BleedGopher
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per Randy:
Purdue beat Ohio State by 29 points. The Gophers, who a week earlier lost to Illinois by 24 points, beat Purdue by 31 points.
Go ahead, just try to figure out this Gophers football season.
“It’s been a roller-coaster year,’’ coach P.J. Fleck said, and that was even before his team went out and dominated Purdue 41-10 on a snowy Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium.
That roller coaster is climbing right now, and that’s mostly because of what happened with the Gophers defense. Minnesota (5-5, 2-5 Big Ten) hit its low point of the season so far in that 55-31 loss at lowly Illinois, and that prompted Fleck to fire defensive coordinator Robb Smith and replace him on an interim basis with defensive line coach Joe Rossi.
Fleck’s message to Rossi and his charges was to play “sound, simple, fast,’’ and from the start of the game, it was apparent that the defense was different.
Purdue got its initial first down on its first possession, but nothing more. And when the Boilermakers intercepted a pass and took over at the Minnesota 38-yard line in the first quarter, the Gophers defense allowed only Spencer Evans’ tying 40-yard field goal.
For the rest of the first half as the Gophers built a 13-3 lead, Purdue’s possessions went three-and-out, three-and-out, a fourth-down turnover on downs and one 18-yard drive. Aside from that interception, the Boilermakers never made it to Minnesota territory in the first half. Purdue finished 0-for-12 on third-down conversions.
“We didn’t change our defense,’’ Fleck said. “The defense is the defense, and the defense works. We got back to [being] us.’’
http://www.startribune.com/sound-simple-fast-works-for-gophers-defense/500245811/
Go Gophers!!
Purdue beat Ohio State by 29 points. The Gophers, who a week earlier lost to Illinois by 24 points, beat Purdue by 31 points.
Go ahead, just try to figure out this Gophers football season.
“It’s been a roller-coaster year,’’ coach P.J. Fleck said, and that was even before his team went out and dominated Purdue 41-10 on a snowy Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium.
That roller coaster is climbing right now, and that’s mostly because of what happened with the Gophers defense. Minnesota (5-5, 2-5 Big Ten) hit its low point of the season so far in that 55-31 loss at lowly Illinois, and that prompted Fleck to fire defensive coordinator Robb Smith and replace him on an interim basis with defensive line coach Joe Rossi.
Fleck’s message to Rossi and his charges was to play “sound, simple, fast,’’ and from the start of the game, it was apparent that the defense was different.
Purdue got its initial first down on its first possession, but nothing more. And when the Boilermakers intercepted a pass and took over at the Minnesota 38-yard line in the first quarter, the Gophers defense allowed only Spencer Evans’ tying 40-yard field goal.
For the rest of the first half as the Gophers built a 13-3 lead, Purdue’s possessions went three-and-out, three-and-out, a fourth-down turnover on downs and one 18-yard drive. Aside from that interception, the Boilermakers never made it to Minnesota territory in the first half. Purdue finished 0-for-12 on third-down conversions.
“We didn’t change our defense,’’ Fleck said. “The defense is the defense, and the defense works. We got back to [being] us.’’
http://www.startribune.com/sound-simple-fast-works-for-gophers-defense/500245811/
Go Gophers!!