Elephant in the room.

[GophersInIowa]

The beauty of this thread is that I have complete confidence that this staff will make the right decision if put in that spot. They have a plan and I'm willing to bet this issue has been discussed long before Gray went down.

Best post I've read in a long time.

 

[highwayman]

The beauty of this thread is that I have complete confidence that this staff will make the right decision if put in that spot. They have a plan and I'm willing to bet this issue has been discussed long before Gray went down.

++++++ Couldn't agree more.

This staff is about as prepared as you can find.

 

[RoyalGopher]

I think the staff has already had the discussion and it will be Nelson.

I'd imagine that they played out this scenario amongst eachother when they set up the travel roster for the UNLV game. It certainly was possible that Shortell and Gray could have been injured in that game, and since Nelson was in Vegas and Leidner in the dorms, it would have been Nelson.

I don't think Nelson went to Vegas to merely take in the sights.

This could obviously all change and if these injuries happen later in the year, I wouldn't be surprised to see the staff make a change to their plan. However, it seems pretty clear that the staff decided it would be Nelson who would play under this circumstance.

Agreed. If Nelson is the difference between winning and losing a game, then I really don't have a problem with burning Nelson's redshirt. Especially when one win or loss in a season like this could determine if we go to a bowl game or not.

 

[MinneStoa]

I don't think Nelson went to Vegas to merely take in the sights.

There would have been a miniscule chance of both Gray and Shortell getting hurt in the UNLV game. With that in mind, they may have brought Nelson with so he can get a sense of what traveling with a college team is like. They may be trying to breed him to become an "experienced" QB without having actually taken a snap at the college level. If, in some horribly tragic event, Gray and Shortell had gotten hurt, then they would have burned his redshirt and taken the hit; but the chances would have been effectively nil.

I have nothing to base this on, but it seems like a definite possibility.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

There would have been a miniscule chance of both Gray and Shortell getting hurt in the UNLV game. With that in mind, they may have brought Nelson with so he can get a sense of what traveling with a college team is like. They may be trying to breed him to become an "experienced" QB without having actually taken a snap at the college level. If, in some horribly tragic event, Gray and Shortell had gotten hurt, then they would have burned his redshirt and taken the hit; but the chances would have been effectively nil.

I have nothing to base this on, but it seems like a definite possibility.

I think you're underestimating the liklihood of injury. We were one turned ankle or one helmet coming off accidently from playing our third string QB this past Saturday.

While the staff might have seen some bonus experience in Nelson traveling to Vegas, I don't think they would have gambled that experience on wasting a kid's redshirt who they don't want to RS.

I want Nelson to RS as much as anyone. However, you have to think our staff has had these conversations. They probably came up with a plan at the end of the training camp (or maybe it's a week to week thing), and part of that discussion will almost for sure be "who will be our QB if Shortell goes down?".

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

4 years from now someone as good or better than Nelson will be ready to step in. This is college football.

This is what I've been saying.

WAY too much freaking out about burning redshirts of true freshmen QB's. If we don't have a capable QB within the program to take the reigns when they start the 2016 season, they're in a lot of trouble.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

It's very simple, KillCo will play the QB they think gives us the best chance to win RIGHT NOW, regardless of RS status & most likely that'd be Nelson. We've got 3 wins already & have legitimate bowl aspirations, this talk of playing for the future makes no sense, imo.

 

[diehard]

I think you're underestimating the liklihood of injury. We were one turned ankle or one helmet coming off accidently from playing our third string QB this past Saturday.

While the staff might have seen some bonus experience in Nelson traveling to Vegas, I don't think they would have gambled that experience on wasting a kid's redshirt who they don't want to RS.

I want Nelson to RS as much as anyone. However, you have to think our staff has had these conversations. They probably came up with a plan at the end of the training camp (or maybe it's a week to week thing), and part of that discussion will almost for sure be "who will be our QB if Shortell goes down?".

No doubt the the depth chart is updated daily and it is based on winning the current/next game.

 

[50PoundHead]

Elephant in the room? I'll have you know Limegrover has lost over 100 pounds and he's down to Rhino size.

 

[jags1998]

It's very simple, KillCo will play the QB they think gives us the best chance to win RIGHT NOW, regardless of RS status & most likely that'd be Nelson. We've got 3 wins already & have legitimate bowl aspirations, this talk of playing for the future makes no sense, imo.

Bingo. Can you imagine being a player on this team, losing Shortell, and then basically having your coach say "to heck with this season" so that he could play an inferior player in order to save a redshirt? Not a good formula for team morale. If we are down 35-3 with 6 minutes left and Shortell gets hurt, then it's different. But I can't imagine how Kill could face his team knowing he had a chance to win but was playing for four years down the road. Would be a tough spot to put Nelson in, too.

Some have written about a media and fan backlash ... if this is Michigan or Notre Dame or Alabama, I get it. Here, I think it's pretty easy for Kill to say "this too shall pass."