OFFICIAL POST-GAME ANALYSIS THREAD NMSU 9-10-11

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This isn't going to get turned around overnight. The offense had many chances to score points, and the defense kept getting eaten up. Some fantastic catches and some awful drops. I don't know what to make of next week's game.
 

RolGnav said:
Sorry, I forgot that rule of college football, but still, my whole point is still there. He needs to try harder on most of his runs, and do more progression before deciding to run.
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say what you want about Gray's passing skills but questioning his hustle and running ability is just stupid. He made so many plays with his feet today that there was no way I thought he was going to get away much less make the first down, and he did. I thought Gray nearly showed the most hustle on the team. 1st play of the game which was a handoff, Gray pancaked the safey (or corner) about 10 yards up the field
 


Maybe Kill was telling the truth about what he saw in the team. Every issue he highlighted before the season started showed up today.

Given the latest good news, that he is stable and recovering normally, I expect to hear a crack from him about how he needs to stay hydrated also. Get well soon.
 

My $0.02 New Mexico State Game

First and foremost, I wish Jerry Kill a speedy recovery and hope he did not suffer any long term effects from today's incident. I'm very glad he was in a place where he was able to receive the immediate medical attention he needed.

From the game:


Positives:

-I thought the special teams did pretty well today. With the exception of the opening squib kick, the punt and kickoff coverage was good. Highlight was a 60+ yard punt.

-There are many types of "discipline" when it comes to football. The type of discipline that pertains to player conduct like personal foul penalties continues to look great under Kill. I believe there was maybe one late hit penalty on the gophers??

-This last positive is a stretch and is sure to make some people who read this groan but I felt like the defense did make SOME good adjustments in the second half, holding NMSU to 7 points (0 in the 4th quarter).


Negatives

-The most frightening or alarming thing about this game was the fact the gophers were thoroughly outcoached. The talent and the personel issues are what they are and ultimately coach kill's staff will be judged on recruiting in 2-3 years but judgement on coaching starts now. Glen Mason made a living being able to coach when his teams were underdogs but eventually he was fired, in part, for his inability to coach well when his teams were favored. As favorites, the gopher coaches got whipped today.

-Defensive secondary. Although they improved a bit in the second half, overall this group looked very poor. I'm really quite dumbfounded about how a team can shut out a group of 5 star receivers from USC in the second half of one game and then be seen chasing their tails against a bunch of guys who wouldn't make the 3rd string at USC.

-Defensive Line. The secondary at least improved a little in the second half, this group didn't. Where do I begin? Little to no pressure on the qb during passes, completely absent in run defense.


Overall

As coach Kill has hinted at from the beginning, the gophers have some personel or talent issues. However, talent issues shouldn't be a big factor against New Mexico State. In this game the gophers were outcoached, outplayed and outschemed. I hate to say this but games like this are one of the main reasons there aren't more gopher fans in this state. Games like this just breed bitching and moaning, myself included. Games like this kill recruiting. Games like this are the seeds that grow into countless jokes and sarcastic comments from the media.

In the short term I'd like to see two things from this coaching staff: 1) Find a way to put together a defensive scheme that is usable with the players the gophers have now. I know long term the gophers will recruit to their system but please, for the time being put a band aid on this thing. 2) Find a way to better prepare your team as a favorite. I don't care what it is, practice harder, practice softer, longer practice, shorter practice whatever. Find a way to better preprare this team against a lesser opponent.
 


Hope all turns out well with Coach. To say he's wild on the sideline is a major understatement. He'll have to cool it for the sake of his health. It's obvious that he's taken the full load of pressure on himself to turn this thing around.

About the game....They never tried to establish a running game. In fact, they never tried anything to gain 5 yards. It was chuck it deep every time. Do they have a screen pass in the playbook?
 

Well said. I didn't read any-came press notes, did the coaches mention what the deal with the opening kick off was? Directly led to a td for NMSU. I also believe wewere outcoached. Our defense was well out of position on many plays and you could predict when they were going to go deep. I called their 3rd touchdown as soon as I saw them lineup and we had single coverage everywhere. Speial teams were pretty good although the kicker missed another field goal. I didn't get to see it (we had to leave the stadium at half time to go to a wedding), but that is concerning.

My biggest worry is Kill spent all week trying to get the students to come to games. I told my wife on the way to tailgating that you have to pay those students off with hard work and wins. Or they just won't come back, which is exactly what happened under BB. The only thing I'm left to wonder is if the team was so poorly coached the last 3 years that it will take a year or longer to teach the current kids proper technique. I have no idea, but it is not fun to watch.

Other then that, it was a perfect day out there. Tailgating was a blast. And for those of us that have been watching for a long time, we're really bad right now, but it was worse under Wacker. No doubt about it.

I'd like to know what we should do about qb. Neither looked good today, although Gray did have some flashes. Our inability to convert short yardage just killed us.
 

gopher77 said:
Hope all turns out well with Coach. To say he's wild on the sideline is a major understatement. He'll have to cool it for the sake of his health. It's obvious that he's taken the full load of pressure on himself to turn this thing around.

About the game....They never tried to establish a running game. In fact, they never tried anything to gain 5 yards. It was chuck it deep every time. Do they have a screen pass in the playbook?
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It's been illegal to run a screen in the State of Minnesota since 1997 (i.e. when Glen Mason became Head Coach)
 

My take on things:

1. I think our offense will be alright. We moved the ball on them pretty much all game. Turnovers, pass drops and just missed opportunities killed us. I know it's easy to say "what if" but three huge plays were the Gray overthrow of Rabe in the end zone, and the McKnight and Keise drops. Those are things that can be corrected fairly easily in my opinion.

2. However, the lack of push from our OL against a bad DL was very discouraging. Most of our long runs came from Gray scrambling. It was especially disappointing how we were not able to convert on 3rd and 4th and short situations.

3. Lack of pass rush is going to absolutely kill us once again this season. We can get pressure on the QB by blitzing but our secondary isn't good enough to man up.

4. Stoudermire and Royston are solid, but after that we lack experience and depth in the secondary.

5. I didn't realize there were two rule changes in college football this year. I guess it's now not ok for a defender to make contact with a receiver if he's going for the ball. But it is ok for a defender to grab the arm of a receiver after he's been beat.

6. Punting game has improved tremendously. Kicking game, not so much.

7. It's obvious we've got a long ways to go. It's premature to say Kill and staff will get it done, but it's also dumb to say they can't get it done.

8. I'm hoping and praying for Kill to get better and be on the sidelines next Saturday. It was a very scary scene seeing him on the ground like that. Glad the BTN cut away right away.
 



Game Review

http://www.stobblog.com/2011/09/minnesota-golden-gophers-vs-new-mexico.html#more

It's almost hard to even write about the game with the Kill situation. Hopefully he is alright and hopefully this team learns something from this. For that matter, hopefully everyone learns something. We all love our sports and are very passionate about them, but really, it is just a game right? I know it can be hard to remember that at times.
 

14 Quick Thoughts about Today

1. The Hall of Fame in the stadium is extremely well done.
2. I actually thought Gray played well. I was really suprised to come on here and see nearly everyone else disagreed. I think he was 16-32 for like 212 along with 110 rushing yards and 2 TDs and 2 INTs. Shortell was 2-7 for 27 yards. I know stats don't show everything but I think that you take Grays legs out of the game today and we are in a ton of trouble. Maybe its a case of the backup being everyones favorite player but I really honestly thought people were going to say they seen more out of Gray and that Shortell took a step back (which is fine...he's a freshman so I'm not even being critical)
3. I understand Kill has a system and I think that it will work, but I just wish there was more I-Form (or similar) power runs.
4. I hate talking about officiating because I feel like NMSU pry has calls they don't like that I am overlooking but I thought that the CB intentionally interfered with Da'Jon and still got away with it, I stil can't see how they say Green was tackled in bounds, I thought that Stoudemires late hit was pretty week, I thought on one fade that McKnight was pushed out of bounds, and those around me said that the PI when we got the interception was bad but I didn't see it.
5. For the one person on here (can't remember who) that was critical about Gray's last attempt....huh? Really?
6. Our "in the trenches" are in big trouble this season I think. We couldn't get 4th and 1's twice and we couldn't get NMSU off the field for like 6 minutes. Other than NDSU, we will not play a weaker team up front.
7. McKnight (other than a couple inexcusable drops) is dynamite...legit stud reciever.
8. Our secondary is bad...flat out bad. Those of you that follow the recruiting better than I do...please tell me help is coming?
9. I agree with someone else on here that said the PA guy is extremely annoying.
10. Our tackling seemed poor...it seemed like a lot of hockey checking...no arms involved.
11. For the posters on here that don't think you can criticize the Gophers and remain a fan...don't you think that Kill is going to rip them apart? This was a bad game, a bad loss, we performed poorly. How many people on here were so excited after the loss to USC then ripped on people when they didn't agree that we would win by 28 points today, then we lose by 7 and people get criticized for that. Well what the.....If you predicted that we would win by 28 points then I think you should probably not be hard on people for being negative tonight.
12. Prayers to Kill and his family.
13. I love the person that was embarassed about people posting about the game negatively after what happened with Kill. How many hours were people supposed to wait. Talking about the game is in no way taking away from the fact that we all want Kill to be healthy, and for me I want him to be our coach for the long haul...it was just a bad performance today and we should be able to talk about it.
14. The main thing I learned tonight is I LOVE THE GOPHERS! Sure they are frustrating and at times tought to watch but they are my states university and I can't wait til this baby gets turned around and we are winning 9, 10, 11 games on the regular. I am 28 right now so I have some time, but sooner better than later :)
 

Sorry it ended up being 14 "Not" so quick thoughts about today! Go Gophers!
 

kuhlmanalex said:
1. The Hall of Fame in the stadium is extremely well done.
2. I actually thought Gray played well. I was really suprised to come on here and see nearly everyone else disagreed. I think he was 16-32 for like 212 along with 110 rushing yards and 2 TDs and 2 INTs. Shortell was 2-7 for 27 yards. I know stats don't show everything but I think that you take Grays legs out of the game today and we are in a ton of trouble. Maybe its a case of the backup being everyones favorite player but I really honestly thought people were going to say they seen more out of Gray and that Shortell took a step back (which is fine...he's a freshman so I'm not even being critical)
3. I understand Kill has a system and I think that it will work, but I just wish there was more I-Form (or similar) power runs.
4. I hate talking about officiating because I feel like NMSU pry has calls they don't like that I am overlooking but I thought that the CB intentionally interfered with Da'Jon and still got away with it, I stil can't see how they say Green was tackled in bounds, I thought that Stoudemires late hit was pretty week, I thought on one fade that McKnight was pushed out of bounds, and those around me said that the PI when we got the interception was bad but I didn't see it.
5. For the one person on here (can't remember who) that was critical about Gray's last attempt....huh? Really?
6. Our "in the trenches" are in big trouble this season I think. We couldn't get 4th and 1's twice and we couldn't get NMSU off the field for like 6 minutes. Other than NDSU, we will not play a weaker team up front.7. McKnight (other than a couple inexcusable drops) is dynamite...legit stud reciever.
8. Our secondary is bad...flat out bad. Those of you that follow the recruiting better than I do...please tell me help is coming?
9. I agree with someone else on here that said the PA guy is extremely annoying.
10. Our tackling seemed poor...it seemed like a lot of hockey checking...no arms involved.
11. For the posters on here that don't think you can criticize the Gophers and remain a fan...don't you think that Kill is going to rip them apart? This was a bad game, a bad loss, we performed poorly. How many people on here were so excited after the loss to USC then ripped on people when they didn't agree that we would win by 28 points today, then we lose by 7 and people get criticized for that. Well what the.....If you predicted that we would win by 28 points then I think you should probably not be hard on people for being negative tonight.
12. Prayers to Kill and his family.
13. I love the person that was embarassed about people posting about the game negatively after what happened with Kill. How many hours were people supposed to wait. Talking about the game is in no way taking away from the fact that we all want Kill to be healthy, and for me I want him to be our coach for the long haul...it was just a bad performance today and we should be able to talk about it.
14. The main thing I learned tonight is I LOVE THE GOPHERS! Sure they are frustrating and at times tought to watch but they are my states university and I can't wait til this baby gets turned around and we are winning 9, 10, 11 games on the regular. I am 28 right now so I have some time, but sooner better than later :)
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Really??? Are sure about that???
 




USC barely gets by Utah... So much for playing close to a national power...
 

Thanks to whoever moved my post...sorry I am pretty much a new poster on here.
 


I was at the game, so someone please help me if I didn't see things correctly. I was outraged at the use of our final timeout of the 2nd half. Was it not used after the clock was stopped due to the runner being out of bounds on the previous play? I have yet to see a similar post about this topic which makes me think that either:
A) There was something I missed (injury or clock was still running)
OR
B) I just missed discussion of this in a different thread.
 

CrocShots said:
This is truly one of the dumbest blocks of text I have ever read. IT'S BEEN TWO GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can't expect a bunch of players with Brewsters habits to buy into a system of doing things after TWO LIVE GAMES!
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Is it the dumbest block of text ever, really? Well, I honestly think to be successful, you need to adapt your play calling to your personnel. It's obvious in TWO GAMES Gray seems to start out slow. As a coaching staff, wouldn't it be smarter to start him out slow? If you watch the game over, you will see that he's being asked to do more than he should do. And our main offensive weapon is McKnight, why not use him more? Find ways to get him the ball more?

Also, don't misinterpret my words. I meant it as in this game. Honestly, I'm excited about the new coaching staff, but I just don't like how the offense and defense was called today. So yeah.... whatever. Sorry for having an opinion.
 

gopheraschells said:
say what you want about Gray's passing skills but questioning his hustle and running ability is just stupid. He made so many plays with his feet today that there was no way I thought he was going to get away much less make the first down, and he did. I thought Gray nearly showed the most hustle on the team. 1st play of the game which was a handoff, Gray pancaked the safey (or corner) about 10 yards up the field
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Well, I didn't say he didn't hustle every play. I said on some plays. Example, there was a play where the Gophers were on the right hash and Gray ran errrr... Gray tip toed to the left and only managed a few yards. Why didn't he flat out sprint to the left side line? He might have even been able to turn the corner considering he might have been faster than them. I'm not trying to dog him, I'm just saying it as I saw it. He is a talent, but I get the feeling he's afraid of getting hurt sometimes.
 

I Love Gold said:
I was at the game, so someone please help me if I didn't see things correctly. I was outraged at the use of our final timeout of the 2nd half. Was it not used after the clock was stopped due to the runner being out of bounds on the previous play? I have yet to see a similar post about this topic which makes me think that either:
A) There was something I missed (injury or clock was still running)
OR
B) I just missed discussion of this in a different thread.
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That one had me dumbfounded too, but the clock appeared to still be running. Who knows the rule on that?
 

mkAz said:
That one had me dumbfounded too, but the clock appeared to still be running. Who knows the rule on that?
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It caught me off guard as well but I am fairly sure that they changed it so that the clock only stops for out of bounds during the final two minutes trying to speed up games. Not a huge fan of that rule
 

I think Gray's over throw of the TE in the endzone is getting too much criticism. Maybe I need to see the play again but at the time I thought he was about to take a sack and had to throw it away. The TE broke open after the ball was already intentionally released OOB.

The play with the clock running was dumbfounding to me. Is it really a new rule to not stop the clock unless there are less than 2 minutes? I thought the ref was saying that our guys "assisted" him OOB which is just stupid. The fact that the coaching staff was hounding the refs about it made me believe it was a bad call and unless someone corrects me otherwise (that it's a rule change) I'll hold true to that opinion.
 

I believe the official ruled his forward progress had been stopped before he was pushed out of bounds therefore he gave the ''wind the clock'' signal and it kept running.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
I think Gray's over throw of the TE in the endzone is getting too much criticism. Maybe I need to see the play again but at the time I thought he was about to take a sack and had to throw it away. The TE broke open after the ball was already intentionally released OOB.

The play with the clock running was dumbfounding to me. Is it really a new rule to not stop the clock unless there are less than 2 minutes? I thought the ref was saying that our guys "assisted" him OOB which is just stupid. The fact that the coaching staff was hounding the refs about it made me believe it was a bad call and unless someone corrects me otherwise (that it's a rule change) I'll hold true to that opinion.
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I do believe its a new rule...actually last year or the year before (I might be wrong but I am pretty sure). I thought the other one that baffled me was when Green made the catch and they said he was tackled in bounds???? I watched it on TV when I got back from the game and the announcers even said fans were booing because they thought it was a late hit. That one I didn't understand at all.
 

gopheraschells said:
say what you want about Gray's passing skills but questioning his hustle and running ability is just stupid. He made so many plays with his feet today that there was no way I thought he was going to get away much less make the first down, and he did. I thought Gray nearly showed the most hustle on the team. 1st play of the game which was a handoff, Gray pancaked the safey (or corner) about 10 yards up the field
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Gray is the one guy that I thought competed, he isn't a great quarterback at this point, he doesn't check down to recievers, he missed a few open ones, but he had results.

The defense and the O-line played bad. I also think the coaching staff stunk, the game plan, adjustments, and on field decisions were horrible.

Lets hope we see improvements on all fronts.
 

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