Say something positive about 2016 Gophers football

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West Fargo Gopher Fan

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I'll start.

We're 3-1. Before the season I'd wager most of us thought we would be 3-1 after 4 games.
 

The kicking game. I did not want Santoso to move to punting. I liked his big leg on kickoffs and I thought he was clutch nailing field goals. Plus, having an untested walk on take over seemed like a recipe for failure.
I was completely wrong. Santoso has been an adequate punter. Carpenter is best surprise on the team.

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The worst loss since Claeys took over appears to be an overtime loss on the road in a game where the team was a 4-point dog.
 

At every practice I have attended the last 2 years. we always walk away saying "that Brian Smith sure looks like a good receiver, wish he could get some snaps". And now he is finally getting snaps and looks like good.

A lot of freshman are already playing at a high level (devers, T.Johnson, winfield, i'm missing some)

Our offense has moved the ball better and is more balanced

We are undefeated at home so far

Surly is located close to my seats

The weather has been nice for the game so far
 


-Emmitt Carpenter & Ryan Santoso: I was also nervous about this switch, but it seems to have worked out flawlessly.
-Freshman have done well. I was impressed with Winfield this past weekend.
-Running Backs have performed well. Both had 100 yards this past weekend & McCrary has been good too.
-WR's, as a whole, I have been pleased with. Woli, & Smith/Carter/Johnson have been solid. Have helped negate the loss of Still.
-DL has been solid, IMO.
-I think the OL play has been better thus far (health has contributed to this).

I think the offense really misses Brandon Lingen right now.
 

We go SO- Long Snapper, FR-Holder, and SO-Kicker and been flawless so far.

Punter is excellent.

Balanced offense. QB is completing 63% of his passes.

Like the young guys on defense.

Wide Receivers have been much better this year.
 

We don't seem quite a mystified by the forward pass as we have in the past few years.
 




Was allowed to buy beer at the Colorado State game.

I echo the kicking comments. I thought moving Santoso was crazy but it appears that Carpenter may have just beat him out (although Santoso does look like he has a shot at the next level as a punter).
 

Maybe not pure positive, but certainly hopeful. It is measured progress from last year's underwhelming season. Special teams seems sound. 3 healthy young RBs in our stable will always make me happy. Brian Smith is the "who's he?" player this year and has me excited about the passing game. Any time Devers is in for a play, he makes the highlight reel...not bad for an "undersized" true freshman.

PSU was a wake-up call game and I believe MN has the talent to turn it around.
 





Thought coaches had good game plans so far this year putting team in position to wins games. Other than a couple blown coverages by young secondary we are undefeated and win opener as a road dog.
 

Offense looks good. averaging over 30 pts a game so far. Expect them to average in the high 20's for the rest of the season. That's enough points to give you a chance to win football games.
 

Bets the line has looked at pass blocking in many years
Best Mitch has looked in his career
More balance
Kicking game outstanding
Receivers actually getting open better coaching of WR and WR combos plays
Better pass rush than the past

Only down fall so far through 4 games is secondary looks like we finally don't have NFL talent back there. Blow coverages, young, mistakes, bad tackling.
With that said Winfield will play on the NFL best player on the field Saturday. Outstanding in pass coverage and fought of blocks 3 times to make tackles on sidelines.
 

I love the running backs.
Santoso and Carpenter have both exceeded expectations.
Richardson has been a beast.
The offense has looked more balanced.
The 'empire class' has lived up to the hype.
Leidner has played very well.
 


Blocking by the O-line has been better than I expected and the running backs in my opinion have been doing a really good job of making plays.
In all honestly even in defeat or the loss to Penn State, I thought the Gophers improved their level of play and actually improved as a football team. The team is not in the outhouse even if the trophy case is now empty. To me that is opportunity to fill it back up with some hardware.
The best young players are playing at a high level of football, well above where they should be playing. Devers is a a finisher on the D-line we could use him back because it helps having him out there. The one thing we are kind of missing is a receiver that could take the lid off the top of the defense and take that 9th guy out of the box. I think for the most part the coaches have put the players in the right position to make plays and have called good games so far. Would like to see them open up the offense a little. Tight end is lacking, I heard a lot of positive things about Ko Kieft in the pre-season and fall camp. Seems like we could use a tight end that could help open up the passing game some. I would like to see them try out Ko Kieft this week and if he can help the passing game then add him to the mix.
 

Shenault has gotten better every week.

Myrick has been taking too many chances, but he's still one of the best corners in the B10.
 

Game of football is divided into thirds - Offense, defense, and kicking game. We have won the kicking game in every game. Win two of the three should win the game unless of coaching error.
 

Our offense is improved.
Our Freshmen look good.
Some posters I can do without seem to be jumping ship.


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It has been good to see the team try to score with less than 2 minutes in the half. I thought the coaching and for the most part execution during the first half of the PSU game was excellent.
It was also great to see the team fight back after that bad third quarter.

The passing game has looked good and like others have said once the TE position is healthier and a downfield threat is present the offense will be very dynamic.
 

This isn't rock bottom. We're 3-1. With one road loss. We still have time, we can make adjustments. The Offense is the best I've seen in my years as a gopher fan (albeit, that's just since the last year in the metrodome, so not that long), and I honestly think that Penn State will be a wake-up call for the defense. I think Iowa will be a win at home, and that the doom and gloom will get pushed off a bit.
 

Nice weather for all of the home games so far.
 


We did not lose because PSU beat us. We beat ourselves and we have Iowa to take out some frustration. Betting that practice will be hard and upbeat by Thursday and there will be some gut checking this week.
 




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