BleedGopher
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http://www.startribune.com/sports/g...EyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUgOy9cP3DieyckcUsI
I predicted a score of 31-26 in Saturday's paper -- I believed there would be lots of field goals, instead of the zero we got -- and thought I had done pretty well, until I remembered that Jim Souhan had called the score 30-20. Yes, he was closer to the 32-21 final than I, but my point is that, unlike last week, the Gophers' loss to USC went much like we had expected.
Minnesota was much-improved defensively, in other words, until the defense wore down trying to chase USC tailbacks to the edge late in the second half. The Gophers were OK offensively, but couldn't keep up with a Trojan team that features lots of athletes.
Coach Tim Brewster disagreed with my suggestion that Minnesota's lack of success in its running game was discouraging, saying they knew that USC's big defensive line would be "like pounding cement." He implied that the Trojans have the best run-stoppers the Gophers will see this year, but I wonder about that. Big Ten teams have some pretty big guys, too.
He liked how they stuck with their run-run-run gameplan, and they certainly did that. But they also averaged 2.2 yards per carry, and Duane Bennett was a non-factor, which made their afternoon much more difficult. The Gophers kept running inside, probably because their backs are more physical than quick, whereas the Trojans mixed it up, running wide about half the time, especially when speedy freshman Dillon Baxter carried the ball.
So it's a loss, and you can argue that it's a moral victory. A few Gophers did -- "It's a loss, but I feel like our team is growing," said tailback DeLeon Eskridge. "I feel it's a positive." -- though the seniors like Adam Weber, Ryan Collado and Kyle Theret sounded less willing to accept that.
"Right now," Weber said, "losing is getting old."
You could also argue that the Trojans don't look much like a Pac-10 championship contender. Can't remember the last time I saw a coverage blown as badly as on MarQueis Gray's 37-yard completion that jolted the Minnesota offense to life in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, the Gophers' special teams had been good during their first two games, but plenty went wrong on Saturday.
Punter Dan Orseske had a punts of 20 and 22 yards in the second quarter. Eric Ellestad sailed a kickoff out of bounds, giving USC the ball on the 40-yard line. The Gophers' onside-kick attempt in the game's final 10 seconds bounced out of bounds as well. A USC punt was ruled to have bounced off the foot of Gopher freshman Brock Vareen, and the Trojans pounced on the fumble deep in Minnesota territory.
And USC returner Robert Woods made the game's biggest play, returning a kickoff 97 yards to put the Trojans back in front for good.
"We certainly didn't execute the kickoff the way we needed to," Brewster said. "We didn't allow our coverage to get down the field and get in position to make a play."
The Gophers challenged the ruling on the fumbled punt, believing the ball bounced near Vareen's foot without touching it. But replays were inconclusive, and the call stood.
Go Gophers!!
I predicted a score of 31-26 in Saturday's paper -- I believed there would be lots of field goals, instead of the zero we got -- and thought I had done pretty well, until I remembered that Jim Souhan had called the score 30-20. Yes, he was closer to the 32-21 final than I, but my point is that, unlike last week, the Gophers' loss to USC went much like we had expected.
Minnesota was much-improved defensively, in other words, until the defense wore down trying to chase USC tailbacks to the edge late in the second half. The Gophers were OK offensively, but couldn't keep up with a Trojan team that features lots of athletes.
Coach Tim Brewster disagreed with my suggestion that Minnesota's lack of success in its running game was discouraging, saying they knew that USC's big defensive line would be "like pounding cement." He implied that the Trojans have the best run-stoppers the Gophers will see this year, but I wonder about that. Big Ten teams have some pretty big guys, too.
He liked how they stuck with their run-run-run gameplan, and they certainly did that. But they also averaged 2.2 yards per carry, and Duane Bennett was a non-factor, which made their afternoon much more difficult. The Gophers kept running inside, probably because their backs are more physical than quick, whereas the Trojans mixed it up, running wide about half the time, especially when speedy freshman Dillon Baxter carried the ball.
So it's a loss, and you can argue that it's a moral victory. A few Gophers did -- "It's a loss, but I feel like our team is growing," said tailback DeLeon Eskridge. "I feel it's a positive." -- though the seniors like Adam Weber, Ryan Collado and Kyle Theret sounded less willing to accept that.
"Right now," Weber said, "losing is getting old."
You could also argue that the Trojans don't look much like a Pac-10 championship contender. Can't remember the last time I saw a coverage blown as badly as on MarQueis Gray's 37-yard completion that jolted the Minnesota offense to life in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, the Gophers' special teams had been good during their first two games, but plenty went wrong on Saturday.
Punter Dan Orseske had a punts of 20 and 22 yards in the second quarter. Eric Ellestad sailed a kickoff out of bounds, giving USC the ball on the 40-yard line. The Gophers' onside-kick attempt in the game's final 10 seconds bounced out of bounds as well. A USC punt was ruled to have bounced off the foot of Gopher freshman Brock Vareen, and the Trojans pounced on the fumble deep in Minnesota territory.
And USC returner Robert Woods made the game's biggest play, returning a kickoff 97 yards to put the Trojans back in front for good.
"We certainly didn't execute the kickoff the way we needed to," Brewster said. "We didn't allow our coverage to get down the field and get in position to make a play."
The Gophers challenged the ruling on the fumbled punt, believing the ball bounced near Vareen's foot without touching it. But replays were inconclusive, and the call stood.
Go Gophers!!