Phil Miller blog: Rare admission: Gophers took Aggies too lightly

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Sadly, this seems to happen all the time. The team comes out very lethargic against opponents they should seemingly handle. Most notably the 1st half of the last two games. Not saying they should have dominated USC, but looked very unprepared in the first half of both games. I do not know if that comes down to preperation on the coaching staffs part or the players just thinking they are naturally guaranteed a W. But, it seems to have happened all too often in the past few years. Fact is, there is always a chance any team can beat any other on any Saturday.
 

Hopefully coach Kill's absence hasn't stopped the butt chewing that the team should have gotten after the game.
If they come out hot against Miami OH then we should take that as a good sign. I know there were reports that the loafers shirts were back, that's a good first step.
 

What people aren't really realizing is that the USC game was a little bit of smoke and mirrors by the Gophers. We're getting pounded 19-3 at the half (should have been 21-3), but then all of a sudden USC does a couple stupid things like the bad snap, a couple of holding penalties, deciding to run the ball more, etc. Then we hit a couple of pass plays on a drive and get a TD.

We never really stopped USC all game - we did play better against USC, but some of USCs coaching decisions were the reason the score was as close as it was. I also have a pretty good feeling USC is not a top 25 team.
 


e.bigelow said:
Sadly, this seems to happen all the time. The team comes out very lethargic against opponents they should seemingly handle. Most notably the 1st half of the last two games. Not saying they should have dominated USC, but looked very unprepared in the first half of both games. I do not know if that comes down to preperation on the coaching staffs part or the players just thinking they are naturally guaranteed a W. But, it seems to have happened all too often in the past few years. Fact is, there is always a chance any team can beat any other on any Saturday.
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I think MV over at FBT has made an astute observation on this. This sort of "take lightly" preparation/though process seemed to be the norm under Brew. That being the case, it's likely that the guys who played only under that kind of system are still falling into their bad habits. Coach Kill and his staff can stress a different way all they want, but if the players don't buy in fully (i.e. get away from old habits) then you can still have problems.

That isn't to say the coaches are blameless (the coaching issues over the last 2 games have been disected pretty well). But I don't think it is all on the coaches if the team fails to grasp that right now the Gophers can't look past ANYONE.
 

I know it falls back to the coach but that is hard for me to understand at this level. How is it up to the coach to get you mentally ready to play a game. This is a 12 game schedule, it's not MLB and a 160 game schedule.

If you aren't ready to play at game time you probably shouldn't be on the field, it really is something I can't comprehend.
 

GoAUpher said:
I think MV over at FBT has made an astute observation on this. This sort of "take lightly" preparation/though process seemed to be the norm under Brew. That being the case, it's likely that the guys who played only under that kind of system are still falling into their bad habits. Coach Kill and his staff can stress a different way all they want, but if the players don't buy in fully (i.e. get away from old habits) then you can still have problems.

That isn't to say the coaches are blameless (the coaching issues over the last 2 games have been disected pretty well). But I don't think it is all on the coaches if the team fails to grasp that right now the Gophers can't look past ANYONE.
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I don't believe for one second that the players were taking New Mexico State too lightly. That is always the reason that is used when a team starts a game badly. The real answer is that athletes in all sports are often nervous, cautious, and afraid of making mistakes when the game starts. It has nothing to with taking the opponent seriously enough. But if the Gophers were taking NMS too lightly 100% of the blame would be on the coaches.
 

The coaches job is to get you ready to play, physically and mentally. If your players need you to keep them motivated, that's what the coach has to do. You can say all you want that players should be self-motivated, and that would be a good thing, but you have to deal with the players you have.

They players aren't robots, of course, the coach can't just program the to have the right attitude. The coach can stress taking the opponent seriously, but he can't FORCE them to.
 



GoAUpher said:
I think MV over at FBT has made an astute observation on this. This sort of "take lightly" preparation/though process seemed to be the norm under Brew. That being the case, it's likely that the guys who played only under that kind of system are still falling into their bad habits. Coach Kill and his staff can stress a different way all they want, but if the players don't buy in fully (i.e. get away from old habits) then you can still have problems.

That isn't to say the coaches are blameless (the coaching issues over the last 2 games have been disected pretty well). But I don't think it is all on the coaches if the team fails to grasp that right now the Gophers can't look past ANYONE.
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+1 Sir. Very well articulated. I tend to agree with the vast majority of things you and MV post here.

With that being said, the comments I heard from people around me in the section we sit in of 103 were that the team seems to be underprepared to preform during the first half of the past two games. Now, how much of that is attitude carry over from past coaches or current coaching is hard to say. (I lean more towards there general attitude)

It constantly seems to me that rather than our offense, or defense for that matter, coming out and setting the tone by either scoring a TD on the first drive or getting a big stop to set the tone is almost non-existent. With that said, I can not remember the last time we scored a TD on our opening drive. If someone could remind me of when this last occured, that would be nice. I want to say last season sometime, but I can't seem to remember.
 

josh087 said:
What people aren't really realizing is that the USC game was a little bit of smoke and mirrors by the Gophers. We're getting pounded 19-3 at the half (should have been 21-3), but then all of a sudden USC does a couple stupid things like the bad snap, a couple of holding penalties, deciding to run the ball more, etc. Then we hit a couple of pass plays on a drive and get a TD.

We never really stopped USC all game - we did play better against USC, but some of USCs coaching decisions were the reason the score was as close as it was. I also have a pretty good feeling USC is not a top 25 team.
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I partially agree with you concerning the USC game. USC's problems stemmed more from Kiffin's arrogance and maybe not being as good as advertized, though they do have a lot of top players.

That said, in the first half they were tentative and not all the problems (headsets) were their fault. MN did made some play a whole lot better in the second half of the game.

I do not discount the potential they took them to lightly. The Gophers are still very much a young team, and though I don't think Brewster necessarily took other teams to lightly, I don't think he instilled the necessary discipline in them to handle supposedly lessor opponents.

Truth is, right now the Gophers have not earned the right to take anyone lightly (North Dakota and South Dakota State anyone). I suspect the lack of discipline is ingrained and has to be continually ground out of them. I suspect to see a different team next year and 2 years from now, I think they will be a much stronger, solid team.
 

e.bigelow said:
+1 Sir. Very well articulated. I tend to agree with the vast majority of things you and MV post here.

With that being said, the comments I heard from people around me in the section we sit in of 103 were that the team seems to be underprepared to preform during the first half of the past two games. Now, how much of that is attitude carry over from past coaches or current coaching is hard to say. (I lean more towards there general attitude)

It constantly seems to me that rather than our offense, or defense for that matter, coming out and setting the tone by either scoring a TD on the first drive or getting a big stop to set the tone is almost non-existent. With that said, I can not remember the last time we scored a TD on our opening drive. If someone could remind me of when this last occured, that would be nice. I want to say last season sometime, but I can't seem to remember.
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This team hasn't started games well pretty much during most of Brewster's era. Obiviously Iowa last year we jumped on them with the FG and then the onside. But that required trickeration lol. MTSU to open the season last season was a good start with a TD on the first drive (I think that's the last time we've done it). The Halloween game against MSU, I remember we started a game with the first strong punch, scoring the two TDs quickly out of the gate. Otherwise, yes, this team usually struggles to start games and sadly, that trend has continued.
 

It has been discussed how intense the coach can be on players failing to execute. is it possible that Kill has them so afraid of making a mistake that many players are playing not to fail? Q seems to be playing that way. all speculation on my part.
 



Go4Broke said:
I don't believe for one second that the players were taking New Mexico State too lightly. That is always the reason that is used when a team starts a game badly. The real answer is that athletes in all sports are often nervous, cautious, and afraid of making mistakes when the game starts. It has nothing to with taking the opponent seriously enough. But if the Gophers were taking NMS too lightly 100% of the blame would be on the coaches.
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I don't think that's accurate. So you're giving the players a free pass?? That's ridiculous.

These are 18-22 year olds that know FULL well that NMSU was one of the worst teams in the country last year and they know full well that NMSU got bombed last week.

So the coach is responsible for MAKING the players think what they should think? They're gifted and adept at mind control now?

When people make broad statements or discount broad statements about "the players took the opponent too ligthly" or "they didn't come ready to play", they usually make the mistake of thinking they have to be talking about EVERYBODY in order for it to be an accurate statement.

It doesn't take 85 guys "taking an opponent lightly" to blow a game. If you've got 8-10 that aren't in the right frame of mind, you're in deep trouble (which is likely what happened for USC against the Gophers). It doesn't take an entire team playing like crap or blowing assignments to lose a game. It only takes a couple.

To say that it's 100% on the coaches that EVERY SINGLE ONE of the 85-man roster (or whatever it is) may not have given NMSU enough credit is both ridiculous and it's giving players ENTIRELY too much of a free pass. Good grief, they're the ones that took the field.
 

RodentRampage said:
They players aren't robots, of course, the coach can't just program the to have the right attitude. The coach can stress taking the opponent seriously, but he can't FORCE them to.
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That's the point I was agreeing with. I had teammates in both HS and college that no matter how hard you coached them and how much you prepared them just failed to take some teams seriously. And it showed. At some point, it does stop being about the coaches.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
When people make broad statements or discount broad statements about "the players took the opponent too ligthly" or "they didn't come ready to play", they usually make the mistake of thinking they have to be talking about EVERYBODY in order for it to be an accurate statement.

It doesn't take 85 guys "taking an opponent lightly" to blow a game. If you've got 8-10 that aren't in the right frame of mind, you're in deep trouble (which is likely what happened for USC against the Gophers). It doesn't take an entire team playing like crap or blowing assignments to lose a game. It only takes a couple.

To say that it's 100% on the coaches that EVERY SINGLE ONE of the 85-man roster (or whatever it is) may not have given NMSU enough credit is both ridiculous and it's giving players ENTIRELY too much of a free pass. Good grief, they're the ones that took the field.
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This is on point right here. I've said it before, it doesn't take much to make what should be an athletically superior squad suddenly be in a dogfight. All it takes is one guy messing up coverage or a block and the play is destroyed. When it happens too often, you have last week at TCF Bank Stadium. That, and the line play has been iffy at best IMO.
 

I can't stand it when I see a QB play action bootleg and the defense gets fooled and overruns the play. Happened several times last week. That does not happen on a well coached team. I'm not putting this on the coaches....yet......but that sort of thing is going to KILL us against better opponents. You have your responsiblity which is contain. Your going to kill yourself if you are constantly looking for the ball.

Bad special teams + poor offensive and defensive line play= 0-2

If you can't get a rush with your 4 down guys without blitzing against NMSU what do you think is going to happen against the Big Ten? Lopsided losses.
 

You know what I like about the statement it forces the players to face it. By publicly admiting it, they have to to live with it everywhere they go.
 

One of the coaches said last week's Wednesday practice was abysmal and they could not get the players to shake out of it.
One position coach even said his players still do not really know how to practice yet to the staffs standards, and are still lugging behind. You would think with how hard they have pushed they would at least have the effort part down as far as practice goes.
Gophers practice like crap the second half of the week and you saw the results for yourself Saturday.
 

GoGophers2005 said:
I can't stand it when I see a QB play action bootleg and the defense gets fooled and overruns the play. Happened several times last week. That does not happen on a well coached team. I'm not putting this on the coaches....yet......but that sort of thing is going to KILL us against better opponents. You have your responsiblity which is contain. Your going to kill yourself if you are constantly looking for the ball.

Bad special teams + poor offensive and defensive line play= 0-2

If you can't get a rush with your 4 down guys without blitzing against NMSU what do you think is going to happen against the Big Ten? Lopsided losses.
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I fully agree with your post, except the part about bad special teams. If you wish to narrow it to "bad FG kicking", then I'd agree. The punting has been awesome, and the coverage teams have done well from what I can see.
 

gopherdudepart2 said:
You would think with how hard they have pushed they would at least have the effort part down as far as practice goes.
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Kill and his staff don't think that. Kill has said repeatedly that it usually takes until year 3 before a team practices at the pace he likes. Basically, he's saying that a transition to his hi-tempo practice plan is hard for many upperclassmen who are used to a different coaching style.
 


GoGophers2005 said:
I can't stand it when I see a QB play action bootleg and the defense gets fooled and overruns the play. Happened several times last week. That does not happen on a well coached team.
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This! Perfect example was last year against South Dakota. Their QB ran a bootleg UNTOUCHED for 25 yards for a TD and then for 36 yards for a TD.
 

This news just makes me furious. How can you take ANYONE lightly in this day and age?? Did we not learn anything from the SD or NDSU games? The Gophers are not, and haven't been for a long, long time, good enough to take ANY team lightly. :mad:
 

One can only hope that this can only happen once per season.
 

Its along way from playing the perfect game. Every player, everydown. This was the same old effort. 2 or three players taking a play off, doing their own thing, going through the motions. They didn't take them serious is not even an excuse, its an attitude. If you have played the game, there is nothing more frustrating than your own team beating you.
 

husker70 said:
Its along way from playing the perfect game. Every player, everydown. This was the same old effort. 2 or three players taking a play off, doing their own thing, going through the motions. They didn't take them serious is not even an excuse, its an attitude. If you have played the game, there is nothing more frustrating than your own team beating you.
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If some players are taking plays off and going through the motions that is necessarily the same thing as overlooking an opponent. That is just an indication of what kind of player they are. Every football team has athletes who play like that. Coaches are supposed to be able to spot that kind of player and either motivate them to do better or sit them end of the bench.

I still don't believe the team was overlooking New Mexico State because there is not one Gopher player who has played on a winning team at the college level and who feels so secure as a starter that he isn't afraid of getting his ass chewed by Kill in front of his teammates and losing his job. Whatever was going on with the team last Saturday it had nothing to do with the players not taking their opponent seriously enough.
 

One angle that I haven't seen discussed is that New Mexico State did have film on us from the USC game and they saw Barkley chew us up royally. I'm not saying that the Gophers were totally strapped in and ready to go, but I think we need to give New Mexico State--both players and coaches--some credit here. They undoubtedly saw stuff on film that they exploited effectively.

This was a very disappointing loss and there's a multiplicity of reasons why it happened.
 

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