College Football thread

[twinsnorth49]

Another big victory for the Gophers! Defense continues to force turnovers and the offense once again controls the clock and doesn't give the ball away. When you consider how things could have turned after the Illinois loss this has been an impressive run for them, 

 

Bring on the Axe!!!

[TheLeviathan]

Wow, I totally gave up on them.  Boddy-Calhoun reminds me of Peanut Tillman with all these crazy strips and perfectly timed forced turnovers.

[biggentleben]

I worry about Wisconsin, but I said to start the season that I hoped for 2-2 in the month.  They've secured 2 wins, and this one could bump them as high as #20 in the rankings, which is more of a cool thing to talk about than anything that really means something to the team.  What I did like is that they continue to show the growth under Kill in team "moxy" that allowed them to be down 14 in one of the traditionally difficult environments to play as a visitor yet come back and win the game.  I'm not going to make any assumptions about the game, but the Gophers now enter the last game of their season playing for the Big 10 West title and the opportunity to play in the Big 10 championship game against Ohio State.  Can't complain about that!!

[twinsnorth49]

I worry about Wisconsin, but I said to start the season that I hoped for 2-2 in the month.  They've secured 2 wins, and this one could bump them as high as #20 in the rankings, which is more of a cool thing to talk about than anything that really means something to the team.  What I did like is that they continue to show the growth under Kill in team "moxy" that allowed them to be down 14 in one of the traditionally difficult environments to play as a visitor yet come back and win the game.  I'm not going to make any assumptions about the game, but the Gophers now enter the last game of their season playing for the Big 10 West title and the opportunity to play in the Big 10 championship game against Ohio State.  Can't complain about that!!

Damn straight!  This team has an incredible belief in themselves and a great deal of fortitude, that's directly attributable to Kill. Not many people would have put them in this position after the Iowa-OSU, Husker-Wisconsin stretch.

[twinsnorth49]

Iowa gave the Badgers all they could handle today.

[Mike Sixel]

1. Great win.

2. Man, Nebraska has really taken a huge fall.

3. That Illinois loss really stings right now.

4. I can't see them winning in WI, but 2 wins this month works for me.

5. I think KSTP radio had it right today......there is a hump that Mason reached, that Kill is approaching/at. The key is, can Kill get them over that hump?

[twinsnorth49]

1. Great win. Agreed

2. Man, Nebraska has really taken a huge fall. Have to think Pelini's days are numbered

3. That Illinois loss really stings right now. Yes, very much yes.

4. I can't see them winning in WI, but 2 wins this month works for me. Will be very tough but very much possible, either way it's been a great year, minus Illinois.

5. I think KSTP radio had it right today......there is a hump that Mason reached, that Kill is approaching/at. The key is, can Kill get them over that hump? I think he already has, Mason's teams never responded and stuck together like Kill's team have this year, they didn't have the resilience. The defence is there, upgrades at QB and WR puts this team above anything Mason accomplished imo.

[biggentleben]

1. Great win.

2. Man, Nebraska has really taken a huge fall.

3. That Illinois loss really stings right now.

4. I can't see them winning in WI, but 2 wins this month works for me.

5. I think KSTP radio had it right today......there is a hump that Mason reached, that Kill is approaching/at. The key is, can Kill get them over that hump?

 

On the last point, I will just say as a guy who played under Mason, I don't think a Mason team comes back in this game.  The Texas Tech game that mercifully lead to his dismissal, I was in a hotel room with my dad listening to the TV while my dad watched as I'd just had my 14th and 15th eye procedures and couldn't see anything on the television.  We intended to finish the game out, then head out for a late supper.  When Cupito was sacked on 4th and 7 rather than kicking the field goal, I told my dad we could leave.  The score was 38-21 Gophers at the time, but I told him we could go eat as the game was over, and the Gophers would lose.  It was almost too predictable with Mason.  Even though they haven't come back to win each time or they had a lead and let a team catch up on them, the thing I think is so different is that Kill's teams are fighting until the last bell.  That 4th down call today that led to the TD was bold, and if it is stopped for no gain, it's very possible the game has a different outcome, but I will bet that if they didn't get it, they wouldn't have died and ended up losing by 20 like a Mason team would have done had the same play not gone their way.  That's the huge difference I see already with Kill's teams.  Wisconsin will be in for a fight next Saturday, win or lose, and I like going into a game with that knowledge.

[twinsnorth49]

Who goes first, Bo or Brady?

[stringer bell]

Iowa gave the Badgers all they could handle today.

Yup, in this little round robin for the Big Ten West, Minnesota and Wisconsin have won close on the road and big at home (against the same opponents). It tells me that on a neutral field, this would be a 1-3 point spread, but Bucky is at home, so it will be high single digits. While the Gophers would be ranked higher if they hadn't lost to Illinois (and might have gotten a better bowl game), they would be in the exact same situation going into the last game. I agree that this group is a half step better than the best that Mason had, and it isn't talent that makes the difference.

[Mike Sixel]

We will disagree, I guess. Mason's teams beat the bad teams, couldn't beat the great teams. We never expected them to, and we don't expect this team to. Until we get to a point where we expect them to compete with and occasionally beat the great teams, they are about even, imo. And yes, those collapses by those teams were awful.

[biggentleben]

We're simply remembering the Mason era completely different then.

 

I remember 1999 when a #12 Gopher team was defeated by a deservedly unranked Oregon team in their bowl game.  I remember 2000 when the Gophers followed up a great win at Ohio State (#6 in the nation at the time) with a loss to a mediocre-at-best Indiana team.  I remember in 2001, Mason's 5th season as coach, when the Gophers fell back to a 4-7 record.  I remember 2003, the only double digit win season of Mason's career when the Gophers had Michigan down 28-7 at home and let them come back in the 4th quarter to win and then had one of the poorest coached 1st quarters I've ever witnessed the next week hosting Michigan State that couldn't be overcome in two losses that should have been wins and led to a 12-1 record.

 

Overall, Mason was a coach who took a lot of teams that barely qualified to bowl games.  His overall record was 64-57, or a .529 winning percentage.  In the conference, he was 32-48, or a .400 winning percentage (akin to a 97 loss pace in baseball).  So far Kill has managed a 25-24 record, or a .510 winning percentage.  Yet, the comments about his play in the Big Ten are interesting seeing as he's posted a 13-18 record in the conference, which isn't great, but it's a .419 clip rather than .400.  Out of his 10 seasons, Mason posted a .500 or better conference record in 4 seasons, never posting more than 5 wins.  Kill is in the midst of a 5 win conference season after going .500 last season, so in his 4 years, he's already got half the amount of .500 or better seasons in the conference as Mason did.  Overall, Mason put up 3 seasons of 8 wins or more in his 10 years with the Gophers.  Kill just clinched his second 8 win season in 4 years.

[twinsnorth49]

We will disagree, I guess. Mason's teams beat the bad teams, couldn't beat the great teams. We never expected them to, and we don't expect this team to. Until we get to a point where we expect them to compete with and occasionally beat the great teams, they are about even, imo. And yes, those collapses by those teams were awful.

This is certainly where we disagree, I do expect this team to compete with and possibly beat teams like OSU and Wisconsin, but more importantly they expect it as well and continue to believe it when faced with adversity. You could not say that about Mason's teams, he was satisfied to be just good enough, because, you know, we're just Minnesota, you csn only expect so much.

 

Kill will continue to further that attitude imo, which will increasingly help to attract better talent to the program. Personally. I feel Kill has put the program in a very positive situation much sooner than I expected.

[biggentleben]

Gophers ranked in the AP poll for the first time since 2008 at #22, and have the same #22 rank in the coaches poll.  Likely will have about the same rank in the playoff rankings once those come out tomorrow.  Hard to complain about that!

[Mike Sixel]

How many games a year did they play in the Mason era? 11 or 12?

[USAFChief]

I think thr B1G is a bit easier now too, if comparing Mason and Kill. The split into two divisions and the deterioration of the level of play probably make some difference.

 

Still, I'd give Kill the edge so far, and I am optimistic he'll continue to make the program better, or at least more stable, than Mason.

 

They are mentally tough, at the least, which was NOT a characteristic of many Gopher teams of the past few decades. I hope Kill can upgrade the recruiting just a little, and have more talent to work with...that could get really interesting.

[biggentleben]

How many games a year did they play in the Mason era? 11 or 12?

 

13 many of his seasons, 12 some seasons.  They've only added one game to the regular season in the new format.  It's the championship game and bowl game that can make the season longer.

[biggentleben]

I think thr B1G is a bit easier now too, if comparing Mason and Kill. The split into two divisions and the deterioration of the level of play probably make some difference.

 

Still, I'd give Kill the edge so far, and I am optimistic he'll continue to make the program better, or at least more stable, than Mason.

 

They are mentally tough, at the least, which was NOT a characteristic of many Gopher teams of the past few decades. I hope Kill can upgrade the recruiting just a little, and have more talent to work with...that could get really interesting.

 

He's done a much better job of getting a full basket of eggs rather than putting an entire recruiting class on the back of one or two high-end recruits.  The verbal commit of a 4-star in-state recruit for 2016 on the weekend of the Iowa game was a big get for his recruiting as well.  I can tell you that Minnesota is finally recruiting in the Dakotas better as well, something completely absent in Mason's and Brewster's regimes...not a ton of high-end talent there, but I've never been a fan of ignoring your back lawn and going to the coasts for recruits less talented than ones who would rather stay near home (plus the PR is great for the school as well).  The great thing I got out of reviewing the current 2015 class is that while they're predominantly 3-star guys, every single one that I read talked about projectable size and/or skills.  Kill's not going to be a guy that will attract a Johnny Manziel looking to start from day 1, but the guys leaving his program into the NFL have been receiving plenty of notice for how football smart they are.  You bring in a few 4-star guys and a 5-star in state when you have the chance, and you can build a very good program as long as there's plenty of depth in 3-star types alongside.

[kab21]

The sad thing is that those Mason years were some of the best since the 60's for the program. The Gophers are now taking the next step with Kill and it's exciting. It's true that the Big Ten isn't what it used to be especially for the Gophers in western half avoiding OSU and/or MSU during the regular season. The best part of this team is that they can play defense unlike pretty much all other Gophers teams (decent and lousy). Games against top opponents are still close unlike other years when the offense needed to score 40-50+ points just to be in it.

[twinsnorth49]

The sad thing is that those Mason years were some of the best since the 60's for the program. The Gophers are now taking the next step with Kill and it's exciting. It's true that the Big Ten isn't what it used to be especially for the Gophers in western half avoiding OSU and/or MSU during the regular season. The best part of this team is that they can play defense unlike pretty much all other Gophers teams (decent and lousy). Games against top opponents are still close unlike other years when the offense needed to score 40-50+ points just to be in it.

 

They played OSU 3 weeks ago and MSU last year, even before divisional play they didn't play the whole conference every year.

 

Mason's teams couldn't play defense and had no depth. He didn't build the program for consistent success.

[kab21]

They played OSU 3 weeks ago and MSU last year, even before divisional play they didn't play the whole conference every year.

 

Mason's teams couldn't play defense and had no depth. He didn't build the program for consistent success

8 conference games in a 10 or 11 team league is much different than 2 non division games split between 7 rivals.  How many years until they play both of those teams in the same year?  And that doesn't even begin to consider that the Big Ten isn't a top conference anymore after Penn State has bottomed out and Maryland/Rutgers have watered the conference down. 

 

No doubt about Mason's teams but that doesn't change that those years were some of the best in the last 50.  That's how sad the Gophers program has been.

[stringer bell]

Mason's clubs got to the mid-level of the Big Ten in their best years. This year's team is somewhere between 4-6 out of 14 teams. If they can stay at that level and occasionally exceed it, then they are where Iowa has been since Fry left. The Sconnies are probably a tick or two above what Iowa is. Michigan, Nebraska and Penn State will be back, their programs are too rich to be content with an out of the Top 25 expectation.

[twinsnorth49]

Mason's clubs got to the mid-level of the Big Ten in their best years. This year's team is somewhere between 4-6 out of 14 teams. If they can stay at that level and occasionally exceed it, then they are where Iowa has been since Fry left. The Sconnies are probably a tick or two above what Iowa is. Michigan, Nebraska and Penn State will be back, their programs are too rich to be content with an out of the Top 25 expectation.

Going to be awhile for Penn State with so few scholarships.

[Mike Sixel]

Leidner is terrible. Awful. Truly.

[Mike Sixel]

Wow, he can't even hand off right......

 

Why were they not hurrying at all there? Just way too conservative. Awful coaching.

[FattCrapps]

These refs suck.

 

That hands to the face call was a joke.  It should have been 1st and goal on the 5 yard line.  Would've been 21-3.

[Mike Sixel]

These refs suck.

What?

[USAFChief]

What?

Liedner has been terrible, but the officiating has truly screwed the Gophers.

[Mike Sixel]

No, the Gophers can't pass, and in the 2nd half can't play defense. None of that is on the Gophers. This isn't close to being about the officials. 

 

Let's hope something changes, otherwise, just another loss against a good team.

[twinsnorth49]

So Wisconsin couldn't play D in the first half? Your football observations are interesting to say the least.

 

 

Oh, that pass from Leidner to Williams was sweet,.....and so was the TD run.