Well, this column is certainly more enjoyable to write than in weeks past. I would be hard-pressed to find a team in America that has shown more improvement over the last couple of weeks. Certainly we have a long way to go, but nobody can deny seeing the improvements across the board. It’s not just the offensive line playing better, or the defensive line finally getting pressure on the quarterback. It’s every position group playing better, and that is the only way this team is going to compete. We aren’t good enough to win with just a great offensive or defensive showing. The last two games have shown this team is finally hearing Coach Kill and not just listening to him.
I didn’t quite know what to think of the sideline antics shown by the players earlier in the year, but now it’s pretty easy to see that emotion is flowing over to the players on the field. Granted it’s easy to go to work when the breaks are falling your way, and your winning week in and week out. It’s not so fun, when you have to put the work in and you have nothing to show for it. I’m not saying by any means we have turned the corner, but we are certainly showing signs of progress. The players are starting to let their athletic ability show, and the coaching staff is opening up the playbook to the teams strengths.
I am most impressed with the offensive and defensive lines. Many comments have been made about the patchwork offensive line, but I haven’t seen them play this well in a long time. Sure, it helps to have a quarterback like Gray who can cover up some of the deficiencies with his athletic ability but the men up front are getting after it. Gray, as Kill said after the Iowa game is growing up right in front of our eyes. He’s throwing the ball now and not aiming it like he was earlier in the year. Most importantly he’s hearing the clock go off in his head on plays that aren’t developing and making positive yardage. I’ve also liked seeing the ball being spread out the way it has over the last month. Confidence breeds confidence and the more players involved offensively the more productive we will be.
On defense I have been happy with the pressure we are starting to put on opposing quarterbacks. It doesn’t have to be a sack, but to help out the back end of our defense we need to make the opposing qb feel uncomfortable. Earlier in the year I thought we were catching as opposed to tackling on defense. It was our defensive players on their backs and not the ball carrier. It was refreshing to see our defense push Michigan State backwards when a tackle was initiated for a change. Kim Royston has been a workhorse this year, and is a fitting end to a career that has seen too many bumps in the road. He will be looked back on by Kill and the rest of us a major cog in the foundation that brought back a winning tradition at the U.
I can’t sit here and tell you what this week means to the players. I was on the loosing end of this game all four years I played a the U and it stings just as much today as it did when I was playing. The emotion that goes with these games is indescribable. Talk about playing a game with your hair on fire, this is it. The toughest walk I ever made was leaving the field in Madison after we lost my senior year. Shaking hands with the Badger players I had gone to battle against for 4 years was almost surreal. I would have traded wins against Penn State and Ohio State to have just held that Axe one time. Throw the records out the window (always wanted to write that) and buckle up. You want to watch two teams playing with everything they have in the tank? Tune in on Saturday an see all that’s good about college football.
Go Gophers Get the Axe!!