Post Game Thoughts

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Always dangerous to prognosticate but here goes nothing: 6 wins seems a lock (2 out 3 va MD, NU and Ill., 7-- well over 50-50 (3 out of 3 vs same), 8 -- 45-55 (as above + Wisconsin -- they're down a little; 9 -- 35 -65 all above plus Iowa, they can be had, Purdue did it.

Bowling Green was a kick in the ass and Fleck is a good coach, he won't let them forget that one.
 

BTChamp said:
Sounds like a difficult task to undertake. I get they have computers and algorithm thingies, but still hard to do.

So the actual stats aren't the whole story? They take into account things other than official stats?
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Yes. No idea how they quantify that though.
 

BilldGopher said:
When we went up 2 TDs with 2 minutes left the Nebbies to our left vacated en masse.

I told Mrs. Billd that we haven't won this thing yet. Within a minute my foreshadowing became stranger than fiction.

Glad we pulled it out. Oh, one bonus with winning against Nebbie...don't have to listen to "Gooo Big Red" incessantly after the game.
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Notice the same mass exit and said the same thing to my family on both situations.
 


hungan1 said:
That will be sweet if the Gophers sneaked in quietly and win the B1G West outright. If they keep winning one game at a time, that may happen the way Iowa is losing to Purdue at home.

Even Nebbie has a chance to upset Iowa at home
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Nebbie definitely beats Iowa in Lincoln. They also win at Madison.
 


hungan1 said:
Early in the season, I thought the thing to watch were key injuries, ST play, and the resurgence of the Defense.

The Gophers collapse in the second half of the season due to injuries and facing the tough part of their schedule. They may sneakily and quietly win games to challenge Iowa for the division title.

We have to take it one game at a time.

Our young WRs and RBs are getting better and better.

Don't give up on Bryce Williams yet. He showed his value today. He is selfless and patient. He is a real team guy who never complains. He will factor in towards the end of the season.

The Defense is going to save the Gophers bacon on many upcoming games. Wisconsin and Iowa have some surprises coming their way.
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I have never given up on Bryce Williams. He is the ultimate team player; but we started the season with a lot of good RBs snd he wasn’t getting much play. Bryce is solid. He has a real skill at bouncing to the outside and he can catch a wheel route. He is sneaky fast. I once thought Bryce was the only RB left who could pass block, but Ky Thomas had a great block on long passes today, too. Hate to see Mo and Potts out, but love how our 3-5 guys are rising to the challenge.
 
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Gophergrandpa said:
I have never given up on Bryce Williams. He is the ultimate team player; but we started the season with a lot of good RBs—two are down now. Bryce is solid. Wait until they use him to attack the perimeter … throw him a wheel route in some game. I once thought he was the only RB left who could pass block, but Ky Thomas had a few great blocks on long passes today, too. Hate to see Mo and Potts out, but love how our 3-5 guys are riding to the challenge.
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Williams must have some some underrated speed. He's broken several long runs for the Gophs over the years with not many carries. I don't remember him getting caught from behind like some other MN RBs. He's not as as shifty as Pott's or a couple other guys but has nice power - more of a slasher- and keeps the chains moving which is huge in the Gophs offense. No dancing around behind the lines. Outstanding day for him.
 


FormerFatOL said:
Williams must have some some underrated speed. He's broken several long runs for the Gophs over the years with not many carries. I don't remember him getting caught from behind like some other MN RBs. He's not as as shifty as Pott's or a couple other guys but has nice power - more of a slasher- and keeps the chains moving which is huge in the Gophs offense. No dancing around behind the lines. Outstanding day for him.
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Once Williams is in the open field, he hasn’t gotten caught from behind. Small sample size, of course. In his freshman year, his TDs against Wisconsin were in part because DBs took bad angles, underestimating his speed. Williams isn’t a burner, but I think he has an upper gear that is a little faster than Mo or Potts. I was also impressed by how Williams ran between the tackles for first downs against Nebraska. That isn’t something we’ve seen from him much. Keep it up Bryce!
 




Ignatius L Hoops said:
Nyles Pinckney sacking Martinez and then running in a large oval, up the field, to the bench, down the field behind the bench and then back onto the field to play defense when Nebraska set up to go for it on fourth down was exciting and tiring. Fortunately PJ called timeout and then the Huskers kicked a field goal.
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Pinckney played well, that was probably his best game as a Gopher.
 

4 consecutive rushes for 39 yards and then Sanford thinks it’d be a good idea to do a QB run and follow it up with a reverse flea flicker. WOW!
 

Two things I was dead wrong about today:

Bryce Williams. At one point I said to my son, "why is he playing, I'm faster than him". I thought Irving looked great today, but kudos to Williams for being steady and reliable.

Blitzing. I was frustrated with the complete lack of pass rush, and thought we should've brought some extra bodies. Not letting Martinez get outside and beating us with his legs/making him beat us with his arm was clearly the right call. Kudos to Rossi for the game plan and for sticking with it.
 

I agree with the Nebraska can beat Iowa and Wisconsin.

Wisconsin defense is good, but so is Nebraska's. Nebraska's just played some tougher teams.

Iowa will have a hard time scoring against Nebraska if they don't get short fields from turnovers.
Nebraska's defense is sound.

Nebraska only has 4 games left, and they will do us a favor with each one if they win.

Purdue
WI
Iowa

And even them beating OSU so we have a better chance of playing an unbeaten (or one loss) MI or MI ST would be good.
 

swelna said:
Feeling pretty good about being 7-2 going into Iowa. If we play like we did the first half of Nebraska against Iowa, we can be leading into halftime, just need to not give it up in the second half...
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We seem to struggle with Maryland defensively. Hope their bye week doesn’t help them like us and Purdue. Bowling Green seems to have been a wake up call for coaches and players. Glad the wake up call was a non conference game.
 

balds said:
Two things I was dead wrong about today:

Bryce Williams. At one point I said to my son, "why is he playing, I'm faster than him". I thought Irving looked great today, but kudos to Williams for being steady and reliable.

Blitzing. I was frustrated with the complete lack of pass rush, and thought we should've brought some extra bodies. Not letting Martinez get outside and beating us with his legs/making him beat us with his arm was clearly the right call. Kudos to Rossi for the game plan and for sticking with it.
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Martinez usually shreads us in scramble situations, but this game, this year, he really had no confidence in either running or passing. It truly was hard for me to watch, being a football fan, but certainly beneficial for a gopher fan as I am.
 

balds said:
Two things I was dead wrong about today:

Bryce Williams. At one point I said to my son, "why is he playing, I'm faster than him". I thought Irving looked great today, but kudos to Williams for being steady and reliable.

Blitzing. I was frustrated with the complete lack of pass rush, and thought we should've brought some extra bodies. Not letting Martinez get outside and beating us with his legs/making him beat us with his arm was clearly the right call. Kudos to Rossi for the game plan and for sticking with it.
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Playing "contain" against Martinez was the right move in the end....
 

DL was outstanding. There have been instances in the past when the Gophers have gotten transfers from some traditional powers and the results were less than expected.
Credit where credit is due, Fleck has made hay at DT getting Smith from Bama, Dew-Treadway from ND and Pinckney from Clemson.
 


Breakin' The Plane said:
DL was outstanding. There have been instances in the past when the Gophers have gotten transfers from some traditional powers and the results were less than expected.
Credit where credit is due, Fleck has made hay at DT getting Smith from Bama, Dew-Treadway from ND and Pinckney from Clemson.
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The D-Line has been my favorite surprise for me on this team (up there with Gibbens at LB). They looked shaky the first couple games but really seem to be jelling and looking really athletic.
 


Breakin' The Plane said:
DL was outstanding. There have been instances in the past when the Gophers have gotten transfers from some traditional powers and the results were less than expected.
Credit where credit is due, Fleck has made hay at DT getting Smith from Bama, Dew-Treadway from ND and Pinckney from Clemson.
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Gibbens has been huge too.
 

Just a couple random postgame thoughts:

1. I’m still glad Nebraska went for it on 4th and 10 instead of punting to pin us deep. Our offense was doing nothing so I didn’t understand why Frost wouldn’t trust his punter and defense there.

2. I’m still frustrated Fleck took a knee before halftime. I know some people in the game thread were “1000% fine” with that, but I just think: you have two timeouts, 50+ seconds on the clock and like 45 yards to go to attempt a long field goal. Why not try something? It seemed like even Morgan wanted to get out of there. I wish he’d be a little more fiery in that instance, but what’re you going to do.

3. Obviously I’m happy with the outcome, but the 2nd half offense portends problems. Seemed like Morgan got into his own head with the picks and then Sanford stopped calling any passing plays. Williams bailed us out with the long run, but I hated going into a shell like that. What could be done different? Could they possibly have put Annexstad in? Even for a series to see if he had it (when Morgan clearly didn’t)?

4. I wonder if Frost will change his stance against sloganeering after this 😆
 


balds said:
Two things I was dead wrong about today:

Bryce Williams. At one point I said to my son, "why is he playing, I'm faster than him". I thought Irving looked great today, but kudos to Williams for being steady and reliable.

Blitzing. I was frustrated with the complete lack of pass rush, and thought we should've brought some extra bodies. Not letting Martinez get outside and beating us with his legs/making him beat us with his arm was clearly the right call. Kudos to Rossi for the game plan and for sticking with it.
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I know this will sound weird, but I think Williams had better straightaway speed than Irving. Not as shifty, clearly. Doesn’t reverse field like Bucko. But faster after two steps, maybe. I’ve never seen Williams caught or run down in the open field.

Lack of blitzing was very noticeable, but I think it was part of a plan of keeping Martinez “in front” of our LBs at all times. It worked … because our DL had a fine game. MD Anderson is going to be a force once the veterans move on.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
We seem to struggle with Maryland defensively. Hope their bye week doesn’t help them like us and Purdue. Bowling Green seems to have been a wake up call for coaches and players. Glad the wake up call was a non conference game.
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We will score on Maryland. But if our defense hamstrings Maryland’s playmakers then way it did Nebraska’s, our odds go way up. Really, really like how our defense has played this year.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
(1) Great win. Every Big 10 win is a great win and this one was no different.
(2) The defense was fantastic today. Our offense put them into tough spots but this has been one of our better defenses that I can remember.
(3) That Bryce kid from Nebraska stinks. He was beaten like a drum all day by three different Gophers.
(4) That TE from Nebraska is pretty damn good. He made a few plays that were just really goods.
(5) Tanner was really good in the first half and the first INT was just a good play. The second INT. . . oh boy.
(6) I don't know if I have ever been more annoyed at a trick play attempt than I was with the flea flicker in the first half. No reason for it. We had them reeling.
(7) Our OL and DL really dominated the LOS today.
(8) Our play calling in the first half was great, it was pretty crappy in the second half. Some of that was just losing battles, some of it I believe was playcalling.
(9) Bryce Williams drinks for free in Dinkytown. The guy has done everything right. His two TDs in Camp Randall were legendary. He got a little buried on the depth chart, so he made himself into a great blocking RB (found a niche to continue helping the team), and when he got another opportunity he was great today.
(10) The miss holding calls have been pretty blatant all season. There were a few today that were REALLY bad.
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1. Agreed. Some are better than others, but I will take them all; ugly or awesome.
2. Agreed. If this continues, he will get a shot a good job, MAC head coach, maybe better?
3. No idea, didn't watch him specifically. Any MN kid who is offered and doesn't come here, I completely ignore. Any MN kid who was not offered and does well, good for them and proving us wrong. Any MN kid who is not offered and does nothing to impress, be as mad as you wanna be, but the coaching staff apparently got that one correct.
4. Agreed. He was pretty damn good. Got clobbered a couple of times and still held the ball. Good player.
5. Really good in the first half, agreed. Will agree to disagree on the first interception. That was a terrible throw in my opinion. He was not throwing downfield well at all. Under threw a couple of long TD passes. That first interception: bad! Only pass worse was the second interception.
6. Completely agree. We were dominating on the run. No reason to change the play calling at that time.
7. Both played pretty well. Liked the D better today, but the O was good.
8. Better today than the last few games, but still very questionable in my opinion.
9. Loved that they started him today. Experience goes a long way. He is a tremendous teammate and showed it today. Quality guy for any team.
10. The play after Boye's "roughing" call, he get almost tackled with no call. Total BS, but it is what it is. They need to play regardless of what the ref's calls.

Good post.
 

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