***INDIANA POST-GAME THOUGHTS THREAD***

[FanSinceTheFifties]

Pleased with the way the program is developing. Recovering from the setback of losing a big lead is better for the future than winning easily today. Character is developing -- the product of experience and maturity. I like it.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Holy crap, I think I just about had a heart attack. Crazy game.

- For about 38 minutes, the defense played about as well as you can against Indiana. Take away the Kirkwood fumble and Indiana may have only scored 6 points midway through the third. But man, did they look out of place for the last quarter plus.
- The offense played a great game but would have liked to see them put a few more points on the board while Indiana was going on their run. We were a few bad passes and a few drops away from putting the game away for good.
- David Cobb is legit. He's not super fast but he has a good mix of speed and power.
- Sucks to see Christenson go down like that. I'm assuming it is pretty serious. But it is nice to have an experienced backup like Tommy.
- Donovan Jones is good. And even though someone overreacted and said Williams sucks, Maxx continues to impress.
- Engal is just too inconsistent. Makes some great plays but then also makes some really bad drops.
- Is Hawthorne hurting? His kickoffs were really low and short. That hurt the coverage.
- Glad to see us on the other end of the bad endings. 7-2 baby!

 

[Indi1006]

Holy crap, I think I just about had a heart attack. Crazy game.

- For about 38 minutes, the defense played about as well as you can against Indiana. Take away the Kirkwood fumble and Indiana may have only scored 6 points midway through the third. But man, did they look out of place for the last quarter plus.
- The offense played a great game but would have liked to see them put a few more points on the board while Indiana was going on their run. We were a few bad passes and a few drops away from putting the game away for good.
- David Cobb is legit. He's not super fast but he has a good mix of speed and power.
- Sucks to see Christenson go down like that. I'm assuming it is pretty serious. But it is nice to have an experienced backup like Tommy.
- Donovan Jones is good. And even though someone overreacted and said Williams sucks, Maxx continues to impress.
- Engal is just too inconsistent. Makes some great plays but then also makes some really bad drops.
- Is Hawthorne hurting? His kickoffs were really low and short. That hurt the coverage.
- Glad to see us on the other end of the bad endings. 7-2 baby!

I don't know if Engle is inconsistent he just seems to feel the pressure in the fourth quarter. Fifth year senior shouldn't be that way, but he's making some big plays too so I'll give him a pass. Good point on our kickoffs. Earlier this year he was booming them now not at all. That said, today was the first game all season where I would say our kickoff coverage was less than excellent. Hopefully, it's an abberration and not a trend.

 

[Halsey Hall]

I love the fact the Gophers have become more daring under Claeys, even though the fake punt backfired. Engle's drop was painful. Wondering why we didn't take a knee at the end. Anyone?

 

[Sports_Realist]

When the game ended, I felt relief more than anything. It's okay to say we got lucky. We did. We had no answer for the Hoosiers' offense and a good break carried us over the line. That said, it wasn't 100% luck. We played well enough on merit to be in that spot. The most important thing is adding one to the W column.

 

[Formo]

Is this real life? Seriously. Last week and then this week??!

 

[Indi1006]

Let's be honest here.

We didn't pull this one out ourselves.

We were gifted a win.

I'll take it.

Lucky and gifted with a win my arse. We put points on the board and our D played well in the first half and put us in the position to where we were up when Indiana made a boneheaded play. That's not lucky, that chopping wood all game to where we can take advantage of our opponent when they let down, make a play and get the heck out of Indiana with a WIN. Great day to be a Gopher.

 

[Dr.Don]

First off has anyone taken a roll call on the older members of our fan base that post here to make sure they are all still with us?

What a crazy game. For 3 quarters it was looking like a great convincing road win, shutting down a high powered offense on the road and then in the blink of an eye we go from victory to potential defeat back to victory down to almost guaranteed overtime or defeat and finally ending up with celebration after the Indiana RB just gives up on what was clearly a backwards pass and lets us recover.

Not sure how this game would have turned out if Indiana had gone to Sudfeld sooner but yet another crazy visit to Indiana...at least this time we came away with the win. Wonder if Rackley had any flashbacks to his playing days because I am sure he was part of at least one game at that place that has been a house of horrors for the U over the years.

Great win for the team and there is now a very real possibility that this team finishes .500 in the conference which would be a massive step forward in year 3. Still trying to process what happened there in the 4th quarter but that was a he!! of a game.
'

69 and still kicking.

 

[GophersInIowa]

I don't know if Engle is inconsistent he just seems to feel the pressure in the fourth quarter. Fifth year senior shouldn't be that way, but he's making some big plays too so I'll give him a pass. Good point on our kickoffs. Earlier this year he was booming them now not at all. That said, today was the first game all season where I would say our kickoff coverage was less than excellent. Hopefully, it's an abberration and not a trend.

I think the kicks had a lot to do with the bad coverage. I don't mind seeing shorter kicks as long as they are high, but these were all short and low which didn't enable the coverage team to get down there in time. Hopefully it was just a bad day for him.

 

[Indi1006]

I think the kicks had a lot to do with the bad coverage. I don't mind seeing shorter kicks as long as they are high, but these were all short and low which didn't enable the coverage team to get down there in time. Hopefully it was just a bad day for him.

Yep.

 

[johnnybb]

I think everyone had a lot of nerves today. I'm willing to chalk up some of the uncharacteristic mistakes to that. We saw the team do a lot of things they don't usually do, for example, the ridiculous fumbles. They knew the expectations were high, that this was an important game, and it was in their head a bit. What's important is that they managed to keep it together enough to win on the road in that scenario. This team's psychology has really improved, but has some distance to go.

 

[Section209]

Seriously could the BTN highlight show have talked about us any less?

It really ticks me off. It doesn't matter if we're winning or losing, or who we're playing. If you see the last two minutes of any BTN show, you'll see the only attention BTN is going to give the Gophers. Unless Kill is having a seizure, we're an after-thought to BTN.

 

[thailleagle]

I love the fact the Gophers have become more daring under Claeys, even though the fake punt backfired. Engle's drop was painful. Wondering why we didn't take a knee at the end. Anyone?

They still had 3 timeouts...

 

[RolGnav]

This game means a lot.. 1) The Offense wasn't perfect, but the Defense bailed them out. 2) The Defense wasn't perfect, but the Offense bailed them out in the end. 3) Usually, the team gets down and things spiral, not today. They kept fighting. 4) Road win (homecoming even)

I wonder if Claeys coaches differently than Kill, because I swear since Claeys took over, Limegrover has opened things up a lot. The plays aren't as predictable as they usually are. Indiana must have seen something with our run defense, because even though they were behind, they just ran, and that's where they gashed us. Not complaining, just observing. I enjoyed the win though!

 

[Bad Gopher]

If they kick the XP after their fourth straight TD, they're only down two on that final drive and can settle for a short FG to win. I'm still surprised they went for two because they were already up by 4 after the TD. There's no difference between a 5 and 6 point lead with 5 minutes remaining.

That is EXACTLY it! I couldn't believe they were going for 2 on that last touchdown. I'm not going to call these circumstances luck; it's just nice to have some things roll our way for once.

 

[GophersInIowa]

I forgot to mention, was there even 30,000 fans at the game? The one side of the stadium looked less than half full. For a team that the media has been in love with all year, you'd think there would be more fans than that. I was embarrassed for them.

 

[cduff]

Let's be honest here.

We didn't pull this one out ourselves.

We were gifted a win.

I'll take it.

Disagree. After we fell behind 39-35, we came back with a great drive capped off by a 50-yard TD pass. We made the plays to win, Indiana didn't.

 

[johnnybb]

I forgot to mention, was there even 30,000 fans at the game? The one side of the stadium looked less than half full. For a team that the media has been in love with all year, you'd think there would be more fans than that. I was embarrassed for them.

For a team the media were in love with they sure were 3-4.

 

[Formo]

Disagree. After we fell behind 39-35, we came back with a great drive capped off by a 50-yard TD pass. We made the plays to win, Indiana didn't.

This.

Eat it, Studwell.

 

[Great Plains Gopher]

Seriously could the BTN highlight show have talked about us any less?

Yes, and they are consistent in that regard - it's irritating.

 

[RodentRampage]

Let's be honest here.

We didn't pull this one out ourselves.

We were gifted a win.

I'll take it.

No team wins a game by themselves, there are two teams out there. Each team makes good plays and bad plays. Indiana made a mistake at an inopportune time, and the Gophers were ready to take advantage of it, there was no "gift".

The Gophers made mistakes too, dropped passes that could have put the game away. Those weren't gifts to Indiana. Whenever you pitch the ball, there is a danger that it might be dropped. They accepted that risk, and it didn't pay off.

It's all part of the game.

 

[johnnybb]

Completions to 7 different receivers, touchdowns to 3 different receivers. For a team that, coming into the season, was said to have no receivers, I like that stat.

I'm willing to forgive Engel's drop considering his four catches for 97 yds and 2 TDs.

 

[Nate]

Good day to be a Gopher fan!

 

[highwayman]

573 yards is the 8th most yards against a B1G opponent. Ever!

We are getting better and better each game. This team is still learning HOW to win and doing it well. The key: it's not the same every week. They are a lot like the Vikings of the 1970's. You never know who is going to make the play.

This was no gift--only Aaron Hill knew what the rules were. There were 21 other players who didn't.

 

[CentralGopher]

I forgot to mention, was there even 30,000 fans at the game? The one side of the stadium looked less than half full. For a team that the media has been in love with all year, you'd think there would be more fans than that. I was embarrassed for them.

I saw that too. Man the stands were empty. I know it's Indiana football but stands that empty on homecoming with a team that has gotten that much hype in a game that has a lot of meaning for both teams is terrible.

 

[FanSinceTheFifties]

I don't like using the phrase "luck" to describe that play. Two players could reach that football. One of them exhibited the situational awareness to recognize that it was live and one of them didn't. To me, luck would be if the ball kicked off of a loose sprinkler head and jumped into the Gophers' hands. If I am an Indiana fan, I am not complaining about bad luck, I'm complaining about a boneheaded play. Go Gophs, keep it rolling.

Well told. What's the penalty for diving on and covering an incomplete pass? IU was lazy. UM was alert.

 

[FanSinceTheFifties]

Completions to 7 different receivers, touchdowns to 3 different receivers. For a team that, coming into the season, was said to have no receivers, I like that stat.

I'm willing to forgive Engel's drop considering his four catches for 97 yds and 2 TDs.

Agree. Hard for me to understand the anti-Engel crowd. I think we are developing a balanced offense that could be formidable quickly.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

Still no KJ Maye or Harbison. Those two have been the offensive darlings of this board and have yet to contribute whatsoever. It is interesting that Jones and Wolitarsky have passed them. Also, is Derrick Wells hurt or benched or a combo of both? When he has played, I think he is MUCH better as a safety as opposed to a corner.

 

[Indi1006]

Agree. Hard for me to understand the anti-Engel crowd. I think we are developing a balanced offense that could be formidable quickly.

There is no "anti-Engle crowd but he's dropped a big, important pass each of the last two weeks that could have cost us each game. It ended up not costing us the game, but he needs to make those catches, especially as a fifth year senior.

 

[50PoundHead]

I love the fact the Gophers have become more daring under Claeys, even though the fake punt backfired. Engle's drop was painful. Wondering why we didn't take a knee at the end. Anyone?

(1) Yeah, the ghost of Abe Gibron must have possessed whichever coach called that one.

(2) Add to that the going for it on 4th and 1 with a two score lead and I think things were getting a little too aggressive in the game management department.

(3) Indiana has some great athletes. They are super-quick at the skilled positions. They run themselves out of a lot of plays on defense by being overly aggressive.

(4) Our kick-off return coverage was pretty bad. Combination of poor kicks and guys not staying in their lanes.

(5) Nelson had a great day and this may be quibbling, but he is still pretty inconsistent with his throws. The TD pass to Goodger was almost spinning. Great concentration by Goodger.

(6) Engel has improved a lot. He may be the most improved guy on the team. That was a tough adjustment he made on Leidner's throw, but he should have made the grab.