Nebraska vs Minnesota Post Game Thread

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EG#9 said:
This was such an impressive win for the program. Not just down 33 guys, but not practicing for 2 weeks. The starting C was out, the starting RG was out. They played a true Freshman, Esery at RT. The Gophers had their top 3 blocking TE's out for this game and dressed only two TE's total (Spann Ford and true Freshman Austin Henderson. On defense Dew-Treadway and Lindenberg were out as starters. Then you had Bateman out and Mo on a pitch count as the two best players on this offense.

I didn't want them to play, I thought the risk of injury in a meaningless game with a very low chance to win said meaningless game was too high. I was wrong. They beat Nebraska more convincingly than Iowa did a couple weeks ago at home. I have gripes about certain things the coaches did today, but big picture getting this team ready to compete (and win) a B1G football game under these conditions was incredibly impressive.

One big picture thought: This team badly needs an infusion of speed on offense (arguably on defense too). I was so angry when Cam Wiley got caught from behind today. I thought we played that guy (to our detriment) last year because his upside was so high. I lived with the mistakes this year, because of that reported upside, he seems like he's just an upright runner with ok speed. The WR's made catches (especially true freshman Daniel Jackson), but didn't threaten vertically (on the Jackson "drop" that LB was way closer to him in coverage than he had any right to be). At some point we need to be able to break 70 yard big plays where we run away from people.
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I don't really disagree with you, but as far as speed with the WRs it also doesn't help that Tanner doesn't throw a zippy ball past a 10 yard range or get throws out particularly quick. A lot of our deep shots the WR has to wait on the ball to get to him and so the defender is already there.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Did anyone watch Ersery? Curious how he did overall.
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I am curious, too. I watched Ersery on a couple of passing plays. Seems like he has got good footwork and handled the DE well, alone. Not sure if he is a road grader yet, but he is an athletic 6’6” 320 lbs. For a true freshman who hadn’t practiced for the past few weeks, and who hadn’t seen much time in the field, he handled things well. Next JMS type?
 

EG#9 said:
This was such an impressive win for the program. Not just down 33 guys, but not practicing for 2 weeks. The starting C was out, the starting RG was out. They played a true Freshman, Esery at RT. The Gophers had their top 3 blocking TE's out for this game and dressed only two TE's total (Spann Ford and true Freshman Austin Henderson. On defense Dew-Treadway and Lindenberg were out as starters. Then you had Bateman out and Mo on a pitch count as the two best players on this offense.

I didn't want them to play, I thought the risk of injury in a meaningless game with a very low chance to win said meaningless game was too high. I was wrong. They beat Nebraska more convincingly than Iowa did a couple weeks ago at home. I have gripes about certain things the coaches did today, but big picture getting this team ready to compete (and win) a B1G football game under these conditions was incredibly impressive.

One big picture thought: This team badly needs an infusion of speed on offense (arguably on defense too). I was so angry when Cam Wiley got caught from behind today. I thought we played that guy (to our detriment) last year because his upside was so high. I lived with the mistakes this year, because of that reported upside, he seems like he's just an upright runner with ok speed. The WR's made catches (especially true freshman Daniel Jackson), but didn't threaten vertically (on the Jackson "drop" that LB was way closer to him in coverage than he had any right to be). At some point we need to be able to break 70 yard big plays where we run away from people.
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Tough to be angry at a RB who cracked off a 61 yard run. I was pleased by the run, which was a huge uplift for the team. And I’ll bet Wiley beats Mo in a foot race. Neither has great speed, but I like them both. They are tough. Wouldn’t mind having a RB with breakaway speed, but those lightning-in-a-bottle guys (Berkeley Edwards) sometimes can’t handle the other duties we give RBs, such as pass protection or occasional lead blocking.
 


Gophergrandpa said:
Tough to be angry at a RB who cracked off a 61 yard run. I was pleased by the run, which was a huge uplift for the team. And I’ll bet Wiley beats Mo in a foot race. Neither has great speed, but I like them both. They are tough. Wouldn’t mind having a RB with breakaway speed, but those lightning-in-a-bottle guys (Berkeley Edwards) sometimes can’t handle the other duties we give RBs, such as pass protection or occasional lead blocking.
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Yeah I always wanted to see a dump off pass to Edwards just to give him some room to hit the gas... but like you said some guys just don't have the other tools needed to be able to do that.

Mo really demonstrates how vision and the ability to bounce off a hit REALLY makes all the difference rather than just having speed.
 


GophersInIowa said:
Did anyone watch Ersery? Curious how he did overall.
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He did fine for a freshman and has a ton of potential but has much room for improvement. Mainly, he plays way too high, especially in short yardage. If he can figure out how to get better leverage in the run game, he could be a big time asset but has some work to do. He got beat a few times against speedy pass rushers, but that's nothing new for giant inexperienced tackles. All that said, O-line, and especially tackle, might be the hardest position for a freshman to excel.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Yeah I always wanted to see a dump off pass to Edwards just to give him some room to hit the gas... but like you said some guys just don't have the other tools needed to be able to do that.

Mo really demonstrates how vision and the ability to bounce off a hit REALLY makes all the difference rather than just having speed.
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There are so many...SO MANY...that are no gain, 1 yard gain, etc. where Mo bounces off a tackle, slips through an arm, dives forward and its a 4-5-6 yard gain. Small gainers still but instead of 2nd and 9 or 3rd and 7, we're at 2nd and 5 or 3rd and 2. Completely changes the offense when he is able to do that. We aren't the type of team that does well off schedule and good backs keep you on schedule.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
There are so many...SO MANY...that are no gain, 1 yard gain, etc. where Mo bounces off a tackle, slips through an arm, dives forward and its a 4-5-6 yard gain. Small gainers still but instead of 2nd and 9 or 3rd and 7, we're at 2nd and 5 or 3rd and 2. Completely changes the offense when he is able to do that. We aren't the type of team that does well off schedule and good backs keep you on schedule.
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Yeah so many plays Mo gets the ball and takes a step and and OL guy is actually backing into his space and Mo..... just knows where to go next.

I would almost certainly butt-fumble every time...
 




GophersInIowa said:
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Interesting frame. Look how large the splits are for the RG and RT and where the DT is lined up on them. It leaves a massive gaping hole the LB doesn't even come close to filling. I wonder what the down and distance was on that play? 2nd or 3rd and long?
 

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