YOU'VE SEEN GAME #1...HAVE YOUR OPINIONS CHANGED FOR THE SEASON?

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BreakTheGopherCurse said:
Assuming he can pass, I think Streveler provides a look that's more difficult to defend and an offense that could be less predictable.
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Too funny. I can't believe this was posted. Even if it ends up true there is no possible way anyone could have determined that based on yesterday.
 

BarnBoy said:
It's never as bad as it seems. It's never as good as it seems. It was 35-0 when most of the starters came out thanks to some good execution and some bonehead plays by EIU.

My opinion hasn't changed. News about the D-Tackles not helping my mood though.
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What's going on with the D-Tackles?
 





Spoofin said:
Too funny. I can't believe this was posted. Even if it ends up true there is no possible way anyone could have determined that based on yesterday.
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That's a fair point you make. But didn't you see a difference in the offense when Streveler came in? I did. I saw a guy with more energy, more speed, more intensity. I saw an offense that was more difficult to defend based on having another fast weapon/threat in the backfield. I saw much different play calling. I saw them move the ball more effectively. I have no idea if that was due to EIU being tired, but my eyes liked the look of the offense a lot better when Streveler came in. Not saying he should start or anything, but if you didn't notice a significant difference, then you weren't paying attention.
 

BreakTheGopherCurse said:
That's a fair point you make. But didn't you see a difference in the offense when Streveler came in? I did. I saw a guy with more energy, more speed, more intensity. I saw an offense that was more difficult to defend based on having another fast weapon/threat in the backfield. I saw much different play calling. I saw them move the ball more effectively. I have no idea if that was due to EIU being tired, but my eyes liked the look of the offense a lot better when Streveler came in. Not saying he should start or anything, but if you didn't notice a significant difference, then you weren't paying attention.
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Ummm- you didn't think that maybe Leidner being essentially prohibited from running had an effect on the offense's overall performance vs. Streveler who ran the ball several times (I assume they were off of option plays- in full disclosure I had to miss the 4th quarter so didn't see him play) in his brief appearance. If I remember correctly when Leidner was finally given the green light to keep on the option he ran for about 10 yards. That was immediately followed up by 2 successive 10-15 yard scampers by Cobb who finally didn't have to be concerned with the run-blitzing off-side end/backer, who up til that point had completely been ignoring the potential of Leidner keeping the ball. I think if anything, the major things we learned about the offense were:

Leidner will have to be a run threat to keep the crashing ends/backers honest
Our tight ends need to learn how to get their heads across to take care of blitzing/slanting ends/backers into the C gaps
Leidner need to be on the move for more of his passes until he feels secure in the pocket
 

monk10 said:
The only thing that has changed for me is that I hope we don't see A&M the first round of the playoffs.
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Agreed. We'll look much better against Stanford.
 

BreakTheGopherCurse said:
That's a fair point you make. But didn't you see a difference in the offense when Streveler came in? I did. I saw a guy with more energy, more speed, more intensity. I saw an offense that was more difficult to defend based on having another fast weapon/threat in the backfield. I saw much different play calling. I saw them move the ball more effectively. I have no idea if that was due to EIU being tired, but my eyes liked the look of the offense a lot better when Streveler came in. Not saying he should start or anything, but if you didn't notice a significant difference, then you weren't paying attention.
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What you don't know is how many second stringers EIU had in at that point. The backup always looks good in scrub time. We can't keep switching QB's to the freshman every single year. We need to let Leidner grow into the player he can be in 2 years. Go back and look at the growth of Cupito over his time with the Gophs. He was VERY green starting out and a solid BCS starting QB by his senior year.
 



BreakTheGopherCurse said:
That's a fair point you make. But didn't you see a difference in the offense when Streveler came in? I did. I saw a guy with more energy, more speed, more intensity. I saw an offense that was more difficult to defend based on having another fast weapon/threat in the backfield. I saw much different play calling. I saw them move the ball more effectively. I have no idea if that was due to EIU being tired, but my eyes liked the look of the offense a lot better when Streveler came in. Not saying he should start or anything, but if you didn't notice a significant difference, then you weren't paying attention.
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I did see a difference, and as Oregon Gopher pointed out, it was because we had a run-first QB in. We were trying to protect Leidner by not having him take too much of a beating.

Streveler ran 5 times on his one drive--almost as many rush attempts as Mitch had through 3.5 quarters. Streveler also threw just one pass.

To make any assumptions at all based on Streveler's single (and one-dimensional) drive is a terrible idea.
 

True

BreakTheGopherCurse said:
That's a fair point you make. But didn't you see a difference in the offense when Streveler came in? I did. I saw a guy with more energy, more speed, more intensity. I saw an offense that was more difficult to defend based on having another fast weapon/threat in the backfield. I saw much different play calling. I saw them move the ball more effectively. I have no idea if that was due to EIU being tired, but my eyes liked the look of the offense a lot better when Streveler came in. Not saying he should start or anything, but if you didn't notice a significant difference, then you weren't paying attention.
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The tempo and crispness of the offense was different under Streveler. Streveler appeared in charge and confident. Leidner played not to get hurt with the exception of his second touchdown. He had some beautiful throws and he had some cover your eyes throws mixed in with some wtf was that throws. He will get better. He needs to relax and play.

The D-line injuries dampen the mood a bit. The O-line along with the tight ends and fullbacks had too many plays that got blown up. Cobb was impressive. B Edwards provides optimism and hope. He shed tacklers which I didn't expect from him.

There was a lot to fix but I think much of it is fixable. Anxious to see the improvement in game 2. Like somebody said...
we will know much more after game 3 TCU.
 

Oregon Gopher said:
Ummm- you didn't think that maybe Leidner being essentially prohibited from running had an effect on the offense's overall performance vs. Streveler who ran the ball several times (I assume they were off of option plays- in full disclosure I had to miss the 4th quarter so didn't see him play) in his brief appearance. If I remember correctly when Leidner was finally given the green light to keep on the option he ran for about 10 yards. That was immediately followed up by 2 successive 10-15 yard scampers by Cobb who finally didn't have to be concerned with the run-blitzing off-side end/backer, who up til that point had completely been ignoring the potential of Leidner keeping the ball. I think if anything, the major things we learned about the offense were:

Leidner will have to be a run threat to keep the crashing ends/backers honest
Our tight ends need to learn how to get their heads across to take care of blitzing/slanting ends/backers into the C gaps
Leidner need to be on the move for more of his passes until he feels secure in the pocket
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Excellent offensive summary.
 

Streveler runs like a high school QB. no clue what to think of that.
 



Dr.Don said:
I do not divulge my opinions of the season in any way, shape, or form. Past performance is NO indication of future performance, because we are dealing with human beings, not robots.

In fact, I have a tendency to go at things one game at a time.

I had to look up the Gopher schedule to find out whom we play next in order to start the Predict the Score vs Middle TN State.

One game at a time is reminiscent of the song One Day At. A Time.
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You sound like a professor of Library Science
 

Streveler played when the game was decided, backups were in, the defense was tired and a whole bunch of other things. I must be falling for a gag that this conversation is even happening. Don't get me wrong, I was disappointed in ML7, but all Streveler did was call his own number on multiple zone reads, and make 1 pass.

Sent from my MZ617 using Tapatalk
 

Is it just me or do we keep opening against teams who have new coaching staffs? It's like the last 4 years have been a complete mirror of each other & the game threads to the board reactions have all been self-similar it's pretty amazing that we're cursed to begin the season under mystique. Last year our first games score was HEAVILY misleading & this year it's no different. That team last year went on to beat Penn State & Nebraska & were VERY competitive the last half of the Season against ranked teams. We handled teams we weren't supposed to beat according to the fans like San Jose State.

I'm not saying that's a guarantee we'll surprise a few teams this Season, I'm just saying, I'm not ready to jump off the ledge after one game that told us NOTHING...
 

lol

We don't hang 100 points on a FCS team and some people are ready to burn the season already.

BTW guys, OSU.. That's THE Ohio State University, is down at halftime to Navy.

Just want to say, try to keep things in perspective, eh?
 

Formo said:
lol

We don't hang 100 points on a FCS team and some people are ready to burn the season already.

BTW guys, OSU.. That's THE Ohio State University, is down at halftime to Navy.

Just want to say, try to keep things in perspective, eh?
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The little that I've seen of this game, Barrett looks pretty unsure of himself. It might be a stressful season for Buckeye fans.
 




As others have pointed out, it was pretty obvious they didn't want Leidner running a whole lot (which makes a lot of sense). Streveler did look solid running the ball and I wouldn't mind seeing him get a few read option plays once in awhile but I wouldn't read too much into his performance other than that he doesn't look totally overwhelmed and he's a good athlete.
 

Thoughts after 1 game...

My opinion did not change after Thursday night. It was basically a preseason game and we played ok. I'm in the 6-7 win camp, before and after the EIU game. We have a tough schedule and 6-7 wins would be a success to me.
 

After watching the rest of the Big Ten teams I am back up to 8 wins. The conference looks terrible especially Northwestern, Purdue, Illinois, and Iowa. We will see as the season unfolds.

Go Gophers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

My opinion has changed...for the better. I now think they will beat Michigan and Iowa and get to nine wins before losing the last three in a row.
 

Not much changed, though we have some playmakers (Maxx, Berkeley); first string D very good, ditto special teams; concerned about QB situation, iffy for the fourth straight year - couldn't they have recruited a JC back-up? Overall, Mitch looked a bit awkward, but my guess is his passing will improve - if it doesn't, we're in trouble in the conference schedule. Still hoping for six wins, but it looks a shade harder now.
 

The division is up for grabs as far as I'm concerned. Wisconsin is a demoralized paper tiger with a D-line as dinged up as us and a star RB that didn't make it through his first game and a QB and WR corp that appear to be in complete disarray. Iowa is regrouping and ripe for the kill. Nebraska probably has to be the favorite at this point. NW loses at home? OSU not as scary. Michigan still stinks until proven against FBS competition. The Michigan butt-licking on BTN Final Drive after defeating a quasi-FCS team was nauseating. Derrick Green still looks slow. Five Star? Why?

If not for injuries I'd love our chances for an 8 or 9 win season, or more. It would be nice to have Hinojosa right now...really unfortunate whatever happened with him...

Still, maybe Timms can recover, Moore will play above his age; Richardson looked really good to my eye. We may need to really open up the offense and score points. Those red shirts will be flying off the freshman WRs soon. Convert to the spread??? I'm kidding. I hope.

We need a FB. Right now Miles Thomas> Hartmann.
 

Sparlimb said:
What you don't know is how many second stringers EIU had in at that point. The backup always looks good in scrub time. We can't keep switching QB's to the freshman every single year. We need to let Leidner grow into the player he can be in 2 years. Go back and look at the growth of Cupito over his time with the Gophs. He was VERY green starting out and a solid BCS starting QB by his senior year.
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Cupito had guns and game. Leidner looks soft in comparison.
 

Still don't see much in Leidner.

Very concerned about DL injuries......we do have some legitimate play-makers now.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
The division is up for grabs as far as I'm concerned. Wisconsin is a demoralized paper tiger with a D-line as dinged up as us and a star RB that didn't make it through his first game and a QB and WR corp that appear to be in complete disarray. Iowa is regrouping and ripe for the kill. Nebraska probably has to be the favorite at this point. NW loses at home? OSU not as scary. Michigan still stinks until proven against FBS competition. The Michigan butt-licking on BTN Final Drive after defeating a quasi-FCS team was nauseating. Derrick Green still looks slow. Five Star? Why?

If not for injuries I'd love our chances for an 8 or 9 win season, or more. It would be nice to have Hinojosa right now...really unfortunate whatever happened with him...

Still, maybe Timms can recover, Moore will play above his age; Richardson looked really good to my eye. We may need to really open up the offense and score points. Those red shirts will be flying off the freshman WRs soon. Convert to the spread??? I'm kidding. I hope.

We need a FB. Right now Miles Thomas> Hartmann.
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Your summary of the division pretty much sums up the Big Ten's recent history. That is what makes it so frustrating that we have never been able to take the next step because the majority of the conference outside of a couple teams just looks to be average across the board.
 

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