***POST-GAME THOUGHTS THREAD***

[cncmin]

I don't think the starter is going to matter. I'd guess both play going forward and the hot hand is going to get the majority of series.

Given Limegrover's playbook, I think the guy that should be the starter is the one who doesn't yet have carpal tunnel from repeating the exact same handoff left/handoff right motion play after play. If the team actually had a viable smash-mouth running game that kept the offense driving down the field with regularity, I'm not sure Nelson or Leidner's wrists or elbows would hold up.

 

[cncmin]

I forgot about that one. Fruecthe's "push" wasn't why they guy fell down. He either just tripped or faked it. It reminded me of the phantom PI in OT during the Vikings 2009 NFC championship. Just because it appears contact was made, doesn't mean it was. Only call what you see, not what you think happened.

And if Fitzgerald had gotten his way when he screamed about a very similar non-push-fallover phantom PI in the same drive as #3 and #4, I could have added #5.

Yes, the Vikings' phantom PI that, combined with 2 other bad calls, gave the Saints a Super Bowl berth, readily came to mind today.

 

[BreakTheGopherCurse]

Ok, we're 5-2 & right now we've beaten someone who was pretty much marked as an "L" on a lot of people's predictions.

*EXTREMELY* pleased with the Defense today... Offense sputtered at times but Nelson clearly displayed some leadership today. Granted that NW was without it's top 2 players on Offense but we looked solid today. My only complaint is our 2 minute Offense, very shakey...

Outside of that this was just a very solid football game even if it seems the Ref's were heavily favoring NW...

Minnesota 5-2 (1-2), Northwestern 4-3 (0-3)

Nelson looked highly confident, fired up, full of energy, focused, determined and ready to take back the number one spot. he still throws a very wobbly and floating ball most of the time, but it seems to work more often than not. Contrary to what most people think, I'd like to see us employ the two QB strategy every game and then run with the hot hand. I think it would work really well with this team.

I also think the referees have no respect for Minnesota. I've never seen a string of calls that out of line. If I didn't know better, I'd say they were instructed or paid to favor NW. It was that blatant. They should be reprimanded by the B1G. It was an egregious failure.

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

So no Kolter & Mark?

The Cats put up 30 points and 500 yards on offense vs Cal without Kolter & Mark running for a whole 29 yards.

They had 328 yards today.

 

[MGGopher]

What an awesome win! Just got back to Indy after taking in the victory, and since I didn't see a "good/bad/ugly" thread, I'll post my short GBU thoughts here:

GOOD:
1) SHEDE! Holy cow...what a stud! Countless QB pressures, knocked down passes, and even an INT! I also saw him hustling to make a tackle or two on short WR screens/outs. He's slowly been justifying the preseason hype and his place in the NFL draft.

2) I thought Damien Wilson was excellent today as well. Two plays really stand out to me: 1) Chasing down an option play from inside out and just destroying the back after the pitch had been made -- super athletic play I haven't seen a Gopher LB make for a LONG time; 2) Making a play in the endzone in man-to-man coverage up the sideline when NW hustled to the line and had about half our defense scratching their heads and not even lined up.

3) I thought a VERY underrated part of this game was the great punting by Mortell! Field position was crucial in this close, low-scoring game, and I thought Mortell got off some beauties -- even into the wind early on. I was impressed by his consistency today.

4) Two FG's by Hawthorne. I know D1 kickers should make field goals under 45 yards pretty consistently, but it was damn windy out there today and nothing was a given.

5) Improvement on 3rd down on BOTH sides. There were some critical stops AND some critical conversions. If you win the turnover battle and the 3rd down battle, you're likely to win the game.

6) Screen pass to a RB! YES! Beautiful call at a critical juncture, and it was beautifully executed. Hope to see more of this!

BAD:
1) Several poor throws to fairly wide open (by D1 standards) WR's. The one to Maxx on the "pop" pass was frustrating, but even more critical was the one to Wolitarsky (I think) on a 3rd down deep in NW territory. Beautiful play action, two open receivers, very poor pass.

2) Very sloppy play early in the game, I thought. I just kept turning to my wife saying how sloppy we were playing. Silly penalties like unsportsmanlike, false starts, illegal formation, etc. The overthrows, QB's not throwing it away, defenders missing tackles, OL whiffing on blocks, a punt being downed when it might have rolled like 10 more yards. Frustrating, silly mental mistakes for the most part. A couple of these things REALLY hurt us early in the game.

UGLY:
1) Officiating...obviously.

2) Tackling on NW's 1st Q TD drive. Wow, that was just bad. Wells flying in for the shoulder block instead of wrapping up on a critical 3rd down was just awful.

3) Marcus Jones punt returns. Holy yikes. You can tell the coaches were harping on him for not catching that first one (as well they should, because it cost us 10 - 15 yards in field position, and it's been happening ALL YEAR), but he was just straight up scared back there after that. They were smart to pull him.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Good post MGGopher.

2) Very sloppy play early in the game, I thought. I just kept turning to my wife saying how sloppy we were playing. Silly penalties like unsportsmanlike, false starts, illegal formation, etc. The overthrows, QB's not throwing it away, defenders missing tackles, OL whiffing on blocks, a punt being downed when it might have rolled like 10 more yards. Frustrating, silly mental mistakes for the most part. A couple of these things REALLY hurt us early in the game.

As a Gophers fan, it wasn't hard to start thinking "here we go again" with the start we had. In case people forgot, this is how the game started:

Leidner overthrows Williams.
Cobb fumbles, Gophers recover.
Complete a pass for a first down, but called back due to illegal formation.
Leidner rushes for 10 yards but gets planted by a DB.
Delay of game.
Punt goes just 38 yards.

 

[Spoofin]

What an awesome win! Just got back to Indy after taking in the victory, and since I didn't see a "good/bad/ugly" thread, I'll post my short GBU thoughts here:

GOOD:
1) SHEDE! Holy cow...what a stud! Countless QB pressures, knocked down passes, and even an INT! I also saw him hustling to make a tackle or two on short WR screens/outs. He's slowly been justifying the preseason hype and his place in the NFL draft.

2) I thought Damien Wilson was excellent today as well. Two plays really stand out to me: 1) Chasing down an option play from inside out and just destroying the back after the pitch had been made -- super athletic play I haven't seen a Gopher LB make for a LONG time; 2) Making a play in the endzone in man-to-man coverage up the sideline when NW hustled to the line and had about half our defense scratching their heads and not even lined up.

3) I thought a VERY underrated part of this game was the great punting by Mortell! Field position was crucial in this close, low-scoring game, and I thought Mortell got off some beauties -- even into the wind early on. I was impressed by his consistency today.

4) Two FG's by Hawthorne. I know D1 kickers should make field goals under 45 yards pretty consistently, but it was damn windy out there today and nothing was a given.

5) Improvement on 3rd down on BOTH sides. There were some critical stops AND some critical conversions. If you win the turnover battle and the 3rd down battle, you're likely to win the game.

6) Screen pass to a RB! YES! Beautiful call at a critical juncture, and it was beautifully executed. Hope to see more of this!

BAD:
1) Several poor throws to fairly wide open (by D1 standards) WR's. The one to Maxx on the "pop" pass was frustrating, but even more critical was the one to Wolitarsky (I think) on a 3rd down deep in NW territory. Beautiful play action, two open receivers, very poor pass.

2) Very sloppy play early in the game, I thought. I just kept turning to my wife saying how sloppy we were playing. Silly penalties like unsportsmanlike, false starts, illegal formation, etc. The overthrows, QB's not throwing it away, defenders missing tackles, OL whiffing on blocks, a punt being downed when it might have rolled like 10 more yards. Frustrating, silly mental mistakes for the most part. A couple of these things REALLY hurt us early in the game.

UGLY:
1) Officiating...obviously.

2) Tackling on NW's 1st Q TD drive. Wow, that was just bad. Wells flying in for the shoulder block instead of wrapping up on a critical 3rd down was just awful.

3) Marcus Jones punt returns. Holy yikes. You can tell the coaches were harping on him for not catching that first one (as well they should, because it cost us 10 - 15 yards in field position, and it's been happening ALL YEAR), but he was just straight up scared back there after that. They were smart to pull him.

Spot On. Add Manuel to the Good List.

 

[Unregistered User]

Several poor throws to fairly wide open (by D1 standards) WR's.

They only threw 14 passes. Nine were completed. There were a couple of drops, a bad throw on a slant by Phil (lead him too far). I don't know if there were "several" poor throws. I was happy with it, as much as they passed.

 

[jaymil]

As far as Limegrover calling plays, he just seem more comfortable opening up the playbook a little with Nelson as the QB. And while most people believe Leidner was the better passer before today, I was still skeptical. Leidner has looked tentative to me as a passer despite the numbers. Rarely have I seen him step up and deliver a strike. He either has a pretty weak arm or he's just not very confident letting it rip. Nelson also looks like he reads the defense better. We don't know how these guys look in practice but the way the offense is called in games leads me to believe this staff believes Nelson is the better thrower. I'd like to see Nelson start from now on with Leidner getting a few series here and there to pound the rock and give Nelson a breather.

 

[3399]

I thought it was a gutsy performance and the team that deserved to win, did.

 

[t-docious]

was at the game.

its nice to hear that the refs were horrible because it sure looked like some garbage calls on us and all the dumba** northwestern fans were telling me to sit down and shut up.

Our defense looked good today, loved the blitzing and our d-line looked like they were getting a solid push.

I still think we are way too conservative at times. Before the half always drives me nuts. We should be playing like we have nothing to lose IMO. Throw the friggin kitchen sink at em!

 

[GophersInIowa]

How many Gopher fans were there? It sure looked like a good amount on TV.

 

[AEmerson40]

How many Gopher fans were there? It sure looked like a good amount on TV.

Not exactly sure (I was there); if I had to guess, I'd say 6000. There were spots of maroon all over the stadium, as well as two significant entire sections of Gopher fans. Could have been much more than my guess, but I doubt it would be much less.

 

[MNVCGUY]

What an awesome win! Just got back to Indy after taking in the victory, and since I didn't see a "good/bad/ugly" thread, I'll post my short GBU thoughts here:

GOOD:
1) SHEDE! Holy cow...what a stud! Countless QB pressures, knocked down passes, and even an INT! I also saw him hustling to make a tackle or two on short WR screens/outs. He's slowly been justifying the preseason hype and his place in the NFL draft.

2) I thought Damien Wilson was excellent today as well. Two plays really stand out to me: 1) Chasing down an option play from inside out and just destroying the back after the pitch had been made -- super athletic play I haven't seen a Gopher LB make for a LONG time; 2) Making a play in the endzone in man-to-man coverage up the sideline when NW hustled to the line and had about half our defense scratching their heads and not even lined up.

3) I thought a VERY underrated part of this game was the great punting by Mortell! Field position was crucial in this close, low-scoring game, and I thought Mortell got off some beauties -- even into the wind early on. I was impressed by his consistency today.

4) Two FG's by Hawthorne. I know D1 kickers should make field goals under 45 yards pretty consistently, but it was damn windy out there today and nothing was a given.

5) Improvement on 3rd down on BOTH sides. There were some critical stops AND some critical conversions. If you win the turnover battle and the 3rd down battle, you're likely to win the game.

6) Screen pass to a RB! YES! Beautiful call at a critical juncture, and it was beautifully executed. Hope to see more of this!

BAD:
1) Several poor throws to fairly wide open (by D1 standards) WR's. The one to Maxx on the "pop" pass was frustrating, but even more critical was the one to Wolitarsky (I think) on a 3rd down deep in NW territory. Beautiful play action, two open receivers, very poor pass.

2) Very sloppy play early in the game, I thought. I just kept turning to my wife saying how sloppy we were playing. Silly penalties like unsportsmanlike, false starts, illegal formation, etc. The overthrows, QB's not throwing it away, defenders missing tackles, OL whiffing on blocks, a punt being downed when it might have rolled like 10 more yards. Frustrating, silly mental mistakes for the most part. A couple of these things REALLY hurt us early in the game.

UGLY:
1) Officiating...obviously.

2) Tackling on NW's 1st Q TD drive. Wow, that was just bad. Wells flying in for the shoulder block instead of wrapping up on a critical 3rd down was just awful.

3) Marcus Jones punt returns. Holy yikes. You can tell the coaches were harping on him for not catching that first one (as well they should, because it cost us 10 - 15 yards in field position, and it's been happening ALL YEAR), but he was just straight up scared back there after that. They were smart to pull him.

I would add our clock management on the drive leading up to half time into the ugly category.

And I think there should be a whole separate category for Shede because he had an awesome game and was a major factor.

I would also add being +3 in the turnover column against a team that is very good at forcing them to the good column.

Other than that think you nailed it.

 

[Buck_Buchanan]

I would add our clock management on the drive leading up to half time into the ugly category.

And I think there should be a whole separate category for Shede because he had an awesome game and was a major factor.

I would also add being +3 in the turnover column against a team that is very good at forcing them to the good column.

Other than that think you nailed it.

Add this one to UGLY category:

Punt in first quarter downed after the first bounce when clearly, if let go, would have angled down field for additional gain in field position. That kid should have his a@# chewed for that one.

 

[wait!what?]

most of you losers predicted a gopher loss against NU. jackwagons.

 

[patrick08]

What an awesome win! Just got back to Indy after taking in the victory, and since I didn't see a "good/bad/ugly" thread, I'll post my short GBU thoughts here:

GOOD:
1) SHEDE! Holy cow...what a stud! Countless QB pressures, knocked down passes, and even an INT! I also saw him hustling to make a tackle or two on short WR screens/outs. He's slowly been justifying the preseason hype and his place in the NFL draft.

2) I thought Damien Wilson was excellent today as well. Two plays really stand out to me: 1) Chasing down an option play from inside out and just destroying the back after the pitch had been made -- super athletic play I haven't seen a Gopher LB make for a LONG time; 2) Making a play in the endzone in man-to-man coverage up the sideline when NW hustled to the line and had about half our defense scratching their heads and not even lined up.

3) I thought a VERY underrated part of this game was the great punting by Mortell! Field position was crucial in this close, low-scoring game, and I thought Mortell got off some beauties -- even into the wind early on. I was impressed by his consistency today.

4) Two FG's by Hawthorne. I know D1 kickers should make field goals under 45 yards pretty consistently, but it was damn windy out there today and nothing was a given.

5) Improvement on 3rd down on BOTH sides. There were some critical stops AND some critical conversions. If you win the turnover battle and the 3rd down battle, you're likely to win the game.

6) Screen pass to a RB! YES! Beautiful call at a critical juncture, and it was beautifully executed. Hope to see more of this!

BAD:
1) Several poor throws to fairly wide open (by D1 standards) WR's. The one to Maxx on the "pop" pass was frustrating, but even more critical was the one to Wolitarsky (I think) on a 3rd down deep in NW territory. Beautiful play action, two open receivers, very poor pass.

2) Very sloppy play early in the game, I thought. I just kept turning to my wife saying how sloppy we were playing. Silly penalties like unsportsmanlike, false starts, illegal formation, etc. The overthrows, QB's not throwing it away, defenders missing tackles, OL whiffing on blocks, a punt being downed when it might have rolled like 10 more yards. Frustrating, silly mental mistakes for the most part. A couple of these things REALLY hurt us early in the game.

UGLY:
1) Officiating...obviously.

2) Tackling on NW's 1st Q TD drive. Wow, that was just bad. Wells flying in for the shoulder block instead of wrapping up on a critical 3rd down was just awful.

3) Marcus Jones punt returns. Holy yikes. You can tell the coaches were harping on him for not catching that first one (as well they should, because it cost us 10 - 15 yards in field position, and it's been happening ALL YEAR), but he was just straight up scared back there after that. They were smart to pull him.

Agree with the analysis. Marcus is dynamic and great with kickoffs, but I bet the mishandling and decision making is why we saw Engel back there some today. A home run threat is more important on kickoffs than punts. Need good decision making and handling. Hageman was just a beast. One thing that will get overlooked is I think on a Wilson sack, Shede just absolutely knocked a guard on his ass. Pure power. Some of the worst officiating I have seen. Clock management at the end of the first half has to be included in bad or ugly.

 

[patrick08]

Add this one to UGLY category:

Punt in first quarter downed after the first bounce when clearly, if let go, would have angled down field for additional gain in field position. That kid should have his a@# chewed for that one.

Yes that one caused some good yardage. Freshmen mistake, but yes bad or ugly worthy.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

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.

Well, then what were you referencing about good things happening when Limegrover opens up the playbook? We've played a similar style all season long (good and bad), so how could you possibly know that good things happen with this team when they open it up? We are a team with a lack of weapons in the receiving game and sporadic QB and OL play.

On another note, the offense had quite a bit to do with our win today. The game isn't measured by fantasy football stats.
#1: Our offense ran 63 plays and didn't commit a single TO. Not turning the ball over was huge today.
#2: We ran the ball decent, not great, but good enough to keep it a threat and have a possibility of passing. When we can't run at all, we won't be able to pass the ball.
#3: We had a defensive TD and STILL dominated NWestern in time of possession (fresh defenses play fast).
#4: We picked up two first downs at the end to end the game (also got a huge FG in the 4th quarter).

Our offense isn't great. It's actually not very good. However, that's not because Limegrover doesn't open up the playbook. It's because we are playing two second year QBs, we have a beat up offensive line and we lack weapons in the passing game. The offense played well enough to put our defense in a position to be effective. It's the exact opposite of what happened in the Iowa game where we turned the ball over, couldn't run and got killed in time of possession.

I wish our offense could lineup and open up the playbook and put up 40 points a game, but it's not in our cards. We need our offense to be effective enough to not put us in a hole. They did that today, so the game was partially won on the offensive side of the ball.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Given Limegrover's playbook, I think the guy that should be the starter is the one who doesn't yet have carpal tunnel from repeating the exact same handoff left/handoff right motion play after play. If the team actually had a viable smash-mouth running game that kept the offense driving down the field with regularity, I'm not sure Nelson or Leidner's wrists or elbows would hold up.

So you don't want us running the ball because we don't have a smash mouth running game, yet, you want us to run a more open offense with our receivers and QBs?

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

They only threw 14 passes. Nine were completed. There were a couple of drops, a bad throw on a slant by Phil (lead him too far). I don't know if there were "several" poor throws. I was happy with it, as much as they passed.

Yeah, I agree.

Leidner had a bad one early on. Maxx was really open and Mitch overthrew him.

The Wolitarsky one was a drop. He should have caught that pass, it hit him in stride in the hands.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

One thing I noticed the second time watching the game was that the Gophers got a lot of run out of a few guys that hadn't been really productive lately. Alex Keith, Grayson Levine, the Ekpe brothers, Ed Olson Jr., Vereen playing a different position, Manuel.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

Our offense isn't great. It's actually not very good. However, that's not because Limegrover doesn't open up the playbook. It's because we are playing two second year QBs, we have a beat up offensive line and we lack weapons in the passing game. The offense played well enough to put our defense in a position to be effective. It's the exact opposite of what happened in the Iowa game where we turned the ball over, couldn't run and got killed in time of possession.

I wish our offense could lineup and open up the playbook and put up 40 points a game, but it's not in our cards. We need our offense to be effective enough to not put us in a hole. They did that today, so the game was partially won on the offensive side of the ball.

Ding, ding, ding... We have a winner!!

There are two ways to go with a couple of young QB's at the helm; open things up, pass the ball more, introduce more risk into the equation, OR, go the conservative route, play it safe, preserve young confidence, and hope for the best. For better or worse, like it or not, Limegrover is going with the latter. That's just the way it is. Nelson has more experience and likely a LITTLE more confidence, so I would expect them to give him a little more rope to make some plays with his arm.

I think next year they DO put some points on the board, no doubt in my mind. Whatever the QB situation, it will most certainly be a guy who has some experience and confidence and this offense will be much more impressive and formidable.

 

[GophersInIowa]

One thing I noticed the second time watching the game was that the Gophers got a lot of run out of a few guys that hadn't been really productive lately. Alex Keith, Grayson Levine, the Ekpe brothers, Ed Olson Jr., Vereen playing a different position, Manuel.

Did Olson play some at LT? I didn't notice that.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

Did Olson play some at LT? I didn't notice that.

I know Lauer played a lot of snaps too, but Olson was in there at the end.

Wonder if Rodrick Williams and Cedric Thompson are both on the outs right now. Didn't see either one of those guys.

 

[matt]

I'm curious about the offsides call against the Gophers in the 2nd half. The DE jumped over the line but came back. The OL did not react or move at all and the ball was not snapped, yet the refs threw the flag and called offsides. Is that correct? I thought it was only a flag if the ball was snapped or the movement caused the offense to move?

The refs today seemed very lazy.

 

[cncmin]

Well, then what were you referencing about good things happening when Limegrover opens up the playbook? We've played a similar style all season long (good and bad), so how could you possibly know that good things happen with this team when they open it up? We are a team with a lack of weapons in the receiving game and sporadic QB and OL play.

On another note, the offense had quite a bit to do with our win today. The game isn't measured by fantasy football stats.
#1: Our offense ran 63 plays and didn't commit a single TO. Not turning the ball over was huge today.
#2: We ran the ball decent, not great, but good enough to keep it a threat and have a possibility of passing. When we can't run at all, we won't be able to pass the ball.
#3: We had a defensive TD and STILL dominated NWestern in time of possession (fresh defenses play fast).
#4: We picked up two first downs at the end to end the game (also got a huge FG in the 4th quarter).

Our offense isn't great. It's actually not very good. However, that's not because Limegrover doesn't open up the playbook. It's because we are playing two second year QBs, we have a beat up offensive line and we lack weapons in the passing game. The offense played well enough to put our defense in a position to be effective. It's the exact opposite of what happened in the Iowa game where we turned the ball over, couldn't run and got killed in time of possession.

I wish our offense could lineup and open up the playbook and put up 40 points a game, but it's not in our cards. We need our offense to be effective enough to not put us in a hole. They did that today, so the game was partially won on the offensive side of the ball.

It's "not in our cards" because the coaching staff doesn't give them even half a chance to score points. Period.

 

[cncmin]

Ding, ding, ding... We have a winner!!

There are two ways to go with a couple of young QB's at the helm; open things up, pass the ball more, introduce more risk into the equation, OR, go the conservative route, play it safe, preserve young confidence, and hope for the best. For better or worse, like it or not, Limegrover is going with the latter. That's just the way it is. Nelson has more experience and likely a LITTLE more confidence, so I would expect them to give him a little more rope to make some plays with his arm.

I think next year they DO put some points on the board, no doubt in my mind. Whatever the QB situation, it will most certainly be a guy who has some experience and confidence and this offense will be much more impressive and formidable.

Sounds like you think there's a magical transition that takes place between this year, where both of our QBs can't help but trip over their own toes, and next year, where you imply that they'll suddenly figure everything out (even though none of the offseason experience occurs in a B1G game). What's so magical about next year? Why not this year, or last year, or why not wait until 3 years after they graduate?

It's not magic. Too many of you think that Nelson and Leidner are totally incapable of running an offense, so you have to treat them like 8 year olds. These dudes have been stud athletes and good QBs most of their lives. Take off the training wheels already and let them play.

 

[cncmin]

I'm curious about the offsides call against the Gophers in the 2nd half. The DE jumped over the line but came back. The OL did not react or move at all and the ball was not snapped, yet the refs threw the flag and called offsides. Is that correct? I thought it was only a flag if the ball was snapped or the movement caused the offense to move?

The refs today seemed very lazy.

Another weird call. Call was "Offsides, unabated to the QB", but the perpetrator was back into starting position when the flag was thrown; and certainly few could argue his path to the QB remained free.

 

[Gopherprof]

Wonder if Rodrick Williams and Cedric Thompson are both on the outs right now. Didn't see either one of those guys.

Cedric played a lot, but he was also a culprit in a lot of those bad tackles, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was yanked.