Where Are We Now

Donate To GopherHole
N

ncgo4

Active member
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
1,532
Reaction score
7
Points
38
Like everyone I am disappointed by last night's loss. I, too, don't buy this moral victory crap. Kill's team, however, is just starting a journey. If last night's game is an indication we are headed in the right direction.

TT is a very good team with a lot to prove after losing another coach. They are the second highest ranked passing game in the country and our defense played them better than expected. Our offense put up 31 points and Nelson played very well. The O line, whole for the first time since game 1, was very good. The running backs played very strong.

The extra 15 days of practice was clearly a gift that was needed. Anyone that doesn't understand why a young developing team needs a cupcake non-conference schedule, just compare our play against MSU and last night. A 15 day mini spring practice made a very big difference.

I am excited as heck looking to next year. Go Gophers!
 

I definitely feel a lot better about our offense going into next year. It was also nice to see some of the non-senior DB's making some plays as well.
 


While I was disappointed in the loss, most people didn't think we would even be in the game. The whole difference in the game was our youth and Tech's seniors. We are headed in the right directions.
 

It was nice to see a healthy O-Line and the Defense was great ... Can't wait for next year
 


GophersInIowa said:
I definitely feel a lot better about our offense going into next year. It was also nice to see some of the non-senior DB's making some plays as well.
Click to expand...

Same here. A healthy O-line, a more experienced Nelson, and a wr or two stepping up could lead to a much improved offense next year.
 

station19 said:
Same here. A healthy O-line, a more experienced Nelson, and a wr or two stepping up could lead to a much improved offense next year.
Click to expand...

I think the first two are givens to be improved next season given the experience gained this year. The WR question is the big one especially if it turns out McDonald can't get his crap together.
 

Obvious needs.

1. LB - Need a more athletic, instinctive group that can attack and shed blockers. I know we have added Damien Wilson. But I still think we haven't addressed LB enough. Hopefully Aaron Hill, Jack Lynn, Jephte and Lamonte will prove me wrong. Not sure if Manuel has the size or speed to be an every down player.
2. WR - Need a stronger, faster group.. no doubt. None of our existing WR has shown any ability against B1G teams. DCT is inconsistent, AC has some upside but neither are polished enough for B1G play. Anyone know the rehab status of Harbison? And who else can step in at WR? It's not likely a FR will be dominant at WR so I'm very concerned about upgrading this position for next year.
3. Special teams - Bad punts and penalties continue to plague our team. Lack of speed on KR team was also an issue. K was average, and killed us when he didn't create touchbacks on kickoffs. Hopefully our big K/P recruit can step in next year and dominate. One can only hope.

Should improve.
- Nelson should be improved, and we should start to see some competition from Leidner and Streveler.
- O-line should continue to get better. Addition of Bobek and development of younger guys will be key.
- RB's should continue to get better. Addition of 3rd down speed guy (i.e., Edwards or existing RB) would really help.
- DB's may take some time to gel again, but should be very good. This group continues to amaze, even when losing Carter and Stouds.

Better playcalling by Limey would also help, although it seems that we're stuck with his 'creativity'.
 

station19 said:
Same here. A healthy O-line, a more experienced Nelson, and a wr or two stepping up could lead to a much improved offense next year.
Click to expand...

I agree 19. I could certainly tell the o-line made a vast difference last night. Hoping something like this really gets Nelson fired up to work even harder at his craft and comeback much better next season!
 



The loss sucked. How they lost double sucked. However, if you can't see some positives, you weren't watching. A lot of people didn't like the running formations. I'm assuming that had a lot to do with the game plan: run, run, run and keep their offense off the field. Also, there were a lot of multiple TE/H-back sets. I'd guess that had to do with losing arguably the two most talented WRs and having little left to rely on. Limegrover's going to take a lot of heat for how the game ended, but I didn't have a problem with the playcalling before that. Watch that play back where Nelson hit Goodger for the TD on 3rd and goal. That was a perfectly executed, brilliant play call.
 

LloydChristmas wrote -Obvious needs. - Great points overall. Added my take to things in bold.

1. LB - Need a more athletic, instinctive group that can attack and shed blockers. I know we have added Damien Wilson. But I still think we haven't addressed LB enough. Hopefully Aaron Hill, Jack Lynn, Jephte and Lamonte will prove me wrong. Not sure if Manuel has the size or speed to be an every down player. - Major area of concern as the LB's were bad to begin with and we are losing some of the regulars to graduation. Given that this coaching staff has not bee shy about playing youth if there was talent waiting in the wings on the roster we would have seen it this year which we did not for the most part.

2. WR - Need a stronger, faster group.. no doubt. None of our existing WR has shown any ability against B1G teams. DCT is inconsistent, AC has some upside but neither are polished enough for B1G play. Anyone know the rehab status of Harbison? And who else can step in at WR? It's not likely a FR will be dominant at WR so I'm very concerned about upgrading this position for next year. - Another huge area of concern although I will say if there is a spot a guy can make an immediate impact as a freshman it is at WR or RB so there is a chance they could bring someone in to quickly upgrade this unit. They have some decent role players at this position but that #1 go to guy still has not emerged.
3. Special teams - Bad punts and penalties continue to plague our team. Lack of speed on KR team was also an issue. K was average, and killed us when he didn't create touchbacks on kickoffs. Hopefully our big K/P recruit can step in next year and dominate. One can only hope. - Tough to put a ton of faith in a true freshman kicker till we see what he looks like when he gets here. Lots of kickers have trouble adjusting to the speed of the college game as it is totally different than anything they see in high school. Consistency in the punting game would be huge and tough to say right now who takes over for Wettstein who was nothing special but was somewhat consistent at least

Should improve.
- Nelson should be improved, and we should start to see some competition from Leidner and Streveler. - Hopefully we don't need to see Leidner and especially Streveler. If we are rotating QB's again next year we could be in a lot of trouble.
- O-line should continue to get better. Addition of Bobek and development of younger guys will be key. - Would hope that playing lots of guys this year will pay off down the line. Agree that Bobek could be a huge addition as well.
- RB's should continue to get better. Addition of 3rd down speed guy (i.e., Edwards or existing RB) would really help. - Definitely need a speed guy because the two main backs right now are both power guys. Neither looks elite but both seem solid. Maybe Edwards can be a difference maker. Cobb was a guy who looked somewhat promising but was a non factor this year. Gillum is still around as well not sure what if anything they will get out of him.
- DB's may take some time to gel again, but should be very good. This group continues to amaze, even when losing Carter and Stouds. - Some concern at the corners because it is tough to replace both starters on the outside and Carter especially was huge for us this year. he was also huge yesterday with the 2 picks. Couldn't help but notice on the big TD they got late it was Baltazar getting torched off the line (granted he had no safety help because we decided to get stupid on that play). There are lots of bodies in the secondary but it may be difficult to replace the top guys that are graduating. Will be interesting to see how the staff shuffles the players back there next year.

Better playcalling by Limey would also help, although it seems that we're stuck with his 'creativity'. - More stability and improved health will hopefully show us next year if Limegrover can cut it as a Big Ten offensive coordinator. Tough to evaluate the offense this year with all the injuries and other issues that unit faced.
 

IM glad to see Nelson make some plays last night. As somebody who watched him play in High School I think thats the most confident he has looked since high school until the final pass he threw. Im just happy he didnt play so bad last night that there are huge question marks going into next year. I think there is still going to be a possition battle next spring and offseason workouts, especially with the Illinios kid coming in next semester. But we definetly have talent at the QB position headed into 2013!

Have a happy new year everyone! CHEERS!!!!
 

RochesterGopher said:
IM glad to see Nelson make some plays last night. As somebody who watched him play in High School I think thats the most confident he has looked since high school until the final pass he threw. Im just happy he didnt play so bad last night that there are huge question marks going into next year. I think there is still going to be a possition battle next spring and offseason workouts, especially with the Illinios kid coming in next semester. But we definetly have talent at the QB position headed into 2013!

Have a happy new year everyone! CHEERS!!!!
Click to expand...

CHEERS to all, compliments of Norm:

http://www.davidstuff.com/humor/norm.htm
 



This team performed better than I thorny they would. I think the offense will be greatly improved next season. They will benefit from an improved passing game by nit being so one dimensional.

The d-line while greatly improved from 2011, I think there is plenty room for improvement in 2013 and not a lot of room to be worse than 2012. At some point they have to keep the backers clean, slow the run and still have some sort of pass rush. I think it's more scheme than personnel.

Backers? See above. I can't judge the talent or lack there of when o-lineman have free shots at them all game.

Secondary? As I told everyone last spring when they were on the Troy band wagon, Mike Carter is beastly. Mike and Troy formed a all-conference level Big Ten tandem. Who will fill those four shoes? Our safeties are great in coverage. Especially when you consider the pass rush was inconsistent. My concern with them is how will they perform with new (not as talented cb's) and they must improve in the run game. I would like to see one of them go back to CB and Kill to bring in a Juco safety who can tackle.
 

I really hope Harbison is able to come back strong next year, we could really use an athletic slot wr. I'm excited for our running game next season, should be the best we've had post Mason.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
The loss sucked. How they lost double sucked. However, if you can't see some positives, you weren't watching. A lot of people didn't like the running formations. I'm assuming that had a lot to do with the game plan: run, run, run and keep their offense off the field. Also, there were a lot of multiple TE/H-back sets. I'd guess that had to do with losing arguably the two most talented WRs and having little left to rely on. Limegrover's going to take a lot of heat for how the game ended, but I didn't have a problem with the playcalling before that. Watch that play back where Nelson hit Goodger for the TD on 3rd and goal. That was a perfectly executed, brilliant play call.
Click to expand...

I was happy by the playcalling, too, except for a few clunkers near the end; overall, this may have been the Gophers' best game of the year as TT was a lot more dangerous than Purdue. Nelson should improve year to year, as Ak did and Martinez at Nebraska has (passing percentages). I was very much encouraged by last night's effort, though hating to lose in the final minutes.
 

We are in the same place we were 24 hours ago.
If we can replace the linebackers and corners and find some skill guys, we will be okay next year.

Tougher schedule means 6 wins will be harder to come by.
2014 is when the team should be ready to try to make a run.
 

Where are we now? Huge questions at LB, CB, a pass rushing DE on defense. Huge questions at WR, QB, RB, and in need of a consistent OL, punter, and a consistent kicker. Depth a concern at CB, LB, QB. Lots of ifs and question marks, that is what I see.
 

I see progress , but Nelson need to improve this throwing ALOT. He made some throws, but still wants to lob the ball up and let the rec. get it. Needs to be able to gun the ball when he has to. Def line was a dissappointment on the pass rush side. A couple of LB's still kept taking themselves out of the play, but they will be gone. O_LINE looked great and with another yr of cond. and wts. they could be the domination factor of this team. I think they are on track and look for a better record next yr. wouldn't be suprised with 8-9 wins.
 

This looks like a team stuck on 2-3 B1G wins to me. OL is the only unit I am excited about. Skill positions look bleak. Big losses on D and their replacements are a notch lower skill wise. Kill could be a great coach but if he can't recruit the B1G level horses that doesn't matter.
 

Kfan had a two hour season wrap up show today from 10-12. They had the gopher illustrated guy (sorry always forget his name) on and he talked about these three areas also. Found some things interesting from his takes, he said that Wilson should come in and start right away at MLB. Said that Harbison feels he will be ready for spring practice. He even stated that Harbison felt he could have played in the bowl game. Also as a quick side note he thinks that Hayes and Pirsing have both packed on 20-25 pounds of muscle and expects them to provide good quality depth. Was a good show but the Fargo Flash was a little over the top and would recommend a listen if its on demand at their site. Not sure if I heard him right but I think he said 9-3 next year.
 

We're in good shape next year with our schedule and overall team experience. Maybe we can take the Pig and Axe back with these games at home. Should be a fun opening home game vs UNLV under the lights on a Thursday night!
 

By ducking North Carolina next year the head coach has already made it apparent getting to 6 wins is going to be tough.
 

3399 said:
Where are we now? Huge questions at LB, CB, a pass rushing DE on defense. Huge questions at WR, QB, RB, and in need of a consistent OL, punter, and a consistent kicker. Depth a concern at CB, LB, QB. Lots of ifs and question marks, that is what I see.
Click to expand...

I saw a team that played with a lot of emotion and improvement. As far as questions, the biggest one is are we moving in the right direction and the answer is yes. The rest is what good coaches are always working on.
 

I'm a toss-up for next season, either 7-5 or 8-4 depending on whether or not we can beat Penn State at home.

With the later result and a bowl victory a 9 win season isn't ridiculous in 2013. It was refreshing seeing an offense that could move the ball.
 

I'm just excited to see more improvement next year. I loved the energy and demeanor this team has played with all season, especially on the defense. Let's finish out this recruiting class strong and continue to build on what we have.
 


I'm not as pessimistic about next years defense, at least with how they handle the departures.

Wilhite will be missed but with improved DT play and some solid youth returning at DE, I think there won't be a huge drop off, if at all. Amaefula, Perry, Cockran, and Keith all saw plenty of time this year at DE with how Claeys rotated the DL.

At LB, Rallis was average at best and Cooper was solid, Reeves a decent sub. They'll have a good group next year with Edwards, Hill, Manuel, Wilson and some youngsters who RSed this year. Rallis and Cooper were leaders with plenty of starts under their belt but not really game changers.

Secondary, the safeties will be very experienced, lessening the loss of Carter and Troy. All 3 JUCOs from this year will be in their second year of BT ball, a big difference as JUCOS frequently don't make an impact until their 2nd year.

In short, I see no reason to believe the defense won't be as good or better next year. Biggest losses are Troy and Carter and the BT isn't exactly known for airing it out
 


Kill's comments post game were interesting. By comparing the Gophers to NIU (without sounding Brewster like), he really set himself a high standard for next year. While not a Brewster Rose Bowl prediction it was not very Kill like. It may just be that Kill answers questions truthfully and this is what he believes. If so, he oughta know!
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom