How we lost

[DC Gopher]

I said the same in another post but honestly Fresno State and Georgia Southern could say the same about their games about us. As could Penn St. for that matter. And complaining about the kicker who played is no different than Purdue crying about not having their QB or star WR for all but a series or Nebraska not having their QB against us. As we said early in the season against likes of Georgia Southern and a now obviously below average Fresno State team, a win is a win and that’s all that matters. We can’t change our tune now that we lost. Every team in football except for one or two loses a game they coulda or shoulda won.

 

[fmlizard]

Every team in football except for one or two loses a game they coulda or shoulda won.

Yep, it's why even in a sport very skewed towards the top we wake up to only 3 undefeated teams, one of whom has played a schedule many teams would likely be undefeated against. Why nobody has gone undefeated in the NFL in almost 50 years. It's hard even with superior talent and coaching to get enough of the breaks to win in every game you play.

 

[NotAFanOfBecky]

Let's be honest, we all know Robb Smith stuffed Rossi in a closet in the first half. Rossi got out at halftime and you saw what happened.

 

[WorkingMyTailOff]

We were joking at half time that it was a Rope A Dope effort in the first half. I thought the Gophers were going to win this game until the two sacks on the final possession. It was just based on good Morgan had been late in games earlier. Credit to Iowa's secondary for playing decent coverage in this game. The Gophers had a lot of passing yards, but they didn't give up as many big plays vs the Gophers offense.

I kept hoping for that one on one bomb play to Bateman that was the winner vs Indiana last year, but Iowa didn't need to sell out to stop the run like a lot of other Gopher opponents.

 

[cncmin]

The bolded was the big one to me. Change 2-3 of those drops to catches and it would have changed a lot. Heck, even just one of them. Love TJ, but that 4th down drop was a game-changer.

Also, sucks to miss an extra point and FG and lose by 4 points.

Iowa also missed an XP, so those cancel. The only missed FG was a 50-yarder into a cross-wind. It was not a smart decision to even try that.

 

[Donovan]

I said the same in another post but honestly Fresno State and Georgia Southern could say the same about their games about us. As could Penn St. for that matter. And complaining about the kicker who played is no different than Purdue crying about not having their QB or star WR for all but a series or Nebraska not having their QB against us. As we said early in the season against likes of Georgia Southern and a now obviously below average Fresno State team, a win is a win and that’s all that matters. We can’t change our tune now that we lost. Every team in football except for one or two loses a game they coulda or shoulda won.

Well stated.

 

[Veritas]

Oh no my friend...PJ got penalized which offset Iowa’s late hit on Johnson! If he hadn’t run on the field, we would’ve gotten a first down and continued our drive!

I basically wrote off our D so that’s why I didn’t mention any D missed opportunities. Solely based on our Offense potential points...we could’ve easily won!

This is why I did not post after the game. Too often one has the facts wrong and goes off on a rant will make you look silly a day later.

 

[tikited]

Iowa also missed an XP, so those cancel. The only missed FG was a 50-yarder into a cross-wind. It was not a smart decision to even try that.

Yep. Terrible decision. Everyone knew deep down he wasn't going to make it. That was one of a few bad decisions made. The last time out was really bad. Not kicking the FG. instead of going for it was iffy. The on-side kick was bad. Those are the reasons we lost imo.

 

[GophersInIowa]

As already mentioned, the ultra conservative defensive game plan in the 1st half was a big reason we fell so far behind. Once they became aggressive, they played well. The offense moved the ball well but only scored 2 TDS even though they got within the Iowa 30 yard line 7 times. They finish drives and that could have been a comfortable win. Just too many self inflicted mistakes.

But with all that they still had several chances to tie or take the lead at the end in a very tough place to play. Learn from it and move on. Big Ten West championship is still in play.

 

[Vandy]

Iowa also missed an XP, so those cancel. The only missed FG was a 50-yarder into a cross-wind. It was not a smart decision to even try that.

I'm on the fence about the 50 yard FG attempt. The staff sees what he can do in practice every day. If we'd have punted and the ball ended up in the end zone, we'd be picking on the decision to punt and a net of 12 yards resulting.

 

[Veritas]

First half defense didn’t show up - both in effort and in approach. It was like we assumed Iowa had a poor offense and didn’t think we needed to try. Iowa’s offense pushed us around and we played soft in the secondary. My guess is the chance of winning is quite small if you allow touchdowns on the opponent’s first three drives. That’s why the Gophers lost.

Oh dear, we didn't try??? Why do fans post these sorts of things? The guys went down to Iowa City and they did not try very hard? Our core problem on D ALL SEASON LONG has been that we have a very poor four man rush. Secondly, in this game we were horrible at setting the edge (ie very poor outside contain). All the evil of the first three Iowa TD's flowed from those two realities. Effort can never overcome those two core, basic problems against a well coached team. Period.

 

[cncmin]

I'm on the fence about the 50 yard FG attempt. The staff sees what he can do in practice every day. If we'd have punted and the ball ended up in the end zone, we'd be picking on the decision to punt and a net of 12 yards resulting.

Admittedly, had we punted, our awful opening-game defensive scheme would have been picked apart regardless.

I'm more concerned about how the miss may have affected the kicker's confidence. He clearly wasn't very confident thereafter.

 

[cncmin]

Oh dear, we didn't try??? Why do fans post these sorts of things? The guys went down to Iowa City and they did not try very hard? Our core problem on D ALL SEASON LONG has been that we have a very poor four man rush. Secondly, in this game we were horrible at setting the edge (ie very poor outside contain). All the evil of the first three Iowa TD's flowed from those two realities. Effort can never overcome those two core, basic problems against a well coached team. Period.

The second half scoreboard and game statistics paint a very opposing picture to your statements above.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Why we lost?

-missed tackles
-a horrible defensive game plan to start
-a refusal to change that horrible game plan until half time
-drops
-an inability to get play calls in quickly in hurry up situations

On the one hand, it's a little encouraging we had a chance to drive to win despite these self-inflicted wounds. On the other, it's a little disheartening we spent a week buying into our own hype before committing these unforced errors in such a big game.

Morgan also had, what, three passes batted down or deflected at the line? Disappointed because that was a winnable game made harder by these, but like you said Gophs still had a chance at the end.

 

[Veritas]

Re cncmin. How so? The defensive coordinator called three blitz plays that worked in the second half, none in the first. How is that "trying harder"? The coaches and players that played a better game won the game. The coaches and players that made the most mistakes lost the game. Poo happens and we just pooed too much, top to bottom.

 

[McGopherFan]

have to look at the system for getting plays called and run before the play clock runs out. burning too many time outs because they can't get the play run in time. up to now, that hasn't been an issue. but in a close game, losing time outs can bite you.

and the kicking game has to get settled one way or another.

Huge and it has been an issue all year. As predicted by others, it is a problem against better teams.

 

[McGopherFan]

Kramer has not been THIRD string all along. He and Clark have been rotating roles each week. Try to keep up.

Perhaps accurate on paper. However, if neither see action in the game, it is largely irrelevant.

 

[Nort73]

I was yelling at the TV for them to sub in the Green package when it was first and goal. The coaches should have had the subs ready to go in as soon as we got the first down. To not be able to get a play in, then call our 2nd TO, then put Green in anyways was pretty embarrassing IMO. Too much time ran off the clock on that drive.

Oh well, move on to Northwestern. 11-1 still in reach.



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