Gopher aftermath

[JackFan96]

Well, it's hard not to feel we should have won. Way too many vital turnovers and missed opportunities. Drives must be finished with touchdowns. We've been saying that all year, and it was especially true Saturday considering the early field position we had. The defense deserves an amazing amount of credit. Special teams were a mixed bag between great and disappointing. The offense laid a second consecutive egg. Not to get people wound up, but I'll state the obvious...the interceptions and late dropped snap were huge, huge, huge. The fair catch at the 10 with 30 seconds left in the game was a poor decision. You have to try and make something happen there. The play-calling in the closing moments was a complete mystery...very poor. A pass to the flats for a gain of four that keeps the clock running? Come on! I really feel bad for the defense. Nobody could have asked for more from that group. It was a good effort by the Jacks today, but I guess I left the stadium with a coulda, woulda, shoulda feeling. Ready....discuss!

[SD-STATE]

Re: Gopher aftermath

I know that I would like to see more than just "outs" all game. During the game I just wish we would stick with the run more, but that didn't seem to happen. I don't mean to be a Duffy hater, but when you have a RB the caliber of Minett, there should be some flexibility to the rotation. In crucial situations, Minett needs to be in the game. I do think we saw the inexperience of O'Brien in the game. He did not look sharp at times, but again he is a redshirt freshmen. I do believe he is still the man for the job though. My biggest problem the last two games was the play calling. The majority of the time, we were getting good yardage running the ball. With us being so young at QB, we need to put more weight on the running game. Let O'Brien make plays, after giving a heavy dose of Minett.

At the end of the game though was tough, we saw the short passes because obviously that's all that was there. Minnesota knew they couldn't give up anything deep.

I did get a kick out of Brewster's comments though on the pre-game show. I will have to disagree with his main point. Obviously their game with a FCS level school was worthwhile. They had a learning experience, at least defensively, on how to finish a game and make plays when they needed to.

[joeboo22]

Re: Gopher aftermath

Well, it's hard not to feel we should have won. Way too many vital turnovers and missed opportunities. Drives must be finished with touchdowns. We've been saying that all year, and it was especially true Saturday considering the early field position we had. The defense deserves an amazing amount of credit. Special teams were a mixed bag between great and disappointing. The offense laid a second consecutive egg. Not to get people wound up, but I'll state the obvious...the interceptions and late dropped snap were huge, huge, huge. The fair catch at the 10 with 30 seconds left in the game was a poor decision. You have to try and make something happen there. The play-calling in the closing moments was a complete mystery...very poor. A pass to the flats for a gain of four that keeps the clock running? Come on! I really feel bad for the defense. Nobody could have asked for more from that group. It was a good effort by the Jacks today, but I guess I left the stadium with a coulda, woulda, shoulda feeling. Ready....discuss!

TOB looked like a freshman, he made a lot of mistakes but at the same time he didn't get a lot of help.... a lot of dropped balls, not picking up blitz's, and so on and so on..... The whole offense looked pretty bad except for Minnett and he didn't have his greatest game...

[bub94]

Re: Gopher aftermath

TOB looked like a freshman, he made a lot of mistakes but at the same time he didn't get a lot of help.... a lot of dropped balls, not picking up blitz's, and so on and so on..... The whole offense looked pretty bad except for Minnett and he didn't have his greatest game...

Minett didn't have his greatest game because they stopped running him. They did the same thing against SIU. Run him for 7 yards then throw 2 incomplete passes. Incomplete pass, run for 6 yards, incomplete pass, then punt. First two series today. Did he even touch the ball running 20 times? And if you are going to run a swing pass to the running back, throw it before the defense has time to converge on the running back. TOB's interceptions were on him. The fumble for a touchdown was a blown coverage and a poor snap. There were some dropped balls, but some were thrown real poorly. When TOB can stand in the pocket, he throws the ball nice. But he isn't as accurate when they roll him out of the pocket. He still played nice the second half but the first half was hard to watch.

[launcher46]

Re: Gopher aftermath

I know that I would like to see more than just "outs" all game. During the game I just wish we would stick with the run more, but that didn't seem to happen. I don't mean to be a Duffy hater, but when you have a RB the caliber of Minett, there should be some flexibility to the rotation. In crucial situations, Minett needs to be in the game. I do think we saw the inexperience of O'Brien in the game. He did not look sharp at times, but again he is a redshirt freshmen. I do believe he is still the man for the job though. My biggest problem the last two games was the play calling. The majority of the time, we were getting good yardage running the ball. With us being so young at QB, we need to put more weight on the running game. Let O'Brien make plays, after giving a heavy dose of Minett.

At the end of the game though was tough, we saw the short passes because obviously that's all that was there. Minnesota knew they couldn't give up anything deep.

I did get a kick out of Brewster's comments though on the pre-game show. I will have to disagree with his main point. Obviously their game with a FCS level school was worthwhile. They had a learning experience, at least defensively, on how to finish a game and make plays when they needed to.

I agree completely with the part about Duffy/Minett. The rotation has bothered me all season and after last week I thought there were no chance of it happening this game... but sure enough it was the same situation. I don't understand the philosophy and I never will... but John has always had the philosophy of putting players in based on a set rotation.

[FootballWidow]

Re: Gopher aftermath

I think everyone on here needs to remember some stuff about the offensive staff.

First, the quarterbacks coach quit July 23rd at the same time the offensive GA quit. This is all three weeks before fall camp started. The team hired a new GA and two part time guys to fill in. Josh Davis new the system, but the other two guys had to learn the system so they could teach it to the players. We were already short staffed compared to other teams and now there are new guys trying to run the offense.

Second, these are a bunch of 18-24 year olds. They make mistakes. If the dropped balls would have been catches you would have been saying how great the offense played. You cannot tell me when you watch a pro game that those players make every catch. They make mistakes.

Lastly, the coahes did not go into the week thinking, this is a Big 10 team no matter what we do we are going to lose, lets take a week off. They worked until two in the morning in the crapy trailers watching film and tweaking the game plan. They did what needed to be done to try and win the game. In th end it was mistakes that lost us the game. The players and coaches will learn from it just like they always do.

Okay, I got it out. I was just mad that everybody was blaming the offense play calling. We need to remember execution. The mods can ban me, but i wanted my two cents in.

[JimmyJack]

Re: Gopher aftermath

I think everyone on here needs to remember some stuff about the offensive staff.

First, the quarterbacks coach quit July 23rd at the same time the offensive GA quit. This is all three weeks before fall camp started. The team hired a new GA and two part time guys to fill in. Josh Davis new the system, but the other two guys had to learn the system so they could teach it to the players. We were already short staffed compared to other teams and now there are new guys trying to run the offense.

Second, these are a bunch of 18-24 year olds. They make mistakes. If the dropped balls would have been catches you would have been saying how great the offense played. You cannot tell me when you watch a pro game that those players make every catch. They make mistakes.

Lastly, the coahes did not go into the week thinking, this is a Big 10 team no matter what we do we are going to lose, lets take a week off. They worked until two in the morning in the crapy trailers watching film and tweaking the game plan. They did what needed to be done to try and win the game. In th end it was mistakes that lost us the game. The players and coaches will learn from it just like they always do.

Okay, I got it out. I was just mad that everybody was blaming the offense play calling. We need to remember execution. The mods can ban me, but i wanted my two cents in.

Great points. I agree completely. Our coaches work their tails off. And, as is usually the case, they out-coached the opponents' expensive coaching staff yesterday. Lots of coaches would love to bottle whatever it is that our coaches do to get the players to believe and perform for 60 minutes every week.

Minnesota probably has 30 or 40 athletes who are better at the measurables than our players. But if you had to put a number on it, what percentage of effort do they get from them? If Stig and his staff get 90 percent of the potential out of our players. I'd say Brewster and his staff are maybe getting 20 percent. There are a lot of coaches who would love the magic formula that our coaches use to get our players to believe and perform for 60 minutes every week.

[Walrus]

Re: Gopher aftermath

The Goophs aren't getting rave reviews in the local press

Jim Souhan's column in the Star Tribune.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/go...8LDyiUiacyKUUr

Jim Souhan: In annals of ineptitude, U's 'Drive' will stand test of time


...Move over, John Elway. Your place in football annals has been supplanted by the chess-like maneuverings of first-year Gophers offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch....

...You've heard of the "No huddle offense?" Fisch has invented the "No-offense huddle."

Offensive MVP Eric Ellestad's field goal sneaked inside the left upright, and the Gophers had earned the victory that would transform the program...

[NoVaJack]

Re: Gopher aftermath

I think everyone on here needs to remember some stuff about the offensive staff.

First, the quarterbacks coach quit July 23rd at the same time the offensive GA quit. This is all three weeks before fall camp started. The team hired a new GA and two part time guys to fill in. Josh Davis new the system, but the other two guys had to learn the system so they could teach it to the players. We were already short staffed compared to other teams and now there are new guys trying to run the offense.

Second, these are a bunch of 18-24 year olds. They make mistakes. If the dropped balls would have been catches you would have been saying how great the offense played. You cannot tell me when you watch a pro game that those players make every catch. They make mistakes.

Lastly, the coahes did not go into the week thinking, this is a Big 10 team no matter what we do we are going to lose, lets take a week off. They worked until two in the morning in the crapy trailers watching film and tweaking the game plan. They did what needed to be done to try and win the game. In th end it was mistakes that lost us the game. The players and coaches will learn from it just like they always do.

Okay, I got it out. I was just mad that everybody was blaming the offense play calling. We need to remember execution. The mods can ban me, but i wanted my two cents in.

Second this post. Call the question. Agreed or disagreed?

[CatchEmAll]

Re: Gopher aftermath

I've spent plenty of time around college football programs to know and appreciate how much time and effort the coaches put into preparing from week to week. But this is week 10 of the season plus fall camp. The "new" coaches that are in the system know the offense and know the players and how to utilize them. Would TOB be better with a QB coach, yes, I won't argue that.

I have no qualms calling out the play calling from Saturday. Why? Because as I sat watching the game with a former SDSU QB who put up one of the best single seasons in school history we each kept commenting on similar situations. Here's my big beef, and yes I'm biased because of the position I played. We have an outstanding TE in Cochart, who from my memory, only had one reception on the one ball that was thrown his way. The Gophs D was stacked to stop the run and was eating up the flats. Why on Gods green earth were we not attacking the middle of the field with Cochart up the seam, or sending Fox on a deep post route? Watching from a great vantage point, our FG resulting drive in the 4th quarter had the middle of the field open for more than the one ball that Cochart caught down the middle. OK, he had two balls thrown his way, the second with another SDSU receiver in the same location, bringing another defender into the mix. Point is, Minnesota had too much team speed for the flats two work effectively and their safeties were playing the run because we never threatened the deep middle.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda, we lost. Did we have a chance to win. Yes. Was it all the fault of the play calling. Not by a long shot. Did our defense play lights out. Damn right they did.

I said it before, I'll say it again. There are no moral victories in this game. I hope to heck that these players take the bitter taste from this game and put an ass whooping on Western Illinios like they've never delivered before.

This game is going to stick with me for a very long time. I only hope our players do what they are supposed to and forget about this game ASAP. Hopefully the coaches don't even show the game film as it might keep them lingering on what could have been rather than what they need to do next week.

FootballWidow, I can only assume your husband is a coach on staff. Trust me, I know what they put in for hours and can imagine the affect it has on you and your family. You and wives like you are the bedrocks of each and every coaching family and should be saluted and recognized by all fans of the game.

I make no apologies though for questioning some of the play calling decisions. As a poster on a chat board it's my duty to play arm chair quarterback and think I know what's best.

Can we please limit the senseless shifting and motioning though? Really, does a guy have to walk in three steps and turn around and walk back to where he came from? What's that do for us?

[bugz99]

Re: Gopher aftermath

I agree with FootballWidow. Since last spring we have heard nothing but the defense is great and the offense lacking. Ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy? The defense has always had the fans and media to back them. How often can you be told that what you do is wrong? As fans we need to give the whole team (including coaches) the positive feedback that they need to have the confidence to finish the season. After yesterday's game I am proud to be a SDSU Jackrabbit.

[jackdaniel]

Re: Gopher aftermath

Second this post. Call the question. Agreed or disagreed?

You are probably right in shaming us into thinking we are a bunch of
ungrateful fans who don't appreciate the hard work the coaches all put in.I appologize, I put myself in that category, but, I also think you are probably closer to the vest in knowing how hard the staff works.Now that we are made aware of that, maybe we'll think about what you've said before we write about the coaching staff.Thanks for your comments.

[FootballWidow]

Re: Gopher aftermath

I wasn't calling anybody out. I just wanted people to remember that the players have to execute the play that is called. Droped balls and bad snaps are play calling. Like I said, if all that stuff had not happened and catches were made you would be hailing the play calling not destorying it.

The coaches do work hard and usually only hear or read the bad stuff. Remember to tell them that they are working their tails off.

[BitsTD]

Re: Gopher aftermath

I have also been on to question the play calling. I know the coaches are not the ones dropping passes and fumbling snaps or snapping poorly, but if an opposing team is jumping the outs why not run a double move. I didn't think they were getting that great a pressure on O'Brien.

I guess I am at a loss. I want the Jacks to win so badly, but if our offense keeps performing like it has the last two weeks we are going to get laughed out of the playoffs in the first half of the first game.

I would say us Western Illinois as a confidence building warm-up game (I listened to the UNI-WIU game on my way home, they are bad). Do not let up on the gas and get this offense figured out.

[CatchEmAll]

Re: Gopher aftermath

One mantra I lived by as a player and coach.

"Touch it, catch it"

Players do have to execute in order to be successful.

IMO we won 2 out of 3 aspects of the game - Defense and Special Teams. Sometimes that's enough to win the game. Obviously Saturday it wasn't.

SDSU had 214 yards on 9 combined KO (4) and Punt (5) returns and only punted once. Those are great field position yards no matter who the opponent is.