Mitch, tuck the ball away!!!!

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John Galt

John Galt

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This is D-1 football. We needed points there, it didn't have to be a touchdown.
 

John Galt said:
This is D-1 football. We needed points there, it didn't have to be a touchdown.
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Yep. That was a killer. I thought Leidner played pretty well all things considered. But that was the ballgame.
 

I couldn'g watch the game. What did Leidner do and when did he do it?
 

If you're going to tuck & run....then TUCK and run!!!!!
 

jags1998 said:
Yep. That was a killer. I thought Leidner played pretty well all things considered. But that was the ballgame.
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Blaming Leidner for losing the game seems pretty harsh.

That hurt, but didn't cost the Gophs the ballgame. They still would have had to score twice and maybe get a two-point conversion just to tie-it and send it into O.T. That coming from an Offense that scored 3 points in 8 Quarters.
 


Leidner's fumble didn't cost us the game, but it sealed the deal. He's had horrible ball control all season.

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk
 

Iceland12 said:
Blaming Leidner for losing the game seems pretty harsh.

That hurt, but didn't cost the Gophs the ballgame. They still would have had to score twice and maybe get a two-point conversion just to tie-it and send it into O.T. That coming from an Offense that scored 3 points in 8 Quarters.
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I didn't read that as him blaming Leidner for the loss but rather saying that fumble was the one that sealed the fact that we were not going to stage a comeback to win. We needed to get points on that drive and to come away with nothing was killer. Certainly can't pin the loss on Leidner but he is going to have to work his butt off in the off season on ball security as this is not the first time this year he has struggled to hang onto the ball in a key situation.
 

I think we need Leidner to be a viable option here for when Nelson struggles and Kill just won't play him if he continues to put it on the ground as turnovers lose games. It's a highly fixable issue that I expect he'll get squared away before the season kicks off in '14.
 

MZBKA said:
Leidner's fumble didn't cost us the game, but it sealed the deal. He's had horrible ball control all season.

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk
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And the other guy hasn't scored a TD in two and a half Big Ten games, since the end of the First Half against Penn State.

You're not making things feel better.
 



Leidner will either learn to protect the ball or he will not play unless Nelson gets hurt. We need Leidner to step up in big way. He can throw the ball down field with a certain amount of accuracy. Nelson can't throw down field with any degree of accuracy.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I didn't read that as him blaming Leidner for the loss but rather saying that fumble was the one that sealed the fact that we were not going to stage a comeback to win. We needed to get points on that drive and to come away with nothing was killer. Certainly can't pin the loss on Leidner but he is going to have to work his butt off in the off season on ball security as this is not the first time this year he has struggled to hang onto the ball in a key situation.
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Nelson threw two interceptions when the game was in doubt. Leidner fumbled when the game was probably out of reach. Yet somebody started a thread about the fumble. Don't blame me.
 

Nelson needs to stop throwing into double coverage period.
 

Iceland12 said:
Nelson threw two interceptions when the game was in doubt. Leidner fumbled when the game was probably out of reach. Yet somebody started a thread about the fumble. Don't blame me.
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We get at least a field goal on that drive and it is an 8 point game so the game was definitely not out of reach. I just think you are reading too much into what was posted, ball security was a problem for Leidner all season and something he will have to improve on if he wants to be a viable option going forward.
 



Leidner can be a valuable contributor on this team. For an offense that seems to be lacking play makers it is essential that we use all the weapons we have. Right now his fumbling is a liability. He desperately needs to fix that so he can help this team in 2014.
 


MNVCGUY said:
We get at least a field goal on that drive and it is an 8 point game so the game was definitely not out of reach. I just think you are reading too much into what was posted, ball security was a problem for Leidner all season and something he will have to improve on if he wants to be a viable option going forward.
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Disagree on whether it was over or not. Have you seen our "hurry-up" Offense this year? Yeah, me neither.

You're probably dead right though on reading to much into the post. Having watched four and a half seasons now of "don't throw the ball into you HAVE too", the last three of which because we can't find a QB who can complete any pass under duress, it's tough. Now after watching QB's who are having troubles completing passes even when a guy is open, and those guys hardly EVER getting open and it's just gotten a little depressing..

Now the pleasures of a good season are washing away because we can't complete a pass. Then Leidner actually completes a few and the topic is "but he fumbles...
 

Seems like the QB's regressed in the past two games. In the 4 games before that their accuracy seemed much better.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
Leidner will either learn to protect the ball or he will not play unless Nelson gets hurt. We need Leidner to step up in big way. He can throw the ball down field with a certain amount of accuracy. Nelson can't throw down field with any degree of accuracy.
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One guy gets benched because he can't hold onto the ball. The other guy keeps playing even though he's often afraid to make a decision because he can't throw the ball.

Can't blame the Bowls for not wanting to see any of that.
 

Iceland12 said:
And the other guy hasn't scored a TD in two and a half Big Ten games, since the end of the First Half against Penn State.

You're not making things feel better.
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What do you want Nelson to do? Throw to himself? You can't blame Nelson for Wolitarsky dropping catchable the balls. As the receivers get better, Nelson will look better, even if Nelson's passing doesn't improve.

Leidner has to learn how to hold on to the ball, or the Gophers can't afford to play him.
 

Iceland12 said:
Nelson threw two interceptions when the game was in doubt. Leidner fumbled when the game was probably out of reach. Yet somebody started a thread about the fumble. Don't blame me.
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Before this game, Nelson hadn't thrown an interception in 5 games. Leidner has fumbled the ball 3 times in the last two games he's played in as a backup

Leidner's ball security is a much bigger problem for the Gophers than Nelson's passing.
 

Relax. These are two young QB's who will only get better. This team has the right guys. What we need is experience. Playing in two big games the last two weeks will only make us better. It is a huge step forward just to get there, now we learn how to win. M. ST. and WISCONSIN took these same steps to get where they are at.
 

MZBKA said:
Before this game, Nelson hadn't thrown an interception in 5 games. Leidner has fumbled the ball 3 times in the last two games he's played in as a backup

Leidner's ball security is a much bigger problem for the Gophers than Nelson's passing.
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No, it isn't, not even close. How many wins has it cost them?

Didn't cost them the game today. Didn't cost them the Iowa game either. It wasn't his fumbles against Wisconsin that shut them out. Maybe Michigan? His fumble against them was costly but pretty early in the game, still, it did hurt. His interception was WAY after the outcome was settled. In fairness, you've got a difficult point to make. You want to downgrade Leidner to make it seem like Nelson has been good. He hasn't, he's been godawful for 2 and a half games now. Hopefully one of both of them can get better.

Maybe Leidner would have been worse than Nelson if he played more. That's the argument you should try because Mitch hasn't looked very good for awhile now. No, you seem to want to make the case that Nelson has been good.

That's an impossible case to make to people who have saw him play.
 


Iceland12 said:
No, it isn't, not even close. How many wins has it cost them?

Didn't cost them the game today. Didn't cost them the Iowa game either. It wasn't his fumbles against Wisconsin that shut them out. Maybe Michigan? His fumble against them was costly but pretty early in the game, still, it did hurt. His interception was WAY after the outcome was settled. In fairness, you've got a difficult point to make. You want to downgrade Leidner to make it seem like Nelson has been good. He hasn't, he's been godawful for 2 and a half games now. Hopefully one of both of them can get better.

Maybe Leidner would have been worse than Nelson if he played more. That's the argument you should try because Mitch hasn't looked very good for awhile now. No, you seem to want to make the case that Nelson has been good.

That's an impossible case to make to people who have saw him play.
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Did you just start watching Gophers Football a week ago?

Against Northwester, Nelson was GOOD
Against Nebraska, Nelson was GOOD
Against Indiana, Nelson was GOOD
Against Penn State, Nelson was GOOD.

Since the Northwestern game, Nelson has had two interceptions, both today, while Leidner has had three fumbles. I stand by my point. Leidner's ball security is and has been a much bigger problem for the team than Nelson's passing.
 

Very good news! The young receivers (4,82,88) have skills and can make plays. They all made
plays in the 4th quarter after quarterback change when passes were spirals and had velocity. Future of the offense should be good next year. The skilled players are probably already here.

Nelson:

Wisconsin 7 -23
Michigan State 6 - 18

Also, missed wide open Williams for big plays in each game.
 

MZBKA said:
Did you just start watching Gophers Football a week ago?

Against Northwester, Nelson was GOOD
Against Nebraska, Nelson was GOOD
Against Indiana, Nelson was GOOD
Against Penn State, Nelson was GOOD.

Since the Northwestern game, Nelson has had two interceptions, both today, while Leidner has had three fumbles. I stand by my point. Leidner's ball security is and has been a much bigger problem for the team than Nelson's passing.
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Yeah, saw them which is why you're having such a time being convincing.

But as you've proven again and again not having a point doesn't mean you stop trying to make one. ;)
 

Let's stop throwing one quarterback under the bus to make the other seem like "the guy". Both need to get better. Both need to stop throwing into coverage. And both need to stop making mistakes at critical times.

Both quarterbacks will get better and I hope they both stick around for the long haul. We will need them.
 

Iceland12 said:
No, it isn't, not even close. How many wins has it cost them?

Didn't cost them the game today. Didn't cost them the Iowa game either. It wasn't his fumbles against Wisconsin that shut them out. Maybe Michigan? His fumble against them was costly but pretty early in the game, still, it did hurt. His interception was WAY after the outcome was settled. In fairness, you've got a difficult point to make. You want to downgrade Leidner to make it seem like Nelson has been good. He hasn't, he's been godawful for 2 and a half games now. Hopefully one of both of them can get better.

Maybe Leidner would have been worse than Nelson if he played more. That's the argument you should try because Mitch hasn't looked very good for awhile now. No, you seem to want to make the case that Nelson has been good.

That's an impossible case to make to people who have saw him play.
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Most people would say 2 interceptions in the first half and 6 -18 passing is a larger problem.
 

They both have had good and bad moments this year. What I think is safe to say is nobody can be sure that we have the QB on campus who can lead us to the promised land and help us really break out to that next level. Maybe that's expected because they are still both young, but it would have been nice to emerge from this year with a better idea of exactly what we have at by far the most important position on a football team.
 

Neither guy is a finished product and both have some problems. But Nelson has and deserves and much longer leash based on his outstanding play during the 4 game winning streak.

I like some of the elements Mitch brings when he is in the game, but he holds the ball like a rag doll at his hip. I'm sure he'll get it corrected in the off-season.
 

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