Concerns after Illinois Game

[Unregistered User]

I think our defensive line's youth is catching up with us.

I am loathe to agree with anything your write, especially on game day, but this is on the nuts.

How often did you look at the D line and see Richardson (FR), Stelter (FR), Elmore (FR), Ekpe (SO), Ndondo-Lay (RS JR, new to program)?

This is what often happens to such a young line at this point in a season.

I'm more concerned with a much more mature offensive line missing assignments, and looking underwhelming for much of today's game.

 

[scher215]

Maybe it's just me, but when we had 1st and 10 at the 30 to score and win. I wish we would have ran the ball once or twice. We had some time left and 2 time outs. Instead we aired it to the end zone 4 straight times putting the game in the hands of our shaky QB.

But. Back at it against Iowa. Have to play well the rest of the way and come out with some upsets.

 

[scher215]

Duuuuuuddddee, I agree Jones and Woli continue to drop passes that hit them in the hands or chest but we continually play them. At some point another receiver on the squad has to be used. I doubt anyone else on the squad are worse. That being said there were far more passes to wide open receivers that were just horrid throws. I mean at this level of play you have to be able to make those throws.

It seems like Mitch just throws to his first read and hopes he is open. At times it works, others it results in an INT or a sack.

 

[Iceland12]

Throw out the...

..Passes where the receivers were open and Mitch made lousy throws, and he completes over 60% of his passes. They then win the game, maybe going away. Same thing for the 1st Half last week against Purdue. Take away the 3rd Quarter today, and his game today and the final score, would have looked brutal.

Apologists aside, that's been the most worrisome thing for awhile now. Today's loss was so close, that the Cobb fumble and the Santosoa miss probably cost them the game against a very bad Illinois team. A team that hadn't held a 14 point lead in a Big Ten game since 2011.

A number of times Mitch has put together a solid half. Maybe a couple of times a good 3 Quarters. Let's just hope that he can put together a full game next time against Iowa and maybe even all the next five teams.

There are none as bad as Purdue or Illinois in that stretch.

 

[MaxyJR1]

It seems like Mitch just throws to his first read and hopes he is open. At times it works, others it results in an INT or a sack.

Sometimes it's the only read. Max protect and chuck the ball.

 

[GophersInIowa]

It seems like Mitch just throws to his first read and hopes he is open. At times it works, others it results in an INT or a sack.

A perfect example was the interception he threw early in the 2nd half. He was dead set on throwing it to Goodger.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

It seems like Mitch just throws to his first read and hopes he is open. At times it works, others it results in an INT or a sack.

I think he's a little better than that. You don't see him tuck and run as fast as you used to. It legitimately looks like he's trying to make reads, but he is often too slow to make them. I think he's trying to do the right things, but he's just not there and sometimes will lock in on one guy. Lots of work to do on his consistency and decision making speed.

 

[McGopherFan]

Several fields of mathematics prove this to be true. Once ya get to 7 it is difficult to go back.

Concerns? 6-6 seems a lot more likely than it did before the game. I'm not even trolling...that's how deflating this loss feels.

 

[MaxyJR1]

My concern is having the best teams on the schedule left to play with three true freshmen on the DL and teams showing success against our D.

 

[jaymil]

Maybe it's just me, but when we had 1st and 10 at the 30 to score and win. I wish we would have ran the ball once or twice. We had some time left and 2 time outs. Instead we aired it to the end zone 4 straight times putting the game in the hands of our shaky QB.

But. Back at it against Iowa. Have to play well the rest of the way and come out with some upsets.

Agreed. It wasn't necessary to take 4 shots there. We had time to methodically drive towards the end zone. Throwing windows become tighter down there and it's not playing to our offense's strength.

 

[mkAz]

Throw out the bad drops, eg the sun in the face drop, the hail mary, and Mitch had another 50% or so game. Not a great game by any means. He has to work on getting the ball out. But, this brings me to the following:

The offensive line was atrocious in all phases the first half. Some of the guys were getting beat like rented mules, leading to blown up plays, hurried throws, etc. Cobb had nowhere to go.

To me, that's more worrisome than Mitch. We need to be able to control the line of scrimmage and we didn't. Two weeks to get healthy (and figure things out offensively) for Iowa.

I have a hard time placing too much blame on the OL, Illiniois stacked the box to stop Cobb, they blitzed a lot too, they basically forced Leidner to beat them and he couldn't. Leidner didn't help matters much either by holding onto the ball so long.

 

[killme]

Claeys likes to see what the offense is doing the first few drives and then reacts. This needs to stop. How about preparing your team for all possible scenarios and stopping teams early? It's great that he can adjust, but man, being down early is not something our offense handles well.

Seriously? I don't think NCAA rules allow for that much practice time. Illinois had 2 weeks to prepare for us. We had chances to make plays and didn't tackle well. We're all frustrated, and we aren't where we want to be, yet, but it's coming along. Tough loss, but if we were going lose one of the last five, I'd take this one.

 

[Nax91]

Gotta say it doesn't get much worse than losing to the bottom team in the Big Ten. As cliche as it has become to despair after a loss, I think this one is appropriate. Can't force myself to be optimistic at all right now.

 

[Replacement Gopher]

What exactly was the number of WIDE OPEN RECEIVERS ML7 missed? I know it was a lot and it was by a lot.

Boo yah!

Not looking for Peyton mAnning, but you gotta put it close to your WR. And when he does finally get it to ya, ya gotta catch it.

Wish we wouldn't have went with four straight deep passes at the end.

 

[Replacement Gopher]

Maybe it's just me, but when we had 1st and 10 at the 30 to score and win. I wish we would have ran the ball once or twice. We had some time left and 2 time outs. Instead we aired it to the end zone 4 straight times putting the game in the hands of our shaky QB.

But. Back at it against Iowa. Have to play well the rest of the way and come out with some upsets.

It's not just you. Can't believe we threw deep there on second and third.

 

[FlaGopher23]

Yeah that is a MIND BOGGLING decision by the coaches. Their ultra never ending conservatism goes completely out the window on the last drive to win the game. That's is called cr**ping the bed coaching wise.

Boo yah!

Not looking for Peyton mAnning, but you gotta put it close to your WR. And when he does finally get it to ya, ya gotta catch it.

Wish we wouldn't have went with four straight deep passes at the end.

 

[GophersInIowa]

I have a hard time placing too much blame on the OL, Illiniois stacked the box to stop Cobb, they blitzed a lot too, they basically forced Leidner to beat them and he couldn't. Leidner didn't help matters much either by holding onto the ball so long.

Every team we face stacks the box against us. But you're right about him holding the ball too long. There was one in the 3rd or 4th quarter where he had all day to throw yet still took a sack. That should have been an easy throw away.

Something I don't think a lot of people are talking about is Leidner's injury. A big part of this offense is supposed to be running the ball with the QB. Because he isn't 100% and we are so young behind him on the depth chart, Leidner isn't running the ball much.

 

[cncmin]

Every team we face stacks the box against us. But you're right about him holding the ball too long. There was one in the 3rd or 4th quarter where he had all day to throw yet still took a sack. That should have been an easy throw away.

Something I don't think a lot of people are talking about is Leidner's injury. A big part of this offense is supposed to be running the ball with the QB. Because he isn't 100% and we are so young behind him on the depth chart, Leidner isn't running the ball much.

This is a tangent to your post above...

His injury prevents him from running much (or well). OK. (I agree) It may also play a part in his inaccuracy (though has nothing to do with bad decision-making or staring down primary receivers). Here's where you put in his replacement a couple of drives a game and see if the read-option can work with a running QB (Steveler), particularly against a bad rushing defense.

The Gophers didn't move the ball under Leidner for about 2 1/2 quarters yesterday. At what point do you try something else just to try something else? If that fails, too, then go back to ML7. Sticking with failure isn't usually a recipe to success.

 

[Sparlimb]

This is a tangent to your post above...

His injury prevents him from running much (or well). OK. (I agree) It may also play a part in his inaccuracy (though has nothing to do with bad decision-making or staring down primary receivers). Here's where you put in his replacement a couple of drives a game and see if the read-option can work with a running QB (Steveler), particularly against a bad rushing defense.

The Gophers didn't move the ball under Leidner for about 2 1/2 quarters yesterday. At what point do you try something else just to try something else? If that fails, too, then go back to ML7. Sticking with failure isn't usually a recipe to success.

I think if our backup was a Junior or Senior, he would have seen the field since Leidner as awful. But we have no depth at that position (on coaches), so that wasn't really an option. The only way you'll see Streveler or any other QB this year is if ML is too hurt to play. And while he is "less than expected" so are a lot of other pieces of our team. Our defense has been exposed 2 weeks in a row and our offensive line hasn't been good all year. And we still have yet to play the 4 good teams on our Big Ten Schedule.