On today’s Sports Huddle, Tracy Claeys talked about the Gophers loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes yesterday, 14-7, as well as well as pluses and minuses.
1) Sid asked about Iowa- Minnesota game:
Claeys was succinct in his response: “Offensive line didn’t play well . . . (Iowa) they got after us up front.” The play of the Gophers offensive line was a great disappointment, according to Claeys.
2) Sid asked about Penn State beating the Gophers next opponent, Maryland:
Claeys answered, “Yeah . . . we played well at Penn State.”
He then talked about Iowa’s defense giving up more than 200 yards a game against Rutgers and Northwestern and then holding the Gophers to 100 yards. The difference in the game, “(Gophers offensive line) not physical up front.”
3) Sid asked about Leidner having difficulty against the Hawkeyes defense:
“He didn’t have a lot of space . . . threw before he wanted to . . . (Iowa) dominated up front,” said Claeys.
4) Sid mentioned the Gophers last drive of the game to Iowa’s (70 yards) thirteen yard line, and then being penalized for motion:
Claeys said the motion penalties were on Mitch Leidner: “Did that a couple times . . . Leidner hurried . . . line wasn’t set . . . disappointing on Mitch’s part.”
5) Sid asked about Iowa’s defense on the last drive of the Gophers:
Claeys said Iowa made an adjustment on defense, “Wasn’t the same defense of the whole game.” (They apparently wanted to keep the ball in front of them in their prevent defense. As a result, the Gophers had some good catches in the final stretch.)
6) Watching replays on the stadium's large screen, Dave Mona noticed the Gophers were not getting any separation from Iowa’s defenders:
“They were jamming (receivers) . . . trouble getting off,” Claeys replied. He added they need to do a better job in getting separation. And, once again, he credited Iowa’s defensive line play. He said Leidner had trouble getting set, “(he had) happy feet.”
7) Sid asked about Johan Pirsig’s injury:
“(We’ll) find out at 11 o’clock,” Claeys answered – after the release of the team doctor’s assessment.
8) Dave Mona cited the impressive play of linebacker Jonathan Celestin:
“He played awfully well at Penn State (too),” Claeys replied. He then cited the play of Nick Rallis and Jack Lynn. He acknowledged the Gophers defense gave up a couple big plays in the game – once in the first half and another in the second half, which was Wadley’s 54 yard romp for Iowa’s winning touchdown.
Nevertheless, he was pleased with Gophers defense: “Overall, we played much better . . . holding a Big 10 team to 14 points, you got to win!”
9) Sid asked about Minnesota’s upcoming game with Maryland and future opponents and being able to win the games:
“We’re more than capable to win more games,” said Claeys. He added that they need to “make the tide turn,” and to work hard to make improvements.
10) Dave asked the final question. He said Iowa’s great defender, Desmond King, had only two tackles in the game:
“He had two pass breakups,” Claeys quickly replied. “He’s definitely a good player.” He also said King had a good punt return, but overall they contained King in their punt coverage. In recent weeks, King has had several long returns upon receiving punts. Claeys added that they threw a couple passes in King’s area, “had to do a lot of things,” especially when you don’t control the line of scrimmage and provide good pass protection.
Note: in an earlier segment, Dave and Sid talked at-length about miscues on offense by the Gophers. Dave said Minnesota was penalized yesterday eight times for 58 yards. The Gophers are first in the Big 10 in penalties and Ohio State is second.
On a sad note, Dave mentioned the passing of Bruce Vandersall, former Gophers football assistant – ten seasons - under Cal Stoll and Joe Salem, 1973-82. He was a linebacker coach and defensive coordinator.
Go Gophers!!
1) Sid asked about Iowa- Minnesota game:
Claeys was succinct in his response: “Offensive line didn’t play well . . . (Iowa) they got after us up front.” The play of the Gophers offensive line was a great disappointment, according to Claeys.
2) Sid asked about Penn State beating the Gophers next opponent, Maryland:
Claeys answered, “Yeah . . . we played well at Penn State.”
He then talked about Iowa’s defense giving up more than 200 yards a game against Rutgers and Northwestern and then holding the Gophers to 100 yards. The difference in the game, “(Gophers offensive line) not physical up front.”
3) Sid asked about Leidner having difficulty against the Hawkeyes defense:
“He didn’t have a lot of space . . . threw before he wanted to . . . (Iowa) dominated up front,” said Claeys.
4) Sid mentioned the Gophers last drive of the game to Iowa’s (70 yards) thirteen yard line, and then being penalized for motion:
Claeys said the motion penalties were on Mitch Leidner: “Did that a couple times . . . Leidner hurried . . . line wasn’t set . . . disappointing on Mitch’s part.”
5) Sid asked about Iowa’s defense on the last drive of the Gophers:
Claeys said Iowa made an adjustment on defense, “Wasn’t the same defense of the whole game.” (They apparently wanted to keep the ball in front of them in their prevent defense. As a result, the Gophers had some good catches in the final stretch.)
6) Watching replays on the stadium's large screen, Dave Mona noticed the Gophers were not getting any separation from Iowa’s defenders:
“They were jamming (receivers) . . . trouble getting off,” Claeys replied. He added they need to do a better job in getting separation. And, once again, he credited Iowa’s defensive line play. He said Leidner had trouble getting set, “(he had) happy feet.”
7) Sid asked about Johan Pirsig’s injury:
“(We’ll) find out at 11 o’clock,” Claeys answered – after the release of the team doctor’s assessment.
8) Dave Mona cited the impressive play of linebacker Jonathan Celestin:
“He played awfully well at Penn State (too),” Claeys replied. He then cited the play of Nick Rallis and Jack Lynn. He acknowledged the Gophers defense gave up a couple big plays in the game – once in the first half and another in the second half, which was Wadley’s 54 yard romp for Iowa’s winning touchdown.
Nevertheless, he was pleased with Gophers defense: “Overall, we played much better . . . holding a Big 10 team to 14 points, you got to win!”
9) Sid asked about Minnesota’s upcoming game with Maryland and future opponents and being able to win the games:
“We’re more than capable to win more games,” said Claeys. He added that they need to “make the tide turn,” and to work hard to make improvements.
10) Dave asked the final question. He said Iowa’s great defender, Desmond King, had only two tackles in the game:
“He had two pass breakups,” Claeys quickly replied. “He’s definitely a good player.” He also said King had a good punt return, but overall they contained King in their punt coverage. In recent weeks, King has had several long returns upon receiving punts. Claeys added that they threw a couple passes in King’s area, “had to do a lot of things,” especially when you don’t control the line of scrimmage and provide good pass protection.
Note: in an earlier segment, Dave and Sid talked at-length about miscues on offense by the Gophers. Dave said Minnesota was penalized yesterday eight times for 58 yards. The Gophers are first in the Big 10 in penalties and Ohio State is second.
On a sad note, Dave mentioned the passing of Bruce Vandersall, former Gophers football assistant – ten seasons - under Cal Stoll and Joe Salem, 1973-82. He was a linebacker coach and defensive coordinator.
Go Gophers!!
