[POST GAME THREAD] - Northwestern defeats Minnesota 24-14

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Pompous Elitist said:
Minuses

They kicked our butts defensively. Everything flowed and fell apart from sub par blocking up front.
Not putting Seth in on short yardage is idiotic. Period. Full stop. Terrible play calling by Kirk today.
The continued abuse of timeouts.
Morgan had the bad interception and held the ball too long a few times. Still, just a redshirt freshman. See below.

Plus
Considering the assault he was under all day I thought Morgan played ok. He can extend plays and make most of the throws.
Tyler Johnson
Cashman - what else is there to say? Defensive MVP 2018.
Ibrahim runs hard. He’s not the most physically or athletically gifted guy but he plays with an edge.

Ugly day for the team and staff. The Cats are one of those gritty teams on defense and tend to play better as the year rolls on which is why I think he’s one of the best coaches in the country. Came to play and have to hand it to Fitz for getting his guys up and ready. For the Gophers, time to forget it and reload for a totally different opponent. Still have a chance to salvage the season.
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Bravo!

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- Defense did its job for the most part and gave the #Gophers a good chance to win the ballgame. 10 of the 24 points given up were off of Gopher turnovers in their own territory. NW only had to go 55 yards on their 2nd TD as well. Their long pass was a back breaker, but that didn't change the overall verdict on the D.

- Playcalling on the two missed 4th & 1 and 3rd & 1 plays killed us. Shotgun when you could have put Green under center to sneak? Worst case scenario, you convert 1 of 2 with Green sneak attempts. 1 of 2 might have been enough to win that game, or at least make it go down to the wire.

- Taking timeouts because of a low playclock is unacceptable. Seems to be a trend this year IIRC. Get it figured out, coaching staff. Not having timeouts cost us a chance to score at the end of the 1st half.

Overuse of the slant route cost them with the first deflected INT in Northwestern territory. It's an effective throw, but it can also be very dangerous in a crowd of linebackers and a closing secondary. Seems like they only go with slant, straight deep, or that dumb out route (which was also was picked today).

In summary:

1. Coaching blew 2 huge short-yardage conversion attempts.

2. Coaching partially blew it the 2 interceptions. Players share some of the responsibility there.

These 4 turning points were the difference (the last Morgan fumble I consider a moot point as they were down two touchdowns with a lifeless offense by then).

Sure, talent is a little raw, but the coaching is doing it absolutely no favors.
 
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Sparlimb said:
Well today we played okay, but it was obvious we are just too young. Freshmen mistakes abounded (turnovers, dropped passes, missed opportunities to score, etc). We are a terribly inconsistent team, but that's what we should be. I'm not surprised at all. I'm okay with the result. The better, more mature team won.
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This was a game where these excuses were the reason. We lost. But to a better team, and at least made an effort.

Hell, we tried against Northwestern this year. The coaching staff is growing by leaps and bounds vs last year.

If we can not curl up in a ball and cry uncle after the first series that will be a step forward. Still doesn’t excuse the crap pulled last year to prove a point OR how bad the defensive coaching has been until last week. The results post firing are enough to suggest a competent DC is the difference in having a +2 or greater swing in wins vs the travesty of last year.


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WriterGoph said:
The same Maryland that's about to beat CFP contender Ohio State right now?
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I don’t know. Purdue schooled Ohio State. We schooled Purdue. Ohio State snuck by Maryland.

College football isn’t transitive however. If we had fired Smith before Maryland we might have beaten them.

I did notice that Iowa trucked Illinois @Illinois, too. Only reason I’m not too unhappy with losing too Illinois is that we have a defense again.


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MNVCGUY said:
I wouldn't doubt one bit if they got complaints from Season ticket holders and that is the main reason a change has never been made. People find the dumbest stuff to get outraged about. The other reason why they probably haven't changed is that football teams are all about routine. Switching to the other side of the field wouldn't seem like a big deal but I could see where a team wouldn't want to do it as it would mean a change in what they are used to.
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Come to think of it, I think Northwestern switched sidelines at Ryan Field a number years ago for maybe this very reason. Traditionally they were on the west sideline, which is the side with the larger grandstand and, press box, & indoor seating. Now they are on the east side which gets more sunlight later in the season. Anybody confirm this for me?


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Regarding Tanner Morgan, the pressure got to him a couple times where he didn't get rid of the ball soon enough.
But there were times he was under pressure and stayed cool and moved well. Second half he even ran a couple times which I thought was good.
 

Gophers made mistakes, Northwestern did not.
Had the turnover game been equal, and a couple different play calls on critical downs, this game could have been easy picking.
 

gregbrady said:
Come to think of it, I think Northwestern switched sidelines at Ryan Field a number years ago for maybe this very reason. Traditionally they were on the west sideline, which is the side with the larger grandstand and, press box, & indoor seating. Now they are on the east side which gets more sunlight later in the season. Anybody confirm this for me?


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You are correct; Northwestern did flip sidelines a few year ago. Don't know exactly if it was, but the Gophers were on the far sideline in 2013.

Don't know if there is a rule about being able to switch every game or if it's something that has to be established before the season....
 




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