OHIO STATE POST GAME THREAD - THOUGHTS

Some Day...Maybe

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Players played extremely hard and very well. Can’t turn it over like that. Can’t miss easy field goals.

Better pass rush. Much better D.

ZA really needs to improve on the deep throws.

OSU probably a little flat, maybe not up for the game. Took MN lightly. Nonetheless great job by players and staff. It was there for the taking. Like Fleck said, they’re this....close.


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For 50+ years the Gophers have lost to teams like OSU, Michigan, Penn St, and most recently Wisconsin and Iowa because they lose up front. Smaller, weaker, and less talented.

Last week’s big improvement in run D carried over to this game and was holding hands with some actual movement from the OL against a cast of 4 and 5 star opponents. Those two trends mean much more than the final score, which would have been closer without the mistakes and a Win if OSU had made them.

As Kill used to say, that felt like it was built on concrete, not sand.
 

A wasted golden opportunity. Outplayed Ohio State. This should have been an epic win.
 

My Saturday was not ruined by any means. It was not a moral victory, but this was a winnable game, removing the obvious.... turnovers, 50/50 long balls, missed field goals. Beyond that, I thought it was a great team effort, and a lot of fun to watch.

I'm walking away feeling OK about what is going on, and what the future SHOULD hold.
 



Renewed optimism for me.

Ibrahim looked so good. Need more from our receivers but that is on ZA also.

Oline was very good. Cashman and Coughlin are studs
 

Almost forgot about the TE being incorporated into the offense.... Plus.
 

A wasted golden opportunity. Outplayed Ohio State. This should have been an epic win.

I don't think one can say that we outplayed OSU when their QB threw for more yards than we gained, had 28 first downs to our 19, and had zero turnovers to our 3.
 





My Saturday was not ruined by any means. It was not a moral victory, but this was a winnable game, removing the obvious.... turnovers, 50/50 long balls, missed field goals. Beyond that, I thought it was a great team effort, and a lot of fun to watch.

I'm walking away feeling OK about what is going on, and what the future SHOULD hold.

but it was a morale victory
 

If you aren’t fired up about 2019 in particular, you ain’t human, to use another Jerryism.
 

Faalele was dominant today. Had one penalty for lining up wrong.

Another thing I LOVED. Gophers had 1st and 25 and converted for another first down. That never happens for us. Ever.
 



Renewed optimism for me.

Ibrahim looked so good. Need more from our receivers but that is on ZA also.

Oline was very good. Cashman and Coughlin are studs
Those EDen Prairie kids can play.
 

No moral victories, ever.

But a lot of good to build on for the rest of the season to finish strong.
 

Sounded very good on the radio. Will definitely fire up the DVR later today.
 

While the game was entertaining, I never really thought that we would pull out a win. I just don't get a vibe from this team that it is able to beat teams better than them. They gave a good effort, but in the end the outcome is what I expected.
 

But - we've seen this movie before. Yes, the Gophers did some good things in the OSU game. Now, the question is, can they keep doing the good things - and at the same time, eliminate some of the mistakes.

That is not a given. There is no guarantee that all of the strong points today will continue to be strong points next week. Consistency is one of the biggest hurdles for teams to get over when trying to improve.

If the line play is this strong next week - AND they clean up some of the other issues, then that is a real reason for optimism. But, they have to demonstrate that they can play well two weeks in a row. The up-and-down good-one-week-bad-the-next routine has gone on seemingly forever.

I will be fired up about 2019 when the team (and coaches) give me a real reason to be fired up. How do they do that - play better next week. Then play better the week after that. Eliminate mistakes. Build on success. Demonstrate you can play consistent football.

AND STOP TRYING TO THROW THE DEEP BALL WHEN YOUR QB CAN'T THROW THE G-D BALL 20 YARDS DOWNFIELD WITHOUT DRAWING EVERY DUCK HUNTER IN THE STATE. I like a lot of what Annexstad does, but geez, there are HS QB's who throw a better deep ball.
 

Just curious what your guy’s definition of a “moral victory” in sports is because that was pretty much the definition. You don’t believe in them, period? Like momentum?



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I think there were some things that can build confidence and some things that need fixing that can be fairly easily fixed. Those are both good things.
 

The defensive line and linebackers came to play. Martin and Cashman really stood out. Coughlin had an inspired game and it was really cool to see Jerry Gibson make a play (I alwasys wondered why he hasn't seen the field much. Omoteo, and the defensive tackles all really played well.

Zack had better pass protection and the play calling was maybe the best we have seen in Big Ten play since the Nebraska game. Some good twists like the trick play and the passes to the tight end. Ibrahim ran hard and if he had break away speed he might have had a long one today.

Johnson showed he is one of the best receivers in the conference, but dang that fumble really hurt. Zack is going to be alright.

Emmit is human. Not sure if those two field goals would have been enough to flip the script, but up until this game he has been solid.
 

We lost because we made mistakes they didn't. I am not going to get excited because we only lost by less than we might have. 0-3 big ten is unacceptable. Need to get it together soon. Fortunately, we have an 0-6 team coming to town next week
 

Just curious what your guy’s defintioion of a “moral victory” in sports is because that was pretty much the definition. You don’t believe in them, period? Like momentum?

This was pretty much the definition of a moral victory. (Morale makes more sense but isn’t the common term). The one great takeaway is that it came from winning up front and not from hanging around on lucky junk Ohio State coughed up.
 

We lost because we made mistakes they didn't. I am not going to get excited because we only lost by less than we might have. 0-3 big ten is unacceptable. Need to get it together soon. Fortunately, we have an 0-6 team coming to town next week

Game's in Nebraska.
 

A wasted golden opportunity. Outplayed Ohio State. This should have been an epic win.
True that it was a wasted opportunity because for much of the football game Minnesota was more physical and outplayed Ohio State in sustained spurts. The wasted opportunity was not in game plan or so much talent as it was execution. Hopefully is the last game we see Annexstad just chucking the ball up for grabs. The Oline played outstanding today with much more confidence. They look like a Big 10 offensive line now, what a Big 10 l. Mo Ibrahim had GREAT PAITENCE today. Super excited to see more throws to tight ends. D line everyone that got in played hard and #9, # 3, 19 and #45, 97 and 90 brought pressure all day. #21 thought he was o so close to to interceptions today. Gophers left the door open to victory, just could not step through today. Looking forward to next week, this games energy and effort needs to carry forward. The final score did not tell the story of the game.

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That QB Haskins has a bright NFL future, he hit some tight difficult throws, and they have Olympic level speed in to spots at WR. That wheel route he threw to tight end was 3rd read but opened up.
I don't think one can say that we outplayed OSU when their QB threw for more yards than we gained, had 28 first downs to our 19, and had zero turnovers to our 3.

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My thoughts...
That 4th down conversion by tOSU early anyone else think that guy was short and should have been reviewed? NOT EVEN REVIEWED!!! What???
Looked good on both the offensive and defensive lines.
YES they did outplay tOSU for the most part, you can talk about "they had less yards and they had less first downs" but that was due to turnovers. tOSU looked flat and didn't play well and was playing a lot of backups (at least that's what the announcers said).
Announcers were so pro Ohio State. It was tough to listen to them. I don't need them to be about the Gophers but geez they didn't say much about the Gophers but they sure had comment after comment and story after story about tOSU. I get it, they are contenders but a little feel good would be nice.
Speaking of turnovers, anyone else think that Tyler Johnson should have made a better effort on the last one in the endzone? It looked like he had a shot at it and he started watching the guy, just watching the guy. Not attacking the ball and not trying to make a play on the man if nothing else to prevent him from picking it. I love TJ but that was something I think you could have had a better effort on.
Zack should just not throw the deep ball, he throws so nice on the under stuff and short routes, for the most part just nice, crisp accurate passes. He goes deep and he just floats it up and stares down the receiver. He will learn. He's got the potential to be a good one. I liked his run on the option, showed some athleticism!
Ibriham runs very nicely, shifty like Rodney. Doesn't have that elite speed but he's got everything else. Nice runner.
Liked the game called by Ciarrocca.
Terrell Smith, #4...where the heck was he? Did I miss something? Hurt? Suspended? He would have helped on that #14 from tOSU, he is a good receiver.
Hopefully this translates into the rest of the year, if so they will be fun to watch. Win a few of these toss up games and get a bowl game but most of all beat the team from the East to win the Axe and it's a great season.
 

Just curious what your guy’s definition of a “moral victory” in sports is because that was pretty much the definition. You don’t believe in them, period? Like momentum?



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I would say a "moral victory" is a game with a completely unexpected outcome. the Gopher - OSU game was a good showing, but I would not put it in the moral victory category because of all the mistakes the Gophers made. To me, a moral victory is more of a game where you do everything right, but just come up a little short against a superior opponent - like you take the #1 rated team in the state to OT before losing. A game where you can really feel good about how you played, despite the outcome. Today, the Gophers had too many self-inflicted wounds for it to be a moral victory.

There is a difference between a "moral victory," and a team taking a step forward. The Gophers took a step forward today in some areas, but it's not a moral victory from my point of view.
 




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