WE STILL CAN'T PASS

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Bisker82 said:
Throwing the ball can make your WRs better. The problem is the ball needs to be thrown to our TEs to make that happen. We have three very good, reliable options at TE but they are not being utilized effectively in the passing game. With a young QB like Nelson, you need to take advantage of that aspect. Not only will an effective passing game incorporating the TEs help with the running game but it will open up the passing game for the WRs and give Nelson more comfort and confidence.
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you are so right! i really wish i knew why the Limesqueezer won't do this. it seems like the guy has tunnel vision, but then you look at last year's bowl game and realize he can be more creative. perhaps, like some people suggest, he's taking his time to implement things so the competition is caught off guard.
 


Good to see Derrick Engel have a good game. Great post route and beating his guy by10 yards for a 49 yard reception. Great adjustment on the ball that looked overthrown he has over a 20 yard avg in two years . Also a nice catch on the short route
 

MNSpaniel said:
So far they haven't totally dominated the lower level teams.
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They had 342 rushing yards against NMSU and averaged 8.0 YPC. If that's not domination in your mind, you're expectations will never be met.
 

After considering the panic-stricken wisdom on this thread, I'm even more comfortable than ever that Kill and Crew are calling the shots. Here's a hint: pay attention to the poster who claimed that a lot of the play calling relates to our coaches' wishes to win games while keeping things simple and the playbook out of sight. Oh, for the person calling Nelson inaccurate: ...oh forget it, it's hopeless.
 


maxwellsmart said:
After considering the panic-stricken wisdom on this thread, I'm even more comfortable than ever that Kill and Crew are calling the shots. Here's a hint: pay attention to the poster who claimed that a lot of the play calling relates to our coaches' wishes to win games while keeping things simple and the playbook out of sight. Oh, for the person calling Nelson inaccurate: ...oh forget it, it's hopeless.
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+1 Thanks for being a voice in the wilderness.
 

upnorthkid said:
Nebraska solid defensively?
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Well, I sat in Nebraska's Stadium last year and watched them send our Gophers on 3 and outs virtually all afternoon long. They didn't have much of a defense last season either...but...they had athletes enough to stuff us last year. Of course, our offensive line was a walking-wounded mash unit at that time in the season...but, Nebraska's defense was good enough that day to make the Gophers look almost worse offensively than they did against MSU.

No, I didn't say Nebraska has a great defense...but...they shut the Gophers down more effectively that day than in almost any game situation I have seen in a while. It was just 3 and out for about 3 3/4 quarters. Then we completed a few late game passes...

I'm hoping they won't be able to take everything away from us as effectively as they did with their "very weak for Nebraska 2012 defensive unit...

; 0 )
 

imthewalrus said:
Well, I sat in Nebraska's Stadium last year and watched them send our Gophers on 3 and outs virtually all afternoon long. They didn't have much of a defense last season either...but...they had athletes enough to stuff us last year. Of course, our offensive line was a walking-wounded mash unit at that time in the season...but, Nebraska's defense was good enough that day to make the Gophers look almost worse offensively than they did against MSU.

No, I didn't say Nebraska has a great defense...but...they shut the Gophers down more effectively that day than in almost any game situation I have seen in a while. It was just 3 and out for about 3 3/4 quarters. Then we completed a few late game passes...

I'm hoping they won't be able to take everything away from us as effectively as they did with their "very weak for Nebraska 2012 defensive unit...

; 0 )
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i was there as well. Nebraska's defense last year had more playmakers and better athletes than this years version. and that's saying something. plus we've gotten more athletic and bigger, strong, faster than we were a year ago. can't compare from year to year especially with the turnover of their roster and the added age/experience for our guys
 

Unlikely to Improve Substantially

Like all Gopher fans, I do sincerely hope that our passing game can improve before conference play. It's unlikely though. Engel and Fruechte are not average WRs. They are bad WRs. Logan Hutton seeing substantial playing time is scary. All three of these players should see their field time reduced as Jones improves, Maye learns, and Harbison returns (yes, I know Harbison and Maye are both projected slot WRs, but you put your best WRs out there in our situation). It's also unlikely that Wolitarski or Carter can be large parts of the offense this year.

Preferably, Fruechte will have a hard time making it on the field next season.

I would like to know how our recruiting of a JUCO WR is going. We should definitely be recruiting a JUCO to come in and compete immediately (hopefully a player with to offer than recent JUCO recruits Carpenter, Harris, Moulton, etc.)
 



Sam, what do you base your critical comments about Freuchte and the others on? Personal vendetta?

Or are you just stirring the kettle?

Or just your opinion?
 

Ha - no. I don't know any of these kids personally. I've just watched every Gopher game any of these WRs have ever played in, and Engel and Fruechte are not good players relative to the average major conference WR.

It's not meant to stir the pot. I just think it's justified to be very concerned about our ability to win games where situations dictate we need to throw the ball consistently.

Hope I am proven wrong.
 

No we aren't going to contend for a title this year with our passing game.

The real test will be if we can run the ball like this (or close) against better defenses. We didnt run that well against UNLV.
 

Rosemountian said:
No we aren't going to contend for a title this year with our passing game.

The real test will be if we can run the ball like this (or close) against better defenses. We didnt run that well against UNLV.
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I don't see it, myself. Come conference season, we'll need to get used to scoring 13 points every loss again. But I'm going to enjoy the non-conference cream puffs and worry about those games when we get to them...
 



Ok i will admit i have not seen the game yet so this might be premature. I have seen many games over the past 20 years and have usually watched every game twice.
the gophers tend to have vanilla play calling that almost every fan not to mention scouting coaches can figure out. is this due to our coaches holding back until we need to expand or that the players are not executing to the level that we need to have them? dont know dont care at this point since we have won.
others have posted now is the time to test the arm and the play calling of our team. lets design some safe passes...you know those kind that others are using against our team to get to those completion ratings int he 70-90% range? this woudl help the WR's and teh QB's and the RB's it is a matter of designing the right plays and executing them.
i am not as worreid about he Defense as Claeys has shown he can adapt and the bend dont break is working. will we need to get better? yes but we have a chance to go up 3-0 this week and learn and gain faith in our defense which will pay dividends later in the season.

key is we need to stay healthy and stay away from the prim-a-donna's and injury bug the rest of the season.

maybe i will feel different tomorrow night after seeing the game (taped- if FSN is truthful in reporting that they will replay the game)
 

Did you watch the bowl game last year Engel had 108 yards and the qb missed him on another 80 yards and 2 tds , he had one drop all of last year! Avg over 20 yards per catch and big ten all bowl team? He has two catch's this year. Avg 25 yards per catch. Mn has th
E least amount pass attempts and have the least experience at qb - don't bash the receivers when the passing and ol line has lots to do. Kill likes to run and not pass.
 

Sparlimb said:
I don't see it, myself. Come conference season, we'll need to get used to scoring 13 points every loss again. But I'm going to enjoy the non-conference cream puffs and worry about those games when we get to them...
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I can live with that, but how many points will they score in every WIN?
 

Relax. If you can run for 340 yards there is no reason to throw more than 15 times. 8 of 15 with 3 drops means 75% percent of the passes were catchable. If that happens every game we will be fine. Jones will get better and Harbison will be an improvement.

Remember, the coaches are smarter than us.
 

Clark W. Griswold said:
Relax. If you can run for 340 yards there is no reason to throw more than 15 times. 8 of 15 with 3 drops means 75% percent of the passes were catchable. If that happens every game we will be fine. Jones will get better and Harbison will be an improvement.

Remember, the coaches are smarter than us.
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+1
 

play hard said:
Did you watch the bowl game last year Engel had 108 yards and the qb missed him on another 80 yards and 2 tds , he had one drop all of last year! Avg over 20 yards per catch and big ten all bowl team? He has two catch's this year. Avg 25 yards per catch. Mn has th
E least amount pass attempts and have the least experience at qb - don't bash the receivers when the passing and ol line has lots to do. Kill likes to run and not pass.
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well said, couldn't agree more. this is all about play calling, game strategy and pass protection. it's not about the receivers. even the greatest teams fail to catch passes every game. this isn't about dropped balls or inability to get open. our receivers are plenty adequate. thanks for your comment!!
 

play hard said:
Did you watch the bowl game last year Engel had 108 yards and the qb missed him on another 80 yards and 2 tds , he had one drop all of last year! Avg over 20 yards per catch and big ten all bowl team? He has two catch's this year. Avg 25 yards per catch. Mn has th
E least amount pass attempts and have the least experience at qb - don't bash the receivers when the passing and ol line has lots to do. Kill likes to run and not pass.
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Yes - I did watch our bowl game last year. Engel caught the balls thrown to him. He still lacks the ability to make big plays, and in most cases, the occasional difficult yet necessary reception. Same with Fruechte. It's definitely the case that Nelson and the OLine need to continue to improve. QB and OL play are inherently part of the passing game's success. Thinking we have B1G caliber receivers is one way to look at it. There is also another way to view it.

Kill does like to run. That does not impact the skill level of our upper-classmen receivers. Regardless of what you prefer to do as a team, you need to be able to execute in the passing game. I hope I am wrong about the receivers mentioned. I trust Kill & Co. to plan for the talent level available, whatever it is, to form a decent passing attack. I also hope the younger players can show some promise through this season.
 

Engel=average>Fruechte

BreakTheGopherCurse: Plenty adequate isn't so good.

Jones, Maye, Harbison, Goodger, Williams need to be our focus, but Jones is the guy we need to step up as he is the only one on that list that can spread the field from the flank.
 

Spoofin said:
Engel=average>Fruechte

BreakTheGopherCurse: Plenty adequate isn't so good.

Jones, Maye, Harbison, Goodger, Williams need to be our focus, but Jones is the guy we need to step up as he is the only one on that list that can spread the field from the flank.
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You "armchair qb's/coaches..." are ALL alike. Our offense will be more productive against most of the teams in the Conference than they were last year. We will have to PLAY the games before we will KNOW how it will all turn out. We HAVE to play the games to see if you armchair wizards know more...or LESS than our coaches do. We HAVE to PLAY the games to give the kids playing the games a chance to develop and improve and gain experience and show us just what they can do as football players. We have to PLAY the games to see if hard work, heart, a good game plan and sometimes a few crazy bounces and a little good luck might allow our coaches and players to win a game or two they probably have no business winning.

It is a risky thing to have to play the games before you decide what is going to happen...how it will happen...why it will happen and every now and then be surprised by the outcome. But that is what is so incredibly WONDERFUL about College Football.

Maybe you armchair dudes/dudettes will be 100% correct about everything you say. But...I'll bet you won't! I'm waiting for a little magic...a little luck...a lot of hard work...a bit of emergence from some of our players and a little bit of lightning to strike twice. So, I'm going to let them go ahead and play those Conference games...even the remaining two ooc games and I'm just as proud as can be to say that I really think I will be rewarded for waiting to watch these coaches and these players as they rise to the occasion in their bid to win an invitation to a bowl game and as they prove to be a bit more competitive within the Conference. And I'm going to look forward to EVERY Saturday that my Golden Gophers have a game! Take that you armchair people...

; 0 )
 

Watching all these other college games the past two weeks its obvious that we dont have nearly the physical specimens at WR and RB that alot of these teams have, size and strength wise we just arent there yet.
 

imthewalrus said:
You "armchair qb's/coaches..." are ALL alike.....We HAVE to play the games to see if you armchair wizards know more...or LESS than our coaches do.
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That's where your wrong.... I don't claim to know more than the coaches. I have no doubt that they too know that we need a WR to step up and surprise. In fact, Kill said as much between weeks 1&2.
 

How about the qb accuracy issues playing a sophomore and two back ups with no experience
 


I think we've kept the passing game to a minimal until we need to use it...

I don't think we'll see the full passing game until we meet Iowa or God Forbid we NEED it against SJSU...
 

play hard said:
Good to see Derrick Engel have a good game. Great post route and beating his guy by10 yards for a 49 yard reception. Great adjustment on the ball that looked overthrown he has over a 20 yard avg in two years . Also a nice catch on the short route
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I thought that ball was right on the money. There was no reason for Engel to fall over in my opinion. If Nelson throws it shorter and Engel has to wait for the ball, people would have been complaining.
 

Better Than Yogi Berra

imthewalrus said:
You "armchair qb's/coaches..." are ALL alike. Our offense will be more productive against most of the teams in the Conference than they were last year. We will have to PLAY the games before we will KNOW how it will all turn out. We HAVE to play the games to see if you armchair wizards know more...or LESS than our coaches do. We HAVE to PLAY the games to give the kids playing the games a chance to develop and improve and gain experience and show us just what they can do as football players. We have to PLAY the games to see if hard work, heart, a good game plan and sometimes a few crazy bounces and a little good luck might allow our coaches and players to win a game or two they probably have no business winning.

It is a risky thing to have to play the games before you decide what is going to happen...how it will happen...why it will happen and every now and then be surprised by the outcome. But that is what is so incredibly WONDERFUL about College Football.

Maybe you armchair dudes/dudettes will be 100% correct about everything you say. But...I'll bet you won't! I'm waiting for a little magic...a little luck...a lot of hard work...a bit of emergence from some of our players and a little bit of lightning to strike twice. So, I'm going to let them go ahead and play those Conference games...even the remaining two ooc games and I'm just as proud as can be to say that I really think I will be rewarded for waiting to watch these coaches and these players as they rise to the occasion in their bid to win an invitation to a bowl game and as they prove to be a bit more competitive within the Conference. And I'm going to look forward to EVERY Saturday that my Golden Gophers have a game! Take that you armchair people...

; 0 )
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Is wren auditioning to become the next Yogi Berra? Personally I think he is more like Chance in Being There. Check out the clip below and see if you agree with me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcPQ9gww_qc
 

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