It’s called growing pains.

Deckergopher

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The Head Coach included. Not disappointed at all. This team fought to the end.
 
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I'll go even farther than that. This is almost a perfect loss and it could win us a championship in a year or two.

It's one thing to talk about one game at a time, and how there won't be a letdown from a big game like PSU, and how all the media attention is "noise", but it's another thing entirely to understand it viscerally. These players have been playing with confidence. Now they'll have to learn how to play with a little less confidence and a whole lot more determination. They'll know that favorable press is bs when you're having one of those days where things aren't going right. They'll learn that the physical toll on your body actually is--or at least seems--worse when you lose, so you might as well win. They'll learn that "finding a way to win" is a whole heckuva lot different at home against an FCS opponent than it is down on the road against a top team. In short, all the wins have been great, but now is the time to take the next step and find the character of a winner.

And a couple of years from now, or maybe just a couple of games from now, the seniors will tell the underclassmen after a big win: "Yeah, this is great, rookie. Back to work." One of the beauties of PJ's system is that the older players mentor the younger.

And if I had any one message I could give to the team, it would be this: Discouraged? I've always loved that word because if you break it down, something becomes very clear. The previx "dis"--that means to take away. Do you know what that means? It means courage is your natural state--it's what you naturally have because it's who you truly are. You know how PJ always says the ball is the program? Well, that's half the truth, the outer exoteric half. The other half of the truth, the inner esoteric half is this: Courage is the program. Don't let anyone wrest it away from you, guard it with everything you've got, because it is who and what you really are. There will be another day to apply the lessons of today, but DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED!
 

The Head Coach included. Not disappointed at all. This team fought to the end.

I'm disappointed because we gift wrapped it.

I'm disappointed because we are playing NW next week for the west crown with a win.
 

Painful loss. Really tough to watch. If we don’t crap the bed totally in the first half we win. But life goes on, and next two weeks are the time to prove we are the team that beat PSU.
 


Painful loss. Really tough to watch. If we don’t crap the bed totally in the first half we win. But life goes on, and next two weeks are the time to prove we are the team that beat PSU.

Agreed. It’s still in front of us.


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I'll go even farther than that. This is almost a perfect loss and it could win us a championship in a year or two.

It's one thing to talk about one game at a time, and how there won't be a letdown from a big game like PSU, and how all the media attention is "noise", but it's another thing entirely to understand it viscerally. These players have been playing with confidence. Now they'll have to learn how to play with a little less confidence and a whole lot more determination. They'll know that favorable press is bs when you're having one of those days where things aren't going right. They'll learn that the physical toll on your body actually is--or at least seems--worse when you lose, so you might as well win. They'll learn that "finding a way to win" is a whole heckuva lot different at home against an FCS opponent than it is down on the road against a top team. In short, all the wins have been great, but now is the time to take the next step and find the character of a winner.

And a couple of years from now, or maybe just a couple of games from now, the seniors will tell the underclassmen after a big win: "Yeah, this is great, rookie. Back to work." One of the beauties of PJ's system is that the older players mentor the younger.

And if I had any one message I could give to the team, it would be this: Discouraged? I've always loved that word because if you break it down, something becomes very clear. The previx "dis"--that means to take away. Do you know what that means? It means courage is your natural state--it's what you naturally have because it's who you truly are. You know how PJ always says the ball is the program? Well, that's half the truth, the outer exoteric half. The other half of the truth, the inner esoteric half is this: Courage is the program. Don't let anyone wrest it away from you, guard it with everything you've got, because it is who and what you really are. There will be another day to apply the lessons of today, but DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED!

I don’t think it works exactly like that. Yes, experience can’t be magically gained but it’s human nature to falter with some success. You are confident but you forget what made you successful...playing hard, playing aggressive. Kids are positive they are working hard! You can’t convince they aren’t but the other team will show them.

Happens over and over in sports. We have some pretty principal participants who won’t be here after this season. Every year is a new year.
 

We'll be alright, as much fun as CFP could have been it was a Longshot with how good Ohio st is this year, learn from this and aim for the Rose Bowl, build on this season going forward, we are still having historically good season
 

I'm not as discouraged as I usually am after a loss. Clean up mistakes and that game would have been a win
Gophers can play better, that was my takeaway from today. Not sure why# 14 Oliver hasn't played a little more, that LB he can play. I hope he keeps pushing for more reps. Disappointed for Seniors that they didn't get to rush over and grab Floyd.
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I'm not as discouraged as I usually am after a loss. Clean up mistakes and that game would have been a win
Gophers can play better, that was my takeaway from today. Not sure why# 14 Oliver hasn't played a little more, that LB he can play. I hope he keeps pushing for more reps. Disappointed for Seniors that they didn't get to rush over and grab Floyd.
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Oliver looks like he could be a star. His sack was one of the most athletic defensive front 7 plays I've seen this year.
 

Super painful loss but I really like this team.

We have a team that came out kind of flat, made a serious of mistakes and had a really good chance to beat a good Iowa team on the road. The game sucked, I'm disappointed, but it shows you how far PJ and the team have come.

Playing sloppy at Iowa will cost most teams, including the juggernauts, a perfect record.
 

Oliver looks like he could be a star. His sack was one of the most athletic defensive front 7 plays I've seen this year.

And Sori-Marin looks slow and clumsy- like a LB from the 60s. It is puzzling my Zolivet and Rush don’t get more run.


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And Sori-Marin looks slow and clumsy- like a LB from the 60s. It is puzzling my Zolivet and Rush don’t get more run.


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Sori-Marin and Oliver are asked to do very different things.
 



I'm disappointed because we gift wrapped it.
Agreed. I was okay with a loss today, but not the "gimme" that we gave them.

I'm disappointed because we are playing NW next week for the west crown with a win.
Next week's result only matters if Wisconsin loses. The Axe game is the de facto West Championship otherwise.
 

And Sori-Marin looks slow and clumsy- like a LB from the 60s. It is puzzling my Zolivet and Rush don’t get more run.


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I think Sori-Marin has better understanding of the defensive calls, that's why he's playing more.
 

Agreed. I was okay with a loss today, but not the "gimme" that we gave them.


Next week's result only matters if Wisconsin loses. The Axe game is the de facto West Championship otherwise.

If the first half defense was a few degrees better, we're not talking about goofy instances of odd penalty enforcement and other instances. If the O-line has its preferred roster available . . .

Competitive on the whole, sure. But not good enough to clear today's barriers. The team is getting there.
 

I would have been okay with a loss if we just got outplayed but that's a horrible way to lose. Missing extra points and not coming close from 50 should not be acceptable. Special teams cost us 7 points today (minus the one they earned from Iowa's missed extra point). That's the difference in the game. 2 big drops are unacceptable. Catching the ball is one of the basic fundamentals of the game. It's one thing if they can run faster, jump higher, throw farther, etc. than us but losing because we couldn't do the basics is really bad. If you can't do the basics nothing else matters.

Special teams concerns me the most. The Gophers seem uncomfortable kicking beyond the 20 yard like which will be a huge limitation in close games. It's not as big as QBs and linemen but kickers can earn or give up tons of points and recruiting and/or developing one should have been a much higher priority. I'm not sure how they can grow on that this year other than knowing not to try from too far out.
 


Painful loss. Really tough to watch. If we don’t crap the bed totally in the first half we win.

Fresno State and Georgia Southern could say the same about their games about us. Or even Penn St. for that matter. As we said early in the season a win is a win and that’s all that matters. We can’t change our tune now that we lost. Every team in football except for one or two loses a game they coulda or shoulda won.
 

I think Sori-Marin has better understanding of the defensive calls, that's why he's playing more.

I think he's a bit slow but he's got good instincts. I really like Rush, big and fast and played a fair amount this year and personally I thought he's looked pretty good. Wonder why he hasn't played much this year. Oliver reminds me of Martin, just a little shorter but maybe slightly faster?
 

It's called sports. Any time you take the field, you can lose, especially against a very good opponent in a tough environment when you don't play your best and make uncharacteristic mistakes and the opponent plays perhaps their best game of the season.

The season is a proving ground. I remarked to my wife before the game that we're in a continuing process to find out how good this team is. Conclusion after yesterday: they're not perfect. It takes an extraordinarily talented team to go undefeated. The Gophers under Fleck are on their way to great things, but they don't have the chops yet to win a national title. I think we knew that, and now we know that.

If sports are entertainment, then mission accomplished. Provided UW wins next week, we're gonna have a hootenanny in a couple weeks, and it's gonna be mammoth. Gird your loins, Gopher fans.
 

I think Sori-Marin has better understanding of the defensive calls, that's why he's playing more.

I don’t break down film after games, but listen to some podcasts that are complimentary of Sori-Marin’s understanding of the defense. I’ll have to take their word for it because when I watch the games all I see is someone who appears to be a step slow on many occasions.


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I'll go even farther than that. This is almost a perfect loss and it could win us a championship in a year or two.

It's one thing to talk about one game at a time, and how there won't be a letdown from a big game like PSU, and how all the media attention is "noise", but it's another thing entirely to understand it viscerally. These players have been playing with confidence. Now they'll have to learn how to play with a little less confidence and a whole lot more determination. They'll know that favorable press is bs when you're having one of those days where things aren't going right. They'll learn that the physical toll on your body actually is--or at least seems--worse when you lose, so you might as well win. They'll learn that "finding a way to win" is a whole heckuva lot different at home against an FCS opponent than it is down on the road against a top team. In short, all the wins have been great, but now is the time to take the next step and find the character of a winner.

And a couple of years from now, or maybe just a couple of games from now, the seniors will tell the underclassmen after a big win: "Yeah, this is great, rookie. Back to work." One of the beauties of PJ's system is that the older players mentor the younger.

And if I had any one message I could give to the team, it would be this: Discouraged? I've always loved that word because if you break it down, something becomes very clear. The previx "dis"--that means to take away. Do you know what that means? It means courage is your natural state--it's what you naturally have because it's who you truly are. You know how PJ always says the ball is the program? Well, that's half the truth, the outer exoteric half. The other half of the truth, the inner esoteric half is this: Courage is the program. Don't let anyone wrest it away from you, guard it with everything you've got, because it is who and what you really are. There will be another day to apply the lessons of today, but DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED!

Ok, nice pep talk. We lost to Iowa when a win would have all but assured our first Big Ten West crown. That is discouraging. But, I was also much disheartened by the near total inability of any freshman, sophmore or junior coming in on D to help the team. Man oh man, do we have a huge, huge problem in D coming up next year IMHO. Yes, by all means, gird up our loins and get after Northwestern, but your comments regarding the future just does not seem to match reality at all.
 

It's called sports. Any time you take the field, you can lose, especially against a very good opponent in a tough environment when you don't play your best and make uncharacteristic mistakes and the opponent plays perhaps their best game of the season.

The season is a proving ground. I remarked to my wife before the game that we're in a continuing process to find out how good this team is. Conclusion after yesterday: they're not perfect. It takes an extraordinarily talented team to go undefeated. The Gophers under Fleck are on their way to great things, but they don't have the chops yet to win a national title. I think we knew that, and now we know that.

If sports are entertainment, then mission accomplished. Provided UW wins next week, we're gonna have a hootenanny in a couple weeks, and it's gonna be mammoth. Gird your loins, Gopher fans.

OMG, no lie, I posted my "gird up your loins" comment before I read yours. What the heck?
 

I'll go even farther than that. This is almost a perfect loss and it could win us a championship in a year or two.

It's one thing to talk about one game at a time, and how there won't be a letdown from a big game like PSU, and how all the media attention is "noise", but it's another thing entirely to understand it viscerally. These players have been playing with confidence. Now they'll have to learn how to play with a little less confidence and a whole lot more determination. They'll know that favorable press is bs when you're having one of those days where things aren't going right. They'll learn that the physical toll on your body actually is--or at least seems--worse when you lose, so you might as well win. They'll learn that "finding a way to win" is a whole heckuva lot different at home against an FCS opponent than it is down on the road against a top team. In short, all the wins have been great, but now is the time to take the next step and find the character of a winner.

And a couple of years from now, or maybe just a couple of games from now, the seniors will tell the underclassmen after a big win: "Yeah, this is great, rookie. Back to work." One of the beauties of PJ's system is that the older players mentor the younger.

And if I had any one message I could give to the team, it would be this: Discouraged? I've always loved that word because if you break it down, something becomes very clear. The previx "dis"--that means to take away. Do you know what that means? It means courage is your natural state--it's what you naturally have because it's who you truly are. You know how PJ always says the ball is the program? Well, that's half the truth, the outer exoteric half. The other half of the truth, the inner esoteric half is this: Courage is the program. Don't let anyone wrest it away from you, guard it with everything you've got, because it is who and what you really are. There will be another day to apply the lessons of today, but DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED!
No such thing as a perfect loss to Iowa or Wisconsin.

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Agreed. I was okay with a loss today, but not the "gimme" that we gave them.


Next week's result only matters if Wisconsin loses. The Axe game is the de facto West Championship otherwise.
It matters if we want to go to the Rose Bowl or another new year six game

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I think he's a bit slow but he's got good instincts. I really like Rush, big and fast and played a fair amount this year and personally I thought he's looked pretty good. Wonder why he hasn't played much this year. Oliver reminds me of Martin, just a little shorter but maybe slightly faster?
The things people say about Sori-Mann are what they said about Martin last year

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I don’t break down film after games, but listen to some podcasts that are complimentary of Sori-Marin’s understanding of the defense. I’ll have to take their word for it because when I watch the games all I see is someone who appears to be a step slow on many occasions.


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He may understand the defense (and that's great) but it's painfully obvious that his foot speed is very, very slow.

Iowa exposed that very early in the game when they ran the quick toss to his side in the first drive. They shifted to get him isolated at the LB level to that side, and then they took advantage of it.
 

The things people say about Sori-Mann are what they said about Martin last year

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Not sure if that is true or not - but it certainly wouldn’t mean they are wrong now. Not that Sori-Mann can’t improve. Just look at Jordan Howard. Does the fact he has improved so much this year mean he wasn’t below average last year?


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