[POST GAME THREAD] - Iowa defeats Minnesota 48-31

Donate To GopherHole
Put 31 up against a top 15 D averaging 13points allowed a game and none of it during garbage time. Youth showed a bit today. Iowa obviously a more established team than us. Still saw some exciting plays.

Only gripe for me is that fake field goal made us look silly and completely unprepared. Iowa definitely got to Zack today. Defense gave up one too many big plays and some of those just showed the youth of certain players.
 

- Coughlin is a stud. Too bad he's the only one that can get after the QB. Barber played well also.
- The secondary is bad. Combination of bad play and scheme. I'm officially on the fire Robb Smith bandwagon.
- Will be interesting to see what they do at RT the rest of the season. First half was comical.
- Very excited about the future at WR. Going to be fun.
- Don't get why we weren't running the ball more. Seth Green bomb was just stupid.
- I'm cautiously optimistic about Annexstad. He makes some good throws but also some inexcusable mistakes, even for a freshman.
- I think the future is still bright, but I wasn't happy with the coaches today.
 

Face The Facts said:
Faalele played second half.

Seemed to dominate his guy every play I watched.
Click to expand...

It took way too g'damn long to pull Schlueter. I knew from the first series of the
first game when he was getting torched by NMSU d lineman that he was never
a D-1 scholarship football player. Faalele actually looked decent after that false start.
 


1. Even though Annexstad makes some mistakes, he has the best arm and accuracy of any Gopher QB since???
2. We need an explosive playmaker at RB. The line wasn't great, but we left some yards on the field.
3. I think this is the start of the Daniel Faalele era...
4. Thank goodness we have 6 more d-linemen coming in next year.
 


Keep the faith. They may go 3-9 this season. But, you see glimpses of good play here and there. Learning through losing. With key injuries, we get what we get. We get Rodney Smith, Shannon Brooks, and Antoine Winfield back next year.

Although the O-Line is anemic, IMHO there is lots to be optimistic about next season with Faalele, Dunlop, and Dickson. It is tough to be patient at time when you Purdue, Illinois winning. Nebraska is playing Wisconsin tough in a losing battle.
 

John Galt said:
1. Even though Annexstad makes some mistakes, he has the best arm and accuracy of any Gopher QB since???.
Click to expand...

Is this question rhetorical? Because his arm isn’t great at all. Every deep ball he threw was a 50/50 ball. And there was one throw in particular where he threw it 40 yards straight up and maybe traveled 20 yards vertically like he’s playing 500 in the street. He does have accuracy, but not on deep balls.
 

Initial impressions

Minus:
ZA those aren’t ICBMs you’re launching. Accuracy down range needs to be better than +/- 3 kilometers.
ZA held the ball too long, stares down receivers. Sub 50% completion, inverted TD/INT ratio in Big Ten play. He’s good on those slants and crossers but struggles at everything else. Limited physically vs top QB arms.
Our third down defense was atrocious.
The Robb Smith signature 10 yard zone cushion needs to go away
The defensive line makes our secondary look worse than they are
Herbers
That fake punt was laughably bad
Where is the urgency? Down 2-3 scores and we play ball control offense in the fourth. Running the clock to 10 seconds every play did us no favors.
Schlueter seems to have given up. No feet, playing patty cake as his man runs by.

Plus
These receivers are legit. We need the QB to deliver better balls or J. Clark or the EP kid is coming next year.
Cashman, Coughlin, Barber all made great plays at times.
Run defense was good. 40 carries and they barely broke the century mark.
I thought they played with a sense of purpose. The team looked motivated.
Faalele was comically large out there. What a giant! As others noted the offense was like night and day. Excited to see what he can do. Pull the shirt. This may also signal PJ recognizes the importance of winning this year.
RBs ran hard. The run game has potential going forward.




.
 
Last edited:

John Galt said:
1. Even though Annexstad makes some mistakes, he has the best arm and accuracy of any Gopher QB since???
2. We need an explosive playmaker at RB. The line wasn't great, but we left some yards on the field.
3. I think this is the start of the Daniel Faalele era...
4. Thank goodness we have 6 more d-linemen coming in next year.
Click to expand...

You seem pretty high on zach's arm, but he was egregiously under throwing receivers game.
 



Face The Facts said:
Faalele played second half.

Seemed to dominate his guy every play I watched.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. I watched him every play and one time he took the Iowa defensive lineman and threw him to the turf. Schleuter was really struggling all half. There goes Daniel's red shirt year.
 


GophersInIowa said:
- Coughlin is a stud. Too bad he's the only one that can get after the QB. Barber played well also.
- The secondary is bad. Combination of bad play and scheme. I'm officially on the fire Robb Smith bandwagon.
- Will be interesting to see what they do at RT the rest of the season. First half was comical.
- Very excited about the future at WR. Going to be fun.
- Don't get why we weren't running the ball more. Seth Green bomb was just stupid.
- I'm cautiously optimistic about Annexstad. He makes some good throws but also some inexcusable mistakes, even for a freshman.
- I think the future is still bright, but I wasn't happy with the coaches today.
Click to expand...
I'm not quite on the fire Smith train. He's never really had Winfield in Big Ten play and I'd like to see how it looks with him.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 

Some Day...Maybe said:
I’ll say it again. Honestly, in a 2 score game at home with over 12 minutes left you put Seth Green in at QB near midfield and don’t even play action, just a straight drop back bomb!

Fleck wanted the quick score but he needed to eat some clock, give the D a rest and there was plenty of time.

Also, kick the damn kickoff in the back of the end zone. The kick coverage team is not that good.

Even after the Green debacle play call he has ZA slinging it downfield. Totally abandoned the run after Green got them down to the 30 two series prior.

Frustrating. He had time and we had momentum! But decides to just starting throwing it up for grabs. 12 damn minutes left! At mid field!!!!
Click to expand...

Uhh, you DO know it’s the QB that has the ball in his hands and decides where to throw and who to throw to, yes? It wasn’t the HC that decided to throw to the DEEP option instead of the shorter underneath routes.
 




Yea he stopped moving his feet and was reaching/whiffing. He was dropping his head down as well these are technique things he hopefully can get worked out.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Uhh, you DO know it’s the QB that has the ball in his hands and decides where to throw and who to throw to, yes? It wasn’t the HC that decided to throw to the DEEP option instead of the shorter underneath routes.
Click to expand...

Uhh, in Seth Green’s case you really think he just freelanced that one, please), and in ZA’s case, listen to the press conference. Fleck said it wasn’t a request, it was an order (for ZA to throw downfield).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Hot seat button should be ready next year. No more moral victories in 2019.
 

Flash30 said:
Is this question rhetorical? Because his arm isn’t great at all. Every deep ball he threw was a 50/50 ball. And there was one throw in particular where he threw it 40 yards straight up and maybe traveled 20 yards vertically like he’s playing 500 in the street. He does have accuracy, but not on deep balls.
Click to expand...

True. he's the best short/medium passer we've had forever, but he has not thrown the long ball well at all. In fact, it seems a waste of a down.
 

Defense needs to get better
 

Great Plains Gopher said:
True. he's the best short/medium passer we've had forever, but he has not thrown the long ball well at all. In fact, it seems a waste of a down.
Click to expand...

He also needs to spend a couple of hours watching Trace McSorley avoiding sacks.
 

I got in the car in time to hear the tail end of the postgame show. Two things I remember from that. The analyst said of Faalele "I love him because he is so big that, even if the defender beats him, it still takes three steps to get around him". That made me and Mrs BMG chuckle.

The other one was a candidate for bs coach quote of the year by fleck: "we have a lot of guys who are playing football for the first time"
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
You seem pretty high on zach's arm, but he was egregiously under throwing receivers game.
Click to expand...

I thinks he’s really accurate on short and medium throws.

As for arm strength, maybe it’s just that I haven’t a Gopher QB try to throw 40 yards downfield for a few decades...
 

bfast said:
Hot seat button should be ready next year. No more moral victories in 2019.
Click to expand...

Know of a major scandal brewing? If so, you might be right. Otherwise, you can trust Fleck will be here through 2020.
 

bemidjigopher said:
I'm not quite on the fire Smith train. He's never really had Winfield in Big Ten play and I'd like to see how it looks with him.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I agree with this, in all honesty we probably give up 14 points less with Winfield on the field. He needs the opportunity to have some pieces at DE as well, but it has been troubling.
 

Great Plains Gopher said:
True. he's the best short/medium passer we've had forever, but he has not thrown the long ball well at all. In fact, it seems a waste of a down.
Click to expand...

I agree.

But, I don't know if the deep ball is a waste of down. I'd give it more of a 5% chance of something good down.
He seems to loft it pretty high hoping the WR's adjust to.

Work in progress at best on the deep ball.
 

John Galt said:
I agree with this, in all honesty we probably give up 14 points less with Winfield on the field. He needs the opportunity to have some pieces at DE as well, but it has been troubling.
Click to expand...

The issue is we can't have our whole defense depend on one play being there. If we need someone like Winfield to stop other teams from scoring, we need 2-3 more Winfields.
 

bfast said:
Hot seat button should be ready next year. No more moral victories in 2019.
Click to expand...

The notion that Fleck might be on the hot seat next year might be the opinion of a segment of the fan base and some of those outside the program. Inside the program the AD has hitched himself to Fleck. He will be getting longer than three years before the AD might start considering a change if things don’t work out.
 

scools12 said:
The notion that Fleck might be on the hot seat next year might be the opinion of a segment of the fan base and some of those outside the program. Inside the program the AD has hitched himself to Fleck. He will be getting longer than three years before the AD might start considering a change if things don’t work out.
Click to expand...

There is a segment who will happily kick Fleck out as soon as possible, and it might be warranted in a couple years, but to think it will happen in his 2nd, 3rd, or early in his 4th year of his six year contract is HIGHLY unlikely without major scandal.
 

-You don't win many games giving up 48 points.
-Iowa gifted the Gophers 2 TD's, the game wasn't as close at the score would indicate.
-Does Iowa have any WR's?
-ZA is much better when he has time to throw, but those deep balls need to improve.
-Daniel Faalele is the real deal.
-Robb Smith appears to be overmatched in B1G matchups. I know he's a good friend of PJ, but I wouldn't be upset if they had a new DC next season.
-I love the Gophers young WR's, more on the way too.
-The fake punt fooled nobody.
-Where is the pass rush?
-Bowl eligibility is looking questionable.
-Run defense was much improved.
-I don't think we will need to worry about losing PJ Fleck to another team this offseason. In no way do I think he is the wrong guy for the program though.
-The onside kick attempt was horrendus. Don't kickers practice that?
-Antoine Winfield Jr is sorely missed.
-Glen Mason loves Carter Coughlin.
 

Face The Facts said:
There is a segment who will happily kick Fleck out as soon as possible, and it might be warranted in a couple years, but to think it will happen in his 2nd, 3rd, or early in his 4th year of his six year contract is HIGHLY unlikely without major scandal.
Click to expand...

It’s unbelievable. People think we are going to be successful changing coaches every four years
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom