WolfontheProwl
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- Nov 22, 2008
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I must say it was nice to see the Gophers play well last night but in the end it was a loss. I am not much one for moral victories and the game last night reminded me of to many Gopher games of the past. They play themselves into a lead and give themselves a chance to win and then do everything possible to get a loss. I can't remember how many times in the 4th quarter I caught myself saying we just need one more big play to ice this game and we simply couldn't make the one big offensive play to get it done. Losing a game close that most thought we would get blown out in isn't a moral victory when we had every chance to win that game and probably should have.
I thought the power running game last night for 3/4ths of the game was terrific. We dominated the line of scrimmage on offense and both running backs ran hard. The offensive line played maybe their best game of the year except for the terrible penalties they took namely Epping who killed a drive all by himself. The WRs made a couple big plays in the game as well.
The Defense got great play from Carter and Hageman who dominated the game at times at their positions. The secondary in general played pretty well even with a couple of dropped INT's it was a good showing. Playing a team like Texas Tech you are not going to hold them down for an entire half and the Gophers nearly did but they missed a couple big plays that would have kept the lead in the hands of the Gophers.
What I still don't understand is why Gray was playing QB at all once Nelson started the game as strong as he did. Gray seems to be a great person and he finished what turned into a very odd career. With that being said he didn't need to play QB last night and when Nelson started strong he shouldnt have been removed other than for a play like they ran with Gray on the QB sneak.
Concerns going forward: This team needs to get more talent at WR. I thought last night we got some big plays more based on Texas Tech having no respect for our passing game than the Gophers using talent. I also don's want to see this Gopher team throwing out a bunch of tiny little WR's. This team needs some big kids that can win battles between 8-20 yards. The linebackers need to step it up and become factors. This unit needs an influx of talent that is aggressive and willing to hit. I can stand a mistake here and there from linebackers if they are hitting hard and causing chaos not playing passively and not attacking the ball. The Daege TD run was terrible as two Gopher Lbers sat there and watched him run their way and they never came off the goal line to stop him from scoring. The punting and kicking games needs to improve in a big way next year.
Positives for the future: The offense should be much improved next year with a great number of guys coming back next year. We already lost our biggest contributor who left a long time ago. The line is back and the running backs should be a strong suit. I like Kirkwood and Williams and we will see bigger runs as long as the line stays healthy. On defense the line and even the secondary will be pretty solid next year and I say that knowing we are losing some key players like Willhite and Carter.
This teams needs to be back in a bowl next year and they must get better and start to patch up weaknesses.
I thought the power running game last night for 3/4ths of the game was terrific. We dominated the line of scrimmage on offense and both running backs ran hard. The offensive line played maybe their best game of the year except for the terrible penalties they took namely Epping who killed a drive all by himself. The WRs made a couple big plays in the game as well.
The Defense got great play from Carter and Hageman who dominated the game at times at their positions. The secondary in general played pretty well even with a couple of dropped INT's it was a good showing. Playing a team like Texas Tech you are not going to hold them down for an entire half and the Gophers nearly did but they missed a couple big plays that would have kept the lead in the hands of the Gophers.
What I still don't understand is why Gray was playing QB at all once Nelson started the game as strong as he did. Gray seems to be a great person and he finished what turned into a very odd career. With that being said he didn't need to play QB last night and when Nelson started strong he shouldnt have been removed other than for a play like they ran with Gray on the QB sneak.
Concerns going forward: This team needs to get more talent at WR. I thought last night we got some big plays more based on Texas Tech having no respect for our passing game than the Gophers using talent. I also don's want to see this Gopher team throwing out a bunch of tiny little WR's. This team needs some big kids that can win battles between 8-20 yards. The linebackers need to step it up and become factors. This unit needs an influx of talent that is aggressive and willing to hit. I can stand a mistake here and there from linebackers if they are hitting hard and causing chaos not playing passively and not attacking the ball. The Daege TD run was terrible as two Gopher Lbers sat there and watched him run their way and they never came off the goal line to stop him from scoring. The punting and kicking games needs to improve in a big way next year.
Positives for the future: The offense should be much improved next year with a great number of guys coming back next year. We already lost our biggest contributor who left a long time ago. The line is back and the running backs should be a strong suit. I like Kirkwood and Williams and we will see bigger runs as long as the line stays healthy. On defense the line and even the secondary will be pretty solid next year and I say that knowing we are losing some key players like Willhite and Carter.
This teams needs to be back in a bowl next year and they must get better and start to patch up weaknesses.