Some Perspective

dbaldrich1

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We can all agree that yesterday's game was not necessarily what we wanted, and had some reasons for concern:

- ugly (lucky?) win against a lesser team
- stupid penalties on O and D
- Weber inconsistent
- Lack of rhythm on offense
- D caught off guard in 1st half

But it was a WIN and there were some good things as well:

- defensive adjustments in 2nd half, shutting down the Syracuse offense
- Decker (duh) had a big game, and made big catches when it counted most
- Green had three big catches
- The only TD pass was to someone other than Decker (Stoudemire)
- Special teams played well, overall (except one long kick return)
- Weber fought through his tough day and made big throws when needed in the 4th

Also, look at what happened to some of the other Big 10 teams playing lesser teams:

Wis: 28
No. Ill: 20

Iowa: 17
No. Iowa: 16 (including TWO blocked field goals that could have won the game)

Ohio St: 31 (including a 2 point conversion intercepted and run back)
Navy: 27

Minnesota wasn't the only Big 10 team to narrowly escape with a win against a lesser team. Ohio St. nearly lost AT HOME to Navy. Wisconsin gave up 14 points in the 4th quarter to Northern Illinois. Iowa nearly lost AT HOME to No. Iowa!.

Take heart -- these kinds of games happen early in the season to even very good teams, and it's nice to be in the group that won their first game.

Even with everything that went wrong, we are 1-0 and we improved half over half. Now, we need to break down the film to build on what we did well, and fix the mistakes, and bring a more consistent effort to the 1st game at home versus Air Force.

Go Gophers!!!
 

Why are we using the "Lesser Teams" card? Navy is way better then Syracuse and NIU is too.......

Iowa fans should feel a little worried right now though.......

My biggest concern is Weber, he looks like he did in 2007, this is not good and to make it worse Brewster didn't allow Gray to get one snap no matter how bad Weber was playing, that concerns me.......
 

I've heard the term "lucky win" over, and over again on the talk radio here in Syracuse. There is no such thing as a lucky win. You guys made the plays needed to pull off the win.

Fortunate might be a better word. :D
 

the last thing we need right now is a QB controversy. I think we didn't see Gray take a snap specifically because Weber was playing poorly.
 

the last thing we need right now is a QB controversy. I think we didn't see Gray take a snap specifically because Weber was playing poorly.

I understand that but are we trying to spare feelings or win football games?

At least have some packages for Gray to see what he can do, feel me?
 


It's not about feelings. It's about a cohesive unit. Plus I think all the special packages were going to be built upon sustained drives which never happened until the end. I think you see a very different mix of plays if we get a few first downs.
 

I don't know how good Gray really is - maybe he'd have made mistakes, thrown intereceptions, been chased for losses. It was a tight game and obviously Weber had to be in at the end and he came through. But it would be good to see Gray in for some series in other games so he can be tested in a real game. He's burning a year of eligibility, anyway. Let's see what he can do...
 

Again, if we sustain a drive you see the special stuff and work in progress stuff. It didn't happen Gray didn't play because we never got to that phase of the game plan because weber sucked yesterday. i don't think that was the intention.
 

I love how people automatically assume that Navy and Northern Iowa are better than Syracuse...gopher negativity never ceases to amaze me.
 



Luck

I do not know how Syracuse fans can say it's a lucky win. When you get outgained 230 yards to 67 yards in the second half, luck or fortune have nothing to do with it. The Syracuse Rivals guy before the game if you read his stuff you would have thought Syracuse was a BCS team and he thought Syracuse would wear down the Gophers in the second half. He even admitted that before Paulas's last pass the game had turned decidely in favor of the Gophers. When you get beat on the scoreboard and in statistics, luck or fortune have nothing to do with it.
 

I love how people automatically assume that Navy and Northern Iowa are better than Syracuse...gopher negativity never ceases to amaze me.

I love how people think NIU is Northern Iowa...Gopher Perception nevers ceases to amaze me........

UNI = Northern Iowa

NIU = Northern Illinois

I don't think some of you even watch football, smh.......
 

I love how people think NIU is Northern Iowa...Gopher Perception nevers ceases to amaze me........

UNI = Northern Iowa

NIU = Northern Illinois

I don't think some of you even watch football, smh.......

Makes sense that you would rip on his post considering he completely called you out. He was exactly right though. For you to assert that Syracuse is de facto worse than those other teams after week one of the season is completely ridiculous. You have zero way of knowing who is better at this point.
 

Makes sense that you would rip on his post considering he completely called you out. He was exactly right though. For you to assert that Syracuse is de facto worse than those other teams after week one of the season is completely ridiculous. You have zero way of knowing who is better at this point.

Yes I do...how about you actually watch football before commenting? I watched all 3 games yesterday and came to the conclusion that NIU & Navy are better then Syracuse after some analysis. By your flawed logic I guess we can say nobody knows whose better, Minnesota or USC after 1 week of the season as well, huh?

Some of you have little knowledge of football and the blind homerism shows it.......
 



Splitting Hairs...

I love how people think NIU is Northern Iowa...Gopher Perception nevers ceases to amaze me........

UNI = Northern Iowa

NIU = Northern Illinois

I don't think some of you even watch football, smh.......

You're just looking for reasons to be angry... everyone knew what he meant.
 

You're just looking for reasons to be angry... everyone knew what he meant.

Angry? Some of you take the internet too serious.......

He *ASSUMED* I said Syracuse was worse then NIU & Navy just to talk but I watched all 3 games and came to that conclusion, not just talking to talk which a lot of you appear to do.......

Stop *ASSUMING* so much you'll start to appreciate life better....... :D
 

Yes I do...how about you actually watch football before commenting? I watched all 3 games yesterday and came to the conclusion that NIU & Navy are better then Syracuse after some analysis. By your flawed logic I guess we can say nobody knows whose better, Minnesota or USC after 1 week of the season as well, huh?

Some of you have little knowledge of football and the blind homerism shows it.......

Who says I didn't watch the other games? Are you this much of an elitist prick in real life? I'm sure your "analysis" was wonderful. When the talent differential is such that the conclusion would be obvious (ie. USC and Minnesota) then I have no trouble with the assumptions you have made. But it is quite clear that you are basing your conclusions off the results of last year and that is just silly. I would wholeheartedly argue that the talent differential between Syracuse, Navy, and Northern Illinois is comparable and they all seem to have competent coaching staffs. In that situation, I believe you can't assert with such confidence that one (or two) teams are clearly better than the others based off one game in which they played vastly different opponents. Get off your high horse.
 

Who says I didn't watch the other games? Are you this much of an elitist prick in real life? I'm sure your "analysis" was wonderful. When the talent differential is such that the conclusion would be obvious (ie. USC and Minnesota) then I have no trouble with the assumptions you have made. But it is quite clear that you are basing your conclusions off the results of last year and that is just silly. I would wholeheartedly argue that the talent differential between Syracuse, Navy, and Northern Illinois is comparable and they all seem to have competent coaching staffs. In that situation, I believe you can't assert with such confidence that one (or two) teams are clearly better than the others based off one game in which they played vastly different opponents. Get off your high horse.

You're talking out of your ass again. I based my conclusions on yesterdays games, not what happened last year, thanks....... :clap:
 



Didn't Syracuse start a wide receiver and running back that played sparingly if not at all last year? Those two were damn good players. They played a defensive tackle that is probably the best d lineman we'll see all year. I thought they had pretty good team speed, especially at the corners. Paulas wasn't the top recruit in the nation four years ago for nothing, and he played with good composure if nothing else. I didn't watch Navy and UNI but will this week if rebroadcast on the BTN. With a new coach and a full, reved up crowd in that hot stadium I think the Orange were a far different team than they have been over the last several years. Time will tell. Are they better than Navy and UNI? They surely aren't any worse.
 

I do not know how Syracuse fans can say it's a lucky win. When you get outgained 230 yards to 67 yards in the second half, luck or fortune have nothing to do with it. The Syracuse Rivals guy before the game if you read his stuff you would have thought Syracuse was a BCS team and he thought Syracuse would wear down the Gophers in the second half. He even admitted that before Paulas's last pass the game had turned decidely in favor of the Gophers. When you get beat on the scoreboard and in statistics, luck or fortune have nothing to do with it.

I think the reasoning of the majority of the Syracuse fans, right or wrong, is that the 2 Gopher TDs came with the help of some serious Syracuse mistakes and stupid plays. It's not luck though, it's taking advantage of said mistakes.

I'd disagree, however, that the game had decidedly turned in the favor of Minnesota. Even though you guys dominated the TOP and plays ran in the second half, outside of the last drive of regulation, you really didn't do a lot either. And all those yards in the 2nd half got you a total of 6 points, so I don't see how there was decidedly an advantage either way.
 

"Lesser Teams" and "Analysis"

OK,

First things first... I watched all three games at Senser's, although I admit that I spent the most time watching the Gopher game. However, I saw enough of the other two games to get a good feel for what was happening in each game.

To clarify -- I was not using the term "lesser teams" to mean that Navy and UNI (my bad using NIU the first time) were equivalent to (or better or worse than) Syracuse. We can't know that FOR A FACT until more of the season has transpired. By "lesser teams" I simply meant that, going into the game, the majority of people would agree that Syracuse, UNI and Navy were lesser teams (on paper) than their opponents. And, based on pre-season power rankings, all three were significantly weaker than all of the other three opponents, with Navy at 83rd, S'cuse at 115th, and UNI not ranked. On paper, all three of these games should have been blowouts. But, that's why they play the games, right?

Also, regarding the use of "analysis" -- we can analyze each of the three games, and try to come to conclusions about how good each of the teams is, relative to the others:

Passing:
UNI Total: 270 yds, 1TD, 0INT
U of MN Total: 248 yds, 1TD, 1INT
Iowa Total: 240 Yds, 1TD, 0INT
tOSU Total: 210 yds, 1TD, 1INT
Navy Total: 156 yds, 2TD, 1INT
S'cuse Total: 167 yds, 1TD, 1INT

Rushing:
Navy Total: 186 yds, 2TD
tOSU Total: 153 yds, 2TD
U of MN Total: 112 yds, 1TD
S'cuse Total: 90 yds, 1TD
Iowa Total: 87 yds, 1TD
UNI Total: 84 yds, 0TD

Total Offense:
tOSU: 363 yds, 3TD, 3FG
U of MN: 360 yds, 2TD, 3FG
UNI: 354 yds, 1TD, 3FG
Navy: 342 yds, 3TD, 0FG
Iowa: 327 yds, 2TD, 1FG
S'cuse: 257 yds, 2TD, 2FG

Based on the statistics of these three games, it looks like MN is the 2nd best team of these six. They had the 2nd most yards of total offense, they held their opponents to the least total yards, and had the 2nd highest point total.

But, trying to analyze these teams after just one week, even if we watch every down of all three games, is a terrible way to compare the teams. Why? Because it's only one game. Many questions still remain:

- Is Navy really good enough to scare top 10 teams all year, was this game an aberration for tOSU, or are both teams not quite as "good" as they looked in their game?

- Was MN surprised at how much "better" S'cuse was than they thought and it just took a while to adjust and shut them down, was S'cuse actually better than everyone thought and good enough to at least be competitive week to week, or are both teams closer to just being terrible?

- Is Iowa really a team who is barely able to escape with a 1-point win AT HOME against an FCS team, is UNI a strong FCS opponent who will give top 25 teams headaches, or was this simply a case where Iowa played poorly and UNI played better than expected, they met in the middle?

The answers to any and all of these questions can't and won't be known until all of the teams have played more games, so we have a larger set of data to analyze. Stop trying to assert some sort of superior understanding of college football by watching three games.

Here's what I know -- the Gophers are 1-0 going into the home opener at the new, AWESOME, TCF Bank Stadium, and our opponent is a good one in Air Force. It should make a for a great day of college football, win or lose.

Go Gophers!!!
 

I've heard the term "lucky win" over, and over again on the talk radio here in Syracuse. There is no such thing as a lucky win. You guys made the plays needed to pull off the win.

Fortunate might be a better word. :D

Yeah don't really understand that. We held Syracuse to 3 first downs and 0 points in the 2nd half.
 




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