Reusse: Big challenge for Claeys is getting Gophers fans to buy in

[Spoofin]

<b>The defense was equally a problem last year. </b>Gave up over 32 points a game in the 7 losses.

Nope. A bad offense hurts that defensive stat. Not sure how one could believe the bolded was the case?


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[short ornery norwegian]

Nope. A bad offense hurts that defensive stat. Not sure how one could believe the bolded was the case?

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I watched the 60-minute replay of the Iowa game the other night. Gophers had a chance to come back and win if they could have gotten one more stop on Defense. Instead, Iowa's RB broke a long TD run and put the game out of reach.

Point being - you could find points in every game where the offense didn't perform in the clutch, and you can find points in every game where the defense didn't perform in the clutch. Not to mention a few key special-teams breakdowns. It takes all three working together to make a good team.

AND - people who are inclined to favor the defense are more likely to blame the offense. people who are inclined to favor the offense are more likely to blame the defense. The truth, as usual, is somewhere in the murky middle.

 

[Spoofin]

I watched the 60-minute replay of the Iowa game the other night. Gophers had a chance to come back and win if they could have gotten one more stop on Defense. Instead, Iowa's RB broke a long TD run and put the game out of reach.

Point being - you could find points in every game where the offense didn't perform in the clutch, and you can find points in every game where the defense didn't perform in the clutch. Not to mention a few key special-teams breakdowns. It takes all three working together to make a good team.

AND - people who are inclined to favor the defense are more likely to blame the offense. people who are inclined to favor the offense are more likely to blame the defense. The truth, as usual, is somewhere in the murky middle.

Yep, the ultimate team game no doubt. With that said, to try and argue the D was as big of a problem as the O last year is insane. Not that you were, but someone did.


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[tmvander]

Yep, the ultimate team game no doubt. With that said, to try and argue the D was as big of a problem as the O last year is insane. Not that you were, but someone did.

They weren't as bad as the offense but they sure didn't live up to some of the preseason expectations.

 

[Governor Sibley]

The defense was exhausted by the end of the season.

The offense was always a problem under Limey.

When Tracy got the job, he didn't flinch, did he?

 

[GophersInIowa]

Yep, the ultimate team game no doubt. With that said, to try and argue the D was as big of a problem as the O last year is insane. Not that you were, but someone did.


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"Equally" was probably the wrong word. What I should have said was the defense was also a problem last year. In certain games the defense was certainly the bigger problem. In the Iowa and Nebraska games for example, our defense gave up points in 14 of 20 possessions and two of the non scoring possessions were because of missed FGs.

 

[Zeppelin Gopher]

"Equally" was probably the wrong word. What I should have said was the defense was also a problem last year. In certain games the defense was certainly the bigger problem. In the Iowa and Nebraska games for example, our defense gave up points in 14 of 20 possessions and two of the non scoring possessions were because of missed FGs.

For sure. The Defense was TERRIBLE against Iowa, specifically on 3rd down. A lot of that was due to injury, but true nonetheless. We win at Kinnick last year if we were able to muster just 1-2 more stops in the 2nd half.

 

[Unregistered User]

Yep, the ultimate team game no doubt. With that said, to try and argue the D was as big of a problem as the O last year is insane. Not that you were, but someone did.

Who was on the starting D-Line the last game of the year?

Who was on the starting O-Line at the beginning of the year, and how did that match up with the expected starting O-Line just a few weeks earlier?

At the end of the regular season, the Gophers lost had 120 games due to injury in the 2-Deeps.

Injuries, more than anything, turned last season into a ****-show.

 

[Herd]

Tickets, buy-In BS, Fans in the stands . . . Just perifferal stuff.

Claeys just needs to coach the team and win games, nothing else matters.

 

[Spoofin]

No one in this State is going to buy into Claeys if he keeps wearing heavy winter jackets during cold games. Bud Grant wouldn't even wear a hat after all.


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[gopherhoopsguy]

I am a newspaper addict and read a number on line every day.
There is no doubt that the WI papers have much more content and details about the Badger fall camp than the MN papers have about the Gophers.
The WI beat writers do almost all of the writing and secondary writers rarely chime in.
I doubt that there is a conspiracy in MN to write less but that the publishers perceive there is not much interest in Gopher sports.

I would agree a lot with this.. Impossible to find detailed camp news anywhere. Ryan burns is the only one and he wants to charge for it. I can get 30 articles on vikes camp every day. But nothing on the gophers. I come on here hoping some gopher fan went to practice for details on camp.

 

[station19]

No one in this State is going to buy into Claeys if he keeps wearing heavy winter jackets during cold games. Bud Grant wouldn't even wear a hat after all.


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Bud always wore a hat and jacket......just didn't let the players.

 

[PMWinSTP]

I watched the 60-minute replay of the Iowa game the other night. Gophers had a chance to come back and win if they could have gotten one more stop on Defense. Instead, Iowa's RB broke a long TD run and put the game out of reach.

Point being - you could find points in every game where the offense didn't perform in the clutch, and you can find points in every game where the defense didn't perform in the clutch. Not to mention a few key special-teams breakdowns. It takes all three working together to make a good team.

AND - people who are inclined to favor the defense are more likely to blame the offense. people who are inclined to favor the offense are more likely to blame the defense. The truth, as usual, is somewhere in the murky middle.

Top 30 defense, bottom 20 offense. Pretty much explains the season and record. The D kept us in all those close games last year. I've said this in a couple other threads...keep that top 30 D and just get an offense that is top 60 and they will get to 10 wins.

 

[PMWinSTP]

For sure. The Defense was TERRIBLE against Iowa, specifically on 3rd down. A lot of that was due to injury, but true nonetheless. We win at Kinnick last year if we were able to muster just 1-2 more stops in the 2nd half.

Wow, going a little overboard with that comment. Go look at time of possession from that game.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Wow, going a little overboard with that comment. Go look at time of possession from that game.

And? Time of possession in Iowa's favor can mean a lot things. In that particular game the defense did not play well at all and the offense did. The offense racked up 434 yards of offense and had 24 first downs. The defense gave up 506 yards and 27 first downs.

The reason the time of possession was so in Iowa's favor was because the defense couldn't get off the field like he said. Iowa was 10 for 15 on 3rd down.

 

[oak_street1981]

The biggest problem was the pispoor offense...everyone knows this. It's been the same problem for years under JK.

I thought the offense was the problem as well, at least early on, but then it got a lot better down the stretch (once Kill was out of the picture). I think Limegrover proved he belonged, but I support the change regarless.

The defense dropped the ball last year, and I know there were injuries, but the depth and ability to adapt was not there as expected.

The performance by the Defense in the Wisconsin game was very troubling to me. Wisconsin had a very beatable team last year, and Stave threw the pick to start the game down 7, and Wisconsin could have collapsed in a rout. Of course that did not happen. The rest of the game was awful as the Freshman laden O Line and third tier Wisconsin RBs ran the ball down our throat, play after play, series after series. That was the worst game of the year, even worse than Kent State and Northwestern.

I thought the defensive coaching, long considered a strength, really was exposed in the Wisconsin game. If the team was so injured on the DL (and they were), some radical in game adjustments, or personnel changes early in the week might have helped. I was never as pissed in recent years as I was in the first half of the Wisconsin game last year. If Minnesota could not manage to beat Wisconsin this year, /(or hold a 17-3 lead while making Alex Erickson look like Jerry Rice in 2014) I am starting to question if Minnesota will ever beat UW again in football.

 

[Some guy]

I thought the offense was the problem as well, at least early on, but then it got a lot better down the stretch (once Kill was out of the picture). I think Limegrover proved he belonged, but I support the change regarless.

The defense dropped the ball last year, and I know there were injuries, but the depth and ability to adapt was not there as expected.

The performance by the Defense in the Wisconsin game was very troubling to me. Wisconsin had a very beatable team last year, and Stave threw the pick to start the game down 7, and Wisconsin could have collapsed in a rout. Of course that did not happen. The rest of the game was awful as the Freshman laden O Line and third tier Wisconsin RBs ran the ball down our throat, play after play, series after series. That was the worst game of the year, even worse than Kent State and Northwestern.

I thought the defensive coaching, long considered a strength, really was exposed in the Wisconsin game. If the team was so injured on the DL (and they were), some radical in game adjustments, or personnel changes early in the week might have helped. I was never as pissed in recent years as I was in the first half of the Wisconsin game last year. If Minnesota could not manage to beat Wisconsin this year, /(or hold a 17-3 lead while making Alex Erickson look like Jerry Rice in 2014) I am starting to question if Minnesota will ever beat UW again in football.

Ever is a long freaking time