Post Game Thread: Gophers Lose Disappointing Game at Rutgers

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Married@SiebertField said:
Yearly loss to Big Ten peer (or near peer) in a game where we are favored due to offensive shortcomings/mistakes. That said, the defense was passive for a half; the PI calls were capricious and arbitrary and we had a fumble & interception in our hands, that we didn’t corral—allow an inferior team to stay in the game & bad things happen. It takes the starch out of the season, very sadly.
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In my mind a dropped INT is for practical purposes a turnover.
 

Stuff said:
Is this how low the expectations have gotten here? We shouldn't be surprised when we lose to Rutgers?
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I agree. Of course, every Big Ten team can't be overlooked, but I don't accept games like these have to be like a coin flip. Good, well-prepared, focused teams rise above that. Clunkers at the beginning of the season I can accept, but is the time to have it all together. It's not as if this team was worn down by some key injuries either, unless I'm missing something.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Offense and defense missed opportunities.

But whatever, we're bowl eligible, every team except the absolute best drops a game they "should win".
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I am not detecting a lot of saracasm here, Slab, and if you are being sincere I totally agree. I have learned to enjoy each game and to sometimes give credit to the other team. I think I mentioned in another thread that my pet peeve is when a USC or Nebraska fan says, "I cannot believe we lost to Minnesota". Well today Rutgers outplayed Minnesota in a pretty entertaining game.
 

One thing that stood out to me was Brosmer stretching the field mostly in the first half and just missing. I think most or all of the passes were in the correct spot and our receivers didn't have much seperation. Unfortunately, no super strong contested catches today for our receiving corp. Rutgers receivers especially in the first half made those difficult catches.
 

The Gophers are in a jumble of 13 fungible teams in the Big Ten. All 7 conference games so far have been against those teams.

When the Gophers get more of the breaks (+9 turnover ratio during win streak) they win.

When the Gophers turn it over deep in their own territory, they lose. 4 turnovers deep in Gopher territory (including a blocked punt) led to 4 TDs against iowa, Michigan, and Rutgers.

The Gophers aren't good enough to overcome that against similar teams, but probably would have beaten Michigan and maybe Rutgers without the killer mistakes.
 


BarnBurner said:
Disagree.
Why the insistence on throwing deepish repeatedly when it wasn't working? Mn offense did nothing and they made very little if any adjustments.
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I think think the play calling was that big of an issue. DJ was also constantly held all day and it was never called.

The O line was horrible, Brosmer was off, Jah's facemask in the endzone, etc. There were opportunities and plays to be made all game to win this one and the players didn't get it done.
 


I didn't expect a victory because Kali would be all out to beat his former teammates and it was a home game for Rutgers, plus Rutgers is good at running (even without their best) and on stopping the run. Ciano knows PJ well and knows how to prepare for him, and the Gophers were on a roll, hence ripe for upset. Plus Rutgers played with a lot more spirit and energy in the first half and Athan had all day to pass. Once again, Gophers couldn't run at all (O-line problems) had only 35 yards for the game. Can't win in the B-10 that way. Brosmer fired at 60%, Athan at 50%, but the other factors were decisive. Gophers will be underdogs last two games.
 





Great Plains Gopher said:
I didn't expect a victory because Kali would be all out to beat his former teammates and it was a home game for Rutgers, plus Rutgers is good at running (even without their best) and on stopping the run. Ciano knows PJ well and knows how to prepare for him, and the Gophers were on a roll, hence ripe for upset. Plus Rutgers played with a lot more spirit and energy in the first half and Athan had all day to pass. Once again, Gophers couldn't run at all (O-line problems) had only 35 yards for the game. Can't win in the B-10 that way. Brosmer fired at 60%, Athan at 50%, but the other factors were decisive. Gophers will be underdogs last two games.
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Rutgers was 0-3 against Gophs.
 


WorkingMyTailOff said:
One thing that stood out to me was Brosmer stretching the field mostly in the first half and just missing. I think most or all of the passes were in the correct spot and our receivers didn't have much seperation. Unfortunately, no super strong contested catches today for our receiving corp. Rutgers receivers especially in the first half made those difficult catches.
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Agreed. I think Brosmer threw too many long passes down the field (particularly to the sideline) and that's something he's not particularly good at doing. Max is an efficient quarterback but he's a chain mover on short and intermediate passes, not a long bomber. Also, as you mentioned, our receivers have trouble getting separation going long.

Secondly, I thought we were at a bit of a disadvantage with our smaller players. They had a couple of fairly tall receivers that were tough matchups for our short defensive backs.
 



stocker08 said:
Refs were dogshit today, too. Called pass interference completely different for the two teams.
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This is part of it. Part of why I say we will NEVER contend. Even if everything else happens to fall into place for a magical season, like once every 30 years...we'll get screwed by the refs.
 

MirandaB said:
I just want them to win the games they should. I’m struggling to just not be done with this team.
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Hang in there MirandaB. We've definitely experienced worse but yes losing this one particularly stung.

The Billds will use the off week to focus on some other things but are absolutely looking forward to PSU on the 23rd. Ski U Mah!
 


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