The coach, the staff and the players have treated us to a noteworthy Big Ten season!

[imthewalrus]

7 wins. 2 losses. Excitement. Dreams of more. A season that most Gopher Fans have never seen. Wasn’t it WILD? Wasn’t it fun? Wasn’t it exactly what we have all been wanting? Of course it has been.

So our two BT losses were to Iowa and Wisconsin. One or the other of them kept us from Western Division Championship this season.

there was one recurring theme in each of these losses: both Iowa and Wisconsin took the run away from the GOPHER offense...made the offense one dimensional and allowed those teams the ability to control the game.

The GOPHER offensive line and the GOPHER defensive need to mature, gain strength and force the issue. The defense needs to be able to load the box AND pass rush to make opposing offenses one dimensional and uncomfortable just the way Iowa did in the first half and Wisconsin did for 3 1/2 quarters of our games with them. Basically that is what I believe made the difference in not obtaining a trip to the Rose Bowl.
That is something to work on, perhaps

Still, this IS a great season! This coach and his staff improved their BT winning percentage from .278 for the first two seasons to .444 for the first three seasons. They took these players from 5 BT wins in two seasons to a total of 12 BT wins in Three seasons. That trend is remarkable and has been noted and admired by many.

Thank you to the coach, the staff and all of the players! The best part is that this season is not over! Have fun with the ride just ahead of us. Let’s go BOWLING!!!!!

 

[Scoops5]

7 wins. 2 losses. Excitement. Dreams of more. A season that most Gopher Fans have never seen. Wasn’t it WILD? Wasn’t it fun? Wasn’t it exactly what we have all been wanting? Of course it has been.

So our two BT losses were to Iowa and Wisconsin. One or the other of them kept us from Western Division Championship this season.

there was one recurring theme in each of these losses: both Iowa and Wisconsin took the run away from the GOPHER offense...made the offense one dimensional and allowed those teams the ability to control the game.

The GOPHER offensive line and the GOPHER defensive need to mature, gain strength and force the issue. The defense needs to be able to load the box AND pass rush to make opposing offenses one dimensional and uncomfortable just the way Iowa did in the first half and Wisconsin did for 3 1/2 quarters of our games with them. Basically that is what I believe made the difference in not obtaining a trip to the Rose Bowl.
That is something to work on, perhaps

Still, this IS a great season! This coach and his staff improved their BT winning percentage from .278 for the first two seasons to .444 for the first three seasons. They took these players from 5 BT wins in two seasons to a total of 12 BT wins in Three seasons. That trend is remarkable and has been noted and admired by many.

Thank you to the coach, the staff and all of the players! The best part is that this season is not over! Have fun with the ride just ahead of us. Let’s go BOWLING!!!!!

Couldn't agree more with the assessments about the OL and DL. We have 3 talented running backs but they have to get to the second level to be dangerous (just like most good running backs). Against Iowa and Wisc, the DL gave the mediocre QBs too much time and made them look much better than what they were. Today, we didn't let Taylor run all over us, but Wisc found other ways to win.

It's been a fun season, just always a hard pill to swallow when losing to both Iowa and Wisc in the same year. Especially after having the Axe. Hoped this year after the PSU win, outcomes would be different.

RTB

 

[gopherdudepart2]

Agreed, most fun I have had as a Gopher fan in a long time. Thank you seniors and players, for a great ride. Let's get the W in the bowl game.

 

[hungan1]

7 wins. 2 losses. Excitement. Dreams of more. A season that most Gopher Fans have never seen. Wasn’t it WILD? Wasn’t it fun? Wasn’t it exactly what we have all been wanting? Of course it has been.

So our two BT losses were to Iowa and Wisconsin. One or the other of them kept us from Western Division Championship this season.

there was one recurring theme in each of these losses: both Iowa and Wisconsin took the run away from the GOPHER offense...made the offense one dimensional and allowed those teams the ability to control the game.

The GOPHER offensive line and the GOPHER defensive need to mature, gain strength and force the issue. The defense needs to be able to load the box AND pass rush to make opposing offenses one dimensional and uncomfortable just the way Iowa did in the first half and Wisconsin did for 3 1/2 quarters of our games with them. Basically that is what I believe made the difference in not obtaining a trip to the Rose Bowl.
That is something to work on, perhaps

Still, this IS a great season! This coach and his staff improved their BT winning percentage from .278 for the first two seasons to .444 for the first three seasons. They took these players from 5 BT wins in two seasons to a total of 12 BT wins in Three seasons. That trend is remarkable and has been noted and admired by many.

Thank you to the coach, the staff and all of the players! The best part is that this season is not over! Have fun with the ride just ahead of us. Let’s go BOWLING!!!!!

Well said @iamthewalrus. If there is one achilles heel that was exposed, it is the quality depth of the Offensive Line. After Daniel Fa'alele got hurt, the Badger Defense was able to get to Tanner Morgan and disrupted his plays.

I've always said that they should recruit Offensive and Defensive Linemen aggressively. Games are won or loss in the trenches. Another component of Big Ten Games is the Tight End play not as a blocker alone, but to catch the ball and add a dimension to the game. The Badgers' big TE killed the GOphers. They couldn't take him down until after he made a big gain. I know it is not in Kirk Ciarrocca's repertoire as of yet. If you look as far back as the WMU days, they utilized on TE and primarily as an extra blocker. They need to utilize Brevyn Spann-Ford's size and athleticism.

 

[Veritas]

I think that too reflects on the overall weakness of the O-line. We feel we must add the TE to the blocking on both run and pass plays.

 

[kellyleeks]

7 wins. 2 losses. Excitement. Dreams of more. A season that most Gopher Fans have never seen. Wasn’t it WILD? Wasn’t it fun? Wasn’t it exactly what we have all been wanting? Of course it has been.

So our two BT losses were to Iowa and Wisconsin. One or the other of them kept us from Western Division Championship this season.

there was one recurring theme in each of these losses: both Iowa and Wisconsin took the run away from the GOPHER offense...made the offense one dimensional and allowed those teams the ability to control the game.

The GOPHER offensive line and the GOPHER defensive need to mature, gain strength and force the issue. The defense needs to be able to load the box AND pass rush to make opposing offenses one dimensional and uncomfortable just the way Iowa did in the first half and Wisconsin did for 3 1/2 quarters of our games with them. Basically that is what I believe made the difference in not obtaining a trip to the Rose Bowl.
That is something to work on, perhaps

Still, this IS a great season! This coach and his staff improved their BT winning percentage from .278 for the first two seasons to .444 for the first three seasons. They took these players from 5 BT wins in two seasons to a total of 12 BT wins in Three seasons. That trend is remarkable and has been noted and admired by many.

Thank you to the coach, the staff and all of the players! The best part is that this season is not over! Have fun with the ride just ahead of us. Let’s go BOWLING!!!!!

Agreed 100%. I love you.

 

[hungan1]

Buildup the Offensive Line roster so that you are at the point where you don't need to have a TE anchored primarily as a blocker.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I think that too reflects on the overall weakness of the O-line. We feel we must add the TE to the blocking on both run and pass plays.

I think you'll see this being part of our offense regardless of the strength of our OL.

 

[GoldAlum]

7 wins. 2 losses. Excitement. Dreams of more. A season that most Gopher Fans have never seen. Wasn’t it WILD? Wasn’t it fun? Wasn’t it exactly what we have all been wanting? Of course it has been.

So our two BT losses were to Iowa and Wisconsin. One or the other of them kept us from Western Division Championship this season.

there was one recurring theme in each of these losses: both Iowa and Wisconsin took the run away from the GOPHER offense...made the offense one dimensional and allowed those teams the ability to control the game.

The GOPHER offensive line and the GOPHER defensive need to mature, gain strength and force the issue. The defense needs to be able to load the box AND pass rush to make opposing offenses one dimensional and uncomfortable just the way Iowa did in the first half and Wisconsin did for 3 1/2 quarters of our games with them. Basically that is what I believe made the difference in not obtaining a trip to the Rose Bowl.
That is something to work on, perhaps

Still, this IS a great season! This coach and his staff improved their BT winning percentage from .278 for the first two seasons to .444 for the first three seasons. They took these players from 5 BT wins in two seasons to a total of 12 BT wins in Three seasons. That trend is remarkable and has been noted and admired by many.

Thank you to the coach, the staff and all of the players! The best part is that this season is not over! Have fun with the ride just ahead of us. Let’s go BOWLING!!!!!

Welcome back Wren. Missed your reviews this season. Great analysis

 

[Deleted_User]

Nice job. Totally agree.