Gray is What We Thought he was!!

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Bob_Loblaw said:
Yeah, a slow start would obviously result in a loss because we aren't very good. We aren't going to win a lot of road games. Lets assume Gray played the exact same way but we corrected some of the other bad things (Stoud fumble, chip shot FG and penalties), we probably still win by 10-14.

Also. . .there were tons of things that kept UNLV in the game but you're focusing on only Gray. He had one terrible pass, one pass where he and a reciever had bad communication (neither one of us knows who was at fault), and a bad INT. Other than that, he threw for almost 60%, 2 TDs, and 269 yards.
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Believe me I saw all the other mistakes that took place and they were really frustrating and killed the team. But when people come on and say that Gray played very well they were closing their eyes to some glaring mistakes. Thus the comments on Gray. Heck his interception by itself was not bad - it was tipped. What was bad is that a few plays before he missed on the easy TD to Rabe. Take a look at those first 3 quarters again and you'll see many bad passes and reads. He is a much better quarterback than what he showed in those 3 quarters and it was very nice to see him get it together in the 4th and OTs.
 

Wouldn't You like to Know said:
Unusual amount of YAC??? Please don't make me pull up the numbers...Do you watch college football much??
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You're absolutely right. Every coach calls the Stop Route and thinks, "Here we go.... This is going to the house! This is it right here. Guaranteed 7."

Please, if you can't understand that those plays were more on the receiver than the QB and that those extra yards subsequently inflated Gray's stats then there is no point in continuing this discussion. Here is another way to look at this. When is the last time you remember a Gopher receiver taking a stop route for 30+ yards? How about 3 times in 1 game? I'm willing to bet it doesn't happen again this season.

I will back track on the Rabe TD in OT. That YAC is on Gray. He made a good decision and pass that allowed Rabe to catch the ball in stride and get up field.

As for Gray, sure, he made good decisions and throws on the stop routes. He put the ball right where it needed to be and I give him credit for it. I already said I think he made good decisions and was accurate on his underneath and short passes. However, swing routes to your RB's, drag routes to your slot receiver and stops to your flankers are the easiest passes to make in the game and they aren't going to force a team into dropping a safety out of the box. On the throws that would Gray was bad.
 

Again, Gray had a below average game. He would be the first to admit that. He wasn't T-Jac. He wasn't Montana. If we are to beat a Wisc./Neb./Mich., etc., he simply can't miss the wide open plays. Those are the plays that give a team like the Gophers a chance to win against better teams.
 

GopherGack said:
You're absolutely right. Every coach calls the Stop Route and thinks, "Here we go.... This is going to the house! This is it right here. Guaranteed 7."

Please, if you can't understand that those plays were more on the receiver than the QB and that those extra yards subsequently inflated Gray's stats then there is no point in continuing this discussion. Here is another way to look at this. When is the last time you remember a Gopher receiver taking a stop route for 30+ yards? How about 3 times in 1 game? I'm willing to bet it doesn't happen again this season.

I will back track on the Rabe TD in OT. That YAC is on Gray. He made a good decision and pass that allowed Rabe to catch the ball in stride and get up field.

As for Gray, sure, he made good decisions and throws on the stop routes. He put the ball right where it needed to be and I give him credit for it. I already said I think he made good decisions and was accurate on his underneath and short passes. However, swing routes to your RB's, drag routes to your slot receiver and stops to your flankers are the easiest passes to make in the game and they aren't going to force a team into dropping a safety out of the box. On the throws that would Gray was bad.
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I think it's equal in many situations. The QB has to put it in a place where the receiver can make a move. If he's off with the throw, most of the time he can't.

I will take that bet, by the way.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Every QB ever has to rely on his WR/TEs. Some QBs are better than others, but I defy you to name me one HOF QB who didn't throw to HOF (or at least All-Pro) WR/TEs quite frequently over the course of his career. Montana and Young had Rice. Bradshaw had Swann and Stallworth. Manning had Harrison. Elway had Shannon Sharpe. I could go on. The point is that, over the course of a season, there will be some plays where the WR bails the QB out on a bad throw or a misread, and there will be likely just as many plays where the WR cuts off
his route, runs the wrong route, or drops a perfectly thrown ball. For example, most of us (myself
included) assumed that the McDonald play where Gray apparently overthrew him by 10 yards was
all on Gray. However, this morning I've read and heard in several places that McDonald gave up
on the play and could've moonwalked into the endzone had he not stopped running. Without
knowing what the play call was and how it was coached, none of us know how to assign blame on
any given play. It cuts both ways. All I can see objectively from an outside perspective are the
stats. A win, over 250 yards passing, over 50% completion, a 2:1 TD:INT ratio, and 68 yards
rushing can not possibly be a horrible, or even bad, game. I will never, ever, ever, ever be
convinced otherwise. People are seeing what they want to see.
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Two QB's that come to mind that didn't have HOF receivers are Dan Marino and Warren Moon. I'm sure you will counter with Moon played with Cris Carter who should and will be in the HOF but will counter with he had a HOF career before he arrived in Mn.

Lynn and Stallworth? Neither of them had HOF careers, they just happen to be good receivers who
played on some very good teams.
 


Sportsfan24 said:
Two QB's that come to mind that didn't have HOF receivers are Dan Marino and Warren Moon. I'm sure you will counter with Moon played with Cris Carter who should and will be in the HOF but will counter with he had a HOF career before he arrived in Mn.

Lynn and Stallworth? Neither of them had HOF careers, they just happen to be good receivers who
played on some very good teams.
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They were much better than good.(I assume you meant Lynn Swann).
 

All the Gray analysis is a knee jerk reaction. This was the first game of the season! Did you see O'brien for Wisco? Can he throw the ball over 25 yards? Very unimpressive, and certainly no Russel Wilson (thank God). Gray will have a better game this week, no doubt. He will never be Peyton Manning, but he will be a more than serviceable Big 10 QB. The bright side is the WR's were open a lot downfield. This team has some speed at that position that teams will have to honor. By the time Big 10 play rolls around, he should be dangerous enough on the deep ball that defenses have to respect it, thus opening up the run game more. He will make some terrible throws this year, but I am in the camp that we will see a much calmer, better performance at TCF this Saturday.
 


"In retrospect, there were at least, in my opinion, nine shots we had down the field with people wide open where we didn't put it on them," Kill said. "You get half of those that's 30 points. ... You've got to make those shots." From the Sh*tty Tribune after Kill broke down the film.

I don't care what your completion % was, TD to INT rating, passer rating, or how many yards you threw for, if you leave 30 points on the board and you escape from a 3 OT game, that's NOT a good game by your QB. Gray, no doubt, gives us the best chance to win, but I've seen better pure passers in the MIAC.
 



Gray might be a slow starter, a guy who gets too damned excited, a hot and cold quarterback, or any of a number of unfortunate things. Or he might develop poise and consistency over the course of this season. We will have much more informed opinions in several weeks.

But here is something MarQueis Gray will never be: an athlete who got solid, consistent coaching through his entire college career.

And that is a shame. I plan to keep cheering for him, I hope he silences his critics.
 

MrC said:
But here is something MarQueis Gray will never be: an athlete who got solid, consistent coaching through his entire college career.

And that is a shame. I plan to keep cheering for him, I hope he silences his critics.
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+ 1,000

You look at the goup mainly coched by Brewster, and really there has been little consistency in their play. ( Gray, Staud, Coop, Rallis, Carter, White). Even though college football is not always the most consistent thing, when you are a player that has been jerked around from scheme to scheme, its really hard to have that trust to settle down as a more consistent player.

Im not saying a solid level of consistency can't be achieved by this group, but their past makes it more challenging to do so.
 

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