I don't expect a blow out tonight - here's why,,,

[cncmin]

Those plays happened though....I suppose without those 3 non offensive TDs it would have been close, but if you take away the 2 TDs from Sherry, we still win by a significant amount.

The TDs from Sherry weren't lucky at all, though. The point here is that the Gophers needed and received a lot of luck (even down to a bit of homer reffing) such that this was a big W according to the scoreboard instead of the nailbiter it easily could have been. Those of us concerned believe that a good team, one that can compete at all in the B1G, doesn't require any luck at all to beat UNLV at home. But it appeared that UNLV beat the Gophers in terms of game planning, offense, and defense, while getting destroyed on special teams (though Hawthorne missed an XP and nearly two of them).

I didn't expect in the very least that after watching this game I'd be telling myself, "well, there's always next year," or be thrilled that three more cream puffs are on the schedule so that the Gophers can (hopefully) take 4 wins into the B1G season and perhaps luck into a couple of B1G wins to achieve a .500 record. I was hoping to see a team improved from last season. Instead I saw more of the same, without the "freshman QB" excuse and now with a passive defense that looks a lot like the defenses of the Mason years, where d-backs start the play 10 yards off the receivers, there is no pass rush, and the team has to rely on the fact that the end zone is only 10 yards deep to shrink the field enough to stop anyone.

 

[skauma]

The TDs from Sherry weren't lucky at all, though. The point here is that the Gophers needed and received a lot of luck (even down to a bit of homer reffing) such that this was a big W according to the scoreboard instead of the nailbiter it easily could have been. Those of us concerned believe that a good team, one that can compete at all in the B1G, doesn't require any luck at all to beat UNLV at home. But it appeared that UNLV beat the Gophers in terms of game planning, offense, and defense, while getting destroyed on special teams (though Hawthorne missed an XP and nearly two of them).

I didn't expect in the very least that after watching this game I'd be telling myself, "well, there's always next year," or be thrilled that three more cream puffs are on the schedule so that the Gophers can (hopefully) take 4 wins into the B1G season and perhaps luck into a couple of B1G wins to achieve a .500 record. I was hoping to see a team improved from last season. Instead I saw more of the same, without the "freshman QB" excuse and now with a passive defense that looks a lot like the defenses of the Mason years, where d-backs start the play 10 yards off the receivers, there is no pass rush, and the team has to rely on the fact that the end zone is only 10 yards deep to shrink the field enough to stop anyone.

I dont think Jones TD return was luck, nor was the blocked FG by Hageman. I do get what you are saying kind of, but you cant just take those plays away. Regarding the pass rush, I think we have the potential of a decent pass rush, but I think a lot of that pass rush was taken away by the gameplan of UNLV, which was a quick hitting passing game...which does come back a little bit to the point you made about the DBs playing off of the receivers. With the quick hitting offense UNLV was playing, you should have seen much more press coverage from the defense.

 

[stocker08]

I left thinking that had the Gophers not gotten some huge plays from the special teams, it was a pretty even matchup. You?

Football is a team game.....but some star power can make a team much better. You want to call it luck? Hageman blocked a field goal and then pushed it forward for a teammate to grab. The Marcus Jones TD return? Luck? Boddy-Calhoun's INT for a TD was simply luck? I will admit.....the team didn't look fantastic by any means.......plenty of places to improve. Keep in mind that we beat this team by 3 points last year in OT. Those individual plays are what separates teams from the MWC and the Big Ten.

 

[John Galt]

I love the win... & would rather win by 28 while playing with flaws then win by 3 while playing with flaws yes... but I guess being hyped about "Year 3" & it looks like we're going to still have "Year 2" problems down the line...

Who has hyped that Kill's year 3 Gopher squad would be great? Pretty much every prediction, including most on GH, have us winning 6-7 games.

 

[thailleagle]

Who has hyped that Kill's year 3 Gopher squad would be great? Pretty much every prediction, including most on GH, have us winning 6-7 games.

Moreso that we would be a CLEARLY improved team... I just didn't see that yesterday...