Thoughts on MSU?

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Gopher07 said:
I think it's all about the start on Saturday, much like it was against Iowa. As much as it is influenced by playing second-stringers and teams letting up because we've been down by so much, our second halves have been much, much better than our first this season. In particular, we've had huge letdowns in the 2nd quarter and failed to get on the board in the first in five of eight games. If we can score in the first (even a field goal) and keep MSU from totally dominating the 2nd quarter, I feel like we have a chance to keep it close.

1st Quarter:
Opponents: 64
Gophers: 17
Average score after 1: 8-2

2nd Quarter:
Opponents: 124
Gophers: 37
Average score after 2: 24-7

3rd Quarter:
Opponents: 54
Gophers: 30
Average score after 3: 30-11

4th Quarter:
Opponents: 30
Gophers: 60
Average score after 4: 34-18
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Kinda building on this, we need to avoid the bad quarter in general. In our worst performances, they were usually turned into the crapper by just a horrible quarter of play. NMSU, it was only 14-7 in the 2nd Q, but that quarter did not go well at all. NDSU, obviously the 28-7 2nd quarter was brutal. Michigan, as bad as the entire game was, 24-0 in the 2nd Q was ridiculous. Purdue, 24-0 in the 1st Q. Nebraska, 24-0 in the 2nd Q. That just can't happen (obviously), if we want to compete in this game. They need to keep bad events from ballooning out of control, and limit the amount of big plays they give up.
 

....hmmmmm....very interesting research, RodentRampage. You guys are much more knowledgeable than I about football, but my observation is that football is so much about consistent execution. The Gophers started out inconsistently this season, and are getting more consistent. MSU started out very consistent and are dissolving around the edges. MSU strikes me as similar to Wisconsin this year - when they fall behind they seem shocked that this could happen to them, particularly Wisconsin. Minnesota had to learn how to (eventually!) come back from adverse situations.
 

ProudMinnesotaHomer said:
....hmmmmm....very interesting research, RodentRampage. You guys are much more knowledgeable than I about football, but my observation is that football is so much about consistent execution. The Gophers started out inconsistently this season, and are getting more consistent. MSU started out very consistent and are dissolving around the edges. MSU strikes me as similar to Wisconsin this year - when they fall behind they seem shocked that this could happen to them, particularly Wisconsin. Minnesota had to learn how to (eventually!) come back from adverse situations.
Click to expand...


Hey guys, MSU fan here. I post here every year around our games and always enjoy the conversations with you guys.

This couldn't be more untrue if you tried... well maybe if you tried. MSU has actually been very composed when they get down. They didn't panic against Wisconsin and rattled off 23 unanswered points, when ND marched down the field to score we marched right back to answer. The problem MSU has had is our running game. Bell has been running great all year but coaches keep trying to force feed Baker even though Baker isn't seeing the field well or running well (outside of the Michigan game). Baker is forcing things a bit, Bell is running harder and better. Against Nebraska Bell was getting 5-7 ypc just about every time he touched the ball, Baker was getting 1-3 ypc and yet the coaches kept trying to feed baker.

We're also having issues with our OC. He's either a giant moron or decent. Against Michigan we needed to run so he called a lot of running plays, got creative with how we'd run it and we looked good. Against Nebraska they were literally daring us to run it, and even though Bell was having great success, we decided to try to throw it around which didn't work well at all.

If anything we started the season off inconsistent, Oline was rough, running backs weren't see things well and outside of Cunningham no receiver could do jack. Now our Oline is gelling, Martin is healthy and making plays, RB's are better mostly because Bell has picked it up.

I'll be around if yall have more questions about MSU. Good luck tomorrow hope it's a good game with no injuries and a convincing MSU win :)
 

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