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News, Notes, Tid-Bits and Quotes: Despite Loss, Plenty of Positives From OSU Game
By Grant Erickson
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/448830?referrer_id=388419
On Tuesday, the Gopher coaches looked back on the close loss to Ohio State this past weekend. Despite falling to the Buckeyes, there were plenty of positives to take away from the game.
Inspirational Visitor
Although the Gophers were unable to come away with the victory, there were a few friendships formed on Saturday thanks to one of Minnesota’s biggest fans. CNN journalist, Wayne Drash’s son, Billy, suffers from epilepsy and his favorite team is the Gophers, thanks to Jerry Kill. In a game where Minnesota looked to spread awareness about epilepsy, Billy was able to meet Kill.
“Well, Billy came and I said hey you can come watch practice, anything you would like to do, and he came down to practice, and you just have to watch that VIDEO…you just have to see it because our kids are unbelievable,” said Kill. “Anyone can say anything about our kids but they're unbelievable, because they didn't know who he was. When he was standing there giving them high‑fives, every one of our kids, they all went this way and one of them stopped and hugged him.”
Two Gophers made Billy’s trip to Minnesota even more memorable.
“I didn't know before the game he went in and had seen David Cobb and visited with David and then out there Pete Mortell with the punter and none of that was staged,” said Kill. “Our kids just did it.”
Kill mentioned that he wasn’t in a great mood on Monday evening until his wife showed him the video.
“Life's pretty good,” said Kill. “He did a lot for me! He did a lot for me last night, so I'm glad that timed out good. If y'all haven't seen that, put that on, that's what life's all about and we got good kids in our program.”
Ground Game
Even against an impressive Ohio State run defense, the Gophers were able to rush for 218 yards on the ground, including 145 from David Cobb. The senior running back has the ability to make those around him better.
“Obviously, I gotta give a lot of props to David Cobb,” said Matt Limegrover. “He's the kind of kid that can make an average group look pretty good. Not saying that we're an average group, I think the kids are playing their tail ends off but he's a special player so it's nice to be able to turn around and hand the ball to him.”
Cobb is just 115 yards from setting the single season rushing record held by Laurence Maroney. What makes the Texas native such an effective runner?
“Patience, he's very, very patient,” said Kill. “His patience is what he ‑‑ he's very patient to the hole and, you know, he brings people to him, you know, linebackers, they all step up and then he's able to make that slide cut and do what he does, but patience is his best attribute.”
Athletic Defense
The Gophers held the Buckeyes to 31 points on Saturday. While it may seem like a lot, it was tied for the fewest in OSU’s nine wins on the season. Six times, the Buckeyes have scored 49 points or more, including six of their last seven games. Minnesota felt that they could have even held OSU to fewer scores.
“We had one miscommunication and two missed tackles in there that gave us some trouble and they're good enough to take advantage of those things,” said Tracy Claeys. “So besides those three things, we played a pretty good ballgame. I think if we wouldn't have had the miscommunication and tackled better, possibly we had a chance to hold 'em to be around 21 points would be my guess, that we could have held them to.”
A big reason for the strong game was a couple turnovers forced by the defense, including a fumble as OSU was about to score.
“I think the better athletes you have the more turnovers you cause, I believe that, so you get more athletic and if you have strength and speed when you hit people you knock the ball lose a little bit more so I think that athleticism leads to more turnovers, that's my opinion,” said Claeys.
By Grant Erickson
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/448830?referrer_id=388419
On Tuesday, the Gopher coaches looked back on the close loss to Ohio State this past weekend. Despite falling to the Buckeyes, there were plenty of positives to take away from the game.
Inspirational Visitor
Although the Gophers were unable to come away with the victory, there were a few friendships formed on Saturday thanks to one of Minnesota’s biggest fans. CNN journalist, Wayne Drash’s son, Billy, suffers from epilepsy and his favorite team is the Gophers, thanks to Jerry Kill. In a game where Minnesota looked to spread awareness about epilepsy, Billy was able to meet Kill.
“Well, Billy came and I said hey you can come watch practice, anything you would like to do, and he came down to practice, and you just have to watch that VIDEO…you just have to see it because our kids are unbelievable,” said Kill. “Anyone can say anything about our kids but they're unbelievable, because they didn't know who he was. When he was standing there giving them high‑fives, every one of our kids, they all went this way and one of them stopped and hugged him.”
Two Gophers made Billy’s trip to Minnesota even more memorable.
“I didn't know before the game he went in and had seen David Cobb and visited with David and then out there Pete Mortell with the punter and none of that was staged,” said Kill. “Our kids just did it.”
Kill mentioned that he wasn’t in a great mood on Monday evening until his wife showed him the video.
“Life's pretty good,” said Kill. “He did a lot for me! He did a lot for me last night, so I'm glad that timed out good. If y'all haven't seen that, put that on, that's what life's all about and we got good kids in our program.”
Ground Game
Even against an impressive Ohio State run defense, the Gophers were able to rush for 218 yards on the ground, including 145 from David Cobb. The senior running back has the ability to make those around him better.
“Obviously, I gotta give a lot of props to David Cobb,” said Matt Limegrover. “He's the kind of kid that can make an average group look pretty good. Not saying that we're an average group, I think the kids are playing their tail ends off but he's a special player so it's nice to be able to turn around and hand the ball to him.”
Cobb is just 115 yards from setting the single season rushing record held by Laurence Maroney. What makes the Texas native such an effective runner?
“Patience, he's very, very patient,” said Kill. “His patience is what he ‑‑ he's very patient to the hole and, you know, he brings people to him, you know, linebackers, they all step up and then he's able to make that slide cut and do what he does, but patience is his best attribute.”
Athletic Defense
The Gophers held the Buckeyes to 31 points on Saturday. While it may seem like a lot, it was tied for the fewest in OSU’s nine wins on the season. Six times, the Buckeyes have scored 49 points or more, including six of their last seven games. Minnesota felt that they could have even held OSU to fewer scores.
“We had one miscommunication and two missed tackles in there that gave us some trouble and they're good enough to take advantage of those things,” said Tracy Claeys. “So besides those three things, we played a pretty good ballgame. I think if we wouldn't have had the miscommunication and tackled better, possibly we had a chance to hold 'em to be around 21 points would be my guess, that we could have held them to.”
A big reason for the strong game was a couple turnovers forced by the defense, including a fumble as OSU was about to score.
“I think the better athletes you have the more turnovers you cause, I believe that, so you get more athletic and if you have strength and speed when you hit people you knock the ball lose a little bit more so I think that athleticism leads to more turnovers, that's my opinion,” said Claeys.
