Stat the Jumps Out: TOP

[GoForGold]

Gophers: 45:34
MTU: 14:26

I've never seen such a big margin in this stat. For this any many other reasons, this game shouldn't have been this close.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Yep, I think the missed FG late in the 1st half was huge. It gave them good field position and a little extra spark knowing they could go into the half with the game tied. Make it and I think we win much easier.

 

[Governor Sibley]

Is this possible close to a record?

 

[Great Plains Gopher]

I'll take it - huge ball control game, could easily have been 37-17 against a decent opponent. Passing game came through on third down in second half, but needs some work. Running game beyond expectations. A shame Gray couldn't have had more passes his way, but a win is a win.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

It's more than that

It's not just that they dominated the TOP; this is a game that they HAD to dominate the TOP and they did.

For those that thought the passing game sucked; they didn't NEED to throw the ball much. Weber was solid.

Another note; a LOT of his passes went for first downs.

 

[Too Long in the Wasteland]

I agree that we could have tacked on another 7 at the end, but that would have been Bulemiaesque. Still, with that TOP difference the game should never have been tied going into the 4th quarter.

I wonder if they were trying to keep Gray under wraps for a couple of weeks. Still, I wouldn't want to lose this game just to deprive the USC coaches of seeing something on game film.

 

[Gopher Bandanna Guy]

TOP differential was HUGE, and midway thru the 3rd I started to feel like MTSU's defense would start wearing down.

So much for the heat being the big factor in the Raiders favor.

 

[Monty519]

I agree that we could have tacked on another 7 at the end, but that would have been Bulemiaesque. Still, with that TOP difference the game should never have been tied going into the 4th quarter.

I wonder if they were trying to keep Gray under wraps for a couple of weeks. Still, I wouldn't want to lose this game just to deprive the USC coaches of seeing something on game film.

I don't think they're trying to necessarily keep stuff of game film, like they're holding back, but they've said they want to establish the easy stuff and then slowly build onto the offense. What we saw tonight was Step #1 in this process of building this offense. I wouldn't expect them to unleash something crazy in the USC game, but I think we will see a little bit more than we did today. We didn't have to go very deep into the playbook cause we were controlling them pretty much anyway.