PJ Fleck on Sports Huddle 8-26-18

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Wyoming grad/fan, and relatively new Gopher fan here. WYO started a freshman QB, crazy young OL, and a Senior RB who had previously been buried on the depth chart and really had not seen much action. WR corps is promising, but new, as Josh Allen had absolutely no help the last season or so. They gashed this NMSU team repeatedly with the run, and completed some decent passes here and there when needed. They did enough offensively to win and even impressed at times, but obviously have a long way to go. Defensively, this might be the best unit UW has fielded for quite some time. Completely shut down the NMSU running game, and in turn, forced their passing game into hurried disarray with their pass rush.

My view is that with all the youth of MN, they still have more talent, size and speed. Our RB should have a field day if the line can open even the slightest of holes. Receivers should get separation to make things easier for our QB. NMSU will no doubt come out improved over last week, but this game should not be close. We will see.

Go Gophers!
 

GopherPoke said:
Wyoming grad/fan, and relatively new Gopher fan here. WYO started a freshman QB, crazy young OL, and a Senior RB who had previously been buried on the depth chart and really had not seen much action. WR corps is promising, but new, as Josh Allen had absolutely no help the last season or so. They gashed this NMSU team repeatedly with the run, and completed some decent passes here and there when needed. They did enough offensively to win and even impressed at times, but obviously have a long way to go. Defensively, this might be the best unit UW has fielded for quite some time. Completely shut down the NMSU running game, and in turn, forced their passing game into hurried disarray with their pass rush.

My view is that with all the youth of MN, they still have more talent, size and speed. Our RB should have a field day if the line can open even the slightest of holes. Receivers should get separation to make things easier for our QB. NMSU will no doubt come out improved over last week, but this game should not be close. We will see.

Go Gophers!
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I saw they started three RFr on the OL! Obviously did a great job. I know the OL coach was brought over from NDSU.

What are you thinking this year for them in the Mountain division? Saw CO St lost the opener to Hawaii, though they almost came back. Maybe that was a bad matchup for them? Air Force is always tough with triple-option look. And of course Boise every year. Utah Dt has fallen off (?) and NM has been down a while? Then Fresno and SD in the West.

If they manage to go undefeated, would think they’re front runners for NY6 bowl ... but will be tough. Requires a lot of luck on injuries...
 

denguegopher said:
SON, we should have learned sooooooo many lessons! I remember being at Mason's last game in Tempe, in the 2nd deck of the south grandstand. It was near 1/2 time and a lady said to me, "why are concerned? Minnesota has this game won." I briefly explained to her that we could easily lose the game because we had some very stupid coaches. OK, they weren't all stupid, but their play calling was idiotic at times, especially with leads. Any Gopher fan that needs aother lesson about overconfidence is a very slow learner.
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That is what drove the stake through Mason’s heart. He played not to lose and the players knew it. They never had the confidence that they were good enough to beat good teams. The classic game was the Michigan game! PJ needs to play to win.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

They will have to get a lot better offensively to be in the NY6 conversation.
 

GopherPoke said:
They will have to get a lot better offensively to be in the NY6 conversation.
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What are you thinking this year for them in the Mountain division? Saw CO St lost the opener to Hawaii, though they almost came back. Maybe that was a bad matchup for them? Air Force is always tough with triple-option look. And of course Boise every year. Utah St has fallen off (?) and NM has been down a while? Then Fresno and SD in the West.
 


I see them at or very near the top of the West this year, if their offense is a little better than the other night. Hopefully they improve weekly, which is what you want from a freshman lead group. Love the CSU loss to Hawaii, but then again, I love any CSU loss. Air Force is always a threat, as they are disciplined and you have to prepare for a different type of offense not seen regularly. Boise is Boise, for some reason. I've never understood their rise. Other teams are hit and miss. The longer I'm away from Wyoming, the less I know about them, as I follow the Gophers more and more every year.
 

WorkingMyTailOff said:
Special teams last year were not the problem.
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No, but they weren't good. ST's are an important part of football. Kill really emphasized that. At our best we were winning field position battles.

Our PR last year was bad, and issues at Punter are concerning
 

salzie said:
No, but they weren't good. ST's are an important part of football. Kill really emphasized that. At our best we were winning field position battles.

Our PR last year was bad, and issues at Punter are concerning
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I would have to go back and look at stats, but I thought Santoso punted very well last year.
Punt returning has been an issue for the last 3 or 4 years I think.
 

GopherPoke said:
I see them at or very near the top of the West this year, if their offense is a little better than the other night. Hopefully they improve weekly, which is what you want from a freshman lead group. Love the CSU loss to Hawaii, but then again, I love any CSU loss. Air Force is always a threat, as they are disciplined and you have to prepare for a different type of offense not seen regularly. Boise is Boise, for some reason. I've never understood their rise. Other teams are hit and miss. The longer I'm away from Wyoming, the less I know about them, as I follow the Gophers more and more every year.
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They are the Wisconsin of the WAC/Mt West (except likable with more sober fans). They have a system and a coaching/leadership continuity that most programs don’t. Coach Petersen moving up was a blow but they’ve maintained a level of excellence.
 



WorkingMyTailOff said:
I would have to go back and look at stats, but I thought Santoso punted very well last year.
Punt returning has been an issue for the last 3 or 4 years I think.
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I thought he had a couple really bad punts during key moments, and punting at NW was horrible if I recall correctly.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
They are the Wisconsin of the WAC/Mt West (except likable with more sober fans). They have a system and a coaching/leadership continuity that most programs don’t. Coach Petersen moving up was a blow but they’ve maintained a level of excellence.
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Probably not a horrible comparison. That said, "likable" and "more sober" really depends which fanbase you ask. I would say the loss of Peterson was a blow, but so was the loss of Hawkins. Their quick rise from DII to relative DI power still amazes. I believe their academic standards might help that a bit. That is secondhand knowledge, I'll admit. Hiring good coaches has definitely helped.

Sorry, back to the Gophers...
 

GopherPoke said:
Probably not a horrible comparison. That said, "likable" and "more sober" really depends which fanbase you ask. I would say the loss of Peterson was a blow, but so was the loss of Hawkins. Their quick rise from DII to relative DI power still amazes. I believe their academic standards might help that a bit. That is secondhand knowledge, I'll admit. Hiring good coaches has definitely helped.

Sorry, back to the Gophers...
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Hawkins and Petersen had remarkable winning percentages including some impressive victories over power 5 opponents. Those Boise squads were an absolute joy to watch. It will be interesting to see if Petersen can propel Washington to the top of the heap without benefit of being a blue blood school. Could start as early as this year.
 

Washington made the CFP two years ago as the #4 seed. Went to the fiesta bowl last year. Doing very well!
 
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grumps said:
I thought he had a couple really bad punts during key moments, and punting at NW was horrible if I recall correctly.
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He averaged 43 per punt for the season.
At NW, he had one shank of 19 into the wind, a couple others into the wind that were not great, but did put 2 inside the 20 as well.
 

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