Well after Jermo's excellent, informative, and entertaining game recap, I can wait on Gopher analysis and post our Top 25 for the week. A bit of moving, and some shaking in the rankings this week. Oh, and here's the rankings from the AP, Coaches and more:
GGFB Top 25
1. Florida (2-0)
2. Texas (2-0)
3. Alabama (2-0)
4. USC (2-0)
5. Penn State (2-0)
6. Mississippi (2-0)
7. LSU (2-0)
8. BYU (2-0)
9. California (2-0)
10. Georgia Tech (2-0)
11. Virginia Tech (1-1)
12. Ohio State (1-1)
13. Oklahoma (1-1)
14. Oklahoma State (1-1)
15. Boise State (2-0)
16. Utah (2-0)
17. Nebraska (2-0)
18. TCU (2-0)
19. Miami FL (2-0)
20. Oregon State (2-0)
21. Georgia (1-1)
22. Kansas (2-0)
23. Cincinnati (2-0)
24. Houston (2-0)
25. Michigan (2-0)
Dropped out: North Carolina (2-0) 24. Missouri (2-0) 25. Notre Dame (1-1)
The Top 4: That's right, I did NOT move USC ahead of Alabama. Why? Two reasons: I believe Virginia Tech is better than Ohio State, and after watching SC eek out a win over the Buckeyes, I believe Alabama is better, and maybe two touchdowns better, than USC. At least right now. Bama has a legit shot at a national title this year, and IF they face Florida in the SEC championship game (assuming both get there), they're going to give them a battle.
The Next Six: We lost Oklahoma State from this group of "they're good, but how good?", and since nobody did anything to really differeniate themselves from the pack, I'm just bumping everybody up a spot.
The One-Lossers: Pretty sure I just made up a word, but like the six in front of them, these are four teams that are all pretty tough to tell apart. All former top ten teams with questions, but still plenty of talent. Va Tech gets the bump over Ohio State for the reasons I didn't move USC over Alabama.
The Rest: Yep, Boise State wins and yet they drop in my poll. And they may continue to. It's not their fault they play in the WAC, or that Oregon is not very good, but I'm not going to reward them for playing a joke schedule.
The Newbies: Ok so I underestimated Brian Kelly and Cincinnati. They're looking pretty legit, and therefore climb into the rankings. Houston and Michigan enter for obvious reasons.
They're Out!! Yes I dropped UNC despite a win. A very, very ugly win they were very, very fortunate to get. Noh-tra Dame drops with the loss, and with Michigan State coming up, might not be back in for awhile. And what does it say about Illinois that Missouri wipes the floor with them in week 1- and then ALMOST loses to Bowling Green?!?!?!? It probably doesn't say good things.
**UPDATE**
Ok so apparently I'm struggling with reading comprehension this morning. A reader TREE points out that Missouri in fact beat BGSU 27-20. Still, it wasn't impressive and I'm still keeping them out. For next week's top 25, I'm going to double-check the scores. No guarantees that makes it anymore accurate, however.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Thoughts while re-watching the Gophs win over Air Force
Now that the Vikings game is over it's time for to re-watch the Gophers win over Air Force from last night on the DVR. Unfortunately Jeffrick and I didn't get to attend the game, but we watched together at Joe Senser's (first half) and my place (second half).
So here I go: no beer, no pizza, no distractions. Just me, the DVR and my laptop. A word of warning: Since I'm re-watching this trying to notice what I didn't last night, this is bound to be slightly incoherent, disjointed, and might not make sense.
-Um, I'm seeing Rascal Flats do a version of their song "Me And My Gang" with a Big10 football twist. This is a pretty cool idea... but this is still a crappy song. My wife has a friend who refers to Rascall Flats as "The hot one, the fat one and the ugly one." I can never remember which is which.
-BIG fan of the all gold unis, and how cool is it to see Sam Maresh carry the flag out onto the field for the first game at The Bank? Gave me chills even the second time.
-Maresh's dad reveals that he thinks the Gophers might use a redshirt on Sam this year. After seeing how good our linebackers have played for two games, it's hard to argue with that.
First Half:
-Chris Martin makes the first "The Bank is open" comment of the year, followed by "and Stoudermire is making the first deposit," after Troy's game opening kickoff return to the 50 yard line. I'm expecting to hear those types of cliches a lot this year... and I can't see myself getting tired of it.
-Really looked like the offense was committed to the run this game during the opening drive. Unfortunately they couldn't finish off the drive and they go 3 & out. Pretty sad to waste that Stoudermire return.
-It's clear re-watching our first defensive series that there was some initial difficulty figuring out Air Force's triple-option run game. What's interesting is that I didn't realize how much bigger our d-line is than AF's o-line, and yet we couldn't seem to get the penetration we needed to disrupt their running game early. You could tell that the defense knew what it needed to do to break up this type of running attack but they were having some difficulty executing it.
-Great play utilizing the wildcat offense on first down! Gray in the shotgun, Weber lined up wide left, goes in motion, takes the hand off from Gray, and Weber makes a great running throw to hit a wide open Decker for the first down. Beautiful stuff! If that play was a member of Rascal Flats it would be the hot one.
-Nice to see the running game bust a big play with Eskridge on the 25 yard gain and maybe even nicer to actually see the Gophers stick with the run on the following play.
-Weber almost gets Hoese killed when he throws a ball high and behind the FB. Weber still having some accuracy issues in the first half of this game. If that play was a member of Rascal Flats it would be the ugly one.
-Air Force is unbelievably disciplined in their blocking schemes on the option runs. If I wasn't such a huge Gopher fan it actually might have been kind of fun to watch. Instead it's maddening.
-Holy smokes, Adam Weber just threw a ball to his second option... what's happening?
-With the Gophers winning 3-0 the BTN announcers are falling all over themselves talking about Air Force's running game and how difficult it was for the Gophers to prepare for AF. And you know who loves Air Force? Chris Martin, that's who. He can't get enough of them, can't stop talking about them. I think this may have been the point in the game while we were watching it live that I commented to Jeff: "This is going to be just like last week. The announcers will spend the entire game praising Air Force, but we will win the game."
-Which reminds me, why did the announcers have to keep referring to them as THE Air Force, as if the Gophers were playing the entirety of this particular United States military arm. I was waiting for them to say something like "Minnesota cannot stop The Air Force." To which I would have loudly yelled, "WHO EXPECTS THEM TO?!?!?!"
-Why MarQuise, WHY?!?! Why did you have to fumble that ball? Why didn't you switch hands? Why do I have a man-crush on you when you've hardly even played? Why, I ask you, MarQuise... WHY?
-The Gopher defense did a fair amount of bending in this game, but they didn't break often. THE Air Force had 261 yards rushing, but no scores on the ground, and just the one touchdown overall and that was through the air. Hard to argue with that type of performance when you are playing THE Air Force.
-Also, this begs the question, who would have thought that THE Air Force would have such a good ground game? I would have bet that THE Air Force would have had more of an aerial attack. How's that for irony? I bet Alanis Morissette would have put something like this in her song "Ironic," but judging by the lyrics of that song she doesn't actually understand the meaning of the word.
-I hate to sound like a broken record, but Weber's inaccuracy is going to be a problem. He did manage to go 20 for 29 in this game, but I bet at least 5 (and this is a guess only) of those incompletions were due to poorly thrown passes. I've seen at least 3 so far and it's not even halftime.
-I'm really impressed by how much the crowd appeared to be in the game for the entire first half, especially the gold covered student section! You would NOT have seen that at the Metrodome.
-Coach Brewster's halftime interview was interesting. He was asked about the great play of the defense, which I think he normally would have taken as an opportunity to praise them exhaustively. Instead he praised them quickly, and moved immediately the the fact that the offense needs to find some rhythm.
-Chris Martin had this quote at halftime: "If (Eric Decker)'s held to under 100 yards receiving , there is NO WAY Minnesota can win this game." By the end of this game Decker will, in fact, have over 100 yards, and the Gophers will win the game... so we don't get a chance to prove Martin wrong. Nonetheless, I'm not sure I agree with his statement.
-The BTN commercial with all of the coaches doing mock recruiting visits was just on. Seeing Joe Paterno growl "COME TO PENN STATE!!!" through his teeth NEVER gets old.
-Wow, THE AF was 6 of 10 on 3rd down conversions and had nearly six minutes more time of possession in the first half than the Gophers. 6 MINUTES!?!?! You think our offense might need to do a little better job of controlling the ball? Good heavens! If THE AF's first half time of possession was a member of Rascal Flats it would be the fat one. (WOW, that was a reach.)
Second Half:
-BIG stop for the Gopher defense on 4th and 1. You gotta love that! Past Gopher teams would have given up the first down like THE Air Force was a charity case. (In actuality the military is well funded.)
-Chris Martin wants THE Air Force to check their helmets because they keep popping off.
-BTN tapped into WCCO's radio broadcast to get a listen to Ray Christensen. Classy move for Christensen to come back and call the game, and classy move by BTN to give him his due. You gotta miss listening to Ray. As he calls the game you can actually tell what is going on... imagine that!
-The offense began clicking a bit more in the second half, but I'm still disappointed by Jedd Fisch's lack of commitment to the running game. We heard about it all off-season, and yet, the pass still dominates our play calling.
-Adam Weber is now the Gophers all-time leader in completions. It took him 2 seasons plus a game and a half. I don't know if this says more about how good Weber can be, or how poor our passing game was in the past.
-The Gophers penalties in this game: 8 penalties for -69 yards, including negating a 17 yard pass completion in the third quarter.
-My apologies (at least this time) to Adam Weber who thew a nice ball over the middle which Eric Decker missed. It wasn't tipped, he wasn't interfered with, it just plain went through his hands.
-I really can't get over how the announcers are praising THE Air Force. If you couldn't see the score you would swear they were beating the Gophers by at least two touchdowns.
-THE Air Force finally gives the announcers something tangible to cheer about: THE Air Force has run the ball so effectively that they were actually able to throw a pass and it was a touchdown. Collado was absolutely toasted on this play.
-THE Air Force is doing some weird thing before their kick-off where they are holding hands and doing something that resembles rowing a boat. They don't have their swim trunks, or their flippy-floppies, but they do, in fact, appear to be acting as if, they are on a boat. So, to recap, THE Air Force: great ground game and great job acting as if they are on a boat, but still not much of an air attack despite their name. So far they resemble the Army and the Navy more than THE Air Force.
-Um, more apologies to Adam Weber, who just had ANOTHER ball dropped by Decker who was wide open but slipped on the turf. How did I not pay more attention to this last night? (Answer: booze.) Also, THE Eric Decker was called for pass interference on this play and rightfully so.
-3rd and 25 and Weber found his favorite target... Nick Tow-Arnett? This play was somehow called a first down by the officials thanks to a generous spot.
-The Gophs start the 4th Quarter off with a Duane Bennett run, two completions (both first downs) to Decker, followed by an Eskridge touchdown run. THIS is the Gopher offense I thought we'd be seeing this year.
-Speaking of which, decent little game for Eskridge: 7 rushes, 59 yards, a 7.6 yards/carry average.
-On THE Air Force's ensuing drive, they run 3 plays (a pass and two runs), and on the fourth Brandon Kirksey does his best adult entertainer impression (wait for it... wait for it... no? Stripper. He did an impression of a stripper when he stripped the ball from Tim Jeffereson. Oh forget it, I don't have to impress you people.) Anyway... Nate Triplett returns the ball 52 yards for a touchdown!!! THIS is the Gopher defense I thought we'd be seeing this year! And just like that, it's a completely different ballgame.
-You know what is awesome about the BTN? They do those promotional awards (The Rotel Connection of the Game, the Jaguar Best Defensive Performance of the Game) IMMEDIATELY after they happen. No sense waiting until the end of the game to see if something else happens, right? After Triplett's touchdown he was given the Jaguar Best Defensive Performance "award" when BTN came back from commercial. That performance deserves our inaugural award. We've never given an award away here at the blog, and Jeff doesn't know I'm doing this, but I think he'll be okay with it.
-We smother THE Air Force on their next drive. No word yet on whether or not Tim Brewster and the Gophers will face any legal action for making the US Military look silly.
-We chew up a good chunk of the clock on our next drive and Ellestad finishes the drive with a 38 yard field goal. The Gophers scored 17 of their 20 points in this game in the 4th quarter.
-By the way, THE Air Force was penalized for "leaping" on the Ellstad field goal. Apparently the defender used his hands to propel himself off of one of his teammates and into the air. Apparently this is referred to as "leaping." Apparently this is a penalty. Apparently THE Air Force DOES have an air attack.
-Chris Martin now ponders if THE Air Force will take some shots down field. Seems to me they pretty much have to being down by 10 with roughly 5 minutes to play, don't they? But therein lies the rub: THE Air Force has spent the entire game running the ball, they are a running team, they don't throw a lot. If you spend all of your practice turning yourself into a running team, and your entire game plan trying to run down your opponent's throat, and you find yourself losing at the end of the game, well, you're pretty much out of luck at this point. There's probably a reason you weren't passing most of the game.
-At this point Chris Martin redeems himself by saying "this offense wasn't designed to play from behind."
-This turns into a lengthy drive for THE Air Force late into the 4th quarter, but the defense does a nice job of holding them to just a field goal.
In a lot of ways, this game felt similar to last week's win over Syracuse. The Gophers didn't play their best ball for 3 quarters, the plucky team they were lined up across from became the announcer's darling, but they played well in the 4th quarter and won the game.
2-0 Gopher fans! SKI-U-MAH!
So here I go: no beer, no pizza, no distractions. Just me, the DVR and my laptop. A word of warning: Since I'm re-watching this trying to notice what I didn't last night, this is bound to be slightly incoherent, disjointed, and might not make sense.
-Um, I'm seeing Rascal Flats do a version of their song "Me And My Gang" with a Big10 football twist. This is a pretty cool idea... but this is still a crappy song. My wife has a friend who refers to Rascall Flats as "The hot one, the fat one and the ugly one." I can never remember which is which.
-BIG fan of the all gold unis, and how cool is it to see Sam Maresh carry the flag out onto the field for the first game at The Bank? Gave me chills even the second time.
-Maresh's dad reveals that he thinks the Gophers might use a redshirt on Sam this year. After seeing how good our linebackers have played for two games, it's hard to argue with that.
First Half:
-Chris Martin makes the first "The Bank is open" comment of the year, followed by "and Stoudermire is making the first deposit," after Troy's game opening kickoff return to the 50 yard line. I'm expecting to hear those types of cliches a lot this year... and I can't see myself getting tired of it.
-Really looked like the offense was committed to the run this game during the opening drive. Unfortunately they couldn't finish off the drive and they go 3 & out. Pretty sad to waste that Stoudermire return.
-It's clear re-watching our first defensive series that there was some initial difficulty figuring out Air Force's triple-option run game. What's interesting is that I didn't realize how much bigger our d-line is than AF's o-line, and yet we couldn't seem to get the penetration we needed to disrupt their running game early. You could tell that the defense knew what it needed to do to break up this type of running attack but they were having some difficulty executing it.
-Great play utilizing the wildcat offense on first down! Gray in the shotgun, Weber lined up wide left, goes in motion, takes the hand off from Gray, and Weber makes a great running throw to hit a wide open Decker for the first down. Beautiful stuff! If that play was a member of Rascal Flats it would be the hot one.
-Nice to see the running game bust a big play with Eskridge on the 25 yard gain and maybe even nicer to actually see the Gophers stick with the run on the following play.
-Weber almost gets Hoese killed when he throws a ball high and behind the FB. Weber still having some accuracy issues in the first half of this game. If that play was a member of Rascal Flats it would be the ugly one.
-Air Force is unbelievably disciplined in their blocking schemes on the option runs. If I wasn't such a huge Gopher fan it actually might have been kind of fun to watch. Instead it's maddening.
-Holy smokes, Adam Weber just threw a ball to his second option... what's happening?
-With the Gophers winning 3-0 the BTN announcers are falling all over themselves talking about Air Force's running game and how difficult it was for the Gophers to prepare for AF. And you know who loves Air Force? Chris Martin, that's who. He can't get enough of them, can't stop talking about them. I think this may have been the point in the game while we were watching it live that I commented to Jeff: "This is going to be just like last week. The announcers will spend the entire game praising Air Force, but we will win the game."
-Which reminds me, why did the announcers have to keep referring to them as THE Air Force, as if the Gophers were playing the entirety of this particular United States military arm. I was waiting for them to say something like "Minnesota cannot stop The Air Force." To which I would have loudly yelled, "WHO EXPECTS THEM TO?!?!?!"
-Why MarQuise, WHY?!?! Why did you have to fumble that ball? Why didn't you switch hands? Why do I have a man-crush on you when you've hardly even played? Why, I ask you, MarQuise... WHY?
-The Gopher defense did a fair amount of bending in this game, but they didn't break often. THE Air Force had 261 yards rushing, but no scores on the ground, and just the one touchdown overall and that was through the air. Hard to argue with that type of performance when you are playing THE Air Force.
-Also, this begs the question, who would have thought that THE Air Force would have such a good ground game? I would have bet that THE Air Force would have had more of an aerial attack. How's that for irony? I bet Alanis Morissette would have put something like this in her song "Ironic," but judging by the lyrics of that song she doesn't actually understand the meaning of the word.
-I hate to sound like a broken record, but Weber's inaccuracy is going to be a problem. He did manage to go 20 for 29 in this game, but I bet at least 5 (and this is a guess only) of those incompletions were due to poorly thrown passes. I've seen at least 3 so far and it's not even halftime.
-I'm really impressed by how much the crowd appeared to be in the game for the entire first half, especially the gold covered student section! You would NOT have seen that at the Metrodome.
-Coach Brewster's halftime interview was interesting. He was asked about the great play of the defense, which I think he normally would have taken as an opportunity to praise them exhaustively. Instead he praised them quickly, and moved immediately the the fact that the offense needs to find some rhythm.
-Chris Martin had this quote at halftime: "If (Eric Decker)'s held to under 100 yards receiving , there is NO WAY Minnesota can win this game." By the end of this game Decker will, in fact, have over 100 yards, and the Gophers will win the game... so we don't get a chance to prove Martin wrong. Nonetheless, I'm not sure I agree with his statement.
-The BTN commercial with all of the coaches doing mock recruiting visits was just on. Seeing Joe Paterno growl "COME TO PENN STATE!!!" through his teeth NEVER gets old.
-Wow, THE AF was 6 of 10 on 3rd down conversions and had nearly six minutes more time of possession in the first half than the Gophers. 6 MINUTES!?!?! You think our offense might need to do a little better job of controlling the ball? Good heavens! If THE AF's first half time of possession was a member of Rascal Flats it would be the fat one. (WOW, that was a reach.)
Second Half:
-BIG stop for the Gopher defense on 4th and 1. You gotta love that! Past Gopher teams would have given up the first down like THE Air Force was a charity case. (In actuality the military is well funded.)
-Chris Martin wants THE Air Force to check their helmets because they keep popping off.
-BTN tapped into WCCO's radio broadcast to get a listen to Ray Christensen. Classy move for Christensen to come back and call the game, and classy move by BTN to give him his due. You gotta miss listening to Ray. As he calls the game you can actually tell what is going on... imagine that!
-The offense began clicking a bit more in the second half, but I'm still disappointed by Jedd Fisch's lack of commitment to the running game. We heard about it all off-season, and yet, the pass still dominates our play calling.
-Adam Weber is now the Gophers all-time leader in completions. It took him 2 seasons plus a game and a half. I don't know if this says more about how good Weber can be, or how poor our passing game was in the past.
-The Gophers penalties in this game: 8 penalties for -69 yards, including negating a 17 yard pass completion in the third quarter.
-My apologies (at least this time) to Adam Weber who thew a nice ball over the middle which Eric Decker missed. It wasn't tipped, he wasn't interfered with, it just plain went through his hands.
-I really can't get over how the announcers are praising THE Air Force. If you couldn't see the score you would swear they were beating the Gophers by at least two touchdowns.
-THE Air Force finally gives the announcers something tangible to cheer about: THE Air Force has run the ball so effectively that they were actually able to throw a pass and it was a touchdown. Collado was absolutely toasted on this play.
-THE Air Force is doing some weird thing before their kick-off where they are holding hands and doing something that resembles rowing a boat. They don't have their swim trunks, or their flippy-floppies, but they do, in fact, appear to be acting as if, they are on a boat. So, to recap, THE Air Force: great ground game and great job acting as if they are on a boat, but still not much of an air attack despite their name. So far they resemble the Army and the Navy more than THE Air Force.
-Um, more apologies to Adam Weber, who just had ANOTHER ball dropped by Decker who was wide open but slipped on the turf. How did I not pay more attention to this last night? (Answer: booze.) Also, THE Eric Decker was called for pass interference on this play and rightfully so.
-3rd and 25 and Weber found his favorite target... Nick Tow-Arnett? This play was somehow called a first down by the officials thanks to a generous spot.
-The Gophs start the 4th Quarter off with a Duane Bennett run, two completions (both first downs) to Decker, followed by an Eskridge touchdown run. THIS is the Gopher offense I thought we'd be seeing this year.
-Speaking of which, decent little game for Eskridge: 7 rushes, 59 yards, a 7.6 yards/carry average.
-On THE Air Force's ensuing drive, they run 3 plays (a pass and two runs), and on the fourth Brandon Kirksey does his best adult entertainer impression (wait for it... wait for it... no? Stripper. He did an impression of a stripper when he stripped the ball from Tim Jeffereson. Oh forget it, I don't have to impress you people.) Anyway... Nate Triplett returns the ball 52 yards for a touchdown!!! THIS is the Gopher defense I thought we'd be seeing this year! And just like that, it's a completely different ballgame.
-You know what is awesome about the BTN? They do those promotional awards (The Rotel Connection of the Game, the Jaguar Best Defensive Performance of the Game) IMMEDIATELY after they happen. No sense waiting until the end of the game to see if something else happens, right? After Triplett's touchdown he was given the Jaguar Best Defensive Performance "award" when BTN came back from commercial. That performance deserves our inaugural award. We've never given an award away here at the blog, and Jeff doesn't know I'm doing this, but I think he'll be okay with it.
BTN gets Gopher Football Blog's Ill-Timed Awarding of an Award Award, presented by ROLEX.
-We smother THE Air Force on their next drive. No word yet on whether or not Tim Brewster and the Gophers will face any legal action for making the US Military look silly.
-We chew up a good chunk of the clock on our next drive and Ellestad finishes the drive with a 38 yard field goal. The Gophers scored 17 of their 20 points in this game in the 4th quarter.
-By the way, THE Air Force was penalized for "leaping" on the Ellstad field goal. Apparently the defender used his hands to propel himself off of one of his teammates and into the air. Apparently this is referred to as "leaping." Apparently this is a penalty. Apparently THE Air Force DOES have an air attack.
-Chris Martin now ponders if THE Air Force will take some shots down field. Seems to me they pretty much have to being down by 10 with roughly 5 minutes to play, don't they? But therein lies the rub: THE Air Force has spent the entire game running the ball, they are a running team, they don't throw a lot. If you spend all of your practice turning yourself into a running team, and your entire game plan trying to run down your opponent's throat, and you find yourself losing at the end of the game, well, you're pretty much out of luck at this point. There's probably a reason you weren't passing most of the game.
-At this point Chris Martin redeems himself by saying "this offense wasn't designed to play from behind."
-This turns into a lengthy drive for THE Air Force late into the 4th quarter, but the defense does a nice job of holding them to just a field goal.
In a lot of ways, this game felt similar to last week's win over Syracuse. The Gophers didn't play their best ball for 3 quarters, the plucky team they were lined up across from became the announcer's darling, but they played well in the 4th quarter and won the game.
2-0 Gopher fans! SKI-U-MAH!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Big Ten Picks: Week 2
Like the Top 25, I missed getting up the weekly Big Ten picks last week. My apologies. Won't happen again. Week 1 saw the Big Ten go 10-1, but it was anything but easy. This week promises to be even tougher, including two marquee prime time games that will make or break the public perception of the conference. I'd have a hard enough time picking these games straight up, but once again this year I'm going to pick against the spread- strictly to be used for non-gambling, just-for-fun purposes. We're using the odds from today's USA Today (my pick in bold):
Eastern Michigan @ Northwestern (-20)
Line opened at: Northwestern -17.5
The Wildcats offense looked just fine last week, and while this line is close, I do think Northwestern is 3 TD's better than Eastern.
Western Michigan (+1.5) @ Indiana
Opened: EVEN
What does it say about IU when the line started the week at even? It's still pretty much a toss up, and I like Western Michigan to win outright in the slightest of upsets.
Central Michigan @ Michigan State (-14.5)
Opened: MSU -14.5
I like Dan LeFevour as a talented and very underrated QB, and I'm STILL not sold on Michigan's State's offense, but after CMU only managed 6 points against Arizona and the Spartans rolled, I've got to take the Spartans here.
Syracuse @ Penn State (-28.5)
Opened: Penn State -28
Syracuse is better than people think, and when we look back on the year, Minnesota's close shave with the Orange won't look so bad. Still, I believe that The Joe Pa's are the best team in the Big Ten, and their offense will roll. Cuse QB Greg Paulus is in for a rude awakening in his second start.
Iowa @ Iowa State (+6.5)
Opened: Iowa -7
This was my hardest pick of the week, but I decided to take the Cyclones and the points when I heard this morning that Iowa starting left tackle Brian Bulaga won't play. Iowa is now missing their starting HB, LT, and CB due to injury, and considering how tough it's been for Iowa in Ames lately, that's enough for me.
Fresno State (-8.5) @ Wisconsin
Opened: UW -9
Bucky Badger has beaten Fresno State their last two meetings by five points- combined! Bucky and the home field advantage of Camp Randall will be just enough to squeak out a win, but Pat Hill and the Bulldogs will once again make it a nailbiter.
Illinois State @ Illinois (-28)
Opened: Illini -28
This game has been pulled off the board by just about everbody, but for the few sites that are putting it up, I'll take a healthy Arrelius Benn and Illinois and spot Illinois State four TD's.
Purdue @ Oregon (-12.5)
Opened: Oregon -9
This is easily my shakiest pick of the week. I'm banking on the Ducks regrouping and rebounding at home to crush a fiesty Purdue squad. Of course, the whole debacle at Boise State last week, plus the loss of top player LaGarrett Blount, could also make the team implode, and Purdue looked VERY plucky last week. Yeah this picky is shaky to say the least.
Noh-tra Dame (-3) @ Meee-shegan
Opened: ND -4.5
Seems America's favoring the Wolverines, as the line has moved a point and a half in the Irish's favor since the line opened. It's basically a toss up, and I think Notre Dame's playmakers at wideout are going to be too much for the Michigan defense. Notre Dame wins by more than a touchdown, but not much more, and there's going to be plenty of points to be had.
USC (-7) @ Ohio State
Opened: USC -6
If I were betting real money, I'd be running to take USC while only giving a touchdown. Will the Trojans be seven points better than Ohio State? Sure they will- every QUARTER!! Last week's near loss to Navy exposed the Buckeye offense being a one-man band of Terrelle Pryor and...well pretty much just Pryor. They weren't grean running the ball and Pryor was so-so passing against Navy. Navy, people, Navy! What do you think USC's defense is going to do to that group? IF they can contain Pryor, which I think they can, it's going to be a long, ugly night for Ohio State. On the other side of the ball, it doesn't matter if Matt Barkley or Charles Barkley is playing quarterback for the Trojans, because the nation's best offensive line (now that All-American center Kris O'Dowd is back) and a group of running backs that goes a ridiculous SIX DEEP (all of whom could start right now for Ohio State. You heard me) will run the ball right down Ohio State's throats. Barkley can complete a few play-action passes to gain confidence and USC rolls.
Air Force @ Minnesota (-3)
Opened: Minny -4.5
Looks like the nation has zero faith in the Gophers, as the line has moved a point and a half towards Air Force. Call me a homer (because I am) but I would have taken Minnesota by 4.5 so I'll definitely take them by 3. Not much more than that, but the Gophs will win the home opener.
Eastern Michigan @ Northwestern (-20)
Line opened at: Northwestern -17.5
The Wildcats offense looked just fine last week, and while this line is close, I do think Northwestern is 3 TD's better than Eastern.
Western Michigan (+1.5) @ Indiana
Opened: EVEN
What does it say about IU when the line started the week at even? It's still pretty much a toss up, and I like Western Michigan to win outright in the slightest of upsets.
Central Michigan @ Michigan State (-14.5)
Opened: MSU -14.5
I like Dan LeFevour as a talented and very underrated QB, and I'm STILL not sold on Michigan's State's offense, but after CMU only managed 6 points against Arizona and the Spartans rolled, I've got to take the Spartans here.
Syracuse @ Penn State (-28.5)
Opened: Penn State -28
Syracuse is better than people think, and when we look back on the year, Minnesota's close shave with the Orange won't look so bad. Still, I believe that The Joe Pa's are the best team in the Big Ten, and their offense will roll. Cuse QB Greg Paulus is in for a rude awakening in his second start.
Iowa @ Iowa State (+6.5)
Opened: Iowa -7
This was my hardest pick of the week, but I decided to take the Cyclones and the points when I heard this morning that Iowa starting left tackle Brian Bulaga won't play. Iowa is now missing their starting HB, LT, and CB due to injury, and considering how tough it's been for Iowa in Ames lately, that's enough for me.
Fresno State (-8.5) @ Wisconsin
Opened: UW -9
Bucky Badger has beaten Fresno State their last two meetings by five points- combined! Bucky and the home field advantage of Camp Randall will be just enough to squeak out a win, but Pat Hill and the Bulldogs will once again make it a nailbiter.
Illinois State @ Illinois (-28)
Opened: Illini -28
This game has been pulled off the board by just about everbody, but for the few sites that are putting it up, I'll take a healthy Arrelius Benn and Illinois and spot Illinois State four TD's.
Purdue @ Oregon (-12.5)
Opened: Oregon -9
This is easily my shakiest pick of the week. I'm banking on the Ducks regrouping and rebounding at home to crush a fiesty Purdue squad. Of course, the whole debacle at Boise State last week, plus the loss of top player LaGarrett Blount, could also make the team implode, and Purdue looked VERY plucky last week. Yeah this picky is shaky to say the least.
Noh-tra Dame (-3) @ Meee-shegan
Opened: ND -4.5
Seems America's favoring the Wolverines, as the line has moved a point and a half in the Irish's favor since the line opened. It's basically a toss up, and I think Notre Dame's playmakers at wideout are going to be too much for the Michigan defense. Notre Dame wins by more than a touchdown, but not much more, and there's going to be plenty of points to be had.
USC (-7) @ Ohio State
Opened: USC -6
If I were betting real money, I'd be running to take USC while only giving a touchdown. Will the Trojans be seven points better than Ohio State? Sure they will- every QUARTER!! Last week's near loss to Navy exposed the Buckeye offense being a one-man band of Terrelle Pryor and...well pretty much just Pryor. They weren't grean running the ball and Pryor was so-so passing against Navy. Navy, people, Navy! What do you think USC's defense is going to do to that group? IF they can contain Pryor, which I think they can, it's going to be a long, ugly night for Ohio State. On the other side of the ball, it doesn't matter if Matt Barkley or Charles Barkley is playing quarterback for the Trojans, because the nation's best offensive line (now that All-American center Kris O'Dowd is back) and a group of running backs that goes a ridiculous SIX DEEP (all of whom could start right now for Ohio State. You heard me) will run the ball right down Ohio State's throats. Barkley can complete a few play-action passes to gain confidence and USC rolls.
Air Force @ Minnesota (-3)
Opened: Minny -4.5
Looks like the nation has zero faith in the Gophers, as the line has moved a point and a half towards Air Force. Call me a homer (because I am) but I would have taken Minnesota by 4.5 so I'll definitely take them by 3. Not much more than that, but the Gophs will win the home opener.
Uffdah! The Ugly Truth About Adam Weber
We've talked a bit about Air Force and what they're bringing to the table, but what do we need from the Maroon and Gold to get a win Saturday? For one, let's start with a lot better effort than we got against Syracuse. There's going to be an electric atmosphere tomorrow night, and here's hoping the boys can channel that into playin well instead of getting distracted or overconfident. I harped (and I still believe rightfully so) on a number of problems that we saw from the Gophers last week. Some of those can and I think will improve, but one of them (i.e the guy lining up under center), maybe not so much.
But first let's talk about what can and should be better. As much as I hated all of the false start penalties, the Gophers offensive line actually did pretty well last week. They kept Adam Weber pretty clean in the pocket, and the running game improved as the game wore on, especially when Duane Bennett had his hands on the ball. I think the false starts stop this week, as we're at home, and the line now has those first game jitters out of the way and should have a better understanding of how the new offense should work in-game. If Matt Stommes can't go because of his ankle injury, that's a blow, but Dom Alford did seem to do pretty well in relief, so hopefully that continues. If the Gophs can do a better job of establishing the run and Bennett can get his mojo risin', I like Minnesota's chances.
Like the O-line, the defense just got better and better as last week's game wore on. They made the proper half-time adjustments with the Wildcat and defended the Orange very, very well. If they can hold Air Force to just 20 as they did with Syracuse, then Minnesota should win, but that's going to be a much tougher task. Starting corner Marcus Sherels didn't practice again Wednesday, and even if he can go he's going to be limited on that ankle. That definitely hurts the Gophs at a key perimeter spot against the option, as Sherels wasn't just a vet but also a pretty solid tackler. Ryan Collado, the spotlight is on you! No pressure, or anything.
Eric Decker can and will continue to be Eric Decker. He's our Superman, and considering my doubts of Weber's ability to change, he's going to have to be all season long for the team to be good, because he's going to be seeing the ball more than any receiver in the country. I'm sure the Falcons 3-4 defense is going to throw every kind of coverage it can think of at Decker, and yet I'm still sure ED is going to be the leading receiver, top 100 yards, and score at least one touchdown because when he's healthy, that's just what he does.
Finally we have Weber. Look people, we need to face the facts that Adam Weber is what he is, and what he is is not very good. His 2nd team All-Big Ten performance last year was won by default in a season that was one of the worst in Big Ten history for quarterbacks, and was garnered from stats he put up in the first seven weeks of the season. Don't believe me? Here's his numbers for the first seven games of 2008, in which the Gophers won six, and all six wins were against teams with losing records. Also keep in mind that a yards per attempt over 7 and a QB rating over 100 are good for a college QB:
Completions:142
Attemps: 209
Completion %: 67.9
Yards: 1612
Yards Per Attempt: 7.71
TD: 9
INT: 2
QB Rating: 102.7
Those numbers are what won him second team all-conference honors, and if he had played at that clip all year, he'd have been every bit deserving. But he didn't. Not even close. Here are his numbers for the last seven games he's played which include the last five regular season games of 2008, the Insight Bowl loss to Kansas, and last week's dreadful performance against Syracuse. In those last seven the Gophers have gone 2-5, with the two wins against Purdue and Syracuse.
Comp: 132
Att: 243
Comp %: 54.3
Yards: 1397
YPA: 5.75
TD: 7
INT: 7
QB Rating: 67.1
Ugh, or as we'd say in Minnesota "Uffdah!" That's ugly, right there. Early last season when Minnesota played almost primarily cupcakes (excluding Ohio State, who destroyed us, and Illinois, who wasn't a cupcake but WAS overrated. Especially their D) Weber was great. When the schedule got tougher and opposing defenses had more tape to figure him out, well yeah not so much. And if you haven't heard, the schedule this year is MUCH tougher than last, and despite having open receivers all game long last Saturday, Weber had misfire after misfire. Yes, he put it together when he had to in the 4th quarter, but as Jer and I have said, he was making throws to his first read EVERY time, and because he had been so locked in on Decker (and because Syracuse's D isn't great) his guys were open. I also know Decker was hurt for part of the second half of last season and that the running game stunk, but doesn't that just expose Weber for what he is?
I appreciate Adam Weber as being the guy who bridged the gap between an old regime and a new one, and as a local kid who plays his heart out. But people, if you're a team with New Year's Day bowl aspirations, or ANY bowl aspirations at all, as I believe the Gophers to be, you CANNOT be starting a QB with a QB rating under 70, a 1-1 TD to INT ratio, and a completion % barely above 50. Especially when that guy is a THIRD YEAR STARTER!!! Unless you have a devastating rushing attack or a top-ranked defense, you can't get away with starting a guy with those kind of numbers and expect to be successful. You just can't. And yet the Gophers have.
Last year they had no choice. This year, they have the most talented backup in the conference, and maybe the country, in MarQueis Gray. Gray couldn't possibly do any worse throwing the ball than Weber has, and he's much, MUCH more dangerous with his feet than Weber can ever hope to be. If we don't see a drastic improvement from Weber this week, Coach Brewster needs to do what Ohio State coach Jim Tressel did last year after the second game of their season: Tressel, who is about as conservative as they come, made the tough but correct decision to bench incumbent but ineffective starter Todd Boeckman in favor of the much more talented freshmen Terrelle Pryor. I'm not saying putting Gray in will lead the Gophers to the a BCS game like it did for the Buckeyes, but if Weber doesn't make some pretty signficant strides this week, then we'll be much better off, both for this season and for the future of the program, by replacing him with the much more talented Gray. Gray gives us a better chance to win right now, and it will make him that much better for the years to come by starting him now.
So this will be Weber's week to put up or shut up: Either he proves he's the QB we saw in the first seven games of last season, or he should go on the bench. If he doesn't, you can kiss our New Year's Day Bowl hopes, and perhaps our hopes at any bowl this season, goodbye.
But first let's talk about what can and should be better. As much as I hated all of the false start penalties, the Gophers offensive line actually did pretty well last week. They kept Adam Weber pretty clean in the pocket, and the running game improved as the game wore on, especially when Duane Bennett had his hands on the ball. I think the false starts stop this week, as we're at home, and the line now has those first game jitters out of the way and should have a better understanding of how the new offense should work in-game. If Matt Stommes can't go because of his ankle injury, that's a blow, but Dom Alford did seem to do pretty well in relief, so hopefully that continues. If the Gophs can do a better job of establishing the run and Bennett can get his mojo risin', I like Minnesota's chances.
Like the O-line, the defense just got better and better as last week's game wore on. They made the proper half-time adjustments with the Wildcat and defended the Orange very, very well. If they can hold Air Force to just 20 as they did with Syracuse, then Minnesota should win, but that's going to be a much tougher task. Starting corner Marcus Sherels didn't practice again Wednesday, and even if he can go he's going to be limited on that ankle. That definitely hurts the Gophs at a key perimeter spot against the option, as Sherels wasn't just a vet but also a pretty solid tackler. Ryan Collado, the spotlight is on you! No pressure, or anything.
Eric Decker can and will continue to be Eric Decker. He's our Superman, and considering my doubts of Weber's ability to change, he's going to have to be all season long for the team to be good, because he's going to be seeing the ball more than any receiver in the country. I'm sure the Falcons 3-4 defense is going to throw every kind of coverage it can think of at Decker, and yet I'm still sure ED is going to be the leading receiver, top 100 yards, and score at least one touchdown because when he's healthy, that's just what he does.
Finally we have Weber. Look people, we need to face the facts that Adam Weber is what he is, and what he is is not very good. His 2nd team All-Big Ten performance last year was won by default in a season that was one of the worst in Big Ten history for quarterbacks, and was garnered from stats he put up in the first seven weeks of the season. Don't believe me? Here's his numbers for the first seven games of 2008, in which the Gophers won six, and all six wins were against teams with losing records. Also keep in mind that a yards per attempt over 7 and a QB rating over 100 are good for a college QB:
Completions:142
Attemps: 209
Completion %: 67.9
Yards: 1612
Yards Per Attempt: 7.71
TD: 9
INT: 2
QB Rating: 102.7
Those numbers are what won him second team all-conference honors, and if he had played at that clip all year, he'd have been every bit deserving. But he didn't. Not even close. Here are his numbers for the last seven games he's played which include the last five regular season games of 2008, the Insight Bowl loss to Kansas, and last week's dreadful performance against Syracuse. In those last seven the Gophers have gone 2-5, with the two wins against Purdue and Syracuse.
Comp: 132
Att: 243
Comp %: 54.3
Yards: 1397
YPA: 5.75
TD: 7
INT: 7
QB Rating: 67.1
Ugh, or as we'd say in Minnesota "Uffdah!" That's ugly, right there. Early last season when Minnesota played almost primarily cupcakes (excluding Ohio State, who destroyed us, and Illinois, who wasn't a cupcake but WAS overrated. Especially their D) Weber was great. When the schedule got tougher and opposing defenses had more tape to figure him out, well yeah not so much. And if you haven't heard, the schedule this year is MUCH tougher than last, and despite having open receivers all game long last Saturday, Weber had misfire after misfire. Yes, he put it together when he had to in the 4th quarter, but as Jer and I have said, he was making throws to his first read EVERY time, and because he had been so locked in on Decker (and because Syracuse's D isn't great) his guys were open. I also know Decker was hurt for part of the second half of last season and that the running game stunk, but doesn't that just expose Weber for what he is?
I appreciate Adam Weber as being the guy who bridged the gap between an old regime and a new one, and as a local kid who plays his heart out. But people, if you're a team with New Year's Day bowl aspirations, or ANY bowl aspirations at all, as I believe the Gophers to be, you CANNOT be starting a QB with a QB rating under 70, a 1-1 TD to INT ratio, and a completion % barely above 50. Especially when that guy is a THIRD YEAR STARTER!!! Unless you have a devastating rushing attack or a top-ranked defense, you can't get away with starting a guy with those kind of numbers and expect to be successful. You just can't. And yet the Gophers have.
Last year they had no choice. This year, they have the most talented backup in the conference, and maybe the country, in MarQueis Gray. Gray couldn't possibly do any worse throwing the ball than Weber has, and he's much, MUCH more dangerous with his feet than Weber can ever hope to be. If we don't see a drastic improvement from Weber this week, Coach Brewster needs to do what Ohio State coach Jim Tressel did last year after the second game of their season: Tressel, who is about as conservative as they come, made the tough but correct decision to bench incumbent but ineffective starter Todd Boeckman in favor of the much more talented freshmen Terrelle Pryor. I'm not saying putting Gray in will lead the Gophers to the a BCS game like it did for the Buckeyes, but if Weber doesn't make some pretty signficant strides this week, then we'll be much better off, both for this season and for the future of the program, by replacing him with the much more talented Gray. Gray gives us a better chance to win right now, and it will make him that much better for the years to come by starting him now.
So this will be Weber's week to put up or shut up: Either he proves he's the QB we saw in the first seven games of last season, or he should go on the bench. If he doesn't, you can kiss our New Year's Day Bowl hopes, and perhaps our hopes at any bowl this season, goodbye.
Old School is New School
Stop me if you've heard this already, but apparently the Gophers will play on campus tomorrow in a brand new outdoor football stadium. No really, they are. I think you may be able to find an article or two in the local dailies. What's tougher to find? A scouting report on Air Force. And no, I'm not going to make the "Ground Force" joke, if only because other people thought of it before I did. But seriously, Air Force brings in the old-school wishbone triple option offense, which is going to be a doozy to stop. They thankfully don't have the athletes that Georgia Tech does to run their wishbone offense (if you haven't had a chance to see Tech yet, do yourself a favor and check them out next time they're on the tube. They've looked like 1980's era Nebraska out there. Head coach Paul Johnson is building a monster!), but it doesn't mean they're going to be cake to stop. I'd say they're at least on par with the athletes another service academy has, which would be Navy, who was THIS close to knocking off the Buckeyes in Columbus last week. And as much as I love our defense, we don't have the size or speed on D that Ohio State does, so if they had problems with the wishbone after having all summer to study it? Well, let's just say I'm more than a little nervous about the game Saturday.
Fuller's story in the PP which I linked to above talks all about what the Falcons will bring into The Bank tomorrow night. As he mentions, they racked up 576 total yards last week, 474 on the ground. The Gophers defenders he interviewed for the story like Lee Campbell and Kim Royston say all the right things about how to defend it, but saying it and then doing it on the field are two different things.
Tough to find much else on Air Force since they're a Mountain West school and a service academy, there's not exactly a ton of blogs or sites dedicated to them. The Colorado Springs Gazette has a good blog, and the guy who writes it, Jake Schaller, did an interview with gophersports.com that sheds some more light on what to expect from the Falcons.
While this will probably be the last option offense the Gophers will see this year, this is NOT "a nearly extinct" offense, as Fuller calls it. Yes, few programs run it anymore, but as the Gophers and others are starting to move away from the VERY trendy spread back to a more traditional offense, you're going to see more teams moving back to the wishbone option, or some variation of it, too. Navy and Air Force use it because it maximizes what you can do when you can't recruit the best of the best. There's so much misdirection and it relies so much on isolating defenders that you don't need the 300 pound behemouth lineman or a 6'5 laser rocket arm Peyton Manning-type QB. Running backs are growing on trees these days, and as we've seen with the spread, athletic QB's are too.
Andy Staples of SI.com has an excellent article about Tech's wishbone, and explains why it's been working so incredibly well for Coach Johnson so far, and why it can still work for other schools. His Yellow Jackets are ranked 15th in the country already, and with a win over a solid Clemson team last night, they're sure to move up again. Yes, it helps to have the best running back in the country in Jonathan Dwyer, but Tech's still having good success in a BCS conference without reeling in top 10 recruiting classes. In that same piece, Staples links to a post from Smart Football about just how difficult defending the wishbone is, even with today's athletes. He also goes on to poke holes in the reasons why almost everyone has gone away from a once dominant offensive system.
One is that kids don't want to play in an offense that isn't used in the NFL: that's ludicrous because while the "Wildcat" fad has started in the NFL, you're not going to ever see a full-blown switch to the spread option style that's swept college football. Yet you're still seeing plenty of players drafted from those offenses. If your team is successful (except at QB), you're going to get noticed no matter what offense you're playing in.
The other seems to be that even intelligent football people believe that today's defenders are too big and fast for the option to work anymore: well this one couldn't be further from the truth either. I've used this example before, but nowhere is there a better example than what Tech did to Georgia last year in their yearly day-after-Thanksgiving meeting. The Dawgs have a defense full of future NFLers, and highly touted recruits. They're an SEC defense that are as about as big and fast as it gets (Florida and LSU excluded of course, but you get the idea), with superior athletes all over the field. So why and how did the Jackets beat a Bulldog team 45-42 that was at the time ranked 11th in the country while rolling up 409 rushing yards on 7.3 yards per carry? Because kids today are less disciplined than ever, and tackling has never, EVER been worse.
Just as the Gopher players interviewed for Fuller's story were saying all the right things about how to stop the option, you know Georgia coaches were beating the same ideas into the heads of their defense all week, and I'm sure their players were saying all the right things the week leading up to the game. STAY HOME! CONTAIN! DON'T OVER RUN THE PLAY! STICK TO YOUR ASSIGNMENTS! And what happened on game day? Play after play after play where Georgia defenders missed their assignments and then missed tackles. Tech was getting the isolation on defenders it desired as they ran up and down the field all afternoon. Not only that, but even when Georgia was in position, their kids (just like everyone else's) were missing tackles because they were going for that "WOOOO!" hit instead of doing the boring, fundamental, SUCCESSFUL form tackle and wrapping up. I don't know if coaches today aren't spending as much time on tackling drills or if kids are just ignoring them wanting to lay out running backs and receivers like Troy Polamalu or Ray Lewis does, but tackling in our game has never been worse at all levels.
So the more coach Johnson and his Jackets win, the more obvious and acceptable it's going to be to other coaches that the old school wishbone offense can be as successful today as it was in the glory days, and that if you're trying to turn a program around and can't get the elite athletes the big boys get, the wishbone option can be just as, or even more successful, than the newfangled spread option. Old is new again. Let's hope the Gophers are prepared for it tomorrow.
Fuller's story in the PP which I linked to above talks all about what the Falcons will bring into The Bank tomorrow night. As he mentions, they racked up 576 total yards last week, 474 on the ground. The Gophers defenders he interviewed for the story like Lee Campbell and Kim Royston say all the right things about how to defend it, but saying it and then doing it on the field are two different things.
Tough to find much else on Air Force since they're a Mountain West school and a service academy, there's not exactly a ton of blogs or sites dedicated to them. The Colorado Springs Gazette has a good blog, and the guy who writes it, Jake Schaller, did an interview with gophersports.com that sheds some more light on what to expect from the Falcons.
While this will probably be the last option offense the Gophers will see this year, this is NOT "a nearly extinct" offense, as Fuller calls it. Yes, few programs run it anymore, but as the Gophers and others are starting to move away from the VERY trendy spread back to a more traditional offense, you're going to see more teams moving back to the wishbone option, or some variation of it, too. Navy and Air Force use it because it maximizes what you can do when you can't recruit the best of the best. There's so much misdirection and it relies so much on isolating defenders that you don't need the 300 pound behemouth lineman or a 6'5 laser rocket arm Peyton Manning-type QB. Running backs are growing on trees these days, and as we've seen with the spread, athletic QB's are too.
Andy Staples of SI.com has an excellent article about Tech's wishbone, and explains why it's been working so incredibly well for Coach Johnson so far, and why it can still work for other schools. His Yellow Jackets are ranked 15th in the country already, and with a win over a solid Clemson team last night, they're sure to move up again. Yes, it helps to have the best running back in the country in Jonathan Dwyer, but Tech's still having good success in a BCS conference without reeling in top 10 recruiting classes. In that same piece, Staples links to a post from Smart Football about just how difficult defending the wishbone is, even with today's athletes. He also goes on to poke holes in the reasons why almost everyone has gone away from a once dominant offensive system.
One is that kids don't want to play in an offense that isn't used in the NFL: that's ludicrous because while the "Wildcat" fad has started in the NFL, you're not going to ever see a full-blown switch to the spread option style that's swept college football. Yet you're still seeing plenty of players drafted from those offenses. If your team is successful (except at QB), you're going to get noticed no matter what offense you're playing in.
The other seems to be that even intelligent football people believe that today's defenders are too big and fast for the option to work anymore: well this one couldn't be further from the truth either. I've used this example before, but nowhere is there a better example than what Tech did to Georgia last year in their yearly day-after-Thanksgiving meeting. The Dawgs have a defense full of future NFLers, and highly touted recruits. They're an SEC defense that are as about as big and fast as it gets (Florida and LSU excluded of course, but you get the idea), with superior athletes all over the field. So why and how did the Jackets beat a Bulldog team 45-42 that was at the time ranked 11th in the country while rolling up 409 rushing yards on 7.3 yards per carry? Because kids today are less disciplined than ever, and tackling has never, EVER been worse.
Just as the Gopher players interviewed for Fuller's story were saying all the right things about how to stop the option, you know Georgia coaches were beating the same ideas into the heads of their defense all week, and I'm sure their players were saying all the right things the week leading up to the game. STAY HOME! CONTAIN! DON'T OVER RUN THE PLAY! STICK TO YOUR ASSIGNMENTS! And what happened on game day? Play after play after play where Georgia defenders missed their assignments and then missed tackles. Tech was getting the isolation on defenders it desired as they ran up and down the field all afternoon. Not only that, but even when Georgia was in position, their kids (just like everyone else's) were missing tackles because they were going for that "WOOOO!" hit instead of doing the boring, fundamental, SUCCESSFUL form tackle and wrapping up. I don't know if coaches today aren't spending as much time on tackling drills or if kids are just ignoring them wanting to lay out running backs and receivers like Troy Polamalu or Ray Lewis does, but tackling in our game has never been worse at all levels.
So the more coach Johnson and his Jackets win, the more obvious and acceptable it's going to be to other coaches that the old school wishbone offense can be as successful today as it was in the glory days, and that if you're trying to turn a program around and can't get the elite athletes the big boys get, the wishbone option can be just as, or even more successful, than the newfangled spread option. Old is new again. Let's hope the Gophers are prepared for it tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
GGFB Top 25: Week 2
Totally meant to get our preseason Top 25 up before the game Saturday...and like Adam Weber, I threw one away. So here, without anymore excuses, is the Top 25 for week 2. We'll do this every week from now on. No really, we will. For reference, here's the major polls.
GGFB Top 25
1. Florida (1-0)
2. Texas (1-0)
3. Alabama (1-0)
4. USC (1-0)
5. Oklahoma State (1-0)
6. Penn State (1-0)
7. Mississippi (1-0)
8. LSU (1-0)
9. BYU (1-0)
10. California (1-0)
11. Ohio State (1-0)
12. Georgia Tech (1-0)
13. Boise State (1-0)
14. Oklahoma (0-1)
15. Virginia Tech (0-1)
16. Utah (1-0)
17. Nebraska (1-0)
18. TCU (0-0)
19. North Carolina (1-0)
20. Georgia (0-1)
21. Miami FL (1-0)
22. Oregon State (1-0)
23. Kansas (1-0)
24. Missouri (1-0)
25. Notre Dame (1-0)
The top four are clearly ahead of everyone else right now: Florida and Texas aren't going anywhere until they lose, in their win over a good Tech team, Bama showed they're a legit threat to Florida in the SEC, and USC took care of business. 5-11 is a total judgement call, as I don't see much separating those six teams right now. Georgia Tech is intriguing, and Boise State won the one game that was supposed to be tough- yet Oregon's now out of the top 25 and will probably stay there, so how good are the Broncos really? We won't know until the bowl season because it's Cupcake City for their next 11 games. They might fall in the rankings but they're certainly not rising any farther for me, no matter what happens around them.
Oklahoma and Va Tech should be jumping the first two to jump the Broncos, and while both might be out of the national title hunt for now, it's VERY early so anything's possible. 16-25 is just a total guessing game right now. I'm including Notre Dame in the top 25 only because I think their offense is legit, but I don't think this is a national title contender like Lou Holtz and Beano Cook. A LOT of flux is obviously coming in the second half of the rankings in the coming weeks.
GGFB Top 25
1. Florida (1-0)
2. Texas (1-0)
3. Alabama (1-0)
4. USC (1-0)
5. Oklahoma State (1-0)
6. Penn State (1-0)
7. Mississippi (1-0)
8. LSU (1-0)
9. BYU (1-0)
10. California (1-0)
11. Ohio State (1-0)
12. Georgia Tech (1-0)
13. Boise State (1-0)
14. Oklahoma (0-1)
15. Virginia Tech (0-1)
16. Utah (1-0)
17. Nebraska (1-0)
18. TCU (0-0)
19. North Carolina (1-0)
20. Georgia (0-1)
21. Miami FL (1-0)
22. Oregon State (1-0)
23. Kansas (1-0)
24. Missouri (1-0)
25. Notre Dame (1-0)
The top four are clearly ahead of everyone else right now: Florida and Texas aren't going anywhere until they lose, in their win over a good Tech team, Bama showed they're a legit threat to Florida in the SEC, and USC took care of business. 5-11 is a total judgement call, as I don't see much separating those six teams right now. Georgia Tech is intriguing, and Boise State won the one game that was supposed to be tough- yet Oregon's now out of the top 25 and will probably stay there, so how good are the Broncos really? We won't know until the bowl season because it's Cupcake City for their next 11 games. They might fall in the rankings but they're certainly not rising any farther for me, no matter what happens around them.
Oklahoma and Va Tech should be jumping the first two to jump the Broncos, and while both might be out of the national title hunt for now, it's VERY early so anything's possible. 16-25 is just a total guessing game right now. I'm including Notre Dame in the top 25 only because I think their offense is legit, but I don't think this is a national title contender like Lou Holtz and Beano Cook. A LOT of flux is obviously coming in the second half of the rankings in the coming weeks.
Hump Day!!
The only good thing about having to come back to work after a glorious long holiday weekend is that the week starts on a Tuesday, so here on our second work day back, it's already Hump Day! And of course we're one day closer to game day. Good work, short week!
Both dailies are cranking out Gopher coverage this week, and not surprisingly a ton of it is about the opening of the new stadium. While it should certainly be celebrated and covered, I'm ready to focus on the action on the field instead of the field itself, but if you can't get enough of the new stadium coverage, there's plenty of reading for you. In the Pioneer Press, Marcus Fuller has a blog post with comments from the new transfers. As Fuller says right off the top, Coach Brewster has a rule that new players can't talk to the media until they've played a game, so these are the first interviews we've seen with starters Matt Carufel and Kim Royston, as well as some reserve freshman QB named MarQueis Gray. No big surprise quotes here, although I do think it's interesting there was nothing from Gray.
He also notes Hayo! Carpenter was incorrectly credited for a tackle because he never got into the game. I would complain about a playmaker like Carpenter not getting a single offensive snap, but with Weber playing the way he did, it wouldn't have mattered anyway. You could have Larry Fitzgerald and Randy Moss flanking Eric Decker right now and it wouldn't matter a bit when Weber is a) only has eyes for Decker and b) if he ever does look at someone else, they're running a quick slant or short pattern.
Further down in the notes section is a real tidbit about injured starting LT Matt Stommes, who left the game Saturday with an ankle injury but did not return. Stommes is listed as the starter for the Air Force game, but did not practice yesterday, so we'll see if he gets out there today. Dom Alford did an admirable job in relief, but I'd rather have my starter in there if he's close to healthy. No word on the other big ankle injury, corner Marcus Sherels. Air Force isn't going to throw much at all, but I want Sherels out there as a veteran corner on the edge because he'll be much more likely to stick to his assignments, stay home, and not overrun the play. The ends, linebackers and corners on the edge play a HUGE part in containing the wishbone, and as a sure tackling corner, let's hope Sherels is starting Saturday night.
In the Strib, Jim Souhan poses the rhetorical question is it a good idea to not let Adam Weber run in the new offense? Somehow, Souhan watched Weber's AWFUL performance Saturday and deduced the problem with Weber wasn't him missing wide open receivers or showing a complete inability to throw to anyone other than his first read, it was that he was staying in the pocket too much and wasn't getting hit a lot. Really Jim? Maybe you should stick to talking about the Twins or Vikings. You're REALLY going to argue that it's a bad thing Weber is staying in the pocket and NOT getting the snot knocked out of him like he was last year? Weber ran last year because the Gophers had few other ways to move the ball. He took a beating all season, and all of his running and scrambling sure didn't help him or the offense much when the team was losing their last five games of the 2008 season. Weber's ineffectiveness last Saturday had nothing to do with him not being able to run. The Gophers ran the ball just fine with Duane Bennett. It was when he tried to do things a quarterback is supposed to do, like read defenses and complete passes, is where we got into trouble.
The Strib writer who actually knows the Gophers and college football, Kent Youngblood, has a blog post about prepping for Air Force, which also includes the Gopher weekly award winners.
Both dailies are cranking out Gopher coverage this week, and not surprisingly a ton of it is about the opening of the new stadium. While it should certainly be celebrated and covered, I'm ready to focus on the action on the field instead of the field itself, but if you can't get enough of the new stadium coverage, there's plenty of reading for you. In the Pioneer Press, Marcus Fuller has a blog post with comments from the new transfers. As Fuller says right off the top, Coach Brewster has a rule that new players can't talk to the media until they've played a game, so these are the first interviews we've seen with starters Matt Carufel and Kim Royston, as well as some reserve freshman QB named MarQueis Gray. No big surprise quotes here, although I do think it's interesting there was nothing from Gray.
He also notes Hayo! Carpenter was incorrectly credited for a tackle because he never got into the game. I would complain about a playmaker like Carpenter not getting a single offensive snap, but with Weber playing the way he did, it wouldn't have mattered anyway. You could have Larry Fitzgerald and Randy Moss flanking Eric Decker right now and it wouldn't matter a bit when Weber is a) only has eyes for Decker and b) if he ever does look at someone else, they're running a quick slant or short pattern.
Further down in the notes section is a real tidbit about injured starting LT Matt Stommes, who left the game Saturday with an ankle injury but did not return. Stommes is listed as the starter for the Air Force game, but did not practice yesterday, so we'll see if he gets out there today. Dom Alford did an admirable job in relief, but I'd rather have my starter in there if he's close to healthy. No word on the other big ankle injury, corner Marcus Sherels. Air Force isn't going to throw much at all, but I want Sherels out there as a veteran corner on the edge because he'll be much more likely to stick to his assignments, stay home, and not overrun the play. The ends, linebackers and corners on the edge play a HUGE part in containing the wishbone, and as a sure tackling corner, let's hope Sherels is starting Saturday night.
In the Strib, Jim Souhan poses the rhetorical question is it a good idea to not let Adam Weber run in the new offense? Somehow, Souhan watched Weber's AWFUL performance Saturday and deduced the problem with Weber wasn't him missing wide open receivers or showing a complete inability to throw to anyone other than his first read, it was that he was staying in the pocket too much and wasn't getting hit a lot. Really Jim? Maybe you should stick to talking about the Twins or Vikings. You're REALLY going to argue that it's a bad thing Weber is staying in the pocket and NOT getting the snot knocked out of him like he was last year? Weber ran last year because the Gophers had few other ways to move the ball. He took a beating all season, and all of his running and scrambling sure didn't help him or the offense much when the team was losing their last five games of the 2008 season. Weber's ineffectiveness last Saturday had nothing to do with him not being able to run. The Gophers ran the ball just fine with Duane Bennett. It was when he tried to do things a quarterback is supposed to do, like read defenses and complete passes, is where we got into trouble.
The Strib writer who actually knows the Gophers and college football, Kent Youngblood, has a blog post about prepping for Air Force, which also includes the Gopher weekly award winners.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Wild Opening Week for the Big Ten
So apparently we're being a little negative about the Gophers. Well, whether you think everything is going to be all sunshine and roses or maybe, just maybe, the Gophers opening game non-loss of the 2008 season is cause for a tad bit of concern (what's that? Saturday's overtime win over Syracuse opened the 2009 season? Are you sure? Because that looked like the 2008 Gophers to me) the Gophers were at least not alone in having to endure a nail-biting opening game, as there were plenty of those to go around in the Big Ten.
Missouri 37 Illinois 9
So maybe Florida fans were right about The Zooker...
On the podcast last week (and if you didn't listen, well, then shame on you!) we discussed (among other things) expectations of a program, and in the case of Florida, Michigan, and Nebraska they had almost ridiculous expectations for their coaches. We had mentioned Ron Zook being a victim of this down in The Swamp when he took over for Steve Spurrier, bringing in a few monster recruiting classes yet ONLY averaging eight wins a year. Zook was shown the door after only three seasons, and the very next season Golden Boy Urban Meyer took a roster of almost entirely Zook's kids and won a National Title. Was the Zooker not given enough time, or was he a great recruiter but not a great game day coach?
Obviously Florida doesn't care either way, since they're doing just fine with The Golden Boy, but after Zook's Illini were wiped off the field Saturday by Missouri, it looks like the Gators' assessment of his coaching abilities might have been correct. Like at Florida, Zook has put together a couple of big recruiting classes, and with a ton of that talent as juniors and seniors, this should have been the year they came through on it. Instead, they were dominated in St Louis by Missouri, who by the way, I definitely overlooked (No Chase Daniel, Jeremy Maclin or Chase Coffman? Apparently, no problem!). Maybe Gary Pinkel has another juggernaut down in Columbia, but it looks like the beginning of another disappointing year in Champaign. Not that Illinois should fire him for this, but maybe this really is what Zook is. And yes I'm still bitter I picked Illinois to go 11-1.
Indiana 19 Eastern Kentucky 13
Well at least they'll win one game!
If you're looking for a bright spot for the Hoosiers, other than that they won't go Oh-fer this year, is that Ben Chappel looked pretty comfortable running the new pistol offense as he was 27-36 for 326 yards. But that's about it. The vaunted ground game that Indiana was sure they had mustered 73 whole yards, and despite Chappel's showing, the offense went scoreless for the final 37 minutes- against the 1-AA Colonels who haven't beaten a 1-A opponent since 1985. Hope you enjoyed the festivities over the weekend there Hoosier fans, because that's probably all you're getting in 2009.
Iowa 17 Northern Iowa 16
Hahahahahahaha!
So what's worse than deserving to lose to Syracuse on the road? How about Iowa having to block not one, but TWO 40 yard field goals in the last seven seconds to cling to a one point win over 1-AA Northern Iowa AT HOME!!! Hey good thing you've got Kirk Ferentz locked up to that long-term contract, because it's not any coach who can miraculously beat a 1-AA school by one point on your home turf. Iowa should be better than that (although honestly, I'm not sure how they get any worse) and maybe that's just the wakeup call they needed before heading to Ames this weekend to play Iowa State, where they've lost four of five times, but so far not so good for a team that had Big Ten title aspirations.
Michigan 31 Western Michigan 7
RichRod's hot seat a little cooler...at least for this week
So much for all of the drama and player discension torpedoing the Michigan program: the Wolverines looked almost as good as coach Rich Rodriguez's old West Virginia teams as they dismantled Western Michigan. Sure, it was only Western Michigan, but it was still an impressive win that will badly take the spotlight off of the Wolverines off-field issues and put it where it belongs on the field. However, with a trip to Noh-tra Dame (as Beano Cook calls it) on the docket this week, they're going to need to be just as impressive.
Michigan State 44 Montana State 3
Taking care of business
Really, what else is there to say? About all we learned about Sparty yesterday is they're much better than the Bobcats, and both of their QB's looked pretty good. But we're not going to know much else, and if they're deserving of being ranked the third best team in the Big Ten, until they start playing some decent teams. But hey, unlike Iowa, at least their fans can rest assured they're far better than a 1-AA team.
Northwestern 47 Towson 13
Ditto
Again, what can you really learn from this, other than the Purple Smart Kids looked far superior to a 1-AA team? Mike Kafka was efficient throwing the ball, and the team scored TD's on their first four possessions, but that's what you're supposed to do against somebody like Towson. We really could go the entire month without really knowing much of anything concrete about the Wildcats because of their pathetic non-conference schedule. Wake me in October.
Ohio State 31 Navy 27
Here we go again
To the credit of the Buckeyes, Navy is a legit 1-A opponent and the wishbone offense is a difficult one to prepare for (the Gophs will find that out Saturday against wishbonin' Air Force), but Buckeye fans can't help but feel uneasy after hanging on for dear life. Ohio State was handed the victory when Midshipmen QB Ricky Dobbs threw a two-point conversion pass that would have tied the game right into the arms of Buckeye defender Brian Rolle, who sprinted the other way for an easy two points to clinch the game. And if Rolle wouldn't have caught it, there were two other Buckeye players waiting right behind him who would. It was unfortunate for Dobbs, who was incredible otherwise, but watch the replay and I have absolutely no idea what Dobbs saw or who he was trying to throw to other than the other team.
Despite the gift INT, and Terrelle Pryor maybe NOT being the second coming of Jesus just yet (14-21 for 174 yards, 1 TD 1 pick and only 30 yards rushing), Ohio State survived. Yet you can't even use the silver lining argument of "well this will take the pressure off of them for next week because now no one will expect them to beat USC and they can be the underdogs". Why? Because this is the same situation the Buckeyes and Trojans faced before last year's week two showdown (Ohio State escaping an inferior opponent while USC romped), and all USC did was roll 35-3. Granted, playing in The Horseshoe instead of at the Coliseum is a big advantage for Ohio State (that place is going to be absolute madhouse Saturday. They'll make USC's posh crowd from a year ago sound like a church congregation), and USC's not going to win by 4+ TD's again, but if the Buckeyes are going to have any chance against the Trojans they're going to need a lot better effort from their offense, who only managed 363 total yards against Navy. That means Pryor's going to need some help.
Penn State 31 Akron 7
Beware the Joe Pa's!
To me it's not THAT Penn State pummeled Akron but HOW they pummeled Akron. There were major questions heading in about Penn State's new o-line and receiving core, and boy did they answer the bell on Saturday. Of course, it helps when you have Daryll Clark running the show, but the Nittany Lion's "Spread HD" rang up 379 passing yards, which was more than they had in any game all of last season when they had their plethora of talented, veteran receivers. Yes, it's only Akron, but then again the Zips are 1-A and a decent MAC squad to boot, so while it's not like Penn State did this against Ohio State, it's not like they did this against Montana State either. Color me impressed and intrigued with the Joe Pa's for 2009.
Purdue 52 Toledo 31
Boilermakers the best of the worst?
Everybody, me included, had Purdue pegged as one of the two worst teams in the Big Ten this year along with instate rivals Indiana. I had them slightly ahead of the Hoosiers, but not by much. While I still don't think they're going to win the Big Ten or be any better than 10th, Purdue looked lightyears ahead of Indiana in their showdown of "Not being the worst team in the conference" for 2009. While IU struggled to beat 1-AA Eastern Kentucky, Purdue throttled MAC opponents Toledo, and Boilermaker fans have to be all smiles after coach Danny Hope's first game. Like Penn State, I was impressed not just that they won, but how they won. Transitioning from the spread passing of Joe Tiller to Hope's more balanced approach, the Boilermakers ran all over the Rockets for 315 yards with Ralph Bolden (21 carries 234 yards 2 TD's). The Boilermakers aren't going to be dominant this year, but I'd be surprised if they're pushovers in the Big Ten this year, and I think they get more than the one Big Ten victory over Indiana. Let's just hope it doesn't come against Minnesota.
Wisconsin 28 Northern Illinois 20
The more things change...
New year, new problems, and some of the same results for Wisconsin, who dominated NIU for three quarters (leading 28-7), before the Huskies stormed back for 2 late TD's to make things much closer than they should have been. Last year Sconnie could run all day but had all sorts of problems throwing the ball. In the win over NIU, the Badgers threw for 281 while only rushing for 152 as the tailback tandem of Zach Brown and John Clay combined for 29 carries for just 94 yards (and average of barely 3 yards a carry). Starting QB Scott Tolzien was decent completing 75% of his throws for 257 yards and a TD, but also threw two costly picks. To complicate things further, wunderkid backup Curt Phillips was solid throwing (3-5 24 yards and no INT's) and running (4 carries for 34 yards), so the QB debate will rage on in Madison. Still, despite the shaky start, the Badgers have two more cupcakes to figure things out before their first real test against Michigan State at the end of the month.
Missouri 37 Illinois 9
So maybe Florida fans were right about The Zooker...
On the podcast last week (and if you didn't listen, well, then shame on you!) we discussed (among other things) expectations of a program, and in the case of Florida, Michigan, and Nebraska they had almost ridiculous expectations for their coaches. We had mentioned Ron Zook being a victim of this down in The Swamp when he took over for Steve Spurrier, bringing in a few monster recruiting classes yet ONLY averaging eight wins a year. Zook was shown the door after only three seasons, and the very next season Golden Boy Urban Meyer took a roster of almost entirely Zook's kids and won a National Title. Was the Zooker not given enough time, or was he a great recruiter but not a great game day coach?
Obviously Florida doesn't care either way, since they're doing just fine with The Golden Boy, but after Zook's Illini were wiped off the field Saturday by Missouri, it looks like the Gators' assessment of his coaching abilities might have been correct. Like at Florida, Zook has put together a couple of big recruiting classes, and with a ton of that talent as juniors and seniors, this should have been the year they came through on it. Instead, they were dominated in St Louis by Missouri, who by the way, I definitely overlooked (No Chase Daniel, Jeremy Maclin or Chase Coffman? Apparently, no problem!). Maybe Gary Pinkel has another juggernaut down in Columbia, but it looks like the beginning of another disappointing year in Champaign. Not that Illinois should fire him for this, but maybe this really is what Zook is. And yes I'm still bitter I picked Illinois to go 11-1.
Indiana 19 Eastern Kentucky 13
Well at least they'll win one game!
If you're looking for a bright spot for the Hoosiers, other than that they won't go Oh-fer this year, is that Ben Chappel looked pretty comfortable running the new pistol offense as he was 27-36 for 326 yards. But that's about it. The vaunted ground game that Indiana was sure they had mustered 73 whole yards, and despite Chappel's showing, the offense went scoreless for the final 37 minutes- against the 1-AA Colonels who haven't beaten a 1-A opponent since 1985. Hope you enjoyed the festivities over the weekend there Hoosier fans, because that's probably all you're getting in 2009.
Iowa 17 Northern Iowa 16
Hahahahahahaha!
So what's worse than deserving to lose to Syracuse on the road? How about Iowa having to block not one, but TWO 40 yard field goals in the last seven seconds to cling to a one point win over 1-AA Northern Iowa AT HOME!!! Hey good thing you've got Kirk Ferentz locked up to that long-term contract, because it's not any coach who can miraculously beat a 1-AA school by one point on your home turf. Iowa should be better than that (although honestly, I'm not sure how they get any worse) and maybe that's just the wakeup call they needed before heading to Ames this weekend to play Iowa State, where they've lost four of five times, but so far not so good for a team that had Big Ten title aspirations.
Michigan 31 Western Michigan 7
RichRod's hot seat a little cooler...at least for this week
So much for all of the drama and player discension torpedoing the Michigan program: the Wolverines looked almost as good as coach Rich Rodriguez's old West Virginia teams as they dismantled Western Michigan. Sure, it was only Western Michigan, but it was still an impressive win that will badly take the spotlight off of the Wolverines off-field issues and put it where it belongs on the field. However, with a trip to Noh-tra Dame (as Beano Cook calls it) on the docket this week, they're going to need to be just as impressive.
Michigan State 44 Montana State 3
Taking care of business
Really, what else is there to say? About all we learned about Sparty yesterday is they're much better than the Bobcats, and both of their QB's looked pretty good. But we're not going to know much else, and if they're deserving of being ranked the third best team in the Big Ten, until they start playing some decent teams. But hey, unlike Iowa, at least their fans can rest assured they're far better than a 1-AA team.
Northwestern 47 Towson 13
Ditto
Again, what can you really learn from this, other than the Purple Smart Kids looked far superior to a 1-AA team? Mike Kafka was efficient throwing the ball, and the team scored TD's on their first four possessions, but that's what you're supposed to do against somebody like Towson. We really could go the entire month without really knowing much of anything concrete about the Wildcats because of their pathetic non-conference schedule. Wake me in October.
Ohio State 31 Navy 27
Here we go again
To the credit of the Buckeyes, Navy is a legit 1-A opponent and the wishbone offense is a difficult one to prepare for (the Gophs will find that out Saturday against wishbonin' Air Force), but Buckeye fans can't help but feel uneasy after hanging on for dear life. Ohio State was handed the victory when Midshipmen QB Ricky Dobbs threw a two-point conversion pass that would have tied the game right into the arms of Buckeye defender Brian Rolle, who sprinted the other way for an easy two points to clinch the game. And if Rolle wouldn't have caught it, there were two other Buckeye players waiting right behind him who would. It was unfortunate for Dobbs, who was incredible otherwise, but watch the replay and I have absolutely no idea what Dobbs saw or who he was trying to throw to other than the other team.
Despite the gift INT, and Terrelle Pryor maybe NOT being the second coming of Jesus just yet (14-21 for 174 yards, 1 TD 1 pick and only 30 yards rushing), Ohio State survived. Yet you can't even use the silver lining argument of "well this will take the pressure off of them for next week because now no one will expect them to beat USC and they can be the underdogs". Why? Because this is the same situation the Buckeyes and Trojans faced before last year's week two showdown (Ohio State escaping an inferior opponent while USC romped), and all USC did was roll 35-3. Granted, playing in The Horseshoe instead of at the Coliseum is a big advantage for Ohio State (that place is going to be absolute madhouse Saturday. They'll make USC's posh crowd from a year ago sound like a church congregation), and USC's not going to win by 4+ TD's again, but if the Buckeyes are going to have any chance against the Trojans they're going to need a lot better effort from their offense, who only managed 363 total yards against Navy. That means Pryor's going to need some help.
Penn State 31 Akron 7
Beware the Joe Pa's!
To me it's not THAT Penn State pummeled Akron but HOW they pummeled Akron. There were major questions heading in about Penn State's new o-line and receiving core, and boy did they answer the bell on Saturday. Of course, it helps when you have Daryll Clark running the show, but the Nittany Lion's "Spread HD" rang up 379 passing yards, which was more than they had in any game all of last season when they had their plethora of talented, veteran receivers. Yes, it's only Akron, but then again the Zips are 1-A and a decent MAC squad to boot, so while it's not like Penn State did this against Ohio State, it's not like they did this against Montana State either. Color me impressed and intrigued with the Joe Pa's for 2009.
Purdue 52 Toledo 31
Boilermakers the best of the worst?
Everybody, me included, had Purdue pegged as one of the two worst teams in the Big Ten this year along with instate rivals Indiana. I had them slightly ahead of the Hoosiers, but not by much. While I still don't think they're going to win the Big Ten or be any better than 10th, Purdue looked lightyears ahead of Indiana in their showdown of "Not being the worst team in the conference" for 2009. While IU struggled to beat 1-AA Eastern Kentucky, Purdue throttled MAC opponents Toledo, and Boilermaker fans have to be all smiles after coach Danny Hope's first game. Like Penn State, I was impressed not just that they won, but how they won. Transitioning from the spread passing of Joe Tiller to Hope's more balanced approach, the Boilermakers ran all over the Rockets for 315 yards with Ralph Bolden (21 carries 234 yards 2 TD's). The Boilermakers aren't going to be dominant this year, but I'd be surprised if they're pushovers in the Big Ten this year, and I think they get more than the one Big Ten victory over Indiana. Let's just hope it doesn't come against Minnesota.
Wisconsin 28 Northern Illinois 20
The more things change...
New year, new problems, and some of the same results for Wisconsin, who dominated NIU for three quarters (leading 28-7), before the Huskies stormed back for 2 late TD's to make things much closer than they should have been. Last year Sconnie could run all day but had all sorts of problems throwing the ball. In the win over NIU, the Badgers threw for 281 while only rushing for 152 as the tailback tandem of Zach Brown and John Clay combined for 29 carries for just 94 yards (and average of barely 3 yards a carry). Starting QB Scott Tolzien was decent completing 75% of his throws for 257 yards and a TD, but also threw two costly picks. To complicate things further, wunderkid backup Curt Phillips was solid throwing (3-5 24 yards and no INT's) and running (4 carries for 34 yards), so the QB debate will rage on in Madison. Still, despite the shaky start, the Badgers have two more cupcakes to figure things out before their first real test against Michigan State at the end of the month.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
I hope to never hear the name Paulus again
The best part about the Gophers season opening game against Syracuse on Saturday?
It's over.
I was so pumped for Gopher football on Saturday I could barely sleep on Friday night. Jeffrick and I were both donning our Gopher gear (shorts and t-shirts, unplanned), the Molson Canadian was cracked and we were ready for some football!
I wish that level of excitement had stuck around, because as Jeff has so astutely pointed out, there wasn't much to cheer about for most of the game.
But like I said, it's over, and we win. But mostly, it's over, and thank goodness, because I do not think that I can hear one more word about Greg Paulus. HOLY CRAP! I mean, I get it, he hasn't played competitive football for 4 years, and he played college basketball under Coach K at Duke, and he really learned about preparation and pressure, and he really learned how to lead, and he's quite a young man, and he's quite impressive, and he really seems to have a command of what he's trying to do out there, and he sure is playing well, and he's really giving these fans something to cheer about, and he's just having a great time out there, and boy can he keep the play alive with his scrambling ability, and gosh, and oh golly, and gush, gush, gush.... PUUUUUKE!
Let's cut the crap here: the Gophers looked horrible, and the Orange (the team, not the fruit) was in this game ONLY because the Gophers couldn't get a lick of offense going for 3 quarters. The 14 points that the offense mustered in the first half had more to do with the defense and the special teams than it did with the offense.
Now, I will give Paulus his due: he looked pretty good considering the circumstances. I just got tired of hearing about it.
As for the Gophers,I was highly disappointed with Adam Weber for at least 3/4 of the game, and he should personally plan on buying a cold root beer for every member of the defense because the fact that the defense made the adjustments that it did and held the Orance (the team, not the fruit) scoreless in the second half is the only reason the Gophers even had a chance to win this game.
And let's not forget Eric Ellestad. Weber might want to go ahead and buy that young man a burger and some fries to go with that root beer because while everyone this morning seems to be talking about how Weber really put it together at the end of the game when it counted, I'm here to remind you that it was Eric Ellestad who saved this game for the Gophers.
The chatter over at The Daily Gopher during their live game thread had a lot to do with Weber. While some folks were highly disappointed with Weber early and often, and were calling to see some snaps to MarQueis Gray, some had more issue with the play calling and the offensive line. While both were certainly to blame, I still had more issue with Weber.
As a third year starter Adam Weber did very little (and I'd go with the word "nothing" for 3 quarters) to help the Gophers win this game. As a team the Gophers should be able to look to Weber for leadership and play-making when the going gets rough. Instead, Weber added to, and in a lot of ways, orchestrated the rough going. While many people are talking about how Weber fought back to help the Gophers move the chains at the end of the game, it seems that most people are failing to remember that Weber also happens to be a big part of the reason that the Gophers were in the position to need to come back in the first place.
Weber was most-egregiously inaccurate, but outside of that he also continued to force the ball, continued to not check down his reads and throw exclusively to his first option, and, in my opinion, looked like he was generally, if not lost, at least, confused.
There were clearly other things that did not go well during this game. The defense had some major lapses in the first half, the offensive line was still a big issue, and the play calling was less than creative. But there were some positives here as well.
First of all, this is the kind of game that past Gopher teams would have given up on, and lost. It was good to see the team not give up.
The defense made fantastic adjustments in the second half and gave up no points and only 38 yards the entire half.
Eric Decker was... well, Eric Decker. What else can you say?
All in all, the old adage holds true, a win is a win. We're happy to have the W, but we'll need to see a lot more from the Gophers if they expect to win any more games this season.
It's over.
I was so pumped for Gopher football on Saturday I could barely sleep on Friday night. Jeffrick and I were both donning our Gopher gear (shorts and t-shirts, unplanned), the Molson Canadian was cracked and we were ready for some football!
I wish that level of excitement had stuck around, because as Jeff has so astutely pointed out, there wasn't much to cheer about for most of the game.
But like I said, it's over, and we win. But mostly, it's over, and thank goodness, because I do not think that I can hear one more word about Greg Paulus. HOLY CRAP! I mean, I get it, he hasn't played competitive football for 4 years, and he played college basketball under Coach K at Duke, and he really learned about preparation and pressure, and he really learned how to lead, and he's quite a young man, and he's quite impressive, and he really seems to have a command of what he's trying to do out there, and he sure is playing well, and he's really giving these fans something to cheer about, and he's just having a great time out there, and boy can he keep the play alive with his scrambling ability, and gosh, and oh golly, and gush, gush, gush.... PUUUUUKE!
Let's cut the crap here: the Gophers looked horrible, and the Orange (the team, not the fruit) was in this game ONLY because the Gophers couldn't get a lick of offense going for 3 quarters. The 14 points that the offense mustered in the first half had more to do with the defense and the special teams than it did with the offense.
Now, I will give Paulus his due: he looked pretty good considering the circumstances. I just got tired of hearing about it.
As for the Gophers,I was highly disappointed with Adam Weber for at least 3/4 of the game, and he should personally plan on buying a cold root beer for every member of the defense because the fact that the defense made the adjustments that it did and held the Orance (the team, not the fruit) scoreless in the second half is the only reason the Gophers even had a chance to win this game.
And let's not forget Eric Ellestad. Weber might want to go ahead and buy that young man a burger and some fries to go with that root beer because while everyone this morning seems to be talking about how Weber really put it together at the end of the game when it counted, I'm here to remind you that it was Eric Ellestad who saved this game for the Gophers.
The chatter over at The Daily Gopher during their live game thread had a lot to do with Weber. While some folks were highly disappointed with Weber early and often, and were calling to see some snaps to MarQueis Gray, some had more issue with the play calling and the offensive line. While both were certainly to blame, I still had more issue with Weber.
As a third year starter Adam Weber did very little (and I'd go with the word "nothing" for 3 quarters) to help the Gophers win this game. As a team the Gophers should be able to look to Weber for leadership and play-making when the going gets rough. Instead, Weber added to, and in a lot of ways, orchestrated the rough going. While many people are talking about how Weber fought back to help the Gophers move the chains at the end of the game, it seems that most people are failing to remember that Weber also happens to be a big part of the reason that the Gophers were in the position to need to come back in the first place.
Weber was most-egregiously inaccurate, but outside of that he also continued to force the ball, continued to not check down his reads and throw exclusively to his first option, and, in my opinion, looked like he was generally, if not lost, at least, confused.
There were clearly other things that did not go well during this game. The defense had some major lapses in the first half, the offensive line was still a big issue, and the play calling was less than creative. But there were some positives here as well.
First of all, this is the kind of game that past Gopher teams would have given up on, and lost. It was good to see the team not give up.
The defense made fantastic adjustments in the second half and gave up no points and only 38 yards the entire half.
Eric Decker was... well, Eric Decker. What else can you say?
All in all, the old adage holds true, a win is a win. We're happy to have the W, but we'll need to see a lot more from the Gophers if they expect to win any more games this season.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
A Win that Feels Like a Loss
Well that was awful. Jer and I sat through that game, drinking our Molson Canadian, in an almost quiet state of shock. After coaching changes on both sides of the ball, after such a promising spring with guys like MarQueis Gray and Troy Stoudermire looking ready to explode, an offense that appeared on the brink, and a defense that seemed loaded with confidence...we ended up seeing a team today that looked a lot like the Gopher squad which stumbled through the second half of last season. It certainly felt like last year watching them.
Sure, I'll take the overtime win instead of a 55-0 drubbing or a blowout bowl loss to Kansas, but if the Gophers play the way they did today against anybody else on their schedule except South Dakota State, they're going to lose. They deserved to lose today. Syracuse saved them by snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. For as much as the ESPN 2 announcing crew praised Paulus like he was the second coming of Brett Favre (Jer used a slightly more vulgar term that I can't repeat here), perhaps it was fitting that Paulus lost the game on a Favre-like killer interception in overtime. Yet despite that, Paulus DID play pretty well (he was maddeningly effective at scrambling to keep a play alive), as did his entire team. That defense looked ferocious, and played with such a chip on their shoulder it was like they had been forced to read each and every internet article that said how terrible The Cuse were supposed to be this year, and were out to prove them wrong.
Offensively Paulus was pretty decent, and the Orange staff had a very smart and simple game plan in the first half for him to complete short, quick routes and bubble screens to move the ball and build his confidence. It worked to perfection for the first half at least. Their line, which as the announcers rightly pointed out was supposed to be their weak link, certainly was not, while they ran the ball effectively and Mike Williams, once he gets another game or so under his belt, is going to be good. Syracuse very well could be a bowl team this year, so it's not like the Gophers had the same scare Iowa did today (good lord almighty! The Hawkeyes had to block not one but TWO 40 yard field goal attempts in the last seven seconds. The horseshoes they pulled out of their asses after the game must be colored black and gold), but there was a LOT more to be worried about than to feel good about.
Where to even begin? There was so much I was troubled by, including all of the false start penalties and dumb mistakes which just scream that the coaches didn't have their kids prepared to play today. We can hash out all of that later in the week, but for now, let's just focus on the problem everyone probably can and should look at, and that's with Adam Weber. He was awful. He looked just as lost as he did in the second half of last year. When he wasn't missing open receivers, he was forcing the ball to Eric Decker. It's a damn good thing Decker is one of the best receivers in the country (there's only a handful of guys who could have made that second half catch down the sideline in double coverage), but Weber must have targeted him on at least 75% of his throws. What the hell happened to all of these other receiving weapons Brewster bragging about? Stoudermire and Brandon Green looked pretty good on the rare occasions they were thrown the ball. And Hayo! Carpenter? Did he even see the field? Brewster wants to talk about what a playmaker and weapon this guy is and he rides pine all game? We'll find out how much of this what Weber locking in on one guy, and how much of it was Jedd Fisch's playcalling. I believe more of that should be faulted to Weber, because the only time he threw to someone other than #7 was when it was his first read. He only hit Green, Stoudermire, and his one completion to Tow-Arnett when those guys looked to be his first read on short routes.
And if that's the case, that your third year starter junior quarterback is only capable in making throws to his first read (and please prove me wrong, but I saw zero ability from Weber to scramble and keep a play alive in the pocket, which was something Paulus did very, very well), then why don't we just hand the team over to Grey and be done with it? Is it because Brew doesn't trust Grey, or is he just that loyal to Weber? Just like Brew raved about his weapons at receiver and talked about how they were all going to get involved, we also heard non-stop about the Wildcat formation and how they had all of these special packages and plays drawn up for MarQueis. Really? Where were they? Grey took a total of zero snaps today. None. They ran the "Wildcat" only once to my recollection, and it was with Stoudermire behind center.
By far my biggest question for Coach Brewster and his staff is where was Grey? Where? The kid has a world of talent, your starter SHOULD have cost you the game, and yet not only was he reluctant to give Weber the hook, he wouldn't even put Grey in the game? The offense was staggnant for the most part and had a lot of trouble moving the ball, so why not bring Grey in for a series to run the Wildcat or something else to switch it up? Just Syracuse something else to try and keep them off balance. I'm interested to hear Brewster's response, and I hope he has a good answer.
Ok I'm going to go mow the lawn and drink some more Molson and try to calm down. As bad as we looked today and as much as this felt like 2008 all over again, the defense did play pretty well in the second half once they settled in, and it actually looked like we could run the ball. Even though it doesn't feel like it, we're 1-0, and we open a brand new GORGEOUS football stadium next week against an Air Force opponent we should beat. Let's hope the coaches figure things out and get it together for next Saturday. And let's hope Adam Weber gets his mojo back.
Sure, I'll take the overtime win instead of a 55-0 drubbing or a blowout bowl loss to Kansas, but if the Gophers play the way they did today against anybody else on their schedule except South Dakota State, they're going to lose. They deserved to lose today. Syracuse saved them by snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. For as much as the ESPN 2 announcing crew praised Paulus like he was the second coming of Brett Favre (Jer used a slightly more vulgar term that I can't repeat here), perhaps it was fitting that Paulus lost the game on a Favre-like killer interception in overtime. Yet despite that, Paulus DID play pretty well (he was maddeningly effective at scrambling to keep a play alive), as did his entire team. That defense looked ferocious, and played with such a chip on their shoulder it was like they had been forced to read each and every internet article that said how terrible The Cuse were supposed to be this year, and were out to prove them wrong.
Offensively Paulus was pretty decent, and the Orange staff had a very smart and simple game plan in the first half for him to complete short, quick routes and bubble screens to move the ball and build his confidence. It worked to perfection for the first half at least. Their line, which as the announcers rightly pointed out was supposed to be their weak link, certainly was not, while they ran the ball effectively and Mike Williams, once he gets another game or so under his belt, is going to be good. Syracuse very well could be a bowl team this year, so it's not like the Gophers had the same scare Iowa did today (good lord almighty! The Hawkeyes had to block not one but TWO 40 yard field goal attempts in the last seven seconds. The horseshoes they pulled out of their asses after the game must be colored black and gold), but there was a LOT more to be worried about than to feel good about.
Where to even begin? There was so much I was troubled by, including all of the false start penalties and dumb mistakes which just scream that the coaches didn't have their kids prepared to play today. We can hash out all of that later in the week, but for now, let's just focus on the problem everyone probably can and should look at, and that's with Adam Weber. He was awful. He looked just as lost as he did in the second half of last year. When he wasn't missing open receivers, he was forcing the ball to Eric Decker. It's a damn good thing Decker is one of the best receivers in the country (there's only a handful of guys who could have made that second half catch down the sideline in double coverage), but Weber must have targeted him on at least 75% of his throws. What the hell happened to all of these other receiving weapons Brewster bragging about? Stoudermire and Brandon Green looked pretty good on the rare occasions they were thrown the ball. And Hayo! Carpenter? Did he even see the field? Brewster wants to talk about what a playmaker and weapon this guy is and he rides pine all game? We'll find out how much of this what Weber locking in on one guy, and how much of it was Jedd Fisch's playcalling. I believe more of that should be faulted to Weber, because the only time he threw to someone other than #7 was when it was his first read. He only hit Green, Stoudermire, and his one completion to Tow-Arnett when those guys looked to be his first read on short routes.
And if that's the case, that your third year starter junior quarterback is only capable in making throws to his first read (and please prove me wrong, but I saw zero ability from Weber to scramble and keep a play alive in the pocket, which was something Paulus did very, very well), then why don't we just hand the team over to Grey and be done with it? Is it because Brew doesn't trust Grey, or is he just that loyal to Weber? Just like Brew raved about his weapons at receiver and talked about how they were all going to get involved, we also heard non-stop about the Wildcat formation and how they had all of these special packages and plays drawn up for MarQueis. Really? Where were they? Grey took a total of zero snaps today. None. They ran the "Wildcat" only once to my recollection, and it was with Stoudermire behind center.
By far my biggest question for Coach Brewster and his staff is where was Grey? Where? The kid has a world of talent, your starter SHOULD have cost you the game, and yet not only was he reluctant to give Weber the hook, he wouldn't even put Grey in the game? The offense was staggnant for the most part and had a lot of trouble moving the ball, so why not bring Grey in for a series to run the Wildcat or something else to switch it up? Just Syracuse something else to try and keep them off balance. I'm interested to hear Brewster's response, and I hope he has a good answer.
Ok I'm going to go mow the lawn and drink some more Molson and try to calm down. As bad as we looked today and as much as this felt like 2008 all over again, the defense did play pretty well in the second half once they settled in, and it actually looked like we could run the ball. Even though it doesn't feel like it, we're 1-0, and we open a brand new GORGEOUS football stadium next week against an Air Force opponent we should beat. Let's hope the coaches figure things out and get it together for next Saturday. And let's hope Adam Weber gets his mojo back.
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