The Gehrig Scenario.

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I was at the game and I liked a lot of what I saw. I think Gray will be fine as time goes on. He did make a couple of Webber wide open over the head misfires but overall I thought he did alright in his first start. The O-line needs to step up the protection and give him more time to pass. It was a good start for a new season though against a top25 team. GO GOPHERS!
 

Former Goofer said:
Even with Grays running ability/threat, Shortell looked a lot better than Q today. I don't think it should be out of the question for Q to move back to WR sometime this year.
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If he likes money he would - as a WR with a gunslinging QB to feed him he might go first round. One of the reasons it made sense to play QB was there appeared to be no such QB [can't count on a frosh to deliver]. Too early to tell but that might now be a reasonable possibility.

Still - if Kill I'd play them both for awhile to see who really ought to be there. That usually settles it, not coaches.

[Edited to almost make sense]
 

I my gut feeling watching the game was that I felt more confident in Max's passing than Q's. Shortell comes off more confidence passing than q. Q does not seem to have the control on his passes like max does.
 

Sparlimb said:
They both do different things. Both need to play a little in every game. Gray needs time, be patient with him. Shortell is a perfect counter to Gray at QB. They do completely different things. The more they both play, the more teams have to prepare for both. We're likely not going bowling starting a true freshman the rest of the year. We have a chance with Gray, but we need to win next week.
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We are most likely not bowling regardless of who's at QB. If the coaches think Shortell is the best option long term, I'd rather take our lumps this year. My thought is play Shortell at QB & Gray @ WR. That way you have 2 playmakers on the field. And Gray + McKnight is a heckuva WR combo
 

I think Q will settle in and be just fine. Kill will play both, as he and Limegrover have said multiple times - and at least we won't have to worry about Max being as unpolished and unprepared 2 years from now as Q is now.
 


achiever said:
really? low pressure?
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Yeah, low pressure. The Gophers were EXPECTED to lose (by a lot), were down by two scores, and the Gophers hadn't moved the ball with too much authority. He HAS to play because the starting QB is injured. If he fails, it's EXPECTED, and thus it's pretty low pressure.

When the game was on the line in the final drive, and with Q on the sidelines looking like he MIGHT be able to play, and with the clock ticking down fast, Max DID have pressure, and he threw a poor pass that ended the game.

He did better than expected, but the drive he took them on was low pressure, and I stick by that assessment.
 

Tully55 said:
I was at the game and I liked a lot of what I saw. I think Gray will be fine as time goes on. He did make a couple of Webber wide open over the head misfires but overall I thought he did alright in his first start. The O-line needs to step up the protection and give him more time to pass. It was a good start for a new season though against a top25 team. GO GOPHERS!
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If Weber played as well the last 2 years as Gray did today, then Tim Brewster is likely still the football coach. Remember, Gray didn't turn over the ball (although he fumbled on the first possession). He played within the game plan, which was obviously quite conservative, especially the first half, and the OLine played poorly the first half, with USC putting on a ton of pressure. The coaches never got him outside, which I think was a significant mistake today.
 

cncmin said:
The coaches never got him outside, which I think was a significant mistake today.
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I really couldn't see from the angles they show on TV - but was that a result of what USC showed them [contain] or an oversight? Even the announcers made that point too. Was USC taking that away?
 

lugnard said:
I really couldn't see from the angles they show on TV - but was that a result of what USC showed them [contain] or an oversight? Even the announcers made that point too. Was USC taking that away?
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I think it was more due to what our offensive line could do. They didn't look particularly good today. Really hard to do much against the talent on that USC team. We'll look much better next week (at least I hope so). This team has a lot of growing to do...
 



cncmin said:
Yeah, low pressure. The Gophers were EXPECTED to lose (by a lot), were down by two scores, and the Gophers hadn't moved the ball with too much authority. He HAS to play because the starting QB is injured. If he fails, it's EXPECTED, and thus it's pretty low pressure.

When the game was on the line in the final drive, and with Q on the sidelines looking like he MIGHT be able to play, and with the clock ticking down fast, Max DID have pressure, and he threw a poor pass that ended the game.

He did better than expected, but the drive he took them on was low pressure, and I stick by that assessment.
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Using your reasoning then it was "low pressure" for Gray going into this game since we were expected to lose (by a lot). You throw in a true freshman Qb taking his first snap of college ball, on the road, against a top 25 team (USC even), with a quick warm up on the sidelines since the injury to Q, and throw him in facing a 3rd and 8....Yeah low pressure. That doesn't even pass the laugh test. What he did do was march the team down and throw a TD pass to pull us close. Very impressive for a freshman Qb in his first collegiate series in a very difficult situation. Does his performance today make him the starter next game, No - although some will argue. But to say there was low pressure is just plain silly. I take it you have never played Qb before?
 

46Gophers said:
Using your reasoning then it was "low pressure" for Gray going into this game since we were expected to lose (by a lot). You throw in a true freshman Qb taking his first snap of college ball, on the road, against a top 25 team (USC even), with a quick warm up on the sidelines since the injury to Q, and throw him in facing a 3rd and 8....Yeah low pressure. That doesn't even pass the laugh test. What he did do was march the team down and throw a TD pass to pull us close. Very impressive for a freshman Qb in his first collegiate series in a very difficult situation. Does his performance today make him the starter next game, No - although some will argue. But to say there was low pressure is just plain silly. I take it you have never played Qb before?
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No, since Gray was the STARTER Gray had plenty of pressure to perform the whole game. Backups rarely have that much pressure, which is why they often do surprisingly well when quickly thrown into situations, but then revert to the player that was deservedly the backup when they begin to start games.

If you recall, Gray shined just fine in some of the non-pressured backup situations two years ago. He failed in the pressure situation against Iowa State with a fumble on the potential game-winning drive, however.

Are you seriously trying to say that on Shortell's first drive he had extremely high pressure and expectations to perform? Seriously?
 

cncmin said:
Are you seriously trying to say that on Shortell's first drive he had extremely high pressure and expectations to perform? Seriously?
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Yes I am saying that it was more than a "low pressure" sitauation, didn't say "extremely high pressure" - your words not mine - see my reasons from before - we still had a chance to win a road game against a ranked USC team and he marched the team down for a TD. To say that was a "low pressure" situation is just plain silly. As for extremely high expectations - maybe you didn't have them. Ask Max what his expectations were when he went into the game and I would expect them to be very high. My guess is that the staff had expectations that he would do a good job executing the offense which is exactly what he did on that drive. Would you really want a backup Qb going into a game with a chance to win that has low expectations of themselves or that the coaches have low expectations of? The true freshman puts in a pretty good first performance and the point you want to make is that on that drive there was low pressure and expectations so it wasn't a big deal instead of being happy that we appear to have a backup that can step in when needed and do pretty well.
 

46Gophers said:
Yes I am saying that it was more than a "low pressure" sitauation, didn't say "extremely high pressure" - your words not mine - see my reasons from before - we still had a chance to win a road game against a ranked USC team and he marched the team down for a TD. To say that was a "low pressure" situation is just plain silly. As for extremely high expectations - maybe you didn't have them. Ask Max what his expectations were when he went into the game and I would expect them to be very high. My guess is that the staff had expectations that he would do a good job executing the offense which is exactly what he did on that drive. Would you really want a backup Qb going into a game with a chance to win that has low expectations of themselves or that the coaches have low expectations of? The true freshman puts in a pretty good first performance and the point you want to make is that on that drive there was low pressure and expectations so it wasn't a big deal instead of being happy that we appear to have a backup that can step in when needed and do pretty well.
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My point, and it should be an extremely obvious one, is that half of the nutjobs on this board calling for Shortell to start over Gray because of one TD drive need to settle down, think on it, and reconsider before causing a QB controversy that really doesn't need to, and shouldn't, be happening; at least not after one game of football against one team, on the road, with QBs playing in different situations.
 



Gray is the starter. When he settled down he did much better. Shortell's performance was a bonus. Looking to the future we should be thrilled about that.
 

cncmin said:
My point, and it should be an extremely obvious one, is that half of the nutjobs on this board calling for Shortell to start over Gray because of one TD drive need to settle down, think on it, and reconsider before causing a QB controversy that really doesn't need to, and shouldn't, be happening; at least not after one game of football against one team, on the road, with QBs playing in different situations.
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And my point is don't downplay the performance of a freshman Qb in a difficult situation for any Qb. I'm happy that he appears to be a good back-up and offers another skill set that will hopefully compliment MG.
 

Two simple things:

First: Gray is the starter and he will be the starter for the foreseeable future. At this point, he's earned that right.

Second: One guy looked like a QB out there today and it wasn't Gray. Throw the box score out the window and use the naked eye. One guy looked like he knew what he was doing with the ball in his hands and one guy didn't. You can make all the excuses you want and say whatever it is that makes you feel better but Gray just doesn't look natural or comfortable as a QB.

This situation will sort itself out without anybody on here trying to help the coaches with this decision. I think it's a win-win either way; if Gray remains the starter, it likely means he improves a LOT over the next couple of weeks. If not, I have confidence in what his backup brings to the table.
 

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