Official Gophers Spring Game Reaction/Analysis Thread

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gopher7 said:
The concession stand by our section ran out of water 1 minute into the game.
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OK, I will play devil's advocate here. Did you go to watch the spring game or did you go to buy water?
 

All four in our family attended the scrimmage today. Liked Honjosa(sp?). Brought a little swagger. Love our TE play. I also thought Hill had a nice day. I thought there were more than 5,000. Good thing there werent more considering concessions. They cannot figure service out. A half an hour before they knew they were short on soda. Water was in short supply and I had to walk around the stadium to find carrying vendor to find a box of popcorn.

Would have been nice to have a concert for the students out in a lot after or before with alcohol? Minus concessions, I am glad I didn't miss it.
 

One stand open on my side of the stadium. Ran out of everything at halftime. I did not go to eat and drink, but the sun was hot and a cola would have been nice. Still had a great time. I am glad the crown was larger than anticipated and that is why they ran out. GO GOPHERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

dlw4gophers said:
One stand open on my side of the stadium. Ran out of everything at halftime. I did not go to eat and drink, but the sun was hot and a cola would have been nice. Still had a great time. I am glad the crown was larger than anticipated and that is why they ran out. GO GOPHERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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With the inconsistencies of what to expect for crowds, concessions has to estimate a low crowd, because that is what Gopher Fandom has proven in the past. So running out of goodies is a good sign. I am not complaining, I did NOT run out of beer. I know how to plan accordingly.
 

Dr.Don said:
C'mon Homer...Give us your confessions on the concessions.
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I found it to be pretty ridiculous that they ran out of pretty much everything...but like you said in another post I was there to watch football and not eat and drink. It definitely didn't ruin anything for me, and I had a blast but they left a lot of money on the table as far as food and drinks go.
 


Considering they ran out of water two years ago when it was extremely warm, I don't think it has anything to do with anticipation. Just poor planning. Didn't ruin or even taint the day. I am more worried about learning from mistakes and improving the experience.
 

Some really nice plays out there. Hate to say it, but AJ Barker may have greatly overvalued his worth. Engel looked pretty damn good, as did Harbison. Antonio Johnson had the most memorable play of the day when he basically picked up Engel after a catch and slammed him to the ground.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
Some really nice plays out there. Hate to say it, but AJ Barker may have greatly overvalued his worth. Engel looked pretty damn good, as did Harbison. Antonio Johnson had the most memorable play of the day when he basically picked up Engel after a catch and slammed him to the ground.
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This type of comment is what I want to read here, the hell with the concessions.
 

Players I thought played well:


Nelson looked pretty on point today with his throws.

Kirkwood and Williams (in limited roles) played very well.

Maxx Williams has the looks of a big time tight end. Looks huge out there.

Just a few tidbits and thought I had.

EDIT: KJ maye played well as well. Couple awesome catches!
 



I wasn't there, but my son was. He texted me after and thought both Nelson and Leidner looked good. Two QB's, equal, makes for good news.
 

Don't forget about Grayson Levine. He had quite a few pass breakups and looked pretty good. He looks to get pretty excited. No mention of Banham either. He had a few nice runs. He reads the holes well, and is shiftier than I thought. Still is real small.
 

Dr.Don said:
I wasn't there, but my son was. He texted me after and thought both Nelson and Leidner looked good. Two QB's, equal, makes for good news.
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I would say, overall, Nelson out played Leidner. Leidner looked rough early on.
 

e.bigelow said:
I would say, overall, Nelson out played Leidner. Leidner looked rough early on.
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So, does it look like our QB's are number one Nelson, number two Leidner, but not a big drop off?
 



Nelson is still the starter.

Maxx Williams and Jamel Harbison are legit. That trio is going to make some noise in 2014 and 2015, with some growing pains likely still to come. But if they can run the ball, there's going to be some times Maxx gets loose for big gains sneaking off the blocking positions. And he can line up as a (huge!) WR if need be.

The linebackers and kicking game scare me to death, though hopefully placekicking help is coming in our new super-sized boomer this fall.

Gophers looked well-trained. There were NO problems with illegal formations or kids looking confused as to assignments or where to line up - maybe one blown coverage. As anyone who has watched gopher football the past five or six years knows, this is HUGE. How many timeouts and penalties have resulted from the kids just not knowing where to stand, ffs?

Sorry to not see Hageman play.

Nice to see us be able to run pretty effectively. Everyone else can run on our defense but we never can in scrimmages before this spring. That's a good sign for the offense.

Other than that, a beautiful day. WAY bigger crowd than they or anyone expected. The department tweeted their estimate was 8,500. good times!
 

Oh and I can't speak to them running out of water, but there was plenty of beer :) I did my best to try and help them turn a profit on beer sales this year LOL
 


I was impressed with Nelson. Leidner did some nice things too. Thought the first team offense played well together with Harbison, Maye and the TEs (Goodger and Williams) standing out. Our TEs should be a safety net for Nelson this year. Hard to tell what the defense really looks like with them sitting 4-5 starters and giving the backups lots of reps, but thought there were some good things being shown by Cockran, Levine, Johnson, Hinojosa.

Agree with the above that they look well-trained - mentally and physically. The continuity and hard work is paying off.
 


Big man 99 never played - Just stood behind the bench all day....never even sat own. Also, Cole Banham was running really well then got hurt. Came limping off...not sure what happened to him.
 


Where did they run out of water? Our group bought 4 near the end of the third quarter.
 

I was impressed by all 3 QBs. Last year I don't think either Nelson or Leidner completed a pass. Maxx Williama, Engel and Harbison played very well. Maye dropped 2 passes I saw but also made a couple good catches. Banham is a decent runner but may be too far down the depth chart. Grayson Levine can play. I did not see exceptional CB play. Logan Hutton looked good. The team has a lot of good offensive lineman. Not sure how you sort them out. Overall take- this team is far superior to last year's at this paint.
 

gopherMD said:
I was impressed by all 3 QBs. Last year I don't think either Nelson or Leidner completed a pass. Maxx Williama, Engel and Harbison played very well. Maye dropped 2 passes I saw but also made a couple good catches. Banham is a decent runner but may be too far down the depth chart. Grayson Levine can play. I did not see exceptional CB play. Logan Hutton looked good. The team has a lot of good offensive lineman. Not sure how you sort them out. Overall take- this team is far superior to last year's at this paint.
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Is that what Coach Kill means when he says depth and maturity?
 







BTN: Gophers offense shows progress

Here are some observations from the spring game.

1. The Gophers passing game needed work. We saw some of that today. Philip Nelson got a baptism by fire last season as a true freshman and continued to take strides in the spring. He had some nice passes today, as the offense wants to move away from myriad quarterback runs. At one point today, Nelson was 10-of-10, as he basically solidified his status as the No. 1 guy. He finished 10-of-13 for 119 yards, while running 12 times for 16 yards. Mitch Leidner looked good, too, at one point rolling left and tossing a nice 39-yard scoring strike. He hit 13-of-17 passes for 179 yards and ran for 32 yards.

2. It’s vital playmakers emerge at receiver. Derek Engel and Isaac Fruechte showed why they should be steady forces, as Engel had a nice 39-yard catch at one point. But neither is overly dynamic as far as stretching the field. Devin Crawford-Tufts and Jamel Harbison, who is coming off a knee injury that ruined what looked like it was going to be a nice freshman season. After the game, Harbison said his knee was fine. That is great news, as he made some nice catches today. He could be special. Freshman tight end Maxx Williams impressed with three catches for 54 yards. Drew Goodger had a nice 21-yard grab. He is a good tight end looking to build on a solid 2012.

3. The offensive line developed depth out of necessity last season, when injuries struck. We saw some of that depth on display today. This could be a very good unit under line coach and OC Matt Limegrover. The first unit looked very good at times.

4. The defensive line needs some playmakers with end D.L. Wilhite gone. Theiren Cockran turned some heads coming off the edge with two sacks. He’s a rangy player who has a nice first step. Keep an eye on him. The linebacking unit also is being reworked with players like Keanon Cooper gone, so it was nice to see early JC arrival Damien Wilson make a team-high six tackles.

5. The running back showed off its depth today. Rodrick Williams and Donnell Kirkwood each took turns carrying the ball. Kirkwood ran hard and scored a couple of touchdowns. He showed why he is the bell cow at this spot, but the unit could use some more wiggle. Cole Banham, a transfer from Mankato State, brings some spunk to the position.

6. The kicking continues to be a worry. Early on, Chris Hawthorne missed a 40-yard field goal. This has to improve.

http://btn.com/2013/04/27/gophers-offense-shows-improvement/

Go Gophers!!
 

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