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Ogee Ogilthorpe

Ogee Ogilthorpe

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Let's see....

First game of the year, on the road, against a team predicted to win their conference and;

>> Outgained their high-scoring offense by well over 100 yards

>> Almost 300 yards rushing

>> No turnovers

>> VERY few of the dumb penalties we saw last year

>> DOMINATED the time of possession in a game in which it was critical to do so

>> VERY few 3-and-outs

>> Multiple LONG sustained drives


If Ellestad makes those two kicks, the game is virtually a laugher. Pretty damn solid performance for a team with lots of question marks, on the road.

Mistakes? Obviously there were a few, but NOT MANY. They didn't BEAT THEMSELVES. Period.

Hard to argue with a win!!! 1-0 Baby!!!!
 

Amen.. Here's a question for ya, though.. Is Middle Tenn that bad without their starting QB?
 

That middle to late 2nd quarter got really dicey, but I liked the way the team responded from that. It's obvious we need to allow time for our defense to grow, and the offense dominated the line and allowed them to stay off the field.

We just didn't have enough explosive plays. That will undoubtedly HAVE to change as the year goes on if we wanna compete in the conference play. But I like what they're establishing. Passing game needs a ton of work though.

Kilgore played well, he threaded the needle on some throws out there, he did what he could. But even with Dasher, considering their offense was hardly on the field, it limits their effectiveness.
 

Nice Game Gophers! You went on the road and got the Win! Saw a lot of bright spots tonight, you proved Vegas wrong, and most people who thought this is a 2 win team, up to .500 in my book. Nice to see the running game strong. Saw more good then bad, take the W and head home.
 

Well, Gopher football has a long storied history of Internet panic and disgust. Many a coach has been fired and many a qb disparaged by the middle of the second quarter.

45 minutes time of possession is shocking.

Very good win for a team needing wins. Ellestad misses worry me though.
 


Unless Dasher plays defense and knows how to tackle bennett, because that was by far their biggest problem.
 

Good things: The running game. Few penalties. No time-outs burned trying to get plays in. Decent run D.

Not good things: Weber looked shaky at best. No WR's really stepped up (these are related). Pass D struggled.
 

I think our team last year would have lost this game.
 

Before the season it seemed that the common wisdom was that the passing attack would be better and that the run game needed one of the incoming frosh to step up. So much for both of those thoughts.

A win's a win. While we obviously have work to do, I'm happy.
 



I really think if we make that FG right before the half this game never gets real close. That was pretty much a 10-point turnaround. His miss gave them good field position and confidence. Knowing you can tie it up before the half is huge.

I liked what I saw on offense for the most part. The TOP was sick. Our defense is fast, just inexperienced and will take some time. You know your team has some speed when your LB runs down a RB from behind.
 

Besides the fact that we have almost zero passing game, is no one else concerned that we scored a mere 24 points against a Sun Belt team that we ran at will against, and had zero turnovers against?

I realize there were two missed FGs. Let's say he makes one of two. I also realize we could have run in a TD at the end, but let's face it, it was the right move to down the ball. So, 27 points while running the ball for almost 300 yards against a team with no LB over 220 lbs. I'm happy for the running game, but I'm not sure what else there was to be happy about.

I firmly stand by my 4-win prediction.
 

So you stand firmly by your 4 point victory when we won by 7 and could have easily won by 17. yeah that makes sense.....
 

I'd rather beat a decent team close that exposes some flaws than beat a bad team handily. Go gophs!
 



Yes, there were a lot of points left on the field. 2 FGs, could have scored at the end as well, and that's 37 points. Part of the thing is that while Bennett is a nice back, he's not that explosive, "touchdown waiting to happen" back, so he was getting those 5, 6 yard runs, but nothing that turned into a 37 yard touchdown.

I mean, imagine if we had Laurence Maroney running back there tonight. We probably score 40, cause he has that homerun ability.
 

Seriously?

cncmin said:
Besides the fact that we have almost zero passing game, is no one else concerned that we scored a mere 24 points against a Sun Belt team that we ran at will against, and had zero turnovers against?

I realize there were two missed FGs. Let's say he makes one of two. I also realize we could have run in a TD at the end, but let's face it, it was the right move to down the ball. So, 27 points while running the ball for almost 300 yards against a team with no LB over 220 lbs. I'm happy for the running game, but I'm not sure what else there was to be happy about.

I firmly stand by my 4-win prediction.
Click to expand...

Are you for real?

I've got news for you, Charlie Brown.... the game plan was to keep their offense off the field. Period. If they NEEDED to throw it up and down the field, how in the world do you KNOW that they couldn't have? Were you on the sidelines?

Good grief, from a TACTICAL standpoint, the game was the best they've played offensively in the Brewster era. 45 minutes to 15 minutes? And you're unhappy they didn't score 48 points?

As far as your win prediction, I have no clue. The defense is still very young and opening against a spread offense was not ideal but they survived.
 

cncmin:

Why not enjoy the win? MTSU is not an awful team. Why not be glass full until there is a reason not to be.

That is our best non-conference road win in my memory. I realize that also says alot about our non-confernence schedules but I am happy.
 

cncmin said:
Besides the fact that we have almost zero passing game, is no one else concerned that we scored a mere 24 points against a Sun Belt team that we ran at will against, and had zero turnovers against?

I realize there were two missed FGs. Let's say he makes one of two. I also realize we could have run in a TD at the end, but let's face it, it was the right move to down the ball. So, 27 points while running the ball for almost 300 yards against a team with no LB over 220 lbs. I'm happy for the running game, but I'm not sure what else there was to be happy about.

I firmly stand by my 4-win prediction.
Click to expand...

1. We didn't need much of a passing game because we ran all over them. What do you expect, us to rush and pass for 300 yards each?

2. He should have made both kicks. I know they weren't chip shots, but a senior kicker in the Big Ten should make those. I agree it was the right thing to take a knee at the end. But we did set ourselves up to score a TD, even when the defense knew exactly what we were going to do. Very easily could have score 37 points.

3. We dominated the clock, didn't turn the ball over, and racked up 431 yards of offense. You do that every game, you're probably going to win. I know the offense wasn't perfect, but it definitely was an improvement over last year.
 

Very concerned with the passing game, I saw nothing from this team that suggests that they will be able to throw the ball this year.

The win is the important thing, it would have been awful to lose this game.
 

The passing game wasn't as terrible as some people thought. Weber had a statistically OK game, and he really wasn't much different than Kilgore. Don't get me wrong, some of the same Weberisms were still apparent (he looked uncomfortable at times in the pocket), but he played OK and he was statistically similar to Kilgore (who some GHers have proclaimed was "shredding" us).
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Let's see....

First game of the year, on the road, against a team predicted to win their conference and;

>> Outgained their high-scoring offense by well over 100 yards

>> Almost 300 yards rushing

>> No turnovers

>> VERY few of the dumb penalties we saw last year

>> DOMINATED the time of possession in a game in which it was critical to do so

>> VERY few 3-and-outs

>> Multiple LONG sustained drives


If Ellestad makes those two kicks, the game is virtually a laugher. Pretty damn solid performance for a team with lots of question marks, on the road.

Mistakes? Obviously there were a few, but NOT MANY. They didn't BEAT THEMSELVES. Period.

Hard to argue with a win!!! 1-0 Baby!!!!
Click to expand...

+1
 

Formo said:
Amen.. Here's a question for ya, though.. Is Middle Tenn that bad without their starting QB?
Click to expand...

It wouldn't have made a difference. Look at the time of possession; we controlled the ball. Dasher would not have had the opportunity to do anything more.
 

It was a great game minus the Ellestad misses and the end of the 2nd quarter defensively.
 


Another note, while the defense wasn't the greatest, a very important stat: MTSU was 1 for 8 on third down. Considering our issues on third down last season, that is very encouraging.
 

Monty519 said:
Another note, while the defense wasn't the greatest, a very important stat: MTSU was 1 for 8 on third down. Considering our issues on third down last season, that is very encouraging.
Click to expand...

Gophers finished up 8-for-16 on third down and that was AFTER they started out 0-for-6.

Solid.
 

So, we win time of possession 45 minutes to 15 minutes, but we win the game by 7 points and that is acceptable? It is nice we won but we outweighed them by 60 pounds a guy. Their team is Dasher, he did not play. A guy who has never played shredded us in the first half. Weber made horrible decisions. Yes, we made some adjustments and won the game. The game MTU is most worried about is Troy. That doesn't suggest anything to you?

What happens when we play a quality opponent? We have to be dramatically better versus USC or anybody else in the Big Ten. We will not have the overwhelming size and ability advantage beyond South Dakota that we possessed tonight.
 

We did miss two field goals and take a knee on the three yard line with a first down.

Kilgore was one of the most sought after JUCO qb's, he's not junk.

We did plan and prepare for a different skill set.

Weber was fine, in fact without him we lose as he made some nice passes on 3rd downs to sustain drives that ultimately led to the V.

MTSU is more worried about Troy becuase it's a conference game and is a more meaningful game.

Nobody has claimed we will dominate in the B10, only that we'll be competitive. Today was confirmation for an not evidence against that.
 

60's Guy said:
So, we win time of possession 45 minutes to 15 minutes, but we win the game by 7 points and that is acceptable? It is nice we won but we outweighed them by 60 pounds a guy. Their team is Dasher, he did not play. A guy who has never played shredded us in the first half. Weber made horrible decisions. Yes, we made some adjustments and won the game. The game MTU is most worried about is Troy. That doesn't suggest anything to you?

What happens when we play a quality opponent? We have to be dramatically better versus USC or anybody else in the Big Ten. We will not have the overwhelming size and ability advantage beyond South Dakota that we possessed tonight.
Click to expand...

Then go away. This is a Gopher fan board.

And if you think we didn't play a "quality opponent", you're not paying attention.
 

Pretty sure we kicked their ass. analyze all you want, we did what we wanted to do which was give the "O" line some confidence. Defense was fine. 1-0
 

Yes, we got shredded with 2 quick drives. If the coaches can use those moments to teach the inexperienced safeties, then it will help our team get better. Hopefully we can get Theret and Royston back soon. Our D is very young, and has not had much game speed tackleing in the preseason. You have to have a balance in practice so you don't hurt the guys.

I, for one, did not think our D would hold a good team at home scoreless. The season is young. Lets try not to count the wins and loses after one game and instead enjoy the development and improvement of the D as the season progresses.
 

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