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Hole Poll: After the Ohio State game, the Gophers are?...
Hole Poll: After the Ohio State game, the Gophers are?...
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U2Gopher
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Still in the Big10 West race. I saw nothing tonight that says we still can’t win the division. But yes, we need to fix a few things on defense. The bright side is we won’t see that much offensive talent on the field at the same time again this year.
MNVCGUY
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Voted for about what I expected and that is a good thing. Room for improvement but this team can win the West.
We were in the game against Ohio State and really made them work for the victory. We won't face another team this good until the rematch.
We were in the game against Ohio State and really made them work for the victory. We won't face another team this good until the rematch.
I am not sure, so many things were not as I expected. First the positives:
Dylan Wright was a huge bright spot (though the two drops hurt and hope they aren't a sign of things to come). If Wright can get open against tOSU CB's then him and Autman-Bell should give us a very good 1-2 punch at WR again.
The kicking game: A bunch of touchbacks from Dragan, Tricket hit a 46 yarder, and the coverage team stopped a tOSU return inside the 20.
Running game: Better than expected against a team that figures to be the best combination of athletic/stout defensively that we see all year. Obviously Mo is a huge question mark here as he's clearly our best back, but the line physically matched up better than I expected in the run game.
Negatives:
The defensive line: I expected a signifcantly improved pass rush and we just didn't see that at all. Mafe was invisible to me out there.
Scheme/coaching: We seemed very unsure of where to be on so many plays in this game. I wouldn't be surprised if every single tOSU TD was the result of a missed assignment (maybe multiple missed assignments on some of them) and guys often looked confused or out of place at the snap.
Tackling/strength: We had a hard time stopping the 1 or 2 yard run when we were in position to make a stop and ended up giving up 2,3,4 extra yards. That't not a good thing when you've also shown you can't cover.
PJ's game day coaching: I went more in depth on this in another thread, but you simply can't run on 3rd and 10 from the opponents 30 down 10 in the 4th quarter.
Question marks:
Tanner: I thought he was better late, but this easily could have been a 3 interception game from him. I was hoping for 2019 Tanner, for much of this game it looked like we had 2020 Tanner. I am unsure what version we have.
Pass blocking: Two huge sacks given up the one before the half and the strip sack to put Ohio State up two scores. Given that it's Ohio State this might be an anomaly.
My eye test had me believing this Gopher team could actually beat Ohio State up until the Connor Olson penalty and ensuing sequence which was certainly above expectation. The defense giving up 3 (more) comically easy td's from that point on had me believing that we could be 2020 bad again on that side of the ball. I'd believe someone if they said the Gophers ended up with 2-3 regular season losses after seeing some of the positives tonight and I'd believe someone if they said they lost 6-7 regular season games after seeing some of the negatives tonight.
Dylan Wright was a huge bright spot (though the two drops hurt and hope they aren't a sign of things to come). If Wright can get open against tOSU CB's then him and Autman-Bell should give us a very good 1-2 punch at WR again.
The kicking game: A bunch of touchbacks from Dragan, Tricket hit a 46 yarder, and the coverage team stopped a tOSU return inside the 20.
Running game: Better than expected against a team that figures to be the best combination of athletic/stout defensively that we see all year. Obviously Mo is a huge question mark here as he's clearly our best back, but the line physically matched up better than I expected in the run game.
Negatives:
The defensive line: I expected a signifcantly improved pass rush and we just didn't see that at all. Mafe was invisible to me out there.
Scheme/coaching: We seemed very unsure of where to be on so many plays in this game. I wouldn't be surprised if every single tOSU TD was the result of a missed assignment (maybe multiple missed assignments on some of them) and guys often looked confused or out of place at the snap.
Tackling/strength: We had a hard time stopping the 1 or 2 yard run when we were in position to make a stop and ended up giving up 2,3,4 extra yards. That't not a good thing when you've also shown you can't cover.
PJ's game day coaching: I went more in depth on this in another thread, but you simply can't run on 3rd and 10 from the opponents 30 down 10 in the 4th quarter.
Question marks:
Tanner: I thought he was better late, but this easily could have been a 3 interception game from him. I was hoping for 2019 Tanner, for much of this game it looked like we had 2020 Tanner. I am unsure what version we have.
Pass blocking: Two huge sacks given up the one before the half and the strip sack to put Ohio State up two scores. Given that it's Ohio State this might be an anomaly.
My eye test had me believing this Gopher team could actually beat Ohio State up until the Connor Olson penalty and ensuing sequence which was certainly above expectation. The defense giving up 3 (more) comically easy td's from that point on had me believing that we could be 2020 bad again on that side of the ball. I'd believe someone if they said the Gophers ended up with 2-3 regular season losses after seeing some of the positives tonight and I'd believe someone if they said they lost 6-7 regular season games after seeing some of the negatives tonight.
Replacement Gopher
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Right before the Olson penalty, I actually thought we were going to win.
That feeling lasted exactly one play.
GopherGangsta
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With the 2020 defense back for another year and Mo gone for the season, the ceiling is 7 wins
GopherManiac8
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About what I expected...With Mo on the field. Potts and Wiley were having a hard time breaking tackles the way we've come to expect with Ibrahim. Hopefully the injury is minor and he will be back at some point this season. We just need to get through these non-conference games depending on Tanner and the receivers. Liked what I saw from them btw. Dylan Wright seems like the real deal. Plus CAB will be back soon.
Defense was slightly more porous than I was hoping, but then again it was against THE Ohio State so we need to wait a few more games imo to see where we are really at in that regard.
I think this team could definitely still win the west if the defense can step up.
Defense was slightly more porous than I was hoping, but then again it was against THE Ohio State so we need to wait a few more games imo to see where we are really at in that regard.
I think this team could definitely still win the west if the defense can step up.
BilldGopher
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I thought the wildcat plays were pretty effective...at least for tonight.
Seth Green had continued success for 3 years before really reaching a plateau.
Also thought Spann-Ford is now a weapon. Very good.
Seth Green had continued success for 3 years before really reaching a plateau.
Also thought Spann-Ford is now a weapon. Very good.
GopherGangsta
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Thoughts on the defense making zero plays and being out of position the entire second half?
BilldGopher
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Nope. You covered it pretty well.
Just offering some positive thoughts.
On a tangent took a look at Eleven Warriors and a fair number of posts acknowledge the Gophers were better than they expected...even with our clear deficits. Happy with the W of course but believe the Gophs were a real test overall that could only benefit them in the end.
This is actually high praise from this group.
Also a lot of recognition of Mo's talent and hopes that his injury is not career ending. Actually very classy.
Just offering some positive thoughts.
On a tangent took a look at Eleven Warriors and a fair number of posts acknowledge the Gophers were better than they expected...even with our clear deficits. Happy with the W of course but believe the Gophs were a real test overall that could only benefit them in the end.
This is actually high praise from this group.
Also a lot of recognition of Mo's talent and hopes that his injury is not career ending. Actually very classy.
fmlizard
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Exactly what I expected.
I had been touting the over here for weeks and bet it hard, because I expected a strong, run-heavy offense that can score points...and a leaky defense that can't keep from giving up gut-ripping big plays.
It was basically the same game in 2014 as well, with JT Barrett scoring 80+ yards at a time and the Gophers grinding a few yards at a crack to hang in there.
I had been touting the over here for weeks and bet it hard, because I expected a strong, run-heavy offense that can score points...and a leaky defense that can't keep from giving up gut-ripping big plays.
It was basically the same game in 2014 as well, with JT Barrett scoring 80+ yards at a time and the Gophers grinding a few yards at a crack to hang in there.
To me, I think we are a top 35 team in the nation. Not too bad. We did some things nice, looked outclassed in other ways. Matching to OSU is kinda unfair as they don't really have short-season covid rust like most of the B1G. It will be interesting to see how the other teams actually look after the shorten season.
Gopher_In_NYC
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I don't think either of them can be "T/he Man."
Depending on Mo's status, it will be interesting to see what happens with someone like Ky Thomas or Irving - are they asked to step in?
Best case scenario is that Mo is out for only the non-conference season and we can get by Potts/WIley and Mo leads us to the B10 West Title.
Spann-Ford looks legit and flashing some Jimmy Grahamesque ability.
Yeah, that was painful to watch and surprised there wasn't more pressure. d
Yes, yes, yes.
Think this was a good reality check rather than playing a cupcake and learning less. Correction and personnel changes where needed and move forward.
I think you need a shave BTW
bleedsmaroonandgold
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Overall probably about what I expected. Offense and special teams exceeded expectations for me, but defense was substantially worse than I thought they would be.
salzie
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Hard to use tOHSU as a barometer for the defense.
Defense isn't going to be elite, but if they can get to competent we'll be in good shape.
The big plays against the D were concerning... But lets be real with the Talent Ohio State has it Wouldnt shock me if they hung 40 on a team like Alabama or Clemson. Mo was good as always. I was actually impressed with Tanner. He threw a couple of lasers in tight coverage. I think this team likely wins 8-9 games.
GopherGangsta
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The last three games are all likely Ls.....at Col, NU and Purdue....Hopefully win 2 out of 3....That's 7.
Looks like I'm the only one so far who answered worse than expected. They're only a little worse than I expected but I expected the defense to be a bit better than this given the additional players added and the additional maturity. Fleck's teams have had some history of slow defensive starts against better teams so I guess we might be in the midst of another one of those.
I'm not surprised that the team put up 31 points against OSU (easily could have been 38 if not for being robbed by that non-targeting call). I always felt they had the potential to do that.
I'm not surprised that the team put up 31 points against OSU (easily could have been 38 if not for being robbed by that non-targeting call). I always felt they had the potential to do that.
That's a long time from now to make that prediction. You could have said the same thing about Purdue, Northwestern, and Wisconsin in 2018 but the team went 2-1 against them to end the regular season. Purdue had beaten both Ohio State and Iowa in the games preceding ours.
GopherGangsta
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Sure but two of the three are ranked opponents on the road......We have rarely had success in those games....The defense would have to vastly improve to win those games.
They're ranked now. One or more of them may not be ranked then.
jonnyganas
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More or less how I feel. Although I think the defense will get better and look better than they did on Thurdsay. Remember when Robb Smith had Illinois looking like OSU against our defense? As long we don't allow 75+ yd scores against mere mortal teams in the West, we should be a good football team.
GopherGangsta
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True but they are still quality teams....PJ has not beaten Iowa yet and we never win in Iowa city
UpAndUnder43
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Until the Big Ten title game when we see Ohio state again
Why don't you think we'll never win in Iowa City? "We" meaning your team, or the Gophers?