The gophers were ready to play

[Rosemountian]

This is the first positive comment I've made about the staff since USC.

 

[cyberbach]

You have nothing to hang your heads over. It seemed the first down gained from the muffed option pitch took the wind out of the sails of Minn. but that's unfortunate. I really didn't agree with the call getting a first down on a fumbled pitch but it shouldn't have been a precursor for the game. Minn defense was quite stout at times and the QB can move the ball but it's early in Kill's process and I'm sure people are starting to get impatient. JK will get you where you want to be, patience is the key word, good game and thanks for being such gracious hosts to Husker Nation.

 

[cncmin]

This is the first positive comment I've made about the staff since USC.

Seemed that way to me too. Any mentally fragile team, like the Gophers, would have lost their spirit after the ridiculous way Nebraska kept the ball after being stopped on their first TD drive. Once that happened we all had to know that the blowout was ensuing.

It would be nice if the team would have more fight throughout the whole game, but this team just doesn't have "it".

 

[jovs]

This years defense is very similiar to Mason's defenses, the only difference is that Mason's teams had a decent offense, controlled the ball, and kept the defense off the field. This years team cannot do that.

There seems to be some improvement, lets hope it continues.

I still think coaching has alot to do with it though. For me you can go back to the start of Mason's tenure at the U untill today and I think the year Ted Roof was the defensive coordinator was the best defense the U has had in that time frame. It wasn't because they miraculously had more talent that year, I think it was because it was better utilized.

 

[GophersInIowa]

I think we did a good job of bouncing back after the offsides call on the first drive. We at least then stopped them and held them to a FG. Kill was arguing this and think he is right, it looked like our guys got back on sides and there shouldn't have been a penalty. Getting a sack and stopping them on the first drive could have been just as big as the 4th down fumble on the next drive.

Like cncmin said, the guys' mentality has to be very fragile at this point. When things don't go your way, it's all down hill from there. Not saying we would have won or anything, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been 34-0 at the half.

 

[nc2mn]

This years defense is very similiar to Mason's defenses

I wouldn't insult this defense by comaring it with Mason's. Mason's lack of defense is what got him fired.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

The team needs to be in a mental place where any bad call (whether it be a bad call by a ref or a proper call of a bad rule) or silly bounce can't "take the wind out of our sails." They are athletic, competitive guys, and their response needs to be "fine, they got a cheap first down, no problem we'll stop 'em again."

 

[MisterGopher]

Totally agree with bleedsmaroonandgold. Look at the Sparty / Badgers game. Both teams had plenty of moments during that game where they thought they had things in hand and something happened to cause things to go the other way. Yet they both kept coming back again and again until the final play of the game.

We need this same kind of attitude to get things turned around.

 

[matt]

Totally agree with bleedsmaroonandgold. Look at the Sparty / Badgers game. Both teams had plenty of moments during that game where they thought they had things in hand and something happened to cause things to go the other way. Yet they both kept coming back again and again until the final play of the game.

We need this same kind of attitude to get things turned around.

Those teams aren't 1-6 with 3 blowout losses in the past 3 games. It's hard to have the same kind of fire in you when you're down 41-14 or 58-0 that you have a when you make a big stop in the 1st quarter in a 0-0 or 0-3 game.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Mattw is almost making MisterGopher's point. That attitude is the difference between teams that are 1-6 with 3 blowout losses in the past 3 games and teams like Wisco and MSU who are ranked nationally.