Post Game Thread: Gophers Defeat Eastern Michigan and Improve to 2-0!!

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  • Defense stellar again! Pay that man his money.
  • They did get beat deep a couple times (one lucky overthrow). Maye will make them pay for biting on double moves next week.
  • Running game found a lot more room than last week and Taylor looks like a star in the making.
  • Athan was fine when they let him cook. The arm is there, Jackson and Crooms are great.
  • Red zone offense was absolutely horrible and worries me greatly.
  • Why was Redding even returning kicks? Tyler and Crooms looked electric back there when given the chance.
 




My thoughts are probably the same as all yours. A win is a win and I'm happy this one was a comfortable victory. Wasn't a complete blowout, but wasn't sweating the score there at the end either.

The problem, of course, is that it could have been a blow out had the Gophers finished those drives. The offense looked completely fine for a lot of the game, and the running seemed to get better and better.

But to not get it in the end zone on multiple times after picking up all those yards won't get us anywhere. That said, I'd rather it happen in this game than next weekend.

Defense, meanwhile, A+. No notes.

Also, for those complaining about the announcers, how can you not enjoy the fact that they gave us the gem that is "a clock sucking drive."
 

Think we are going to have a lot of very similar takes on this game.

Good
Run game was awesome - Taylor looks like the real deal
Pass game was efficient - drew some pass interference calls as well that won't show in passing numbers
Defense played phenomenal in the second half, EMU didn't get a single first down.....that is impressive no matter who you are playing.
Pass rush has been impressive through 2 games. Baugh had a great game.

Bad
Redzone offense couldn't finish the long drives with 6 points having to settle for field goals.
Some ball security issues, especially for Tyler
Injuries - BSF, Redding, Baronowski.....hopefully everyone is all right.

Game was never really in doubt, even when the score was closer than we would like. Could have been a blowout if they finish some of those great long drives. Next week should be very interesting and really give us a great sense of where this team is at.

And on a side plus it looks like Wisconsin is about to go down to Washington State....nice way to end the evening.... :)
 

MNVCGUY said:
Think we are going to have a lot of very similar takes on this game.

Good
Run game was awesome - Taylor looks like the real deal
Pass game was efficient - drew some pass interference calls as well that won't show in passing numbers
Defense played phenomenal in the second half, EMU didn't get a single first down.....that is impressive no matter who you are playing.
Pass rush has been impressive through 2 games. Baugh had a great game.

Bad
Redzone offense couldn't finish the long drives with 6 points having to settle for field goals.
Some ball security issues, especially for Tyler
Injuries - BSF, Redding, Baronowski.....hopefully everyone is all right.

Game was never really in doubt, even when the score was closer than we would like. Could have been a blowout if they finish some of those great long drives. Next week should be very interesting and really give us a great sense of where this team is at.

And on a side plus it looks like Wisconsin is about to go down to Washington State....nice way to end the evening.... :)
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Great post, agreed with all.
 




MNVCGUY said:
Think we are going to have a lot of very similar takes on this game.

Good
Run game was awesome - Taylor looks like the real deal
Pass game was efficient - drew some pass interference calls as well that won't show in passing numbers
Defense played phenomenal in the second half, EMU didn't get a single first down.....that is impressive no matter who you are playing.
Pass rush has been impressive through 2 games. Baugh had a great game.

Bad
Redzone offense couldn't finish the long drives with 6 points having to settle for field goals.
Some ball security issues, especially for Tyler
Injuries - BSF, Redding, Baronowski.....hopefully everyone is all right.

Game was never really in doubt, even when the score was closer than we would like. Could have been a blowout if they finish some of those great long drives. Next week should be very interesting and really give us a great sense of where this team is at.

And on a side plus it looks like Wisconsin is about to go down to Washington State....nice way to end the evening.... :)
Click to expand...

:drink:

- Would add that the Pass Rush looked so good because the Gopher D-Backs overall had a great night in coverage. Big overthrow aside.

- Fleck reverted to his regular Non-Conference scheme. Get a lead, run it right at 'em and get the win. Bet he opens it up a little the next two weeks.
 


I picked us 27-10 but the points were there but we #*^%#@ didn't get it done in the red zone. It seemed as though we weren't trying to get the ball downfield rather we wanted to establish the running game which we did for the most part. But there was no balance between the running game and passing game.
So positives obviously were Taylor and the OL taking control and Rossi adjustments and the dominant D second half. But we are only running on 5 out of 8 cylinders on O.

UNC will tell us a lot/
 



this may seem like a quibble - but I think it could make a big difference as the season goes on --

Athan has got to develop some touch on his passes. on some of the shorter throws and dump-offs, he's gunning it in there at top velocity. he needs to be able to vary his delivery to throw a change-up, or float it over the head of a defender.

my other thought - 33 carries for a true FR RB??? I expected them to keep Tyler's carries at or below 20, because he has never been a workhorse. But geez, there has to be someone else on the roster that the coaches trust enough to take a few carries and give Taylor a break. I hope Burns or another media person asks about Evans.
 

Probably the worst play of the game was was on 3rd & goal from the 6 just before our first FG. An obvious passing situation to the defense with a very short field, and we ran a 2-man route into crowded 7-man coverage. A straight pass too, not even a play action. Sure enough AK throws to the WR who was triple covered. I mean what the hell was that. Check out of that or call a TO. We have lots of work in front of this us this week after seeing those two first red zone opportunities.
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
We misssd an opportunity for a lot of second string folks to see the field. It may be a while before we’ll get a chance to do that again. Giving depth players field time helps the team in the long run.
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Yes and no. Fleck sticks with guys on offense it is just the way he does it and doesn't seem like he is ever going to change. But on defense they play a lot of guys and do a lot of rotating.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
this may seem like a quibble - but I think it could make a big difference as the season goes on --

Athan has got to develop some touch on his passes. on some of the shorter throws and dump-offs, he's gunning it in there at top velocity. he needs to be able to vary his delivery to throw a change-up, or float it over the head of a defender.

my other thought - 33 carries for a true FR RB??? I expected them to keep Tyler's carries at or below 20, because he has never been a workhorse. But geez, there has to be someone else on the roster that the coaches trust enough to take a few carries and give Taylor a break. I hope Burns or another media person asks about Evans.
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Taylor got a lot of carries down the stretch due to Tyler's ball security issues. Would be interesting to know about Evans, looked like he was in uniform. Fleck does like to ride the hot hand and Taylor was playing great.

Athan is just scratching the surface of the player he can be. Definitely has things to work on and you hit on a few of them in your post but a lot of that will come with time.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Yes and no. Fleck sticks with guys on offense it is just the way he does it and doesn't seem like he is ever going to change. But on defense they play a lot of guys and do a lot of rotating.
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Maybe Fleck should learn something from our dominant defense....
 

MNVCGUY said:
Taylor got a lot of carries down the stretch due to Tyler's ball security issues. Would be interesting to know about Evans, looked like he was in uniform. Fleck does like to ride the hot hand and Taylor was playing great.

Athan is just scratching the surface of the player he can be. Definitely has things to work on and you hit on a few of them in your post but a lot of that will come with time.
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Fleck has a case of the ass with Tyler. He mentioned a couple of times about putting the ball on the ground in the post game press conference.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Athan has got to develop some touch on his passes. on some of the shorter throws and dump-offs, he's gunning it in there at top velocity. he needs to be able to vary his delivery to throw a change-up, or float it over the head of a defender.
Click to expand...
It’s not just footballs. He put a lot of heat on that throw of his knee brace to the sideline.🔥
 

2nd Half defense was some of the best I have ever seen from the Gophers. Amazing. If the O can run like today, we have something pretty good moving forward.
 

Gophers are 6 point underdogs to North Carolina in opening odds. Not sure if that will change.

I like those chances for a big win nobody expects.
 

That defense is legit, and no Lindenberg so it could improve even more. Special teams stepped up and I would love to keep Sean Tyler as our return guy, Dragon has a boot on him and its the best I've felt about field goals in a while.

On the offensive side of the ball, I understand that P.J's motto is do what works, and obviously Darius Taylor was working, but for the love of God stop running it in the red zone with a stacked box that knows exactly what we are doing. Let Athan throw some vertical routes for once.

I am hoping and expecting that this is classic P.J being the most paranoid man in the world and trying not to show the playbook to future opponents when we don't have to. But this slow and vanilla offense will not work against NC and high end B1G teams, I expect our receivers to step up big and take some deep shots next week. RTBSUMGG
 

MNVCGUY said:
Taylor got a lot of carries down the stretch due to Tyler's ball security issues. Would be interesting to know about Evans, looked like he was in uniform. Fleck does like to ride the hot hand and Taylor was playing great.

Athan is just scratching the surface of the player he can be. Definitely has things to work on and you hit on a few of them in your post but a lot of that will come with time.
Click to expand...

It would be interesting to know what is going on with Zach Evans. It makes you wonder if he is somehow in the doghouse with Fleck or Offensive coaches or is there a minor injury not being discussed. Otherwise, why ride Taylor that hard if you could have given Evans 8-10 carries as well. If it's some type of discipline issue, I guess we will know who will be the first guy in the portal at years end.
 

We didn’t punt at all. Taylor is a stud. The defense is great again.

I don’t get what we’re doing on offense. We have a good and deep WR group, yet we run almost exclusively a 2 TE set. It seems

The calls in the red zone made little sense. On the first drive, we went to a jumbo package on 3rd and 3. Then the naked bootleg that didn’t fool anyone.

The next drive inside the 10 we run a stretch play on 2nd down to the short side of the field. Then just a 2 WR route on 3rd down.

Beat UNC next week.
 

99Gopher said:
It would be interesting to know what is going on with Zach Evans. It makes you wonder if he is somehow in the doghouse with Fleck or Offensive coaches or is there a minor injury not being discussed. Otherwise, why ride Taylor that hard if you could have given Evans 8-10 carries as well. If it's some type of discipline issue, I guess we will know who will be the first guy in the portal at years end.
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Fleck was adamant in the post game about Evans having to “earn it”. Not just going to be given to him, he said.
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
We misssd an opportunity for a lot of second string folks to see the field. It may be a while before we’ll get a chance to do that again. Giving depth players field time helps the team in the long run.
Click to expand...
Northwestern and Louisiana give opportunities.
 

Home late. Tired, happy, but fix the deep red zone offense please.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Fleck was adamant in the post game about Evans having to “earn it”. Not just going to be given to him, he said.
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Unfortunately, that does not sound like a good sign to me. You could interpret that there is a discipline/attitude issue and that he is not doing what it takes in practice to deserve carries in an actual game.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
this may seem like a quibble - but I think it could make a big difference as the season goes on --

Athan has got to develop some touch on his passes. on some of the shorter throws and dump-offs, he's gunning it in there at top velocity. he needs to be able to vary his delivery to throw a change-up, or float it over the head of a defender.

my other thought - 33 carries for a true FR RB??? I expected them to keep Tyler's carries at or below 20, because he has never been a workhorse. But geez, there has to be someone else on the roster that the coaches trust enough to take a few carries and give Taylor a break. I hope Burns or another media person asks about Evans.
Click to expand...
Regarding Kaliakmanis, I agree. I'd been saying that to people that sit around us last week and this week as well.

I really think they were trying to get Taylor 200 yards. When I saw he had 177 (8minutes left on the clock? Less?) I was thinking, he's gonna get it. Close. What was it? 193?
 

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