Jeffrick and I had some fun with watching some Nacho Libre clips during this week's podcast. We even enlightened you with Nacho's "Encarnacion" song. You're welcome!
In this vein, I thought it might be fun to give away some mid-season awards to the Gopher Football team based on quotes from the movie Nacho Libre.
So, here now, for your reading pleasure, the 2009 Gopher Football Mid-Season Nachos.
The "I was wondering if you would like to join me in my quarters this night... for some toast" Award goes to...
Ryan Collado. For getting burned so many times on so many passing plays. Collado does a fine job in run defense, but when it comes to pass defense, he could use a little help. Congratulations Ryan!
The "They think I do not know a buttload of crap about the Gospel, but I do!" Award goes to...
MarQueis Gray. Clearly Jedd Fisch and Tim Brewster think that Gray doesn't know a buttload of crap about the offense... but he does! Or at least we'd like to think so. Later in the movie Nacho proves himself as a worthy man, who understands the gospel. We can only hope the same for MarQueis. Congratulations MarQueis!
The "Your only job is to cook. Do you not realize I have had diarrhea since Easters?" Award goes to...
The offensive line. Outside of the Purdue game, the O-line has given me bouts of stomach difficulties. We knew the O-line might be a word in progress, but their only job is to block (just kidding, I realize there's more to it than this). Because of the new emphasis on running, Tim Davis, and another year of experience, I really thought that the line would be much better this season, but we haven't seen it yet. Congratulations Offensive Line!
The "I know the wrestlers get all the fancy ladies, and the clothes, and the fancy creams and lotions. But my life is good! Really good! I get to wake up every morning, at 5AM, and make some soup! It's the best. I love it. I get to lay in a bed, all by myself, all of my life! That's fantastic!" Award goes to...
Everybody on the Gophers offense NOT named Decker. With 46 receptions Eric Decker leads the team... no surprise there. But the next closest in receptions? Nick Tow-Arnett with... 13. In fact, Decker has as many receptions as the next 5 players (Tow-Arnett, Green, Stoudemire, Bennett, Hoese) on the list COMBINED. Decker is the best WR in the Big Ten, so of course he is going to have the most catches, and I have no problem with that. But the other guys want some love too. So, with that in mind... Congratulations Everybody on the Gophers offense NOT named Decker!
The "So anyways, let's get down to the nitty gritty... Who is this Encarnación?" Award goes to...
Tim Brewster (with Honorable Mention to Jedd Fisch). Six games into the 2009 campaign and we still really have no idea who this team is. We've seen flashes of brilliance from the defense, but inconsistency in pass defense. We've seen games where we blitz a lot to keep the opposing offense off balance, but we've seen games where we get very little pressure. We've seen games where we run the ball well, and we've seen games where we pass the ball well... but we haven't seen any games where we do both. We've seen games where our special teams has a huge impact, and we've seen games where we shoot ourselves in the foot with penalties. Just who is this team, what is their identity? Congratulations Tim Brewster!
The "Do you remember the time when everyone was screaming my name, and I used my strength to rip my blouse?" Award goes to...
TCF Bank Stadium, "The Bank." This football team now has a fantastic stadium to play its games in and entertain its fans in. The crowds in The Bank are really fired up, and it carries over to the players on the field. People are screaming for the team, and it's amplified by the atmosphere of the stadium. Congrats to The Bank!
The "I looked like a fool last night. What took you so long!?" Award goes to...
Slow starts. Jeffrick and I discussed it in this week's podcast, but what is going on with this team starting so slowly? The defense seems to take 2-3 series to settle into the game plan or to acclimate themselves with what the other team is doing (which killed us against Cal), and the offense has struggled to move the ball early as well. What's taking them so long? Congratulations Slow Starts!
Congratulations again to all of our winners! And now, your local news...
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
New Podcast
A new podcast is available to your right... just click the play button!
We recap Purdue, talk about the Big Ten, preview this week's tilt with the Nittany Lions, and spend a LOT of time talking about Adam Weber... a lot.
Enjoy, and as always your feedback is appreciated. We like doing the podcast. For us, recording the podcast is like stretchy pants, which, when you are man, sometimes you wear in your room. It's for fun.
We recap Purdue, talk about the Big Ten, preview this week's tilt with the Nittany Lions, and spend a LOT of time talking about Adam Weber... a lot.
Enjoy, and as always your feedback is appreciated. We like doing the podcast. For us, recording the podcast is like stretchy pants, which, when you are man, sometimes you wear in your room. It's for fun.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The Adam Weber Era is Over
I'd like to thank Adam Weber for his services as the starting quarterback for the University of Minnesota. In Adam's two plus years as a starter he's admirably guided the offense, and the team, through an often difficult transition of change from one coaching staff to another, and has had not one, not two, but three different offensive coordinators in his three years as a starter. Despite those obstacles, he helped guide the team from a one win squad in 2007 to a bowl season last year, and halfway through this season has them at a 4-2 record and are in position for another bowl season. Adam, you gave all you could for the team under some tough circumstances, and have helped stabilize the program. If/when/hopefully Coach Brew leads us to Pasadena someday soon, we'll look back and know you were the quarterback who stepped up and helped us through the rocky years. For that we are forever grateful to you.
But the time has come to step aside, grab a clipboard and make way for the future, and the present. It's time for the starting quarterback job to go to freshman MarQueis Gray.
Am I over-reacting to Weber's abhorrent performance against Purdue? Partly, but not totally. If you've read us at all, you know we're not big fans of Adam Weber, and thus far he's done absolutely nothing to prove us wrong. Nothing. For me, Saturday's win DESPITE Weber proved the time is now to make the transition to a vastly more talented but inexperienced Gray, and start getting the kid ready to lead us to a New Year's Day bowl and hopefully beyond.
Before all of you Weber lovers start rolling your eyes, let me show you some numbers. You know, some facts to back up my opinion. I don't always love E!SPN, but their player profile pages have some good information. Here's Adam Weber's stats, and the numbers don't lie: in his third season as a starter in the Big Ten, with MORE talent around him than he's ever had, he's not getting better- he's getting worse. His numbers through six games look like this:
96 COMP 168 ATT 1224 yards 57.1% Comp% 7.29 YPA 6 TD 8 INT 14 SACKS 120.61 QB Rating
What does a QB rating of 120.61 mean? I have no idea, other than it ranks 84th in the country and second worst in the conference this year. Only Juice Williams of Illinois, who is making Jamarcus Russell in Oakland look competent by comparison, is worse, and Williams got benched last week. In the Big Ten, Weber's 57.1% completion percentage is third worst, his 8 interceptions are tied for second worst and his 14 sacks allowed are tied for the worst in the conference.
I can also tell you that through six games this is so far the worst of his three years as a starter, and again, this is with more talent than he's ever had. If you project his stats out for the rest of the year, every meaningful stat except yards per pass in 2009 will be down from his first two years. Well except two- interceptions and sacks taken. See for yourself:
Passing Yards
2007: 2895
2008: 2761
2009 (Projected over 12 games): 2440
Completion %
2007: 57.5
2008: 62.2
2009: 57.1
Touchdowns
2007: 24
2008: 15
2009: 12
Interceptions
2007: 19
2008: 8
2009: 16
Sacks Taken
2007: 13
2008: 31
2009: 28
Obviously some of his numbers, like attempts, completions and yards, are down because we're finally able to run the ball more effectively, so he's not being asked to throw as much. So if that's the case and he's being asked to do less than past years, shouldn't he be more accurate, turning the ball over less and taking less sacks? Especially for a guy who's in his third year as a starter, and again, PLAYING WITH MORE TALENT THAN EVER?!?! Only twice this year has he had a completion percentage over 60 (a very efficient 69% in the win over Air Force and 65.6% in the loss to Cal), and only once, in the win over Northwestern, has he thrown more TD's in a game than picks.
Ladies and gentlemen, Adam Weber may be gutsy and saavy and a veteran leader, and whatever other intangible phrases you want to use: but what he is not is a very good quarterback, and six games- HALF THE SEASON- into his third year as a starter he's getting worse, not better. He is what he is: a gutsy native Minnesotan who is short on talent but long on heart and leadership. I know his teammates love him and think the world of him, and Brewster has been way too supportive of him, but this is what he is. This is his ceiling, and it's an inefficient quarterback who completes less than 60% of his passes, throws more INT's than TD's, and he's an average runner at best (In his first two seasons when there were more designed runs for him, his numbers were better but not great: he averaged a very respectable 4.2 yards per carry as a freshman but last year, just 1.8 yards per carry).
We know what Adam Weber can do, and we've seen the peak of his ability. For the good of the team this season, and especially for the future, it's time to see what freshman MarQueis Gray can do. We know Gray was the second rated dual-threat quarterback coming out of high school, and at 6'4 and 235 pounds with good speed and a big arm, he projects to have much more talent and has the potential to be better than Weber. Much better. Weber at best is a caretaker, whereas Gray could be a gamebreaker. He's just a freshman who has thrown one incomplete pass and has a few QB keepers out of the wildcat this year, but it's time to unleash him and see what happens.
Honestly, you would not be throwing in the towel on the 2009 season because it would be hard for Gray to be much worse than Weber has been. Look at the gametapes and look what they're asking Weber to do, and Gray can and should be able to to do the same: find #7 as often as humanly possible. I don't buy all of this "Weber to Decker roommate telekenesis connection" people are talking about. That's bubkis. Eric Decker is SO good he catches anything within a three block radius of him, and even if he's double-covered he's shown he can make plays if the ball is anywhere near him. Really, the only time Weber doesn't go to Decker is if he's told to, and the designed play is to look somewhere else, usually tightend Nick Tow-Arnett down the seam, first. His throws to Tow-Arnett, Brandon Green and Troy Stoudermire have almost all been on first reads on quick patterns. And Weber has thrown behind enough guys- often when they're open- to make me think Gray couldn't do much worse.
We're seeing with Terrelle Pryor at Ohio State (the guy who was rated as the #1 dual threat QB ahead of Gray) that a four or five star blue-chip ranking out of high school doesn't automatically make you an instant success at quarterback. Gray's not going to be an All-American out of the gate, but Gray might not struggle as much as Pryor either considering he has a much better weapon in Decker and some nice complementary pieces to go along with him. Put Gray in, run some more wildcat and QB option looks to get him comfortable and take advantage of his ridiculous athleticism, and when he throws, ask him to do pretty much what you're asking of Weber: look for #7 as often as possible, except when we tell you not to and run plays with first-read quick hit routes for someone else.
Gray couldn't be much worse than Weber's been, and his ceiling is much, much higher. And think about next year: I don't care if Weber is a senior or not next year, but Gray should be allowed to compete for the starting spot in the spring, and if he's given a real chance, he's going to win it. So why not get his feet wet this year, and help make him even better for 2010 and beyond? Sure, it'd be a steep learning curve, but he couldn't hurt the Gophers anymore this season than Weber has, and his upside is far greater.
So thanks again to Adam Weber for all you've done for this program, but the MarQueis Gray Era should begin now.
But the time has come to step aside, grab a clipboard and make way for the future, and the present. It's time for the starting quarterback job to go to freshman MarQueis Gray.
Am I over-reacting to Weber's abhorrent performance against Purdue? Partly, but not totally. If you've read us at all, you know we're not big fans of Adam Weber, and thus far he's done absolutely nothing to prove us wrong. Nothing. For me, Saturday's win DESPITE Weber proved the time is now to make the transition to a vastly more talented but inexperienced Gray, and start getting the kid ready to lead us to a New Year's Day bowl and hopefully beyond.
Before all of you Weber lovers start rolling your eyes, let me show you some numbers. You know, some facts to back up my opinion. I don't always love E!SPN, but their player profile pages have some good information. Here's Adam Weber's stats, and the numbers don't lie: in his third season as a starter in the Big Ten, with MORE talent around him than he's ever had, he's not getting better- he's getting worse. His numbers through six games look like this:
96 COMP 168 ATT 1224 yards 57.1% Comp% 7.29 YPA 6 TD 8 INT 14 SACKS 120.61 QB Rating
What does a QB rating of 120.61 mean? I have no idea, other than it ranks 84th in the country and second worst in the conference this year. Only Juice Williams of Illinois, who is making Jamarcus Russell in Oakland look competent by comparison, is worse, and Williams got benched last week. In the Big Ten, Weber's 57.1% completion percentage is third worst, his 8 interceptions are tied for second worst and his 14 sacks allowed are tied for the worst in the conference.
I can also tell you that through six games this is so far the worst of his three years as a starter, and again, this is with more talent than he's ever had. If you project his stats out for the rest of the year, every meaningful stat except yards per pass in 2009 will be down from his first two years. Well except two- interceptions and sacks taken. See for yourself:
Passing Yards
2007: 2895
2008: 2761
2009 (Projected over 12 games): 2440
Completion %
2007: 57.5
2008: 62.2
2009: 57.1
Touchdowns
2007: 24
2008: 15
2009: 12
Interceptions
2007: 19
2008: 8
2009: 16
Sacks Taken
2007: 13
2008: 31
2009: 28
Obviously some of his numbers, like attempts, completions and yards, are down because we're finally able to run the ball more effectively, so he's not being asked to throw as much. So if that's the case and he's being asked to do less than past years, shouldn't he be more accurate, turning the ball over less and taking less sacks? Especially for a guy who's in his third year as a starter, and again, PLAYING WITH MORE TALENT THAN EVER?!?! Only twice this year has he had a completion percentage over 60 (a very efficient 69% in the win over Air Force and 65.6% in the loss to Cal), and only once, in the win over Northwestern, has he thrown more TD's in a game than picks.
Ladies and gentlemen, Adam Weber may be gutsy and saavy and a veteran leader, and whatever other intangible phrases you want to use: but what he is not is a very good quarterback, and six games- HALF THE SEASON- into his third year as a starter he's getting worse, not better. He is what he is: a gutsy native Minnesotan who is short on talent but long on heart and leadership. I know his teammates love him and think the world of him, and Brewster has been way too supportive of him, but this is what he is. This is his ceiling, and it's an inefficient quarterback who completes less than 60% of his passes, throws more INT's than TD's, and he's an average runner at best (In his first two seasons when there were more designed runs for him, his numbers were better but not great: he averaged a very respectable 4.2 yards per carry as a freshman but last year, just 1.8 yards per carry).
We know what Adam Weber can do, and we've seen the peak of his ability. For the good of the team this season, and especially for the future, it's time to see what freshman MarQueis Gray can do. We know Gray was the second rated dual-threat quarterback coming out of high school, and at 6'4 and 235 pounds with good speed and a big arm, he projects to have much more talent and has the potential to be better than Weber. Much better. Weber at best is a caretaker, whereas Gray could be a gamebreaker. He's just a freshman who has thrown one incomplete pass and has a few QB keepers out of the wildcat this year, but it's time to unleash him and see what happens.
Honestly, you would not be throwing in the towel on the 2009 season because it would be hard for Gray to be much worse than Weber has been. Look at the gametapes and look what they're asking Weber to do, and Gray can and should be able to to do the same: find #7 as often as humanly possible. I don't buy all of this "Weber to Decker roommate telekenesis connection" people are talking about. That's bubkis. Eric Decker is SO good he catches anything within a three block radius of him, and even if he's double-covered he's shown he can make plays if the ball is anywhere near him. Really, the only time Weber doesn't go to Decker is if he's told to, and the designed play is to look somewhere else, usually tightend Nick Tow-Arnett down the seam, first. His throws to Tow-Arnett, Brandon Green and Troy Stoudermire have almost all been on first reads on quick patterns. And Weber has thrown behind enough guys- often when they're open- to make me think Gray couldn't do much worse.
We're seeing with Terrelle Pryor at Ohio State (the guy who was rated as the #1 dual threat QB ahead of Gray) that a four or five star blue-chip ranking out of high school doesn't automatically make you an instant success at quarterback. Gray's not going to be an All-American out of the gate, but Gray might not struggle as much as Pryor either considering he has a much better weapon in Decker and some nice complementary pieces to go along with him. Put Gray in, run some more wildcat and QB option looks to get him comfortable and take advantage of his ridiculous athleticism, and when he throws, ask him to do pretty much what you're asking of Weber: look for #7 as often as possible, except when we tell you not to and run plays with first-read quick hit routes for someone else.
Gray couldn't be much worse than Weber's been, and his ceiling is much, much higher. And think about next year: I don't care if Weber is a senior or not next year, but Gray should be allowed to compete for the starting spot in the spring, and if he's given a real chance, he's going to win it. So why not get his feet wet this year, and help make him even better for 2010 and beyond? Sure, it'd be a steep learning curve, but he couldn't hurt the Gophers anymore this season than Weber has, and his upside is far greater.
So thanks again to Adam Weber for all you've done for this program, but the MarQueis Gray Era should begin now.
Monday, October 12, 2009
GFB Top 25 Poll: Week 7
Merry Christmas everyone! Oh wait...it's Columbus Day and not Christmas Day? Have you looked outside? It's snowing and below freezing. We're sure this isn't late December instead of early October? Really? Ok, just checking. Some big-time statement games for the top two teams in the country over the weekend, and this weekend #3 Texas will get a chance to stake its claim to join them. Auburn was the only ranked team to lose to an unranked opponent, so like last week there's not going to be a lot of reshuffling.
As always, here's the polls that matter
Onto the Gopher Football Blog Top 25...
1. Alabama (6-0)
2. Florida (5-0)
3. Texas (5-0)
4. Virginia Tech (5-1)
5. USC (4-1)
6. Ohio State (5-1)
7. Cincinnati (5-0)
8. Iowa (6-0)
9. Miami (4-1)
10. LSU (5-1)
11. TCU (5-0)
12. BYU (5-1)
13. Boise State (5-0)
14. Kansas (5-0)
15. Oregon (5-1)
16. Nebraska (4-1)
17. Georgia Tech (5-1)
18. Oklahoma (3-2)
19. South Carolina (5-1)
20. South Florida (5-0)
21. Houston (5-1)
22. Oklahoma State (4-1)
23. Auburn (5-1)
24. Wisconsin (5-1)
25. Penn State (5-1)
Dropped Out: 23. Ole Miss (3-2) 24. Georgia (3-3)
The Top Two
Saturday left no doubt that the two best teams in the SEC, as well as in all of college football, are Alabama and Florida. I did not bump Florida over Bama for beating 4th ranked LSU because Bama's win over Virginia Tech, even on a neutral field, is still more impressive than Florida's win Saturday AND the Tide have played a better schedule thus far. I also still believe that on a neutral field-oh, say maybe the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on December 5th?- Bama would beat the Gators. They may be the only team whose defense is good enough to expose Florida's subpar passing game. Hopefully these two don't screw it up and we get to see them settle it on the field in the SEC title game.
A Distant Third
Does Texas belong in the same class as the top two? Not even remotely if we judge by what's happened thus far. And barring a blowout of Oklahoma at the ol' Texas State Fair this Saturday night, I don't see that perception changing. Texas' D is good, but not at the level of the Tide or Gators, and Colt McCoy so far has not been able to find the magic he had last year. He'll need it against the Real McCoy- Oklahoma DT Gerald and a really good Sooner defense. Oh and getting that Bradford guy back at QB certainly won't hurt OU's chances either.
The Next Three
Everybody moves up a spot with LSU's loss, and I still think Virginia Tech's the best of this group. IF Texas stumbles, Frank Beamer's team should be first in line for a shot at the national championship, although IF Texas loses, we're going to get a very interesting argument of whether we shouldn't just have a do-over of the SEC title game. USC can get a huge public perception makeover with a win Saturday against vastly overrated Notre Dame, and Ohio State, despite an offense as gruesome as the latest Saw movie, is right back in the top six thanks to another very strong defense. They were on the field for 40 minuites against a big, physical Wisconsin team, but still had their way with the Badgers. The Buckeyes won't win pretty, but they WILL win the Big Ten again because nobody in the conference has the offense to score enough on them to win- and yes that definitely includes Iowa. The Hawkeyes D is good, but not as good as Ohio State's, and their offense is about as suspect.
7-12
If Cincinnati wins out this is as high as the Bearcats will go for me- barring, of course, two losses for the top three, and another loss for the next three. Brian Kelly's team looks really, really good, but in that conference we're just not going to get enough evidence that they're better than anybody ahead of them until the bowl games. Still, whereas last year you couldn't pay me to watch Cincinnati in a BCS bowl (or anyone else for that matter, as Orange Bowl tickets last year were going for a dollar and they STILL couldn't sell them!), I'll be interested to watch them this year. Iowa has their marquee game in mid November at Ohio State, and if they win that one, they're into the top 6 for sure, but we've still got a LONG ways to go for that to happen. Miami's been more impressive than LSU, but I can't and won't drop LSU any further without another loss. I also can't see moving up TCU or BYU unless more teams ahead of them lose.
Boise State
Enjoy lucky #13, Broncos! You're not going any higher the rest of the year no matter what happens. And yes, I WILL move Oregon ahead of you if they beat USC and win the Pac 10. Deal with it.
14-18
I did do some reshuffling here. Kansas stays put while Oregon, Nebraska, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma make big jumps. Why? Because they've played better than everyone below them against tougher competition.
19-25: A Bunch of Crap
Not much to distinguish anybody here. South Florida enters the poll, but could make a quick exit if they get whacked Thursday night by Cincinnati. Houston is back in because, honestly, who the hell else can you put in here right now? There are NOT 25 teams deserving to be ranked. There's a top 18 and then a bunch of crap after that. Nobody really wants to set themselves apart with their play on the field or, in Penn State's case, with their scheduling. I just can't defend the Nittany Lions scheduling any longer, which is why they're all the way down to #25. Yes, they're even behind Wisconsin, but the Badgers wins, as well as their loss, have been of better quality than Penn State's. When the Joe Pas play and beat a decent opponent, I'll move them up but not until then. Putting Houston back in the poll meant I had to drop Oklahoma State behind them. Their resumes are pretty similar, and the Cougars beat the Cowboys, and because I don't believe Houston belongs in the Top 18, then neither does Oklahoma State. For now. Obviously the Cowpokes sched is going to be tougher than the Cougs, so if OSU keeps winning, I'll move them ahead of Houston eventually. Finally, I'm not dropping Auburn or Wisconsin out of the top 25 for losing because I don't like any of the replacements any better right now.
As always, here's the polls that matter
Onto the Gopher Football Blog Top 25...
1. Alabama (6-0)
2. Florida (5-0)
3. Texas (5-0)
4. Virginia Tech (5-1)
5. USC (4-1)
6. Ohio State (5-1)
7. Cincinnati (5-0)
8. Iowa (6-0)
9. Miami (4-1)
10. LSU (5-1)
11. TCU (5-0)
12. BYU (5-1)
13. Boise State (5-0)
14. Kansas (5-0)
15. Oregon (5-1)
16. Nebraska (4-1)
17. Georgia Tech (5-1)
18. Oklahoma (3-2)
19. South Carolina (5-1)
20. South Florida (5-0)
21. Houston (5-1)
22. Oklahoma State (4-1)
23. Auburn (5-1)
24. Wisconsin (5-1)
25. Penn State (5-1)
Dropped Out: 23. Ole Miss (3-2) 24. Georgia (3-3)
The Top Two
Saturday left no doubt that the two best teams in the SEC, as well as in all of college football, are Alabama and Florida. I did not bump Florida over Bama for beating 4th ranked LSU because Bama's win over Virginia Tech, even on a neutral field, is still more impressive than Florida's win Saturday AND the Tide have played a better schedule thus far. I also still believe that on a neutral field-oh, say maybe the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on December 5th?- Bama would beat the Gators. They may be the only team whose defense is good enough to expose Florida's subpar passing game. Hopefully these two don't screw it up and we get to see them settle it on the field in the SEC title game.
A Distant Third
Does Texas belong in the same class as the top two? Not even remotely if we judge by what's happened thus far. And barring a blowout of Oklahoma at the ol' Texas State Fair this Saturday night, I don't see that perception changing. Texas' D is good, but not at the level of the Tide or Gators, and Colt McCoy so far has not been able to find the magic he had last year. He'll need it against the Real McCoy- Oklahoma DT Gerald and a really good Sooner defense. Oh and getting that Bradford guy back at QB certainly won't hurt OU's chances either.
The Next Three
Everybody moves up a spot with LSU's loss, and I still think Virginia Tech's the best of this group. IF Texas stumbles, Frank Beamer's team should be first in line for a shot at the national championship, although IF Texas loses, we're going to get a very interesting argument of whether we shouldn't just have a do-over of the SEC title game. USC can get a huge public perception makeover with a win Saturday against vastly overrated Notre Dame, and Ohio State, despite an offense as gruesome as the latest Saw movie, is right back in the top six thanks to another very strong defense. They were on the field for 40 minuites against a big, physical Wisconsin team, but still had their way with the Badgers. The Buckeyes won't win pretty, but they WILL win the Big Ten again because nobody in the conference has the offense to score enough on them to win- and yes that definitely includes Iowa. The Hawkeyes D is good, but not as good as Ohio State's, and their offense is about as suspect.
7-12
If Cincinnati wins out this is as high as the Bearcats will go for me- barring, of course, two losses for the top three, and another loss for the next three. Brian Kelly's team looks really, really good, but in that conference we're just not going to get enough evidence that they're better than anybody ahead of them until the bowl games. Still, whereas last year you couldn't pay me to watch Cincinnati in a BCS bowl (or anyone else for that matter, as Orange Bowl tickets last year were going for a dollar and they STILL couldn't sell them!), I'll be interested to watch them this year. Iowa has their marquee game in mid November at Ohio State, and if they win that one, they're into the top 6 for sure, but we've still got a LONG ways to go for that to happen. Miami's been more impressive than LSU, but I can't and won't drop LSU any further without another loss. I also can't see moving up TCU or BYU unless more teams ahead of them lose.
Boise State
Enjoy lucky #13, Broncos! You're not going any higher the rest of the year no matter what happens. And yes, I WILL move Oregon ahead of you if they beat USC and win the Pac 10. Deal with it.
14-18
I did do some reshuffling here. Kansas stays put while Oregon, Nebraska, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma make big jumps. Why? Because they've played better than everyone below them against tougher competition.
19-25: A Bunch of Crap
Not much to distinguish anybody here. South Florida enters the poll, but could make a quick exit if they get whacked Thursday night by Cincinnati. Houston is back in because, honestly, who the hell else can you put in here right now? There are NOT 25 teams deserving to be ranked. There's a top 18 and then a bunch of crap after that. Nobody really wants to set themselves apart with their play on the field or, in Penn State's case, with their scheduling. I just can't defend the Nittany Lions scheduling any longer, which is why they're all the way down to #25. Yes, they're even behind Wisconsin, but the Badgers wins, as well as their loss, have been of better quality than Penn State's. When the Joe Pas play and beat a decent opponent, I'll move them up but not until then. Putting Houston back in the poll meant I had to drop Oklahoma State behind them. Their resumes are pretty similar, and the Cougars beat the Cowboys, and because I don't believe Houston belongs in the Top 18, then neither does Oklahoma State. For now. Obviously the Cowpokes sched is going to be tougher than the Cougs, so if OSU keeps winning, I'll move them ahead of Houston eventually. Finally, I'm not dropping Auburn or Wisconsin out of the top 25 for losing because I don't like any of the replacements any better right now.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
It Was the Best of Times and the Worst of Times
Hayo!!! Now THAT's what a homecoming game is supposed to be! A Gopher blowout in front of a sellout crowd at The Bank complete with below freezing weather and snow!!! Wait, ok, maybe not the last part. Yep, Jer and I were both there (although in different sections. Thanks again to my realtor Chris Gemlo for letting my wife and I sit with him and his wife Lisa in his seats. GREAT view of my first live game at TCF Bank stadium) and we were both apart of a chilly but fired up crowd. Look, I understand it's going to be cold and snowy in Minnesota- BUT ON OCTOBER 10th?!?!?!?!?! Good gracious, if it was this cold with snow on October 10th in Antartica even the penguins would be like "ok, this is a little ridiculous!" I LOVE the outdoor stadium and the entire experience, but can't winter wait until, you know, winter?
One other comment before we get to the actual game- it was an announced sellout of just over 50,000 but there were two almost entirely empty sections in the upper deck endzone where the student section is SUPPOSED to be. Look, the student section in the lower bowl end zone was full BEFORE kickoff (which, if you've been to games at the Metrodome you know never happened), and for the students who used their tickets in the upper deck were fired up and leading the charge the entire game. The student section stood the ENTIRE game and were everything you should expect a student section to be! But the two sections of empty seats? The U needs to reconsider giving that many seats to students. In talking to people at the game, the rows are supposed to fit 25 people, but students try to cram 30 or more into a row. Obviously, I'm all for that. But it leaves two entire sections of empty seats. I say for next year take two sections in the upper deck away from the students and give them back to the public. It'll ensure that "announced sellouts" actually look like sellouts.
As for the game itself, we were treated to the worst quarter the Gophers have played this year, as well as the best. Hard to believe looking at the stats that the Gophs won despite passing for just 82 yards and allowing over 400, yet thanks to the defense and an opportunistic offense, we did just that. That third quarter was unreal, and what was just a one point 14-13 halftime lead suddenly jumped to 35-13 in three possessions thanks to a Purdue punt that was as ugly as anything Weber did all day, then two defensive turnovers. With three short fields give the offense credit for punching it in. If you've watched this team at all, especially last week, you know that scoring seven points instead of three from inside the redzone has been an issue all season, but it wasn't today and because of it Minnesota ran away with a victory.
Speaking of running- hello running game! It looked atrocious again for the first quarter and into the second, but whatever changes Tim Davis and Jed Fisch made at the half worked wonders, as the backs went from getting tackled as soon as they had the ball to running through gaping holes. Kevin Whaley was our best back today with 79 yards on just eight carries, and the more I see of him, the more I believe he's the best back on the team. Deleon Eskridge led the team in carries for the second straight week, and for the second straight week I want to know why. He offers the least of our three backs, yet continues to get the most carries. I do not understand. Duane Bennett, who had just two carries last week (for 20 yards) and who had just nine carries yesterday (but for 53 yards!). Duane is either hurt or deep in somebody's doghouse, because he's definitely more talented running the ball than Eskridge, but can't seem to get on the field. Still, the three backs churned out yardage and not only got us points but chewed up time on the clock once we grabbed the big lead. Again, credit the offensive line for making adjustments and run-blocking better than we're seen them all year.
The passing game? Yeesh, let's leave that for later this week. Weber only attempted 10 passes, and to be honest, that's more than I'd have wanted him to throw with the way he was playing and the decisions he was making. Still, we didn't need him, so it didn't matter much today, but it will the next two weeks in two extremely tough road environments.
On defense, Cosgrove's Crew laid a huge egg in the first quarter. I texted this to Jer during the quarter, and would love feedback from those who watched it, but it looked to me like everytime the Gophs faced a 3rd and medium-long (an obvious passing down), they dropped into a zone that dropped too far. Elliott was finding guys either in front of the linebackers who were dropping beyond the first down maker, or behind them as they were up too close. On the first drive Purdue converted a 3rd and 12 for 16 yards and a 3rd and 14 for 20 yards which just cannot happen.
Still, like the offense, the D made some adjustments, started getting pressure on Elliott, and forced some key turnovers. Yeah, they gave up over 400 yards of offense again, but they did more than enough to earn a win.
Purdue has a decent offense as we thought, but as they've done all year, they just cannot stop giving the ball away. They led the conference in giveaways coming into the game, and had three more to help the Gophs to a win. All in all though, this was a big, big win for Minnesota as they face their toughest two week stretch of the year as they'll play at Penn State and at Ohio State the next two weeks.
One other comment before we get to the actual game- it was an announced sellout of just over 50,000 but there were two almost entirely empty sections in the upper deck endzone where the student section is SUPPOSED to be. Look, the student section in the lower bowl end zone was full BEFORE kickoff (which, if you've been to games at the Metrodome you know never happened), and for the students who used their tickets in the upper deck were fired up and leading the charge the entire game. The student section stood the ENTIRE game and were everything you should expect a student section to be! But the two sections of empty seats? The U needs to reconsider giving that many seats to students. In talking to people at the game, the rows are supposed to fit 25 people, but students try to cram 30 or more into a row. Obviously, I'm all for that. But it leaves two entire sections of empty seats. I say for next year take two sections in the upper deck away from the students and give them back to the public. It'll ensure that "announced sellouts" actually look like sellouts.
As for the game itself, we were treated to the worst quarter the Gophers have played this year, as well as the best. Hard to believe looking at the stats that the Gophs won despite passing for just 82 yards and allowing over 400, yet thanks to the defense and an opportunistic offense, we did just that. That third quarter was unreal, and what was just a one point 14-13 halftime lead suddenly jumped to 35-13 in three possessions thanks to a Purdue punt that was as ugly as anything Weber did all day, then two defensive turnovers. With three short fields give the offense credit for punching it in. If you've watched this team at all, especially last week, you know that scoring seven points instead of three from inside the redzone has been an issue all season, but it wasn't today and because of it Minnesota ran away with a victory.
Speaking of running- hello running game! It looked atrocious again for the first quarter and into the second, but whatever changes Tim Davis and Jed Fisch made at the half worked wonders, as the backs went from getting tackled as soon as they had the ball to running through gaping holes. Kevin Whaley was our best back today with 79 yards on just eight carries, and the more I see of him, the more I believe he's the best back on the team. Deleon Eskridge led the team in carries for the second straight week, and for the second straight week I want to know why. He offers the least of our three backs, yet continues to get the most carries. I do not understand. Duane Bennett, who had just two carries last week (for 20 yards) and who had just nine carries yesterday (but for 53 yards!). Duane is either hurt or deep in somebody's doghouse, because he's definitely more talented running the ball than Eskridge, but can't seem to get on the field. Still, the three backs churned out yardage and not only got us points but chewed up time on the clock once we grabbed the big lead. Again, credit the offensive line for making adjustments and run-blocking better than we're seen them all year.
The passing game? Yeesh, let's leave that for later this week. Weber only attempted 10 passes, and to be honest, that's more than I'd have wanted him to throw with the way he was playing and the decisions he was making. Still, we didn't need him, so it didn't matter much today, but it will the next two weeks in two extremely tough road environments.
On defense, Cosgrove's Crew laid a huge egg in the first quarter. I texted this to Jer during the quarter, and would love feedback from those who watched it, but it looked to me like everytime the Gophs faced a 3rd and medium-long (an obvious passing down), they dropped into a zone that dropped too far. Elliott was finding guys either in front of the linebackers who were dropping beyond the first down maker, or behind them as they were up too close. On the first drive Purdue converted a 3rd and 12 for 16 yards and a 3rd and 14 for 20 yards which just cannot happen.
Still, like the offense, the D made some adjustments, started getting pressure on Elliott, and forced some key turnovers. Yeah, they gave up over 400 yards of offense again, but they did more than enough to earn a win.
Purdue has a decent offense as we thought, but as they've done all year, they just cannot stop giving the ball away. They led the conference in giveaways coming into the game, and had three more to help the Gophs to a win. All in all though, this was a big, big win for Minnesota as they face their toughest two week stretch of the year as they'll play at Penn State and at Ohio State the next two weeks.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Understanding the Wildcat
Jeff has mentioned Chris Brown from Smart Football... and holy smokes, is that guy smart. I like to think I know a bit about football, but this guy... it's almost SCARY what he knows.
He has an unbelievable breakdown of the Wildcat offense for a New York Times blog (see... told you he was smart. You HAVE to be smart to blog for the NYT), what it is, what it isn't, and how to defend it. You should read it right now. I am not kidding... GO!
He has an unbelievable breakdown of the Wildcat offense for a New York Times blog (see... told you he was smart. You HAVE to be smart to blog for the NYT), what it is, what it isn't, and how to defend it. You should read it right now. I am not kidding... GO!
Big Ten Picks Week 6
Jer had a great post yesterday on how Purdue makes him nervous. Both of us were pretty confident on the podcast Wednesday night by picking Minnesota to win by 10+. Yet Jer reversed coarse yesterday, and after doing some more research, I'm doing the same. I said the Gophs would win 31-17, which would be a comfortable win if it worked out that way. But the more I've read up on Purdue, the more I believe they really are better than their 1-4 record indicates. They lost week two to Oregon by 2 points, the same Oregon team that beat California 175-3 (ok it was only 42-3 but still), which was the same California team that the week before beat the Gophers 35-21. They gave Notre Dame a free timeout and Jimmy Clausen and the dangerous Notre Dame offense two shots at the end zone instead of one. On the second chance, Clausen got the game-winner. The Northern Illinois loss was sloppy, but what REALLY makes me nervous is the loss to Northwestern last week.
On paper, it's a 27-21 loss at home to the Purple Smart Kids which, as we've said all year, you just don't do in the Big Ten if you have serious bowl aspirations. Why does that worry me? Because the final score doesn't come close to telling the whole story. Did you know Purdue scored touchdowns on their three opening drives? They were up 21-3 in the first quarter, and only one of those TD's came on a short field off a turnover. They were legitamately leading the Wildcats early in the game and should have ran away with this one.
Except they couldn't hang onto the ball. They coughed up it up six times- five of them fumbles. Interceptions can be controlled. Generally good teams- and good QB's- don't throw a lot of picks. Bad teams always seem to have the QB that makes some dumb throws that gets them killed. But fumbles are random. Sure, one player could have a fumbling problem, but when four different guys put it on the turf in a game? The Rivalry, Esq interviewied Chris from the website Smart Football, and as you might expect, the guy is really smart. He's also a Purdue fan, and he had a good and long take on what happened to the Boilermakers against Northwestern, and why I'm now more nervous about the game Saturday: basically, after jumping out to a 21-3 lead, Purdue got smacked with a heavy dose of fumble-itis, or you could argue, a rash of bad luck. If they don't commit even one of those random fumbles, they probably win, but if you turn it over 6 times, chances are you aren't going to beat anybody, even the Purple Smart Kids.
So I'm taking back my 31-17 prediction, and thinking more like a 27-24 final victory for the Gophs. Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to see Minnesota come out swinging for Homecoming and take Purdue out behind the woodshed, but I think this one is close the whole way through.
Miami OH @ Northwestern (11am Big Ten Network)
Jer and I sometimes like to play the game "What Would You Rather?" with the comparison being "watching a WNBA game" versus, well...just about anything. Honestly, we have a difficult time coming up with anything- and I mean ANYTHING- that I would rather NOT do than watch a WNBA game. Cleaning the gutters, stabbing myself with a dull butter knife, listening to man-haters like Ani Defranco or watching Desparate Housewives are things that I really hate doing- yet I would do all of them if given the choice between that or watching a WNBA game. Yet the prospect of having to endure Miami of Ohio at Northwestern is the first sporting event I can think of that actually gives me pause...ok so I'd still rather see this than the WNBA, but just the fact I have to think about it at all tells you how bad this game could be. I think Northwestern wins but really, I don't care who wins as long as I don't have to watch it.
PICK: NORTHWESTERN
Eastern Illinois @ #14 Penn State (11am ESPN Classic)
Jer says a lot of funny things, but my favorite joke he's had of late, on the podcast or anywhere, was the one about this game: "I didn't know Glen Mason was in charge of scheduling games for Penn State." See? Very funny. And very true. If I wasn't such a Big Ten homer, I wouldn't even have Penn State in my top 25 because of their absolutely embarrassing non-conference schedule which, as Jer said, is as bad as anything Glen Mason put together when he was here at Minnesota. The Nittany Lions have destroyed four terrible teams, and then got embarrassed against the one real opponent they played (the dirty, dirty Hawkeyes). The JoePas could run out 22 kids from their student section and they'd win this game.
PICK: PENN STATE
Michigan State @ Illinois (11am Big Ten Network)
Trap game! Trap game! Trap game! Michigan State is coming off a very emotional season-saving win over arch-rival Michigan, and now they travel to Champaign to knock off a left-for-dead Illinois team that has been awful. Wait, what's worse than awful? Gawd-awful? Horrifically awful? Oakland Raiders-awful? Pick one, that's been Illinois thus far. But you know what? I'm picking the upset. I am. It will probably go down as my worst pick of the season (well, besides picking Illinois to go 11-1 and for Juice Williams to be the conference offensive player of the year), but this is a total letdown game for the Spartans while the Illini will rally around new QB Eddie McGee. Expect a shoot-out and for Illinois to pull the upset.
PICK: ILLINOIS
Indiana @ Virginia (2:3opm ESPN 360)
Hang on, let me flip a coin...heads. Um, which team was head again? Ok best of three...two...three. As a Big Ten homer I'll pick the Hoosiers because...um...Virginia is awful at protecting the QB and Indiana has a good pass rush? And also because the flip of a coin said so.
PICK: INDIANA
Wisconsin @ #9 Ohio State (2:30pm ABC)
John Clay, Scott Tolzien, and the Badger offense- meet the best defense you'll see all year. This one is going to be a defensive "slobberknocker" (I love that word. Tell me a word that's more fun to say. Go ahead, I dare you) like last year's 20-17 Buckeye win was. I think Ohio State's defense is good enough to make Tolzien beat them throwing the ball, and against that defense and in front of that crowd, I don't think he's good enough to do it. We might also see Jim Tressell finally let Terrelle Pryor loose on a defense that's not equipped to handle his running. I also hope we see Badger safety Jay Valai knock out two more Buckeye players. This should be one of the best Big Ten games of 2009.
PICK: OHIO STATE
Michigan @ #12 Iowa (7:05pm ABC)
Explain to me again how this is the primetime ABC game over Badgers/Buckeyes? Maybe ABC is just conceding that football fans outside of Iowa and Ann Arbor will be watching Florida/LSU over on CBS instead, so you might as well grab two large, passionate fan bases. For the game itself, I just don't trust a freshman QB on the road against that defense. As I said last week in predicting a Michigan loss to State- Forcier is good, but he's still just a freshman, and I think the Hawkeye D beats him up pretty good. When Iowa has the ball it's not going to be pretty, but they'll find a way to get it done. Close game and a Hawkeye win. Let me know how it goes, as I'll be watching the Gators and the Bayou Bengals.
PICK: IOWA
On paper, it's a 27-21 loss at home to the Purple Smart Kids which, as we've said all year, you just don't do in the Big Ten if you have serious bowl aspirations. Why does that worry me? Because the final score doesn't come close to telling the whole story. Did you know Purdue scored touchdowns on their three opening drives? They were up 21-3 in the first quarter, and only one of those TD's came on a short field off a turnover. They were legitamately leading the Wildcats early in the game and should have ran away with this one.
Except they couldn't hang onto the ball. They coughed up it up six times- five of them fumbles. Interceptions can be controlled. Generally good teams- and good QB's- don't throw a lot of picks. Bad teams always seem to have the QB that makes some dumb throws that gets them killed. But fumbles are random. Sure, one player could have a fumbling problem, but when four different guys put it on the turf in a game? The Rivalry, Esq interviewied Chris from the website Smart Football, and as you might expect, the guy is really smart. He's also a Purdue fan, and he had a good and long take on what happened to the Boilermakers against Northwestern, and why I'm now more nervous about the game Saturday: basically, after jumping out to a 21-3 lead, Purdue got smacked with a heavy dose of fumble-itis, or you could argue, a rash of bad luck. If they don't commit even one of those random fumbles, they probably win, but if you turn it over 6 times, chances are you aren't going to beat anybody, even the Purple Smart Kids.
So I'm taking back my 31-17 prediction, and thinking more like a 27-24 final victory for the Gophs. Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to see Minnesota come out swinging for Homecoming and take Purdue out behind the woodshed, but I think this one is close the whole way through.
Miami OH @ Northwestern (11am Big Ten Network)
Jer and I sometimes like to play the game "What Would You Rather?" with the comparison being "watching a WNBA game" versus, well...just about anything. Honestly, we have a difficult time coming up with anything- and I mean ANYTHING- that I would rather NOT do than watch a WNBA game. Cleaning the gutters, stabbing myself with a dull butter knife, listening to man-haters like Ani Defranco or watching Desparate Housewives are things that I really hate doing- yet I would do all of them if given the choice between that or watching a WNBA game. Yet the prospect of having to endure Miami of Ohio at Northwestern is the first sporting event I can think of that actually gives me pause...ok so I'd still rather see this than the WNBA, but just the fact I have to think about it at all tells you how bad this game could be. I think Northwestern wins but really, I don't care who wins as long as I don't have to watch it.
PICK: NORTHWESTERN
Eastern Illinois @ #14 Penn State (11am ESPN Classic)
Jer says a lot of funny things, but my favorite joke he's had of late, on the podcast or anywhere, was the one about this game: "I didn't know Glen Mason was in charge of scheduling games for Penn State." See? Very funny. And very true. If I wasn't such a Big Ten homer, I wouldn't even have Penn State in my top 25 because of their absolutely embarrassing non-conference schedule which, as Jer said, is as bad as anything Glen Mason put together when he was here at Minnesota. The Nittany Lions have destroyed four terrible teams, and then got embarrassed against the one real opponent they played (the dirty, dirty Hawkeyes). The JoePas could run out 22 kids from their student section and they'd win this game.
PICK: PENN STATE
Michigan State @ Illinois (11am Big Ten Network)
Trap game! Trap game! Trap game! Michigan State is coming off a very emotional season-saving win over arch-rival Michigan, and now they travel to Champaign to knock off a left-for-dead Illinois team that has been awful. Wait, what's worse than awful? Gawd-awful? Horrifically awful? Oakland Raiders-awful? Pick one, that's been Illinois thus far. But you know what? I'm picking the upset. I am. It will probably go down as my worst pick of the season (well, besides picking Illinois to go 11-1 and for Juice Williams to be the conference offensive player of the year), but this is a total letdown game for the Spartans while the Illini will rally around new QB Eddie McGee. Expect a shoot-out and for Illinois to pull the upset.
PICK: ILLINOIS
Indiana @ Virginia (2:3opm ESPN 360)
Hang on, let me flip a coin...heads. Um, which team was head again? Ok best of three...two...three. As a Big Ten homer I'll pick the Hoosiers because...um...Virginia is awful at protecting the QB and Indiana has a good pass rush? And also because the flip of a coin said so.
PICK: INDIANA
Wisconsin @ #9 Ohio State (2:30pm ABC)
John Clay, Scott Tolzien, and the Badger offense- meet the best defense you'll see all year. This one is going to be a defensive "slobberknocker" (I love that word. Tell me a word that's more fun to say. Go ahead, I dare you) like last year's 20-17 Buckeye win was. I think Ohio State's defense is good enough to make Tolzien beat them throwing the ball, and against that defense and in front of that crowd, I don't think he's good enough to do it. We might also see Jim Tressell finally let Terrelle Pryor loose on a defense that's not equipped to handle his running. I also hope we see Badger safety Jay Valai knock out two more Buckeye players. This should be one of the best Big Ten games of 2009.
PICK: OHIO STATE
Michigan @ #12 Iowa (7:05pm ABC)
Explain to me again how this is the primetime ABC game over Badgers/Buckeyes? Maybe ABC is just conceding that football fans outside of Iowa and Ann Arbor will be watching Florida/LSU over on CBS instead, so you might as well grab two large, passionate fan bases. For the game itself, I just don't trust a freshman QB on the road against that defense. As I said last week in predicting a Michigan loss to State- Forcier is good, but he's still just a freshman, and I think the Hawkeye D beats him up pretty good. When Iowa has the ball it's not going to be pretty, but they'll find a way to get it done. Close game and a Hawkeye win. Let me know how it goes, as I'll be watching the Gators and the Bayou Bengals.
PICK: IOWA
Thursday, October 8, 2009
5 Reasons Purdue makes me nervous.
Last night Jeffrick and I recorded our weekly podcast, and we both said in that podcast that we expect the Gophers to win their homecoming tilt with Purdue by 10 points. The Gophers are favored by 3 1/2. And while I was pretty confident in my prediction of this game, after I started looking at some of the Purdue stats earlier today, I'm not quite as confident. Close, but not quite.
In the words of Pat McCurdy...
Please tell me if I'm wrong.
Adam Rittenberg had a post today checking in on the Big Ten QB's. Elliott is averaging over 250 yards/game, and again, as I mentioned earlier today, part of this has been out of necessity because the Boilers have been playing from behind most of the season. But, as Rittenberg pointed out, Elliott is leading the Big Ten in Passing Average, Total Passing Yards, Points Responsible For, and Total Offense.
The Gopher defense is good, and has the chance to be VERY good... slowing down Elliott would be a good step toward very.
2. Ralph Bolden: Okay, he's not quite magic, but he's good. He is 2nd in the conference in rushing yards and yards/game (which I guess makes sense). Bolden gets the ball just under 20 times/game. The Gophers haven't been great at stopping the run this year (10th in the conference) and allowing Bolden to go off would be a real problem, and might keep our defense on the field more than we'd like. Even though our defense is used to bailing out our offense, this isn't a good thing.
Maybe the players don't care about this, but it could certainly affect the atmosphere.
4. 10/17/2009 @ Penn State, 2:30 Central kick-off, National Television: This one's a reach... the alphabet? The game is on ABC? Get it? Oh well.
In the words of Billy Joel, "you may be right, I may be crazy, but it just may be a lunatic you're looking for." Call me crazy, but is it possible that the Gophers could be looking past Purdue? I'm not saying they are or aren't, but I am saying that they can't afford to. Every single game this team plays for the rest of the season needs to be treated like the Rose Bowl. We need every win we can get, and they will be hard to come by.
I could go on-and-on about balance, and getting the run going, and protecting your quarterback, and keeping your defense off the field, and how all of these things revolve around the offensive line... but I will spare you and say what we've pretty much been saying for the last 13 months... it needs to get better.
In the words of Pat McCurdy...
Here are the things that make me nervous
Here are the things that stick in my craw
Here are the things that make me nervous...
Nervous!
Please tell me if I'm wrong.
"Dee Snider... makes me nervous"...1. Joey Elliott: Joey Elliott might be the same person as Joe Elliott, the lead singer of Def Leppard, and I made my case for it over at The Rivalry, Esq. And Joe Elliott is no Dee Snider... or is Dee Snider no Joe Elliott? In any case, it's the closest thing I could come up with in the song.
Adam Rittenberg had a post today checking in on the Big Ten QB's. Elliott is averaging over 250 yards/game, and again, as I mentioned earlier today, part of this has been out of necessity because the Boilers have been playing from behind most of the season. But, as Rittenberg pointed out, Elliott is leading the Big Ten in Passing Average, Total Passing Yards, Points Responsible For, and Total Offense.
The Gopher defense is good, and has the chance to be VERY good... slowing down Elliott would be a good step toward very.
"Magicians... make me nervous"...
2. Ralph Bolden: Okay, he's not quite magic, but he's good. He is 2nd in the conference in rushing yards and yards/game (which I guess makes sense). Bolden gets the ball just under 20 times/game. The Gophers haven't been great at stopping the run this year (10th in the conference) and allowing Bolden to go off would be a real problem, and might keep our defense on the field more than we'd like. Even though our defense is used to bailing out our offense, this isn't a good thing."Parades... make me nervous"...3. Homecoming: This is supposed to be an advantage for us, and in a lot of ways it is. There is excitement, activities, alumni, etc. But some of those things can also be a distraction... for players and fans. I was told that at The Bank against Wisconsin, the fans trickled in after kickoff, and that some of the student section never filled. With all of the activities of the homecoming week, and after coming off of a heartbreaking loss to Wisky, the students will again be prone to late arrival.
Maybe the players don't care about this, but it could certainly affect the atmosphere.
"The alphabet... makes me nervous"...
4. 10/17/2009 @ Penn State, 2:30 Central kick-off, National Television: This one's a reach... the alphabet? The game is on ABC? Get it? Oh well.In the words of Billy Joel, "you may be right, I may be crazy, but it just may be a lunatic you're looking for." Call me crazy, but is it possible that the Gophers could be looking past Purdue? I'm not saying they are or aren't, but I am saying that they can't afford to. Every single game this team plays for the rest of the season needs to be treated like the Rose Bowl. We need every win we can get, and they will be hard to come by.
"Mimes... make me nervous"...5. O-Line: This should probably be #1. In fact, I could write this post every single week, before every single game, and this could/should/would always be my biggest nervous factor. Run blocking... it's a problem. Pass protection... it's a problem. Injuries... yeah, that's a problem now too. Jeff Tow-Arnett is out for the season with a broken leg. It hurts losing your center. Jeff Wills has looked mediocre at best this year, despite very high expectations. Matt Carufel, he of the Notre Dame pedigree, has also not been superb, and Chris Bunders has been penalty prone, perhaps costing the Gophers a touchdown from the 1 yard line last week against Wisconsin.
I could go on-and-on about balance, and getting the run going, and protecting your quarterback, and keeping your defense off the field, and how all of these things revolve around the offensive line... but I will spare you and say what we've pretty much been saying for the last 13 months... it needs to get better.
... those are the things that make me nervous
those are the things that drive me cra-zy.
those are the things that make me nervous
I'm so nervous
I'm so nervous!
New Podcast
A new podcast is posted! Jeff and I continue to stomp on sour grapes as we express our disappointment with our performance against Wisconsin, we look around the Big Ten, and we preview Purdue.
As always, SKI-U-MAH!
As always, SKI-U-MAH!
Getting to know Purdue
We all know that Purdue comes to the The Bank on Saturday as our Homecoming opponent, and we all know that football teams are supposed to beat whoever they play on homecoming. Purdue is 1-4 with their 4 losses coming in their last 4 games.
But they have lost those 4 games by a combined 18 points, and 3 of those losses came against BCS opponents (Oregon by 2, Notre Dame by 3, NWestern by 6). I doubt I'm the first person to say that this is the best 1-4 football team in the country. I fully expect them to be the best 1-5 football team in the country after playing our Gophers this weekend, so let's take a look at how that might happen.
We know this: Purdue can score.
Points per game:
Boilers: 30.2
Gophers: 25.4
It also may be worth noting that those 30.2 pts/game are nearly all offensive points, no defensive points, and one special teams touchdown, whereas the Gophers 25.4 pts/game include two defensive touchdowns this season.
Offensive points per game:
Boilers: 29
Gophers: 23
It appears that the story of this game will likely come down to the Boilers offense vs. the Gophers defense.
So here are some head-to-head stats of this match-up to get your mind going heading into this game:
Boilers yards/game: 411.8
Gophers yards allowed/game: 377
Boilers Passing yards/game: 258.2 (3rd in Big Ten)
Gophers Passing defensive (Yds allowed/game): 202.4 (4th in Big Ten)
Boilers Rushing yards/game: 153.6
Gophers Rush defense (Yds allowed /game): 174.6 (10th in Big Ten)
Purdue individual stats:
QB Joey Elliott...
Passing yards: 1276 yds, 255 yds/game (both 1st in Big Ten)
Passing TD: 10 (1st in Big Ten)
Interceptions: 7 (tied for most in Big Ten)
RB Ralph Bolden
Rushing yards: 541 yds, 108.2 yds/game (both 2nd in Big Ten)
Yards/carry: 5.6
Rushing TD's: 4
Rushing attempts: 97 (2nd most in Big Ten)
Purdue has played from behind most of the season, so the passing yards could be a bit skewed because of that. Nevertheless, it is a concern. Ralph Bolden is also a concern, especially considering the fact that he's put up the kind of numbers that he has while playing from behind most of the year.
Another good test for our defense, but I expect our defense to rise to the challenge.
But they have lost those 4 games by a combined 18 points, and 3 of those losses came against BCS opponents (Oregon by 2, Notre Dame by 3, NWestern by 6). I doubt I'm the first person to say that this is the best 1-4 football team in the country. I fully expect them to be the best 1-5 football team in the country after playing our Gophers this weekend, so let's take a look at how that might happen.
We know this: Purdue can score.
Points per game:
Boilers: 30.2
Gophers: 25.4
It also may be worth noting that those 30.2 pts/game are nearly all offensive points, no defensive points, and one special teams touchdown, whereas the Gophers 25.4 pts/game include two defensive touchdowns this season.
Offensive points per game:
Boilers: 29
Gophers: 23
It appears that the story of this game will likely come down to the Boilers offense vs. the Gophers defense.
So here are some head-to-head stats of this match-up to get your mind going heading into this game:
Boilers yards/game: 411.8
Gophers yards allowed/game: 377
Boilers Passing yards/game: 258.2 (3rd in Big Ten)
Gophers Passing defensive (Yds allowed/game): 202.4 (4th in Big Ten)
Boilers Rushing yards/game: 153.6
Gophers Rush defense (Yds allowed /game): 174.6 (10th in Big Ten)
Purdue individual stats:
QB Joey Elliott...Passing yards: 1276 yds, 255 yds/game (both 1st in Big Ten)
Passing TD: 10 (1st in Big Ten)
Interceptions: 7 (tied for most in Big Ten)
RB Ralph Bolden
Rushing yards: 541 yds, 108.2 yds/game (both 2nd in Big Ten)
Yards/carry: 5.6
Rushing TD's: 4
Rushing attempts: 97 (2nd most in Big Ten)
Purdue has played from behind most of the season, so the passing yards could be a bit skewed because of that. Nevertheless, it is a concern. Ralph Bolden is also a concern, especially considering the fact that he's put up the kind of numbers that he has while playing from behind most of the year.
Another good test for our defense, but I expect our defense to rise to the challenge.
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