Studwell's Keys to the Game

[Governor Sibley]

My insights this week are not terribly brilliant:

1) Going for the jugular: There's no way we can tap-dance or tippy-toe around Penn State, so I hope our game plan is to take the fight to them. Were I Brewster, I would craft the game plan around beating them at their strength: winning up front and running the ball. Hopefully the tone was set at the beginning of the week with the announcement that nobody pushes us around. Why dick around? Prepare the team to win where it counts--and never, ever let the team think you're hiding a weakness. We'll either win or lose up front this week, so why pretend otherwise.

2) Managing the field: The other Gopher key to the game is going to be field position. I see little chance that we can win a game that requires a couple of long scoring drives--we simply do not have it in us. To have a chance at winning, we need to be managing a short field. This means winning the game at the margins: playing better special teams and winning turnovers and penalties. Kick, punt, tackle, keep the ball in front of you and hope they make mistakes. As Ferentz has repeatedly shown over the years, a canny game plan can revolve around simply playing for field position.

3) Make it boring: The best way for a road-dog win is to put the other team and their fans to sleep. A snoozer is jut fine with me.

EDIT: OKAY, I JUST SAW THE FORECAST. GO GOPHERS!

 

[Doc1001]

hmmm

Will STUDWELLS KEYS TO THE GAME now be a regular feature?

 

[tikited]

My insights this week are not terribly brilliant:

1) Going for the jugular: Were I Brewster, I would craft the game plan around beating them at their strength: winning up front and running the ball.

2) Managing the field: The other Gopher key to the game is going to be field position. I see little chance that we can win a game that requires a couple of long scoring drives--we simply do not have it in us.

I would think being able to run the ball would help us get the elusive long scoring drives.. I agree with notion of starting with a running game. We need to see if we "can" right away and adapt if needed.

 

[jags1998]

Couldn't agree more with point #2 --- I don't care if Brew gets ripped for playing cautious today, he needs to win the field position game. I would also add that a good start (a usual factor on the road) would really help. We can't get down 14-0 right off the bat and have any expectations of winning.