Post-Game Thread: Minnesota Wins 5th Straight Bowl Game!

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Bob_Loblaw said:
Honestly, what did you see tonight that made you think this? I thought Tanner played pretty well.
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I think we all want to see something closer to the offensive balance from 2019 where Gophs could win with either dominant rushing or passing.
 

Stan The Caddy said:
Any word on why Dylan Wright was not in the game seemingly a majority of the second half? I don’t remember seeing him.
He obviously had two impactful plays in the 1st half.
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Lack of passing attempts would be my guess. Or WV started covering him more closely after his 2 great plays.
 

PMWinSTP said:
I think we all want to see something closer to the offensive balance from 2019 where Gophs could win with either dominant rushing or passing.
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I think your comment stands as a huge compliment to this team, this staff and to Fleck.

A Gopher team went into a bowl game against a P5 school as 5-point favorites. The Gophers won easily by 12 points. And yet many of us are yearning for more.

Think about how much of a change that is in fan expectations.

"Another 9-win season? Ho-hum. Could have been better, and should have been better."

"Another bowl victory? Well, yeah... but it should have been a New Year's Day bowl. We need to do better."

Wow. We've come a long way with fan expectations.

I like your attitude, and I share it to a degree. But remember: This program is now headed in the right direction.

As far as offensive balance is concerned, I think FleckBall (grind the clock) is here to stay. I'm learning to embrace it.
 

Taji34 said:
Lack of passing attempts would be my guess. Or WV started covering him more closely after his 2 great plays.
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WVU was not covering him, because he was not in the game. That was my point…It was CAB and MBS.

Lots of two TE formations with BSF and Ko.
 



RememberMurray said:
I think your comment stands as a huge compliment to this team, this staff and to Fleck.

A Gopher team went into a bowl game against a P5 school as 5-point favorites. The Gophers won easily by 12 points. And yet many of us are yearning for more.

Think about how much of a change that is in fan expectations.

"Another 9-win season? Ho-hum. Could have been better, and should have been better."

"Another bowl victory? Well, yeah... but it should have been a New Year's Day bowl. We need to do better."

Wow. We've come a long way with fan expectations.

I like your attitude, and I share it to a degree. But remember: This program is now headed in the right direction.

As far as offensive balance is concerned, I think FleckBall (grind the clock) is here to stay. I'm learning to embrace it.
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I get it. You take what they give you
Just want to feel that if needed, Gophs can win with the passing game. Illinois showed how getting down early and not being able to mount a passing game can hurt with a grind down the clock plan if you can't find some quick scores.
 

PMWinSTP said:
I get it. You take what they give you
Just want to feel that if needed, Gophs can win with the passing game. Illinois showed how getting down early and not being able to mount a passing game can hurt with a grind down the clock plan if you can't find some quick scores.
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Absolutely correct. I couldn't agree more.

Hopefully, Ciarrocca gets the engine running at full throttle once again.
 

Not to dredge up stuff, but it's great seeing the defense do this with players Fleck recruited so we can hopefully put to bed the notion that the only reason our defense was good in 2019 was due to the fact that the unit was largely composed of players recruited under Kill and groomed by Claeys and Sawvel. Fleck and Rossi know what they are doing and it's great to see Rossi getting the credit he deserves.

Only other impression is that Fleck really went Old School Smash Mouth this season (and that continued through the bowl game) and maybe a few wrinkles are in order. Curious to see how things unfold moving forward.
 




I’ll bet a lot of the limited offense on our part, and WVU offensive woes, had to do in part with the horrible field conditions. Hard cuts and digs almost impossible. Like playing on a rain soaked field in the old days.
 

RememberMurray said:
I think your comment stands as a huge compliment to this team, this staff and to Fleck.

A Gopher team went into a bowl game against a P5 school as 5-point favorites. The Gophers won easily by 12 points. And yet many of us are yearning for more.

Think about how much of a change that is in fan expectations.

"Another 9-win season? Ho-hum. Could have been better, and should have been better."

"Another bowl victory? Well, yeah... but it should have been a New Year's Day bowl. We need to do better."

Wow. We've come a long way with fan expectations.

I like your attitude, and I share it to a degree. But remember: This program is now headed in the right direction.

As far as offensive balance is concerned, I think FleckBall (grind the clock) is here to stay. I'm learning to embrace it.
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… and we could have won by 19 points if PJ didn’t shut down the offense on the five yard line with more than two minutes left in the game. This was a very convincing victory played on a ridiculously slippery field. Our defense was lights out. Our offenses did what was needed given the field conditions. Good way to end the season. This is a very mentally tough team, as well as a talented team. I know the OL will be brand new, but I can’t wait for game No. 4 next year.
 






UpAndUnder43 said:
The fact that we aren’t celebrating a 9-4 season is maybe a great thing.
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It really demonstrates the cultural shift Fleck said was needed.

9-4 with a win over wisconsin.
Some fans are pissed.
coach fired a coordinator.

The program has real expectations from both fans and the coach for the first time since Cal Stoll
 

Stan The Caddy said:
Any word on why Dylan Wright was not in the game seemingly a majority of the second half? I don’t remember seeing him.
He obviously had two impactful plays in the 1st half.
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No idea why he disappeared in the 2nd half, but he appears to be dancing after the game at the end of this video.

 
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Stan The Caddy said:
Any word on why Dylan Wright was not in the game seemingly a majority of the second half? I don’t remember seeing him.
He obviously had two impactful plays in the 1st half.
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I was wondering too. I'm guessing the team simply went into ball control mode with 2 receiver sets or less with the defense playing outstanding and the run game working. CAB is an excellent, and I mean excellent, blocker and team leader so he stays out there. I'm assuming Stephens is a good blocker too because he saw a lot of time in the second half even though he wasn't targeted much.
 

My reaction to the game - and the field conditions - was that, as soon as the Gophers got a lead that Fleck thought was safe, that he would shut down the offense and try to run out the clock.

he was not going to risk any more turnovers due to bad footing.

In a perfect world, I would have wanted to see Fleck come out after the game and just rip the bowl organizers and the stadium for the field conditions. But that's not Fleck's style.

I wonder if, behind the scenes, Coyle sends some kind of message to the Bowl committee and the B1G that the situation was unacceptable.

On the season, all depends on your approach.

by historical standards, a 9-4 season is fine. But, as we all know, it could have - and maybe should have - been at least 10-3 or even 11-2. and this to chew on - if the Gophs had won one of those two games (you know which ones), they would not have been playing on a slop field in a baseball stadium.

finally - the play-by-play guy on TV apparently thinks he should also be the replay official.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
My reaction to the game - and the field conditions - was that, as soon as the Gophers got a lead that Fleck thought was safe, that he would shut down the offense and try to run out the clock.

he was not going to risk any more turnovers due to bad footing.

In a perfect world, I would have wanted to see Fleck come out after the game and just rip the bowl organizers and the stadium for the field conditions. But that's not Fleck's style.

I wonder if, behind the scenes, Coyle sends some kind of message to the Bowl committee and the B1G that the situation was unacceptable.

On the season, all depends on your approach.

by historical standards, a 9-4 season is fine. But, as we all know, it could have - and maybe should have - been at least 10-3 or even 11-2. and this to chew on - if the Gophs had won one of those two games (you know which ones), they would not have been playing on a slop field in a baseball stadium.

finally - the play-by-play guy on TV apparently thinks he should also be the replay official.
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Agreed to the bolded. Fleck was very gracious and I'm glad he didn't channel fan thoughts on the field including my own. If nothing else, maybe he's laying groundwork for future Fiesta invites (I hope)?
 



DarrenTheGreek said:
His take that replay officials should use their own judgement instead of what is clearly shown is bizarre and one I 100% disagree with.
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Dude had ZERO clue about the consequences of what he was talking about.

Hopefully someone kept him from wandering out into traffic “because those drivers should be playing attention “.
 

Some guy said:
It really demonstrates the cultural shift Fleck said was needed.

9-4 with a win over wisconsin.
Some fans are pissed.
coach fired a coordinator.

The program has real expectations from both fans and the coach for the first time since Cal Stoll
Click to expand...
Yep, sometimes during the season you're too close to it all to really appreciate the progress.

The bad things stunk but there was so much more good than bed.
 

PMWinSTP said:
I think we all want to see something closer to the offensive balance from 2019 where Gophs could win with either dominant rushing or passing.
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I agree immensely with this statement. I feel the coaches just don't have confidence in Tanner any longer that he'll make the throw needed in certain situations. Seems like 3rd and long has now become a running down regardless of how many yards are needed.

Hey, I'm ecstatic they won (not necessarily HOW they won this game, but they won!!) and when you think 9-4, from a historical perspective, it looks like a great season. I was hoping for 9 wins this year, and thought they could get there, and they did! I wasn't confident they would but that is the Minnesota sports fan in me.

Count me in as one though that strongly feels the QB competition should be open in the spring. I think we all know that isn't what will happen so I'll go into the season fully expecting Morgan as the starter, which isn't a horrible thing.
 

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