The Gophers better watch out vs. the Cats

Donate To GopherHole

MNVCGUY said:
I have seen this theory about Northwestern putting 8-9 in the box. Fine, max protect and let our receivers go one on one with their DBs. I don't care who the QB is, get it in the area of Johnson or Bateman and I will pick them every time in a one on one battle for the football.
Click to expand...
Yeah, if they put 9 in the box Johnson or Bateman are gonna take a slant to the house.
 

BeerFueledFF said:
The Gophers should win this game easily, and the only reason Northwestern isn't considered a total joke in the Big Ten is that Rutgers is there to make them look slightly better. Too many people are bringing history into a game where the teams that will play Saturday look nothing like those previous teams.

If this game is close in the 4th quarter, we messed up somewhere.
Click to expand...
You could be right, but I expect them to attempt to recreate Iowa’s game plan to a T.

The only thing holding them back is if they don’t have the same talent as Iowa, to execute it.

Iowa’s offense really made our D look silly in the first half. And Iowa’s ability to get pressure on Morgan limited his effectiveness (though he still had a really nice game). They’re going to try to pull off the same.
 

BeerFueledFF said:
Yeah, if they put 9 in the box Johnson or Bateman are gonna take a slant to the house.
Click to expand...
But they (NW) would only stack like that against our freshman QB. We don’t know yet how well they can hit Johnson or Bateman on a slant like that. The QB has to deliver the ball on target in that route. It’s not a throw the ball up and let he receiver get it type of route.
 

MnplsGopher said:
You could be right, but I expect them to attempt to recreate Iowa’s game plan to a T.

The only thing holding them back is if they don’t have the same talent as Iowa, to execute it.

Iowa’s offense really made our D look silly in the first half. And Iowa’s ability to get pressure on Morgan limited his effectiveness (though he still had a really nice game). They’re going to try to pull off the same.
Click to expand...

They don't.
 


The offense was average at best under ZA last year, and he had mostly horrible deep ball placement. The new guys might be the same, worse, or better than ZA was as true freshman. They (probably) won’t be nearly as accurate as Morgan. Let’s hope he’s good to go and this should be a laugher.

If not, there are ways to try and limit those slants.

I’m not overly worried but I can certainly see some scenarios where this goes into the rail. I’m genuinely curious how Kramer will look if he’s the guy.

I was actually more optimistic vs Iowa but the defense looked like Umass in those highlights and the line couldn’t protect, and we dropped a couple. Penalties, etc...
 

MnplsGopher said:
You could be right, but I expect them to attempt to recreate Iowa’s game plan to a T.

The only thing holding them back is if they don’t have the same talent as Iowa, to execute it.

Iowa’s offense really made our D look silly in the first half. And Iowa’s ability to get pressure on Morgan limited his effectiveness (though he still had a really nice game). They’re going to try to pull off the same.
Click to expand...

I have heard a few interesting theories for why we should be terrified of 2-8 Northwestern but this one takes the cake. They have zero shot at replicating Iowa's gameplan on either side of the ball but especially offense. Iowa is led by a senior QB who played at a really high level. Northwestern's QB has been a complete mess, 50% completion percentage, 3 TD, 9 INT...

Our coaches adjusted to what Iowa was doing and held them to 3 points in the second half. There is no way they would sit back against this Northwestern QB who has shown a real tendency to make mistakes.

Defensively Northwestern is solid but Iowa is at a different level on D compared to these guys. You can also take the hostile environment factor out as chances are the NU crowd will not be large.

Our offense may struggle some with a young QB but I like our chances of figuring out a way to at least get a few points on the board which should be enough against Northwestern's offense.

I get it, we laid and egg against a very good Iowa team but I really think some are way overestimating Northwestern based on how they have been in recent years. They have been very good but this current version is a mess and the offense is horrible. They struggled to pull away from a UMASS team that is getting destroyed by everyone....including Rutgers.

We will have to work hard to lose this game. Could happen but I don't see us laying 2 eggs in a row.
 

Respect your BT foe. Respect the history of the rivalry. Respect the memories of the great wins, upsets and heartbreaking losses that history has provided those privileged to wear the colors of each team. Good luck to all...may the better team win.

A game in Evanston in November. For those who will be there: life is good. Beat the CAT, GOPHER!
 




They better watch out
They better not cry
They better not pout
I'm telling you why
Northwestern is coming to town
 

amk8930 said:
This. How many times have Freshman QB come in and been over matched? Especially since they know that Minnesota will try to run more to take heat off the QB. I could see them blitzing almost every down to stop the run and to force a Freshman QB to run for his life/make bad decisions.
Click to expand...
if they go zero blitz against our receivers, it would be good for us. I think our QBs would have a harder time against a good zone coverage.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom