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Schnoodler

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Theret, Royston, Collado, Carter were pretty much starting by the end of the year. BPT had been pushed out by Carter, and Sherels was injured most of the season. Collado filling in nicely and doing outstanding work in the nickel. Jacobs was getting quality minutes including three starts. Kirksey and Edwards were actually an elevation in play towards the end of the year, over very good Small and Brown. Cooper showed to be every bit as talented as Lawrence if not more. Our DE's are looking very good, and if we remember we were quite unsettled going into last year at DE. I would say we're in better shape there than we were at the beginning of last year.

Plus we bring in more quality depth across the board on D than we've had.

So really our lack of respect comes down to Campbell and Tripplett. They were good, but is that enough to create all the question marks this team is supposedly plagued by? Our starting D in MTSU is not going to feel like a bunch of newbies, it's going to feel alot like the same team we ended the year with.

Then turning to the O. We'll be better at QB, if not by what looks like a better Weber, because he's got to keep Gray in the #2 position. Gray would be better than last years Weber. Either way we get improved QB play. The RB's better. Whaley hurts but I think as a group we are significantly better. Eskridge improved as the year went on and bulked a bit, Bennett seems to be regaining his freshman promise and whatever freshman emerges has to beat out two other talented kids. Our WR will be better. They were young and inexperienced last year they will be better. Our line will be better. Not just because of another year of experience and S&C but because there is some serious talent pushing for playing time. The only real question to me is at TE.

ST's are getting way overlooked. I think we're extremely solid on ST's.

What is interesting is how a team that went 6-6 can be thought of so poorly when we are virtually an identical team with another year of experience and more depth.

good for us I guess.
 

:clap:

I see you started the day off with a big glass of Maroon and Gold KoolAid. Makes for a good day!

I agree with you. I love the talent on this team. I'm pumped for the season. This schedule is the only thing that worries me.
 

No (proven) running backs. A senior qb coming off a lousy year, no experienced, proven receivers

No tradition of over-achieiving (1999 last time?). A coach who has been unable to win a single rivalry game or beat a ranked team.

I am hopeful too but I can see why outsiders don't have much confidence.

MTSU will tell alot- I think we will smoke them.
 

Perception is reality.

I was listening to the radio on the way home last night to hear someone talking about Alabama football. They are returning 3 starters from last year's team, but no one is talking about how there are destined to be down on that side of the ball. Whichever analyst was talking about it was saying the same things that we are saying. Sure, they weren't starters, but many of them got quality time over the season, there is a lot of talent and speed coming in. It might take some time to get used to starting, etc. But he seemed to have no worries that they will be one of the premier D's in all of college football.

We can change the perception, thus the reality, once the ball is kicked off in just a couple of weeks.
 

Schnoodler said:
Theret, Royston, Collado, Carter were pretty much starting by the end of the year. BPT had been pushed out by Carter, and Sherels was injured most of the season. Collado filling in nicely and doing outstanding work in the nickel. Jacobs was getting quality minutes including three starts. Kirksey and Edwards were actually an elevation in play towards the end of the year, over very good Small and Brown. Cooper showed to be every bit as talented as Lawrence if not more. Our DE's are looking very good, and if we remember we were quite unsettled going into last year at DE. I would say we're in better shape there than we were at the beginning of last year.

Plus we bring in more quality depth across the board on D than we've had.

So really our lack of respect comes down to Campbell and Tripplett. They were good, but is that enough to create all the question marks this team is supposedly plagued by? Our starting D in MTSU is not going to feel like a bunch of newbies, it's going to feel alot like the same team we ended the year with.

Then turning to the O. We'll be better at QB, if not by what looks like a better Weber, because he's got to keep Gray in the #2 position. Gray would be better than last years Weber. Either way we get improved QB play. The RB's better. Whaley hurts but I think as a group we are significantly better. Eskridge improved as the year went on and bulked a bit, Bennett seems to be regaining his freshman promise and whatever freshman emerges has to beat out two other talented kids. Our WR will be better. They were young and inexperienced last year they will be better. Our line will be better. Not just because of another year of experience and S&C but because there is some serious talent pushing for playing time. The only real question to me is at TE.

ST's are getting way overlooked. I think we're extremely solid on ST's.

What is interesting is how a team that went 6-6 can be thought of so poorly when we are virtually an identical team with another year of experience and more depth.

good for us I guess.
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Let em think what they want, we know who's coming back, hopefully the other teams read alot of pundit predictions and such. I wouldn't bet on it though.
Bottom line, if MTSU is expecting a 1-11 team to roll in week one they are going to be hurt, if USC comes in with that attitude, they are going to be vulnerable, if Ohio State overlooks us going into the bye, we have a chance to be giant killers, that's a role I think the team would relish, fly under the radar and smack the overconfidence/crap right out of their opponent.
 


Shush it up Schnoodler! Don't tell anyone! I'm kinda liking this underrated thing right now.
 

What it shows is that 1, nobody really payed too much attention to this team last year and 2, the Gophers aren't relevant enough (and their fans don't care enough) for the national media to care enough to do a thourough job of reviewing this team. Every year we get picked by someone to be at the bottom of the conference and the last 2 years we made bowl games. This year, as Schnoodler said, we have a lot fewer question marks than most want to say we do yet we're supposed to take a huge step back from 6-6 despite the fact that we can't get any worse than last year offensively and it's realistic to expect every one of our projected starters to outperform last year's starters, sans maybe the LBs. Its true our schedule is tough but people downplay this team. We lost 6 games last year and only PSU and OSU weren't close and both of those were decided in the 3rd. Cal, WI, Ill, and IA were games that could've gone either way IMO. Of course the pessimist can say that all of our wins could've gone either way too but even still how does that translate into a 2 win season? Anyone that saw this team play last year knows that our D is legit and while our LBs may be a loss, Coop and Tinsley both had lights out games last year, Carter and Collado were our best 2 corners the last few games, Jacobs was as good (or as mediocre) as the starting DEs, and Kirksey and Edwards were arguably better than the departed DTs. Now I'm not saying we win the B10 but I fully expect a bowl game this year
 

Great place to be.

I think the Gophers are in a great spot right now to do some damage. As you mentioned our talent isnt getting much notice because the best of it is unproven and has been overshadowed by upper classmen the last two years. That means teams wont have all that much info on us coming into the season. It think that gives us a leg up in preperation entering the season and for maybe the first 4-5 games this year. I also feel that with a new OC but the same playbook the team should be more comfortable with what is going on it was a huge change last season from a spread to what we are doing now and our lack of line talent hurt. With a year under our belts in the new system and maybe a guy who knows how to use it and players who are better prepared to use it we should be better.

I would rather at this point be the team no one is expecting much from than the team everyone is hunting. Lets see the Gophers win 8 games and all the press that would come from that type of season being thought of as a doormat now than expect to win 10 games and only get 8 same seasons but different expectations would make for 2 very different feelings on the same season.
 

oleboy41 said:
What it shows is that 1, nobody really payed too much attention to this team last year and 2, the Gophers aren't relevant enough (and their fans don't care enough) for the national media to care enough to do a thourough job of reviewing this team. Every year we get picked by someone to be at the bottom of the conference and the last 2 years we made bowl games. This year, as Schnoodler said, we have a lot fewer question marks than most want to say we do yet we're supposed to take a huge step back from 6-6 despite the fact that we can't get any worse than last year offensively and it's realistic to expect every one of our projected starters to outperform last year's starters, sans maybe the LBs. Its true our schedule is tough but people downplay this team. We lost 6 games last year and only PSU and OSU weren't close and both of those were decided in the 3rd. Cal, WI, Ill, and IA were games that could've gone either way IMO. Of course the pessimist can say that all of our wins could've gone either way too but even still how does that translate into a 2 win season? Anyone that saw this team play last year knows that our D is legit and while our LBs may be a loss, Coop and Tinsley both had lights out games last year, Carter and Collado were our best 2 corners the last few games, Jacobs was as good (or as mediocre) as the starting DEs, and Kirksey and Edwards were arguably better than the departed DTs. Now I'm not saying we win the B10 but I fully expect a bowl game this year
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Good synopsis. I would only quibble a bit. IMO, last year's LBs were mediocre at best in pass coverage. While this year's guys are smaller they should be much better in pass coverage. Thus, I do not expect much, if any, fall off in overall success from the LBs.
 



harrys ghost said:
Good synopsis. I would only quibble a bit. IMO, last year's LBs were mediocre at best in pass coverage. While this year's guys are smaller they should be much better in pass coverage. Thus, I do not expect much, if any, fall off in overall success from the LBs.
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True. We played a ton of zone last year (despite both our CBs being very good in man) because our LBs weren't very good at covering RBs or TEs man up. I expect this years LBs to be much better out in space. Rallis is already being said to be very good in coverage and Cooper was good in coverage last year.
 

harrys ghost said:
Good synopsis. I would only quibble a bit. IMO, last year's LBs were mediocre at best in pass coverage. While this year's guys are smaller they should be much better in pass coverage. Thus, I do not expect much, if any, fall off in overall success from the LBs.
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I agree. Our LBs are certainly more athletic, and Tinsley and Rallis add the hammer factor.

Funny how no one saw Triplett as a liablility last season. Going into the opener at Syracuse, he had started exactly 0 games at LB. By the end of the Air Force game he had 29 tackles, a game-saving pick, a game-winning fumble recovery TD, and was a national defensive player of the week.

Starting experience my arse.:blah:
 

oleboy41 said:
True. We played a ton of zone last year (despite both our CBs being very good in man) because our LBs weren't very good at covering RBs or TEs man up. I expect this years LBs to be much better out in space. Rallis is already being said to be very good in coverage and Cooper was good in coverage last year.
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I thought it was more b/c our top sack artist was a frosh that played limited time. We need to get some pressure so we can improve those third down conversions.

On a side note I'd rather be talked up then the underdog role. I would like to hear more focus on the Gophers from more sources :D.
 

Defensively I agree with you, I think we'll be solid. However the team that we ended the year with on offense could not score a TD against South Dakota State, got shutout by Iowa, and scored 13 points against Iowa State. And now we have our third OC in three years. We lose our best WR from last year and the player who probably would have been our top RB this year, Whaley. I have absolutely no hope for our offense.
 



I do not believe that perception is reality. We can not talk the team into being better or worse than it is. Nor do I believe that we have more quality depth on D. The loss of nine starters is a lot. I hope the O line and receivers are more effective than they were last year. Etc. We are two weeks and two days away from our first game. We will learn a lot when we see the guys play against real teams in real games.
 


There is no reason on paper for me to have the optimism I have. Coach Brew hasn't beaten anyone that counts. The players that got some PT and will start this year never actually beat out the starters that went 6-7.

I believe this is going to be our breakout year. I've drunk the cool aide but I'm not about to refinance the estate to put my money where my mouth is. I'm a fan, I'm going to the season opener, but I'm not crazy. Not yet.
 


You guys are generally making me feel better. I hope you are right. It is fun to be in August and dream of a break out, statement type season that nobody around the country, or Big 10 is expecting. I always see the bright side so it is easy for me to drink the rodent kool aid.

Last year at this time I was thinking the new stadium might ignite some sort of spark. I was thinking the Weber to Decker show would reach new heights. I was thinking Bennet was coming back and would look like the same back that was running over Bowling Green before he popped his ACL. I was believing all the reports of Wisconsin’s continued slide. I figured the Gophers would charge out of the gates and toy with an undermanned Syracuse team before destroying them by the end of the 3rd quarter. I think I officially predicted a final record of 7-5 but I let myself dream of much more.

I guess with all things considered, that first game against MTSU will tell much. The Gophers are underdogs, and most people outside of Dinkytown are expecting that Dasher to run all over the plodding defense while the offense looks just as bad or worse than it did last year. If the Gophers lose (especially if they lose by more than a touchdown), I'm sure most people will just confirm that they are who we thought they were. I will have to file my yearly dream away to be dusted off again for the '11 season. But, if they win and look very good in the process... suddenly most of the games on the very tough schedule will look different, and we can all look forward to a more interesting ride this year.
 

c'monman said:
Are you really comparing the depth of Alabama vs the gophers?:clap:
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I didn't read it like that at all. Alabama was the national champions last year. The Gophers were 6-7. So, the point is: "Alabama has the same expectations this year. Why shouldn't the Gophers?" It looked pretty clear that this was the point he was making. I think it was a valid question to ask.

I don't think he was suggesting the Gophers should be in the hunt for a BCS bowl. It is apples and oranges to suggest that because both teams are in a similar situation, one of them should have the same expectations as the other.

I hate it when people put words in other people's mouths to make them look dumb. I'm guessing you knew exactly what he meant by that comparison but you chose to take the low road.
 

ncgo4 said:
There is no reason on paper for me to have the optimism I have. Coach Brew hasn't beaten anyone that counts. The players that got some PT and will start this year never actually beat out the starters that went 6-7.

I believe this is going to be our breakout year. I've drunk the cool aide but I'm not about to refinance the estate to put my money where my mouth is. I'm a fan, I'm going to the season opener, but I'm not crazy. Not yet.
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People need to get over the "starting" aspect of sports. It isn't who is on the field at the beginning that really matters, it's who is on the field when the game is on the line. I'll take 11 finishers against 11 starters and I'll win every time.
 

Schnauzer said:
I didn't read it like that at all. Alabama was the national champions last year. The Gophers were 6-7. So, the point is: "Alabama has the same expectations this year. Why shouldn't the Gophers?" It looked pretty clear that this was the point he was making. I think it was a valid question to ask.

I don't think he was suggesting the Gophers should be in the hunt for a BCS bowl. It is apples and oranges to suggest that because both teams are in a similar situation, one of them should have the same expectations as the other.

I hate it when people put words in other people's mouths to make them look dumb. I'm guessing you knew exactly what he meant by that comparison but you chose to take the low road.
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Thanks for having my back, and yeah...that is exactly what I was implying.
 

monk10 said:
I thought it was more b/c our top sack artist was a frosh that played limited time. We need to get some pressure so we can improve those third down conversions.

On a side note I'd rather be talked up then the underdog role. I would like to hear more focus on the Gophers from more sources :D.
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Generally teams play man when blitzing to generate pressure. We did utilize some zone blitz, though
 

It is my understanding that we played the safe route, don't blitz and leave people exposed. Keep everything in front of you and force them to make mistakes. Yes on occasion we blitzed, but we had little success translated that to sacks.

It is my understanding that our d-line should be more athletic and will be able to create more pressure which will in turn make our blizt package even more successful if people need to double our d-line. We'll see though, since I just learned we are a bunch of slow cows tromping through mud, while MTSU is way too fast for us to get around.
 

You must be the common man ...

c'monman said:
Are you really comparing the depth of Alabama vs the gophers?:clap:
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No one else could be so dumb to come up with that. Where did someone equate the Gophers depth with Alabama? The discussion is "perception vs. reality"
Gophers: perception-few returning starters means they will be horrible, struggle to win against South Dakota, lose all the rest.
Alabama: perception-few returning starters means they will win another championship, because all backups are All-Americans.
Reality? We don't know yet, I think Alabama will not be as good, and we will be better. Will we switch places? no.
 

gopher7 said:
Defensively I agree with you, I think we'll be solid. However the team that we ended the year with on offense could not score a TD against South Dakota State, got shutout by Iowa, and scored 13 points against Iowa State. And now we have our third OC in three years. We lose our best WR from last year and the player who probably would have been our top RB this year, Whaley. I have absolutely no hope for our offense.
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I wouldn't say I have no hope but I agree that they need to show something before I'll believe this unit is better. I think the D will be fine. I think the D was probably a B10 #3 or 4 if they were on a balanced team. I'm still hopeful however.
 

The offense will be better, I think that is a given, if only because it can't be worse. The question is how much better. I don't think it is going to be great, but I think focusing on what the players actually can do instead of what the OC wants will be a big help. Maybe without Fisch to "correct" Weber's throwing motion, it will be a little bit better.

The big question is the defense. I don't think it is going to take a tremendous dropoff. I don't mind a big us being under the radar.
 

I wouldn't be surprised if our new receivers coach and his hands on approach makes a big difference.
 

Here's what annoys me: No Gopher football yet. It's like the night before Christmas, and you can't sleep because there will be presents in the morning. And it's not just any Christmas, it's Christmas on a Saturday, which means presents and cartoons. And that night before Christmas lasts 16 days!
 


highwayman said:
I agree. Our LBs are certainly more athletic, and Tinsley and Rallis add the hammer factor.

Funny how no one saw Triplett as a liablility last season. Going into the opener at Syracuse, he had started exactly 0 games at LB. By the end of the Air Force game he had 29 tackles, a game-saving pick, a game-winning fumble recovery TD, and was a national defensive player of the week.

Starting experience my arse.:blah:
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I disagree. I think i remember people looking at Triplett as a liability and alot of people thought Cooper would take his spot mid season. Anyways.... Replacing our LBs won't be impossible but more like improbable. 2 captains and 3 leaders of not only the defense but the team. Lee Campbell is the best run stopping LB out of these 6 (including Cooper) and the most fearless. He had a look in his eye like he literally wanted to kill someone. Triplett had a knack for the ball. It seemed like he was always in the right place at the right time (except when Pryor would run around him). He became our best LB by the end of the season even though he was hurt.Triplett got snubbed not getting all conference 1st, 2nd or even honorable mention. I wasn't a huge fan of Simoni and IMO he was overrated. I felt like he never gave 100%. He looked different in his allstar game. He had way more spunk then any gopher game i watched. (yes i actually watched that game) I think Cooper is already better then Simoni. Overall though that LB corp was the best one in over 10 years. Tinsley has a ton of potential as do Cooper and Reeves. All three of those guys will have a chance to be drafted IMO. I dont see alot of potential in Rallis. I hope these guys can put it all together. Im thinkin after this coming year they can. O yeah and Tinsley needs to stay out of trouble.

PS someone said this receiving corps is better. Thats dumb. Eric freakin Decker is gone. Even though all the receivers are progressing you still can't replace him. Even if it wasn't a full season
 

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