Unpopular opinion

[Ope3]

From OP, couldn't agree more.

I guess if I were pushed to assign a percentage of blame, maybe I would go 51% offense for settling for FGs in the red zone.

Excuses are for losers, but I do lament "what if Mo Ibrahim had been able to stay healthy?" Back ups have been able to fill in and give the offense a chance, but with him I think the Gophers would have fewer than 4 Ls.

 

[MplsGopher]

T&I are just fine, rushing the ball. They do just fine with the ball in their hands. Sure, they probably don't exactly make up for the loss of Potts, and certainly not for Mo. But they're good enough to win with.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Ferentz made the call of the game. Walley commits a kick catch interference and then sits through a TV time-out thinking about it. Next play Iowa calls a double move on Walley and it's a TD.

 

[MplsGopher]

Ferentz made the call of the game. Walley commits a kick catch interference and then sits through a TV time-out thinking about it. Next play Iowa calls a double move on Walley and it's a TD.

Same receiver burned him (straight up ran by him) to set-up the first TD. They have good players too. That guy is fast as ___. Hasn't had a QB who could throw it to him, all season.

Walley had some nice plays though.

Him not making the interception was not something that hurt us. We got the ball and then scored anyway.


Gotta fail, to fix it. Chin up, kid!

 

[DanvilleGopher]

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.

I'm actually with ya here as I commented after the Illinois game when people were saying the D looked great and the O stunk it up (no doubt the O did!) that the D didn't play that great. The D was dominated the first 2 possessions and then Illinois basically did what they needed by not going 3 and out and gaining first downs, draining the clock and basically still doing enough as our D never really shut them down.

I have no clue but if someone looked back at the Illinois game, how many 3 and outs did Illinois end up having?

EDIT: Not only that, the Illinois QB only had to throw 9 passes the whole game, and he completed 7 of those passes.

 

[MplsGopher]

Well, I think our D did a good job vs Iowa, all things considered.

But those three plays, in particular, killed us.

You can never know if those plays don't happen, if they'd still go on to score a TD anyway.

 

[U2Gopher]

Listen, it would have been nice had the defense not given up a 72 yard TD pass, but to put anywhere near the majority of the blame for the Iowa loss on the defense is a horrible take. You held them to 71 yards rushing (over 30 below their season avg), 271 total yards (which is about 35 yards under their season average) and won the turnover battle, and still found a way to lose. The defense shoulders very little blame here. They did their job as a group. If Morgan doesn’t miss a wide open CAB on the sidelines for a first down putting us in field goal range again on that third quarter drive, the damn 72 yard TD pass doesn’t even happen.

This loss is 40% on Fleck. I still support him but he’s the boss and it takes the biggest hit. It’s 30% on Sanford and 20% on Morgan for being an incompetent passer. It’s another 9% on receivers for dropping balls and 1% on the defense who once again played their ass off and played good enough to win the game.

 

[MplsGopher]

Listen, it would have been nice had the defense not given up a 72 yard TD pass

Try again.

Three plays = three touchdowns.

 

[imthewalrus]

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.

People have been trashing the offense here all season long. Even when the Gophers won four BT in succession.

In that Iowa game the offense kept the defense off the field for 40 minutes. They ONLY had to defend Iowa 20 minutes and Iowa scored 27 points. Had Iowa had the ball for 30 minutes how many more long bombs might those fast receivers have caught? That would have given that first career start at iowa QB a lot more chances to hang a bunch more points on the board, maybe?

With their 20 minutes of offense, the Iowa offense scored 27 points. That is 1.35 points for every minute the Iowa offense went head to head against the Gopher defense. Just imagine what that final score would have looked like if the Iowa offense had been able to go at the Gopher defense for any more than 20 minutes.

People here want a pro style offense… but the Gopher team is NOT built for a pro style offense (Freaking PASSING game in 2021 or any time since 2019.). That is a FACT of life.
The Coach and the OC and the qb coach can’t throw the ball, catch the ball, make the o-line play penalty free no matter what plays they call on the passing side of the ledger. The BIG TIME EXPLOSIVE play makers on this team are GONE and INJURED.

Fleck would probably have the team in Frost territory in 2021 if he tried to have Morgan or ANY other qb on this team fling 50 passes or more a game. But, they sure as hell can RUN the ball. THAT is what the story is for this year.

To Fleck’s credit, he is sitting with 4 BT wins and 3 BT losses at the moment and is 6 and 4 over all.

Beat Indiana,Gopher!

and don’t let the complaining “expectations…” guys get you down, Gopher Players.

Big Ten wins are beautiful!

 

[Dakota2]

People have been trashing the offense here end Iowaall season long. Even when the Gophers won four BT in succession.

In that Iowa game the offense kept the defense off the field for 40 minutes. They ONLY had to defend Iowa 20 minutes and Iowa scored 27 points. Had Iowa had the ball for 30 minutes how many more long bombs might those fast receivers caught? That would have given that first career start Iowa a lot more chances to hang a bunch more points on the board?

People here want a pro style offense… but the Gopher team is NOT built for a pro style offense (Freaking PASSING game in 2021 or any time since 2019.). That is a FACT of life.

Fleck would probably have the team in Frost territory in 2021 if he tried to have Morgan or ANY other qb on this team fling 50 passes or more a game.

To Fleck’s credit, he is sitting with 4 BT wins and 3 BT losses at the moment and is 6 and 4 over all.

Where did you get the idea a balanced attack involves 50 passes a game?

 

[imthewalrus]

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.

I totally agree with your final summation. I am just plain tired of all the hate on this board being directed and focused ONLY on the passing game.

And: Iowa’s STRENGTH is their defense taking away the ball, stopping the run and giving their offense SHORT fields to work on. They only scored something like 17 points on Northwestern. They beat big time passing team PSU with something like 5 picks.

 

[EG#9]

I think this is a reasonable opinion, I think you can find blame in all 3 areas (offense, defense, special teams) which turns a game you should have won without drama in to a loss.

The most unforgiveable play to me was the 70 yard TD. You simply can't call a coverage that allows that to happen against a QB making his first start. Need to make him make multiple throws to get down the field, not just one. Minnesota got caught in a coverage they never should have been in and put the only true freshman on defense in to a position where one mistake equals 7 points for the opposition.