I'll know things have changed for Gopher Football in 2012 when:

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wait!what?

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They don't allow the other team to put up 7 on the first possession.

I am too lazy to look it up but my 2011 season recalls every stinking team we played simply playing toss and catch for an easy looking 6 within 5 min of kickoff. That sht has to end.
 

That, and towards the end of a game, watching the QB scramble for 15 seconds, looking like a very young Mike Vick (no matter WHAT the current QBs skill level) avoiding our defenders, then throwing up a pass for a TD.. I remember the NMS Aggies doing this to us all game last year, and I believe there was about 3 other no-name QBs we made look like Vick Jr.

That tish has to end, too.
 

The Gophers play a football game in December or January.
 

I decided to look it up. Ouch.

USC's first possession: TD (13 plays, 66 yards)
NMSU: TD (6 plays, 60 yards)
Miami: FG (7 plays, 75 yards)
NDSU: TD (11 plays, 65 yards)
Michigan: TD (7 plays, 80 yards)
Purdue: TD (7 plays, 39 yards)
Nebraska: FG (11 plays, 47 yards)
Iowa: Turnover on downs (7 plays, 49 yards)
MSU: Punt (3 plays, 9 yards)
Wisconsin: TD (14 plays, 81 yards)
Northwestern: TD (6 plays, 54 yards)
Illinois: Punt (3 plays, 5 yards)

On the bright side, after allowing opening drives to go average 8.5 plays, 64 yards in the first half of the season (with five of six opponents scoring a TD on the opening drive), the second half they brought it to 7 plays, 41 yards (and just two of six opponents scoring a TD on the opening drive).
 

Haha, I did the same thing Gopher07 and was about to post up the brutal results.

7 of 12 opening drive ended with TDs, 2 more with very short FGs, and another (Iowa) in a TO on downs. Probably no coincidence that our two best performances of the year perhaps ended with them getting opening drive punts.

So yeah, in a nutshell, that does have to end this year if we want any success. We didn't win any of those games where we gave up the early TD, or really play well at all except the USC game.
 


when... The can put the game away with a 6-8 minute drive in the 4th resulting in a TD.
 

when...we can be up by 20+ points in the 4th quarter and put in our 2nd and 3rd teams and gain valuable game experience.
 

When we win a road Big Ten game.

Go Gophers!!
 




On NDSU's first drive, they had the ball 3rd and 4 at the Minnesota 22, when a Gopher player lined up way offside. They lost one yard, so it would have been a 40-yard FG attempt. Instead, it kept the drive alive, and the got a TD. I have to imagine that Kill educated the players on the importance of knowing where the line of scrimmage is after that.
 


Stan The Caddy said:
September 29th work for you?
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I was thinking! Can you imagine the hype around this program if we started 5-0 with a win at Iowa heading into the Northwestern game with a week off in between?!

Go Gophers!!
 

For me, it's when we solidly pound a team we're supposed to beat. It's not an indication of having arrived, but an indication that you're clear of the starting gate.
 




When people stop bitching about the uniform combos because we are to busy winning.
 

We need to be able to defer the kick off and get off the field the first drive

We need to cause a punt or create a turnover. It is unacceptable for 7 out of 12 games last season that the Gophers gave up a touch down on the opening drive. Who on the defense will step up to the plate,
this giving up a TD "bleep" is not happening on my watch? Instead of saying oh no here we go again, crapping your phants or expecting to fail on the opening drive we need someone to create a turnover on the first drive for the defense or overwhlem the QB. There QB is a rookie we should be able to get to the guy.

That is the mentality the D needs to have we want the ball, and have to have it, we have no choice but to go get it.
We start seeing the defense get off the field early we will know we have arrived. That said if I'm the Gophers and win
the toss for this game I'm taking the football.
 

RodentRampage said:
On NDSU's first drive, they had the ball 3rd and 4 at the Minnesota 22, when a Gopher player lined up way offside. They lost one yard, so it would have been a 40-yard FG attempt. Instead, it kept the drive alive, and the got a TD. I have to imagine that Kill educated the players on the importance of knowing where the line of scrimmage is after that.
Click to expand...

Another stupid hands to the face penalty on NDSU's first drive turned a 3rd and 18 sack for 4th and 25 into 1st and 10. Still think that spelled the game out right there.
 

I'll know things have changed when the Twin Cities media doesn't treat a Gopher Victory as a fluke. (which might be asking a lot).
 

...the Gophers record a sack or an interception
 

Oddly enough, it would mean a lot to me to blow out our FCS opponent.
 

Good thread.

I too was remembering back to the first drive problems but when you see it spelled out like that... it really was brutal.

I agree with many of the points made here. It would feel good to finally hammer a non-conference team that the gophers are SUPPOSED to beat. For quite a while, I just kept hoping for a game of any kind where the Gophers did not trail at any point. It took YEARS, but that one at least came off the list after the last game of the season last year.

Along with sharing the bad memory of giving up points on the first opponent drive, another memory that keeps rattling in my head was the amazing futility of the defense on third down.

Would love to see those problems go away...
 

We haven't really pounded an FCS team since a 42-0 drubbing of Southwest Texas State in 2002. Since then, we have had a 37-21 win over Illinois State in 2004, a 10-9 win over NDSU in 2006, a loss to NDSU in 2007, a 12-point win over Montana State in 2008, a squeaker win over SDSU in 2009, a loss to South Dakota in 2010 and a lost to NDSU in 2011. This would be a good time for the Gophers to pound someone.

The Gophers had a couple of significant large margins of victory against FBS teams, a 25 point win over Bowling Green on the road in 2008, and a 33 point win over Florida Atlantic in 2008, and of course, the 27 point win over Illinois last season.

There are reasons to be optimistic, but until tommorrow night, we just don't know.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Oddly enough, it would mean a lot to me to blow out our FCS opponent.
Click to expand...

This.

In our last 5 games against FCS teams (post Mason) we are 2-3 with the total scores being Gophers: 134 Opponents: 141. During Mason's tunure we were 5-0 (including a squeeker against NDSU) with the total score being: Gophers: 210 Opponents: 47.

As a starting place, we need to get back to beating the teams we should beat.
 

"I'll know things have changed for Gopher Football in 2012 when:"

We win the god damned game and GopherHole doesn't have 5,407 different threads in meltdown mode.
 

Gopher07 said:
I decided to look it up. Ouch.

USC's first possession: TD (13 plays, 66 yards)
NMSU: TD (6 plays, 60 yards)
Miami: FG (7 plays, 75 yards)
NDSU: TD (11 plays, 65 yards)
Michigan: TD (7 plays, 80 yards)
Purdue: TD (7 plays, 39 yards)
Nebraska: FG (11 plays, 47 yards)
Iowa: Turnover on downs (7 plays, 49 yards)
MSU: Punt (3 plays, 9 yards)
Wisconsin: TD (14 plays, 81 yards)
Northwestern: TD (6 plays, 54 yards)
Illinois: Punt (3 plays, 5 yards)

On the bright side, after allowing opening drives to go average 8.5 plays, 64 yards in the first half of the season (with five of six opponents scoring a TD on the opening drive), the second half they brought it to 7 plays, 41 yards (and just two of six opponents scoring a TD on the opening drive).
Click to expand...

Part of the problem there is that the average distance our opponents had to go to get a TD on their first drive was just 54 yards on average.

Equally important is to get points on the board on our first possession. I think we only did that 3 or 4 times last year (can't find the drive chart for the NW game for some reason). Not counting the NW game, we only went over 20 yards in our first possession four times last year. We lost yardage three times. Even if you don't get points, you have to move the ball and set the tone from the beginning regardless if it's on offense or defense.

So I will say "I know things have changed when we put points on the board on our first possession just about every week."
 

when I am surprised they lose rather than hoping they win.
 

Schnauzer said:
Good thread.

I too was remembering back to the first drive problems but when you see it spelled out like that... it really was brutal.

I agree with many of the points made here. It would feel good to finally hammer a non-conference team that the gophers are SUPPOSED to beat. For quite a while, I just kept hoping for a game of any kind where the Gophers did not trail at any point. It took YEARS, but that one at least came off the list after the last game of the season last year.

Along with sharing the bad memory of giving up points on the first opponent drive, another memory that keeps rattling in my head was the amazing futility of the defense on third down.

Would love to see those problems go away...
Click to expand...

Too many times I have seen our opponent on 3rd and 15+ and not been confident that our defense will prevent a first down. I would like to be able to see the other team hike the ball at 3rd and 7 and be confident in the defense's ability to get off the field afterward.
 

When the Gophers take a 20 + point lead into the locker room and come out and smack the opponent away in the third period. I hope that's tomorrow. UNLV is a poor team and we will know the program has begun to arrive when we can treat these games as Pre-season games and not as death defying challenges to our manhood. We can occasionally beat an Iowa or Illinois, but until we can easily take care of the UNLV's and the NDSU's in the non-conference schedule, we don't stand a chance with the upper tier teams. Go Gophers! BEAT UNLV!
 


I'll know things have changed for Gopher Football in 2012 (or beyond) when...

...the saying "In Kill We Trust" is no longer controversial on GH.

Until then, Go Gophers! Beat the Runnin' Rebels! In Kill I Trust!
 

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