***MINNESOTA-INDIANA PRE-GAME THOUGHTS THREAD***

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thailleagle

thailleagle

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I just looked at Indiana & they may not be as bad as some think. Sure their Defense is horrible but let's look at their losses.

Missouri... who is a Top 10 team in the Nation...

Michigan & Michigan State are are currently #22 & #21 in the Nation & we all know MSU is possibly a Top 15 team when the Season is over.

Navy... Option Team that is rarely seen & might've thrown Indiana off...

Navy is the closest to a team that runs the ball as much as we like to so I went back & watched the highlights of that game & it really seemed as though Indiana just had no answer. They ran the ball 10+ in a row on nearly every scoring drive.


Navy is much smaller then us... if we can push Nebraska's line around then maybe we can do the same to Indiana.

My only concern would be whether we can throw enough looks or at least misdirection at them to confuse them the way Navy did but we should be able to sustain long drives with our Offense's style of play. Defense is gonna have to step up immensely if we are to win this game because they haven't scored less then 28 points this Season...

Considering who Indiana has lost to & our history playing in Bloomington, this one scares me... perfect trap game scenario but I'm glad they're favored so the team can keep everything in perspective as opposed to coming out as favorites after a huge win...
 

thailleagle said:
Considering who Indiana has lost to & our history playing in Bloomington, this one scares me... perfect trap game scenario
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Is it really a trap game when you're predicted to lose by 9.5 points?
 

The key in my mind will be to just stick to our gameplan. We will lose if we get into a high scoring game.

Indiana turns the ball over almost twice a game. The Gophers are at less than one per game. Create a few turnovers, limit ours, run the ball, control the clock, and we will win the game.
 

GophersInIowa said:
The key in my mind will be to just stick to our gameplan. We will lose if we get into a high scoring game.

Indiana turns the ball over almost twice a game. The Gophers are at less than one per game. Create a few turnovers, limit ours, run the ball, control the clock, and we will win the game.
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I agree. If we are north of 35 minutes of possession and hold an edge in the turnover battle, I don't see us losing.

That said, we need to come out playing well on Saturday. If we don't, it could easily be 14-0 or 21-0 by early 2nd quarter, forcing us out of our game plan.
 

Gopher07 said:
I agree. If we are north of 35 minutes of possession and hold an edge in the turnover battle, I don't see us losing.

That said, we need to come out playing well on Saturday. If we don't, it could easily be 14-0 or 21-0 by early 2nd quarter, forcing us out of our game plan.
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Have you seen our 2-minute drill? Nothing forces us out of our gameplan!
 


I don't see this as a trap game at all. I think it stands as a tougher game than Nebraska was, the main difference being that it's on the road.
 

I'm not sure how much option Indiana runs when Roberson is in the game but I wasn't impressed with our approach to stopping it against Nebraska. We basically dared Martinez to pitch it and let Abdullah run free. It was frustrating to watch that happen multiple times. I'm sure it'll be something the coaching staff cleans up this week.

As others have said, we need to control the clock by running the ball, gaining positive yards on 1st and 2nd down, have a high % of 3rd down conversions, and don't turn the ball over. It's the same formula every week. These players have finally bought into who they are, as long as they don't lose sight of that we should be fine. Defensively, keep the ball in front of you and tackle well.
 

I heard once that the best way to defend the option was to hit the quarterback as hard as possible. Let the running back get the ball, but make sure the quarterback thinks twice about the late pitch.
 

afurry91 said:
I heard once that the best way to defend the option was to hit the quarterback as hard as possible. Let the running back get the ball, but make sure the quarterback thinks twice about the late pitch.
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Two keys to defending option:
1) Maintain responsibility and have QB and RB accounted for on all plays.
2) Make sure CB is funneling everything inside. Decrease the amount of room for the play to develop.

Also: hit everyone until they do not want to play anymore.
 



mnsports1 said:
Have you seen our 2-minute drill? Nothing forces us out of our gameplan!
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Haha, well done.

I do like our chances in this game if we can push them around. I see us trading scores. 3 or 4 stops should be all we need, and then when we get the ball late, we will have beat up their defense so bad that we will basically be able to not only score, but control when we score and put in the winning touchdown with not enough time for an answer from their potent offense.
 

It will be interesting to see if Indiana can come back from such a deflating loss to Michigan. A quick review of Indiana football related message boards indicates their fans our cautiously optimistic about their chances. They figure they'll be able to out score us. One guy called Nebraska terrible.
 

gophervet said:
Two keys to defending option:
1) Maintain responsibility and have QB and RB accounted for on all plays.
2) Make sure CB is funneling everything inside. Decrease the amount of room for the play to develop.

Also: hit everyone until they do not want to play anymore.
Click to expand...

The defensive end is always suppose to just target the qb when defending the option and the CB usually has the pitch man, I don't know if our corners didn't to a good job shedding blocks or what but there was usually nobody outside of the pitch man on defense for us, it was very frustrating it was 3rd and 13 and they pitched it to Abdullah and he got the first down, that shouldn't happen
 

I think we handle Indiana fairly easily, as long as they don't get an early & sizable lead. Not that the Gophers can't come back, but that's not their strength. If we go down by 14 or more by the end of the first half, we're in big trouble. Comebacks with a ball control run game against a quick strike air attack with a sizable lead usually fail.
If we have the lead by halftime, I think we stretch that lead out, & cruise to victory.
 



die hard gopher said:
The defensive end is always suppose to just target the qb when defending the option and the CB usually has the pitch man, I don't know if our corners didn't to a good job shedding blocks or what but there was usually nobody outside of the pitch man on defense for us, it was very frustrating it was 3rd and 13 and they pitched it to Abdullah and he got the first down, that shouldn't happen
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From what I saw, our DE's were just pausing and letting Martinez hang onto the ball for a second later instead of just going and hitting him. The longer the option is there, the harder it is on the defense. Commit to one guy and hit him hard if you ask me.
 

Dangerous is a very good way to describe Indiana. Whenever you have an offense that can produce like theirs can and be that explosive, it's kinda scary to face, especially for a team that isn't exactly a beast offensively themselves. The fortunate thing for us is that our ball control, running game offense almost plays perfectly to defending this type of team. We SHOULD be able to pound them up to the tune of close to 300 yards on the ground I would think, if we do that, and convert drives into TDs rather than FGs, I think we'll be in good shape.

Defensively, the two words that come to mind are "tackle" and "discipline". We HAVE to tackle well all game long. With how they space you out, one missed tackle could be a 70 yard TD.
 

If gophersports.com is accurate, Cobb has 634 rushing yards. I'd love to see him north of 750 by Saturday night. If that's the case, I think the Gophers have a solid chance at winning.
 

Seems strange to play a non-conference game in November. When does Indiana return to finish the home and home series?
 



Breakin' The Plane said:
If gophersports.com is accurate, Cobb has 634 rushing yards. I'd love to see him north of 750 by Saturday night. If that's the case, I think the Gophers have a solid chance at winning.
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Cobb will carry the load again, we are hurting at RB. I think Leidner sees more action this week to let him pound away at Indiana's D and take some hits off Nelson and Cobb.
 



The difference between this week and those weeks following Mason's big victories is Kill and his staff. They seem to have the ability to keep their teams on a very even keel. This may be the best coached team in the B1G, considering the level of their recruits and their record.

I fully expect that they will go into this game knowing it's importance and knowing that it will take a yeoman effort to beat IU. I cannot imagine that this coaching staff will not have a fully prepared team on the field. Game plan, film study, knowledge of IU's tendencies and yes, psychology.

This is going to be a tough game but expect superior preparation to rule the day.
 

jaymil said:
I'm not sure how much option Indiana runs when Roberson is in the game but I wasn't impressed with our approach to stopping it against Nebraska. We basically dared Martinez to pitch it and let Abdullah run free. It was frustrating to watch that happen multiple times. I'm sure it'll be something the coaching staff cleans up this week.

As others have said, we need to control the clock by running the ball, gaining positive yards on 1st and 2nd down, have a high % of 3rd down conversions, and don't turn the ball over. It's the same formula every week. These players have finally bought into who they are, as long as they don't lose sight of that we should be fine. Defensively, keep the ball in front of you and tackle well.
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Yeah I didn't understand that at all... they never made 1 attempt to go after Abdullah, only Martinez. Given the way Martinez wasn't running & coming off a turf toe injury I sure as hell would've went after Abdullah everytime & force TM inside...
 

ncgo4 said:
The difference between this week and those weeks following Mason's big victories is Kill and his staff. They seem to have the ability to keep their teams on a very even keel. This may be the best coached team in the B1G, considering the level of their recruits and their record.

I fully expect that they will go into this game knowing it's importance and knowing that it will take a yeoman effort to beat IU. I cannot imagine that this coaching staff will not have a fully prepared team on the field. Game plan, film study, knowledge of IU's tendencies and yes, psychology.

This is going to be a tough game but expect superior preparation to rule the day.
Click to expand...

Lets slow down a bit on the bold portion. Kill and co. have done a fantastic job, most people can't disagree with that (myself very much included). But, keep in mind Urban Meyer has a 20 game win streak going. You'll say "but look at their talent." True, they're far more talented than us, but again, they've won 20 in a row. In my opinion the ranking of the coaches getting the most out of their teams is as follows:

1) Meyer-winning 20 in a row is incredible
2) Kill-winning anything and being competent with what he inherited is undeniably great
3) Andersen-who would have thought they'd basically not take a single step back given all the turnover, loss of Ball, change of schemes





4) O'Brien- great year last year given everything. Cracks are clearly starting to show.

All in all we're in agreement that Kill is killing (lame) it. But, this was one big win, let's not let ourselves get carried away quite yet.
 

One week after we beat Michigan in 1977, we lost to Indiana. In 1987 we were 5-0 and #19, then lost to Indiana and finished 6-5 with no bowl bid. One week after we beat Ohio State in 2000, we lost to Indiana. In 2004 we were 6-2 (3-2), then lost to Indiana and went 0-3 to close the regular season. On the other hand, one week after we beat Penn State in 1999, we beat Indiana. Anyway, the point is no one involved with the team should view this as a gimme or easy game. We have a messy history against the Hoosiers when momentum appears to be building. Indiana has improved and has an explosive offense. They're looking for their statement victory. The Gophers can win, but this will be one they need earn. Just showing up won't be enough.
 

die hard gopher said:
The defensive end is always suppose to just target the qb when defending the option and the CB usually has the pitch man, I don't know if our corners didn't to a good job shedding blocks or what but there was usually nobody outside of the pitch man on defense for us, it was very frustrating it was 3rd and 13 and they pitched it to Abdullah and he got the first down, that shouldn't happen
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The corners were being blocked away from the play - pretty easily, too. Fans commenting on Nebraska radio were howling that the Huskers should have run the option all day - but it appears Martinez may have broken toes rather than turf toe. We can be sure Indiana coaches noticed how well Abdullah did on the option, though he's a special athlete.
 

Sports_Realist said:
One week after we beat Michigan in 1977, we lost to Indiana. In 1987 we were 5-0 and #19, then lost to Indiana and finished 6-5 with no bowl bid. One week after we beat Ohio State in 2000, we lost to Indiana. In 2004 we were 6-2 (3-2), then lost to Indiana and went 0-3 to close the regular season. On the other hand, one week after we beat Penn State in 1999, we beat Indiana. Anyway, the point is no one involved with the team should view this as a gimme or easy game. We have a messy history against the Hoosiers when momentum appears to be building. Indiana has improved and has an explosive offense. They're looking for their statement victory. The Gophers can win, but this will be one they need earn. Just showing up won't be enough.
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So what your saying is if you are an opposing team, you dont want to play the Gophers the week before we play Indiana.
 

jaymil said:
Cobb will carry the load again, we are hurting at RB. I think Leidner sees more action this week to let him pound away at Indiana's D and take some hits off Nelson and Cobb.
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I agree. This may be Leidner's week to shine again. I hope his confidence isn't down from the last couple of weeks. He is our best running QB and he can hurt Indian on the edge.
 

die hard gopher said:
The defensive end is always suppose to just target the qb when defending the option and the CB usually has the pitch man, I don't know if our corners didn't to a good job shedding blocks or what but there was usually nobody outside of the pitch man on defense for us, it was very frustrating it was 3rd and 13 and they pitched it to Abdullah and he got the first down, that shouldn't happen
Click to expand...

The CB cannot be expected to have the pitch man when there is a WR blocking him. Someone from the second or third level would most likely have pitch man responsibility when the end has the qb. The key for that person is play recognition and getting a free release. This is not a rule by any means, just a common approach. A team can have the end take the pitch and a linebacker take the qb.
 

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