Interest in the program is high, yet many are calling for TC's job. Why???

[GopherTheMoney]

Once the Gophs win tonight, TC will silence the nay sayers. Yes, I am calling this our upset special!!

Nice guarantee...Betting on ML7 to come up with the goods is like betting against the sun to rise in the east.

 

[RolGnav]

Claeys is making simple mistakes like time management. He isn't ready to lead a Power 5 school yet.

 

[Sid Hartman]

MITCH?!
No, not Jay Sawvel playing 7 yards off on a 4th and 2....and a defense who cant tackle.
No, not Jay Johnson who gets a lead then just runs up the middle and stops trying to
score the rest of the game. Nope, it's Mitch's fault. Kid plays his guts out then has to
run a 2 minute offense and try to score late because of sh!tty coaching, but yeah, his
fault.

You're the first one who gets to delete their account. Bye felicia.

How many balls did he overthrow (Still 1st half) or under throw? Seriously if he was average even as a thrower this team wins. Agreed the coaching is head scratching, but this is what you get when you hire on the cheap

 

[BleedGopher]

Within two minutes of the game ending tonight, I received three separate texts from what I would consider die-hard Minnesota sports fans, but only casual Gopher football fans. They all said a variation of "I don't know how you do this to yourself year in and year out."

I probably could have gotten one or two of them to go next week if we had won tonight, but no way will they go now. We seem to miss big opportunities like this pretty regularly.

Go Gophers!!

 

[GopherTheMoney]

MITCH?!
No, not Jay Sawvel playing 7 yards off on a 4th and 2....and a defense who cant tackle.
No, not Jay Johnson who gets a lead then just runs up the middle and stops trying to
score the rest of the game. Nope, it's Mitch's fault. Kid plays his guts out then has to
run a 2 minute offense and try to score late because of sh!tty coaching, but yeah, his
fault.

You're the first one who gets to delete their account. Bye felicia.

Mitch has gone five games without a TD pass...He is a choker.....Cannot wait till he graduates

 

[frannyjunk]

Mitch has gone five games without a TD pass...He is a choker.....Cannot wait till he graduates

You will be wishing ML7 was still our QB next year. Mitch is a decent QB. Makes ok decisions. For crying out loud, he had a 115 QB rating last night, completing almost 67% of his passes. And he was playing against a good Nebraska defense on the road.

 

[Pompous Elitist]

You will be wishing ML7 was still our QB next year. Mitch is a decent QB. Makes ok decisions. For crying out loud, he had a 115 QB rating last night, completing almost 67% of his passes. And he was playing against a good Nebraska defense on the road.

Mitch wasn't the primary reason we lost last night but the last pick was unforgivable. A 115 rating is actually pretty low, definitely below average. Our inability to consistently pass/catch and the staff's lack of faith in the passing game helped do us in. Our run blocking is terrible, topped off by running into plus boxes all night. We should be able to complete a lot of passes with how we're being played. Bad recipe. Mitch has been a warrior but he is simply not good at making decisions at times. We take the good with the bad but unfortunately it's hard to take the next step with a sub-par pass game.

 

[frannyjunk]

Mitch wasn't the primary reason we lost last night but the last pick was unforgivable. A 115 rating is actually pretty low, definitely below average. Our inability to consistently pass/catch and the staff's lack of faith in the passing game helped do us in. Our run blocking is terrible, topped off by running into plus boxes all night. We should be able to complete a lot of passes with how we're being played. Bad recipe. Mitch has been a warrior but he is simply not good at making decisions at times. We take the good with the bad but unfortunately it's hard to take the next step with a sub-par pass game.

What are your thoughts on Rhoda, Croft, Green or Williams next year? Upgrade over ML7? Or will it be more of the same, maybe even less consistent?

 

[Pompous Elitist]

What are your thoughts on Rhoda, Croft, Green or Williams next year? Upgrade over ML7? Or will it be more of the same, maybe even less consistent?

I have no idea. I wasn't enthusiastic about Green even before Oregon back-pedaled on him. That's not to say he can't develop. So much of QB play is intelligence and instincts.

From a purely dual threat angle Williams looks like more of an Armstrong-type quick twitch weapon with his legs. Croft is more of a glider. Green looks like he can be a bruiser. But, who can pre and post read defenses? Avoid the blitz? Throw accurately? People who have been at the camps can maybe shed some light.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Well, let's see who we beat....

Illinois
Purdue
Maryland
Rutgers

Wow. That's really impressive.

This is the first season in as long as I can remember where Gophs have been in a position at the end of every game to win. We have two losses, on the road, to teams who've been ranked in the top ten. Yeah, Iowa home loss sucks, but we are essentially two bad plays from 9-1.

 

[ncgo4]

I think the call for his ouster is overestimated. The degree to which it is present, however, is primarily due to the way he looks and they way he presents himself. Never, never, ever underestimate the importance of a first impression and Claey's first impression is not good. Compare him with Mason and, God forbid, Brewster. But also, Urban and most of the other new coaches in the B1G. He looks unhealthy and even unkempt.

You get past his first impression, and he's a first level quality person and a very high quality coach. One I hope we extend for at least 2 or 3 years.

 

[csom_1991]

You will be wishing ML7 was still our QB next year. Mitch is a decent QB. Makes ok decisions. For crying out loud, he had a 115 QB rating last night

Not to say you are one of the people that don't know the college and pro QB rating formula is very different - but 115 for college is pretty low actually while making you MVP caliber in the NFL.

For what it's worth:

Per NFL QB Rating

ML 2016: 75.61
ML 2016 (ex InSt): 65.79

Truly - if Mitch played this bad as a freshman, we would be looking for a replacement for the upcoming season. Given he has had 5 years to get this bad, it is astonishing. I find it hard to believe he does not make the same moronic decisions in practice as he does in the games. Also, I find it hard to believe he has some unbelievable accuracy or ability to actually throw a spiral in practice that he does not demonstrate in the games. So, this means Mitch is either uncoachable and/or our coaching staff is incapable of diagnosing and correcting problems.

Not all of the team's problems can be placed on ML - lord knows he is trying his best. But, an average QB has this team undefeated or with a single loss. The fact that ML can't be coached up to be an average QB after 5 years and the staff can't find someone on the team that can - is shocking.

 

[beavergopher]

Not to say you are one of the people that don't know the college and pro QB rating formula is very different - but 115 for college is pretty low actually while making you MVP caliber in the NFL.

For what it's worth:

Per NFL QB Rating

ML 2016: 75.61
ML 2016 (ex InSt): 65.79

Truly - if Mitch played this bad as a freshman, we would be looking for a replacement for the upcoming season. Given he has had 5 years to get this bad, it is astonishing. I find it hard to believe he does not make the same moronic decisions in practice as he does in the games. Also, I find it hard to believe he has some unbelievable accuracy or ability to actually throw a spiral in practice that he does not demonstrate in the games. So, this means Mitch is either uncoachable and/or our coaching staff is incapable of diagnosing and correcting problems.

Not all of the team's problems can be placed on ML - lord knows he is trying his best. But, an average QB has this team undefeated or with a single loss. The fact that ML can't be coached up to be an average QB after 5 years and the staff can't find someone on the team that can - is shocking.

Well said.

 

[upnorthkid]

What are your thoughts on Rhoda, Croft, Green or Williams next year? Upgrade over ML7? Or will it be more of the same, maybe even less consistent?

Upcoming year QB I would expect the following.

First year player mistakes (ie the pick Mitch threw last night is a first year player mistake) with flashes where they really look electric. These guys were brought in as dual threats. I'm not expecting Manziel, RG3, or Wilson out of any of these guys, but a couple of Armstrong plays now and again.

Summary: They will take lumps and potentially their play will put us in a spot to cost us a game. However I expect the D to be better and the OL to be better (and the RBs still great) which should help cover them (think Hornibrook sp? for WI this year)

Should caveat this with I don't expect Rhoda to be the starter next year. If he is, then the expectation I would expect is different.

 

[Tackle4loss]

Not to say you are one of the people that don't know the college and pro QB rating formula is very different - but 115 for college is pretty low actually while making you MVP caliber in the NFL.

For what it's worth:

Per NFL QB Rating

ML 2016: 75.61
ML 2016 (ex InSt): 65.79

Truly - if Mitch played this bad as a freshman, we would be looking for a replacement for the upcoming season. Given he has had 5 years to get this bad, it is astonishing. I find it hard to believe he does not make the same moronic decisions in practice as he does in the games. Also, I find it hard to believe he has some unbelievable accuracy or ability to actually throw a spiral in practice that he does not demonstrate in the games. So, this means Mitch is either uncoachable and/or our coaching staff is incapable of diagnosing and correcting problems. Not all of the team's problems can be placed on ML - lord knows he is trying his best. But, an average QB has this team undefeated or with a single loss. The fact that ML can't be coached up to be an average QB after 5 years and the staff can't find someone on the team that can - is shocking.

yep the coaches rode him for 5 years to limit turnovers and run the ground game. This year, they needed him to do more and we see the result -turnover in tight times.

 

[Scoops5]

Not to say you are one of the people that don't know the college and pro QB rating formula is very different - but 115 for college is pretty low actually while making you MVP caliber in the NFL.

For what it's worth:

Per NFL QB Rating

ML 2016: 75.61
ML 2016 (ex InSt): 65.79

Truly - if Mitch played this bad as a freshman, we would be looking for a replacement for the upcoming season. Given he has had 5 years to get this bad, it is astonishing. I find it hard to believe he does not make the same moronic decisions in practice as he does in the games. Also, I find it hard to believe he has some unbelievable accuracy or ability to actually throw a spiral in practice that he does not demonstrate in the games. So, this means Mitch is either uncoachable and/or our coaching staff is incapable of diagnosing and correcting problems.

Not all of the team's problems can be placed on ML - lord knows he is trying his best. But, an average QB has this team undefeated or with a single loss. The fact that ML can't be coached up to be an average QB after 5 years and the staff can't find someone on the team that can - is shocking.

Can anyone do some research to find how many last drives Leidner has been successful and in how many attempts? It feels like the attempts have been many, which sucks because there are few players at the college level who are truly "clutch" and have a high success rate.

But if you aren't one of the few, which it appears Leidner is not, chances are the success rate is 50 percent or lower for any given player. To my recollection, it feels like he has been in way too many close games, and therefore, luck is running out or we are seeing the failure side of the statistics.

That said, I feel for Leidner. At times, he has appeared better in year 5, he will go on runs of 7-8 and a great completions rate, but the Penn State and now Nebraska INTs truly hurt. He definitely has the backing of the team, and it sounds like he works hard, does all the right things, but some athletes just aren't meant to be clutch, even when he is killing to be or when we are hoping he will be.

Personally, I was hoping he would put it together at NEB to boost confidence into the last two games. But unfortunately, last night showed me enough. I'll follow the games, but I'm not expecting any wins in NW or WISC.

 

[MGGopher]

Personally, I was hoping he would put it together at NEB to boost confidence into the last two games. But unfortunately, last night showed me enough. I'll follow the games, but I'm not expecting any wins in NW or WISC.

Agree with your points above. Nice post. Just wanted to comment on this, however. This will sound weird, but I feel MUCH better about Mitch after last night than I did before the game. The INT was horrific, so that's what sticks in our minds. But until that point, he'd looked better to my eyes than he had all year. He was hitting receivers out of their breaks, in stride, giving them a chance to run. He was throwing into tight windows. He converted a couple crucial 3rd downs. He was taking shots down the field. He looked comfortable in the pocket.

Oh, and I remember him coming out and throwing for 300+ yards against Mich last year when the team was against the wall. So who the heck knows what will happen Sat. To quote a famous poster here...hope we win.