Tom Powers: Improving Gophers clean their nonconference plates

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Powers:

Four games into Jerry Kill's third season, here's what we know: The Golden Gopher program is moving forward. It's clear that there has been straight-line improvement. It's not racing ahead at breakneck speed. But it's gradually coming together, giving the impression, at least, that everyone is on the right path. The players certainly are well-prepared.

Oddly enough, when former athletics director Joel Maturi put this game on the schedule back in 2009, the Spartans were coming off a 2-10 season and were destined to go 1-12 the following year. They began to improve, however, and went 11-2 in 2012. With Fales, they have the ability to surprise unwary opponents.

So hats off to Norwood Teague for keeping San Jose State on the schedule. After all, several online colleges were itching for a game. And hats off to the coaching staff for nudging the program forward. In terms of wins and losses, I don't know if this all holds up in Big Ten play. But it's better than it was and it seems to be moving in the proper direction.

Around here, that's saying something.

http://www.twincities.com/gophers/c...ving-gophers-clean-their-nonconference-plates

Go Gophers!!
 

He says SJSU isn't a B1G caliber team, but I would argue that. Sure they don't have depth and size, but they do have speed and a very good QB, who would be a top 10 pick if he played at a bigger school. They said on the radio this morning that they were better than Iowa.
 

Why the hell can't a reporter in this town simply say "nice win" for the hometown team?

I hate all of these hacks and their backhanded compliments.
 


I'll admit I was not terribly confident of a win today.

Bet I wasn't alone.
 


Studwell55 said:
I'll admit I was not terribly confident of a win today.

Bet I wasn't alone.
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When we only beat W Illinois 29-13 I was shocked that we won by that close. Today I was shocked that we won by that much against a pretty decent team. That Fales is quite legit.
 

patrick08 said:
He says SJSU isn't a B1G caliber team, but I would argue that. Sure they don't have depth and size, but they do have speed and a very good QB, who would be a top 10 pick if he played at a bigger school. They said on the radio this morning that they were better than Iowa.
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No they aren't and no he wouldn't. They need a lot of work to compete in the Big Ten.

As for Fales, he would never be drafted that high regardless of his team. Don't get me wrong, he will get drafted. However, he has big mechanical flaws. He dips his shoulder every time he throws. This causes the ball to sail on him consistently.
 

I thought SJSU was terrible.

Without their QB they'd be one of the worst teams in the country.

I could be wrong.
 

Gopherguy0723 said:
However, he has big mechanical flaws. He dips his shoulder every time he throws. This causes the ball to sail on him consistently.
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Davis Fales, career stats: 372-526 - 70.7% completion rate. 36 td's, 10 int's.

His receivers must be running some really *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#ed up routes to compensate for his consistently sailing the ball.
 



Unregistered User said:
Davis Fales, career stats: 372-526 - 70.7% completion rate. 36 td's, 10 int's.

His receivers must be running some really *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#ed up routes to compensate for his consistently sailing the ball.
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Look at the tape. I'm not wrong.
 


Unregistered User said:
I laughed heartily at the absurdity of this, thanks.
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Let me educate you. Tim Tebow completed more than 67 percent of his passes in college. Now you tell me, is Tim Tebow in the NFL? Was Tim Tebow an accurate passer in the NFL?

College completion percentage does not translate to pro completion percentage. You need to look at mechanics of the qb and the system he plays in.

Fales is by no means Tebow bad, but he has some noticeable flaws.
 

Gopherguy0723 said:
Let me educate you. Tim Tebow completed more than 67 percent of his passes in college. Now you tell me, is Tim Tebow in the NFL? Was Tim Tebow an accurate passer in the NFL?

College completion percentage does not translate to pro completion percentage. You need to look at mechanics of the qb and the system he plays in.

Fales is by no means Tebow bad, but he has some noticeable flaws.
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I'll disagree. I'm re-watching the game right now, with my dog and some Moosehead by my side. I love his motion.
 



GopherinPhilly said:
Why the hell can't a reporter in this town simply say "nice win" for the hometown team?

I hate all of these hacks and their backhanded compliments.
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Because it's cool to bag on Minnesota if you're a Minnesota Sports Writer..
 

Unregistered User said:
I'll disagree. I'm re-watching the game right now, with my dog and some Moosehead by my side. I love his motion.
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Go to the second half. You'll see the shoulder dip very often. You will then notice the ball travel higher than it should. It isn't a problem for the deep ball. It hurts him on other routes.
 


Tebow vs. Fales

Sorry, but I don't have a lot of video on Fales, so first we'll address Tebow:


Now some scouting on Fales:

Arm Talent:

Fales has a solid throwing motion. His shoulders stay quiet through his quick motion, although I think his elbow drops a bit too much at times. He can be a bit “pat happy” before finally unleashing the throw.

The best aspect of Fales’ game is his accuracy (72.1%). He is money throwing to the back shoulder, to the tight end up the seam and is able to fit the ball into Favre-ish windows. He has exhibited good touch on “bucket throws”, clocking in at 75% in the five games that I watched.

Fales doesn’t have a rocket arm by any means, but he has enough power to get the job done in the NFL. You can see a small dip in the ball when delivering throws outside of the numbers, but Fales’ accuracy and timing have been able to negate that issue. It will be harder in the NFL, but still possible. Consistent body alignment could a bit more zip to his throws.

When on the run, Fales did have a tendency to throw the ball behind his target, but was still able to complete the ball.

Source: http://www.nepatriotsdraft.com/2013/07/david-fales-scouting-report.html

• very accurate throwing on the run and on rollouts and bootlegs
• good overall accuracy and anticipation
• he is not afraid of taking a hit
• above average arm strength
• He displays pretty good ball placement on short and intermediate routes. At times on deep routes a bit underthrown or wr has to adjust
• does well at throwing back shoulder type throws
• Recognizes coverages and knows where to go with the ball. can really exploit one on one coverage or go underneath and eat up the zone as well
• he features a pretty quick release
• very effective throwing down the seam of a defense
• he shows the ability to put air under the ball and allow his receivers to make a play
• he shows the ability to drive the ball into tight coverage on short and intermediate routes when needed.
Weaknesses
• showed the ability to work through progressions, however many of his passes were one read type plays
• at times his throwing motion is not a classic over the top motion . He comes from the side a little bit
• occasionally will fall off to the side while throwing
• needs to work on recognizing and dealing with blitzes
• on occasion puts too much air under the ball and allows the defense a chance to make a play on the ball

Source: http://jets79tone.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/david-fales-scouting-report/
 


Twinsfan007 said:
I wish they (The Newspapers) would clean house and find some educated writers who don't just bag on the U whenever they can..
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Joe Christensen. And, uhm...hang on a second. I'll get back to you when I find another one.
 

Gopherguy0723 said:
Go to the second half. You'll see the shoulder dip very often. You will then notice the ball travel higher than it should. It isn't a problem for the deep ball. It hurts him on other routes.
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Just fast forwarded to the 2nd half. I'm not QB coach, but I'll watch for it.
 

Twinsfan007 said:
Because it's cool to bag on Minnesota if you're a Minnesota Sports Writer..
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and worse still, there are too many gh loons who think its cool also. oh, not talking about you, just expanding your accurate observation.
 

Unregistered User said:
I'll disagree. I'm re-watching the game right now, with my dog and some Moosehead by my side. I love his motion.
Click to expand...

This is an amazing example of multi-tasking Unreg! Let's see here, you're simultaineously doing the following:

1) Petting your dog
2) Nursing a Moosehead
3) Watching the Game replay
4) Fastforwarding through commercials
5) Evaluating Fales and throwing tendencies
6) Posting on Gopherhole

...and who knows what else. All in 15-minutes. I'm impressed.
 


Gopherguy0723 said:
Let me educate you. Tim Tebow completed more than 67 percent of his passes in college. Now you tell me, is Tim Tebow in the NFL? Was Tim Tebow an accurate passer in the NFL?

College completion percentage does not translate to pro completion percentage. You need to look at mechanics of the qb and the system he plays in.

Fales is by no means Tebow bad, but he has some noticeable flaws.
Click to expand...

Tebow is a terrible comparison if looking at % percentage. He had top end talent around him. If you ever watch footage of Tebow's completions, a good amount of them had the receivers fairly open. The receivers yesterday (for the most part) were not wide open. Many times, we had great coverage on the receivers but Fales just put it in the only place they could catch it. You may be right about mechanics, but, from what I saw yesterday, Fales is way more accurate than Tebow ever was.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Tebow is a terrible comparison if looking at % percentage. He had top end talent around him. If you ever watch footage of Tebow's completions, a good amount of them had the receivers fairly open. The receivers yesterday (for the most part) were not wide open. Many times, we had great coverage on the receivers but Fales just put it in the only place they could catch it. You may be right about mechanics, but, from what I saw yesterday, Fales is way more accurate than Tebow ever was.
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I agree with you. You missed the point.
 

Gopherguy0723 said:
I agree with you. You missed the point.
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No, I get the point about mechanics.

You brought up Tebow's completion percentage as a way to show that anyone can throw for a high completion percentage in college. My point is that bringing that up is completely irrelevant because Tebow had way better talent around him and didn't show the ability to throw accurate passes in traffic consistently. Regardless of Fales mechanics, he has shown he can throw in traffic with pin-point accuracy.
 

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