All things fall practice camp

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Hey guys, I'm a new reporter at the Gopher hole. Here are a few interesting quotes from practice today by Thieran Cockran.

How do you feel so far with the returning guys and the new guys?

Yeah, we’re starting off great. We’ve got Scott Ekpe, Boticelli, guys who already know the system, we’ve been through it. We’re moving very good, we’re moving smooth, everything’s coming along great. We look forward to a great season this year.

Some of the young defensive linemen out there seem a lot bigger than some of you guys were coming in, what do you think of them?

Yeah some of those guys, I mean steven Richardson, Gary Moore, and Andrew, they’re all great size. I think Andrew’s 250, 250+. Them coming in at that size, that shows that anybody can step in if we need it.

You look like you’ve added some weight yourself, have you kind of bulked up a bit in the offseason?

Last season I played around 238-240, somewhere in that range, and I’m over 250. So I’ve added a lot of weight, mostly in the legs, where I’ve needed it, and I feel I needed to put on some, and strengthen my legs, and I feel like that’s going to help me be successful this season.

Do you feel like that’s going to help you hold your own on the outside, with some of those bigger teams?

Definitely, you’re going to need that in the big ten. As it starts to get into that 10th, 11th, 12, game, you’re gonna need that leg power to hold off those offensive linemen.
 


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gophers?src=hash">#Gophers</a> TE Duke Anyanwu tore an ACL two years ago; I'm told today's injury was to his other leg. That's good news.</p>— JoeChristensen (@JoeCStrib) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeCStrib/statuses/495644173521805312">August 2, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

alexvanabbema said:
Hey guys, I'm a new reporter at the Gopher hole. Here are a few interesting quotes from practice today by Thieran Cockran.

How do you feel so far with the returning guys and the new guys?

Yeah, we’re starting off great. We’ve got Scott Ekpe, Boticelli, guys who already know the system, we’ve been through it. We’re moving very good, we’re moving smooth, everything’s coming along great. We look forward to a great season this year.

Some of the young defensive linemen out there seem a lot bigger than some of you guys were coming in, what do you think of them?

Yeah some of those guys, I mean steven Richardson, Gary Moore, and Andrew, they’re all great size. I think Andrew’s 250, 250+. Them coming in at that size, that shows that anybody can step in if we need it.

You look like you’ve added some weight yourself, have you kind of bulked up a bit in the offseason?

Last season I played around 238-240, somewhere in that range, and I’m over 250. So I’ve added a lot of weight, mostly in the legs, where I’ve needed it, and I feel I needed to put on some, and strengthen my legs, and I feel like that’s going to help me be successful this season.

Do you feel like that’s going to help you hold your own on the outside, with some of those bigger teams?

Definitely, you’re going to need that in the big ten. As it starts to get into that 10th, 11th, 12, game, you’re gonna need that leg power to hold off those offensive linemen.
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That's very nice to hear that he is over 250. I think with him you don't have to worry about him putting on bad weight since he has always talked about not rushing it and just letting it come naturally over time. Hopefully he should be able to keep his pass rushing prowess plus do a much better job holding the edge against power teams with that extra 10 pounds of size and strength.
 

Really sucks to hear about Duke. I feel bad for him.
 

Also, here's some quotes from cornerback Eric Murray from today's practice.

(On what he's trying to improve on)
As far as from last year, I’ve just been trying to improve on getting better breaks, improving my press technique, and being more persistent with that. And just refining the skills that I have so that I can be a more all-around and complete corner.

(Confidence level in the secondary)
Confidence level is really really high, because you’ve got a lot of people with experience, and people who have played before, people who were battling injuries. So they’re getting better, and we’re all getting better collectively as a group, so we can go further into the season and to improve every day.


(On low Big Ten secondary rankings)
It definitely motivates you, but you can’t control what people are going to say. People are gonna talk. So just let them talk.
 




He is listed at 6-0 225. Thats just as compact as Cobb, Kirkwood and Jonathan Femi-Cole and significantly more compact than Berkley, Jeff and Rodney Smith.
 

die hard gopher said:
He is listed at 6-0 225. Thats just as compact as Cobb, Kirkwood and Jonathan Femi-Cole and significantly more compact than Berkley, Jeff and Rodney Smith.
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Yep, and Leidner is a big dude and he is only has 12 pounds on him even though he is 4 inches taller.
 

alexvanabbema said:
Also, here's some quotes from cornerback Eric Murray from today's practice.

(On what he's trying to improve on)
As far as from last year, I’ve just been trying to improve on getting better breaks, improving my press technique, and being more persistent with that. And just refining the skills that I have so that I can be a more all-around and complete corner.

(Confidence level in the secondary)
Confidence level is really really high, because you’ve got a lot of people with experience, and people who have played before, people who were battling injuries. So they’re getting better, and we’re all getting better collectively as a group, so we can go further into the season and to improve every day.


(On low Big Ten secondary rankings)
It definitely motivates you, but you can’t control what people are going to say. People are gonna talk. So just let them talk.
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Maybe he should work on turning his damn head when the ball is in the air
 



GG07 said:
Maybe he should work on turning his damn head when the ball is in the air
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Your picking at the wrong dude. EM is our best DB. Was last year. Will be this year. He will play on Sundays. If you don't believe me - just ask Kill.
 

Spoofin said:
Your picking at the wrong dude. EM is our best DB. Was last year. Will be this year. He will play on Sundays. If you don't believe me - just ask Kill.
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He won't be until he learns to turn his head
 


GG07 said:
He won't be until he learns to turn his head
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It's been said before that the coaches don't teach our DB's to turn their head.

There's positives and negatives of both. If you turn your head, there is a greater chance of making a play on the ball but there is also a greater chance of getting burnt. If you don't turn your head at the right time or you can't locate the ball right away, it can cause you to get out of position.

If you don't turn your head, you shouldn't lose the receiver. But, as we've seen, there is also less of a chance at a pick and greater chance of pass interference.

Either way, there is no doubt Murray has a lot of talent and played with every WR he faced last year.
 



alexvanabbema said:
Also, here's some quotes from cornerback Eric Murray from today's practice.

(On what he's trying to improve on)
As far as from last year, I’ve just been trying to improve on getting better breaks, improving my press technique, and being more persistent with that. And just refining the skills that I have so that I can be a more all-around and complete corner.

(Confidence level in the secondary)
Confidence level is really really high, because you’ve got a lot of people with experience, and people who have played before, people who were battling injuries. So they’re getting better, and we’re all getting better collectively as a group, so we can go further into the season and to improve every day.


(On low Big Ten secondary rankings)
It definitely motivates you, but you can’t control what people are going to say. People are gonna talk. So just let them talk.
Click to expand...

Hey, new reporter... Quality stuff on your first posts. Keep up the good work!
 

Spoofin said:
Your picking at the wrong dude. EM is our best DB. Was last year. Will be this year. He will play on Sundays. If you don't believe me - just ask Kill.
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I don't know that he's our best DB last year or that he will be this year, but he certainly could play on Sundays. Vereen was a 3rd round draft choice. Wells was generally aknowledged as our best DB the season before when he was healthy & sounds like he's back where he was again. BBC was generally acknowledged as the best CB in camp last year & early in the season before his injury. Ced Thompson is getting a ton of praise. Damarious Travis has an NFL body & Kill's also raving about him. Murray's good, but he's certainly not head & shoulders above the rest of this crew.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
I don't know that he's our best DB last year or that he will be this year, but he certainly could play on Sundays. Vereen was a 3rd round draft choice. Wells was generally aknowledged as our best DB the season before when he was healthy & sounds like he's back where he was again. BBC was generally acknowledged as the best CB in camp last year & early in the season before his injury. Ced Thompson is getting a ton of praise. Damarious Travis has an NFL body & Kill's also raving about him. Murray's good, but he's certainly not head & shoulders above the rest of this crew.
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You have named a number of Gophers I love. All are very good. IMO, Murray is our best DB, not head & shoulders above - but our best. Others may not agree which is fine. There are many good choices in your list.
 

Spoofin said:
You have named a number of Gophers I love. All are very good. IMO, Murray is our best DB, not head & shoulders above - but our best. Others may not agree which is fine. There are many good choices in your list.
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Vereen may have been slightly better last year (4th rd btw) but Murray was definitely in that conversation. I agree that he is probably our best DB this year. I see a 1st team all-B1G selection in his future.

Edit: other than Antonio Thompson of course. That dude puts da team on his back.
 

Antonio Thompson is the man. One thing about our secondary is that while they have become very good in coverage they didn't make a ton of picks or big plays. Thompson (the real one) has been solid for 2 years but I can't really remember any big plays he's made that stand out. Vereen was the same way. Murray's coverage is so tight he's been excellent without them. The next step is to truly become ball hawks. Those 1-2 TOs per game can be the difference in wins
 


PhillyGopher said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gophers?src=hash">#Gophers</a> TE Duke Anyanwu tore an ACL two years ago; I'm told today's injury was to his other leg. That's good news.</p>— JoeChristensen (@JoeCStrib) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeCStrib/statuses/495644173521805312">August 2, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Tough luck for Duke, hopefully it's not as bad as feared.
 

FSN: Notebook: Gophers secondary looks stellar so far

MINNEAPOLIS -- Gophers cornerback Eric Murray left the TCF Bank Stadium turf fuming after Nebraska wideout Kenny Bell sped past him and caught a 42-yard pass that set up the Huskers at Minnesota's 2-yard line last season.

After Nebraska went up 6-0 a play later, Murray found defensive coordinator on Tracy Claeys on the sideline and pled with him. His message: That won't happen again.

At his own request, Murray blanketed the Huskers' honorable mention all-Big Ten receiver, one notorious for turning in big plays against Minnesota, for the rest of that cold, blustery afternoon.

Bell caught two more passes for a whopping three yards.

The Gophers' D, in turn, strangled the Huskers en route to a 34-23 win, the first in a historic four-game streak for Jerry Kill's bunch.

"It was a big game," Murray said after practice Saturday. "I wasn't very experienced, so when I got out there, it's kind of like 'whoa.' . . . People are gonna catch things on you. But you can't worry about it, because if you worry about it, then they're gonna keep catching things on you.

http://www.foxsports.com/north/story/notebook-gophers-secondary-looks-stellar-so-far-080214

Go Gophers!!
 

oleboy41 said:
Antonio Thompson is the man. One thing about our secondary is that while they have become very good in coverage they didn't make a ton of picks or big plays. Thompson (the real one) has been solid for 2 years but I can't really remember any big plays he's made that stand out. Vereen was the same way. Murray's coverage is so tight he's been excellent without them. The next step is to truly become ball hawks. Those 1-2 TOs per game can be the difference in wins
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Your point stands overall, but for Thompson, I've got to point out the first play of the game under the lights 2 years ago against Syracuse and Nasib. That was sick.
 

BleedGopher said:
FSN: Notebook: Gophers secondary looks stellar so far

MINNEAPOLIS -- Gophers cornerback Eric Murray left the TCF Bank Stadium turf fuming after Nebraska wideout Kenny Bell sped past him and caught a 42-yard pass that set up the Huskers at Minnesota's 2-yard line last season.

After Nebraska went up 6-0 a play later, Murray found defensive coordinator on Tracy Claeys on the sideline and pled with him. His message: That won't happen again.

At his own request, Murray blanketed the Huskers' honorable mention all-Big Ten receiver, one notorious for turning in big plays against Minnesota, for the rest of that cold, blustery afternoon.

Bell caught two more passes for a whopping three yards.

The Gophers' D, in turn, strangled the Huskers en route to a 34-23 win, the first in a historic four-game streak for Jerry Kill's bunch.

"It was a big game," Murray said after practice Saturday. "I wasn't very experienced, so when I got out there, it's kind of like 'whoa.' . . . People are gonna catch things on you. But you can't worry about it, because if you worry about it, then they're gonna keep catching things on you.

http://www.foxsports.com/north/story/notebook-gophers-secondary-looks-stellar-so-far-080214

Go Gophers!!
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IIRC, the win at Northwestern started it- the Nebraska win kept it going.
 

Say what you will about Murray not turning his head, but the job he did on Bell and Allen Robinson was impressive. How cool is it that we have one of the better defenses in the Big Ten? I just worry a little about stopping the run. Really need some of our DT's to step it up this year.
 

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