[POST GAME THREAD} - Minnesota defeats Illinois 24-17

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I agree, no matter what, I'm with the team. That doesn't mean I won't be critical. Time to go with the next QB. Rhoda isn't the guy. Croft won't be the guy. Since Fleck has Green way down the totem pole, with Flack's QB coaching history over 7 games the best QWB has to be sitting. If it isn't him, play Morgan. He is Fleck recruit. The next decent QB in Minnesota isn't on the roster. We better hope it lis Armstrong. Love the kids, hate the coaches. They are not B1G caliber. Maybe they will learn over the next couple of years.
 

diehard said:
I agree, no matter what, I'm with the team. That doesn't mean I won't be critical. Time to go with the next QB. Rhoda isn't the guy. Croft won't be the guy. Since Fleck has Green way down the totem pole, with Flack's QB coaching history over 7 games the best QWB has to be sitting. If it isn't him, play Morgan. He is Fleck recruit. The next decent QB in Minnesota isn't on the roster. We better hope it lis Armstrong. Love the kids, hate the coaches. They are not B1G caliber. Maybe they will learn over the next couple of years.
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"Hate the coaches"?!? Wow. You must be fun at parties
 

Gophers and Croft looked great on their first drive, then the passing game fell apart. Offensive line blocked well for the tailbacks, defense played with a lot of emotion and arguably won the game with the pick-six. Croft couldn't run between the tackles and risked injury doing so; hit only 5 passes (+ 2 to the other team) out of 15 - unacceptable. Gophers will be solid underdogs in all remaining games, with only NW looking like a possibility for a fifth win. Still, Croft should remain at QB, with more development of the short pass game, with him on the run sometimes, maybe some pitch-outs, plus our TB running game. And it did seem like a safety at the very end! We can also thank Lovie for letting the clock run down.
 



Great Plains Gopher said:
Gophers and Croft looked great on their first drive, then the passing game fell apart. Offensive line blocked well for the tailbacks, defense played with a lot of emotion and arguably won the game with the pick-six. Croft couldn't run between the tackles and risked injury doing so; hit only 5 passes (+ 2 to the other team) out of 15 - unacceptable. Gophers will be solid underdogs in all remaining games, with only NW looking like a possibility for a fifth win. Still, Croft should remain at QB, with more development of the short pass game, with him on the run sometimes, maybe some pitch-outs, plus our TB running game. And it did seem like a safety at the very end! We can also thank Lovie for letting the clock run down.
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U think NW on the road better chance than NE at home? I disagree.


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Great Plains Gopher said:
Gophers and Croft looked great on their first drive, then the passing game fell apart. Offensive line blocked well for the tailbacks, defense played with a lot of emotion and arguably won the game with the pick-six. Croft couldn't run between the tackles and risked injury doing so; hit only 5 passes (+ 2 to the other team) out of 15 - unacceptable. Gophers will be solid underdogs in all remaining games, with only NW looking like a possibility for a fifth win. Still, Croft should remain at QB, with more development of the short pass game, with him on the run sometimes, maybe some pitch-outs, plus our TB running game. And it did seem like a safety at the very end! We can also thank Lovie for letting the clock run down.
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NU, NU, and Iowa are all very winnable games. We might be underdogs in all of the games but 1 win I think is likely and 2 is more probable than 0.
 

MissouriGopher said:
NU, NU, and Iowa are all very winnable games. We might be underdogs in all of the games but 1 win I think is likely and 2 is more probable than 0.
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If the Gophies can get any passing attack at all with Croft (he opens up the running game), they have a decent chance in each those games vs. NU-NU-Iowa...barring further major injury of course.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Stupid.
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It's at least possibly true. Certainly not a crazy opinion based off results so far. The only other teams that are possibly worse than us right now are Rutgers, Indiana, Purdue, and Maryland, but we lost to Purdue and Maryland. We probably won't be favored in any of our remaining games so it's not that far-fetched that we won't win a game the rest of the year. I think we can beat Nebraska, Iowa, and Northwestern but I doubt Vegas will have us favored.
 



A win is a win. Like my Daddy always said, "Son, there ain't no such thing as an ugly rich girl."
 


Word said:
It's at least possibly true. Certainly not a crazy opinion based off results so far. The only other teams that are possibly worse than us right now are Rutgers, Indiana, Purdue, and Maryland, but we lost to Purdue and Maryland. We probably won't be favored in any of our remaining games so it's not that far-fetched that we won't win a game the rest of the year. I think we can beat Nebraska, Iowa, and Northwestern but I doubt Vegas will have us favored.
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This sounds like opinions stated on this board after the Rutgers game last year......


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WHB Brewer said:
This sounds like opinions stated on this board after the Rutgers game last year......


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Oh yeah..... Who Hates IOWA?


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Great Plains Gopher said:
Gophers and Croft looked great on their first drive, then the passing game fell apart. Offensive line blocked well for the tailbacks, defense played with a lot of emotion and arguably won the game with the pick-six. Croft couldn't run between the tackles and risked injury doing so; hit only 5 passes (+ 2 to the other team) out of 15 - unacceptable. Gophers will be solid underdogs in all remaining games, with only NW looking like a possibility for a fifth win. Still, Croft should remain at QB, with more development of the short pass game, with him on the run sometimes, maybe some pitch-outs, plus our TB running game. And it did seem like a safety at the very end! We can also thank Lovie for letting the clock run down.
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Agree with most of this. We don't have a power 5 caliber qb, and only 1 receiver that really qualifies as such. Because of that, tough to be an offensive powerhouse. Croft throws worse than Leidner and, I think, is actually slower, though more dangerous than Rhoda. Rhoda may throw as well as Leidner (questionable), but not nearly as mobile. So, for everyone that criticized Leidner, our qb play this year is worse. I hope the new kid is as advertised.

As to the Lovie not calling TO down at our 12 ( or whatever), you do realize he burned about 25 seconds, but, if he did call the TO, he's left with only 2 after we recover the one side kick, so we burn 40 seconds and the clock on the 3rd down play. Burn 25 on offense vs losing 40 on defence. He made the right call.
 

Really ugly game, but glad they got the win. The Gophers might have the worst QB situation in major college football, Croft was simply atrocious out there this week and Rhoda was just as bad the previous week. Maybe this was covered in a different thread, but where was Mark Williams today? Always surprises with the Gophers injury situation as Shenault and Brooks were out without warning and Thomas was surprisingly back on the field.

Really nice game from the offensive line as well as McCrary and Coughlin had some big plays on defense. I think we should all be nervous about any team that decides to target our secondary unless/until we get some guys back.
 

WHB Brewer said:
Oh yeah..... Who Hates IOWA?


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Probably the best part of the day, entered through the student's entrance today and heard the "Who hates Iowa?" chant before the game.

I personally wish that Coyle and Fleck would have been more honest as to what this season was going to be and saved me some money. Instead of spending almost $1,000 on season tickets, I would have bought the three pack like most of our friends did. Then after a few years if Fleck and Co. show they can learn and coach in the Big Ten I would have bought back in.

For a Homecoming game I was surprised at the lack of excitement in the stadium today. I guess the ugliness of the football from both teams led to that. Hoping that when we head down to Iowa City to watch the Gophs next weekend they put in a better performance. Sick of hearing it from our Iowa friends.
 

TNGophfan said:
As to the Lovie not calling TO down at our 12 ( or whatever), you do realize he burned about 25 seconds, but, if he did call the TO, he's left with only 2 after we recover the one side kick, so we burn 40 seconds and the clock on the 3rd down play. Burn 25 on offense vs losing 40 on defence. He made the right call.
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Not really. At the time of the decision, they have to assume they will get the onside kick. If they had, they were left with 25 seconds less to drive for a TD. When they didn't get the onsides, the game was essentially over (save 3 seconds).


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I don't realize why people aren't happy with today's win. We played far better than in some of last year's bad wins.

1. The defense played lights out. They gave up a TD after Smith's fumble with a short field. A FG after Croft's 2nd interception. And a garbage time TD when they were in prevent. Given all the injuries to DB's they played as well as anyone could possibly expect and better than we have over the past several years with the vaunted Claeys and Sawvel defenses. Seriously, if you can't be happy with that defensive performance, find something else to do. The sophomore linebackers played their best game yet. Coughlin generated a lot of pressure. Umlor did a nice job of run contain on the outside. Richardson and Jackson were stout in the middle. We had a few picks that we almost made and a few fumbles that bounced Illinois way. And we were without Shenault. And Thomas was injured again.
2. The o-line played their best game yet. We all realize Illinois doesn't have a great run defense, but we put two runners over 100 yards. When is the last time that happened? 153 for McCrary and 6.4 ypc. 103 for Smith and 5.4 ypc. The run blocking was amazing.
3. We still don't have a serviceable QB, but that isn't news to anyone who has been paying attention. As Fleck works to upgrade the position, we should be better next year with either Demry improving or one of the freshmen taking over.
4. Tyler Johnson will play in the NFL. He's really good and only a sophomore. Our 2nd and 3rd best WRs are Douglass and Bell, which will give us the best receiving tandem next year that we've had in a long-time. The future is bright with that group.
5. If Carpenter doesn't blow an easy FG, if Croft gives it to McCrary on 1st and goal, and we don't play total prevent at the end of the game, we end up winning 31-10. The score was a lot closer than the game. We may have pitched a shutout if it wasn't for the TOs.
6. McCrary needs to get the ball a lot more. I love his physical style and intensity. Smith tends to juke too much at times, like on his fumble. If he would have just ran forward he could have gotten another 3-5 yards and not put himself in the position to fumble. Sometimes it's okay to just run straight ahead.
7. After watching Cody Poock come in for the one drive where Illinois scored a TD, I remembered why I disliked him so much last year. He seems to always be out of position and misses so many tackles. Good for him that he will get a free education.
8. I really hope we can find an every down DE to complement Nate Umlor next season. It will be fun watching Coughlin, Barber and Martin all at LB.
9. It was fun to get a Ko Kieft sighting. He had a nice run after the catch and appears to have soft hands. Still surprised that we barely see Beebe.
 

alchemy2u said:
I know that Smith is a very good RB, but McCrary sees the holes better in the new zone blocking scheme. My understanding is with the old power blocking scheme they had set holes for the runner to attack, while with the zone blocking scheme, the runner reads the open holes.


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Smith seemed to pick it up late in the game and learn from what Kobe was doing.


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John Galt said:
I don't realize why people aren't happy with today's win. We played far better than in some of last year's bad wins.

1. The defense played lights out. They gave up a TD after Smith's fumble with a short field. A FG after Croft's 2nd interception. And a garbage time TD when they were in prevent. Given all the injuries to DB's they played as well as anyone could possibly expect and better than we have over the past several years with the vaunted Claeys and Sawvel defenses. Seriously, if you can't be happy with that defensive performance, find something else to do. The sophomore linebackers played their best game yet. Coughlin generated a lot of pressure. Umlor did a nice job of run contain on the outside. Richardson and Jackson were stout in the middle. We had a few picks that we almost made and a few fumbles that bounced Illinois way. And we were without Shenault. And Thomas was injured again.
2. The o-line played their best game yet. We all realize Illinois doesn't have a great run defense, but we put two runners over 100 yards. When is the last time that happened? 153 for McCrary and 6.4 ypc. 103 for Smith and 5.4 ypc. The run blocking was amazing.
3. We still don't have a serviceable QB, but that isn't news to anyone who has been paying attention. As Fleck works to upgrade the position, we should be better next year with either Demry improving or one of the freshmen taking over.
4. Tyler Johnson will play in the NFL. He's really good and only a sophomore. Our 2nd and 3rd best WRs are Douglass and Bell, which will give us the best receiving tandem next year that we've had in a long-time. The future is bright with that group.
5. If Carpenter doesn't blow an easy FG, if Croft gives it to McCrary on 1st and goal, and we don't play total prevent at the end of the game, we end up winning 31-10. The score was a lot closer than the game. We may have pitched a shutout if it wasn't for the TOs.
6. McCrary needs to get the ball a lot more. I love his physical style and intensity. Smith tends to juke too much at times, like on his fumble. If he would have just ran forward he could have gotten another 3-5 yards and not put himself in the position to fumble. Sometimes it's okay to just run straight ahead.
7. After watching Cody Poock come in for the one drive where Illinois scored a TD, I remembered why I disliked him so much last year. He seems to always be out of position and misses so many tackles. Good for him that he will get a free education.
8. I really hope we can find an every down DE to complement Nate Umlor next season. It will be fun watching Coughlin, Barber and Martin all at LB.
9. It was fun to get a Ko Kieft sighting. He had a nice run after the catch and appears to have soft hands. Still surprised that we barely see Beebe.
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Good post. Also wondering why Beebe hasn’t seen any time.
Illini tried the same toss sweep that worked so well for MSU and it was cool seeing the defense stop it.
Ayinde had a hand in all three plays in a three and out for the Illini in the second half. I thought he played a great game. Merrick Jackson also had some big plays.
Will Lingen be back for Iowa?
 

CentralGopher said:
Yet factually correct
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It's a fact that we're the second-worst team in the Big Ten? Oh really? Based on what?

Also, it's a fact that we won't win another game this year? How can something that hasn't happened yet be a fact? Predictions by definition cannot be factual.
 

dpodoll68 said:
It's a fact that we're the second-worst team in the Big Ten? Oh really? Based on what?

Also, it's a fact that we won't win another game this year? How can something that hasn't happened yet be a fact? Predictions by definition cannot be factual.
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Illinois and gophers are the two worst teams in the big ten based on team records. It’s a fact.


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John Galt said:
I don't realize why people aren't happy with today's win. We played far better than in some of last year's bad wins.
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Solid post and agree with most of your highlights, but as you stated in the other thread the QB play was atrocious. That particularly worries me, as the Nebraska is the only game remaining on the schedule where I think we’ll be able to move the ball efficiently if our offense/QB plays like they did today.

On a different note, I am hesitant to put too much stock into a performance against a team who just lost to Rutgers at home.



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Hollinsanity said:
A few random thoughts on today's performance by the Gophers:

1) I was disappointed in the play calling. We had success running McCrary in the first half with Croft under center. In the 3rd Quarter with Croft under center McCrary ripped off consecutive runs of 8, 9, 7, 10, 17, 7, and 5 yards... but we then ran read option from the 1-yard line. Further, we never ran play action out of that formation and did not return to it until late in the 4th Quarter. When we did return to it, Kobe had success again. Not great, IMO.

2) Demry's performance obviously left a lot to be desired, but I think we should continue with him as QB1 moving forward. His throws were inaccurate and his decision making was questionable at best. He was lucky not to be intercepted in the red zone on the FG drive. However, we know what we have in Rhoda and news flash: it's not great.

I think most people realize Green is not the guy and I think we should keep the redshirt on Morgan. So Croft is the clear choice for me, and we will obviously need an improved effort both in the air and on the ground from him in Iowa City if we want to have a chance next week.
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If for no reason other than other then saving typing, I'll back Hollinsanity's comment.
 

You can tell this is a team that's learning to play in a new system, man alive it's a roller coaster!

Each week is going to be a new week with this team, I think thought they would build upon last weeks passing game and they laid an egg. Receivers didn't get open and Croft struggled with his reads. Running game was everything you could want this week after being MIA last week. This team plays hard but those injuries are just stacking up, it's going to be tough to get some W's until they get healthy.

I have no idea what's going to happen at Iowa and for weeks moving forward with NW, Nebby. Whisky well we know what's going to happen there...yuck! Looking forward to watching this team hopefully learn and grow so it's at least fun to watch!
 

I don't know why but deep down I feel like we can beat Iowa, my gut is telling me Fleck will have this team ready and pumped up and surprise the Hawkeyes.
 

It was a strange game as I just watched it already knowing the final score - didn't seem as bad as I expected given the stats and final score (3/11 of 3rd down, etc). Also, any victory or #take against Illinois has to be take with a grain of salt as they are, let's face it, a bad team. However, it's a W.

Good:
Glen Mason was on fire all game. The coverage as a whole was top notch.
Elephant Man Merrick Jackson was a wrecking ball revelation. Who knew the big man could move like that?
Celestin's emotion after the pick 6 and during the post game interview. This is what I love about this team.
Kobe had me thinking about good times with David Cobb. Always falling forward in a crease.
Ayinde was playing with energy and had some nice plays.
Carter Coughlin is starting to assert himself.
Jeff George Jr.'s mustache

Bad
Smith's fumble
Kiondre going down. Another hamstring victim and he'll be out for awhile this time. Secondary duct-taped and baling-wired going into teeth of schedule.
Croft regressed and did a decent Tanner Lee impersonation.Terrible decisions to throw off his back foot, and he didn't see the safety. Hopefully a learning curve and not a sign of things to come. Has to get smarter.
Lovie Smith mailing it in.
Carpenter continues with the yips.

Ugly
Big Ten officials. I suppose I expect too much.

Still think Croft gives us best chance to win because of the leg factor. He needs game experience. If he can't learn to make better decisions...we're going to be in big trouble. Hopefully today will be sufficiently chastening. This has the appearance of a Jekyll and Hyde team. As I've adjusted my expectations waaay down with the situation on defense it's a situation of trying to enjoy signs of growth.
 

The whole Fleck premise points to the future - he has longer view on sustainable success. He will recruit hard and that will create depth. Right now he can sell playing time, especially at the QB position. We lost some upperclassmen over the summer and some thru injury, etc. Upperclassmen win games. When they get their guys as juniors and seniors with better quality depth, that’s when the results will show. He had a proven blueprint at WMU. We even have another example in the men’s basketball team, once Pitino learned/was able to get the players, the results came.
 


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