My $0.02 - Northern ILL Game & State of the Program

[stevedave23]

I was able to attend the game in person last night and came away with a few observations:

-I was very, very pleasantly surprised at the atmostphere in the tailgate lots. It was my first time visiting the lots next to the stadium and it appears the fun police haven't found this area yet. I had the same feeling during the Air Force game last year, "wow, we actually have a college atmostphere."

-The gopher defense was quite a bit faster and more athletic than I thought they would be. However, I couldn't decide whether their poor performance was the result of inexperience or just fast, athletic guys that aren't sound football players.

-The gopher running backs as a group lack good vision. Several times on isolation and draw plays they missed significant cutback lanes. Not sure if they're being coached to run north and south and get 4 yards or if it's a talent issue.

-The gopher offensive line has improved in their run blocking from last year. That's not saying much, I know, but nonetheless I did notice good improvement.

-Adam Weber continues to struggle in the pro style offense. In the spread offense I felt he was one of the best QB's in the Big Ten. It seems he performs best when throwing play after play (like he does in the 2 minute offense).

-Brock Vereen is going to be good.

-At the end of the day Northern Illinois was a better team. No flukes, no huge turnover differential, they were better.

-I continue to appreciate the "little things" that come with TCF Bank stadium. Last night I watched the game from section 148 (the open end of the stadium) and throughout the course of the game I was able to watch the near full moon slowly rise over the closed bowl end of the stadium. Every time I looked up I just kept thinking how awesome it was.



Lastly, I wanted to say that after last night I came away with the distinct impression that the gopher football program has a lot of the pieces in place to build a winning program. IMHO they don't have the right coach, AD or administration at this time but they do have 1) a tremendous stadium 2) a college football atmosphere for the first time in 20+ years and 3) a fan base that seems to actually care and is genuinely angry at the state of the program

 

[GophersInIowa]

I agree with most of what you said. The program is not in good shape right now, to say the least. But I'll still be there this Saturday, driving 350 miles to get there and will enjoy the fall day, OUTSIDE, watching my favorite college football team.

 

[Villifier]

Just think how bad we would be if brewster wasn't sleeping on a cot in his office?

 

[Central Valley Bowties]

My 2 cents...

- Our play calling on offense is horrible (still). We can't gain 2 yards in 3 running plays to kill the drive in the 4th qtr. How about we mix it up...or run up to the line of scrimmage and run a play quick. Our 4 year starter should have enough game time experience to run a quick play to catch a team off guard...but apparently that is too much to assume.

- Why do we show nearly EVERY blitz? The QB reads the blitz..and audibles to a run and when the RB breaks thru the line of scrimmage he goes for a big gain.

- Lack of focus. One example is when we were forced to take a defensive timeout when N. Illinois rushed to the LOS deep in our end. That time out could have been handy had we been better with clock management on the offensive side.

- Sense of urgency. With 14 minutes to go in the game down by 11....we WALK to the LOS like every other play. Am I the only one out there to realize this team isn't gonna score quick twince in the 4th qtr? Case in point we give them the ball on downs after killing 5 or 6 minutes on the game clock. How is it every team catches us off guard but we just walk every where we go? Where are the coaches on the sideline lighting up the players to get their head into the game?

 

[alphagopher]

the answer to most of the above questions: "poor coaching" or "poor leadership"

when our guys succeeded, it was in situations where coaching influence was minimal (mcknight td catch-wrong guy catching pass; vereen chasing down their back to save td, collado kick return are a few examples); when they failed, it was in situations where coaching influence was key (wrong alignments on D, wrong playcalls on O, etc). If the casual observer cannot see this, then they are choosing to ignore the obvious.

 

[station19]

I was able to attend the game in person last night and came away with a few observations:

-I was very, very pleasantly surprised at the atmostphere in the tailgate lots. It was my first time visiting the lots next to the stadium and it appears the fun police haven't found this area yet. I had the same feeling during the Air Force game last year, "wow, we actually have a college atmostphere."

-The gopher defense was quite a bit faster and more athletic than I thought they would be. However, I couldn't decide whether their poor performance was the result of inexperience or just fast, athletic guys that aren't sound football players.

-The gopher running backs as a group lack good vision. Several times on isolation and draw plays they missed significant cutback lanes. Not sure if they're being coached to run north and south and get 4 yards or if it's a talent issue.

-The gopher offensive line has improved in their run blocking from last year. That's not saying much, I know, but nonetheless I did notice good improvement.

-Adam Weber continues to struggle in the pro style offense. In the spread offense I felt he was one of the best QB's in the Big Ten. It seems he performs best when throwing play after play (like he does in the 2 minute offense).

-Brock Vereen is going to be good.

-At the end of the day Northern Illinois was a better team. No flukes, no huge turnover differential, they were better.

-I continue to appreciate the "little things" that come with TCF Bank stadium. Last night I watched the game from section 148 (the open end of the stadium) and throughout the course of the game I was able to watch the near full moon slowly rise over the closed bowl end of the stadium. Every time I looked up I just kept thinking how awesome it was.



Lastly, I wanted to say that after last night I came away with the distinct impression that the gopher football program has a lot of the pieces in place to build a winning program. IMHO they don't have the right coach, AD or administration at this time but they do have 1) a tremendous stadium 2) a college football atmosphere for the first time in 20+ years and 3) a fan base that seems to actually care and is genuinely angry at the state of the program

BOLD #1 Brewster has definately brought in better 'athletes'. Are they better football players. So far I have not seen it.

BOLD #2 It's obvious that Weber is a better passer when lined up in spread or shotgun formation. He has a hard time dropping back and finding open recievers from the pro set.

When in the spread or shotgun; our offense has a hard time running the ball.

When in the pro set; our strength is to run between the tackles. Our OL and RBs are not quick/fast enough to run to the outside.

Makes our offense quite predictable.

 

[tikited]

Good recap Stevdave. You have the right attitude imo.

 

[Schnauzer]

Well there is another, less controversial way of looking at the name change on the board. This other way of looking at it even has room for the remaining Brewster backers. Regardless if you have disliked the hire from day one, or continue with your unwavering support of Brewster... NOBODY can be happy with a 1-3 record and two losses to 'cupcakes'. So, the name change is a nice way of reminding us the program has seen better days (and can see better days again). You can use your imagination to say that those better days will be under Brewster if you'd like.