The team we saw last night was ...

[Gopher07]

Better than the whole of last year, the same as the whole of last year, or worse than the whole of last year? Curious to hear the takes.

I, for one, think despite the close game against a pretty bad opponent there were flashes of what could be and really at an overall level, I think this is a better team this year. More options at receiver, significantly improved pass rushers, and some semblance of competence in the secondary* (note: Sherry was really, really bad so I'll wait to pass final judgement until we play a semi-decent QB).

 

[Jeshurun]

I answered with A - but I would say that the team was better than MOST of last year, but far worse than what we saw at the end of the year. We looked really, really undisciplined out there. Then again - one game is an awfully small sample size, especially with a team that is playing a lot of young guys.

 

[Gopher07]

Yeah, that's why I phrased it the way I did - I don't think we were better than we were against, say, Michigan State, but it's tough to doom the team based on one away game in the season opener with a lot of fresh faces. I think the team that trotted out there against UNLV was better than the one we saw for most of last year. I hope we follow the same improvement trajectory we saw last year.

 

[Gopherdrummer]

We know this season is going to be all about IMPROVEMENT. Last night, I saw great improvement all around. The skills are being refined. No, it was not pretty. But the first game can always be a little dicey for everyone (Michigan vs. Appalachian State comes to mind). Props to Kill for sticking with Gray. Yes, his play was horrendous during regulation. But if Kill makes the switch during the game, then Gray loses all of his confidence moving forward during the non-con schedule. Gray was able to redeem himself as the game went on, so that should help settle him down. What happens if Shortell or Nelson can't step up during the game either?

Kill knows what he is doing. We have extra time to prepare for Week 2. But with Gray's play last night, I think there is a huge opportunity for the backups to step up and make their case to start. Kill will probably use the next 3 games to go over his options and will make the call if he has to.

Fear not, we will have a QB that will hit those wide open receivers, and the next few weeks will determine whether or not that QB has the last name of Gray.

If we clean up those false starts on third and short, the running game could have converted all of those plays.

 

[dpodoll68]

I don't think UNLV is as bad as people think. Hauck is a fantastic coach and he's in his 3rd year there. They have a long ways to go, but by Mountain West standards, both of their lines are decent. They are taking their lumps with a young QB this year, but it will pay dividends down the road (something I wish we had done with Gray so he would've been making his ~40th start last night instead of his 13th). They will not go bowling this year, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them win 4 or even 5 games. They are going to beat Washington St.

 

[Parski1]

Only 12 seniors - they will get better as the season goes on. A win is a win for this team.

 

[mcrow]

I'm not sure how anyone not heavily druged could think what we saw lastnight was better than we saw all of last season.

 

[50PoundHead]

I don't think UNLV is as bad as people think. Hauck is a fantastic coach and he's in his 3rd year there. They have a long ways to go, but by Mountain West standards, both of their lines are decent. They are taking their lumps with a young QB this year, but it will pay dividends down the road (something I wish we had done with Gray so he would've been making his ~40th start last night instead of his 13th). They will not go bowling this year, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them win 4 or even 5 games. They are going to beat Washington St.

This. Hard to tell from the first game and I didn't see all of it, so I can't comment with any authority.

 

[dpodoll68]

I'm not sure how anyone not heavily druged could think what we saw lastnight was better than we saw all of last season.

We put up almost 500 yards of offense while giving up less than 300. If we put up 478 yards every game and hold our opponents to 275, and go 40% on 3rd downs instead of 20%, we win 8 or 9 games, easily.

 

[husker70]

Let me take you back to last year. New Mexico State and North Dakota State at home and we could not get out of our own way. This team on the Road, loses the lead in the third quarter and finds a way to win. It is all about winning, winning ugly or winning convincingly its more about learning to win.

 

[mcrow]

We put up almost 500 yards of offense while giving up less than 300. If we put up 478 yards every game and hold our opponents to 275, and go 40% on 3rd downs instead of 20%, we win 8 or 9 games, easily.

The extra playing time may have had something to do with some of that yardage. It don't matter how many yards you put up if you can't score.

 

[Wouldn't You like to Know]

I don't think UNLV is as bad as people think. Hauck is a fantastic coach and he's in his 3rd year there. They have a long ways to go, but by Mountain West standards, both of their lines are decent. They are taking their lumps with a young QB this year, but it will pay dividends down the road (something I wish we had done with Gray so he would've been making his ~40th start last night instead of his 13th). They will not go bowling this year, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them win 4 or even 5 games. They are going to beat Washington St.

I agree. Their strongest positions going into the game were their DL and LB's and I thought our O Lined handled them well.

Albeit the 1st game of the year I have NOT seen a D Line like that at MN in years as well as the speed in the secondary. Our corners were all over their WR's! Very impressed with the secondary. I thought the LB's (I thought a strength entering the game) looked bad with Rallis in the Middle and Hill on the outside much better with Beal and Manuel in the game.

We will be much better this year!

 

[upnorthkid]

they won a tight game. therefore i go with better

 

[dpodoll68]

The extra playing time may have had something to do with some of that yardage.

True in most circumstances, but we only had 59 yards of offense in OT, meaning we still had 419 yards of offense in regulation. UNLV also had 64 yards of offense in OT, meaning they had only 211 yards of offense in regulation.

Food for thought:

419 yds/gm offense (regulation) would've been the #37 offense in the country in 2011
211 yds/gm defense (regulation) would've been the #2 defense in the country in 2011 (between Alabama and LSU)

478 yds/game offense (total) would've been the #11 offense in the country in 2011
275 yds/game defense (total) would've been the #4 defense in the country in 2011

If we end up with a top 40 offense and a top 5 defense, we will win at least 10 games this year. Of course, that won't happen, but it seems strange to be Chicken Little after we played a good game last night that was simply devoid of clutch plays by our offense. (P.S. We did win the game, you know.)

It don't matter how many yards you put up if you can't score.

I'm telling you, the difference between a narrow win (which, again, we did actually secure last night) and a comfortable victory was 3rd down conversions. We converted 3-of-15 (20%), which, again going back to 2011 stats, would've easily been the worst in the country. If we improve that to even, say, 40% (#70 in the country last year), that means 3 more 3rd down conversions and we win by 3 TDs instead of 3 points. Our O and D actually played very well last night - our clutch play on O (and to a lesser extent, clutch play on D) was atrocious. If our O and D play that well every game and just improve the clutch play even a little, we are easily a bowl team and maybe win 8-9 games. We won't average those totals on O and D this year (probably not even close to those numbers), but do you get my point?

 

[Big Play]

If Gray hits his wide open WR the game would have been over at half!!

 

[Wouldn't You like to Know]

I'm telling you, the difference between a narrow win (which, again, we did actually secure last night) and a comfortable victory was 3rd down conversions.

Again, spot on Dpo - this was the #1 issue!!

Seniors (Rallis, Hill, Stoudemire & Gray especially) have to produce better results and I believe they will.

I'll go on record now and say Beal should be the starting MLB and Manuel should start at OLB with Cooper!

 

[Sparlimb]

I don't think UNLV is as bad as people think. Hauck is a fantastic coach and he's in his 3rd year there. They have a long ways to go, but by Mountain West standards, both of their lines are decent. They are taking their lumps with a young QB this year, but it will pay dividends down the road (something I wish we had done with Gray so he would've been making his ~40th start last night instead of his 13th). They will not go bowling this year, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them win 4 or even 5 games. They are going to beat Washington St.

UNLV is bad. And even though it is another home game, I'd be very surprised to see them beat Washington St. I watched them (Wash St) against BYU last night as well and while the score looked lopsided the game wasn't that bad. Washington St. made a bunch of bonehead plays to screw up scoring drives. But since neither of us likely really care how good UNLV is...

We showed improvement in a lot of areas last night. We had a pass rush for the first time in memory, although it disappeared late in the game. We had fairly good tackling and guys around the person who was catching the ball (not our usual 10 yards off him). UNLV also missed some wide open receivers and their freshman qb made a bunch of freshman mistakes. So I was very happy with the defense last night. Our offense was adequate nearing average, with the worst piece being Gray. He was supposed to be our strength, but he really held us back. If he'd have hit at least half of the open receivers, gophs would have won by 20+. I'm not calling for a quarterback change, since I doubt any of the other guys are any better, but we heard a lot of hype going into the season about Gray's improvement, but now that just seems like it was hype. It was a win, I like wins. I certainly had my moments of doubt (especially after they scored first in OT). Gray did pass well in OT, and maybe that was due to it being more like drills in camp. I do know that late in November, we'll not remember this game very much other than it was a win. So let's move on and not overlook New Hampshire next week and see what we can improve on.

 

[Sparlimb]

I'll go on record now and say Beal should be the starting MLB and Manuel should start at OLB with Cooper!

What happened to Beal late? I saw him make some really nice plays early in the game and then don't recall seeing him again. Maybe I just missed it, but I don't recall seeing him in OT or late in teh 2nd half...

 

[mcrow]

True in most circumstances, but we only had 59 yards of offense in OT, meaning we still had 419 yards of offense in regulation. UNLV also had 64 yards of offense in OT, meaning they had only 211 yards of offense in regulation.

Food for thought:

419 yds/gm offense (regulation) would've been the #37 offense in the country in 2011
211 yds/gm defense (regulation) would've been the #2 defense in the country in 2011 (between Alabama and LSU)

478 yds/game offense (total) would've been the #11 offense in the country in 2011
275 yds/game defense (total) would've been the #4 defense in the country in 2011

If we end up with a top 40 offense and a top 5 defense, we will win at least 10 games this year. Of course, that won't happen, but it seems strange to be Chicken Little after we played a good game last night that was simply devoid of clutch plays by our offense. (P.S. We did win the game, you know.)



I'm telling you, the difference between a narrow win (which, again, we did actually secure last night) and a comfortable victory was 3rd down conversions. We converted 3-of-15 (20%), which, again going back to 2011 stats, would've easily been the worst in the country. If we improve that to even, say, 40% (#70 in the country last year), that means 3 more 3rd down conversions and we win by 3 TDs instead of 3 points. Our O and D actually played very well last night - our clutch play on O (and to a lesser extent, clutch play on D) was atrocious. If our O and D play that well every game and just improve the clutch play even a little, we are easily a bowl team and maybe win 8-9 games. We won't average those totals on O and D this year (probably not even close to those numbers), but do you get my point?

If, if , if................have not seen it, have no reason to believe at this point that it will get better when your QB cannot pass the ball.

 

[dpodoll68]

If, if , if................have not seen it, have no reason to believe at this point that it will get better when your QB cannot pass the ball.

Dude, you're seeing what you want to see. If you think passing for over 250 yards and completing over 50% of your passes means you "cannot pass the ball", we will never be on the same page. There is plenty of room for improvement, but people who are using adjectives like "bad" and "horrible" need to tone down the drastic hyperbole. Again, if Gray has a line of 250+-50+%-2:1 TD ratio every game, we will win a ton this year. This really can't be argued against.

 

[mcrow]

Dude, you're seeing what you want to see. If you think passing for over 250 yards and completing over 50% of your passes means you "cannot pass the ball", we will never be on the same page. There is plenty of room for improvement, but people who are using adjectives like "bad" and "horrible" need to tone down the drastic hyperbole. Again, if Gray has a line of 250+-50+%-2:1 TD ratio every game, we will win a ton this year. This really can't be argued against.

50% isn't good. 60% is good. 50% against a crappy team is not good, period. You look at the stats and you might think he was OK but if you watched the game you saw probably 75% of the incompletions were missed by a good 10 yards and 4-5 of those are probably TDs.

You have to look at this game and ask, "How would this level of play fly against Michican, Nebraska, Michigan St or even Purdue?". The answer is NOT GOOD AT ALL.

 

[e.bigelow]

We put up almost 500 yards of offense while giving up less than 300. If we put up 478 yards every game and hold our opponents to 275, and go 40% on 3rd downs instead of 20%, we win 8 or 9 games, easily.

Agree with Dpo 110% on that point.

 

[mcrow]

Agree with Dpo 110% on that point.

Common dude. Those numbers are not numbers they'd get against any B1G team the way they played last night. They'd have been down 21-0 at half time if this were against top half B1G teams. These stats mean almost nothing considering who they are playing. Remember, UNLV won something like 4 games the last two season combined in a mid major conference.

 

[MrGopher]

What if USC judged their program after their first game of the year last year?

First games are first games. They are more often than not much uglier than the rest of the season.

I, for one, am glad our team didn't succumb to the old "here we go again against a team we should be beating" feeling - and choke it away. So, yes, that makes this team seem somewhat improved.

 

[dpodoll68]

50% isn't good.

When did I say it was? How about 57%, which is what he actually got? I'm not saying he played great, but some people are pretending like he played one of the worst games by a QB in Gopher history. Let's all settle down and get some perspective. I'd give his game last night a B-/C+. Indeed, I watched every single snap of the game last night, so I don't know why you needed to bring that up. He didn't pass the eye test, and he STILL put up more than respectable numbers. What would he have done last night without those horrible throws? 400 yards? 5 TDs? Would that have been good enough for you?

 

[mcrow]

When did I say it was? How about 57%, which is what he actually got? I'm not saying he played great, but some people are pretending like he played one of the worst games by a QB in Gopher history. Let's all settle down and get some perspective. I'd give his game last night a B-/C+. Indeed, I watched every single snap of the game last night, so I don't know why you needed to bring that up. He didn't pass the eye test, and he STILL put up more than respectable numbers. What would he have done last night without those horrible throws? 400 yards? 5 TDs? Would that have been good enough for you?

There is no way you can give him a C+, the guy damn neaer blew the game by himself. How are those numbers respectable VS a team like UNLV? I can probably put up 300 yards vs a garbage can does that make it impressive or even "respectable"?

If Gray had any ability to hit an open WR he probably throws for 400 yards and has 6 TDs in this game. The Gophers WRs were wide open most of the night and Gray couldn't hit hem.

 

[nc2mn]

mcrow, if 60% completion rate is good, what is the 57% he actually threw? And from what I understood from Grimm & Co on the radio he had a lot of completions where the ball was perfectly thrown hitting the receiver in stride - something that didn't happen often last year.

Actually, if you knock out just one of the several undisciplined mistakes (muffed punt, false starts, personal fouls) we probably don't go to overtime. And if we get some discipline in the next nine days, we'll probably be good enough to win games like that one easily.

 

[mcrow]

What if USC judged their program after their first game of the year last year?

First games are first games. They are more often than not much uglier than the rest of the season.

I, for one, am glad our team didn't succumb to the old "here we go again against a team we should be beating" feeling - and choke it away. So, yes, that makes this team seem somewhat improved.

I hope you're right. Maybe I'm being too hard on them but I was totally disappointed with them letting UNLV compete with them. They should be absolutely hammering teams like UNLV. Hopefully they'll bring out Thor's hammer next week VS NH.

 

[dpodoll68]

I can probably put up 300 yards vs a garbage can does that make it impressive or even "respectable"?

Here is the crux of the issue. You're giving UNLV zero respect. It's important to remember that these are still Division I athletes and that UNLV would destroy any random collection of football players from 99.9999% of the population. They're not Alabama, but they're not St. Croix Lutheran HS, either. Put it in the proper context. You're acting like he played a mediocre game against Concordia-St. Paul, when in reality he played a solid game against a group of Division I athletes, nearly all of whom are getting a free education because of their ability to play football. Again, I don't care who it's against (especially a Division I opponent, nonetheless) - 250+ yards, 50+% completion, a 2:1 TD ratio, and nearly 70 yards rushing is respectable AT MINIMUM. If you disagree, you are wrong. There's not much else I can say about it.

They should be absolutely hammering teams like UNLV.

Wish in one hand, and crap in the other, and see which fills up first. We all wish they were in a position to pound non-AQ teams, but we have to deal with things as they are, not as we want them to be. If you want them to be on par with Wisconsin at this moment, you will come away disappointed virtually every time.

 

[mcrow]

Here is the crux of the issue. You're giving UNLV zero respect. It's important to remember that these are still Division I athletes and that UNLV would destroy any random collection of football players from 99.9999% of the population. They're not Alabama, but they're not St. Croix Lutheran HS, either. Put it in the proper context. You're acting like he played a mediocre game against Concordia-St. Paul, when in reality he played a solid game against a group of Division I athletes, nearly all of whom are getting a free education because of their ability to play football. Again, I don't care who it's against (especially a Division I opponent, nonetheless) - 250+ yards, 50+% completion, a 2:1 TD ratio, and nearly 70 yards rushing is respectable AT MINIMUM. If you disagree, you are wrong. There's not much else I can say about it.



Wish in one hand, and crap in the other, and see which fills up first. We all wish they were in a position to pound non-AQ teams, but we have to deal with things as they are, not as we want them to be. If you want them to be on par with Wisconsin at this moment, you will come away disappointed virtually every time.

Whatever, we all know that being a division I player means nothing. The fact is that UNLV is a bottom feeder in a weak confernece . The Gophers are a B1G team which is probably the #2 conference in the entire country. The expectations are that we can handily beat teams that are bottom feeders. Now if we played the top two teams in that confernence and won that would have been impressive. The rest of the teams in the conference should be punchig bags for a B1G team.

Your same logic says that Hutchinson beating Mound-Westonka in a close game is a good win because they're in the same class.