***OFFICIAL*** Game Day Thread @ UNLV 8/30

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Breakin' The Plane said:
Defense was borderline good tonight. Offense, well, that's something else. Brutal on 3rd down. Part of that is on Gray, but part's on Limegrover too. I know that Gray's the centerpiece, but when it's not working and Kirkland's busting off 10 yards every time he touches it, you may wnat to alter the game plan. Anyway, happy with a win, let's bust up UNH.
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Defensive team speed stood out to me compared to last year but Gray really struggled with his accuracy.
 

Triple overtime on the road in serious heat.

Unexpected adversity.

Overcome for a win.

This is more important than an easy win.
 

dofr said:
Defensive team speed stood out to me compared to last year but Gray really struggled with his accuracy.
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The front seven did a great job tonight. How many times have we seen coverage break down and the QB ramble for 25 yards? Didn't happen once tonight.Boo for Special teams and the majority of the offense. I was very impressed by what the D brought tonight.
 

gopherinpain said:
I hope you are not serious. The good MWC teams will smoke these guys. With an average passer we could have had 38-45 points tonight IN REGULATION!
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I am not talking about the other teams skill or lack there of. I am saying that our team was playing for 2 hours after midnight in 90 degree weather. Honestly, you think a large percentage of teams are going to play some crisp ball in this enviornment?
 


dofr said:
Defensive team speed stood out to me compared to last year but Gray really struggled with his accuracy.
Click to expand...

The front seven did a great job tonight. How many times have we seen coverage break down and the QB ramble for 25 yards? Didn't happen once tonight.Boo for Special teams and the majority of the offense. I was very impressed by what the D brought tonight.
 

The defense was good. Usually we have tons of miss tackles and or people running by us. This team is young, but they have speed. Wells looks like a ball hawk. The receivers can all catch pretty well, if only Gray could get it to them. Tufts showed some blazing speed. Maybe we don't win 5 games this year, but I'm happy cause I can see the speed/tackling/skills difference! We're headed in the right direction!
 

victor04 said:
I am not talking about the other teams skill or lack there of. I am saying that our team was playing for 2 hours after midnight in 90 degree weather. Honestly, you think a large percentage of teams are going to play some crisp ball in this enviornment?
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Damned straight. This was a good win. Team learned to never, ever, give up. This will lead to two surprise Big Ten wins.
 

1-0 baby! Now get your sh!t together and blow out New Hammy so Max and others can get some game experience.
 




I also think our D looked solid tonight, but to look at this game a little closer, should this game really tell us much about our D? I mean we played against a team that we were physically much bigger, and from all acounts quicker. I dont think we can truly get a feel for the D untill after the Syracuse game and W Michigan games.
 

The Good - Defense got pressure, didn't have too many mental breakdowns, plus multiple interceptions and a bunch of near misses. Kirkwood looked very good (hopefully this is the year he stays healthy). The receivers got open and didn't drop passes that were catchable.

The Bad - Too many penalties especially false starts on third down.

The Ugly - Gray's accuracy on deeper throws. Needing triple overtime to beat UNLV.

A win is a win but this was far harder then it should have been. Play like this against a Big Ten team and we get blown off the field. But hey the first one is out of the way and the record is 1-0. Should have a fairly easy one next week and then we will see what happens against Western and Syracuse. That being said after tonight not sure this team is going to be able to look past anyone including FCS New Hampshire.
 

I'll start with the positive, I loved the aggressive style I saw from the defense tonight. The Gophers got to the quarterback early and often and put him on the ground frequently. The secondary was quick to make the tackle when a pass was completed and generally looked like a better unit than we had last season. I do question whether or not the Gophers will be able to generate the same amount of pressure against better opposition. It was great to see the defense (Wells) make a play to essentially win a game.

On offense it was nice to see guys like Fruchete(sp?), Barker, and Crawford-Tufts get open and make plays (well, poor Fruchete could have had two TD's if Gray got the ball to him).

The bottom line is to win the game and the Gophers achieved that tonight.

Most of what I saw tonight was alarming: Gray did not look like the improved passer we've been hearing about all Summer, the team was certainly not disciplined and took a number of terrible penalties and generally did not look prepared to play, not a single 20 plus yard run against UNLV in 46 attempts?
I thought the play calling was really predictable on the final series before both fg attempts in regulation (one miss, one make). The talent gap between Minnesota and UNLV looked significant to me, but the Gophers could not find a way to successfully exploit that gap. Gray will obviously be blasted for his play tonight, but how many false starts were there on 3rd and 2? how many times did the Gophers get 2 yards or less on first down running plays? Those are plays that made his job significantly more difficult (though had little bearing on his passing performance).
 



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