Post Game Thread: Gophers BEAT Bielema!!! Win 4 Straight!!

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MNVCGUY said:
Don't necessarily disagree with what you are saying but how about giving credit where credit is due and that should go to Heatherman and Harbaugh. Fleck is trusting them and they are both doing a really good job using their personnel and putting guys in position to succeed.
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This. The old Fleck reared his head on the final drive, though. It didn't matter in the end, but given recent history against Ill (although, perhaps that reinforced the conservative decision? ), why not at least try to get a first down? Once Ill TOD, the decision of the straight RUTM and then kick was cast. Why not try to put the game away?
 



swede2 said:
This. The old Fleck reared his head on the final drive, though. It didn't matter in the end, but given recent history against Ill (although, perhaps that reinforced the conservative decision? ), why not at least try to get a first down? Once Ill TOD, the decision of the straight RUTM and then kick was cast. Why not try to put the game away?
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I honestly think Fleck would have gone for it if it was 4th and 1 and not 4th and 2. When the 3rd down running play got stuffed they decided to take the points and force Illinois to need a TD AND 2pt conversion.
 



MNVCGUY said:
I honestly think Fleck would have gone for it if it was 4th and 1 and not 4th and 2. When the 3rd down running play got stuffed they decided to take the points and force Illinois to need a TD AND 2pt conversion.
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I’m curious if they ran the ball on 3rd because they felt that was the best chance to get a 1st down or if it was to force them to take their final TO. I would have done some kind of play action as Illinois clearly was selling out on the run.

I think coaches too often worry too much about forcing the other team to use TOs. In today’s game, a team can move down the field pretty quickly even without timeouts.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I’m curious if they ran the ball on 3rd because they felt that was the best chance to get a 1st down or if it was to force them to take their final TO. I would have done some kind of play action as Illinois clearly was selling out on the run.

I think coaches too often worry too much about forcing the other team to use TOs. In today’s game, a team can move down the field pretty quickly even without timeouts.
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Yes and no. The big thing with forcing them to burn timeouts is that it makes it much tougher for them to use the middle of the field.
 

WorkingMyTailOff said:
Other than that long td run allowed, I thought the defense played really well. Most of the Illini yards were when the Gophers were playing "prevent" defense which never seems to work well.
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Prevent defense is going to give up some yards but it forces teams to burn clock and it keeps them from getting the explosive play. Fans don't like it because it lets teams move the ball easily but there is a reason coaches still use it. If it didn't work teams wouldn't do it.
 

GophersInIowa said:
The best part was Brando slobbering over the possibility of Illinois getting to 10 wins at the end of the season seconds before Joyner ended the game.
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Yeah, the timing on that was super weird as they were in desperation mode. I just checked the schedule though and he wasn’t wrong. They’ve got MSU, Rutgers, and NW left, so 9 wins is absolutely in the cards. Yesterday’s win is gonna look even better at the end of the year IMO.
 










GopherHole Staff said:
What say you GopherHolers!?
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The announcers being absolutely terrible made the victory taste a little better, especially the fumble to clinch the W. Brosmer was game manager mode and DT was our offensive MVP. Winning on the road against a ranked opponent in the Big Ten is a huge accomplishment. This was the epitome of complimentary football. Each aspect contributed to the win. Let's gopher 5 next week!
 

swede2 said:
This. The old Fleck reared his head on the final drive, though. It didn't matter in the end, but given recent history against Ill (although, perhaps that reinforced the conservative decision? ), why not at least try to get a first down? Once Ill TOD, the decision of the straight RUTM and then kick was cast. Why not try to put the game away?
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Kicking the FG was the correct move.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Awesome play, love the creativity

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Perfect play call and execution. And now when we line up for rush push teams have to take that into account in terms of how they defend it. Might make them a little more tentative about crashing the line which will make Brosmer’s job easier.
 

MNVCGUY said:
But only till the ball is set and then it starts again.
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Unless you're the visitor, like at Illinois. Then it took about 5 seconds after the ball was placed on Illinois' last drive for the clock to start.
 


USAF said:
Unless you're the visitor, like at Illinois. Then it took about 5 seconds after the ball was placed on Illinois' last drive for the clock to start.
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Again, why does college football stop the clock to set the chains after a first down, and the NFL does not? I absolutely HATE the stopping of the clock to move the chains.
 

GopherJack said:
Again, why does college football stop the clock to set the chains after a first down, and the NFL does not? I absolutely HATE the stopping of the clock to move the chains.
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I don't know the why, but can tell you it's been that way for as long as I've watched college football, which has been close to 50 years.
 



Is Walley in the mix for First Team all B1G or am I wearing maroon colored glasses? To my eye he has been excellent this year. There were a couple of completions against him today which has been unusual and they were highly contested.
 


A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Taylor out to the left looked a little like the UCLA play ... except Brosmer throws it to the right this time.

Credit to Illinois, they had a dude on Taylor.
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At UCLA Taylor stayed in to block, and then released to left when he did not have to pick up a blitzer. On this play he drifted out to flat right away.
 

swede2 said:
I was ok with the kick on 4th down. It was deciding to kick the FG on 1st down - the ol' playing not to lose mentality - that bothered me. Why not try to get a first down on the first three downs?
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Taylor ran for 6 yards on first down and 2 on 2nd......it was 3rd and 2, a running play in that situation is not a bad call, especially when you had been gaining yards on the ground. I honestly think some of you see running the ball as playing not to lose and passing the ball as playing to win. It gets really tiresome.

Being conservative with a 5 point lead while already in field goal range is not a bad strategy. They took 1:30 off the clock, forced Illinois to use up their final timeout and got past the 2 minute warning.....errr....timeout.

And I have made this point a few times that had they gotten yardage on the third down play I think they would have gone for it on 4th down. As it stood though it was a little too far to risk it when you could push the lead to 8 and force the other team to drive the length of the field, get a TD and need to get a 2 point as well just to tie it. And in case some of you have missed it our defense is pretty good at forcing turnovers this year.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Prevent defense is going to give up some yards but it forces teams to burn clock and it keeps them from getting the explosive play. Fans don't like it because it lets teams move the ball easily but there is a reason coaches still use it. If it didn't work teams wouldn't do it.
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Exactly. It sucks to experience in real time but it works way more often than it doesn't unless you playing against elite players. The more plays they have to run, the less likely they are to score especially if the clock is moving.
 

Dave H said:
Exactly. It sucks to experience in real time but it works way more often than it doesn't unless you playing against elite players. The more plays they have to run, the less likely they are to score especially if the clock is moving.
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And when you have a defense that is leading the conference and one of the best in the country in takeaways, the more times the opponent has to snap the ball the better.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Taylor ran for 6 yards on first down and 2 on 2nd......it was 3rd and 2, a running play in that situation is not a bad call, especially when you had been gaining yards on the ground. I honestly think some of you see running the ball as playing not to lose and passing the ball as playing to win. It gets really tiresome.

Being conservative with a 5 point lead while already in field goal range is not a bad strategy. They took 1:30 off the clock, forced Illinois to use up their final timeout and got past the 2 minute warning.....errr....timeout.

And I have made this point a few times that had they gotten yardage on the third down play I think they would have gone for it on 4th down. As it stood though it was a little too far to risk it when you could push the lead to 8 and force the other team to drive the length of the field, get a TD and need to get a 2 point as well just to tie it. And in case some of you have missed it our defense is pretty good at forcing turnovers this year.
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I wonder (if they are Vikings fans) if they liked when KOC chose to pass in games like @GB when running would have killed more clock and given them almost no chance to get back into the game. Being aggressive /= being smart.

The thing is, it is not like you are going to call a big time play...its going to be a rather safe throw that happens quick to avoid a sack and get positive yards. So basically an extended running play. Well Taylor had been running pretty good so why not just let the guy who has been your MVP see what he can do?

Now, on 2nd and 4 I can see calling a safe throw if you want too but on first down it is definitely not "playing for the FG" by calling a running play when running has been working. Taylor was averaging 6 yards a clip...
 

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