UNLV running back confident, likes TCF

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denguegopher

denguegopher

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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

BACKUP RUNNING BACK SMITH ALREADY 2-0 VS. MINNESOTA

ELY — Junior running back Adonis Smith has some familiarity with UNLV’s opening opponent. He played at Northwestern for two football seasons before transferring last year, and he was on Wildcats teams that went 2-0 against Big Ten Conference rival Minnesota. UNLV plays at Minnesota on Aug. 29. “I want to be 3-0, and I feel comfortable with where this team is at,” Smith said. “The cohesiveness feels the same as it did at Northwestern when we went to go play Minnesota.” Smith (5 feet 11 inches, 200 pounds) is the backup to starter Tim Cornett, and he is expected to be a big part of the Rebels’ offensive plans. “He’s done a good job,” coach Bobby Hauck said. “His spring wasn’t physical enough. I don’t think he understood playing hard without the football, and those are things that he’s really progressed in. He’s played a much more physical brand of football this camp. I think he’s learning to play harder without the ball. “It’s a big deal. I admire him and appreciate him, and I think his teammates do, too, for embracing all the things he needed to improve on.” Smith played at Northwestern in 2010 and 2011, rushing for 462 yards and three touchdowns over those two seasons. He played his first college game at Minnesota in TCF Bank Stadium, which opened the year before. “It’s beautiful,” Smith said. Smith can’t completely claim an undefeated record against the Golden Gophers. He was on the sideline when Minnesota opened last season with a 30-27 triple-overtime victory at UNLV, but didn’t play because he had to sit out the year due to NCAA transfer rules. He won’t be sitting out next week. “Any way I can help the team, I’m there,” Smith said. “I’m happy to be back on the field playing.”
 


UNLV ran for 159 yards with a 4.3 YPC last year against us. I'd consider it a disappointment if they replicate those numbers next week.
 




i cant wait for this game my prediction is 41 to 7 gophers and the blowout win kick starts a successful season
 

gopherdiehard said:
i cant wait for this game my prediction is 41 to 7 gophers and the blowout win kick starts a successful season
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Save your prediction for the Official Predict the Score Contest coming in 2 beers.
 





I hope he also likes the turf because he's going to be spending a lot of time laying down on it.
 








jaymil said:
UNLV ran for 159 yards with a 4.3 YPC last year against us. I'd consider it a disappointment if they replicate those numbers next week.
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i truly believe we will dominate unlv, but just for conversations sake...

what if we lose? would coach lose all of his momentum and support? I feel like unlv is a must win and we must win by a comfortable margin to prove to the casual fan and skeptical die hard that things are changing. anyone have any thoughts?
 

Everything I've read indicates that the Rebels are erring on the side of caution in fall camp; sitting the veterans during most of the scrimmages, getting younger players reps, etc. That seems like a risky strategy when your team just isn't that good. Their starters could use all the reps they can get.

I just don't see this game being very close. UNLV DOES return virtually all of their starters from last year but they still don't start a Senior on the O-line (I believe?), their O-line is fairly undersized, and the QB still seems pretty shaky. Year Three for a lot of these Gophers in the same scheme, both sides of the ball. No more thinking, just reacting, playing fast, making plays. I expect to start seeing a well-oiled machine.

We'll see next week!
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Everything I've read indicates that the Rebels are erring on the side of caution in fall camp; sitting the veterans during most of the scrimmages, getting younger players reps, etc. That seems like a risky strategy when your team just isn't that good. Their starters could use all the reps they can get.

I just don't see this game being very close. UNLV DOES return virtually all of their starters from last year but they still don't start a Senior on the O-line (I believe?), their O-line is fairly undersized, and the QB still seems pretty shaky. Year Three for a lot of these Gophers in the same scheme, both sides of the ball. No more thinking, just reacting, playing fast, making plays. I expect to start seeing a well-oiled machine.

We'll see next week!
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I bet we get a competitive game because we have no film on them. They changed their coordinators yet again. Kinda like how USC had a hard time with us in 2011 and then NMSU was able to scout and then (FART NOISE).
 

GopherInPittsburgh said:
I bet we get a competitive game because we have no film on them. They changed their coordinators yet again. Kinda like how USC had a hard time with us in 2011 and then NMSU was able to scout and then (FART NOISE).
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I agree to an extent, but all indications are they didn't really change much. For the reason you mentioned, I would maybe consider betting on UNLV to cover the first half spread, and the game to get out of hand in the second half.
 

I'm reading that the new OC likes to go no huddle. So they switched to power run last year and are switching to up-tempo this year?
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Everything I've read indicates that the Rebels are erring on the side of caution in fall camp; sitting the veterans during most of the scrimmages, getting younger players reps, etc. That seems like a risky strategy when your team just isn't that good. Their starters could use all the reps they can get.

I just don't see this game being very close. UNLV DOES return virtually all of their starters from last year but they still don't start a Senior on the O-line (I believe?), their O-line is fairly undersized, and the QB still seems pretty shaky. Year Three for a lot of these Gophers in the same scheme, both sides of the ball. No more thinking, just reacting, playing fast, making plays. I expect to start seeing a well-oiled machine. We'll see next week!
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Ogee, I think that you are right about sitting the starters. That is possibly a result of last year's experience where they had so many injuries up in Ely. They can't afford to have injuries, which keeps them from fully developing their starters, "can't win." However, I think that UNLV's biggest problem is that they have no confidence. If they can hang with the Gophers until the end of the 3rd quarter, they could gain some confidence. If we jump all over them early it could be a blowout. Like you said, we'll see next week.
 

I'm amused at those who worry about UNLV being unpredictable with having new coordinators. Having new coordinators and especially in the first game is usually not good. We went through coordinators when Brew was coaching like Dr. Don goes through beer on a Friday night. Come Saturday, this usually means bad results with the only difference being that Dr. Don bounces back just fine. In the case of UNLV, it will be bad results on a Thursday evening. The fact UNLV has new coordinators is a sign that Hauck is desperate and had to throw someone(s) under the bus (in this case his previous coordinators) with the hope that the new guys will pull a rabbit out of a hat. I'll take established and proven coordinators over new ones any day of the week. I'm highly confident that we will out coach and out play UNLV in a big way.

Go Gophers!
 

MNGoldenGophers1 said:
I'm amused at those who worry about UNLV being unpredictable with having new coordinators. Having new coordinators and especially in the first game is usually not good. We went through coordinators when Brew was coaching like Dr. Don goes through beer on a Friday night. Come Saturday, this usually means bad results with the only difference being that Dr. Don bounces back just fine. In the case of UNLV, it will be bad results on a Thursday evening. The fact UNLV has new coordinators is a sign that Hauck is desperate and had to throw someone(s) under the bus (in this case his previous coordinators) with the hope that the new guys will pull a rabbit out of a hat. I'll take established and proven coordinators over new ones any day of the week. I'm highly confident that we will out coach and out play UNLV in a big way.

Go Gophers!
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+1

Changing both offensive and defensive coordinators three times in three years + not giving your starters heavy reps = not a good thing. If the same thing happened to the Gophers, I would be upset, expecting a mess, and probably depressed about our chances for having a good season.
 

Love how some people start hedging their bets as soon as the season is close. All off-season it has been optimism about how good we are going to be and how we are going to take a step forward and now we have some posters talking about a close game with UNLV and what not.

Obviously anything can happen but at home we should expect a convincing victory over an inferior opponent. If we struggle with any of the first 3 teams on our schedule that is not going to bode well for Big Ten season because again while you still have to execute against even the worst teams, where we should be at as a program is to the point where home games against bad non conference teams are no doubters.

UNLV was terrible last year and all indications seem to be they aren't going to be much better this year. If we struggle in, or god forbid lose this game, it could be a sign that we are in for a very long season.
 

If media reports are to be believed they are not in a good place offensively. They look really undersized too on both lines. They have some decent linebackers and Cornett is solid, but it doesn't seem like they have much to hang their hats on. If the offense that played in the bowl shows up next week we will score a lot of points. Also, I wonder how UNLV handle the humidity. ;-)
 


MNVCGUY said:
Love how some people start hedging their bets as soon as the season is close. All off-season it has been optimism about how good we are going to be and how we are going to take a step forward and now we have some posters talking about a close game with UNLV and what not.
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It is not that different than signing up for the Twin Cities Marathon or the American Birkebeiner nine months before the event. At that time it seems like a really great idea but as it gets closer to the race day you start to realize that maybe it wasn't that great of an idea.
 

MNGoldenGophers1 said:
I'm amused at those who worry about UNLV being unpredictable with having new coordinators. Having new coordinators and especially in the first game is usually not good. We went through coordinators when Brew was coaching like Dr. Don goes through beer on a Friday night. Come Saturday, this usually means bad results with the only difference being that Dr. Don bounces back just fine. In the case of UNLV, it will be bad results on a Thursday evening. The fact UNLV has new coordinators is a sign that Hauck is desperate and had to throw someone(s) under the bus (in this case his previous coordinators) with the hope that the new guys will pull a rabbit out of a hat. I'll take established and proven coordinators over new ones any day of the week. I'm highly confident that we will out coach and out play UNLV in a big way.

Go Gophers!
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Well, we saw that it had an effect last year. I'm pretty sure Kill and his defensive staff prepared for UNLV to run a spread or some type of wide open offense, and they came out with a pound the rock mentality and it caught us off guard as they ran for 160 yards. I think the unpredictability argument is a legit excuse in the first game of the season.
 

Had Gray connected on some of those deep passes in the first half, it would have been a much different game. Hopefully we won't leave as many plays on the table this year (Iowa and UNLV come to mind last year).
 

^
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Untimely mistakes on our part had more to do with last year's game being close than anything UNLV did including their schemes.
 

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