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News, Notes, Tid-Bits and Quotes: Gophers/Hawkeyes Battle for Floyd in Key B1G Opener
By Grant Erickson
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/292881?referrer_id=388419
With the Gophers at 4-0, Jerry Kill was a happy man during his Tuesday media tour. Kill took questions ranging from injured players to his improving offensive line before looking ahead to Iowa this weekend.
Looking Back
Kill was pleased with the way his team played against a tough San Jose State team on Saturday; winning 43-24.
“It was a good win for our program,” said Kill. “San Jose State’s a good football team; a football team that won 11 games last year and had 22 starters back. We had to play a young man at quarterback (David Fales) that was very dynamic at throwing the football so it was a good win for our program.”
Nelson Mending
With Mitch Leidner leading the Gophers to victory over San Jose State, many wonder if the return of Philip Nelson is still on the horizon. Kill noted that Nelson has been improving but has to be at full strength in order to play against Iowa.
“I’ve seen Philip earlier [Tuesday] and he seems to be getting along pretty good,” said Kill. “We’ll start out practice and see how things go. We’re not going to change our style; what we do offensively. So [Philip] is going to need to be 100 percent for us to give him the green light. We certainly will if he’s ready to go.”
Dominant Ground Game
The Gophers running game has been strong through their first four victories; averaging over 280 yards on the ground per contest.
“That’s kind of our nature through our coaching career, to be physical and take care of the football and run it and play-action pass,” said Kill. “We’ve got to physically continue to get stronger and bigger and that’s what we’re trying to do through recruiting.”
One of the reasons for the running game’s success has been the improved play of the offensive line; especially by redshirt freshman Ben Lauer.
“I think we’re getting better,” said Kill of the offensive line. “We still have a lot of room to get better at. The thing that Ben [Lauer] gives you is 6-foot-7, 305. [Marek Lenkiewicz] has played hard and we’ll need him but right now he’s 285...We’ve gotten better from week one, to week two, to week three, to week four, up front. Now we’ll find out how much better on Saturday as we move forward because of the strength of Iowa’s front four.”
Improvement Needed
With Minnesota averaging just over 105 yards of passing offense per game, Kill noted that the offense will have the opportunity to step up in conference play.
“I think as we get into the Big Ten, you’re going to see a lot more cover-one and you’ll see some different looks,” said Kill. “I think the big thing is having an efficient passing game and be accurate and efficient and make plays when you need to.”
Kill believes that the Gophers will need to improve their passing attack to find success in the Big Ten.
“We need them all to step up and get better,” said Kill. “We need to continue to improve in route running and execution and so forth. You’ve got to be able to beat man-coverage.”
Limiting Penalties
The Golden Gophers have committed just 10 penalties in their first four outings. Kill and the Minnesota coaching staff teach the players to not beat themselves with unneeded infractions.
“Our team probably thought they didn’t win on Sunday,” said Kill. “We point out every single little detail of what it takes to win. We’ve been pleased with it but we also know that those things can go away. I think sometimes what you try to do is emphasize what it’s going to take to win...We show the dumb penalties. You wouldn’t want to be in here after a ballgame and you were one that made a dumb penalty because it’s going to go up on that screen. That’s called the ‘Daily News.’ We all get educated through the ‘Daily News.’”
By Grant Erickson
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/292881?referrer_id=388419
With the Gophers at 4-0, Jerry Kill was a happy man during his Tuesday media tour. Kill took questions ranging from injured players to his improving offensive line before looking ahead to Iowa this weekend.
Looking Back
Kill was pleased with the way his team played against a tough San Jose State team on Saturday; winning 43-24.
“It was a good win for our program,” said Kill. “San Jose State’s a good football team; a football team that won 11 games last year and had 22 starters back. We had to play a young man at quarterback (David Fales) that was very dynamic at throwing the football so it was a good win for our program.”
Nelson Mending
With Mitch Leidner leading the Gophers to victory over San Jose State, many wonder if the return of Philip Nelson is still on the horizon. Kill noted that Nelson has been improving but has to be at full strength in order to play against Iowa.
“I’ve seen Philip earlier [Tuesday] and he seems to be getting along pretty good,” said Kill. “We’ll start out practice and see how things go. We’re not going to change our style; what we do offensively. So [Philip] is going to need to be 100 percent for us to give him the green light. We certainly will if he’s ready to go.”
Dominant Ground Game
The Gophers running game has been strong through their first four victories; averaging over 280 yards on the ground per contest.
“That’s kind of our nature through our coaching career, to be physical and take care of the football and run it and play-action pass,” said Kill. “We’ve got to physically continue to get stronger and bigger and that’s what we’re trying to do through recruiting.”
One of the reasons for the running game’s success has been the improved play of the offensive line; especially by redshirt freshman Ben Lauer.
“I think we’re getting better,” said Kill of the offensive line. “We still have a lot of room to get better at. The thing that Ben [Lauer] gives you is 6-foot-7, 305. [Marek Lenkiewicz] has played hard and we’ll need him but right now he’s 285...We’ve gotten better from week one, to week two, to week three, to week four, up front. Now we’ll find out how much better on Saturday as we move forward because of the strength of Iowa’s front four.”
Improvement Needed
With Minnesota averaging just over 105 yards of passing offense per game, Kill noted that the offense will have the opportunity to step up in conference play.
“I think as we get into the Big Ten, you’re going to see a lot more cover-one and you’ll see some different looks,” said Kill. “I think the big thing is having an efficient passing game and be accurate and efficient and make plays when you need to.”
Kill believes that the Gophers will need to improve their passing attack to find success in the Big Ten.
“We need them all to step up and get better,” said Kill. “We need to continue to improve in route running and execution and so forth. You’ve got to be able to beat man-coverage.”
Limiting Penalties
The Golden Gophers have committed just 10 penalties in their first four outings. Kill and the Minnesota coaching staff teach the players to not beat themselves with unneeded infractions.
“Our team probably thought they didn’t win on Sunday,” said Kill. “We point out every single little detail of what it takes to win. We’ve been pleased with it but we also know that those things can go away. I think sometimes what you try to do is emphasize what it’s going to take to win...We show the dumb penalties. You wouldn’t want to be in here after a ballgame and you were one that made a dumb penalty because it’s going to go up on that screen. That’s called the ‘Daily News.’ We all get educated through the ‘Daily News.’”
