Reasons to be optimistic . . . #1 - TCU = Best team Gophers face all year

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GOPHER.NATION.

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There are a lot of Negative Nancy's out there these days and it's time to turn things around . . .

We lost to a very talented team with a stout front 4 on defense, a dynamite QB, and play makers everywhere. We got owned offensively. I think we would have put up a few more points with a mobile Leidner that could have ran the read option, but still would not have looked good. However, our D held up quite well against a tough offense despite allowing 30 points. We all know that our offense and special teams put the D in a tough position all game.

I am very optimistic for the rest of the season. If you can point out a better team that we will face, please do so. The next best three teams we will play all have major faults. Ohio State - would have been a top team in the nation if the best player in the nation didn't get hurt. Wisconsin - McEvoy is not good. Nebraska - almost lost to McNeese State. And we all know the Big Ten is weak.

We are still on pace to be Big Ten Champs this year . . . LET'S GO!!!

on a side note: it sounded pretty sweet when the TCU fans did there chant right after the kickoff . . . how about we yell SKI-U-MAH!!!
 

That's what I called true spirit! Go Gophers!
 

GOPHER.NATION. said:
There are a lot of Negative Nancy's out there these days and it's time to turn things around . . .

We lost to a very talented team with a stout front 4 on defense, a dynamite QB, and play makers everywhere. We got owned offensively. I think we would have put up a few more points with a mobile Leidner that could have ran the read option, but still would not have looked good. However, our D held up quite well against a tough offense despite allowing 30 points. We all know that our offense and special teams put the D in a tough position all game.

I am very optimistic for the rest of the season. If you can point out a better team that we will face, please do so. The next best three teams we will play all have major faults. Ohio State - would have been a top team in the nation if the best player in the nation didn't get hurt. Wisconsin - McEvoy is not good. Nebraska - almost lost to McNeese State. And we all know the Big Ten is weak.

We are still on pace to be Big Ten Champs this year . . . LET'S GO!!!

on a side note: it sounded pretty sweet when the TCU fans did there chant right after the kickoff . . . how about we yell SKI-U-MAH!!!
Click to expand...

I agree 100% I was saying this awell...

D played ok for us giving the ball to them 4 times and also the offense not moving the ball at all.
I believe TCU could be playing for a playoff spot in the NCAA they are that good, we will not face a team that good all year
 

gopherhoopsguy said:
I agree 100% I was saying this awell...

D played ok for us giving the ball to them 4 times and also the offense not moving the ball at all.
I believe TCU could be playing for a playoff spot in the NCAA they are that good, we will not face a team that good all year
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Lol
 

maroonedinCA said:
Lol
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Is there some reason you think they can't? home vs Oklahoma and @Baylor are there only 2 "difficult" games and if they win those they'll definitely be in contention. It's not so outlandish to think it could happen.
 


A for enthusiasm

But you might be stretching the truth a bit. tOSU is likely the best team we will play.
Their backup freshman quarterback is likely to get better as he plays more. He is currently
17th in the nation in quarterback efficiency. TCU's Boykin is rated 69th...52 slots and 40 points behind him.
TCU is unranked. tOSU is 18th in the country even after stubbing their toe. Wisconsin
whoever plays quarterback is 17th in the country and Nebraska is the 22nd ranked team in the country.
By seasons end this could change I'll grant you. I think tOSU is likely to climb as well
however. So, I'm not sure other than wanting it so this week how you reached your conclusions
but our schedule is harder than it was three weeks ago if you are watching the same team I am.
We have a lot to discover and a lot to fix for any dreams to be realistic.

Michigan is still Michigan and it's at their house. We win those four games and your theory
is accurate and I'll be delirious.
 

I share some of the OP's optimism. I think we will be surprised when looking back on this game. TCU is going to make a little noise and this loss should be easier to swallow in a couple of months.
 

The Iowa game last year was a downer, and many people were surprised when we went on to win 4 more games after that.
 

f
upnorthkid said:
Is there some reason you think they can't? home vs Oklahoma and @Baylor are there only 2 "difficult" games and if they win those they'll definitely be in contention. It's not so outlandish to think it could happen.
Click to expand...

What do you base your opinion on? The fact that they handily beat the Gophers? Or the fact that they handily beat Samford? I just cannot believe how absurd GH'ers are. You think the fact they manhandled the Gophers makes them a great team? You got a lot to learn my man.
 



not to mention it is a good wake up call for the players. a chance to look inside and ask " have I given it everything i got"

From what i saw there are players that were playing at a higher level last year. those guys have to hit that level and beyond and new comers need to pick up the slack.

WE have seen what a good football team looks like now we need to up our ante and double down on heart
 

upnorthkid said:
Is there some reason you think they can't? home vs Oklahoma and @Baylor are there only 2 "difficult" games and if they win those they'll definitely be in contention. It's not so outlandish to think it could happen.
Click to expand...

Because Oklahoma is ranked 4th in the country and Baylor 7th those are the only 2 "difficult" games?
They also play number 20 Kansas St and #25 Oklahoma St. They also play West Virginia. Texas Tech
almost always scores points. Texas is still Texas and lost to UCLA #12 in the closing moments. They have a gauntlet just as we do.
 

TCU is much better than they were last year......and were clearly underestimated. However......it is FAR too early to assume that they are the best team we will see all year. The fact is......the offense couldn't move the ball and gave TCU way too many short fields. That's more of an internal issue than anything. If we cannot move the ball through the air.....we will end up making teams look much better than they actually are......and may even drop a couple games that we would win with a halfway competent offense.
 

60's Guy said:
Because Oklahoma is ranked 4th in the country and Baylor 7th those are the only 2 "difficult" games?
They also play number 20 Kansas St and #25 Oklahoma St. They also play West Virginia. Texas Tech
almost always scores points. Texas is still Texas and lost to UCLA #12 in the closing moments. They have a gauntlet just as we do.
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Oklahoma is a damn tough game. Agreed. As is Baylor. KSU, well we'll see just how legit they are against Auburn this weekend. Wasn't impressed with them against ISU earlier. Ok St is ranked purely because they gave FSU a game when Winston looked like garbage. We'll see if they're actually for real. WVU barely scraped by MD, Texas got demolished by BYU and hung with UCLA missing Hundley. TTU sounds like a shoot out, but they did just get steam rolled by Arkansas. Right now really the rankings don't mean anything. I'm just judging by the comparative eye test thus far, which I will wholly admit is entirely subjective so I won't disagree with your opinion that they play a gauntlet as well. Maybe TCU played their best game all year against us and they'll show their true colors down the road and get blown out by Oklahoma and Baylor and drop another 2 or 3 in the B12. I'm just judging by how fast and athletic their WRs and QB are and how much speed and an edge their D plays with. They seem like a contender in the B12, which is all I'm saying. The use of the word difficult was in that if you're looking at their games and chalking up ones that they won't be favored in for sure as of right now, it's those 2.

That being said, I don't know if I agree that this is the best team we'll see all year. We'll see how OSU progresses at QB as well as Wisky. Nebraska will be a challenge as well.
 



BreakTheGopherCurse said:
f

What do you base your opinion on? The fact that they handily beat the Gophers? Or the fact that they handily beat Samford? I just cannot believe how absurd GH'ers are. You think the fact they manhandled the Gophers makes them a great team? You got a lot to learn my man.
Click to expand...

Never said they were a "great" team. I think they have some great receivers, a mobile QB, and a defense that plays with an edge that fulfilled the eye test on Saturday. Was that due to the Gophers playing poorly or TCU being legit, we shall see. I'd say it's a combo of the two. All I said is if they can pull off the 2 wins over Okla and Baylor, they'd be in the running for the playoff. nothing more, nothing less and I won't fault someone for thinking they may do it.
 

Michigan, Illinois and Nebraska will play their home games of the year against us. Iowa gets better as the season goes on - and we may be B1G last in passing again this year. We have a shot at Northwestern and Purdue in the conference.
 

I was saying the same thing. I think Leidner was very limited with his dang injury and could have atleast given the gophers 1 or 2 more scored to make the game look reasonable. The defense I think played fantastic. For how long the defense was on the field and how short of breaks they got because the offense could not get one 1st down, they played terrific. If we can just give our defense more of a breather every time they come out in a game by the offense getting some stuff going, we will do great. Kill always seems to expand his playbook not till the big ten season so we will see more plays and by that time we will have a healthy QB whoever it is that will have some beginning of the year jitters off their back. I saw someone said earlier in this thread that the back up QB for OSU who has looked pretty bad will get better throughout the year and as this will probably be true but if he can improve Leidner and/or Streveler or whoever is at QB will improve also as confidence and practice will settle in. Go Gophers! BEAT WISCONSIN!
 

GOPHER.NATION. said:
There are a lot of Negative Nancy's out there these days and it's time to turn things around . . .

We lost to a very talented team with a stout front 4 on defense, a dynamite QB, and play makers everywhere. We got owned offensively. I think we would have put up a few more points with a mobile Leidner that could have ran the read option, but still would not have looked good. However, our D held up quite well against a tough offense despite allowing 30 points. We all know that our offense and special teams put the D in a tough position all game.

I am very optimistic for the rest of the season. If you can point out a better team that we will face, please do so. The next best three teams we will play all have major faults. Ohio State - would have been a top team in the nation if the best player in the nation didn't get hurt. Wisconsin - McEvoy is not good. Nebraska - almost lost to McNeese State. And we all know the Big Ten is weak.

We are still on pace to be Big Ten Champs this year . . . LET'S GO!!!

on a side note: it sounded pretty sweet when the TCU fans did there chant right after the kickoff . . . how about we yell SKI-U-MAH!!!
Click to expand...

Pollyana.
 

60's Guy said:
But you might be stretching the truth a bit. tOSU is likely the best team we will play.
Click to expand...

TCU > East Carlina > Virginia Tech > OSU. (This formula is foolproof. The Gophers won the National Title in 1993 by beating Wisconsin.)
 

upnorthkid said:
Is there some reason you think they can't? home vs Oklahoma and @Baylor are there only 2 "difficult" games and if they win those they'll definitely be in contention. It's not so outlandish to think it could happen.
Click to expand...

So which is it? First others in this thread were justifying the Gophers lost due to the fact that TCU is a great team and 'maybe' in contention for a Top 4 spot. Now you're saying they may be in contention for a top 4 spot because their schedule is easy not because they're necessarily that great of a team.
 

upnorthkid said:
Never said they were a "great" team. I think they have some great receivers, a mobile QB, and a defense that plays with an edge that fulfilled the eye test on Saturday. Was that due to the Gophers playing poorly or TCU being legit, we shall see. I'd say it's a combo of the two. All I said is if they can pull off the 2 wins over Okla and Baylor, they'd be in the running for the playoff. nothing more, nothing less and I won't fault someone for thinking they may do it.
Click to expand...

There are other options other than these two. Maybe we're not as good as we thought we were? Maybe TCU, with their 4-8 record last year, isn't some unstoppable force and is a middle of the pack bowl team but they don't need to be great to beat us?
 

My vote is that TCU is about the 4-5 best team we will play this year. Everyone is giving their offense way to much credit for Saturday. We only gave them 6 points when they started on their side of the field. Our offense produced the longest drive of the day. After seeing MTS barely win in 3 OTS and EI lose this week. My expectations are way down.
 

When all is said and done, Nebraska might be the best team we face this year. The McNeese game appears to be a hiccup. Impressive win against Fresno which consistently fields good teams. I just have a feeling about this Husker team.
 

BreakTheGopherCurse said:
f

What do you base your opinion on? The fact that they handily beat the Gophers? Or the fact that they handily beat Samford? I just cannot believe how absurd GH'ers are. You think the fact they manhandled the Gophers makes them a great team? You got a lot to learn my man.
Click to expand...

You're the last glass:

2iHborH.jpg
 

Funny. Last week TCU was a weak Big 12 team that went 4-8 last year.

Now they're better than Ohio State.
 

afurry91 said:
Funny. Last week TCU was a weak Big 12 team that went 4-8 last year.

Now they're better than Ohio State.
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I don't know. Phil Steele, whom I really, really respect, had TCU as his most improved team in America coming into the 2014 season. They have such great athleticism and such great speed pretty much across the board, that I could very much see them as being truly legit. At any rate, they will have a chance to prove their merit coming up in about two weeks, as they will be facing one hell of a slate of games all occurring within the span of six weeks - vs. #4 Oklahoma, @ #7 Baylor, vs. #25 Oklahoma State, @ West Virginia, vs. #20 K-State. That's some heavy lifting right there. We'll see how they do.
 

TCU isn't as good as the scoreboard indicated & the Gophers aren't as bad. Had we had just an AVERAGE QB we would've won. Our Defense held up nicely for basically being out there all game. Former Defenses would've easily gave up 45-50 points when our Offense is that stagnant. They also had to defend short fields all day.

TCU is a good team that I think will win about 6-7 games but watching the game we gave them every chance to put 56 on us & they only put 30 which is surprising seeing as their new offense was supposed to dominate us. Watching the game it didn't look like that... we've played worse against less complicated offenses.

We will be fine. 7 win Season is where I see us with every game winnable.
 


The first thing we need to do is beat Northwestern.
 

We may have played the toughest non conference opponent in the Big Ten
 

TCU could very well win the Big 12. They are certainly much much better than OU. The game was not as close as the score suggested at all.

That said, OSU is the best team the Gophers will play all year.
 

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