(I was able to get most of today’s program; however, unfortunately, the Sports Huddle was frequently stepped on by Iowa Senatorial commercials (Braley vs. Joni Ernst). So I was unable to hear Kill’s complete responses. Frustrating. It’s bad enough to be afflicted daily and continuously with the political messages, but then to hear them on the ‘CCO internet feed is really upsetting. End of rant!)
Coach Kill’s comments and responses to queries by Sid Hartman and Dave Mona on ‘CCOs Sports Huddle:
1) Sid opened the show talking about TCU’s upset victory over Oklahoma: Kill said, referencing the Horned Frogs, “They’re a good football team – very athletic . . . you can’t turn the ball over (as Minnesota did).”
He then turned to the upcoming game with Northwestern. He said Northwestern is an opportunistic team and, again, you can’t turn over the ball and expect to win. Their concept on defense is “bend and don’t break.” They’ll take advantage of the mistakes made by the opposition.
2) Sid mentioned Northwestern’s two recent victories over Penn State and Wisconsin. He asked if they’ve watched a lot of film of the upcoming opponent: “We did a good job last year . . . They do a good job protecting their quarterback . . . (they’re) playing at a high level,” replied Kill. (Political commercial interruption.)
3) Sid asked about Northwestern ability to hold Melvin Gordon in check, except for a couple long runs: Kill answered, “Northwestern got Wisconsin down . . . Wisconsin turned over the ball . . . (Northwestern) They’re very good –they take care of business.” (Commercial interruption.)
4) After having a “Bye Week,” Sid asked for a health report: “We’ll practice this afternoon . . . We’ll know more on Tuesday,” replied Kill. In his comments, Kill said five players (didn’t identify the players) are still hurting and are trying to get healthy. (Kill didn’t sound overly concerned. Sounded as though the unidentified players are suffering the normal “bumps and bruises” that all teams and players experience during a long season of physical play and practices (not season-ending injuries).
5) Sid asked about the health of the offensive line: Kill, once again, said they still have some injured players on the offensive line. Players mentioned include Foster Bush and Zac Epping. Epping is nursing a high-ankle sprain.
Kill cited the play of Joe Bjorklund: “Joe Bjorklund did some great things at Michigan.”
6) Sid asked for a status report on Mitch Leidner. He also asked for his comments on the need for a big crowd on Saturday: In responding to Sid’s query on the health of Mitch Leidner, Kill was very succinct: “He’s doing good.”
As to the need for a big, vocal crowd, Kill responded, “It will be the difference . . . critical game.” He explained that Northwestern does a lot of (check offs) changing at the line of scrimmage, and a boisterous crowd could influence and impact their ability to make timely changes (check offs).
7) Dave Mona mentioned Friday’s high school football game on ESPN in which a couple Minnesota assistant coaches were in attendance and that they were seen wearing Minnesota’s Block M. Dave said the announcers mentioned the coaches (when shown on TV), and that they were complimentary in their comments: Kill responded, “Can’t talk a lot about it (NCAA recruiting rules/regulations) . . . National exposure helps (recruiting).” As to the Block M, “It’s our university.”
8) Last week, Coach Kill was very complimentary in his remarks at the Dunkers about fired Twins manager, Ron Gardenhire. Dave Mona asked if he would repeat some of his comments: Kill replied, “I had a chance to see the press conference . . . (Gardenhire) handled himself with dignity . . . He loves Minnesota . . . I respect him a lot.”
9) Sid returned to the Wisconsin – Northwestern game and then said David Cobb needs to have a big game: “Northwestern gets stops when they need to get stops . . . They find a way to turn-the-tables on you,” said Kill. (Political commercial covered the first part of his response to Sid’s question.)
10) Dave Mona said he received a text that asked if there were any surprises in the Michigan game – players that stood out: Kill quickly responded, “Our whole secondary.” Kill then mentioned the play of Cameron Botticelli. He was very high on his play, as he mentioned his name a couple times. He also was pleased with the play of wide receiver Isaac Fruechte.
His final comments dealt with the need to make improvements despite the good showing at Michigan, “We’ve got a lot of room for improvements.
11) Sid, once again, asked about true-freshmen playing this year: Kill quickly responded, “We’ve got quite a few playing . . . There’s a couple guys that could help on special teams (freshmen that are redshirting).” He said that they don’t want to waste a redshirt at this time of the year.
12) Dave asked about Berkley Edwards getting more touches in the offense and the status of linebacker Cody Poock: (Sorry. Most of Kill’s comments on Edwards were covered by the political commercial.) When the commercial ended, Kill was talking about teams covering the perimeter. Nevertheless, Kill said they’ll try to get some quick screens to Edwards and they’ll “keep working” to get Berkley Edwards involved in the offense, “There’ll be a time he breaks loose.”
As to Cody Poock’s playing status, Kill talked about Poock’s ACL injury and even though Cody “thinks he could play, he missed a lot in fall camp . . . he’s got three years left.” By his comments, Kill does not plan to burn Cody’s redshirt.
13) Sid talked about David Cobb being recruited by Stanford and when Jim Harbaugh left the Cardinal for the NFL Cobb turned his attention toward Minnesota. According to Sid, Kill impressed Cobb with his message that there are no guarantees, you only play if you’re good enough: (Sorry. Another commercial at the start of Kill’s response.) Kill did say that Cobb’s high school coach was surprised that he didn’t receive more offers from the schools in Texas.
You could tell Kill is pleased with Cobb’s work ethic and ability, “Plays at a high level.”
I wish I didn’t have an incomplete report. Maybe it’ll be better next week. I can’t wait for the political season to end!
Go Gophers!!
Coach Kill’s comments and responses to queries by Sid Hartman and Dave Mona on ‘CCOs Sports Huddle:
1) Sid opened the show talking about TCU’s upset victory over Oklahoma: Kill said, referencing the Horned Frogs, “They’re a good football team – very athletic . . . you can’t turn the ball over (as Minnesota did).”
He then turned to the upcoming game with Northwestern. He said Northwestern is an opportunistic team and, again, you can’t turn over the ball and expect to win. Their concept on defense is “bend and don’t break.” They’ll take advantage of the mistakes made by the opposition.
2) Sid mentioned Northwestern’s two recent victories over Penn State and Wisconsin. He asked if they’ve watched a lot of film of the upcoming opponent: “We did a good job last year . . . They do a good job protecting their quarterback . . . (they’re) playing at a high level,” replied Kill. (Political commercial interruption.)
3) Sid asked about Northwestern ability to hold Melvin Gordon in check, except for a couple long runs: Kill answered, “Northwestern got Wisconsin down . . . Wisconsin turned over the ball . . . (Northwestern) They’re very good –they take care of business.” (Commercial interruption.)
4) After having a “Bye Week,” Sid asked for a health report: “We’ll practice this afternoon . . . We’ll know more on Tuesday,” replied Kill. In his comments, Kill said five players (didn’t identify the players) are still hurting and are trying to get healthy. (Kill didn’t sound overly concerned. Sounded as though the unidentified players are suffering the normal “bumps and bruises” that all teams and players experience during a long season of physical play and practices (not season-ending injuries).
5) Sid asked about the health of the offensive line: Kill, once again, said they still have some injured players on the offensive line. Players mentioned include Foster Bush and Zac Epping. Epping is nursing a high-ankle sprain.
Kill cited the play of Joe Bjorklund: “Joe Bjorklund did some great things at Michigan.”
6) Sid asked for a status report on Mitch Leidner. He also asked for his comments on the need for a big crowd on Saturday: In responding to Sid’s query on the health of Mitch Leidner, Kill was very succinct: “He’s doing good.”
As to the need for a big, vocal crowd, Kill responded, “It will be the difference . . . critical game.” He explained that Northwestern does a lot of (check offs) changing at the line of scrimmage, and a boisterous crowd could influence and impact their ability to make timely changes (check offs).
7) Dave Mona mentioned Friday’s high school football game on ESPN in which a couple Minnesota assistant coaches were in attendance and that they were seen wearing Minnesota’s Block M. Dave said the announcers mentioned the coaches (when shown on TV), and that they were complimentary in their comments: Kill responded, “Can’t talk a lot about it (NCAA recruiting rules/regulations) . . . National exposure helps (recruiting).” As to the Block M, “It’s our university.”
8) Last week, Coach Kill was very complimentary in his remarks at the Dunkers about fired Twins manager, Ron Gardenhire. Dave Mona asked if he would repeat some of his comments: Kill replied, “I had a chance to see the press conference . . . (Gardenhire) handled himself with dignity . . . He loves Minnesota . . . I respect him a lot.”
9) Sid returned to the Wisconsin – Northwestern game and then said David Cobb needs to have a big game: “Northwestern gets stops when they need to get stops . . . They find a way to turn-the-tables on you,” said Kill. (Political commercial covered the first part of his response to Sid’s question.)
10) Dave Mona said he received a text that asked if there were any surprises in the Michigan game – players that stood out: Kill quickly responded, “Our whole secondary.” Kill then mentioned the play of Cameron Botticelli. He was very high on his play, as he mentioned his name a couple times. He also was pleased with the play of wide receiver Isaac Fruechte.
His final comments dealt with the need to make improvements despite the good showing at Michigan, “We’ve got a lot of room for improvements.
11) Sid, once again, asked about true-freshmen playing this year: Kill quickly responded, “We’ve got quite a few playing . . . There’s a couple guys that could help on special teams (freshmen that are redshirting).” He said that they don’t want to waste a redshirt at this time of the year.
12) Dave asked about Berkley Edwards getting more touches in the offense and the status of linebacker Cody Poock: (Sorry. Most of Kill’s comments on Edwards were covered by the political commercial.) When the commercial ended, Kill was talking about teams covering the perimeter. Nevertheless, Kill said they’ll try to get some quick screens to Edwards and they’ll “keep working” to get Berkley Edwards involved in the offense, “There’ll be a time he breaks loose.”
As to Cody Poock’s playing status, Kill talked about Poock’s ACL injury and even though Cody “thinks he could play, he missed a lot in fall camp . . . he’s got three years left.” By his comments, Kill does not plan to burn Cody’s redshirt.
13) Sid talked about David Cobb being recruited by Stanford and when Jim Harbaugh left the Cardinal for the NFL Cobb turned his attention toward Minnesota. According to Sid, Kill impressed Cobb with his message that there are no guarantees, you only play if you’re good enough: (Sorry. Another commercial at the start of Kill’s response.) Kill did say that Cobb’s high school coach was surprised that he didn’t receive more offers from the schools in Texas.
You could tell Kill is pleased with Cobb’s work ethic and ability, “Plays at a high level.”
I wish I didn’t have an incomplete report. Maybe it’ll be better next week. I can’t wait for the political season to end!
Go Gophers!!
