Eye on the prize

Ogee Ogilthorpe

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What's that saying, "It's a marathon, not a sprint"?

If Kill and Co's primary goal last night was to blow out an inferior opponent and look good on national TV, the game would have looked a LOT different than it did. This is a staff that is preparing for the long haul, in every sense.

> Don't show too much of the playbook
> Play a ton of guys, especially on defense
> Don't put your young QB in positions to make big mistakes and lose confidence
> Get out of the game with a win, and relatively injury-free

It's interesting, the Gophers accomplished MOST of the goals many of us threw out there leading up to the game: eliminate pre-snap penalties, win, win comfortably, win the Turnover battle, no stupid penalties, etc.

Nelson was under 50% passing. That's a big negative, no doubt about it. That's going to have to improve. I would REALLY have liked to see what the Gophers would have done in the second half with the three offensive possessions/series they LOST because of the big plays on D/ST. Having the ball for all of about 4 minutes of the 3rd quarter cost them a chance to develop some nice rhythm on offense. That was a LONG time to sit on the bench and watch the defense play.

A TON of guys got their first taste of live action on the defensive side of the ball. I spent most of the game cursing that they were playing so many of the 2-deeps on defense but will probably spend a lot of the B1G season praising that they got that experience. In particular, I thought D. Campbell had a few moments that will have him wanting to hide under the desk when they look at film the next couple days.

Lastly, if you didn't like the play-calling last night, I have a feeling you're REALLY going to hate it the next couple of weeks against NMSU and Western Illinois. I'd be surprised if it's not a LOT more of the same.
 

What's that saying, "It's a marathon, not a sprint"?

If Kill and Co's primary goal last night was to blow out an inferior opponent and look good on national TV, the game would have looked a LOT different than it did. This is a staff that is preparing for the long haul, in every sense.

> Don't show too much of the playbook
> Play a ton of guys, especially on defense
> Don't put your young QB in positions to make big mistakes and lose confidence
> Get out of the game with a win, and relatively injury-free

It's interesting, the Gophers accomplished MOST of the goals many of us threw out there leading up to the game: eliminate pre-snap penalties, win, win comfortably, win the Turnover battle, no stupid penalties, etc.

Nelson was under 50% passing. That's a big negative, no doubt about it. That's going to have to improve. I would REALLY have liked to see what the Gophers would have done in the second half with the three offensive possessions/series they LOST because of the big plays on D/ST. Having the ball for all of about 4 minutes of the 3rd quarter cost them a chance to develop some nice rhythm on offense. That was a LONG time to sit on the bench and watch the defense play.

A TON of guys got their first taste of live action on the defensive side of the ball. I spent most of the game cursing that they were playing so many of the 2-deeps on defense but will probably spend a lot of the B1G season praising that they got that experience. In particular, I thought D. Campbell had a few moments that will have him wanting to hide under the desk when they look at film the next couple days.

Lastly, if you didn't like the play-calling last night, I have a feeling you're REALLY going to hate it the next couple of weeks against NMSU and Western Illinois. I'd be surprised if it's not a LOT more of the same.

Very True!
 




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