Sid: Schlueter stayed home

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Sid:

Schlueter stayed home

The Gophers offensive line has been the big key to putting together one of the best offensive teams in the Big Ten through a 6-0 start and a No. 20 ranking in the Associated Press poll.

The Gophers have averaged 475.0 yards, 248.7 rushing yards and 37.3 points per game through three Big Ten contests. Those numbers rank second to only Ohio State, which has averaged 543.0 yards, 332.3 rushing yards and 44.3 points in three conference games.

The Gophers have given up only five sacks in three Big Ten games (1.7 per game), which ranks fourth in the Big Ten.

One of the big reasons for that success is left tackle Sam Schlueter, the redshirt junior from Mayer Lutheran High School. He is part of an offensive line which features no senior starters.

Schlueter is a huge and dominant tackle, coming in at 6-6 and 325 pounds.

He joined the program in 2016 when Tracy Claeys was the Gophers coach. He came from Victoria, Minn., with a population around 9,000, and attended Mayer Lutheran, with an enrollment of fewer than 200 students.

“It’s a fairly small town, grew up there and went to high school in an even smaller town a little farther west of there,” Schlueter said. “But I take a lot of pride in this state and what I can do for it.”

Schlueter had offers from Iowa State, Louisville, Michigan State, Northwestern and Wisconsin.

“I had a few other Big Ten schools that were taking a look at me, but I always knew I wanted to come here,” he said. “No doubt at all.”

One thing that set Schlueter’s freshman class of 2016 apart was that he came in with other local players such as Carter Coughlin (Eden Prairie), Tyler Johnson (Minneapolis North), Kamal Martin (Burnsville), Conner Olson (Monticello) and Thomas Barber (Armstrong).

“We all have a lot of pride in this state and we really want to do something for this state,” Schlueter said. “I think us sticking through it for the long haul — this is our fourth year here, we are in the middle of our fourth year now, and we take a lot of pride in that.”

http://www.startribune.com/dakota-dozier-finds-vikings-to-his-liking/563340712/

Go Gophers!!
 

Oh man, the thread title concerned me. I thought maybe he was hurt and remained here rather than heading to NJ with the team.
 


year of the gopher said:
Oh man, the thread title concerned me. I thought maybe he was hurt and remained here rather than heading to NJ with the team.
Click to expand...

Me too. I'd pick on Sid but we know he isn't the idiot that wrote the title.
 

He’s been a pleasant surprise over the last two games.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 




Glad to see Schlueter is doing this well this season.
 




I think it's remarkable that he beat out Dickson.

Good for him to not listen to the people who were so critical of him last year and kept working at it.

Ski u mah, Sam!
 

Mayer Lutheran represent! I graduated with a class of 80-90 in '05, so I guess attendance must really be an issue nowadays... Small school, but usually pretty good in basketball and football.
 

"One thing that set Schlueter’s freshman class of 2016 apart was that he came in with other local players such as Carter Coughlin (Eden Prairie), Tyler Johnson (Minneapolis North), Kamal Martin (Burnsville), Conner Olson (Monticello) and Thomas Barber (Armstrong)."

Also Phil Howard, Seth Green, Antoine Winfield were local (or strong local ties) in that class. Ko Kieft and Calvin Swenson from neighboring states were nice adds as well in that class. Renner was in previous class.
 

Such a clickbait title from Sid! Maybe he will start writing for Buzzfeed once he reaches 100.
 



year of the gopher said:
Oh man, the thread title concerned me. I thought maybe he was hurt and remained here rather than heading to NJ with the team.
Click to expand...

STPGopher said:
Ha! So did I.
Click to expand...

Sparlimb said:
Me too. I'd pick on Sid but we know he isn't the idiot that wrote the title.
Click to expand...

I fell for it too. I was so disappointed because he really improved this season. I was wondering if he was upset about being the only O-lineman not to get a weekly award last week and did something stupid.

I'm so happy for him this season. He was struggling so badly last season, that after they pulled him for Big Dan I figured we'd never see him start again. When it started to look like he was going to start at the beginning of the year, I was stunned and disappointed we couldn't find anyone better than him. I really expected a rough season based on that (such a crucial position). Then he played decent the first couple games (not outstanding, but sometimes he wasn't the problem in the line either). But starting with Georgia Southern, his play started to elevate. To the point last week he was outstanding.

It would have been really easy for him to mope and to feel sorry for himself and give up. Instead, he took the challenge and improved his best. (Sorry, couldn't resist). Just awesome!
 

Even last year when he struggled in pass blocking, he has always been a really strong run blocker. When you get beat on an island, it stands out.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Even last year when he struggled in pass blocking, he has always been a really strong run blocker. When you get beat on an island, it stands out.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it had to painful at times for him last year because it really stuck out when it happened. I saw the same in the open practices when Devers or Coughlin were on him during passing downs, but he did look improved overall. They must have found something that he has worked on since Fall, or the game planning has minimized the number of opportunities for it to happen.
 

gophermartin said:
I think it's remarkable that he beat out Dickson.

Good for him to not listen to the people who were so critical of him last year and kept working at it.

Ski u mah, Sam!
Click to expand...

Many mn fans (me included) basically wrote him off

I happily eat crow in this scenario
 

"One thing that set Schlueter’s freshman class of 2016 apart was that he came in with other local players such as Carter Coughlin (Eden Prairie), Tyler Johnson (Minneapolis North), Kamal Martin (Burnsville), Conner Olson (Monticello) and Thomas Barber (Armstrong)."

I look at that list and think man, those are some of our best players! Is Minnesota high school football underrated? Is that why the Dakota chooses are so good in FCS due to the Minnesota kids they take. Makes you wonder for sure.
 

NotAFanOfBecky said:
"One thing that set Schlueter’s freshman class of 2016 apart was that he came in with other local players such as Carter Coughlin (Eden Prairie), Tyler Johnson (Minneapolis North), Kamal Martin (Burnsville), Conner Olson (Monticello) and Thomas Barber (Armstrong)."

I look at that list and think man, those are some of our best players! Is Minnesota high school football underrated? Is that why the Dakota chooses are so good in FCS due to the Minnesota kids they take. Makes you wonder for sure.
Click to expand...

No - That was a very good group but that is the exception and not the rule most years. There are good players to be found in the state but the number is sorely lacking in relation to other places around the country.

You can get solid players that will add depth to your roster but to get those high end guys you typically have to find them elsewhere.
 


A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Not all year. He got pushed around early on a concerning about but has since performed well.
Click to expand...

Coach Fleck stated earlier this week that Sam had been voted the MVP in the offensive line the last 4 straight games (Fresno, Ga.So.,Purdue, ILL.) but not in the Nebraska game as the staff had raised the bar on his play. In watching his play since the 1st game and on, it appears to me that his footwork has improved along with his foot speed in pass pro. He has gotten better each week. I love that a small town kid stayed loyal to his state despite some impressive out of state offers. Coach Fleck also indicated that an attitude change played a role simultaneously with his improved play.
 


NotAFanOfBecky said:
"One thing that set Schlueter’s freshman class of 2016 apart was that he came in with other local players such as Carter Coughlin (Eden Prairie), Tyler Johnson (Minneapolis North), Kamal Martin (Burnsville), Conner Olson (Monticello) and Thomas Barber (Armstrong)."

I look at that list and think man, those are some of our best players! Is Minnesota high school football underrated? Is that why the Dakota chooses are so good in FCS due to the Minnesota kids they take. Makes you wonder for sure.
Click to expand...

And that class also included JD Spielman and Amani Hooker plus Philip Howard and Drew Hmielewski and Seth Green and Winfield were originally from MN. Plus Patrick Kasl at Wisconsin, Northwestern WR Ramaud Chaukio-Bowman Matt Kegel at Oklahoma State who was a former gopher commit and former Purdue RB Brian Lanford-Johnson.

Thats 16 P5 players from Minnesota in the 2016 class, 3 of which transferred out of state. That was a once in a generation class.
 

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