Western Michigan: Pregame Thread

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For those watching on BTN this weekend, bad news...The Fargo Flash is the color commentator for the game. While he is an unabashed U of M supportor, he is brutal. Over/Under on when he mentions that Gray is too tall to play QB? ;)
 

B1G Blog: Gophers' D-line starting to turn up the heat: Adam Rittenberg

Jerry Kill never hides the fact that he's building a program at Minnesota, which makes him somewhat hesitant to heap praise or draw conclusions after limited on-field success.

But Kill is willing to acknowledge what seems abundantly clear after the first two weeks: Minnesota's defensive line is better.

After three unproductive seasons, the Gophers' front four is disrupting offenses and making plays in the backfield. Minnesota is tied for 23rd nationally in sacks with six, and tied for 31st nationally in tackles for loss with 15. If those patterns continue throughout the regular season, the Gophers will finish with 36 sacks and 90 tackles for loss.

Minnesota had 39 sacks in the past three seasons, including an FBS-low eight in 2010.

"If I'd say there's a vast improvement on our football team through the first two games, our defensive line is much more athletic than it was a year ago," Kill said. "We're getting a lot of pressure on the quarterback. We've probably have had more hits on the quarterbacks and more pressure than we had most of the year [in 2011]."

Junior defensive tackle Ra'Shede Hageman and senior defensive end D.L. Wilhite have accounted for 5.5 of the six sacks, but other linemen are contributing, whether through tackles for loss, quarterback hurries or knockdowns. Tracy Claeys, the team's defensive coordinator and line coach, can use an eight- or nine-man rotation, which includes younger players like Michael Amaefula and Ben Perry, or newcomers like Roland Johnson, and not take a step back.

Hageman, pegged for a monster season by Kill and others, is tied for the Big Ten lead in sacks and tied for fourth with Wilhite in tackles for loss.

"Certainly Ra'Shede has played very, very well in the first two games," Kill said. "He's got to continue to get his pad level down because he's such a tall guy inside, but he's got so much power and has done a good job. D.L. Wilhite has played his best football since we have been here."

The sample size is small and the competition level hasn't been very good (UNLV, New Hampshire). The challenges get tougher the rest of the way, beginning Saturday with Western Michigan.

But the early signs are promising for a defense that has been waiting for a boost up front.

"As a group, overall, they've all had their moments and done well," Kill said, "but we've got to continue to get better."

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/58427/gophers-d-line-starting-to-turn-up-the-heat
 

According to scoresandodds.com, WMU injury report coming into Saturday's game:

W MICHIGAN
[WR] 09/13/2012 - Josh Schaffer "?" Saturday vs. Minnesota U ( Undisclosed )
[WR] 09/07/2012 - Timmy Keith out for season ( ACL )
[WR] 09/13/2012 - Eric Monette expected to miss Saturday vs. Minnesota U ( Ankle )
[DE] 09/10/2012 - Chris Prom out indefinitely ( Knee )
 


Injury update from Fuller:

No injury update today but Coach Kill said Wednesday that starting center Zach Mottla and backup CB Martez Shabazz were questionable.
 


Dr.Don said:
According to scoresandodds.com, WMU injury report coming into Saturday's game:

W MICHIGAN
[WR] 09/13/2012 - Josh Schaffer "?" Saturday vs. Minnesota U ( Undisclosed )
[WR] 09/07/2012 - Timmy Keith out for season ( ACL )
[WR] 09/13/2012 - Eric Monette expected to miss Saturday vs. Minnesota U ( Ankle )
[DE] 09/10/2012 - Chris Prom out indefinitely ( Knee )
Click to expand...

The WR corp would seem to be thin for WM. Any idea which of these are starters and, if so, how important they are to the WM offense and the DE on defense?
 



per Sid:

Respect for WMU

Bill Miller, the Gophers linebackers coach, was the defensive coordinator at Western Michigan in 2007 under current Broncos coach Bill Cubit and played a part in the recruiting of the team's great quarterback Alex Carder. He led the team to 631 yards of total offense in their 52-21 victory over Eastern Illinois last week.

"The year I was there we beat Iowa and played West Virginia, so they play a tough schedule," said Miller about the Gophers' foe here Saturday.

Miller left before Carder played his first game, but he did spent a night recruiting in the home of the quarterback that CBS Sports lists as a quarterback who they believe will be selected next year in the NFL draft. Miller has watched Carder on film and has a lot of respect for him. Broncos tight end Blake Hammond caught six passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns last week.

"Cubit has done a good job there," Miller said. "They've been to a number of bowl games and usually been in the hunt for the championship in the MAC."

Incidentally, the opening Las Vegas odds had Western Michigan a 1 1/2-point favorite, but now the Gophers are favored by 2 1/2.
Jottings

• Gophers QB MarQueis Gray was asked how it feels to be a father:

"Oh, it feels great. I'm a lot more mature now. I'm thankful. I'm a blessed parent that I have both healthy boy babies and they're huge babies, too. Everywhere they go, they get people to look at them. They think they're older than what they are because of their size. They're only nine months and they're wearing 30 pounds apiece, so I have some good, healthy babies."

• One of the freshmen who Gophers football coach Jerry Kill is very high on is former Wayzata tackle Ben Lauer, who is being redshirted. Kill looks for Lauer to be great when he starts playing next season. ... The Gophers game at Iowa on Sept. 29 will be the Hawkeyes' homecoming game; Northwestern is the Gophers' homecoming on Oct. 13.

• The NCAA has some funny rules when it comes to the recruiting. For instance, coaches are only allowed to call a recruit once a week. Compare that to college basketball, where coaches can call a recruit every day of the week.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/169716666.html

Go Gophers!!
 




per Shooter:

Former Gophers football captain Justin Conzemius will be analyst for Saturday's Big Ten Network telecast of the Gophers-Western Michigan game at TCF Bank Stadium.

Conzemius says Western Michigan QB Alex Carder is an NFL prospect. He also predicts Western Michigan will rush eight to nine players to try to prevent Gophers QB MarQueis Gray from running.

http://www.twincities.com/twins/ci_21534412/shooter-now-twins-dug-ourselves-too-big-hole

Go Gophers!!
 

GopherInPittsburgh said:
http://www.thedailygopher.com/2012/...-fitzsimmons-MAC-hustle-belt-western-michigan

This guy spells it all out. He has WMU winning by 10.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't completely floor me, but I really don't think they'll be putting up 38 this week. Obviously we haven't had a defensive challenge of this caliber, so who knows, but even going back to last year, after that brutal three game stretch to start the B1G season, we only gave up that many to Wisconsin in that string of seven games. And I also think Limegrover and co. are gonna try to control the rock, keep it out of their hands a little bit, so they might not get the possessions to get 38 anyway.
 

Okay, I don't think we're going to completely annihilate WMU or anything, but I wonder if he forgot that we shellacked Illinois last year, that we're probably a better team than Illinois this year, and that Illinois crushed the Broncos.
 



They have a good experienced QB, but they lost a lot of experience in their wide receievers. With the injuries, it looks like they may be thin and inexperienced at WR.
 

I don't see what anyone is worried about:

"Gophers play Western Michigan Saturday. Host them. That should be an easy win for them." Bob Sansevere, KQRS, 7:45 am.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
I don't see what anyone is worried about:

"Gophers play Western Michigan Saturday. Host them. That should be an easy win for them." Bob Sansevere, KQRS, 7:45 am.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what he intended, but it looks like he wrote that it should be an easy win for Western Michigan. When he writes "Host them", "them" clearly refers to Western Michigan. So when he writes "That should be an easy win for them", that seems to imply that them again refers to Western Michigan.

Still, it's odd phrasing. I would have written "Gophers host Western Michigan Saturday. That should be an easy win for them." Or I could have written "Gophers play Western Michigan Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium. That should be an easy win for them." "Them" is still vague, but here it implies more strongly that he is talking about the Gophers, as "them" is more strongly associated with the subject of the sentence.
 

RodentRampage said:
I'm not sure what he intended, but it looks like he wrote that it should be an easy win for Western Michigan. When he writes "Host them", "them" clearly refers to Western Michigan. So when he writes "That should be an easy win for them", that seems to imply that them again refers to Western Michigan.

Still, it's odd phrasing. I would have written "Gophers host Western Michigan Saturday. That should be an easy win for them." Or I could have written "Gophers play Western Michigan Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium. That should be an easy win for them." "Them" is still vague, but here it implies more strongly that he is talking about the Gophers, as "them" is more strongly associated with the subject of the sentence.
Click to expand...
He didn't write it. He said it on the radio. I get your point though.
 


Despite the Flash doing the color commentary (UGH!), I am really excited to watch this game. After two weeks of solid travel, coupled with my wife being gone for the weekend, I am settled in for a long day of football and BTN is going to have some great games for me. MN over WM and UNI over the Weegans.

Go Gophers!
 

Sumtimegophs said:
Despite the Flash doing the color commentary (UGH!), I am really excited to watch this game. After two weeks of solid travel, coupled with my wife being gone for the weekend, I am settled in for a long day of football and BTN is going to have some great games for me. MN over WM and UNI over the Weegans.

Go Gophers!
Click to expand...

Stop insulting us Weegans by making any reference that indicates anything Iowa compared to all the rest of normal humanity.
 




STrib: The Call: Gophers vs. Western Michigan

PREDICTION

The Gophers will get an early wake-up call from Western Michigan's hurry-up offense, so keeping their composure will be important. But superior size and speed, and a ball-control offense, should allow the defense to gradually force a few critical mistakes.

Gophers 27

Broncos 20

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/169859846.html

Go Gophers!!
 

1500 Preview: Western Michigan's up-tempo offense will test Gophers 'D'

The call: Gophers

Though the Gophers' nonconference schedule isn't an overly formidable one, the difficulty level is on par with what Kill's team is able handle at this stage in the rebuilding attempt. Western Michigan won't be dispensed with as easily as New Hampshire. Success on defense will be tied to how long Gray can keep the offense on the field. The "U" has started slow in both games but has gotten away with it. Give the Broncos an opportunity early on, and they will turn the game into an aggressive offensive slugfest. The Gophers must limit Carder from getting too comfortable with his passing lanes. Missed tackles, which were a problem on New Hampshire's two viable drives last Saturday, have to be lessened for the Gophers to stifle the Broncos' offense. Benefited by the home field setting, the Gophers likely will be able to outlast Western Michigan in what should be a tight game.

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/...ans_uptempo_offense_will_test_Gophers_D091412

Go Gophers!!
 

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