OHIO STATE POST GAME THREAD - THOUGHTS


OK then (I'm getting old). Two years ago in the game the Gophers should have won if not for McSorley successfully floating up 50/50 balls all game.

I saw an interesting Fleck interview somewhere, (and he knows WR's)... he pointed out that he anticipates his wide receiver corps to eventually be at the point where these so called 50/50 balls are 90 /10 in our favor. Skill advancement and improvement on positioning and fundamentals.
 

I saw an interesting Fleck interview somewhere, (and he knows WR's)... he pointed out that he anticipates his wide receiver corps to eventually be at the point where these so called 50/50 balls are 90 /10 in our favor. Skill advancement and improvement on positioning and fundamentals.

I mean just throw it deep every play then =TD on 80% of drives if you assume they're 40 yard plays or 70% if you assume they're 30 yarders.
 

I mean just throw it deep every play then =TD on 80% of drives if you assume they're 40 yard plays or 70% if you assume they're 30 yarders.

Oh come on, he was simply referring to skill development of young talented receivers... Which is what McSorley was working with on his air mail passes.... Simply me passing along interview fodder.
 

Oh come on, he was simply referring to skill development of young talented receivers... Which is what McSorley was working with on his air mail passes.... Simply me passing along interview fodder.

i'm speaking with a grain of sarcasm.
 




We had some bad mistakes, and left points on the field (3 turnovers, 2 missed fgs). However 1. we have a true freshman quarterback, so some number of turnovers against the #3 ranked team in the nation and 2. Carpenter isn't a robot. He is going to miss some eventually, it just happened that today was the day that he made those mistakes.

All-in-all, 3 turn overs and 2 missed fgs vs Ohio State usually means losing by a lot more than 16. The team played incredibly tough, and I think if the team that showed up today continues to show up (and fixes some mistakes) this season can turn around.
 

We had some bad mistakes, and left points on the field (3 turnovers, 2 missed fgs). However 1. we have a true freshman quarterback, so some number of turnovers against the #3 ranked team in the nation and 2. Carpenter isn't a robot. He is going to miss some eventually, it just happened that today was the day that he made those mistakes.

All-in-all, 3 turn overs and 2 missed fgs vs Ohio State usually means losing by a lot more than 16. The team played incredibly tough, and I think if the team that showed up today continues to show up (and fixes some mistakes) this season can turn around.

Scary part is all 3 TOs were in OSU territory. So you're talking about 6 pts with the FGs and a possible additional 9-21 in a game we lost by 16. Barf.
 



Scary part is all 3 TOs were in OSU territory. So you're talking about 6 pts with the FGs and a possible additional 9-21 in a game we lost by 16. Barf.

Lets not forget about the 4th down stop the Gophers got that magically gets moved up a extra yard with no review. Ohio State scores on the very next play. Watching the game it really felt like the Gophers dominated the majority of the game. The energy the defense played with was fantastic. I could care less how many yards Haskins had because he's the best pure passer in all of CFB. The offense will be alright when Annexstad starts attempting to not telegraph passes, which is also the reason why 10 balls get batted down at the line each game.
 

Gimme a break- if you would have had the cajones to pick a score it would have been a 50+ pt win for OSU


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What’s your point? If they lose by 1 point or 50 points, they still lost. Does it make you feel better if they lost by 1? It’s still a loss. But, I guess as a Gopher fan, moral victories count.

Yippee, we beat the spread. Let’s give Fleck a lifetime contract. Whatever, loser.


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I can't get over how all the things that encompass football being a "game of inches" all went tOSU's way. Here are the plays I can remember off the top of my head (I just watched the entire game, so it's pretty fresh)

1.4th down and 2 for tOSU: Gophers stop the RB short and somehow it's not reviewed despite a long delay between plays. Next play is a TD
2.Tyler Johnson fumble: Gophers driving and they lose the ball on a bang bang play that wasn't really caused by anything the tOSU defender did
3. 4th down conversion for tOSU: Antonio Shenault had great coverage (for once) and the ball literally ended up in the only place the receiver could make a catch. This one didn't turn out to matter as much because the Gophers would stop the next 4th down attempt on the same drive.
4. tOSU one handed TD: Gophers get confused by an alignment (WR lines up in H back position) and Kamal Martin doesn't cover him. He's open, but Haskins makes a rare bad throw unfortunately the receiver makes a fantastic catch and runs in for the TD.
5. Ibrahim big run in the third quarter: The next few plays are all from the same sequence with the Gophers down by 6. Ibrahim has a house call on this run and the last guy reaches out with one arm and takes him down.
6. Annexstad misses Tyler Johnson on a slant: Zack misses Tyler for what would have been a first down inside the tOSU 5
7. Pass knocked down/Bateman open for 3rd down conversion: tOSU defender gets up from the ground and knocks down a would be conversion on 3rd
8. Cashman missed chip shot: this can't happen especially when tOSU backup kicker just drilled one from 47
9. Witham big play on the reverse/flea flicker: Much like Ibrahim there was one guy between Bryce and a TD, though this time it was a much more solid tackle
10. Annexstad interception where he leads the safety to the ball: Tyler Johnson was open for a TD that cuts the Buckeye lead to 2. If Zack doesn't stare him down, it's a TD. If Zack doesn't put so much air under the ball, it's a TD. The only way this isn't a TD is exactly what happened.
11. Cashman missed FG: 49 yards isn't an easy kick, but against tOSU made one from 47. It's a one score game if he converts here.

When you are a 30 point dog, having half these plays go against you usually result in the favorite covering easily. Today, if the Gophers simply had 3-4 of these plays bounce their way, we could have experienced the biggest upset in most of our lifetimes. This is extremely frustrating because it seems like the Gophers never get that favorable bounce/lucky break in big games (with the notable exception of PSU almost 20 years ago). At some point you have to make your own luck though. It's also annoying that they would definitely have Floyd if this Gopher team showed up last week and the overall perception of the program would be so much different, but again that's not an excuse.

Positives:

I have to start with the Oline and Dline play: I didn't think we could compete in the trenches going in to this season and, for one game at least, this team was able to compete. On the offensive side, they opened holes for Ibrahim and gave Zack just enough time to get passes off. There was at least one fairly gain for Ibrahim where Greene and Faalele were both line up on the left side of the line and Andries was the Right Tackle. It was an interesting wrinkle, especially because they ran right and not left on the play. On the defensive side, they were stout against the run and finally got a sack from someone not named Carter Coughlin (Jerry Gibson). Big picture, it was nice to see Big E flash and while I am not sure he got credited for any sacks (might have shared one with Coughlin) he made his presence felt.

Carter Coughlin: Deserves his own spot here as he was absolutely fantastic all day. The tackle lined up on him actually had a meltdown late in the game. After a Coughlin sack, he's screaming at the official that Coughlin was offsides (he wasn't) and the very next play he gets called for holding (very obvious) and has a tantrum about that. This kid was lucky that he wouldn't be on the field for any more plays that mattered (Gophers would miss a FG to essentially end the game the next drive). On the downside, it would totally be Gopher luck if Carter's fantastic day IN A LOSS caused his draft stock to rise to the point where he leaves early.

Kirk Ciarrocca: He had a fantastic day calling plays. It says a lot that the team could up and down the field most of the day without ever really completing a pass outside the numbers. I am really excited to see what a Ciarrocca offense can look like when he has more confidence in his quarterback and his offensive line.

Coach Fleck: Had the team prepared to play in a real difficult spot. I am sure it has been mentioned, but the Gophers were without there best CB and their best run stuffing DT today. I was encouraged by what I saw today.

Mo Ibrahim: This kid ran hard, blocked well and played well above my expectations.

Negatives:

3rd down defense/blown coverages?: I don't want to be too hard on Robb Smith because his defense was without at least 3 starters and then lost Durr to targeting. That said, it's frustrating to see his defense not be able to get off the field on 3rd. On at least 3 occasions that they stopped the 3rd down play, they allowed enough yardage for tOSU to comfortably go for it on 4th down. The aforementioned play where the tOSU receiver made the one handed grab was a total coverage breakdown and so was tOSU's final touchdown in what amounted to garbage time. Perhaps the most disappointing conversion of the game was to open the 4th quarter when the Gophers had tOSU deep in their own territory and facing like a 3rd and 14 and they get a guy wide open over the middle for a easy conversion. With games coming up against Nebraska and Purdue, eliminating these breakdowns in pass coverage will be crucial.

Zack Annexstad: This one might be controversial, but I am a little bit down on Zack after 3 B1G games and seeing how other true freshman have performed at QB across the country. Don't get me wrong, I am nowhere near giving up on him, I just don't think he's cementing himself as the future at QB. The first interception of the game was horrific and never should have been thrown. The second interception of the game should have been a touchdown. I felt like some of the passes he had batted down today were also the result of him locking in one receiver. He was missed on some fairly easy completions and is developing a scary habit of being high on the slants which is going to end up getting his receivers hurt and/or resulting in turnovers sooner rather than later. There's still plenty of season left, but we are going to need Zack to take a bit of step forward not only to win games left on the schedule but also to feel confident about him going in to 2019.

Overall, this is probably the most encouraging loss from a Gopher football team in a long time. I just hope they are able to build on it and the best performance of the year won't be wasted in a loss.
 

I can't get over how all the things that encompass football being a "game of inches" all went tOSU's way. Here are the plays I can remember off the top of my head (I just watched the entire game, so it's pretty fresh)

1.4th down and 2 for tOSU: Gophers stop the RB short and somehow it's not reviewed despite a long delay between plays. Next play is a TD
2.Tyler Johnson fumble: Gophers driving and they lose the ball on a bang bang play that wasn't really caused by anything the tOSU defender did
3. 4th down conversion for tOSU: Antonio Shenault had great coverage (for once) and the ball literally ended up in the only place the receiver could make a catch. This one didn't turn out to matter as much because the Gophers would stop the next 4th down attempt on the same drive.
4. tOSU one handed TD: Gophers get confused by an alignment (WR lines up in H back position) and Kamal Martin doesn't cover him. He's open, but Haskins makes a rare bad throw unfortunately the receiver makes a fantastic catch and runs in for the TD.
5. Ibrahim big run in the third quarter: The next few plays are all from the same sequence with the Gophers down by 6. Ibrahim has a house call on this run and the last guy reaches out with one arm and takes him down.
6. Annexstad misses Tyler Johnson on a slant: Zack misses Tyler for what would have been a first down inside the tOSU 5
7. Pass knocked down/Bateman open for 3rd down conversion: tOSU defender gets up from the ground and knocks down a would be conversion on 3rd
8. Cashman missed chip shot: this can't happen especially when tOSU backup kicker just drilled one from 47
9. Witham big play on the reverse/flea flicker: Much like Ibrahim there was one guy between Bryce and a TD, though this time it was a much more solid tackle
10. Annexstad interception where he leads the safety to the ball: Tyler Johnson was open for a TD that cuts the Buckeye lead to 2. If Zack doesn't stare him down, it's a TD. If Zack doesn't put so much air under the ball, it's a TD. The only way this isn't a TD is exactly what happened.
11. Cashman missed FG: 49 yards isn't an easy kick, but against tOSU made one from 47. It's a one score game if he converts here.

When you are a 30 point dog, having half these plays go against you usually result in the favorite covering easily. Today, if the Gophers simply had 3-4 of these plays bounce their way, we could have experienced the biggest upset in most of our lifetimes. This is extremely frustrating because it seems like the Gophers never get that favorable bounce/lucky break in big games (with the notable exception of PSU almost 20 years ago). At some point you have to make your own luck though. It's also annoying that they would definitely have Floyd if this Gopher team showed up last week and the overall perception of the program would be so much different, but again that's not an excuse.

Positives:

I have to start with the Oline and Dline play: I didn't think we could compete in the trenches going in to this season and, for one game at least, this team was able to compete. On the offensive side, they opened holes for Ibrahim and gave Zack just enough time to get passes off. There was at least one fairly gain for Ibrahim where Greene and Faalele were both line up on the left side of the line and Andries was the Right Tackle. It was an interesting wrinkle, especially because they ran right and not left on the play. On the defensive side, they were stout against the run and finally got a sack from someone not named Carter Coughlin (Jerry Gibson). Big picture, it was nice to see Big E flash and while I am not sure he got credited for any sacks (might have shared one with Coughlin) he made his presence felt.

Carter Coughlin: Deserves his own spot here as he was absolutely fantastic all day. The tackle lined up on him actually had a meltdown late in the game. After a Coughlin sack, he's screaming at the official that Coughlin was offsides (he wasn't) and the very next play he gets called for holding (very obvious) and has a tantrum about that. This kid was lucky that he wouldn't be on the field for any more plays that mattered (Gophers would miss a FG to essentially end the game the next drive). On the downside, it would totally be Gopher luck if Carter's fantastic day IN A LOSS caused his draft stock to rise to the point where he leaves early.

Kirk Ciarrocca: He had a fantastic day calling plays. It says a lot that the team could up and down the field most of the day without ever really completing a pass outside the numbers. I am really excited to see what a Ciarrocca offense can look like when he has more confidence in his quarterback and his offensive line.

Coach Fleck: Had the team prepared to play in a real difficult spot. I am sure it has been mentioned, but the Gophers were without there best CB and their best run stuffing DT today. I was encouraged by what I saw today.

Mo Ibrahim: This kid ran hard, blocked well and played well above my expectations.

Negatives:

3rd down defense/blown coverages?: I don't want to be too hard on Robb Smith because his defense was without at least 3 starters and then lost Durr to targeting. That said, it's frustrating to see his defense not be able to get off the field on 3rd. On at least 3 occasions that they stopped the 3rd down play, they allowed enough yardage for tOSU to comfortably go for it on 4th down. The aforementioned play where the tOSU receiver made the one handed grab was a total coverage breakdown and so was tOSU's final touchdown in what amounted to garbage time. Perhaps the most disappointing conversion of the game was to open the 4th quarter when the Gophers had tOSU deep in their own territory and facing like a 3rd and 14 and they get a guy wide open over the middle for a easy conversion. With games coming up against Nebraska and Purdue, eliminating these breakdowns in pass coverage will be crucial.

Zack Annexstad: This one might be controversial, but I am a little bit down on Zack after 3 B1G games and seeing how other true freshman have performed at QB across the country. Don't get me wrong, I am nowhere near giving up on him, I just don't think he's cementing himself as the future at QB. The first interception of the game was horrific and never should have been thrown. The second interception of the game should have been a touchdown. I felt like some of the passes he had batted down today were also the result of him locking in one receiver. He was missed on some fairly easy completions and is developing a scary habit of being high on the slants which is going to end up getting his receivers hurt and/or resulting in turnovers sooner rather than later. There's still plenty of season left, but we are going to need Zack to take a bit of step forward not only to win games left on the schedule but also to feel confident about him going in to 2019.

Overall, this is probably the most encouraging loss from a Gopher football team in a long time. I just hope they are able to build on it and the best performance of the year won't be wasted in a loss.

I don't think you're being controversial in the least bit
 



I just realized I referred to Carpenter as Cashman in my above post, not once but twice. Maybe it was Blake kicking those FG's which would explain why they were missed so badly?
 

Carpenter missing that first FG really hurt.
We could have been driving at the end only down by six.
OSU would have been pretty puckered up at that point.


I'm surprised they called that TJ catch and fumble a catch and fumble. He never seemed to have full possession, but I'm just a fan.
 

What makes you think that? Just a belief that eventually he will throw a long ball that isn’t atrocious? I hope you are right.


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Two things. First, his passes have been catchable and have picked off due to good plays by the DBs. He’s not overthrowing or under throwing guys by 5 yards. On the 1st INT intended for Bateman, I’m pretty sure it was a designed play from the start to go there. Most DBs aren’t going to be as good as OSU’s, so if that play was vs Indiana or Purdue it’s likely a completion. On the second INT, if he would have looked off the Safety for a second it’s likely a TD.

PJ has indicated Zack completes a relatively high percentage of long passes in practice. I’ll predict it begins to translate better in games the second half of the season as Zacknand his receivers get more comfortable.
 

Two things. First, his passes have been catchable and have picked off due to good plays by the DBs. He’s not overthrowing or under throwing guys by 5 yards. On the 1st INT intended for Bateman, I’m pretty sure it was a designed play from the start to go there. Most DBs aren’t going to be as good as OSU’s, so if that play was vs Indiana or Purdue it’s likely a completion. On the second INT, if he would have looked off the Safety for a second it’s likely a TD.

PJ has indicated Zack completes a relatively high percentage of long passes in practice. I’ll predict it begins to translate better in games the second half of the season as Zacknand his receivers get more comfortable.
Of course he completes long balls in practice. Have you seen our secondary?

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What’s your point? If they lose by 1 point or 50 points, they still lost. Does it make you feel better if they lost by 1? It’s still a loss. But, I guess as a Gopher fan, moral victories count.

Yippee, we beat the spread. Let’s give Fleck a lifetime contract. Whatever, loser.

This is an extraordinarily stupid post. Yes, a loss is a loss, but anyone with a brain feels much better about a 1-pt loss than a 50-pt loss (particularly when your team is a huge underdog.) Don't be an idiot.
 
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Two things. First, his passes have been catchable and have picked off due to good plays by the DBs. He’s not overthrowing or under throwing guys by 5 yards. On the 1st INT intended for Bateman, I’m pretty sure it was a designed play from the start to go there. Most DBs aren’t going to be as good as OSU’s, so if that play was vs Indiana or Purdue it’s likely a completion. On the second INT, if he would have looked off the Safety for a second it’s likely a TD.

PJ has indicated Zack completes a relatively high percentage of long passes in practice. I’ll predict it begins to translate better in games the second half of the season as Zacknand his receivers get more comfortable.

Fair enough. I hope you are right. I would argue he has over-thrown a large percentage of those long balls and that the biggest concern is the “air he puts under” those long balls - but he can improve with age/strength for sure. I really like ZA5, but I don’t share your optimism that he will start connecting on those anytime soon.


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Fair enough. I hope you are right. I would argue he has over-thrown a large percentage of those long balls and that the biggest concern is the “air he puts under” those long balls - but he can improve with age/strength for sure. I really like ZA5, but I don’t share your optimism that he will start connecting on those anytime soon.


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The one thing that should improve over time is his ability to look off the FS. If he looked to the right for just a second on that last INT, I'm guessing the FS doesn't make the pick.
 

What’s your point? If they lose by 1 point or 50 points, they still lost. Does it make you feel better if they lost by 1? It’s still a loss. But, I guess as a Gopher fan, moral victories count.

Yippee, we beat the spread. Let’s give Fleck a lifetime contract. Whatever, loser.


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I don’t think many here are celebrating a “Moral Victory.” They are recognizing that the team played vastly better than it has the past couple of games, which makes the future much brighter. I think that IS something worth celebrating.
 

This moral victory vs no moral victories debate is silly. It is just how you choose to phrase it. Nobody on here thinks yesterday was perfect or any type of big accomplishment. However, it is hard to deny we looked better than in previous weeks and no one should apologize for appreciating improvement. Forget the score and look just at the play on both lines of scrimmage yesterday and tell me one shouldn’t be encouraged by that. Who would have predicted that? Pleasantly surprised. Doesn’t mean I was skipping through the house after the game either.


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No reason this team can't rip off five wins starting Saturday in Lincoln. Better game plan from the staff. A few more wrinkles on offense and defense looked better, especially at the line of scrimmage. Still some lingering in game management issues...including those wasted time outs.

Zack's second INT was actually right on the money...threw it right where WR ended up but the safety made a very good play. Could argue he didn't look off the safety on that one. He's getting better each game.

If Gophs minimize the T/Os (and get a few), I see an 8-3 Gophs team with a lot of momentum going into Madison.
 

Hope you are right and we will know more if they can carry the positives from yesterday to Lincoln.
 

What’s your point? If they lose by 1 point or 50 points, they still lost. Does it make you feel better if they lost by 1? It’s still a loss. But, I guess as a Gopher fan, moral victories count.

Yippee, we beat the spread. Let’s give Fleck a lifetime contract. Whatever, loser.


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You're a complete a$$hat- why do bother coming on this board? You don't support the school, the players or anything connected with this state. Go root for UCLA.


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PJ has indicated Zack completes a relatively high percentage of long passes in practice. I’ll predict it begins to translate better in games the second half of the season as Zacknand his receivers get more comfortable.

That’s similar to hearing how great of hands Wozniak had in practice.


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Sorry if I missed it, where was T. Smith #4 yesterday? I'll hang up and listen...
 





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