skill set. As a Leidner leaner, it bugs me that his performance yesterday is being deemed terrible by many. Sure his stat line was not great, but he also had a drop from Maxx at the beginning of the game, and a 13 yard completion eliminated by a phantom "illegal formation" penalty. (Am I way off base or was Engel on the line at the bottom of the screen?) I really like the way that Leidner plays, and besides the missed deep ball to Maxx, he threw the ball ok. But if Nelson keeps winning games, who am I to complain?!?!

I don't think Leidner played bad. It's just that the offense looked better when Nelson was in the game.

 

[Sparlimb]

Yeah I think we'll stick with playing both every game and then sticking with who's hotter. And then we'll all be ecstatic in the game where they both are White Hot! Neither has really separated themselves in my opinion. Nelson's td throw to Engel wasn't a great pass, although it was enough. He did have a perfect wheel route pass for a td that got called back. But he missed Max a few times on easy over the middle throws. Anyway we find to win is going to have to cut it this year. We're not going to win pretty in any of the remaining games...

 

[gopherfannnn]

I prefer Leidner, but think that Nelson and he have a very similar skill set. As a Leidner leaner, it bugs me that his performance yesterday is being deemed terrible by many. Sure his stat line was not great, but he also had a drop from Maxx at the beginning of the game, and a 13 yard completion eliminated by a phantom "illegal formation" penalty. (Am I way off base or was Engel on the line at the bottom of the screen?) I really like the way that Leidner plays, and besides the missed deep ball to Maxx, he threw the ball ok. But if Nelson keeps winning games, who am I to complain?!?!

Just started to rematch the game this morning. On the penalty for 5 men in the backfield I can't tell who is lined up too far off the line. The receiver looks fine. It has to be one of the tackles or the tight end, I guess. So, how far off the line is too far for a lineman? Was this the correct call?

 

[highwayman]

View attachment 2325

Just started to rematch the game this morning. On the penalty for 5 men in the backfield I can't tell who is lined up too far off the line. The receiver looks fine. It has to be one of the tackles or the tight end, I guess. So, how far off the line is too far for a lineman? Was this the correct call?

nm

 

[play hard]

Yeah I think we'll stick with playing both every game and then sticking with who's hotter. And then we'll all be ecstatic in the game where they both are White Hot! Neither has really separated themselves in my opinion. Nelson's td throw to Engel wasn't a great pass, although it was enough. He did have a perfect wheel route pass for a td that got called back. But he missed Max a few times on easy over the middle throws. Anyway we find to win is going to have to cut it this year. We're not going to win pretty in any of the remaining games...

Engel was legal ! Mitch needs to see the field and let the plays develop !

 

[dboy]

all the poor throws in the Iowa game give me Nelson doubts..

like the toss from Nelson over the middle yesterday to a wide-open TE... too high and hard.. deflects off the TE's hands.. should have been picked.... but the Leidner pass to Maxx was bad too.. should have had less zip and led him more..

to compare yesterday isn't fair.. the run opened up after the first few series.. which helped Nelson look better as the entire offense moved... plus Leidner only threw 3 balls.

for running, Nelson looks much slower this year.. he might have good top-end speed, but he seems to have slow feet..

 

[Great Plains Gopher]

I like the two-headed monster for now. If one of the guys nails down the job by totally out-performing the other, great. If not, they both bring some things to the table. I just wish either of them could hit a receiver in stride, but that will come with experience. I don't cotton to the "we're young" mantra, but these guys are both still young and relatively inexperienced.

Exactly.

 

[6 Nov 1999]

Neither Nelson nor Leidner threw an interception against NU

I was ecstatic that Philip Nelson did not throw any interceptions. This is great progress. I am happy that Mitch Leidner did not throw any interceptions. We won the game for many reasons, but it never hurts that your quarterbacks do not throw interceptions.

 

[killme]

View attachment 2325

Just started to rematch the game this morning. On the penalty for 5 men in the backfield I can't tell who is lined up too far off the line. The receiver looks fine. It has to be one of the tackles or the tight end, I guess. So, how far off the line is too far for a lineman? Was this the correct call?

I, too, went back and looked at the pre-snap alignment and didn't even see anything close. The tackles are fine. Kill-coached teams are usually very disciplined in their alignment instructions so this appeared to be another made-up call by the crew. What a great win to overcome so much on the road!

 

[mplsbadger]

I like the two-headed monster for now.

Agree. It's not like one of these guys is a senior and is going to suffer a sprained ego. These two seem like good team guys and friends and they can run the same plays. I think whoever doesn't start should get a series or two depending on the game situation. Did Nelson play at Nebraska? If so, I'd watch that tape before deciding whether he should start this week. I kind of like Leidner's tough running against the Huskers.

 

[killme]

Both young QBs are unsurprisingly experiencing ups-and-downs. Nelson looked uncertain against Iowa, learned from it and played with confidence at Northwestern. Leidner appeared a bit uncertain Saturday. I'm sure it would have helped to complete that first pass. Both seem to be making strides and it will help the team if they compete for playing time. Nelson's game experience is deciding factor for me, but Leidner has some skills, too. Great position to be in for the Gophers.

 

[e.bigelow]

all the poor throws in the Iowa game give me Nelson doubts..

like the toss from Nelson over the middle yesterday to a wide-open TE... too high and hard.. deflects off the TE's hands.. should have been picked.... but the Leidner pass to Maxx was bad too.. should have had less zip and led him more..

to compare yesterday isn't fair.. the run opened up after the first few series.. which helped Nelson look better as the entire offense moved... plus Leidner only threw 3 balls.

for running, Nelson looks much slower this year.. he might have good top-end speed, but he seems to have slow feet..

Every drive that Leidner started and finished resulted in a punt. I believe he was 5/5 on drives that ended in punts. I'm not exactly sure on how you want to assess QB's then. So, yeah....

 

[gopherhoopsguy]

by looking at that screen shot its the right tackle ... your helmet has to go through the centers waits to be considered on the line... good call

 

[mnsports1]

It's obvious Nelson wasn't healthy for the Iowa game (doesn't mean you can throw that game out...but pretty close). I still don't think the leg is 100%. I've seen faster from him. He, of the two, is the one it seems that can get the ball out to the edges to take advantage of any "playmaking" we do have. I would still like to get Mitch snaps because, you never know, and use him in short yardage more often...like Oklahoma used (Bell??) up until this year.