Spring Game moved to Thursday night

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per Randy:

When your starting quarterback has not thrown a pass in major college football … you don't cancel the spring game.

When your wide receiver corps returns only one player with more than 20 receptions last season … you don't cancel the spring game.

When your defense loses a handful of starters to graduation, including its heart-and-soul leader … you don't cancel the spring game.

"Canceling the spring game," coach P.J. Fleck said Wednesday, "was not an option."

So, instead of eliminating a game that was set for noon Saturday — with a forecast of snow, freezing rain, a high temperature of 34 and wind gusts up to 40 mph — the Gophers moved their spring game to 6 p.m. Thursday at TCF Bank Stadium. Thursday's high temperature is expected to be 50, with a low of 37 and the chance of rain increasing that night. The game will feature a Team Maroon vs. Team Gold format, and Fleck values the experience.

"We have to give them that type of game situation the best we possibly can," Fleck said. "The best way was moving our spring game to Thursday, under the lights, beautiful weather. … It's a win-win for everybody."

http://www.startribune.com/young-gophers-need-their-spring-game-more-than-most/479445183/

Go Gophers!!
 



I'll be listening on the radio. I'd go, but I have have to take the cats to the vet at 5. PJ didn't take my schedule into consideration again!
 



Gonna tune in on the radio via iheartradio as soon as I can on my drive home. Then planning to hop onto the BTN stream to watch while I make dinner.
 











Morgan threw a 50/50 moonball down the sideline to TJ and he went up over Shenault and came down with one handed and walked in for a TD. Beautiful.
 


Johnson’s catch was amazing! Ibrahim looks good.


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Is it me, or do the M’s on the gold teams helmets look thicker/bolder? I love it! I’ve been saying the M should be thicker/bolder since I was a kid!


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Tanner Morgan has 2 strip sacks against him that I've seen. One was a turnover, one wasn't. Think Vic has one too. Both need to work a little bit on their situational awareness. Keep head on a swivel.

TJ looks great. So does Smith.

They dug an old, unused track trophy out of the basement and re-painted the base. Winning team gets the trophy. PJ hopes to make that a tradition for the Spring game. I think it's a nice touch. Adds a little more motivation, getting to have gloating rights AND a trophy until next year.
 

QB's need to learn a little about ball security....

Punting game may be a problem....
 

Vandy said:
QB's need to learn a little about ball security....

Punting game may be a problem....
Click to expand...

Agreed, but Vic was down before the ball came out. Pretty clear when they replayed it on the BTN stream.
 


They won’t even let Viramontes throw it on 3rd down in a spring game.


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CAB with a nice catch for a 3rd and long conversion!
 

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Taji34 said:
They dug an old, unused track trophy out of the basement and re-painted the base. Winning team gets the trophy. PJ hopes to make that a tradition for the Spring game. I think it's a nice touch. Adds a little more motivation, getting to have gloating rights AND a trophy until next year.
Click to expand...

The days of an empty trophy case are over.


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Thoughts on the game:

QB: Morgan clearly looks to be the #1. Don't think he will win the Heisman, but seems to be an improvement over last year. Pretty good arm and pocket presence. Annexstad looked okay and Vic was the biggest disappointment of the night for me. I was really surprised they hardly let him throw.
RB: Rodney is great, Ibrahim seemed like a serviceable backup, reminds me of Rodrick Williams but with more ability out of the backfield. Hoping one of the freshman can step up and get some carries.
WR: Johnson is great. CAB is the only other WR that stood out to me, but I think he will be pretty good. Almost came up with some great catches. Douglas and Howard are both decent. Don't remember seeing any of Mark Williams which was a bit surprising. Bateman will have the opportunity to play.
OL: Can't provide any great insight here other than the run blocking in the first half seemed pretty good, and the pass blocking struggled throughout the night. Tough to say if that was because of good defense. I'm not as bullish on the o-line improving as others. Andries got burned a few times. We are going to need to give our WRs and QB more time.
DL: Was pleasantly surprised by Mafe, Devers and Otomewo. All three guys made some nice plays (especially Devers) and were able to get some consistent pressure. If those guys can play it will be huge as it will allow Coughlin the chance to play all over the field. Royal Silver also had some nice plays. Don't recall seeing anything about O.J. Howard. Thought D-Line was one of the strengths of the game.
LB: Didn't think Martin played particularly well, remember seeing him out of position a lot on running plays. Thomas Rush seemed to live up to the hype, though. He made a lot of nice plays throughout the night. Also was impressed with Danny Anderson. I think this will be a strong group for a while. I think Julian Huff needs to see the field more somehow. Dude has always made plays.
DB: Looks like we are still hell bent on playing 8 yards off the ball...Schenault is meh. Was disappointed by Durr's play. I thought he struggled all night and didn't look particularly quick. Justus Harris also didn't do much. TJ6 made Kiondre Thomas look silly on that TD. Obviously we are going to need Winfield to play at a high level, but I think our DBs leave a lot to be desired.

Overall, I think this team will be better than last year (not saying a ton) and I fully expect to make a bowl game. I think we will see marginal strides in the passing game as we get better QB play and more talent on the outside with guys like TJ, CAB and others. It would be nice to see another playmaker in the backfield besides Rodney, though. I am really hoping our O-line takes a step forward, but I'm not sure we have a ton of talent there right now. On D I think we will be pretty similar to last year, but with a bit more talent at the D-end position. Lbs will be good, and I think that we will get about as much production on the interior D-line, even though we lose Richardson. I don't feel great about the DB depth we have, but Huff and Winfield are solid.
 

Oh man issues with pass blocking ..... that could be a really bad sign.
 


One thing you have to remember is the players were split up due to the draft format, so you did not necessarily have guys playing in the same units they have been practicing with. That makes a difference, especially for the O-Line.

Important for the coaches to identify a 1st team and 2nd team o-line, and get them lots of reps as a unit to build some continuity.

Same holds true on defense - the top defenders were split between the two teams, so you didn't see a true #1 unit out there. I think there are some play-makers on defense, which will hopefully be more evident when you have a true 1st team and 2nd team setup.

And the punting game - at least tonight - stinks on ice. If that's the best they can do, it might be open tryout time. Unless one of the incoming FR can punt a ball more than 30 yards.
 

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