Defensive achievement

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cduff

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For only the 3rd time since 1978, the Gophers did not allow a 40-point game by their opponents (1999, 2009 were the others). Obviously this could change in the bowl game but I figured this deserved some recognition!
 

That is certainly an interesting stat although I am pretty sure Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Michigan all could have crossed the 40 point threshold fairly easily if they had felt the least bit threatened by our offense.

That 1999 team was legit. 3 Big Ten losses by a grand total of 10 points. If only they could have figured out how to win that Wisconsin game that team could have ended up in the Rose Bowl as opposed to El Paso. Definitely the closest we have come to the promised land in a long long time.
 

MNVCGUY said:
That is certainly an interesting stat although I am pretty sure Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Michigan all could have crossed the 40 point threshold fairly easily if they had felt the least bit threatened by our offense.

That 1999 team was legit. 3 Big Ten losses by a grand total of 10 points. If only they could have figured out how to win that Wisconsin game that team could have ended up in the Rose Bowl as opposed to El Paso. Definitely the closest we have come to the promised land in a long long time.
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Very true man. Well said.
 

MNVCGUY said:
That is certainly an interesting stat although I am pretty sure Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Michigan all could have crossed the 40 point threshold fairly easily if they had felt the least bit threatened by our offense.
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The lack of offense only made the defensive performance more impressive. A good offense can make a defense look better than it really is, a bad offense can make the defense look worse than it is. If the offense was good, the defense would have less opportunities to be scored upon.
 

MNVCGUY said:
That is certainly an interesting stat although I am pretty sure Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Michigan all could have crossed the 40 point threshold fairly easily if they had felt the least bit threatened by our offense.

That 1999 team was legit. 3 Big Ten losses by a grand total of 10 points. If only they could have figured out how to win that Wisconsin game that team could have ended up in the Rose Bowl as opposed to El Paso. Definitely the closest we have come to the promised land in a long long time.
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Our offense usually is more of a threat over history, but the main reason I think we didn't give up 40 is cause our pass defense was quite stout for the most part. We'd get gashed in the run game, but typically, a bruising run attack isn't gonna put up as many points as an aerial assault, like we usually see around here. I do wish the offense could have held up a little better, that would have only helped the defense I'm pretty sure.

And yeah, that '99 team's defense was the truth.
 


MNVCGUY said:
That is certainly an interesting stat although I am pretty sure Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Michigan all could have crossed the 40 point threshold fairly easily if they had felt the least bit threatened by our offense.

That 1999 team was legit. 3 Big Ten losses by a grand total of 10 points. If only they could have figured out how to win that Wisconsin game that team could have ended up in the Rose Bowl as opposed to El Paso. Definitely the closest we have come to the promised land in a long long time.
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I wouldn't add Michigan to that group. Michigan scored in garbage time and was a pretty good game despite our lack of offense. I thought our defense played pretty good vs. Michigan.
 

MNfootballfan said:
I wouldn't add Michigan to that group. Michigan scored in garbage time and was a pretty good game despite our lack of offense. I thought our defense played pretty good vs. Michigan.
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Honestly, Wisconsin was similar. It was a 24-13 game in the 4th quarter when Ball produced that gut punching 3rd down run, and they scored two more times after that. Nebraska's really the only game that could have turned into that IMO.
 

RodentRampage said:
The lack of offense only made the defensive performance more impressive. A good offense can make a defense look better than it really is, a bad offense can make the defense look worse than it is. If the offense was good, the defense would have less opportunities to be scored upon.
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To everyone I agree that the defense played better this year overall and frankly was one of the few bright spots in a lot of games. My only point was in terms of scoring 40 points if Wisconsin and Nebraska (will remove Michigan) had chosen to keep the pedal to the metal all game I think they easily would have eclipsed the 40 point threshold. In 1999 however there were no losses where the opponent took their foot off the gas
 

I looked over some stats. This was the least points the defense has given up since 2004. This was the biggest improvement in points given up per game since 1985. In Holtz's second season, the defense gave up 8.72 points less it did in his first season. The 2012 Gophers gave up 7.75 points per game then they did in 2011.
 



RodentRampage said:
The lack of offense only made the defensive performance more impressive. A good offense can make a defense look better than it really is, a bad offense can make the defense look worse than it is. If the offense was good, the defense would have less opportunities to be scored upon.
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Well said. The defense took a big step forward this year, and would have been more impressive if the offensive was able to sustain some drives and put more points on the board. There were several games where they got worn out in the second half and the run defense suffered.
 

One thing that certainly can be pointed to as progess is that the defense gave up 93 less points this year than last. Including roughly a TD a game less in conference.
 


everybody knows my name said:
Someone tell me whether the defense will be as good or better next year.
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Stoudermire, Carter, Wilhite, Rallis, Cooper are all gone for sure. Hageman is an unknown but should be back, Beal is probably done after his latest injury. I think the DL will be ok, there are bodies in the secondary though not sure who locks down the corners, should be fine at Safety. LB is a massive, massive concern as the play was terrible this year and most of the best players in that bad group are leaving. Have not seen much of anything out of young guys at that position to give me hope there are great players waiting in the wings.

Don't see any obvious fixes for our crappy run defense this year and IF Hageman would decide to go pro we would have a major hole in the middle of the DL.
 




cduff said:
For only the 3rd time since 1978, the Gophers did not allow a 40-point game by their opponents (1999, 2009 were the others). Obviously this could change in the bowl game but I figured this deserved some recognition!
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Ugh. That is *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#ing bleak.
 

everybody knows my name said:
Someone tell me whether the defense will be as good or better next year.
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Losing Carter and Stoudemire hurts. I don't think there is any way we have a 3 man CB rotation next year of Baltazar, Shabazz, and Murray, so look for Vereen, Thompson, or Wells to move positions to provide some depth at that spot. LB is still a concern, but Hill and Manuel played a lot this year, and Edwards also got some time. Anyone beyond these 3 is a wildcard, so it would be nice to see Matilus, Westerhaus, or someone else emerge. I keep wondering if Maxx Williams or Duke may end up at LB, it just doesn't seem like we need both of them at TE. D-line should improve substantially if Hageman returns. Overall, I think the defense will be about the same, probably better against the run, but not quite as good against the pass.
 

John Galt said:
Losing Carter and Stoudemire hurts. I don't think there is any way we have a 3 man CB rotation next year of Baltazar, Shabazz, and Murray, so look for Vereen, Thompson, or Wells to move positions to provide some depth at that spot. LB is still a concern, but Hill and Manuel played a lot this year, and Edwards also got some time. Anyone beyond these 3 is a wildcard, so it would be nice to see Matilus, Westerhaus, or someone else emerge. I keep wondering if Maxx Williams or Duke may end up at LB, it just doesn't seem like we need both of them at TE. D-line should improve substantially if Hageman returns. Overall, I think the defense will be about the same, probably better against the run, but not quite as good against the pass.
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The key is Hageman, if he comes bak (which he should) that will really help the defense next year. If he decides to make the leap the middle of the defense does not look promising at the DL and LB levels. Overall from a depth standpoint the starters should all have some decent experience but the backups for the most part will be totally unknown comodities so if start to struggle with injuries it could get ugly quick unless the young guys are good enough to step in and get the job done.
 

cduff said:
For only the 3rd time since 1978, the Gophers did not allow a 40-point game by their opponents (1999, 2009 were the others). Obviously this could change in the bowl game but I figured this deserved some recognition!
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Good point. Those of us with long memories recall the 58-7 style pastings the Gophers regularly took from Nebraska, Ohio State, Michigan, etc. - they were routine. The Gophers were in a lot of the lost games this year - had we had a wee bit more offense.
 

RodentRampage said:
The lack of offense only made the defensive performance more impressive. A good offense can make a defense look better than it really is, a bad offense can make the defense look worse than it is. If the offense was good, the defense would have less opportunities to be scored upon.
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Bad offenses can also make a defense look better than it really is as well. The gophers played against worse ranked offenses this year than last year which also helped. Based on the FBS schools they played last year the average offensive ranking was 53rd in the country, this year the average was 72nd. Below are the NCAA rankings for total offense for this years opponents at the FBS level.

UNLV 93rd
Syracuse 22nd
W. Michigan 38th
Iowa 114th
NW 65th
Wisc. 84th
Purdue 62nd
Michigan 80th
Illinois 118th
Nebraska 26th
Mich. State 90th
 

GopherGod said:
Bad offenses can also make a defense look better than it really is as well. The gophers played against worse ranked offenses this year than last year which also helped. Based on the FBS schools they played last year the average offensive ranking was 53rd in the country, this year the average was 72nd. Below are the NCAA rankings for total offense for this years opponents at the FBS level.

UNLV 93rd
Syracuse 22nd
W. Michigan 38th
Iowa 114th
NW 65th
Wisc. 84th
Purdue 62nd
Michigan 80th
Illinois 118th
Nebraska 26th
Mich. State 90th
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Interesting that our defense's best game was against their "toughest" opponent.
 

MNfootballfan said:
Interesting that our defense's best game was against their "toughest" opponent.
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Syracuse was just one of those games where everything broke right for the defense and they played an amazing game. The defense was solid all season but in the conference games they were not as good as they were in the non-conf for obvious reasons. I think we are only #7 in the BIG in total def and like #9 in scoring DEF.
 


The pass defense was much better in 2012 because the defensive line actually generated a pass rush this season by rushing the QB on every down and gophers played with 4 corners in the secondary.

The run defense was horrible in big ten play because the defensive line pass rushed every down leaving the poor linebackers to get killed and....we played with 4 cb's in the secondary.

Next year? The best parts of this defense graduated, I would hate to see them expose new linebackers to o-lineman running down hill (for the love of god don't allow o-line a free release) and I guarantee next year even the passing teams will make the gophers prove they can stop the run.
 

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