Monday, October 8, 2007

Ouch

Because of a funeral, and the lack of establishments in my hometown that have the Big Ten Network, I was not able to watch a single play of the Gophers loss to Indiana on Saturday. It sounds like this may not have been such a bad thing.
The first score I heard following the funeral was on 'CCO at halftime: 27-14, Indiana on top. It didn't get any better after that.
So now, all I have to go on is the numbers, and what I read.

As per usual, turnovers were a huge stat to the Gophers detriment as Web threw two more picks. Have you heard the stat that the Gophers have now given up 30 points in 7 consecutive games dating back to the Insight Bowl?

This one is not good, not by any stretch of the imagination. After playing better against Purdue and Ohio State, I think a lot of us were believing that this team had turned a corner. Not so.

If Purdue and Ohio State were two steps forward, losing to Indiana was definitely one step back. Judging from the numbers, there's not much we can take away from this game to build on. The two numbers that stood out to me were these:
1. The Hoosiers did well through the air, but they didn't kill us like I was expecting. Their production on the ground and throwing were very balanced.
2. Doesn't look like the Gophs were able to establish a ground game. 112 yards on the ground isn't going to do much toward helping a team open up its passing game.

Despite the high number of turnovers, Coach Brewster says he's going to stick with Web at quarterback. I think this is a good call. He's a freshman, and although he is responsible for a good number of the Gophers turnovers, he's also responsible for the majority of the offensive production this season, either through the air or on the ground, as our running game has been mediocre at best.

I would welcome the thoughts of anyone who was at the game, or who saw the game.

1 comment:

il Dan said...

Yes, ouch indeed.

I loved the video clip, oh the joys of tailgating!