***OFFICIAL MINNESOTA VS GOPHERS SPRING GAME THREAD!!!!***

My brother who opted out of our season tickets because he doesn't like PJ is in the minority. I think good times are ahead.

Gotta say that that is a weird reason to not attend the games. The coach would be about reason number 20 for me to go or not go to games. I said getting Fleck would be a dream come true, and I still feel that way, but I'd get tickets if Micky Mouse coached the team.
 


Gotta say that that is a weird reason to not attend the games. The coach would be about reason number 20 for me to go or not go to games. I said getting Fleck would be a dream come true, and I still feel that way, but I'd get tickets if Micky Mouse coached the team.

Yeah it is weird and disappointing. I think the price increases were part of it too but the final straw was Fleck's salesmanship.
 

I made it to the scrimmage - had to dangle Surly's to my son. Stayed until 10 minutes left in Q4.

My take - Demry Croft is notch ahead of Rhoda. But, with limited offensive schemes hard to draw conclusions. I cringe when Croft did a QB run. At 200 lbs, he'll be cannon fodder for B1G LBs.

Keep an eye on Drew Hmielewski. Still, Hmielewski, and Johnson shined today.

Morgan and Green appeared next tier. Morgan seem to have velocity and quick release. Green looked tentative. I think they both will improve by next year although Green can work hard and may possibly surprise this Fall.

My money is on Tanner resdshirting.

I didn't pay as much to the defense.
 

I made it to the scrimmage - had to dangle Surly's to my son. Stayed until 10 minutes left in Q4.

My take - Demry Croft is notch ahead of Rhoda. But, with limited offensive schemes hard to draw conclusions. I cringe when Croft did a QB run. At 200 lbs, he'll be cannon fodder for B1G LBs.

Keep an eye on Drew Hmielewski. Still, Hmielewski, and Johnson shined today.

Morgan and Green appeared next tier. Morgan seem to have velocity and quick release. Green looked tentative. I think they both will improve by next year although Green can work hard and may possibly surprise this Fall.

My money is on Tanner resdshirting.

<b>I didn't pay as much to the defense.</b>

Thanks for the update. Curious, how much did you pay the offense? I'm worried this might be a violation.


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I made it to the scrimmage - had to dangle Surly's to my son. Stayed until 10 minutes left in Q4.

My take - Demry Croft is notch ahead of Rhoda. But, with limited offensive schemes hard to draw conclusions. I cringe when Croft did a QB run. At 200 lbs, he'll be cannon fodder for B1G LBs.

Keep an eye on Drew Hmielewski. Still, Hmielewski, and Johnson shined today.

Morgan and Green appeared next tier. Morgan seem to have velocity and quick release. Green looked tentative. I think they both will improve by next year although Green can work hard and may possibly surprise this Fall.

My money is on Tanner resdshirting.

I didn't pay as much to the defense.

Lamar Jackson is 200 pounds, Manziel was 200 in college and Dennard was 197, Greg Ward at Houston was 185, Boyking at TCU was 205 etc.

Demry probably won't be as physical of a runner as Mitch and seems to be much more elusive and faster.
 

My attention was gone thinking about high tailing to Surly's.

One eight-ounce DAF IPA (6.6% ABV), and two 10-ounce Frissons (10.3 % ABV) equals a nice afternoon nap!

Surprisingly, the food was overpriced for what you get. Should have taken my son's suggestion to drink the beer at Surly's, then go to a nearby restaurant for food. As an old dog, I need food while I am enjoying beer! :cool02:

If you come to Surly's, be prepared to look hard for parking. It was really crowded. Wait time are forty five minutes. We decided to hop onto two open stools at the bar.
 

Lamar Jackson is 200 pounds, Manziel was 200 in college and Dennard was 197, Greg Ward at Houston was 185, Boyking at TCU was 205 etc.

Demry probably won't be as physical of a runner as Mitch and seems to be much more elusive and faster.

Pretty sure Lamar was the only one on that list over 6' tall - and he was still 2+" shorter than Croft. Not that it means Demry is too small - just an important variable in that analysis.


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Demry should be eating at Fogo twice a week! We need to beef him up. PJF did take the entire team to Fogo de Chao at the conclusion of the Spring practices.
 




Gotta say that that is a weird reason to not attend the games. The coach would be about reason number 20 for me to go or not go to games. I said getting Fleck would be a dream come true, and I still feel that way, but I'd get tickets if Micky Mouse coached the team.

If they treated Mickey like they did Claeys, I wouldn't have renewed:rolleyes:
 

I sure hope we see something besides the inside /outside veer. I know they didn't want to show Oregon State anything but what I saw was pure 100% vanilla. 1H back set, no traps, no called sweeps. Same play 50+ times. I was under the impression that all the receivers could run all positions. Then why waste 6-8 seconds with the receivers running across the formation to the other wide side? Didn't hear the coaches explanation for the 4 bad snaps- over the QB head. Femi-Cole ran hard. McCary had some good runs. But don't think either will challenge for the top two spots.
Craft certainly won the QB battle but there again when you don't do anything but the inside veer/outside veer hard to see a real difference. Looks like the kicking game will be solid.
 

Dave Lee not elite. Guess the BTN regulars didn't want to work on Easter weekend.

Actually he's doing a good enough job for a spring game. I think he is more knowledgeable and up to speed on the players, and the area, than any B1G announcer would even bother to know. Jackson is the Xs and Os guy so I think for what the game is I wouldn't get too bent out of shape.
 




Croft definitely looks good in his first two drives, much better than Rhoda. Also, unlike was reported earlier, his first drive was against 2nd D, his second TD drive was against first D. Rhoda went against 1st D on his first 3 and out, and then the 2nd D on his 2nd 3 and out. So, they each played against the 1's.


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Actually he's doing a good enough job for a spring game. I think he is more knowledgeable and up to speed on the players, and the area, than any B1G announcer would even bother to know. Jackson is the Xs and Os guy so I think for what the game is I wouldn't get too bent out of shape.

Agreed but Dave Lee needs to learn the "How" of utilizing a roster list to an Elite level. Waiting to hear a call for a pass breakup by Tyrone Carter.
 

I made it to the scrimmage - had to dangle Surly's to my son. Stayed until 10 minutes left in Q4.

My take - Demry Croft is notch ahead of Rhoda. But, with limited offensive schemes hard to draw conclusions. I cringe when Croft did a QB run. At 200 lbs, he'll be cannon fodder for B1G LBs.

Keep an eye on Drew Hmielewski. Still, Hmielewski, and Johnson shined today.

Morgan and Green appeared next tier. Morgan seem to have velocity and quick release. Green looked tentative. I think they both will improve by next year although Green can work hard and may possibly surprise this Fall.

My money is on Tanner resdshirting.

I didn't pay as much to the defense.

Wasn't the INT in the first half due to Drew having the ball bounce off his chest?


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Heather rocks!!!

It was a fun day. I felt and heard lot of positive vibes from the players and coaches. Nice crowd.

It seemed as the team was well prepared for the "game", with very few noticeable screw-ups, other than the 3 bad snaps. The offense took care of the ball and the D tackled well. Hats off to the OL giving their all and being short-handed.

The competition between Croft and Rhoda will be a good thing. We could have a game ready #2 QB this Fall

Overall impression was very good.
 

Heather rocks!!!

It was a fun day. I felt and heard lot of positive vibes from the players and coaches. Nice crowd.

It seemed as the team was well prepared for the "game", with very few noticeable screw-ups, other than the 3 bad snaps. The offense took care of the ball and the D tackled well. Hats off to the OL giving their all and being short-handed.

The competition between Croft and Rhoda will be a good thing. We could have a game ready #2 QB this Fall

Overall impression was very good.

For Spring, it was a nice performance by most, but there were multiple times where Gophs would have gotten delay penalties and those snaps have to get better. Defense and RBs look great, liked what I saw from both Croft and Rhoda. Tanner Morgan looked lost at times and it did not seem like he went through any progressions.
 

I agree with BF Gopher. We've got to have Croft and Rhoda continue to push each other. It doesn't matter who is name the eventual starter.

The idea of Tyler Johnson being able to throw a pass is a nice wrinkle to have.
 

Agreed but Dave Lee needs to learn the "How" of utilizing a roster list to an Elite level. Waiting to hear a call for a pass breakup by Tyrone Carter.

Correct. Dave filled time, but the Minnesota name tags must have given him problems. He just randomly called out players names with no clue of who actually made the play.


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I sure hope we see something besides the inside /outside veer. I know they didn't want to show Oregon State anything but what I saw was pure 100% vanilla. 1H back set, no traps, no called sweeps. Same play 50+ times. I was under the impression that all the receivers could run all positions. Then why waste 6-8 seconds with the receivers running across the formation to the other wide side? Didn't hear the coaches explanation for the 4 bad snaps- over the QB head. Femi-Cole ran hard. McCary had some good runs. But don't think either will challenge for the top two spots.
Craft certainly won the QB battle but there again when you don't do anything but the inside veer/outside veer hard to see a real difference. Looks like the kicking game will be solid.

I rewatched on tv and they called at least 4 outside runs/pin and pull sweep. Each RPO has option for RB run, QB run, pass depending on the player the QB is reading. Boring maybe, but infinitely better than RUTM into +1 boxes. The spread and threat to pass is going to open lanes for the RBs that weren't there before. They also ran some traditional called passes (e.g. Croft's strike to Still). Ciarroca has shown he's into trickeration and we should expect some fun stuff from time to time.

Question is do any of these QBs have the skills to keep defenses honest. Croft and Green seem to have the stronger arms. That pass to Still was a thing of beauty we haven't seen much of last couple years. None of them did great throwing across the middle. Late, high, into coverage. That has to get better. Still needs to go for the ball better. Olson needs work at center. I'm surprised reports had him beating out Mayes based on yesterday. Femi-Cole had some nice runs but runs a little high, he's going to get his block knocked off. Brooks ripped a nice outside run on a pin and pull. Smith continues to slither through defenders. What a great pair of backs!

On the defensive side saw some 2 and 3 down linemen looks so looks like multiple type defense.

Plenty of time to get better before Buffalo.
 

Loved the new autograph format. Tables! And all players stuck around. My 6 year old is over the moon meeting the guys, who really made him feel special, especially Barber and Cashman. Classy,classy guys.
 


In a selfish way, I miss the "old days".... the last 2-4 years where, with a little deception, you could be watching the spring game from the sidelines with media, recruits, their families and other insiders...

Oh well, if I learned anything from Star Trek 3, it is that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few... Understanding that Gopher football needs more exposure and interest...
 




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