The difference in the last two weeks.

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caliGopher

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Against Nebraska: PJ led teams are 6-1. Some close games recently, but a significant win streak. Team comes out inspired. We have a solid game plan. The players understand it. We beat Nebraska handily.

Against Iowa: PJ led teams are 1-7 versus Iowa. Games have generally been close, but Iowa came out in the 2nd half last year and embarrassed us after a rousing second quarter. Came into the game scared, and the team looks confused and unprepared. Playing not to lose from the opening kickoff. Iowa spared us the suspense of last year, and embarrassed us for a full game.

One of Mason's biggest faults was that the team reacted to his demeanor. If you go back to his more epic collapses (not all of them, but the Tech Games in particular), you can see him relax on the sideline. The team loses focus. They lose the game.

I believe Fleck has a similar problem. When he turtles up for games, he doesn't think we can win; it creates doubt and confusion on the team (not just this year). For all his bluster, he is overly cautious more often than I think he needs to be with the team.

Just looking for your thoughts as I try to reconcile the wildly different outlook of the team between Iowa and Nebraska and the varying degrees of success in between for teams still on the schedule.
 

What evidence do you have to say the team played scared vs Iowa?
This is a claim I have seen numerous times in the past few days but I haven’t seen anything to back it up.

People said three man rushes on third and long, but they have done that all year against multiple opponents.
 

Nebraska's offensive line was weak and they lost a player during the game. Iowa's line had no issue with us.

I think it's more likely to blame what happened at the lines of scrimmage in those games versus game plans and preparation.

Not sure Mason's players gave up once he relaxed. I think a better explanation is that teams weren't prepared to defend what we were doing and then after making the adjustments at half time, the more talented team would eventually come back and win.

I think if there was anything related to the players giving up, it was probably after it was 17-0 and they realized they were most likely going to lose again.
 

Some guy said:
What evidence do you have to say the team played scared vs Iowa?
This is a claim I have seen numerous times in the past few days but I haven’t seen anything to back it up.

People said three man rushes on third and long, but they have done that all year against multiple opponents.
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Agree.....we definitely didn't execute well but I don't get where this idea of playing scared is coming from.
 



I don’t doubt that they are fully prepared for what they expect. I don’t think the same team, with the same coaches come out unprepared one week and prepared the next.

However if you get something different than what you prepared for and don’t adjust, it will appear that everyone missed practice all week. It could be a matter of the Iowa offensive line being that much better than Nebraska, or the db’s coverage better. The Gopher offensive line, I think you have to say, is bad. How many holes between the tackles do they get per game? Darn few. Not much margin for error this year.

Other than the first drive against OSU, the three losses to me seemed like emotional or attitudinal flatness, almost doom and gloom. Maybe that is just my feeling after those games start!
 

Some guy said:
What evidence do you have to say the team played scared vs Iowa?
This is a claim I have seen numerous times in the past few days but I haven’t seen anything to back it up.

People said three man rushes on third and long, but they have done that all year against multiple opponents.
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Three-man rushes aren't because we're scared; it's because our secondary has dropped off considerably from last year.

Ultraconservative is because PJ's scared. The try not to lose approach.

Now, when you're down 0-17 against the Hawkeyes after 4 offensive plays, and 0-24 after 7 offensive plays, it's hard to say what their intentions were coming into the game.

That said, from that point forward, the game plan was to minimize the loss, rather than get creative - like we did against tOSU (at least to start the game). It didn't work much against tOSU, but it still felt like there was an effort on offense. The only real effort I saw from the offense was to make sure we didn't end up with negative rushing yards for the game, which is the only thing we succeeded at, gaining 31 yards to end with 24 for the game. No targets for our best receiver Smith. Geers, who is built for this type of game, only one catch on two targets.

The one drive we got a little creative with our play-calling was the field-goal drive. We never went back to it, but we did at least abandon the run on first down after that (until the last drive). We averaged 1.7 yards per carry on first-down runs - 11 of those came from the final play of the first half (6) and the first play of the final drive (5). Which means we stayed committed to running the ball on first down (until late in the game) at a rate of 0.75 yards per carry. You don't have to give up on the run to be less predictable. Granted the first time we went to the pass on first down was Lindsey's first interception, but by the beginning of the 2nd quarter, taking some smart shots to change call playing up wasn't going to hurt our chances.

Defensively, the numbers don't look as bad, but that was more a factor of Iowa's typical offensive approach and a 24-0 lead early in the second quarter.

We did some things we haven't done against Nebraska and caught them off guard. The lack of preparation and a game plan to put Iowa on their heels, at least a little bit, never materialized. Maybe it was there, but we abandoned it after the poor start and never attempted to come back to it.
 

caliGopher said:
Three-man rushes aren't because we're scared; it's because our secondary has dropped off considerably from last year.

Ultraconservative is because PJ's scared. The try not to lose approach.

Now, when you're down 0-17 against the Hawkeyes after 4 offensive plays, and 0-24 after 7 offensive plays, it's hard to say what their intentions were coming into the game.

That said, from that point forward, the game plan was to minimize the loss, rather than get creative - like we did against tOSU (at least to start the game). It didn't work much against tOSU, but it still felt like there was an effort on offense. The only real effort I saw from the offense was to make sure we didn't end up with negative rushing yards for the game, which is the only thing we succeeded at, gaining 31 yards to end with 24 for the game. No targets for our best receiver Smith. Geers, who is built for this type of game, only one catch on two targets.

The one drive we got a little creative with our play-calling was the field-goal drive. We never went back to it, but we did at least abandon the run on first down after that (until the last drive). We averaged 1.7 yards per carry on first-down runs - 11 of those came from the final play of the first half (6) and the first play of the final drive (5). Which means we stayed committed to running the ball on first down (until late in the game) at a rate of 0.75 yards per carry. You don't have to give up on the run to be less predictable. Granted the first time we went to the pass on first down was Lindsey's first interception, but by the beginning of the 2nd quarter, taking some smart shots to change call playing up wasn't going to hurt our chances.

Defensively, the numbers don't look as bad, but that was more a factor of Iowa's typical offensive approach and a 24-0 lead early in the second quarter.

We did some things we haven't done against Nebraska and caught them off guard. The lack of preparation and a game plan to put Iowa on their heels, at least a little bit, never materialized. Maybe it was there, but we abandoned it after the poor start and never attempted to come back to it.
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Lol in this post you say ultra conservative but they threw the ball like 9 of the first 12 plays

Then later you say Iowa was conservative

Was Iowa scared ?

Mixing play calls bad isn’t a reflection of the coach’s fear level, IMO


Whatever helps you sleep at night but in this post you provided no proof of fear being the cause and then admitted that Iowa was also conservative when conservatism that didn’t exist was the closest thing you had to proof of fear.
 
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caliGopher said:
Against Nebraska: PJ led teams are 6-1. Some close games recently, but a significant win streak. Team comes out inspired. We have a solid game plan. The players understand it. We beat Nebraska handily.

Against Iowa: PJ led teams are 1-7 versus Iowa. Games have generally been close, but Iowa came out in the 2nd half last year and embarrassed us after a rousing second quarter. Came into the game scared, and the team looks confused and unprepared. Playing not to lose from the opening kickoff. Iowa spared us the suspense of last year, and embarrassed us for a full game.

One of Mason's biggest faults was that the team reacted to his demeanor. If you go back to his more epic collapses (not all of them, but the Tech Games in particular), you can see him relax on the sideline. The team loses focus. They lose the game.

I believe Fleck has a similar problem. When he turtles up for games, he doesn't think we can win; it creates doubt and confusion on the team (not just this year). For all his bluster, he is overly cautious more often than I think he needs to be with the team.

Just looking for your thoughts as I try to reconcile the wildly different outlook of the team between Iowa and Nebraska and the varying degrees of success in between for teams still on the schedule.
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19 -22 yr old kids. Enough said
 

caliGopher said:
Against Nebraska: PJ led teams are 6-1. Some close games recently, but a significant win streak. Team comes out inspired. We have a solid game plan. The players understand it. We beat Nebraska handily.

Against Iowa: PJ led teams are 1-7 versus Iowa. Games have generally been close, but Iowa came out in the 2nd half last year and embarrassed us after a rousing second quarter. Came into the game scared, and the team looks confused and unprepared. Playing not to lose from the opening kickoff. Iowa spared us the suspense of last year, and embarrassed us for a full game.

One of Mason's biggest faults was that the team reacted to his demeanor. If you go back to his more epic collapses (not all of them, but the Tech Games in particular), you can see him relax on the sideline. The team loses focus. They lose the game.

I believe Fleck has a similar problem. When he turtles up for games, he doesn't think we can win; it creates doubt and confusion on the team (not just this year). For all his bluster, he is overly cautious more often than I think he needs to be with the team.

Just looking for your thoughts as I try to reconcile the wildly different outlook of the team between Iowa and Nebraska and the varying degrees of success in between for teams still on the schedule.
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Many would call those two wildly different outcomes momentum...just sayin'.
 




PMWinSTP said:
So other programs don't have 19-22 year old kids?
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Of course they do. How many upsets are there every week? I'd say more than ever with the transfer portal. More level playing field, except for the true blue bloods, which we've never been able to compeat with.
 

It was one bad game, where things snowballed, from turnovers, to 3 and out's to giving up a score early, to the shanked punt to the punt return for a touchdown. You learn from it and fix what you can. We were missing some people in the Secondary, Geralds in particular, Nestor got hurt and the WR group was dinged up. There was some isolation things on the Oline too where we got beat, Johnson and Marcellus, in particular struggled to pick up a few twist stunts up front and got beat individually. The Gophers Freshman QB played like a freshman in a tough environment.
Turn the page on Iowa this year, plenty of games left to play and the Gophers need to focus on beating Michigan State. Taylor got injured early and that effected the game plan. We now have one of two games left at home, and the Gophers need to build some positive momentum for the remaining games. It is one loss, where they got whipped, you have to learn from it and play better and not let the previous week's game linger in to Saturday. I think if the offense can convert some first downs, maintain possessions and the defense get's adequate rest the Gophers can win Saturday. Michigan State recruits better so it will be a challenge. Iowa only lost to Indiana 20-15 and Indiana is now the #2 team in the country and they are good Indiana. Iowa has an excellent to well above average defense. Beatdowns happen, is anyone happy about it no, but you cannot dwell on one game, you have to get better from it and not repeat the same mistakes. Go Gophers.
 
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LesBolstad said:
This just in: when you have inferior talent and are playing on the road, it's damn near impossible to win
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Yup. And things snowballed
If they play again I would probably be thinking Iowa wins 24-7 or something

Clear talent gap on the lines with catastrophic mistakes

If Iowa made mistakes and the gophers didn’t the gophers could beat them…but both teams playing their average game it’s a 2-3 score advantage for Iowa.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Many would call those two wildly different outcomes momentum...just sayin'.
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We don't believe in momentum, haven't you heard?

I believe this better term for momentum is confidence. As others have said, we blew all the confidence coming out of Nebraska. Let's see if we can go build some more against Michigan State.

I believe that Iowa is a good football team and don't like losing to them, but it's going to happen. I can't get my head around a team that is so regularly woefully unprepared. Saturday wasn't an anomaly, it's part of a trend. We overcame it against lesser teams (Purdue and Rutgers) we got blasted by an Iowa team that is roughly equivalent in terms of talent and opportunity because they were prepared and ready to play. Something we've been exactly once this season.
 
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MNVCGUY said:
He spent most of the game on the sideline in sweatpants.....so.....

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thanks. I was only able to watch it in a crowded bar, so didn't notice he wasn't on the field and couldn't hear the announcers. I also hadn't sene that mentoined in any of the recaps. So .... it's on me.
 

Kitzmann57 said:
Of course they do. How many upsets are there every week? I'd say more than ever with the transfer portal. More level playing field, except for the true blue bloods, which we've never been able to compeat with.
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This game wasn't an upset. I was expecting a loss. I did not expect how we lost.

And Iowa is not a blue blood.
 
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LesBolstad said:
This just in: when you have inferior talent and are playing on the road, it's damn near impossible to win
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The talent levels are roughly the same. We just get less out of our talent regularly, while Iowa consistently gets more.

But I also just keep forgetting these things take time. It's only year nine.
 

caliGopher said:
We don't believe in momentum, haven't you heard?

I believe this better term for momentum is confidence. As others have said, we blew all the confidence coming out of Nebraska. Let's see if we can go build some more against Michigan State.

I believe that Iowa is a good football team and don't like losing to them, but it's going to happen. I can't get my head around a team that is so regularly woefully unprepared. Saturday wasn't an anomaly, it's part of a trend. We overcame it against lesser teams (Purdue and Rutgers) we got blasted by an Iowa team that is roughly equivalent in terms of talent and opportunity because they were prepared and ready to play. Something we've been exactly once this season.
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Woah they were unprepared? You said it was because they were scared?
 

caliGopher said:
The talent levels are roughly the same. We just get less out of our talent regularly, while Iowa consistently gets more.

But I also just keep forgetting these things take time. It's only year nine.
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Talent levels aren’t close along the lines. Which is concerning.
Gophers o line was overwhelmed and hasn’t looked good since 2023 with the exception of a game or two
 


caliGopher said:
Against Nebraska: PJ led teams are 6-1. Some close games recently, but a significant win streak. Team comes out inspired. We have a solid game plan. The players understand it. We beat Nebraska handily.

Against Iowa: PJ led teams are 1-7 versus Iowa. Games have generally been close, but Iowa came out in the 2nd half last year and embarrassed us after a rousing second quarter. Came into the game scared, and the team looks confused and unprepared. Playing not to lose from the opening kickoff. Iowa spared us the suspense of last year, and embarrassed us for a full game.

One of Mason's biggest faults was that the team reacted to his demeanor. If you go back to his more epic collapses (not all of them, but the Tech Games in particular), you can see him relax on the sideline. The team loses focus. They lose the game.

I believe Fleck has a similar problem. When he turtles up for games, he doesn't think we can win; it creates doubt and confusion on the team (not just this year). For all his bluster, he is overly cautious more often than I think he needs to be with the team.

Just looking for your thoughts as I try to reconcile the wildly different outlook of the team between Iowa and Nebraska and the varying degrees of success in between for teams still on the schedule.
Click to expand...
1-8
 





Gopherchase said:
I’m not that interested in it to look it up, but I would guess that on the OL our last 20 recruits have had similar rankings as Iowa’s.
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You’d be interested in saying something factual but instead you’re going to make shit up?

Checks out
 

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