MTSU

Donate To GopherHole
G

gopherkid12

New member
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Uh oh... this quarterback for MTSU looks like he could give us some trouble if we don't come prepared. his names dwight dasher and he is compared to Michael Vick by many people. I'm not saying anything on an outcome of the game but he looks like one of those players that naturall make MN teams look silly. here's his highlight video from last year.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxdLkvGwUcM
 

I'm not a college fantasy football player, but from what I've read, Dasher is one of the Top 10 picks. I'm looking at a mock draft from Athlon, and he's the 4th player chosen. A real weapon.
 

He will give us trouble. Dasher is a legit playmaker and is experienced. This will be a very difficult game for the Gophers, and we will be fortunate if it results in a win.
 

They will be good competition but Cosgrove and Lee will have a very good gameplan to slow him down and cut down his options. Last years defense would have had more trouble with him but this years defense is well equipped to run down QBs like him. But he is definitely a true dual threat QB. The Gophers thrive in night games; we will play well.
 

Whatever happens, it'll definitely be a good test of the athleticism of the defense. I think we'll have a really good idea what this team is about after the first game.
 


I'm glad our 'backers will (hopefully) be quicker this year. This is the kind of guy that would run for a record setting yardage against us in years past. Let's hope Cosgrove and Lee will be ready...
 

I hope we get a respectful, knowledgeable MTSU poster in here to tell us before the game about the strengths and weaknesses of both of their units. If you are that poster and read this -- please feel free to chime in!
 

I actually think that having to face Dasher in the first game, is better than later in the year, because the defense will be fresh from chasing Gray in preseason camp. Quarterbacks like Dasher are tough for the scout team to emulate.
 

Personally, I think people are making too much of MTSU as a way of hedging. I know MTSU won 10 games last year, but here is a list of the teams they beat (with the CollegeFootballNews rating and the W/L record of each opponent in paranthesees):

Memphis W 31-14 (2-10 #108)
at Maryland W 32-31 (2-10 #91)
at North Texas W 37-21 (2-10 #117)
Western Kentucky W 62-24 (0-12 #120)
at Florida Atlantic W 27-20 (5-7 #103)
FIU W 48-21 (3-9 #113)
Louisiana-Lafayette W 34-17 (6-6 #97)
Arkansas State W 38-14 (4-8 #107)
at Louisiana-Monroe W 38-19 (6-6 #99)
Southern Miss (bowl) W 42-32 (6-7 #79)

So, to summarize, MTSU beat 9 of the 30 worst teams in college football and their signature win came in a bowl against a Southern Miss team, that themselves only beat 2 teams with (barely) winning records. In their 3 losses, MTSU averaged 9 points of offense per game and lost by a 3+ touchdown margin per game.

This is not meant as a dis to MTSU team. They are a very good Sun Belt conference team. That said, the Sun Belt conference is 8-104 against BCS division teams over the past 5 years (yes, I know one of those was against us).

Spin it anyway you want, but IMO a loss in this game would tell me that we are not much better (if at all) than in 2007 when we lost to Sun Belt champions Florida Atlantic.

I would agree with those that call this game a bellweather game. I think its possible for us to go down to Murfreesboro and win by 35+ points. On the other hand, we could go down there and lose a close game. I just don't think I know enough about our team yet to feel confident in either outcome. I will say that we are due at some point to have an offensive break-through (a la last year's Michigan State game) against an inferior team for a really lop-sided score - but that might have to wait 9 days after the MTSU game to happen.

Go Gophers!
 



Good point. We need to respect MTSU, but not quake in our shoes. If the 2009 Gophers had played that schedule, we'd have the same record.
 

josh087 said:
He will give us trouble. Dasher is a legit playmaker and is experienced. This will be a very difficult game for the Gophers, and we will be fortunate if it results in a win.
Click to expand...

you are kidding right? you are talking about middle tn state right? we better come out of this with a win, i don't care how athletic their qb is. Our starting QB is a four year starter in the Big fricking Ten for gosh sakes. We better have the result a win, no matter if this is the second coming of Vick or not. That doesn't mean we dont respect them, but come on we cant honestly be setting the bar this low.
 

I don't know what everybody is so afraid of.

It's like like MTSU is NDSU or something.
 




Its called first game jitters I suppose so we cautiously and quietly expect a victory. It is my understanding that MTSU had a Juco transfer playing QB most of the Spring that is more of a conventional Pro Style QB. Not sure but Dasher was likely injured. So defensive preparation will be interesting. The offense will likely be very conservation for the Gophers and may open up a slight bit by mid game; But I expect to see a lot of ball control offense and a significant dominance of time of possession. Expect people to complain that we look like Wisconsin and Iowas, while we stack up Ws.
 

Go Gophers Rah said:
Personally, I think people are making too much of MTSU as a way of hedging.

So, to summarize, MTSU beat 9 of the 30 worst teams in college football and their signature win came in a bowl against a Southern Miss team, that themselves only beat 2 teams with (barely) winning records. In their 3 losses, MTSU averaged 9 points of offense per game and lost by a 3+ touchdown margin per game.

Spin it anyway you want, but IMO a loss in this game would tell me that we are not much better (if at all) than in 2007 when we lost to Sun Belt champions Florida Atlantic.
Click to expand...


you are exactly correct. MTSU played the 115 rank scheduled out of 120 schools last year. this is just a way to make the Gopher prosepcts for the year better if they win and a loss can be summed up as they played on a the road against a team that won 10 games last year.

either way the outcome can be favorable for the Gophers.
 

This is a great opportunity for the Gophers to show that they are a lot better than the magazines picked us.
 

MTSU will put points on the board and I'm guessing at least 14. Our offense better be able to stay on the field and score, or it's going to be a closer game than it should.
 

you are kidding right? you are talking about middle tn state right? we better come out of this with a win, i don't care how athletic their qb is. Our starting QB is a four year starter in the Big fricking Ten for gosh sakes. We better have the result a win, no matter if this is the second coming of Vick or not. That doesn't mean we dont respect them, but come on we cant honestly be setting the bar this low.
Click to expand...

I wish I were kidding. Middle Tennessee State will be favored to win this game - and it is on the road for the Gophers. MTSU will at least receive votes in the top 25 preseason poll, and might even sneak into the rankings. How many votes will the Gophers get in the top 25? The answer will be zero.

IMO, anytime you win a road game as an underdog you feel fortunate to come away with a victory. That's what we will be facing September 2nd.

We don't set the bar. Vegas does, and the bar will indictate that MTSU should win this game.
 

All of this reminds me of the week prior to the BGSU game in 2008. They had just beaten a ranked Pitt team and had a couple of votes in the AP poll. We were on the road and the game was shaping up to be their entre into the national spotlight. We went out there and won soundly leaving everyone to wonder if it was much to do about nothing.

Also, last year there was a lot of hand-wringing over Syracuse prior to the season's start. Greg Paulus was going to have a cinderella year and the new coach would have the Orange defense playing top-notch. Granted, it took an overtime affair, but in retrospect that Syracuse team was nothing to fear.

Again, this is not meant to disrespect MTSU. I think they will end up winning or 2nd place in their conference at the end of the year. I just have some lingering belief that the level of talent, athletecism and depth of any Big Ten team is a great equalizer.

Teams in the Big Ten have won 87.5% of the games thay have played against non-BCS opponents over the past 5 years. If this were Indiana versus MTSU, I would be saying the same thing and predicting a Hoosiers victory. Obviously the Gophers can be beaten by non-BCS opponents (Ohio in 2000, Toledo in 2001 and BGSU, FAU & NoDakState in 2007), we should still be confident enough to see those losses as aberations.
 

gopherkid12 said:
I'm not saying anything on an outcome of the game but he looks like one of those players that naturall make MN teams look silly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxdLkvGwUcM
Click to expand...

Bingo, I got that sinking feeling watching that reel. I know its a highlight film, and that MTSU played a weak schedule last year, but I have been watching the Gophers since 1972 and I have never seen us stop/control a QB like that. I predict that this guy will have a "career day" against us. My hope is that our offense can control that ball and clock, and that they turn the ball over. This game has trouble written all over it.
 

eker0016 said:
I hope we get a respectful, knowledgeable MTSU poster in here to tell us before the game about the strengths and weaknesses of both of their units. If you are that poster and read this -- please feel free to chime in!
Click to expand...

I'll fill that role. I'm the Editor-in-Chief over at BlueRaiderZone (feel free to stop by), so I'll be glad to answer any questions.

First of all, Dasher wasn't injured in the Spring. There was no question that he was the starter heading into 2010, so instead of risking injury, the staff let the backups duel it out. Low and behold, three of them left the team for whatever reason. Our No. 2 on the depth chart is the JUCO transfer, but he's just as mobile as Dasher is and has a more accurate arm. Our staff is doing all they can to save him a year of eligibility, so we went out and got another JUCO qb to serve as the No. 2 guy in 2010.

Now, on to strengths and weaknesses.

Offensive strengths - Dwight Dasher, three-headed monster at running back. Watch out for Phillip Tanner. He's our 5th-year running back who led the team in 2008, but was hurt early last year. Our O-line also returns a majority of the starters, including a few all-conference types.

Offensive weakness - Experience at the WR position. We graduated our leading receivers in yards and TD's from last year, but we've still got some very capable guys. They just haven't played all that much. We also have two stout JUCO guys.

Defensive strength - Defensive Line and schemes. Our d-line has been questionable because of injuries, but those reports are no good. Both guys who were supposedly hurt are healthy and will be playing on Sep. 2. Additionally, our DC is keeping the same scheme in place from last year which caused nightmares for a lot of folks. It's very blitz-heavy and brings pressure from all over the place.

Defensive weakness - Secondary depth. A WR-turned CB and JUCO corner will probably see the field in our game.
 

Thanks for the great post. I hope the Gophers have had enough time to prepare for Dasher -- our defense should feature younger, faster guys this year. Many are unproven or lightly tested, but we have high hopes for a lot of them. Our offense is a real question mark after last year -- we looked a lot better the year before the now departed OC Jedd Fisch came in and screwed things up -- we are hoping that simplifying the offense (and maybe the emergence of a freshman RB or two...probably not in the MTSU game though) and a focus on the running game can bring our offense back up to snuff.

Out of curiosity, what do folks on the blueraiderzone generally think of the game against the Gophers? I may stop by for a visit, but I thought you'd have the best read on the feeling about this game.

Thanks again. I hope you stop by closer to game time and give us another update!
 

Dasher is a great player. There is no denying that. MTSU has some major conference quality skill players. The Gophers will have to show up.

However, I watched MTSU play multiple games last year. You know what stuck out to me? They have small, slow linemen on both sides of the ball. We will have a significant advantage in the trenches, and true football fans know THAT is where games are usually won or lost.

Also, as Stargenes noted, we have a very fast defense. Being as it´s the first game, I predict that MTSU scores an offensive TD early, while the Gophers are still adjusting up to competing at game speed (which happens for every team, remember Iowa against No. Iowa last year?)

However, this will be the game that shows the haters that our O-line has improved, and that our Defensive front 7 is just plain nasty. Gophers win by two scores, and Dasher has a severe headache from come friday morning from all the hits he took.

Suddenly, I want to make the trip to Tennessee...
 

kmf2h- can you make a recommendation on the way for us to get good seats for the game? The MTSU website refers me to ticketmaster. I haven't checked with the U yet, but usually they get poor seating from the home school. Also where would be a good place to set up a tailgate? Thanx in advance.

Any Gopher fans with good info is especially appreciated as well.
 

denguegopher said:
Bingo, I got that sinking feeling watching that reel. I know its a highlight film, and that MTSU played a weak schedule last year, but I have been watching the Gophers since 1972 and I have never seen us stop/control a QB like that. I predict that this guy will have a "career day" against us. My hope is that our offense can control that ball and clock, and that they turn the ball over. This game has trouble written all over it.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah with little faith. Southern Mississippi's defense sucked! Dasher is fast, but he is not that damn fast. He will have to adjust to how fast we close on him compared to what he is use to in that conference competition. He telepaths his throws as well; we should get some pics on him unless we have a bunch of breakdowns and guys are wide open. And I do not expect that to happen with a Cosgrove and Lee Defense. The above highlights actually made me more confident that we will secure a win.
 

Damn you people! Now you've got me doing research...and it's only June 28!
 

We don't exactly have a massive stadium. There aren't too many bad seats, but I'm fairly certain the visiting tickets put visitors in corner of an endzone. Honestly, I couldn't tell you for certain as I've never sat in the visitor seats. :confused:

As far as Dasher not being up to par with the Big 10, I really hope your DC takes that stance. Dash came out of the New Orleans Bowl not once. Not twice, but three separate times with what looked to be game-ending injuries. The third one in particular looked really gruesome. He still torched Southern.

As far as our lineman go, we recruit smaller, quicker lineman (not sure where you get that they're slow to be quite honest). It works for our system. There's no reason to have these big uglies who can block like there's no tomorrow. Our O-line is perfectly built for the type of system we run and they're likely going to have their best year in Stockstill's tenure.

Obviously I'm picking an MTSU victory, however it's not out of the realm of possibility for their to be a close game. To say the Gophers have this one by two scores is a bit silly, though.
 

diehard said:
kmf2h- can you make a recommendation on the way for us to get good seats for the game? The MTSU website refers me to ticketmaster. I haven't checked with the U yet, but usually they get poor seating from the home school. Also where would be a good place to set up a tailgate? Thanx in advance.

Any Gopher fans with good info is especially appreciated as well.
Click to expand...

We've actually got a board set up just for visitors. Come on down for some good 'ol Southern hospitality. Our members generally tailgate together and we're pretty friendly to visiting fans. If you're interested, check out some threads over HERE.

This would probably be your best bet for finding out where to get seats, too.
 

Go Gophers Rah said:
Personally, I think people are making too much of MTSU as a way of hedging. I know MTSU won 10 games last year, but here is a list of the teams they beat (with the CollegeFootballNews rating and the W/L record of each opponent in paranthesees):

Memphis W 31-14 (2-10 #108)
at Maryland W 32-31 (2-10 #91)
at North Texas W 37-21 (2-10 #117)
Western Kentucky W 62-24 (0-12 #120)
at Florida Atlantic W 27-20 (5-7 #103)
FIU W 48-21 (3-9 #113)
Louisiana-Lafayette W 34-17 (6-6 #97)
Arkansas State W 38-14 (4-8 #107)
at Louisiana-Monroe W 38-19 (6-6 #99)
Southern Miss (bowl) W 42-32 (6-7 #79)

So, to summarize, MTSU beat 9 of the 30 worst teams in college football and their signature win came in a bowl against a Southern Miss team, that themselves only beat 2 teams with (barely) winning records. In their 3 losses, MTSU averaged 9 points of offense per game and lost by a 3+ touchdown margin per game.

This is not meant as a dis to MTSU team. They are a very good Sun Belt conference team. That said, the Sun Belt conference is 8-104 against BCS division teams over the past 5 years (yes, I know one of those was against us).

Spin it anyway you want, but IMO a loss in this game would tell me that we are not much better (if at all) than in 2007 when we lost to Sun Belt champions Florida Atlantic.

I would agree with those that call this game a bellweather game. I think its possible for us to go down to Murfreesboro and win by 35+ points. On the other hand, we could go down there and lose a close game. I just don't think I know enough about our team yet to feel confident in either outcome. I will say that we are due at some point to have an offensive break-through (a la last year's Michigan State game) against an inferior team for a really lop-sided score - but that might have to wait 9 days after the MTSU game to happen.

Go Gophers!
Click to expand...

Just a very small, perhaps unimportant bone to pick here. Football ratings are okay guidelines I guess, but being rated 110 doesn't mean you're really 110, especially if you play in a minor conference. Good solid football teams of this variety and of the FCS variety are severely underrated all the time.
 

Stargenes said:
Dasher is fast, but he is not that damn fast. He will have to adjust to how fast we close on him compared to what he is use to in that conference competition. He telepaths his throws as well; we should get some pics on him unless we have a bunch of breakdowns and guys are wide open. And I do not expect that to happen with a Cosgrove and Lee Defense. The above highlights actually made me more confident that we will secure a win.
Click to expand...
I hope that you are correct. I also noticed that he stared down his receivers, but they were still wide open, suggesting weak defenses. I still foresee that this guy will give us big trouble. I see that a former Gopher and Badger assistant is in Murfreesboro http://www.goblueraiders.com/coach.cfm/name/john-palermo/id/593
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom