***POST-GAME THOUGHTS THREAD***

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- Overall, the defense played extremely well. If the PI goes our way on the last drive, and Thompson and Wells make the tackle on NW's first TD drive, we may hold them to no TD's.
- However, would like to see us get the QB more often when we blitz.
- Unless I missed it, I was surprised Shabazz, Baltazar, and Roderick Williams didn't play at all.
- Hageman was a beast today. I'd still like him to be a little more consistent but it is hard to complain too much. That pancake on the Manuel sack early on was ridiculous.
- The play calling at times on offense is still questionable. But it was nice to see them open it up as well at times. The reverse flea-flicker play was an easy TD if we don't fumble it.
- The OL played well down the stretch. Good to see them take control when it really counts.
- Nelson looked comfortable passing today. He went 8 of 11 and two of those passes should have been completed.
- Our QB's still don't know how to throw the ball away however.

NW is hurting but it's still tough to win on the road in the BT. Great win that will hopefully get us on the right track. I don't expect us to beat Nebraska next week but I do expect us to be more competitive than I thought before today.
 


Word said:
Let's stop making this win less significant because of Northwestern's injuries. So they had 2 players banged up. We were missing our head coach the last couple weeks. We have players in our secondary hurt. Maybe Nelson still isn't 100%.
You play with the players (and coaches) that are available. A win is a win and a good win is a good win. Congrats Gophers on a big win today. Wish I would have been there.
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We played a ton of football with banged up guys last year and this year and I don't hear any quarter given in the national/B1G press. Colter is very good, but I'm not that big on Mark. Don't get me wrong, he's good, but not a difference maker (at least in my eyes). Northwestern's downfall is that they are simply not very physical and the Gophers kept smashing them in the mouth. Sixty minutes of laying the body on their guys and I don't think Northwestern can hold up against that.

And while I'm barking at Northwestern, let me just say I think Fitzgerald is as woefully overrated as a coach as his squad was going into the season. He jumps around the sidelines like a man possessed. Of course, that's SPIRIT if you like the guy and immaturity if you don't. Most of the guys covering college football seem to want to have gay sex with the guy. No adjustments today to help Siemian (who was exposed).

We played within ourselves to win. Hopefully, we can pull out one or two more wins, get bowl eligible (which isn't that big a deal to me unless it shows we are truly an improved team), and establish ourselves.
 



6 weeks ago I watched David Cobb carry the ball 3-4 times and announced he was obviously our best back.

Will anybody care to disagree with me now?

3 weeks ago I said he should be starting. Today he did. Good.
 

JMWZ said:
Great win! I'm so pumped after that. But I'm not sure anyone has mentioned how horriblely Maxx Williams played. If he hadn't dropped two passes the game would have been a lot better.
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I didn't see him drop any. Wolitarski mistimed an easy jump-catch that would have set the team up for a 2-TD lead.
 

GophersInIowa said:
- Overall, the defense played extremely well. If the PI goes our way on the last drive, and Thompson and Wells make the tackle on NW's first TD drive, we may hold them to no TD's.
- However, would like to see us get the QB more often when we blitz.
- Unless I missed it, I was surprised Shabazz, Baltazar, and Roderick Williams didn't play at all.
- Hageman was a beast today. I'd still like him to be a little more consistent but it is hard to complain too much. That pancake on the Manuel sack early on was ridiculous.
- The play calling at times on offense is still questionable. But it was nice to see them open it up as well at times. The reverse flea-flicker play was an easy TD if we don't fumble it.
- The OL played well down the stretch. Good to see them take control when it really counts.
- Nelson looked comfortable passing today. He went 8 of 11 and two of those passes should have been completed.
- Our QB's still don't know how to throw the ball away however.

NW is hurting but it's still tough to win on the road in the BT. Great win that will hopefully get us on the right track. I don't expect us to beat Nebraska next week but I do expect us to be more competitive than I thought before today.
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I remember plenty of games that we lost due to injuries, so I'm not apologizing for that. That said, this was NOT the same Northwestern team that played Ohio St. even until very late. Couldn't be happier to see us get a 5th win in a game we weren't expected to win. We're still a country mile from being called a "juggernaut" on offense, but that's okay. We overcame two horrendous calls, which is not a hallmark of previous teams. The offensive pass interference was quickly followed by a pick 6, but it was a terrible call. And the pass interference on 4th down was just awful as well. I do think this was our most complete win of the year. I sure am a happy fan today. And we sure owe Northwestern for a lot of awful games we lost when we shouldn't have.
 

Studwell55 said:
6 weeks ago I watched David Cobb carry the ball 3-4 times and announced he was obviously our best back.

Will anybody care to disagree with me?
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It's been pretty clear all year that he moves the ball the best of the 3 main RBs, and has been doing so all year. Surprised he's not more of the feature RB (yet another Q for the offensive coaching staff).
 



Fantastic win. This was one that we absolutely needed. I said in the prediction thread that I really liked that -13 spread for us, and that this might be our most likely win, but I've still been pinching myself to see that it actually happened.

Bowl game is absolutely back in the discussion. Penn State will be extremely tough, and Indiana is probably still no better than 50/50, but this team showed that it had an identity today and a hell of a lot of toughness. That's something that was severely lacking the last two weeks, and gives a lot of optimism that at the very least we can pull out one win over the next 5 games.

Happy happy happy, indeed.
 

GophersInIowa said:
- Overall, the defense played extremely well. If the PI goes our way on the last drive, and Thompson and Wells make the tackle on NW's first TD drive, we may hold them to no TD's.
- However, would like to see us get the QB more often when we blitz.
- Unless I missed it, I was surprised Shabazz, Baltazar, and Roderick Williams didn't play at all.
- Hageman was a beast today. I'd still like him to be a little more consistent but it is hard to complain too much. That pancake on the Manuel sack early on was ridiculous.
- The play calling at times on offense is still questionable. But it was nice to see them open it up as well at times. The reverse flea-flicker play was an easy TD if we don't fumble it.
- The OL played well down the stretch. Good to see them take control when it really counts.
- Nelson looked comfortable passing today. He went 8 of 11 and two of those passes should have been completed.
- Our QB's still don't know how to throw the ball away however.

NW is hurting but it's still tough to win on the road in the BT. Great win that will hopefully get us on the right track. I don't expect us to beat Nebraska next week but I do expect us to be more competitive than I thought before today.
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They are young and learning, but I agree with you. They both have a ton of athletic ability, but they both lack "football quickness," which can be attributed to lack of experience, right now. I like the two-headed monster at QB. It worked for Kill at Northern Illinois and it could work here. Both guys seem to underthrow or throw late at junctures, which again can be attributed to inexperience.
 

e.bigelow said:
Nelson is our guy at starting QB. Hands down.
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I don't think it really matters, and I'm pretty happy about that for now.

Let's be honest, in an ideal setting we're only asking the QB to throw the ball 8-10 times a game. Play the hot hand. There's no room for egos in an offense where the QB's two main responsibilities are to run and hand the ball off.
 

Sparlimb said:
Call me an idiot if it's been this way all year, but have the jersey's had bricks in the numbers all year? Today was the first time I've noticed it...
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First time I noticed it too. I much prefer the numbers on the jerseys today over the oversized gold blocky-font numbers they have been wearing at home.
 



50PoundHead said:
We played a ton of football with banged up guys last year and this year and I don't hear any quarter given in the national/B1G press. Colter is very good, but I'm not that big on Mark. Don't get me wrong, he's good, but not a difference maker (at least in my eyes). Northwestern's downfall is that they are simply not very physical and the Gophers kept smashing them in the mouth. Sixty minutes of laying the body on their guys and I don't think Northwestern can hold up against that.

And while I'm barking at Northwestern, let me just say I think Fitzgerald is as woefully overrated as a coach as his squad was going into the season. He jumps around the sidelines like a man possessed. Of course, that's SPIRIT if you like the guy and immaturity if you don't. Most of the guys covering college football seem to want to have gay sex with the guy. No adjustments today to help Siemian (who was exposed).

We played within ourselves to win. Hopefully, we can pull out one or two more wins, get bowl eligible (which isn't that big a deal to me unless it shows we are truly an improved team), and establish ourselves.
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I did chuckle when they had Fitzgerald on camera and he was joking with the Gophers ball boy on that side of the field.
 

Ozzy&Ray said:
Stick to your stupid, sarcastic posts, rather than just your stupid ones. Limegrover called a pass for Leidner and he had Williams wide open and overthrew him by five yards. Leidner can't read the D and pass - they have to simplify the offense for him. They open it up for Nelson because he can read the D, can throw, and he is also faster and quicker than Leidner. Nelson has a ton more upside than Leidner.
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Dear Mrs. Limegrover,
Your husband needs to open up the playbook. When he does, good things happen.
Sincerely,
All Gopher Fans (except for Mrs. Limegrover)
 

cncmin said:
Dear Mrs. Limegrover,
Your husband needs to open up the playbook. When he does, good things happen.
Sincerely,
All Gopher Fans (except for Mrs. Limegrover)
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His response wasn't defending Limegrover. I agree with your take but your response makes no sense in this situation.
 

GophersInIowa said:
His response wasn't defending Limegrover. I agree with your take but your response makes no sense in this situation.
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If he was merely attacking KellyLeeks and not defending Limegrover, then I agree I'm mistaken. That said, I otherwise stand by my post :)
 

RodentRampage said:
This should make for a much cheerier Gopher Hole, no more 0-8 gloom.
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All those people who were predicting 0-8 have automatically been raised to the level of experts. I want to pin medals on them but I can't find any of them here now. Maybe they will return here after the Nebraska game.
 

Studwell55 said:
6 weeks ago I watched David Cobb carry the ball 3-4 times and announced he was obviously our best back.

Will anybody care to disagree with me now?

3 weeks ago I said he should be starting. Today he did. Good.
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I'll agree. He is the only back that runs hard, AND can make someone miss.
 

cncmin said:
If he was merely attacking KellyLeeks and not defending Limegrover, then I agree I'm mistaken. That said, I otherwise stand by my post :)
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Yes, if see previous posts, not defending Limegrover. Just addressing Leeks post.
 

Great win...yes I get sick of reading on here when someone else is missing a player it doesn't count for the gophers... When we are missing players which we are our best cornerback and our whole line last year its terrible coaching blah blah blah..

What does piss me off is try to win the game be aggressive we have nothing to lose who end of the first half .. who cares if he throws a INT...

Reminds me of a tubby smith half court offense no point to and not trying to win the game trying to lose it..
 

oh and yes david cobb is our best running back hands down... first time in years I have seen a guy slow down alittle bit for his lineman to get out ahead of him to pick up another 3 yards... so simple so hard to teach...
 

Ozzy&Ray said:
Stick to your stupid, sarcastic posts, rather than just your stupid ones. Limegrover called a pass for Leidner and he had Williams wide open and overthrew him by five yards. Leidner can't read the D and pass - they have to simplify the offense for him. They open it up for Nelson because he can read the D, can throw, and he is also faster and quicker than Leidner. Nelson has a ton more upside than Leidner.
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Yet, you felt the need to respond to it.
 

cncmin said:
It's been pretty clear all year that he moves the ball the best of the 3 main RBs, and has been doing so all year. Surprised he's not more of the feature RB (yet another Q for the offensive coaching staff).
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He does lead the team in rushing yards and attempts. He had a nice game but him and Williams have been pretty similar all year (IMO). They are different kinds of backs, I hope they keep getting touches.
 

I've never written these words before, but here goes: we were too fast for them on defense.
 

Nice that Coach Kill made it to the game and spoke to the team at halftime.
 

cncmin said:
Dear Mrs. Limegrover,
Your husband needs to open up the playbook. When he does, good things happen.
Sincerely,
All Gopher Fans (except for Mrs. Limegrover)
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The playbook was as open today as it has always been. It just worked better, we played better. We threw the ball 14 times and ran it 49 times. Our success today had nothing to do with "opening up the playbook" it was because of our improved execution.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
The playbook was as open today as it has always been. It just worked better, we played better. We threw the ball 14 times and ran it 49 times. Our success today had nothing to do with "opening up the playbook" it was because of our improved execution.
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I'm not convinced in the least that this game was won on the offensive side of the field. If you enjoy 13 offensive points - or 20, if you agree that the ref(s) took away an obvious TD - and you think 13-20 points will win a lot of D-1 football games, then I can't blame your blatant optimism.

Not sure I can speak for the rest of us, but I yearn for better offensive coaching, which tends to precede better offensive execution.
 

Nice win. Yes, NW was without some weapons, but that's life. And we had to overcome some awful, awful officiating as well. Nelson should be the QB going forward with Leidner getting a couple series per game.
 

cncmin said:
I'm not convinced in the least that this game was won on the offensive side of the field. If you enjoy 13 offensive points - or 20, if you agree that the ref(s) took away an obvious TD - and you think 13-20 points will win a lot of D-1 football games, then I can't blame your blatant optimism.

Not sure I can speak for the rest of us, but I yearn for better offensive coaching, which tends to precede better offensive execution.
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The counter argument to that is that there were a lot of missed opportunities on offense. The reverse flea flicker was set up perfectly, just not executed. Other times receivers were open but the connection was not made.

I'm not making excuses for the play calling at times as I get frustrated as well. Just pointing that out.
 

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