Pat Reusse: Kill, Mason share winning formula of running, playing defense

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BleedGopher

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per Reusse:

The devotion and creativity of Mason and his staff with the running game allowed the Gophers to be a worthy opponent in the Big Ten. What got away in the second half of his tenure was the defensive part of the winning formula.

Firing Mason was questionable; hiring Tim Brewster was folly.

Four years after that disaster, the Gophers went back to finding a coach, not a salesman — and one in Jerry Kill with basically the same idea as Mason about building an offense on the run.

“Jerry used this attack at Northern Illinois very successfully, and he’s brought it here. It’s about belief in doing things a certain way and recruiting to a system, and he’s doing that," Mason said.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/225285572.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue

Go Gophers!!
 

mason played defense and then gave up on it somewhere in the 2003 season
 


t-docious said:
mason played defense and then gave up on it somewhere in the 2003 season
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You say "somewhere" as if you don't know the exact quarter of the particular game; we all know it, and we know you know it.
 

IT MUST NOT BE NAMED, or replayed or even brought up for discussion.
 


MrGopher said:
You say "somewhere" as if you don't know the exact quarter of the particular game; we all know it, and we know you know it.
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After that game I got black-out drunk and woke up next to a girl in my dorm that I didn't mean to. That was a horrible night.
 


I walked home from the game with my underage girlfriend at the time. Stopped at Sgt Preston's. Walked in. Ordered two long islands. Slammed them, then continued my walk home to the East Bank. I have never been so angry due to sports. Oh, and if I recall correctly, I blacked out, passed out, woke up, and got black out drunk again. I didn't do anything else too stupid, thankfully.
 






So, YOU people like it better when Michigan beats our brains in and we don't...

t-docious said:
mason played defense and then gave up on it somewhere in the 2003 season
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even belong on the same playing field with them? I can NEVER figure you people out. During that 2003, 2004 and 2005 stretch my Gophers lost two heart breakers to the cornblues and beat them in a close, hard-fought game in the Big House. THAT was the first time in a while that my Gophers had even been able to compete against Michigan since Gutey and his team beat them with Foggy and Thompson, et al in Ann Arbor.

It was something that made me proud as a Golden Gopher Fan to be able to compete THREE years in succession with Michigan,,,back in the days when they could even beat the Ohio State once in a while...you know: the Lloyd Carr Era.

Yeah, they beat us at the damn dome in 2003 and we came out to the BIG HOUSE in 2004 and then again in 2005 and were right there with them and finally took them down in 2005.

I feel a LOT better about playing right with a team and even once in a while having one "get away" AND then beating them the next year than I EVER feel about having my Gophers look as though they have no business even appearing on the same field as a team like Michigan.

Those THREE seasons of games with Michigan put a little reason for even playing for the Brown Jug back into the series. It ALMOST started making it a rivalry. That was the proudest of a Gopher Football Team for SHOWING UP for the Battle for the BROWN JUG I have been in a VERY long time.

And all you people could do was whine, bitch, lay down and die, get commode hugging drunk and abandon the Football Team.

Personally I think YOU people have got it ALL wrong. You need to CELEBRATE competing with the better to best teams in the conference...even if a heartbreaking loss is the result. I don't think Minnesota fans are ready for the prime time. I'm hoping Coach Kill can get the team ready for the prime time...but...God have mercy on the souls of the team if theyfall a bit short in a big game.

You people showed me a LOT about who and what you are at the time of that 2003 heartbreaking loss to Michigan. I REALLY felt badly for the kids who had left it all on the field that night. And, they came back the next year and did it again and came up short again. And then they DID it in 2005 and too many of you people were still curled up in a fetal position being "fair-weather" fans to the max. Now THAT is what Coach Kill NEEDS to establish with his team. If the team gets knocked down in a heartbreaking fashion, it needs to come back the next year and battle harder, smarter, with more purpose until they get that win in the Brown Jug Game...in the Floyd of Rosedale Game...in the Battle for the AXE! The team needs to have a hell of a lot more heart than the fans have...that's for sure...
 





It smells like someone took a massive White Castle dump in this thread!
 

Kuato Lives! said:
It smells like someone took a massive White Castle dump in this thread!
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You know what smells like crap kuato? The last 4 times against Michigan, my Gophers have been outscored by a combined score of something like 151 (Michigan) to 29 (Minnesota) in compiling a 0-4 record. Now THAT stinks. That is sad. That is NOT better than losing a heart-breaker.

You are the resident carpologist around here, aren't you?

We have, indeed gotten everything we so richly deserve by being the way we have been... We really have NOT "gotten" it around here.

Good luck Coach Kill! Build us a program that can compete. We HAVE to compete before we will really WIN. That is the bottom line. And it is TOUGH to get to a point of really competing. Sometimes, reaching the level of being able to compete can hurt...can break your heart...means losing a game you could have...should have...would have won...but didn't. It means staying the course even when that happens and picking yourself back up and NOT acting like spoiled adolescents. So far, we have not been very good about that as Golden Gopher Football Fans. We've pretty much been wimps and have bailed just when we ought to be standing taller.

So, kuato, you are certainly welcomed to be the resident carpologist around here. But, I don't think you have ANY moral ground to try to have some fun at the expense of someone else. IF you are smelling crap...you most likely have some crap on yourself. Better check your shoes out kuato. I think you stepped all over what you claim to be smelling...Just needed to point that out to you. So, see you later. Beat Iowa, Gophers! Bring the Pig back home. Battle hard Gophers. Iowa will try to smash you in the mouth again this year. Smash 'em right back and pound the rock! Stop the run. Find a way to win!
 

imthewalrus said:
You know what smells like crap kuato? The last 4 times against Michigan, my Gophers have been outscored by a combined score of something like 151 (Michigan) to 29 (Minnesota) in compiling a 0-4 record. Now THAT stinks. That is sad. That is NOT better than losing a heart-breaker.
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Unfortunately you are not allowed to differentiate 2003 and 2004 from those four games you reference since all that matters are Big Ten wins and losses.

(I read that somewhere)
 

imthewalrus said:
babble babble babble...
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Just curious, when did anybody ever say that getting blown out was better, or that our recent performance was better? On second thought, don't answer that, maybe I just shouldn't try....
 

Maximus said:
Unfortunately you are not allowed to differentiate 2003 and 2004 from those four games you reference since all that matters are Big Ten wins and losses.

(I read that somewhere)
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I think you mean BIG TEN WINS and BIG TEN LOSSES
 

fryguy22 said:
I think you mean BIG TEN WINS and BIG TEN LOSSES
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Exactly. I thought that was the point, not whether we almost won when we, actually, uh, lost...(nice use of caps by the way...simulates Wren quite nicely). :)
 

Let me pile on.......

How many times have we been told that Kill will be judged on his won-loss record.

Now, apparently, there is a new category - wins, losses, and close losses.

Wren, I understand (mostly) what you're saying. A 3-point loss is better than a 50-point loss --- but at the end of the day, it's still a loss. In fact, as a fan, those close losses are a lot harder to live with. when a team gets blown out by 50 points, there's no way to rationalize the game - you got your butts kicked, period. But, when a team loses by a few points, you go back and replay every mistake, every penalty, every incomplete pass, every missed tackle, etc. Those close losses are the ones that stay with you.

And, whether you like it or not, the loss to Michigan (after blowing a big lead) happened with Glen Mason as head coach. That one goes on his resume - and it's a game that Gopher fans would like to be able to forget - but we can't.

Going forward, Wren, I just hope you will apply the same criteria to judging Jerry Kill's record that you apply to Mason.
 

Wisconsin was a heart breaking loss. Michigan was unacceptable.

Michigan - MN dominated the game until halfway through the third quarter. It should have been physically impossible to lose that game. Yet Mason found a way. Firing Mason and the entire coaching staff could legitimately have been justified after that game. They weren't competitive in that game. They dominated then chose to lose. That should not be celebrated.
 

Here's my perspective on Mason.

He had a great offense.
He had a good defense.
He had a terrible 2 minute defense!!!
He didn't make adjustments well and made some poor decisions.

From 2003 to 2005, the Gophers defense played pretty well against Michigan... except when the Gophers went up by 21!

Once you go up by 21, all bets are off. At that point, Michigan gets 4 downs to make 10 yards. And they are no longer going to be conservative.

When the game switches from a version of tackle football to wide open touch football, athletes take over. I have been to one game at the Big House in my life. It just happened to be the one where Michigan State was up by 17 late in the 4th quarter. The whole offensive strategy at that point was for Braylon Edwards to run 40-50 yards down the field and for Chad Henne to fling it to him. It worked.

There's a reason "most" of Mason's great wins were won on a last second field goal. That type of game keeps the opposition's 2 minute desperation offense off the field.
 

Lakeville Goldy said:
Wisconsin was a heart breaking loss. Michigan was unacceptable.

Michigan - MN dominated the game until halfway through the third quarter. It should have been physically impossible to lose that game. Yet Mason found a way. Firing Mason and the entire coaching staff could legitimately have been justified after that game. They weren't competitive in that game. They dominated then chose to lose. That should not be celebrated.
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In 2003 there was not enough depth to get it done. In 2004 Michigan still had more depth. In 2005 the Gophers WON. They stayed with it. They competed for THREE seasons. They got one win. The next year, in 2006, Michigan won something like 28 to 14, but it was still a game. The Gophers then had Michigan go off the schedule for 2 of the next 6 years. The four times the Gophers did play Michigan, they lost by a huge margin in the combined scores, including 58-0 in one game at Ann Arbor. And, those years were very much DOWN years for Michigan and Michigan standards.

And, Norwegian: I really AM wanting Coach Kill to hang in there, get the program to AT LEAST the Mason levels and ABOVE. Otherwise, the fan-base around here that didn't have the courage to do anything but whine, cry, get pi$$ed, abandon the team, hate on the coach, go get commode hugging drunk will surface and run Coach Kill off and demand that he needs to be fired. You see, Norwegian, I am 66 years old, have been a Gopher Fan for darn near sixty years and a season ticket holder and donor for a very long time. I want the last years of attending Gopher Games to be competitive years for my Gopher Football Team. IF the fan base that I saw in action during the Warmath crisis of 1959, the Stoll years, and yes, the Mason years surfaces and reverts to their normal "fire the coach" form that from the time they run Kill off for at least the next decade, the program will be back to brewball era levels and will be entrenched in the cellar of the conference. I do NOT want my Gopher being kicked around by every conference team the last years that I have to attend games in person. I want to travel to road games feeling my Gophers will compete...maybe not win all the time...but will compete! Is that too hard to understand. I probably don't have so many years left to hope for good, hard fought and competitive games from my beloved Golden Gopher Football team. I NEED Coach Kill and his staff to succeed here to have that dream stay alive for me.


Believe me, Norwegian, I have a LOT riding on Coach Kill being just as successful as is possible and I really do want him to complete a magical and mystical "Run for the Roses..." type of year or two!

Now, Norwegian: I am OUT of here. I have said what needed to be said. Let them have at me and my contrasting way of thinking about Golden Gopher Football. Here is hoping Coach Kill has the MOST amazing season in 2013 with our Golden Gopher Football Team! Beat Iowa, Gophers!
 


Maximus said:
Years 7 and 8 of the Mason regime. Ouch
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How long have you been watching Big Ten Football and when has Minnesota EVER had more depth than Michigan or the Ohio State University? Possibly in the first Bierman run...but, then Minnesota very rarely played tOSU.
 

Ah, back to the same old Ruesse. Looks like he is taking a shot at the gophers giving up 400+ passing yards to SJSU. Nobody else catch this? The only difference is that Kills team actually won by a nice margin and didn't give up a lead in the 4th quarter to lose the game.
 


imthewalrus said:
Now, Norwegian: I am OUT of here. I have said what needed to be said. Let them have at me and my contrasting way of thinking about Golden Gopher Football. Here is hoping Coach Kill has the MOST amazing season in 2013 with our Golden Gopher Football Team! Beat Iowa, Gophers!
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thank you Wren...goodbye!!
 

He's an angry wren

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