Little insight from Metrodome that comes as no shock

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Doogie

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Just caught up with someone here at the Metrodome who follows/knows the Gophers closely...expect Cosgrove to bring the house tomorrow...he likes to blitz anyway, but look for blitzes on over 50% of Paulus's snaps.
 

Thanks, Doogie...coming from someone who's appreciated your insights from your days on the radio, don't take any sh!t from the people on here that like to complain about free material!
 

It is nice to have a defense that when you start talking blitzes the reaction isn't "oh, god, our CBs are screwed"

Can't wait.
 

I would be surprised to see much blitzing in the first half.

But what do I know?

Go Gophers!
 



borninthebarn said:
It is nice to have a defense that when you start talking blitzes the reaction isn't "oh, god, our CBs are screwed"

Can't wait.
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This is a really important point. With Traye and Sherels (and Carter and Collado behind them), I think Cosgrove can afford to take a few chances blitzing linebackers. We have the guys to do it, too, between Lawrence, Campbell, Triplett, and Cooper.

Maybe losing WVD doesn't hurt us as much as we've all been expecting???
 


year of the gopher said:
This is a really important point. With Traye and Sherels (and Carter and Collado behind them), I think Cosgrove can afford to take a few chances blitzing linebackers. We have the guys to do it, too, between Lawrence, Campbell, Triplett, and Cooper.
Click to expand...

And this weird thing called depth that I hear helps once in a while.

Say what you want about Brew, it's clear that the average quality of athlete in the program is going up. Hopefully we can continually develop players and put them in a position to make plays and win football games.
 

It's great to hear this!

Can't wait for tomorrow
 



I hope so...let's scare the hell out of Paulus early to crush his confidence and force him into making mistakes.......
 

They don't have a great offensive line so I look for a lot of line shifts, line stunts, and zone blitzes. I don't look for Cosgrove to totally sell out but do enough to create confusion for the offense. I look for Cosgrove have a game plan that takes away the run to force Paulus into trying to make plays. If the game is forced onto Paulus's shoulders he'll make mistakes. I can see Syracuse making some plays but I don't see them sustaining any long drives.
 

Scared to death of bubble screens if this is the case. Didn't NW do this to us last year when Kafka wasn't rushing?
 

Northwestern also won 9 games whereas Syracuse won 3, they're not on the same level at all.......
 



Syracuse Fan - weighing in

Hey Gophers - reading a lot here about blitzing, stuffing the run, forcing Paulus to pass and make quick decisions. Here's what we know about this year's team, based on feedback from the players, coaches and media because we haven't seen a lot, as practices have been closed. First point to counter - our running backs are the strength of our offense. They are talented, have differing styles - they can all catch and run out of the backfield. Granted, a previously weak O-Line has to create holes, but some of our guys can make their own yardage. Marrone is an O-lineman and is bound to make this group better. They have been together for a while and should start producing.

Regarding Paulus and his performance. Again, they haven't shown us much, but the kid is impressive from a poise, maturity and Football IQ perspective. He definitely has the physical skills. How quickly he can brush off the rust, is key. Our offensive coordinator said at the beginning of the year that he's installing an offense that would best be run by a point guard. This was before Paulus was thinking about getting back into football. We're creating an offense with multiple looks and quick reads. The word is that Paulus is eating up everything he's being fed in the play book and executing well. If you blitz all day - we will likely run quick trap runs, draws, screens, quick slants...etc. We have one NFL-bound receiver and an excellent tight end. We also have a number of solid back-up receivers....including a very talented true freshman. This group may not be stars, but they are playmakers, nonetheless.

Our biggest weakness will be the defense, outside of the D-line. If our offense is unable to stay on the field for long, we're in for a long day.

Final comment - looks like we're going to have a sellout for the first time in years. The fans are very pumped and excited. It will be EXTREMELY loud in the Dome. It will be very uncomfortable and humid...no air conditioning. The coach has purposely been pounding the team in practice in the dome for the past month so they can out last visitors in the 4th quarter.

Looking for a great game - believe in my heart that we'll win. My head says, wish we were playing Montana State, to begin the season to give the coach, players and Paulus one game to warm up. I am confident, that win or lose - we're going to be very competitive and the Gophers will go home respecting the Orange.
 

Nice, pleasant insight...Still can't see it...feel like Weber is one of the most under appreciated athletes in recent MN memory...18-starters back, and many can play...good enough corners can give Cosgrove freedom to do some stuff...O-line was terrible last year, so I highly doubt that unit will completely shine today, but have a new coach/new starters in place...should be better than last year...Decker is top-notch who will have to be double-covered...that should open things up for others...close for a half, but the Gophers win and cover the spread.
 

Syracuse this year reminds me a lot of Minnesota in '07. A lot of hype and excitement about a new coach and turning a program around, but the reality is that the program lacks the athletes necessary to win.

The comments by Marrone and the players are almost the exact same things (minus a few "tremendous"es) as we heard from our program 2 years ago.

Agree with Doogie - I just don't see Syracuse putting a product on the field that is as improved as they are hoping/expecting. We have too many veterans and too much more talent across the board.
 


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