On today’s Sports Huddle Tracy Claeys discussed yesterday’s disappointing overtime loss to Penn State, 29-26. His remarks were terse.
1) Sid opined the Gophers were disappointing:
Claeys quickly responded, “I think it was a great game . . . more kids played well!” However, he did acknowledge that PSU got back in the third quarter, outscoring the Gophers 17-0 . . . “didn’t get it done.”
2) Sid asked about PSU’s quarterback and not being able to stop him:
Claeys said the Gophers gave up some great plays and as a result the game had a shift of momentum in the third quarter; when “momentum shifts, it’s hard to get it back.” Nevertheless, he credited the Gophers for rallying in the fourth quarter and playing hard in the game.
3) Sid mentioned the crucial interception by PSU:
“He (Leidner) under threw the ball a little bit . . . (Gophers) didn’t play well in the red zone . . . We’ve got to play better on the road,” Claeys replied. He mentioned the holding penalty inside the ten, which led to a field goal instead of a possible touchdown – points left on the field.
4) Sid was critical of the Gopher defense – in an earlier segment – (and) in his question to Claeys:
In a brief a response, Claeys said, “Go back to work . . . work on basics and fundamentals.”
5) Sid asked about the Gophers upcoming opponent - Iowa:
Claeys told Sid he hasn’t focused on the Hawkeyes yet. He then said they’ll go through the film of yesterday’s loss and then start preparing for Iowa. He, once again, talked about the importance of getting back to fundamentals – “go back to basics.“
6) Dave Mona cited the positive play of freshman defensive back Antoine Winflield Jr.:
Claeys replied, “He’s playing awfully well . . . working him more and more; getting comfortable.” Winfield suffered an injury in fall camp, which set Antoine back; however since that time, with his recovery, he’s been getting more reps in practice and in the games.
7) Dave asked about Cody Poock’s status after he left the field in the first quarter and not returning against PSU:
“Yeah, he got injured . . . (will) meet with the doctors at 11:30,” Claeys said. He didn’t elaborate as to the nature of the injury or its severity.
8) Sid asked what freshmen played in yesterday’s game:
“Same ones we’ve been playing,” Claeys answered. Claeys then said they’ll try to keep from playing other freshmen and have them redshirt.
9) Dave Mona asked for an update on the playing status of Brandon Lingen:
“He’s within the two-week window,” Claeys replied. Brandon will start running this week to get back in shape and prepare for practices in the near future.
10) Dave Mona followed-up by asking about the playing status of freshman line backer Carter Coughlin:
“He’s ahead of Brandon . . . he didn’t practice last week,” Claeys said. He added they’ll know more about his practice status and his recovery schedule on Tuesday.
11) Dave Mona opined the Gopher running backs had positive outputs in yesterday’s game:
“Our running backs continue to run well,” Claeys replied. He then said he wished Rodney Smith would have dropped to the ground instead of losing more ground when he was hit in the backfield when the Gophers were in the red zone.
12) Dave Mona asked the final question, which was related to line backer Jaylen Waters’ hit on the PSU kicker on a kickoff that led to his ejection from the game:
“It was a late hit . . . we’ll address it,” said Claeys.
Although one could hear disappointment in some of Claeys responses, he also sounded positive at times. IMO, I found his answers to the problems that they had in yesterday’s game are correctable. On more than one occasion he stressed the importance of getting back to basics and stressing the importance of fundamentals.
Go Gophers!!
1) Sid opined the Gophers were disappointing:
Claeys quickly responded, “I think it was a great game . . . more kids played well!” However, he did acknowledge that PSU got back in the third quarter, outscoring the Gophers 17-0 . . . “didn’t get it done.”
2) Sid asked about PSU’s quarterback and not being able to stop him:
Claeys said the Gophers gave up some great plays and as a result the game had a shift of momentum in the third quarter; when “momentum shifts, it’s hard to get it back.” Nevertheless, he credited the Gophers for rallying in the fourth quarter and playing hard in the game.
3) Sid mentioned the crucial interception by PSU:
“He (Leidner) under threw the ball a little bit . . . (Gophers) didn’t play well in the red zone . . . We’ve got to play better on the road,” Claeys replied. He mentioned the holding penalty inside the ten, which led to a field goal instead of a possible touchdown – points left on the field.
4) Sid was critical of the Gopher defense – in an earlier segment – (and) in his question to Claeys:
In a brief a response, Claeys said, “Go back to work . . . work on basics and fundamentals.”
5) Sid asked about the Gophers upcoming opponent - Iowa:
Claeys told Sid he hasn’t focused on the Hawkeyes yet. He then said they’ll go through the film of yesterday’s loss and then start preparing for Iowa. He, once again, talked about the importance of getting back to fundamentals – “go back to basics.“
6) Dave Mona cited the positive play of freshman defensive back Antoine Winflield Jr.:
Claeys replied, “He’s playing awfully well . . . working him more and more; getting comfortable.” Winfield suffered an injury in fall camp, which set Antoine back; however since that time, with his recovery, he’s been getting more reps in practice and in the games.
7) Dave asked about Cody Poock’s status after he left the field in the first quarter and not returning against PSU:
“Yeah, he got injured . . . (will) meet with the doctors at 11:30,” Claeys said. He didn’t elaborate as to the nature of the injury or its severity.
8) Sid asked what freshmen played in yesterday’s game:
“Same ones we’ve been playing,” Claeys answered. Claeys then said they’ll try to keep from playing other freshmen and have them redshirt.
9) Dave Mona asked for an update on the playing status of Brandon Lingen:
“He’s within the two-week window,” Claeys replied. Brandon will start running this week to get back in shape and prepare for practices in the near future.
10) Dave Mona followed-up by asking about the playing status of freshman line backer Carter Coughlin:
“He’s ahead of Brandon . . . he didn’t practice last week,” Claeys said. He added they’ll know more about his practice status and his recovery schedule on Tuesday.
11) Dave Mona opined the Gopher running backs had positive outputs in yesterday’s game:
“Our running backs continue to run well,” Claeys replied. He then said he wished Rodney Smith would have dropped to the ground instead of losing more ground when he was hit in the backfield when the Gophers were in the red zone.
12) Dave Mona asked the final question, which was related to line backer Jaylen Waters’ hit on the PSU kicker on a kickoff that led to his ejection from the game:
“It was a late hit . . . we’ll address it,” said Claeys.
Although one could hear disappointment in some of Claeys responses, he also sounded positive at times. IMO, I found his answers to the problems that they had in yesterday’s game are correctable. On more than one occasion he stressed the importance of getting back to basics and stressing the importance of fundamentals.
Go Gophers!!
