Omaha World Herald: Gophers football starting back on the docks again

BleedGopher

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per Barfknecht:

Ask Minnesota football coach P.J. Fleck how he’s doing and the reply often is an exclamation of his favorite word: “Elite!’’

The Gophers didn’t have many elite days last season once Big Ten play started.

In Fleck’s first year — which he craftily branded as “Year Zero’’ to essentially buy more time for his building process — Minnesota defeated Illinois and Nebraska, teams which were a combined 3-15 in league play.

Minnesota was so inspired by its 54-21 romp over the feckless Huskers that it lost its final two games to Northwestern and Wisconsin by a combined 70-0.

The quarterback who torched Nebraska for 288 total yards and three touchdowns, Demry Croft, celebrated that performance by transferring to Tennessee State, an FCS school.

So what is Fleck selling for 2018?

Sounds like inexperience.

“Whoever is the starting quarterback, he will have never thrown a college pass,” Fleck said. “We’re going to have young wideouts who have never played in a college game. We’ll have some linemen who have never done that. We’re going to have defenders who have never done that.”

Oh, and did we mention co-No. 1 tailback Shannon Brooks is out for the season with a leg injury suffered in winter conditioning.

This should send Gopher fans racing to the ticket office.

http://www.omaha.com/huskers/footba...cle_40e97398-8a41-50a4-8712-663d419e8ba8.html

Go Gophers!!
 


I sense a tinge of bitterness left over from last year’s loss.
 

Sounds like it was written by the people who keep saying that Fleck doesn't have a chance to win.
 

Sounds like it was written by the people who keep saying that Fleck doesn't have a chance to win.

"So what is Fleck selling for 2018?

Sounds like inexperience.

Whoever is the starting quarterback, he will have never thrown a college pass,” Fleck said. “We’re going to have young wideouts who have never played in a college game. We’ll have some linemen who have never done that. We’re going to have defenders who have never done that.”...

Vic Viramontes, who originally signed with Cal, is a 6-foot-1, 215-pound sophomore from Riverside, California. Last year at Riverside Community College, he passed for 1,868 yards and 22 touchdowns and rushed for 1,346 yards and 21 touchdowns.

But in Minnesota’s spring game, Viramontes struggled. He completed 1 of 3 passes for 1 yard, and he carried six times for 21 yards with two fumbles.

The quarterbacks who shined were redshirt freshman Tanner Morgan from Union, Kentucky, and true freshman Zack Annexstad from Norseland, Minnesota.

The 6-2, 205-pound Morgan is the cousin of former Kentucky and NFL quarterback Tim Couch. In the spring game, Morgan completed 18 of 28 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns but fumbled twice.

Annexstad is a 6-3, 215-pound preferred walk-on whose brother, Brock, is a Gophers receiver and whose dad, Scott, played at Minnesota in the early 1980s. Annexstad, who played as a senior at IMG Academy in Florida, hit 11 of 18 passes for 186 yards in the spring game.

Fleck said the quarterback race will continue in the fall.

“We wanted to see decisive decision-making, accuracy and development in the fundamentals,” he said of the spring quarterback goals. “And grasping the offense. We want to be able to do more."
 


Sounds like it was written by the people who keep saying that Fleck doesn't have a chance to win.

Sounds like it could have been written by many of the posters here on GH
 

Sounds like it was written by the people who keep saying that Fleck doesn't have a chance to win.

I keep getting confused too. It seems like thinking the Gophers will be good this year makes you a Fleck hater, but so does thinking the Gophers will do poorly. Maybe to be a Fleck supporter and a true fan, we need to think that the 2018 season just won't happen.
 

I keep getting confused too. It seems like thinking the Gophers will be good this year makes you a Fleck hater, but so does thinking the Gophers will do poorly. Maybe to be a Fleck supporter and a true fan, we need to think that the 2018 season just won't happen.

2018 will be Schrodinger’s season!
 

Well, I learned one thing from the article. I did not know that Morgan was Tim Couch's cousin.

Thing is - nothing in the article is factually incorrect. The writer chose to present the situation from a point of view that does not favor the Gophers. You are free to agree or disagree with his point of view. Another writer could take the same information and write a story from a different perspective.

and here's the key - neither approach is "right" or "wrong." it's all a matter of perception.

If nothing else, it's instructive to see the situation from an outside point of view. You don't have to agree - but sometimes it's good to see things as others see them.
 




Nebraska Football is number 1 for most sports-minded people in Nebraska. Not only is it their favorite sport but it’s like 90% of the sports media they consume. So when their team sucks they lash out because their identity is solely based around crap.

In Minnesota we can at least diversify our media diet of crappy sports so when our team sucks we’re not taking shots at random schools that we don’t care about.
 


Well, I learned one thing from the article. I did not know that Morgan was Tim Couch's cousin.

Thing is - nothing in the article is factually incorrect. The writer chose to present the situation from a point of view that does not favor the Gophers. You are free to agree or disagree with his point of view. Another writer could take the same information and write a story from a different perspective.

and here's the key - neither approach is "right" or "wrong." it's all a matter of perception.

If nothing else, it's instructive to see the situation from an outside point of view. You don't have to agree - but sometimes it's good to see things as others see them.

Agree. I am optimistic that the play can improve over last year, but I've got very little to base that off. Similarly, the doom and gloomers have very little to base that off, either. I've said a couple times that if the problem areas from last year improve noticeably (but still not expecting miracles) the team could substantially improve their record. Think about removing some of those passes to nobody (or the opposition) in the losses. The dropped balls. The missed assignments. If they improve in those areas it could make a huge difference. Keep some drives going, score on a couple extra drives, etc. But the rub is, until next year we have no real reason necessarily believe they will. So it often comes down to your opinion of Fleck. If you believe he's a good coach you will tend to be optimistic that they will improve in those areas. If you aren't convinced he's a good coach you just keep seeing inexperience and not much hope. I know there are many shades in between, just over simplifying.
 



Well, I learned one thing from the article. I did not know that Morgan was Tim Couch's cousin.

Thing is - nothing in the article is factually incorrect. The writer chose to present the situation from a point of view that does not favor the Gophers. You are free to agree or disagree with his point of view. Another writer could take the same information and write a story from a different perspective.

and here's the key - neither approach is "right" or "wrong." it's all a matter of perception.

If nothing else, it's instructive to see the situation from an outside point of view. You don't have to agree - but sometimes it's good to see things as others see them.

Yup. It like a version of American history written by a Chinese for Chinese. It's "huskerdo" for Huskers.

Nebraska Football is number 1 for most sports-minded people in Nebraska. Not only is it their favorite sport but it’s like 90% of the sports media they consume. So when their team sucks they lash out because their identity is solely based around crap.

In Minnesota we can at least diversify our media diet of crappy sports so when our team sucks we’re not taking shots at random schools that we don’t care about.

In Minnesota, we have at least a very diversified crappy media like Zulgad's suckserism.
 

We killed Nebraska last year.

If we are starting back on the docks what does that say about Nebraska?
 

It is obviously to me we are much stronger at QB (even with no experience), OL, and WR. I like our odds for a good season.
 

When someone thumps you by putting up 54. It's better if you keep your mouth shut and wait for better times. Go Gophers!
 

We killed Nebraska last year.

If we are starting back on the docks what does that say about Nebraska?

I think the general sentiment around Husker Nation is Jesus Christ himself has arrived to carry his chosen up to football heaven. What happened under Riles, O’Reilly, whatever his dastardly name was never happened. It’s a new day and a new Husker.

In reality, Frost looks like a strong hire but the proof will be in the pudding as a HC at the Big Ten level. The entire conference seems to be trending up at the moment. Buckle up.
 

I have Nebraska fans as part of the extended family. They come up here to be hosted at TCF...and Mrs. Billd and I have gone down there to be hosted.

The losses to UM under HC-JK certainly opened their eyes to the state of their program. We were there in Lincoln that glorious afternoon and you could here a pin drop when they were stopped by the take-away and the Gophers put it away. The year before with the victory at TCF was fun to behold too.

Losing to Minnesota turns traditional top of the pack B1G team fans nuts...and the middlers like I-O-W-A too...and this goes the same for the "newbies" like PSU and Nebraska also.

We're rebuilding again so it's a step back and feeds into the "Minnesota doesn't deserve respect anyway" mantra blah...blah...blah. But fact is we were making progress so here's to the hope the new regime can start it up again and keep it going.

Certainly hoping so.
 

A delightfully passive-aggressive college football opinion piece always insinuates that it is a college football coach’s job to “sell” (apparently rather than to COACH).

And yet, it remains to be seen what Scott Frost is “selling”. So far, absolutely nothing.
He is still speaking on behalf of UCF, and thereby making it ubundantlh clear that he knows his 2017 Knights squad is his big-time swan song. There is no act II, no path forward for Frost/Nebraska. Nebraska is his payday. His reward for he already accomplished. It’s why he still feels compelled to comment on the 2017 UCF team and has precious little to say about what he plans to peddle to Husker fans so desperate to be relevant in a league that was always too much for them to ever handle.
 


You know what I think?

Nebraska and Gophers fans and hometown media better lobby to make the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy an official rivalry trophy.

Deep down in the minds of Husker fans, the 54-point spanking is a shock to their system. That's okay. Life goes on aftrer a football game. I've lived through the 84-13 (1983), the 48-0 (1989), and 56-0 (1990) drubbing of the Gophers in Minneapolis by the Huskers. It wasn't fun. The Gophers aren't going to be that generous in the future. I hope not.

That is perfectly alright. The Gophers and Huskers can leave the docks together. Things have changed since the Big 8 days.

Can't take MN for granted. We need for the Corn Husker Nation to come by the busloads to spend all that Husker moolah and watch an entertaining game in Minneapolis. Instead of a ho-hum blowout over the Gophers, at least the game will be entertaining. It is a win-win situation.

In the last seven games in the series 2011-2017, NE won 4 games, and the Gophers won 3 games. BTW, MN leads the series 32-24-2. A healthy rivalry is brewing.
 

I basically read... "Our young coach is better than the Gophers' young coach".
 

Why are people upset about this article. The thread reads like a parent speaking ill of the actions of their child, and then being pissed if someone else points it out. The writer simply supported everything PJ Fleck has said.

Why do the current Gophers, and coach, deserve reverence and high expectations from this writer? Because of one game? The Gophers got beat by NDSU and I don’t see Gopher fans agreeing to the sentiment they have a better program. Why should NE not be excited about their coach as many here have been about PJF - he’s accomplished more than PJ. They each had one great year, and Frost won his bowl game.

There was nothing in that article that isn’t exactly what PJF has been saying.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

We killed Nebraska last year.

If we are starting back on the docks what does that say about Nebraska?

Exactly, and I believe 3 of the last 5 games, and another “should have” the last time in Lincoln.
 




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