*** OFFICIAL MINNESOTA-WESTERN MICHIGAN GAME THREAD ***

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Notice the play calling differences with Sortell VS. Gray. I think Gray should be the QB and be allowed to throw even 1/3 of the amount Shortell does. However, if the coaches are going to make Gray a RB that Takes the snap then he shouldn't be starting at QB.

The coaches are just putting Gray in position to fail by making him a wildcat QB pretending to be a real QB. Either let him be a QB or move him.
 

Still think Grey is the man for the job?

Shortell is far and away the bigger threat to opposing defenses for you guys. He is the future of this team.
 

zambam said:
PEOPLE WMU DID NOT PREPARE FOR MAX. THEY PREPARED FOR GRAY. THIS DOES NOT MEAN HE SHOULD BE STARTING BECAUSE A TEAM THAT DIDN'T PREPARE FOR HIM CANT STOP HIM. THAT'S LIKE CALLING A KID STUPID FOR FAILING A MATH TEST CAUSE HE WAS TOLD IT WOULD BE A SPELLING TEST.
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I don't think anyone is taking that for granted. I think people are finally calling a spade a spade. M. Gray is an awesome athlete. He is not a passer. His accuracy stinks. Just because WMU hasn't planned for Shortell doesn't change the fact that the young man obviously displays some positive amount of timing and accuracy with ability to go through progressions. Nobody is saying he's taking us to the Rosebowl, but he definitely looks to give our offense a dimension it clearly lacks with Marqueis.
 

zambam said:
PEOPLE WMU DID NOT PREPARE FOR MAX. THEY PREPARED FOR GRAY. THIS DOES NOT MEAN HE SHOULD BE STARTING BECAUSE A TEAM THAT DIDN'T PREPARE FOR HIM CANT STOP HIM. THAT'S LIKE CALLING A KID STUPID FOR FAILING A MATH TEST CAUSE HE WAS TOLD IT WOULD BE A SPELLING TEST.
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I get they didn't prepare for him, but it's nice actually having a QB in there. I was really hoping Gray would be that this year, but he's basically been a RB that threw the ball 8 times a game.
 

zambam said:
PEOPLE WMU DID NOT PREPARE FOR MAX. THEY PREPARED FOR GRAY. THIS DOES NOT MEAN HE SHOULD BE STARTING BECAUSE A TEAM THAT DIDN'T PREPARE FOR HIM CANT STOP HIM. THAT'S LIKE CALLING A KID STUPID FOR FAILING A MATH TEST CAUSE HE WAS TOLD IT WOULD BE A SPELLING TEST.
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Whatever dude
 


WhoFellDownTheGopherHole? said:
I'm curious to see if the Gopher coaches call a conservative game now,half out of respect for Gray and in an attempt to minimize controversy...or will they blow the lid off this thing and make it a party?
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I swear, some of you are lunatics.
 

scher215 said:
Notice the play calling differences with Sortell VS. Gray. I think Gray should be the QB and be allowed to throw even 1/3 of the amount Shortell does. However, if the coaches are going to make Gray a RB that Takes the snap then he shouldn't be starting at QB.

The coaches are just putting Gray in position to fail by making him a wildcat QB pretending to be a real QB. Either let him be a QB or move him.
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I agree 100% with this. The only real complaint I had about the game last week against New Hampshire was that we didn't try to throw the ball a little bit with Gray once the game was in hand.
 

GophersInIowa said:
We don't even try to open up the playbook like that with Gray in there.
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Well with the way our offense is set up, our running game could falter in the second half. I hope that is not the case. Especially since we have a big recruit (Jeffery Jones RB at Washburn) at the game today.

Although whatever it takes to win I will be happy with that.

But I hope for Gray to get healthy and come back next week.

Sent from my PLAYSTATION PHONE using tapatalk
 

zambam said:
PEOPLE WMU DID NOT PREPARE FOR MAX. THEY PREPARED FOR GRAY. THIS DOES NOT MEAN HE SHOULD BE STARTING BECAUSE A TEAM THAT DIDN'T PREPARE FOR HIM CANT STOP HIM. THAT'S LIKE CALLING A KID STUPID FOR FAILING A MATH TEST CAUSE HE WAS TOLD IT WOULD BE A SPELLING TEST.
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Agreed.

Sent from my PLAYSTATION PHONE using tapatalk
 



People saying how they didn't plan for Max, that's ludicrous. That's like saying, yeah they didn't think Minnesota would pass at all, so they left all the defensive backs at home. I mean, I'm not expecting Max to get 10 TDs today, but the kid has ice in his veins. Even as a true freshman last year. The only downfall to having him in is that he can't run worth a lick. But that's what RBs are for anyways.
 

zambam said:
PEOPLE WMU DID NOT PREPARE FOR MAX. THEY PREPARED FOR GRAY. THIS DOES NOT MEAN HE SHOULD BE STARTING BECAUSE A TEAM THAT DIDN'T PREPARE FOR HIM CANT STOP HIM. THAT'S LIKE CALLING A KID STUPID FOR FAILING A MATH TEST CAUSE HE WAS TOLD IT WOULD BE A SPELLING TEST.
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Prepared for him or didn't prepare for him, the young man is making just about every throw. It doesn't matter how open a guy is if the quarterback can't get it to him. (see Gray vs. UNLV this year). Football is football. Don't over think it. Max is playing great and as fans we can enjoy it.
 

WhoFellDownTheGopherHole? said:
I don't think anyone is taking that for granted. I think people are finally calling a spade a spade. M. Gray is an awesome athlete. He is not a passer. His accuracy stinks. Just because WMU hasn't planned for Shortell doesn't change the fact that the young man obviously displays some positive amount of timing and accuracy with ability to go through progressions. Nobody is saying he's taking us to the Rosebowl, but he definitely looks to give our offense a dimension it clearly lacks with Marqueis.
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And Gray brings a dimension to the offense it clearly lacks with Shortell. There is a reason Gray does all the running and I would say it's because the RBs are not that good. I'm not going to say Shortell should start until I see what he can do against a team that actually is prepared for him (if Gray can't play next week, I mean)
 

The problem is that our running game is going to have to stand on its own without Gray in there. Not only does Gray rack up a lot of rushing yards himself, all of the fakes and reads are a tremendous asset for the runningbacks.

On the other hand, Shortell's arm will likely keep the safties back.
 



a little food for thought, is Foreman dressed or even still with the team? Otherwise we're one helmet slip off from burning Nelson's redshirt.
 

CurveballJesus said:
a little food for thought, is Foreman dressed or even still with the team? Otherwise we're one helmet slip off from burning Nelson's redshirt.
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If it's only one play, my guess is that we'll just run the wildcat with Maye.
 

Gopherprof said:
The problem is that our running game is going to have to stand on its own without Gray in there. Not only does Gray rack up a lot of rushing yards himself, all of the fakes and reads are a tremendous asset for the runningbacks.

On the other hand, Shortell's arm will likely keep the safties back.
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Are the safeties gonna be the problem though? The fakes freeze a DE and a linebacker.
 


RolGnav said:
People saying how they didn't plan for Max, that's ludicrous. That's like saying, yeah they didn't think Minnesota would pass at all, so they left all the defensive backs at home. I mean, I'm not expecting Max to get 10 TDs today, but the kid has ice in his veins. Even as a true freshman last year. The only downfall to having him in is that he can't run worth a lick. But that's what RBs are for anyways.
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You don't need a running qb to win. you need a qb that can throw accurately to win. Shortell provides the latter.
 


First half review:

Gray can run & fumble, not throw.
Shortell is an accurate passer.
Kirkwood is the top RB on the team.
Too many penalties.
Kicking game still suspect.
Barker is clutch.
Neither line has been notable one way or another.
Carter's been playing well.
 


zambam said:
But at what cost to the running game?
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Having a qb that can throw opens up the running game, because the d cannot play 8 in the box like they do with gray. a passing game makes the running game more effective.
 

pretty sad though that our O-Line couldn't open any holes for the running game. Kirkwood got blown up twice in the 2nd qtr that I saw. We're gonna have to be able to run or the good teams will destroy Shortell with a pass rush.
 

Gopherprof said:
If it's only one play, my guess is that we'll just run the wildcat with Maye.
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Now that there is a half time to get situated I agree.... I hope it doesn't come to that though.

Sent from my PLAYSTATION PHONE using tapatalk
 

GO4INLALALAND said:
Having a qb that can throw opens up the running game, because the d cannot play 8 in the box like they do with gray. a passing game makes the running game more effective.
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Who's to say our RBs will be effective without the fake?
 

I think we would have more success running to the edges, everything that is being blown up is right down the middle. We started with the edges against UNLV and Kirkwood looked awesome, haven't seen them go back to it since
 

Overreact much! Let's see how the second half plays out. Regardless we need MG in this offense. I think this shows that perhaps we should use both. A lot for a team to prepare for . When Shortell sees quality Big Ten pass rushes it's a whole different ball game. A pick or two and all of a sudden our new John Elway is Bryan Cupito. Hope the air show continues but it's only been a quarter.
 

While I do agree, a lot of people are underrating the fact that WMU had a completely different game plan coming in, and probably are scrambling just a little bit now, you can't ignore that Shortell just flat out looks good. It's nice right now, we have (Gerry DiNardo cue) matchup advantages in multiple positions on the field. The receivers are going to get open far more frequently, the line should be holding up better. Shortell is going to hit his receivers better than Gray, all day everyday. Gray's just not close to the thrower Shortell is, everyone knows that.

The only caution I would put out there is it remains to be seen if Shortell is a guy who, when a team spends a week game planning for Max Shortell, whether he can run this offense as effectively as Gray. So I would relax with the "Send MarQueis to TE" stuff without that kind of evidence.
 


I think keeping Shortell at QB would be best for both the Gophers and Gray. Gray will not be an NFL QB, that's a given. But he does have a chance to make it as a TE. We could even do some differen things with both Shortell and Gray in the backfield as well.
 

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