Play of the Game: Wettstein from 51 yards

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Governor Sibley

Governor Sibley

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That was like a parting grenade rolled into the Illinois locker at half.

Just when the Illini thought they were going to wobble off the field...boom goes thy dynamite.
 


Will be interesting to see how they handle the Wettstein/Hawthorne situation. I would love to see Wettstein keep the job but Hawthorne is on Scholarship which will complicate things since most teams don't like having multiple kickers taking up scholarships. If you are going to count on Wettstein to be the number one guy you need to give him a scholarship for his senior season as that is only fair and frankly I think his performance since he took over is worthy of one. That 51 yarder was certainly wind aided but it was still a heck of a kick and it has been a while since we have had a kicker with that kind of range around here.
 

A hell of a kick. Please tell me he can punt too, as we must find a punter that can do the job on a consistent basis!
 

Hawthorne has that range too. Good problem to have from the team's perspective but it looks as though a talented kid is going to be the second guy either way next year.
 


I agree, the two biggest plays were the 51 yard boot and the sack/fumble by Hageman.
 

When's the last time we've had a staff that was aggressive enough to go for it at the end of the 1st half. I thought we'd be taking a knee for sure.
 

The sequence at the end of the half was a little strange in terms of the play calls that led to the long field goal attempt but it worked so I guess they knew what they were doing. Still seemed odd to run off almost 10 seconds and only come away with a couple yards. Still though I like that they although they were not being super aggressive they also were not sitting on it.

Still can't believe how pathetic Illinois was, especially their o-line that just chose not to block guys right up the middle sometimes, but still love the way the Gophers played and glad to get the big victory.
 

John Galt said:
When's the last time we've had a staff that was aggressive enough to go for it at the end of the 1st half. I thought we'd be taking a knee for sure.
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That was my thought as well. It seems like 99% of the time a Gopher staff would down it and take the lead into halftime, but an opposing staff would have done to us what we did to the Illini. I was very happy to see it and then to see Wettstein actually make it was awesome.

First double digit win since 2008...love it!!

Go Gophers!!
 



John Galt said:
When's the last time we've had a staff that was aggressive enough to go for it at the end of the 1st half. I thought we'd be taking a knee for sure.
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Do you remember the NDSU game?
 

Yes, but this is different. There is no way you can justify taking a knee against a team like NDSU when you are behind at home. Being up by 17 points against a 6 win Illinois team, I couldn't have blamed them if they took a knee. I like the fact that they weren't content with it and went for the jugular.
 

I don't know for sure, but Kill's thinking may have had something to do with the fact that they'd dominated . Illinois for the first half. He likely sensed that Illinois wanted to get off the field in the worst way, but his idea of worst was different than theirs.
 

MNVCGUY said:
The sequence at the end of the half was a little strange in terms of the play calls that led to the long field goal attempt but it worked so I guess they knew what they were doing. Still seemed odd to run off almost 10 seconds and only come away with a couple yards. Still though I like that they although they were not being super aggressive they also were not sitting on it.

Still can't believe how pathetic Illinois was, especially their o-line that just chose not to block guys right up the middle sometimes, but still love the way the Gophers played and glad to get the big victory.
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It was just as you said...a way to "go for it" without really risking a turnover. Gray always has a chance of breaking a mid-length run and has really improved his ball security.
 



Is Wettstein done? The game notes listed him as one of the 24 seniors.

SENIOR SALUTE
The following is a look at the 24 Gophers who will be honored on Senior Day at TCF Bank Stadium Saturday:
Duane Bennett, Chris Bunders, Cameron Gatling, Jacob Glickstein, Chase Haviland, Kyle Henderson,
Anthony Jacobs, Johnny Johnson, Bryan Klitzke, Brandon Kirksey, Eric Lair, Christyn Lewis, Adam Lueck,
Collin McGarry, Da’Jon McKnight, Ryan Orton, Kim Royston, Shady Salamon, David Schwerman, Troy
Stoudermire, Patrick Sveum, Gary Tinsley, Jordan Wettstein and Ryan Wynn.
 

Wettstein has another season of eligibility, but as a walk on, there's a lot of doubt that he will use it, so he gets honored. It's the same with Stoudermire the Medical Hardship Wavier is not guaranteed.
 

Typically all walk-ons and redshirts are treated as seniors during their fourth year of eligibility because they might not be invited back for a fifth year.
 


Wettstein's Field Goals

BHgrappler said:
A hell of a kick. Please tell me he can punt too, as we must find a punter that can do the job on a consistent basis!
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I agree with all of the comments on Wettstein's two field goals! These kicks were amazing since the strong wind had to have more of a "swirl" effect in the stadium and easily could have been pushed off target rather than going through the uprights. When he made them, I forgot how cold I really was up in Section 236!

Great walk-on story, given the fact he was being completely ignored by the Brew Crew and was finally given an opportunity by Kill & Co. Couldn't this be used by the Ticket Office as a PR play to market Gopher Football for 2012? They'd have to be crazy to let this guy walk now and not bring him back! Who cares about any other kickers they bring in!

The U of M needs football heroes and interesting players now! Stop worrying about all of the politics and scholarship BS and get Sid Hartman's friends to give the kid a Lexus ("F" the NCAA!) and a booklet of coupons for Silver Butterknife Steaks!
 

Even with the wind the kick looked like it had at least another 10 yards. I hope the kid comes back.
 

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