touchdownvikings
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2011
- Messages
- 697
- Reaction score
- 609
- Points
- 93
This season doesn’t happen if:
(1) Tyler Johnson doesn’t decide to return for his senior year. A major part of the offense’s success depends upon Bateman lining up opposite Johnson. Can’t double both of them.
(2) Smith and Brooks didn’t have their season prematurely ended last year, resulting in medical redshirts for each. It was a major blow last year, but the reality is that this outcome prevented them from “wasting” their senior years on teams constituted of so many freshmen. Now we’ve got experienced solid RBs on a team that is just seasoned enough to succeed.
(3) South Dakota State didn’t expose the inexperience of our young line in handling stunts, loops and slants. It took the Gophers about 3 weeks to work that out with Faalele and Dunlap. Fortunately, the Gophers were engaged in the non-conference portion of their schedule and facing teams talented enough to expose the weakness but not quite talented enough to exploit it all the way to a victory. If that weakness did not become exposed until Big Ten play, the result would have been three straight losses while the issue was being sorted out.
Lots of little contributions from the Hands of Fate, fellow Gopherholers! This was meant to be.
(1) Tyler Johnson doesn’t decide to return for his senior year. A major part of the offense’s success depends upon Bateman lining up opposite Johnson. Can’t double both of them.
(2) Smith and Brooks didn’t have their season prematurely ended last year, resulting in medical redshirts for each. It was a major blow last year, but the reality is that this outcome prevented them from “wasting” their senior years on teams constituted of so many freshmen. Now we’ve got experienced solid RBs on a team that is just seasoned enough to succeed.
(3) South Dakota State didn’t expose the inexperience of our young line in handling stunts, loops and slants. It took the Gophers about 3 weeks to work that out with Faalele and Dunlap. Fortunately, the Gophers were engaged in the non-conference portion of their schedule and facing teams talented enough to expose the weakness but not quite talented enough to exploit it all the way to a victory. If that weakness did not become exposed until Big Ten play, the result would have been three straight losses while the issue was being sorted out.
Lots of little contributions from the Hands of Fate, fellow Gopherholers! This was meant to be.
