After 3-0 non-conference start, the Gophers are?...

After 3-0 non-conference start, the Gophers are?...

  • Better than I expected

    Votes: 66 54.1%
  • Worse than I expected

    Votes: 2 1.6%
  • About what I expected

    Votes: 54 44.3%

  • Total voters
    122
We still have no idea. We could still crap the bed in B1G play. Our OL looks avg at best. Annexstad is hurt. Our best offensive player is out for the season.

We could end up with only 1 or 2 B1G wins or we could gel and beat a downtrodden B1G and finish with 9 wins. According to forecasts we are favored based in 5 remaining games. If this holds and we win these games, an 8 win season would be beyond anyone's reasonable expectation.

Plus lose we Carpenter, Greene, Cashman, and Huff from next yrs 2 deep roster, not starters, 2 deeps!!! Almost the entire 2 deeps return for next year!

Zack looked fine after that play. Can't agree with you 8 win comment either.
 

After 3-0 non-conference start, the Gophers are 3-0. That's it. Unless you have a time machine, you can't go back and you can't go forward. You have to live in the here-and-now.

As the voice of wisdom, I will just say: Teams are rarely as good as they look after a win, and teams are rarely as bad as they look after a loss.

If the Gophers had lost on Saturday, this board would be full of people whining and complaining. Instead, the Gophers won, so it's all roses and kudos.
 

And another thought - people are down on Morgan today. In his radio show, Fleck said a RB got the wrong signal from the sideline and missed his blocking assignment, allowing a free rusher to hit the QB and lead to the Interception. That is not on the QB. Fleck (if you believe him) said the play was set up perfectly for a fade route to Bateman for a TD. If the RB does his job, and Morgan throws a TD, everyone would have a different opinion today.

What I saw from Morgan was a QB actually willing to try and run for a few yards. You don't want him - I'll take him.
 

Zack looked fine after that play. Can't agree with you 8 win comment either.

You really thought at start of season we would win 8 games? I'll have what you're drinking.

Now after seeing how average the B1G west is, it's possible to win 8 games but still that is going to be very hard with our youth and below avg OL play
 

And another thought - people are down on Morgan today. In his radio show, Fleck said a RB got the wrong signal from the sideline and missed his blocking assignment, allowing a free rusher to hit the QB and lead to the Interception. That is not on the QB. Fleck (if you believe him) said the play was set up perfectly for a fade route to Bateman for a TD. If the RB does his job, and Morgan throws a TD, everyone would have a different opinion today.

What I saw from Morgan was a QB actually willing to try and run for a few yards. You don't want him - I'll take him.

He was 1-5. He struggled.
 


I read, with some amazement yesterday, many of the posters suggesting DA should be pulled from the game. He is an average QB at best but compared to past Gopher QBs he looks like a superstar. For him to get better than average he needs reps, period.
 

You really thought at start of season we would win 8 games? I'll have what you're drinking.

Now after seeing how average the B1G west is, it's possible to win 8 games but still that is going to be very hard with our youth and below avg OL play

Yes. They had a chance last year as well.
 

He was 1-5. He struggled.

Not as much as that Offensive Line did trying to protect him.

They looked good run blocking, but not so much pass blocking. There has been some complaints about Zach too often throwing off his back foot. Seems that is because too often their is a defender right in his face.
 

And another thought - people are down on Morgan today. In his radio show, Fleck said a RB got the wrong signal from the sideline and missed his blocking assignment, allowing a free rusher to hit the QB and lead to the Interception. That is not on the QB. Fleck (if you believe him) said the play was set up perfectly for a fade route to Bateman for a TD. If the RB does his job, and Morgan throws a TD, everyone would have a different opinion today.

What I saw from Morgan was a QB actually willing to try and run for a few yards. You don't want him - I'll take him.

This. The one truly poor play I saw from Morgan was the muffed snap; it was a poor snap but catchable and that happens in any game. Good to get that out of the way early on in a game that's already in hand. Two of the poor incompletions were from getting hit as the ball was released; and another on a knocked-down pass. I'm glad he got the reps. Judging from Annexstad's current lack of mobility and the Gophs spotty pass blocking (not just the O-line, but young backs too), the Gophs need depth at QB.
 



Not as much as that Offensive Line did trying to protect him.

They looked good run blocking, but not so much pass blocking. There has been some complaints about Zach too often throwing off his back foot. Seems that is because too often their is a defender right in his face.

I agree the oline needs to get better in pass blocking but it was the same oline for Zack.
 

Not as much as that Offensive Line did trying to protect him.

They looked good run blocking, but not so much pass blocking.There has been some complaints about Zach too often throwing off his back foot. Seems that is because too often there is a defender right in his face.


I agree the oline needs to get better in pass blocking but it was the same oline for Zack.

Yeah I think I typed that somewhere. :cool:
 



Zach didn't look that good either. He was pressured often, losing about 20 yards on sacks and got hurt.

Better O-Line pass protection would have helped both of them.
 



Zach didn't look that good either. He was pressured often, losing about 20 yards on sacks and got hurt.

Better O-Line pass protection would have helped both of them.

60% passing and two TDs.
 



I thought Morgan looked good in that he stood in the pocket and stepped up rather than bailing or backpedaling, like Zack has been doing so far.
The int. was definitely on the RB who didn't pick up the outside defender that was running free.
He completed only 1 is his limited time, but the misses weren't all on him. He showed poise and he at least gave Bateman a chance to catch the deep ball the resulted in a PI call.
Zack has been doing well as the starter. He showed some grit in staying in the game and delivers a good ball on the short and intermediate routes. Needs work on the deep balls and on his pocket presence, but he is a true FR, so he has room to improve.
I didn't think it was a good idea to leave him out there when his mobility was non-existent, but he was still able to make some throws.
Gophers team played better the first two weeks, but still were good enough to win comfortably this week.
The Maryland game will be a good one to see how much we have actually progressed since last year. First BIG game, first road test.
Should be a good one.
 

I voted better, mostly because I didn't know what to expect. Only unit that has been shaky thus far is the offensive line.

I really like the ability of the freshmen that are seeing extended action. Terell Smith is the real deal at CB. I don't know if it's Annexstad's ability, the quality of receivers, or the fact that the offensive coordinator understands that it is within the rules to throw the ball more than ten yards downfield, but I like that we appear to have a passing game. Bateman could really be special.

I don't know how things will unfold going forward. We will have to play better than yesterday to make a big dent in the conference, but the West really looks down. Wisconsin is still the favorite, but after yesterday it became obvious that they are not invincible.
 


12-for-20 for 142 yards and 2 TDs with no picks gets you a QB rating of 50.4?

His rating is 129.5 for the season ... and his seasonal numbers were similar to his performance yesterday.

Listen, I'm not ready to retire the kid's number, but ZA has been uncannily accurate. Yes, lots of room to improve on several facets, but a very high percentage of his throws are spot-on. Watching yesterday's game on TV, there were a couple times the commentators remarked that ZA's throws were off, but I replayed both plays several times, and he was simply putting the ball exactly where he should have to give his receiver a play on it without risking an interception. I'm excited as hell to see how good this kid can get, especially with the receivers he has to work with.

JTG
 

And another thought - people are down on Morgan today. In his radio show, Fleck said a RB got the wrong signal from the sideline and missed his blocking assignment, allowing a free rusher to hit the QB and lead to the Interception. That is not on the QB. MFleck (if you believe him) said the play was set up perfectly for a fade route to Bateman for a TD. If the RB does his job, and Morgan throws a TD, everyone would have a different opinion today.

What I saw from Morgan was a QB actually willing to try and run for a few yards. You don't want him - I'll take him.

Yeah I don’t know why people are saying Morgan looked bad. He was mugged on that interception, had a batted pass, but threw a nice slant pass. I don’t know how much can be taken away from a quarter of play with pretty horrific protection. I suspect he’d settle in if ZA misses much time.
 

Zack has had stretches of many incompletions. Trying to discern useful data from 5 passes is ridiculous.
 

I have been to all 3 games this year, I never leave early and I have to say they are about what I expected so far. They just have high expectations for them selves.
 

12-for-20 for 142 yards and 2 TDs with no picks gets you a QB rating of 50.4?

His rating is 129.5 for the season ... and his seasonal numbers were similar to his performance yesterday.

Listen, I'm not ready to retire the kid's number, but ZA has been uncannily accurate. Yes, lots of room to improve on several facets, but a very high percentage of his throws are spot-on. Watching yesterday's game on TV, there were a couple times the commentators remarked that ZA's throws were off, but I replayed both plays several times, and he was simply putting the ball exactly where he should have to give his receiver a play on it without risking an interception. I'm excited as hell to see how good this kid can get, especially with the receivers he has to work with.

JTG

100%.

ZA is a true frosh and has plenty of room to grow and improve. However this is the best, most accurate MN QB in my memory. Just watch the game. If he had time to throw, he can sling it very accurately.
 

Record wise they are what I predicted but they've looked quite a bit better than I expected them too. With a lot of the B1G teams in chaos this could be a chance to finish in the top half of the B1G
 

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This is what a quarterback rating website said for Zack's stats.

http://www.primecomputing.com/

Went to those sites and couldn't see where ZA ranked among the other Quarterbacks. Did you find that number?

Looked like you missed the ESPN Total Quarterback Ratings. Its a more comprehensive stat. They started using it, I think, in 2011.

They've got Zach rated 58th in the country with a rating of 59.2. It's on a 100 point scale. Their highest rating went to Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama. He got a 98.3.

The lowest was coincidentally enough was Zach's old rival at IMG Artur Sitkowski from Rutgers. He was at 10.9

58 Zack Annexstad, MINN - 59.2

http://www.espn.com/ncf/qbr/_/page/2

http://www.espn.com/ncf/qbr


http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/9612585/total-quarterback-rating-college-football
 

12-for-20 for 142 yards and 2 TDs with no picks gets you a QB rating of 50.4?

His rating is 129.5 for the season ... and his seasonal numbers were similar to his performance yesterday.

Listen, I'm not ready to retire the kid's number, but ZA has been uncannily accurate. Yes, lots of room to improve on several facets, but a very high percentage of his throws are spot-on. Watching yesterday's game on TV, there were a couple times the commentators remarked that ZA's throws were off, but I replayed both plays several times, and he was simply putting the ball exactly where he should have to give his receiver a play on it without risking an interception. I'm excited as hell to see how good this kid can get, especially with the receivers he has to work with.

JTG

QBR is an interesting stat because of what it uses to calculate the rating.
 

I think they will find out a lot about themselves this weekend as they have to leave their home confines for the first time this year and play a BigTen team. I know it is early in the season, but I think this could be a season-defining game!
 

Required post if you're wondering who a team is / are / were

 




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