Sid: Gophers don't surprise

BleedGopher

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Gophers don't surprise

Coach Jerry Kill has made it very clear that the Gophers football team is in a rebuilding stage that might take as long as three years and that the current roster is short of talent and will not win many games.

But you aren't going to compete on any basis if you make as many mistakes as the Gophers made Saturday against a Purdue team that barely beat Middle Tennessee State 27-24 and lost 24-22 to Rice and 38-10 to Notre Dame before beating the Gophers 45-17.

The Gophers turned the ball over three consecutive first-half possessions on two lost fumbles and an interception, with two of those turnovers leading to touchdowns. Six penalties helped the Boilermakers and so did two pathetic punts that put Purdue in great field position.

That lack of discipline and execution is the thing driving Kill crazy.

The one positive for the Gophers is they corrected a lot of their mistakes in the second half, when they matched the Boilermakers with two touchdowns.

And freshman Marcus Jones did return a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown after returning two long ones against Michigan that were called back.

Now they get a week off before Nebraska comes in, followed by visits from Iowa and Wisconsin.

It's hard to understand the collapse of the Gophers in the past two games after they competed hard in their first four games, all of which they could have won. In the season opener, they looked like a team that could upset Southern California in Los Angeles.

This is going to be a tough year for a Gophers team that inherited little talent from the previous administration.
Maresh doing well in Iowa

Former Gophers linebacker Sam Maresh, the former Champlin Park High School standout who sat out a season because of a heart condition and then left the university, is in his second season playing for Iowa Western Community College. Through six games, the sophomore led the team with 39 tackles. The Gophers are not recruiting him.

Maresh graduated from high school in 2008 but didn't enroll that year after undergoing heart surgery that summer. He redshirted with the Gophers in 2009 before leaving the next year.

He was the leading tackler at Iowa Western last season, too. Under NCAA rules, Maresh has to graduate from junior college to be eligible to play in Division I.

JOTTINGS:

It's amazing that Jerry Kill, Tubby Smith and Don Lucia all lack signed contracts to coach their respective Gophers teams in the future. Smith's contract expires after the 2013-14 season and he has not yet signed an extension, which was talked about a lot this spring.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/131372083.html

Go Gophers!!
 




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