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Hole Pole: What grade would you give the Gophers coaching in the win over Purdue?
Yes, so much yes. QFT. I mean no offense, but people voting D are simply doing so out of spite. The offensive game plan was miles ahead of that we saw the first 5 weeks. For the defense to get even one stop with the dudes they were running out there was miraculous, lol. If ANYBODY here picked MN to win after that news of 20+ being out (most on D and ST), I'd like to see proof.Wow, I am surprised at the grades here. I went B (would be B+ if that was an option) . This was an A performance until the 4th quarter and I just can't justify an A with the decision making in that final quarter. I am not sure if most people grading realized just how may guys were out for the Gophers? We had Jalen Logan-Redding gettting his first snaps as a true Freshman, we had MJ Anderson playing A LOT of snaps, Logan Richter made a nice play at DT. In the secondary, (former?) walkon Calvin Swenson played almost every snap and was often tasked with tackling Rondale Moore. When Howden went out in the 4th quarter we were down to Swenson and Nubin at Safety and I am not sure who else could have even played there? Phillip Howard who was all set to grad transfer due to lack of PT is playing every snap at CB since St Juste went out. Having the OL coach miss the game is no small deal either.
That said, the "B" performance here just shows how richly deserved the "F's" were for a number of other games this year. This Purdue team (minus their head coach, Rondale Moore, and King Doerue among others) beat Iowa. Depending on how Maryland finishes, they could be the best team we've played through 5 games, and we played them at our weakest.
Perhaps you wouldn't have done this, but I can almost guarantee that if Fleck punts there and PU scores a quick TD, there would've been a deluge of posters questioning why he didn't go for it on 4th down. We would've seen a lot of, "If you can't get a yard, you don't deserve to win!!!1111!", IMO. Again, perhaps not from you, however. I actually thought going for it was a reasonable decision given what we've seen from this team so far this season. The defense is unlikely to stop any competent offense in a critical situation, and we've been pleading for the coaches to put more on the shoulders of the O. He tried it there, but unfortunately it backfired.Going for 4th down with a run from your own 30s is simply insane - though the offensive line did gouge a big hole for the runner. But the man in motion left the scene and an unblocked defender. Always punt in such situations.