Chip: P.J. Fleck's choice of cautious play-calls over boldness backfires again

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I also don’t get why all the criticism is for 8 in a row?
Does fleck get negative credit for the losses under the last coaches?
 

Some guy said:
Is chip a columnist now?
It’s not one article that pushes me over the top, it’s the lack of reporting.
It’s all editorial now.

I can keep buying if I disagree with the editorials. But when the guys who are usually objective become opinion writers too what am I paying for?

Im not convinced the strib has any reporters that know anything about football, so I don’t really need their opinion takes
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Chip is colunist as is LaVelle now.
 

goldengophers said:
Chip is colunist as is LaVelle now.
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Yeah. I don’t need more guys who give opinion on stuff. Their best reporters are now opinion guys and I don’t think they have very intelligent opinions

Even their high school reporters are more of “hot take” guys sometimes.
I’m out. I often carry the paper in the late summer through the winter. This year I will cancel it when football is over and likely not renew it. My money likely better spent at the athletic or not at all. If I want hot takes they are free all over the internet
 

Some guy said:
I also don’t get why all the criticism is for 8 in a row?
Does fleck get negative credit for the losses under the last coaches?
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Ok 0-5 against Iowa. Does that sound better to you? Still not good at all. I’m sure the ball will bounce our way to those lucky bastards just like it has against Wisconsin (remember all they have to do is punt and they win with Maroney’s 200 yard plus day in the dome?). I still like PJ as my coach but that was sad.
 

RememberMurray said:
Bingo.

The complainers are here to complain. Chip is paid to criticize.

The play-calling didn't lose this game. A missed FG, an interception and a fumble were the reasons the Gophers lost this game. Those are miscues in execution, and not errors in coaching or game-planning.
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You don’t know good football at all. You don’t know good coaching at all. The Gophers didn’t beat anybody this year. Year 6, guys coming back, connected team, senior laden blah blah blah. Didn’t beat a decent team all season. If only the players executed better. Burning 3 timeouts in the first quarter, happens all the time. Just poor execution by the players. Nothing to do with coaching. Shitting the bed 3 times in the red zone. Again, simply poor execution by the players. If only Mo was better we could have won.
 


No timeouts absolutely factored in to how the first half ended. In a game of limited opportunities we wasted one for the same sh!t that keeps happening since PJ got here.

PJ needs to change his best. Unfortunately, PJ’s best is the same as it was the day he arrived. This sh!t will just keep happening until he does. Rinse. Repeat.

With that said, missed FG and 2 TOs is why we lost this game. It also doesn’t help that if we don’t hand the ball off to #24 we have no idea how to move the ball.
 

Some Day...Maybe said:
You don’t know good football at all. You don’t know good coaching at all. The Gophers didn’t beat anybody this year. Year 6, guys coming back, connected team, senior laden blah blah blah. Didn’t beat a decent team all season. If only the players executed better. Burning 3 timeouts in the first quarter, happens all the time. Just poor execution by the players. Nothing to do with coaching. Shitting the bed 3 times in the red zone. Again, simply poor execution by the players. If only Mo was better we could have won.
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We are 7-0 against teams with losing records.
We are 0-4 against teams with winning records.
 

NotAFanOfBecky said:
Ok 0-5 against Iowa. Does that sound better to you? Still not good at all. I’m sure the ball will bounce our way to those lucky bastards just like it has against Wisconsin (remember all they have to do is punt and they win with Maroney’s 200 yard plus day in the dome?). I still like PJ as my coach but that was sad.
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He is 0-6 against Iowa. Yesterday was tough. Two pretty similar teams. Of course it was sad. Good to see you are a fan. There are some fans really happy we lost yesterday so they can I told you so about Fleck. When in reality yesterday was probably one of the more impressive efforts.

We are a solid but not great team. Down top wideout. Freshman QB. Against the best a top 5 defense in the country and we control the game and are 1-2 pretty makeable plays (field goal and not fumbling for another field goal)
3rd and 6 we throw a pick. (If we run and punt and lose in overtime everyone on this board insults the running on third and 6 btw)

That’s football.
Fleck’s got the program as consistently into a tier of the big ten with Iowa and Wisconsin and Michigan state.

Clearly behind Iowa. If you only look at 2018 to the present there is an argument to be made that MN is as good or better as the other two.

This is the most elevated this program has been since at least the 1970s

Wish we would’ve won yesterday. And against Purdue. And against Illinois.
7-4.
Closer to 10-1 than 6-5
Excuse me if I’m not panicked.
 

Spoofin said:
No timeouts absolutely factored in to how the first half ended. In a game of limited opportunities we wasted one for the same sh!t that keeps happening since PJ got here.

PJ needs to change his best. Unfortunately, PJ’s best is the same as it was the day he arrived. This sh!t will just keep happening until he does. Rinse. Repeat.

With that said, missed FG and 2 TOs is why we lost this game. It also doesn’t help that if we don’t hand the ball off to #24 we have no idea how to move the ball.
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Agree. If they had one they run the ball on third and 1.
That being said in a game when one play literally is the game (the pick for instance) you call timeout to get out of a bad play.

There may have been others but without knowing the only one I can for sure say was a bad timeout was the one before the punt. Should’ve taken a delay of game there (or just know to punt)

This is not me saying the other usage was good. Just that we don’t know for sure it was bad.
 




Some guy said:
Agree. If they had one they run the ball on third and 1.
That being said in a game when one play literally is the game (the pick for instance) you call timeout to get out of a bad play.

There may have been others but without knowing the only one I can for sure say was a bad timeout was the one before the punt. Should’ve taken a delay of game there (or just know to punt)

This is not me saying the other usage was good. Just that we don’t know for sure it was bad.
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No way to know for sure, but it is undeniable that PJ is a train wreck with time management and Time Outs (especially TOs in the first half). Eventually that sh!t comes back to bite you and I think we saw that yesterday (IMO).
 

Spoofin said:
No way to know for sure, but it is undeniable that PJ is a train wreck with time management and Time Outs (especially TOs in the first half). Eventually that sh!t comes back to bite you and I think we saw that yesterday (IMO).
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I actually don’t think he is much worse than the average power 5 head coach.
I’ve seen teams spike balls with 0 seconds left on a clock.

Yesterday I saw the ref wind the clock with 35 seconds on the clock (meaning Iowa could have kicked their field goal with 10 seconds left) but instead Iowa called a timeout. The biggest clock management mistake yesterday wasn’t even fleck it was that.
 

After yesterday the run % for the year is now 68.4%. That’s not balance. Believe it or not, QBs just like RBs can get in a rhythm. If you never run it, you can’t expect your RB to be super productive when you do hand it off. The same can be said about passing. Never pass it, and you shouldn’t be surprised when your QB airmails his first throw in 45 mins. Why you try to win by voluntarily tying one of your own hands behind your back is beyond me.
 



hello-world said:
Minnesota is down it's starting QB and WR1. The fact that they were still in the conference hunt is damn near a miracle. If OSU lost Stroud next week then nobody would be calling to fire Day for losing to UM.
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If by miracle you mean that all the teams in the West are average to below average, inconsistent and have depth/QB issues, such that 5-4 B1G record could win a West title, yes that's somewhat miraculous. 5-4 would be good for 4th place in the East, and at best 6th overall in conference.
 

Some guy said:
I actually don’t think he is much worse than the average power 5 head coach.
I’ve seen teams spike balls with 0 seconds left on a clock.

Yesterday I saw the ref wind the clock with 35 seconds on the clock (meaning Iowa could have kicked their field goal with 10 seconds left) but instead Iowa called a timeout. The biggest clock management mistake yesterday wasn’t even fleck it was that.
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I don’t get that Iowa timeout at all. There was something the coaches didn’t like, they were on the field yelling and Ferentz even spiked his headphones to the ground. Something was amiss and I don’t think it was bad clock management.
 

Spoofin said:
I don’t get that Iowa timeout at all. There was something the coaches didn’t like, they were on the field yelling and Ferentz even spiked his headphones to the ground. Something was amiss and I don’t think it was bad clock management.
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It literally was bad clock management regardless of what they were yelling about.
When you have a chance to kick the game winning field goal with 6 seconds instead of 31 And you choose 31 that’s horrible clock management

Go back and watch the head official wind the clock. (You know he wound it because they had to put a second back on the clock)

Play before was stopped in bounds. They reviewed it for a fumble. No fumble play stands. Meaning clock starts on ready for play because the previous play didn’t stop the clock.
31 seconds left. 25 second play clock
 

hello-world said:
I mean, no? Tressel ball is the reason that Fleck wins almost every game he manages to get a lead in. It's not always fun to watch but the results speak for themselves. He's winning more often than any Gopher coach since the '60s.

Even today, the Gophers lost because they didn't follow the philosophy. Mo tried to reach for the first rather than protecting the ball, gave up the first turnover of the day, and the wheels came off from there. If anything, Iowa out-Tresseled the Gophers today.
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"...winning more than any Gopher coach since the 60s." What happened in the 60s that dropped the Gophers from a Big10 contender to a lower half team?
 

Some guy said:
I also don’t get why all the criticism is for 8 in a row?
Does fleck get negative credit for the losses under the last coaches?
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I believe PJ is the only Gopher coach ever to be 0-6 versus Iowa. He believes in achieving "firsts", after all.
 

Panthadad2 said:
I believe PJ is the only Gopher coach ever to be 0-6 versus Iowa. He believes in achieving "firsts", after all.
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He might be I don’t know. You can feel free and want to fire him. And I will feel free to think you’re dumb.
 

The timeouts at the end of the half should not have been a factor at all. You’re on the opponents 35 yards line with over four minutes left, clock stops on first down, if you aren’t going to pass it then you need to realize that you have to pick up the pace. Still no reason for Trickett to miss from a range he’s hit all season.
 

Some guy said:
It literally was bad clock management regardless of what they were yelling about.
When you have a chance to kick the game winning field goal with 6 seconds instead of 31 And you choose 31 that’s horrible clock management

Go back and watch the head official wind the clock. (You know he wound it because they had to put a second back on the clock)
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I get that, I was there even with the kicker and saw it all. My point is there was something not right with their alignment and the coaches made the decision to call timeout to make sure it got corrected before the ball was snapped. I also get they snapped the ball (after the timeout) and that would have left too much time in the clock - but the coaches felt they had no option other than stopping the play. They weren’t happy about having to do it either.
 

FanSinceTheFifties said:
"...winning more than any Gopher coach since the 60s." What happened in the 60s that dropped the Gophers from a Big10 contender to a lower half team?
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We were no longer one of the only teams integrating us literally what happened.
 

Some guy said:
He might be I don’t know. You can feel free and want to fire him. And I will feel free to think you’re dumb.
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I didn't say anything about firing. Just making a point. I do think the "bloom is off the rose" totally for PJ as of last night. I know it was for me as I've been a huge Fleck fan to this point, warts and all. I wouldn't be surprised if last nights game was the beginning of the end of the Fleck era. Once a coach loses the fan base, it's all over.
 

Panthadad2 said:
I didn't say anything about firing. Just making a point. I do think the "bloom is off the rose" totally for PJ as of last night. I know it was for me as I've been a huge Fleck fan to this point, warts and all. I wouldn't be surprised if last nights game was the beginning of the end of the Fleck era. Once a coach loses the fan base, it's all over.
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Nice job saying absolutely nothing here

You don’t want to fire him but he’s lost you and it’s the beginning of the end. Okay got it.
 


Burns just noted with JG that under PJ's regime that I-O-W-A has scored 50+ points to our 10 or so in the 1st Quarter.

If Ferentz et. al. has anything on us, it is reflected in this stat. Since half the games are at Kinnick, some of this is understandable. But not much...
 

BilldGopher said:
Burns just noted with JG that under PJ's regime that I-O-W-A has scored 50+ points to our 10 or so in the 1st Quarter.

If Ferentz et. al. has anything on us, it is reflected in this stat. Since half the games are at Kinnick, some of this is understandable. But not much...
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Yup. My key to the game was tying the first quarter. That’s 3 times in 4 years that Minnesota has out played them for 75% of the game but lost by digging a hole against a great defensive team.
 

FanSinceTheFifties said:
I often hear that explanation. Never bought it.
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Murray warmath had two big ten titles and a national title before the first black player played in the SEC

Murray warmath was 17-22-2 when more schools were recruiting the south. (Post the first black player playing in the SEC)
Then he retired.

The history of the gopher program isn’t all about being one of the first to integrate. The 60s resurgence certainly was.
 

Panthadad2 said:
I didn't say anything about firing. Just making a point. I do think the "bloom is off the rose" totally for PJ as of last night. I know it was for me as I've been a huge Fleck fan to this point, warts and all. I wouldn't be surprised if last nights game was the beginning of the end of the Fleck era. Once a coach loses the fan base, it's all over.
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Haha, he’s lost the fan base!! He’s lost a few of you maybe who have crawled out of the woodwork but I’m pretty sure most of us are still here, and I’m pretty sure we outnumber you and yours.
 

btowngopher said:
The timeouts at the end of the half should not have been a factor at all. You’re on the opponents 35 yards line with over four minutes left, clock stops on first down, if you aren’t going to pass it then you need to realize that you have to pick up the pace. Still no reason for Trickett to miss from a range he’s hit all season.
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It is a factor because we ended up being rushed when we hit a minute remaining on the clock. Regardless, it's a glaring problem with Fleck and time management.

Basically....what I am seeing is that Fleck is MOST concerned with making sure that Iowa doesn't get the ball back with a chance to score. Wants to run as much time off the clock....even if it limits the Gophers chance to get a touchdown. It's a BAD philosophy. ESPECIALLY in a game like this one where the defenses were dominating (mostly) and points were at a premium. Four minutes is a lifetime and the Gophers could have easily run from the 36 to the goal line without stopping the clock at all if PJ wasn't insistent on running 30+ seconds off the clock between every play.

It's inexcusable. Playing to keep a game close has lost us games where it is entirely possible that we could play from ahead if we weren't so conservative.
 

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