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MplsGopher

MplsGopher

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Like the Ohio State game, for the Iowa game, I came into it worried about the offense. And I left it thinking "the blame for losing this game lies more with the defense, than the offense".

Offense:
- sure, you can focus on not scoring TD's when we were down close to the end zone
- you can focus on some mis-fires in the passing game, like how both of BSF's receptions on 3rd down were routes that didn't even go up to the first down marker. Or those two throws that Morgan made to CAB that were just a bit too high on both (he got fingertips on both, but couldn't bring them down).

- but, you also have to acknowlege:
- T&I rush for 206yd on 46 attempts, which is over 4.5 per rush
- 15/31 passing for 217yd, 2td 0int
- OL I believe only gave up that one sack at the very end, which was at least partly on Morgan for drifting out to far, and we probably weren't going the length of the field in the last 40sec anyway



Defense:
- Iowa offense was not having a good year, lost in Iowa City to Purdue by score of 7-24 just a few weeks ago
- scored 7 against Purdue, 7 against Wisc, and only 17 against NW
- sophomore QB making his first start -- granted, that seems to have been a good move

- Walley made some really nice plays, and he's a true freshman. You can't pin the loss on him. No way.

- BUT ... their first TD, he got burned by a fast WR and the QB made a great throw. Huge play, sets up the TD
- On I believe their second TD, Walley got spun around like a top by a double-move, another great throw, same receiver
- Then their third TD, Durr has the guy wrapped up in his arms, but flips over the top of him, guys gets free and runs for a TD





Sorry, but not sorry -- the loss had more to do with those huge plays given up by the defense.


Flame away.
 
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In that case, 2019 vs 2021:

- you'd be basically swapping out the Penn St win/Wisc loss for Ohio St loss/Wisc win
- lost in Iowa City both times, both close final scores
- bowl win in both

- and then we just have those two bizarre losses this year, but we easily could have lose any 2 of the SDSU, Fresno, or GA Southern games in 2019, was very lucky to win all three
 

it goes both ways. the defensive breakdowns are magnified by the offense's failure to score TD's instead of FG's. If the offense was more productive and less conservative, the defensive breakdowns would not seem as costly.

bottom line - the goal is to score 1 more point than the other team. If the defense gives up 27 points, the offense has to score 28 to win the game.
 


Good points. I think it’s so easy to blame the offense because it’s painful/ugly to watch. When the defense gets burned it’s just over. Slowly pulling of the bandaid vs ripping it off.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
it goes both ways. the defensive breakdowns are magnified by the offense's failure to score TD's instead of FG's. If the offense was more productive and less conservative, the defensive breakdowns would not seem as costly.

bottom line - the goal is to score 1 more point than the other team. If the defense gives up 27 points, the offense has to score 28 to win the game.
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You take away those three big plays, we probably win.
 

MplsGopher said:
Like the Ohio State game, for the Iowa game, I came into it worried about the offense. And I left it thinking "the blame for losing this game lies more with the defense, than the offense".

Offense:
- sure, you can focus on not scoring TD's when we were down close to the end zone
- you can focus on some mis-fires in the passing game, like how both of BSF's receptions on 3rd down were routes that didn't even go up to the first down marker. Or those two throws that Morgan made to CAB that were just a bit too high on both (he got fingertips on both, but couldn't bring them down).

- but, you also have to acknowlege:
- T&I rush for 206yd on 46 attempts, which is over 4.5 per rush
- 15/31 passing for 217yd, 2td 0int
- OL I believe only gave up that one sack at the very end, which was at least partly on Morgan for drifting out to far, and we probably weren't going the length of the field in the last 40sec anyway



Defense:
- Iowa offense was not having a good year, lost in Iowa City to Purdue by score of 7-24 just a few weeks ago
- scored 7 against Purdue, 7 against Wisc, and only 17 against NW
- freshman QB making his first start -- granted, that seems to have been a good move

- Walley made some really nice plays, and he's a true freshman. You can't pin the loss on him. No way.

- BUT ... their first TD, he got burned by a fast WR and the QB made a great throw. Huge play, sets up the TD
- On I believe their second TD, Walley got spun around like a top by a double-move, another great throw, same receiver
- Then their third TD, Durr has the guy wrapped up in his arms, but flips over the top of him, guys gets free and runs for a TD





Sorry, but not sorry -- the loss had more to do with those huge plays given up by the defense.


Flame away.
Click to expand...
- OL I believe only gave up that one sack at the very end, which was at least partly on Morgan for drifting out to far, and we probably weren't going the length of the field in the last 40sec anyway

What is preventing from doing so? Incompetent coaching?
 

MplsGopher said:
You take away those three big plays, we probably win.
Click to expand...
You can say that about every football game played at any level.

But - in the real world - you cannot take away those plays.

In theory, it's supposed to be about one side having the other's back. Defense struggles, offense needs to pick things up. offense struggles, defense needs to pick things up.

Gophers had 1st-and-Goal at the IA 5 yd line and came away with a FG. To beat a good team, you can't squander those opportunities.
 



What was preventing us from going the length of the field in 40 sec with no time outs and needing a TD?

I think that's a tall order for almost any team, against Iowa's defense.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
But - in the real world - you cannot take away those plays.
Click to expand...
You can't even say, if Durr just hangs onto that tackle, we have a much higher chance that we win the game?

No, that's going too far.


That's talking about a physical, actually thing that happened. Not a hypothetical thing, like a play that would've scored the TD from the 5. Maybe we could have, or maybe it would have been like the 2pt attempt.
 

MplsGopher said:
What was preventing us from going the length of the field in 40 sec with no time outs and needing a TD?

I think that's a tall order for almost any team, against Iowa's defense.
Click to expand...
What about the other 3 FGs ? Wonder how Purdue did it so effortlessly in the same field? Your OC used Purdue stat gainst Illinois as cover for the loss. Then he should be able to explain why he cant use the same team stat against Iowa.
 

Purdue scored 24. We scored 22 and went for 24 on a 2pt conversion attempt.

Purdue's defense and Iowa's incompetent offense, is the huge difference, from what we had to face. They (Purdue) didn't have to attempt to go the length of the field at the end. Wasn't needed.
 



MplsGopher said:
You can't even say, if Durr just hangs onto that tackle, we have a much higher chance that we win the game?

No, that's going too far.


That's talking about a physical, actually thing that happened. Not a hypothetical thing, like a play that would've scored the TD from the 5. Maybe we could have, or maybe it would have been like the 2pt attempt.
Click to expand...
For real? Blaming Defense for the loss? Instead of inapt offense?
Thanks for a good laugh. We all need it after a day like yesterday.
 

MplsGopher said:
Like the Ohio State game, for the Iowa game, I came into it worried about the offense. And I left it thinking "the blame for losing this game lies more with the defense, than the offense".

Offense:
- sure, you can focus on not scoring TD's when we were down close to the end zone
- you can focus on some mis-fires in the passing game, like how both of BSF's receptions on 3rd down were routes that didn't even go up to the first down marker. Or those two throws that Morgan made to CAB that were just a bit too high on both (he got fingertips on both, but couldn't bring them down).

- but, you also have to acknowlege:
- T&I rush for 206yd on 46 attempts, which is over 4.5 per rush
- 15/31 passing for 217yd, 2td 0int
- OL I believe only gave up that one sack at the very end, which was at least partly on Morgan for drifting out to far, and we probably weren't going the length of the field in the last 40sec anyway



Defense:
- Iowa offense was not having a good year, lost in Iowa City to Purdue by score of 7-24 just a few weeks ago
- scored 7 against Purdue, 7 against Wisc, and only 17 against NW
- freshman QB making his first start -- granted, that seems to have been a good move

- Walley made some really nice plays, and he's a true freshman. You can't pin the loss on him. No way.

- BUT ... their first TD, he got burned by a fast WR and the QB made a great throw. Huge play, sets up the TD
- On I believe their second TD, Walley got spun around like a top by a double-move, another great throw, same receiver
- Then their third TD, Durr has the guy wrapped up in his arms, but flips over the top of him, guys gets free and runs for a TD





Sorry, but not sorry -- the loss had more to do with those huge plays given up by the defense.


Flame away.
Click to expand...
Defense gave up two big plays plus some third and longs. Not their best day but not awful. On the other hand the offense, with another strong rushing day, should have handily put up 35-40 points against this Iowa team. That is, should have given a competent passing game.

We came into the season knowing D secondary might be weak. Though they have been better than many expected it's not shocking when they give up the big play.

No, this loss is on high school level passing game.
 

MplsGopher said:
Purdue scored 24. We scored 22 and went for 24 on a 2pt conversion attempt.

Purdue's defense and Iowa's incompetent offense, is the huge difference, from what we had to face. They (Purdue) didn't have to attempt to go the length of the field at the end. Wasn't needed.
Click to expand...
That's why PJ decided to kick the FG against Iowa while the Iowa offense cant moves the ball well. What is the reasoning behind that?
 

MplsGopher said:
End of the day -- I know people don't want to hear this. It sucks compared to what might have been, but ....


win out from here, including a middle bowl game, and we're looking at:

- 9-4
- bowl win
- Axe is home


I'll take that in a second.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, this scenario likely means Sanford is back next season.
 


mnhoopboy said:
Unfortunately, this scenario likely means Sanford is back next season.
Click to expand...
Would you prefer to only win one more game this year, likely next week @IU, if it meant Sanford would be fired?

I don't know ... I feel like this year can still be special. What I described would be.

Would rather Sanford gets fired on a year that's just a stinker.
 

MplsGopher said:
Would you prefer to only win one more game this year, likely next week @IU, if it meant Sanford would be fired?

I don't know ... I feel like this year can still be special. What I described would be.

Would rather Sanford gets fired on a year that's just a stinker.
Click to expand...
Did you look at his overall record? It is not hard to find. Just one year?
 

MplsGopher said:
We had so many places where we could've won this game. Pissed it away.

Doubt anyone is going to argue against that.
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Yup this basically sums it up for me. Maybe 2 or 3 clutch plays on either O, D, or STs and Gophers win. They seriously snatched defeat from the jaws of victory yesterday
 

MplsGopher said:
End of the day -- I know people don't want to hear this. It sucks compared to what might have been, but ....


win out from here, including a middle bowl game, and we're looking at:

- 9-4
- bowl win
- Axe is home


I'll take that in a second.
Click to expand...
Did you see BECKY game yesterday? If Fleck comes out with same personnel and pass game in two weeks there will be no 9-4 and just pictures of the axe.
 



I am fully aware coaching job is very transient. Even for that standard, his record is very suspect at best. What am I missing here?
 

Some of the blame, sure. But certainly not more of the blame IMO. Iowa’s scoring drives were 39, 73, 72, 58, and -8 yards. Add in a turnover and they played pretty well. They were just 2 or 3 plays away from having a great game.
 

BoatRacer said:
- OL I believe only gave up that one sack at the very end, which was at least partly on Morgan for drifting out to far, and we probably weren't going the length of the field in the last 40sec anyway

What is preventing from doing so? Incompetent coaching?
Click to expand...
Can’t blame the sack on Morgan that time. He had timing and accuracy issues but the Iowa end was to him immediately partially courtesy of defensive holding by the tackle that wasn’t called. Back breaker play in that situation.
 

BoatRacer said:
Did you look at his overall record? It is not hard to find. Just one year?
Click to expand...
This year can still be special if we win the next three, including Wisc. I would rather have that.

Especially knowing next year could easily be setting up to be a regression. If that ends up being more like 6-6 then we can fire him and hire Simon.
 

In other words, disregard posts that are saying "I place thus loss solely on (fill in the blank)." Yes, the offense made many good plays but the overall passing game execution (both the QB and WRs) was not good enough in too many crucial situations. Yes, the defense for the most part did their job but gave up TDs and 3rd and longs by poor coverage, poor tackling, etc. Yes, the introduction of new plays (Kramer's TD pass and the quick pitches) were good to see, however there were bad coaching decisions.

Iowa made enough plays to win the game; Minnesota did not.

Sounds to me like it was a team loss.
 

Tully55 said:
In other words, disregard posts that are saying "I place thus loss solely on (fill in the blank)." Yes, the offense made many good plays but the overall passing game execution (both the QB and WRs) was not good enough in too many crucial situations. Yes, the defense for the most part did their job but gave up TDs and 3rd and longs by poor coverage, poor tackling, etc. Yes, the introduction of new plays (Kramer's TD pass and the quick pitches) were good to see, however there were bad coaching decisions.

Iowa made enough plays to win the game; Minnesota did not.

Sounds to me like it was a team loss.
Click to expand...
Agree
 

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