[POST GAME THREAD] Minnesota defeats Oregon State 30-23

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BarnBoy said:
Didn't we do the same thing either last year or the year before (go for two to ice it)?

Not saying it's the right call, just trying to remember.
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Illinois game last year.
 


GopherWeatherGuy said:
Do you take the higher percentage odds to kick the XP and assure you can't lose, or the lower % odds to convert the 2 pt to put the game away, but give yourself a higher percentage chance of losing?

We've been here before. The 'Mathematician' has answered incorrectly both times. The state of Kansas should invest in better Math teachers.
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Technically that isn't true because you can lose in OT.
 

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Mitch did have much more time in the pocket. The pass protection was much, much better than a year ago.
 

The Good I noticed at the game:
1. We won
2. RS1
3. TD92
4. TJ6


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I agree that the offensive play calling tonight was a bit of an optimism crusher. It looks like we still don't have a big play receiver either. Finally, there were too many penalties.

On the plus side, Smith looked great and Leidner was pretty effective overall. More praise should be given to the defense. They lost four key players but continued to play hard. After OSU went ahead in the second half, they got very little the rest of the game. I thought there was a lot more defensive pressure on their quarterback than I'm used to seeing from this team in last couple of years. I don't remember many other four or five sack games during that time span.
 

Positives: there's 3 weeks to get better before Big Ten

Negatives: that offense tonight might win 2 BT games.


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Unregistered User said:
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Mitch did have much more time in the pocket. The pass protection was much, much better than a year ago.
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No sacks. Plenty of time. I'll chalk that up as a win.

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GopherWeatherGuy said:
Sure, but in the other scenario you can lose in regulation.
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Not sure if it's better to lose in reg or ot. I get why people don't like the decision to go for two in that situation (mainly because I heard it all last year). i still like it because you're saying that there will come a point in the game where you get a chance to end the game by gaining two yards. And if you fail to gain the two yards, your punishment is you have to play out the rest of the game with a 7 point lead. So far, Claeys is one for two in picking up the two yards, and two for two in winning the games. You can argue the strategy but you can't argue the results. It's a level of aggressiveness we're not used to seeing.
 


gopher7 said:
Yes, Rallis looks like got an elbow injury. Calhoun & Still left with what looked like wrist injuries.
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I haven't heard anything else about any of these guys. I hope they are OK. Still looked like he was crying on the bench.
 

Old Goph said:
Not sure if it's better to lose in reg or ot. I get why people don't like the decision to go for two in that situation (mainly because I heard it all last year). i still like it because you're saying that there will come a point in the game where you get a chance to end the game by gaining two yards. And if you fail to gain the two yards, your punishment is you have to play out the rest of the game with a 7 point lead. So far, Claeys is one for two in picking up the two yards, and two for two in winning the games. You can argue the strategy but you can't argue the results. It's a level of aggressiveness we're not used to seeing.
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Extending the game = better odds of winning.
 

mnsportsgeek said:
I haven't heard anything else about any of these guys. I hope they are OK. Still looked like he was crying on the bench.
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oh, that was you asking. ha.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Extending the game = better odds of winning.
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And of getting guys hurt. We can argue Basic Strategy all night but it sounds like Claeys is going to Claeys on this issue and I'm ok with it. We have been sorely lacking in a killer instinct and I think the players appreciate the confidence the coaches put in them to get the job done.
 

The good and probably only important news is that we won no matter how ugly. Some other positives is that we can quit talking about Mitch going in the first or second round of the NFL draft and hope he is a good enough college QB to win most of the remaining games.

On the negative side of things is that there is a lot of things that need to be cleaned up and hopefully our next two very inferior opponents will allow that to happen.
 

Against a team that won two games last year, we were beaten repeatedly on long passes, couldn't pass ourselves in the first half, had three players ejected, had a cluster of false starts, only one dependable runner, weird two-point attempt when we can't pass reliably, against a team - if their turn came - could pass for two. Same as last year: struggled to beat a non-conference foe we were a heavy favor to beat, uncertain unimaginative offense, weak passing until second half, good defense much of the time.
 

Amazed how people are complaining about how the team managed the end of the game and the two pointer which I really didn't have any issues with but nobody seems bothered by the clock management at the end of the half.

Tied, knowing the other team would get the ball to start the second half, ball on their 45 with 45 seconds and 3 timeouts and the coaches were absolutely content to run the clock out and head to half time tied. It took a great run by Smith to force them to go for points instead. The clock management prior to half time was very reminiscent of the end of the Michigan game. If Smith doesn't break tackles and make something out of nothing we go to half time tied.

Pass protection seemed solid but the run blocking left a lot to be desired. Smith had a great game and Mitch looked good running but ran too many times in my opinion. Some promising true freshmen emerged and in the end a win is a win.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Amazed how people are complaining about how the team managed the end of the game and the two pointer which I really didn't have any issues with but nobody seems bothered by the clock management at the end of the half.

Tied, knowing the other team would get the ball to start the second half, ball on their 45 with 45 seconds and 3 timeouts and the coaches were absolutely content to run the clock out and head to half time tied. It took a great run by Smith to force them to go for points instead. The clock management prior to half time was very reminiscent of the end of the Michigan game. If Smith doesn't break tackles and make something out of nothing we go to half time tied.

Pass protection seemed solid but the run blocking left a lot to be desired. Smith had a great game and Mitch looked good running but ran too many times in my opinion. Some promising true freshmen emerged and in the end a win is a win.
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I had issues with the 2 point conversion. One of the worst calls I've ever seen.
 

tikited said:
I had issues with the 2 point conversion. One of the worst calls I've ever seen.
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I'm going with this. Before it happened the guy next to me was saying we should go for 2. I told my wife how I was sitting next to the worst football mind ever. Well, he wasn't alone.


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Spoofin said:
I'm going with this. Before it happened the guy next to me was saying we should go for 2. I told my wife how I was sitting next to the worst football mind ever. Well, he wasn't alone.


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I understand Claeys explanation for going for 2, but I completely disagree with it. Kick the PAT and make it harder for your opponent to tie it instead of possibly opening it up for them to win it without going to overtime. Too much of a gamble IMO.
 

The defensive line dominated the ORST OL. That was where the game was won.
The ORST center was so dominated by the Gopher nose tackle that he skipped at least eight or nine balls back to the QB completely ruining the timing of the plays.
With Brooks gone #7 again had to be the second running back.
That is how he got ground down the last couple of years.
 

I was all negative last night but I'm over it now, here are some positives (without reading this whole thread because it was too negative for me)

-Leidner looked a lot faster and more agile than at any point last year
-Rodney Smith... wow, kids balance is off the charts, he had multiple blocks on much larger line backers inthe passing game where he stuck them
- OL for the most part much improved in pass blocking
-tyler Johnson impressed
-DEVERS!!!! we have a pass rusher folks
-Richardson looked like he wanted to earn his starting spot back
-Young lingebackers really stepped up, solid depth there
-DL dominated all night allowing our LBs free shots on their RBs

I will throw one negative out there:
-Why the hell is Wolitarksy returning punts? The dude has had a case of the drops his whole career... This can't be our best option and even with 2 guys back there the punts continually hit the ground. We need to work on our punt returning.
 

It's all been said, but here's my totally unnecessary summary:

GOOD
D-line: Our D-line dominated the trenches. That was the most pressure I've seen on a QB in the Kill/Claeys era, and it was refreshing. Plus, anytime you hold a college football team under 100 yards rushing, that's a huge win. I'm afraid it had a lot to do with a very poor OSU O-line, but time will tell.
>O-line pass protection: FAR better than the past two years.
>True Freshmen: We'd heard Johnson was having a good camp, and it was true -- he already looks like our most athletic WR. Heard only a bit about Devers and Martin, but I'll be danged if they both didn't make an impact. Devers was obviously the key to the game, but Martin came up HUGE in a game where we lost 3 LB's. All this with our absolute top recruit not even on the depth chart. Impressive!
>Rodney: Looked pretty much like the TCU game last year. Ran hard, tough to tackle, some extremely nifty spin moves. He's not an explosive threat, but he's way better than what many teams are trotting out there.
>Mitch on the ground: Made several great reads in zone and had some impressive runs. I'd always been convinced from watching replays in the past that Limegrover was calling keep or give on at least half of the zone reads, but it's clear now that Mitch is reading all these. He looked extremely nifty running the ball, and it's nice to have that threat back.
>Special teams: Truly special! Santoso was a monster punting. Carpenter made a long FG (nicely done!) and put the majority of this kickoffs into the endzone. Long return by Myrick to open the game. Kick coverage was OUTSTANDING -- and Cashman is a beast. Aside from Wolitarsky's muff (see UGLY below), the ST's were absolutely on point.

BAD
>Jay Johnson: OK, maybe "uninspiring" is a better descriptor than "bad," but I had hoped for a lot more. The offense looked like a carbon copy of the past 5 years, with some very minor adjustments. Running into 8-man boxes consistently, short combination routes at 2 - 5 yards, plodding along at a snail's pace. All the talk about the offense becoming more aggressive after Kill left last year...and we basically have Limey's offense still in place. It was like he was calling the plays via Skype.
>Run blocking: For all the talk about nastiness, we looked very ordinary against what was a HORRENDOUS run defense last year in OSU. Granted, we were running into 8-man boxes constantly, but Rodney made a ton of yards happen on this own, and Mitch got the rest with good reads in zone and a very nifty pass fake that turned into a critical first down.
>WR's: This group still does not belong at the FBS level. OSU's WR's were far superior athletes, and I'm afraid that will be the case almost every week. Zero explosion, no ability to separate, and only moderately physical. Our best athlete here by far is a true Freshman who never played WR in HS. That tells you a lot. The failure of Gentry and Holland to make an impact has been hugely disappointing.
>Defensive backs: This was only mildly disappointing as I expected dropoff after losing 3 starters, but it was still bad to see OSU WR's running free all over the field. Their QB made a couple really poor throws on what could have been big plays. Myrick got separated from on several occasions, which was surprising.

UGLY
>Targeting: Three guys ejected. Wow. I doubt it's ever happened or will ever happen again at any level of football. There was clear helmet contact on all three, but I will admit that I still don't fully understand this penalty -- and I don't think the NCAA does either. After the tOSU fiasco fiasco last year, the non-calls on Mitch last night, and the way guys are supposed to defy the laws of physics by adjusting their course in midair after a QB casually decides to slide or change his level at the last second...it's all baffling. Perhaps just bad luck last night. Devers does go in way too high, however...
>Botched snaps: Once a season, I get -- it's bound to happen. But twice in a game, one leading to a safety? Totally unacceptable and high school-ish.
>Screen defense: I don't know what to attribute this to: over-aggressive blitzing (and in obvious situations), brilliant play-calling by OSU, the loss of 3 LB's, or the huge push we were getting on D-line. Whatever the cause, OSU was gashing us on screen, and it was awful.
>Muffed punt: This has become a staple of Gopher football. I don't care who's back there (or how many), I'm NEVER comfortable when a punt is in the air. Wolitarsky's fumble was on a fairly routine play. Could've cost the game. Ugly.
>Penalties: How many false starts, motion, and formation penalties did we have?! That's totally unacceptable, especially when playing at home. We also had at least one offside. I don't remember OSU having a single pre-snap penalty or bad, self-inflicted wound.

On the whole, this was one of the ugliest games I can remember. A win is a win, but I felt FAR better after last year's opening loss than I did after last night. I'm not a great football mind, but OSU looked very ordinary to me. A couple good athletes at WR, an NCAA-average QB, a very below-average O-line, slow on defense, underwhelming athletes on D-line. All that said, they looked like the FAR sharper and better prepared team. Their coaching staff did a fantastic job exploiting our weaknesses. Ultimately, the differences were our superior athletes and depth on defense and some nifty running by Smith and Leidner.

I'm very conflicted. The staff was so high on this team in the off-season -- like unnaturally so. And the team has generally looked poor early in the season under Kill & Co, even when the things ultimately turned out well (see 2013 and 2014). That said, last year the non-con was a CLEAR sign of things to come, and the season played out as I would've predicted after Kent St. If I had to guess now, I'd say this is a 6-win team. Zero passing game + no creativity + no explosive athletes at WR might again = very anemic offense. Relying heavily on true Freshmen and other inexperienced players at key positions. Man do I hope I'm wrong. We all waited 9 very long months for this season!
 

GO4INLALALAND said:
I have to say that I do not see much difference between this year's offense and last year's offense. The only real difference I see is that ML is a year older and more comfortable as qb. ML bailed out MN tonight with his legs. It was not the creative play calling that had any real significant role in this win.
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*this*

And I'd like to believe that they did not want Mitch to HAVE to run this much or feel the NEED to call his own number that often.
 

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