SB Nation - MarQueis Gray

2009 Quarterback Rankings, Final Edition: Across The Board, Marked Improvement Over 2008

grahamfiller10 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:08:08 -0000

Another year has passed and no Big Ten QB has made any kind of national impact...or at least a positive one. Terrelle Pryor was on the tail end of some Heisman lists, but the USC game quickly bucked him off those. Daryll Clark found himself spewing astronomical stats in almost every game...except the ones that mattered on a BCS level.

2009 QB Rankings, First Edition: Optimism!

2009 QB Rankings, Second Edition: Back to Reality!

2009 QB Rankings, Third Edition: You're Better Than This!

One obvious observation - the quarterback play was improved all the way across the Big Ten. In fact, let me illustrate this:

Improved QB Situation from 2008: Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, NW, Wisconsin, Indiana,

Declining QB Situation from 2008: Illinois, Minnesota

Similar QB Situation of 2008: Penn State, OSU, Iowa

In the running back focused league of 2008, QB's struggled with injuries and consistency. Although two of them (Painter, Hoyer) made it to 3rd string status in the NFL, the ratings were horrendous and offenses stagnated badly when the run game was slowed. Last year, only four quarterbacks had a 126 QB rating or higher. This year, that number rose to nine.

Our group of QB's here, who mostly avoided injuries, consists of four seniors, four juniors, two sophomores, and one freshman. Since none of the seven non-seniors are good enough to jump to the NFL right now, that's a good amount of returning starters for next year. Weber and Forcier will face major challenges to their hold on the starting job. Without further adieu, enjoy the 2009 Big Ten Quarterback Rankings, Final Edition.

	QB	Team	Comments
#1	Daryll Clark	PSU	Destroyed Michigan State last week. Rivals has him as the 27th best QB in the nation, for what it's worth. Since this rankings inception in 2008, has always been #1 in my rankings.
#2	Mike Kafka	NW	Played his best game of the year versus Wisky, a mistake free 326 yard, 2 TD performance. Ran the NW Spread well all year and would have semi-torched PSU if not for injury.
#3	Kirk Cousins	MSU	Laser-rocket armed Baptist boy will be an asset for the Spartans for the next two years. Hit a bit of a sophomore wall toward the end of the year, running into Penn State and Purdue defenses who confused him into picks and incompletions. Cousins v. Western: 22-25, 353 yards, 2 TD's. Nice.
#4	Terrelle Pryor	OSU	All he does is win games, right? That's bullshit. He would have won more games if he didn't go noodle armed against Purdue and USC. Does TreS misuse him? Yes. But when Pryor get's unleashed, things get wild. TP is almost impossible to slow on the ground, as witnessed in AA Saturday.
#5	Joey Elliot	PU	A great leader and less injury prone than Painter. 22/13 TD/INT ratio compared to 13/11 for 2008 Painter. Also sported a QB Rating 13 points higher. 8 TD's in his final three games. Definitely one of the pleasant surprises in the Big Ten.
#6	Scott Tolzien	WI	FAR better than the 2008 combo of Evridge/Sherer. Blew apart a couple opponents selling out to stop the run. Things to work on in the offseason: 1) Mobility and 2) Not being so cavalier throwing the ball into coverage. 16/10 TD/INT Ratio.
#7	Ricky Stanzi	Iowa	Worse QB rating than 2008 and almost lost a couple of games with INT's. After an offseason of Tom Brady comparisons and TRE's orgasmic musings about perfect mechanics, took a step backward by throwing some inconceivable picks. Injury won't affect 2010 performance.
#8	Ben Chappell	IND	Another pleasant surprise who made a habit of scaring the hell out of teams in the first half, only to regress terrible in the second half. Stats v. Wisky three weeks ago: 25-35, 323 yards, 3 TD's, 2 Picks. Microcosm of a thoroughly entertaining Hoosier team.
#9	Adam Weber	MN	I called for his benching four weeks ago. After torching State like Stewie torching Brian during the "Got My Money" Family Guy episode, had three consecutive bad performances. This offense can't transition to MarQueis Gray quick enough. Threw the single worst Big Ten pass of the year (the pick6 to Derek Domino of South Dakota St).
#10	Juice Williams	ILL	Juice shredded Michigan and was generally effective versus NW. Early season struggles are hard to overcome on this list though, especially coming from the main catalyst of the Big Ten's most disappointing team.
#11	Tate Forcier	UM	He's not REALLY the worst QB in the Big Ten. But I'm a Michigan fan and he threw four picks against OSU, thus prolonging a 5 game losing streak.

Throwing It All Away

JG2112 — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:24:10 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Need I say I'm sorry?

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In 2005, Minnesota traveled to Michigan and won the Little Brown Jug for the first time since 1986. I was very pleased - for the first time as a Gopher student/alum, I was able to call my father, the Michigan grad, and gloat. He was gracious and congratulatory, as it had been only the 4th time in his lifetime that the Jug took up residence in Minnesota. Perhaps the Gophers were on the rise?

After the victory, I really hoped that the Gophers would build on such a rare victory to have a special season. It didn't happen - the Gophers lost their next two at home to Wisconsin and to Ohio State, later was blown out by Iowa, and then lost the annual Music City Bowl appearance to Virginia. I was really disheartened - after such a great and rare victory, the Gophers stumbled and wasted it. I felt they had thrown it all away.

Fast forward to today. I've got the same feeling after watching the Gophers stumble to what really was their third shutout in Big Ten play this year (one TD against Ohio State in garbage time). Obviously, this is not because of any heavyweight victory, but because of the team itself. This season was thrown away by Tim Brewster in early 2009.

Prior performance obviously cannot guarantee future results. However, look at this bio line:

In his fourth season coordinating Northwestern's spread attack and his fifth at NU overall, Mike Dunbar has the Wildcat offense ranked among the nation's elite after averaging more than 400 yards per game in 2004.

A year ago, Northwestern ranked 29th nationally in total offense (409.5 ypg) while facing a formidable slew of defenses. In the Big Ten, the Wildcats ranked fourth in total offense (third in rushing offense and third in passing offense).

Look at that. Third in rushing offense. That was during Dunbar's third season as Northwestern's offensive coordinator. That Northwestern team beat Ohio State, Penn State and Illinois in finishing 6-6. Dunbar obviously knew how to coordinate a successful Big Ten offense, he just needed more talent and practice within the system for Minnesota to get it work. Dunbar's third season at Minnesota would have been ..... 2009.

Instead, Brewster threw it all away.

MarQueis Gray is still the highest-profile recruit Brewster has signed at Minnesota. As has been stated around here before, he was delayed a year due to GPA / entrance exam issues. He was obviously recruited to play in Dunbar's spread offense. Had Dunbar been retained, Gray probably would have been utlized more than 3 isolated plays a game, and certainly would not have been foolishly used as a WR in certain sets (if you've trying to have a QB learn a playbook, and the limited nature of his playing time suggests he hasn't grasped much of said playbook, the last thing you'd do is make him practice as a WR too, right?) It's not too far-fetched to think that Gray could have started a few games this year had the spread been the base offense.

Instead, Brewster threw that all away, and in all honesty, threw away a year (or more) of Gray's college career.

And what more to say about this defense? What a performance today, and in all honesty, this whole season. The seniors have all played really sound, fundamental defense all year, and were a joy to watch. I was very skeptical of a few aspects of this defense prior to and during the first month of the year, and I'm going to ingest crow. Kevin Cosgrove, you've done very well this year. Ronnie Lee, really? Fine job.

And this must stand alone: Ryan Collado, when used as a run-stopper or blitzer, you are a fine player. I am happy the coaches have figured out your strengths.

And yet, Brewster has thrown the excellent performance of this group of seniors all away.

On retrospect, this team would have won the Wisconsin and Illinois games and yes, could have won the Iowa game had the team not decided to trash and re-vamp its offense during the offseason. A spread offense system can really simplify the scheme for younger quarterbacks, which could have given Gray more playing time. And yes, Adam Weber would have been in year 3 of the scheme and could have worked on better synergy with his linemen and teammates, instead of having to sit in meetings every day with Jedd Fisch learning the 500 hand signals needed to comprehend his plays.

The 2009 season was a natural crescendo for the defensive players on the team, and Brewster should have known that. He had a group of JUCOs that he signed that were seniors, along with Brown, Small, Campbell, and Triplett. This year was a year to make a statement with the team moving into a new stadium and having the nation's attention.

However, whenever the Gophers had a network audience, what happened? Functional to very good defense was squandered because an offense was suffering from its offensive coordinator learning how to call plays on the fly.

As we all predicted how this season would turn out for Minnesota, the TDG consensus was slightly below to right around .500. Obviously, they ended up right at .500. However, the road traveled has been really unsatisfactory. What should have been a team in Brewster's third year humming on all cylinders with a fast, athletic offense and veteran defense descended into a team with that great defense, but with a slow, plodding confused offense that in 5 of its games scored 0 or 1 offensive touchdowns. It descended into fans and Gopher coaches yelling at each other during the SDSU game.

As the team looks to 2010, it has to replace 9 senior starters on defense, as well as its most prolific WR ever, get its linemen in functional shape so a running game can get established, and most importantly, Jedd Fisch needs to pare back his playbook so that Gray and Weber can comprehend what the hell he wants to do. Calling a coherent game plan would also be welcome.

College football has really been tough for this writer and his father since the 2007 season has started. Both schools the family supports have had the worst year in their respective histories. Despite that, we both have optimism things are turning around, no matter what the MSM wants to tell the uninformed fan. All that is really asked for is some consistency, some organic growth, not tearing down that which was or is growing well and could become something special. So, as my father hopes that his alma mater doesn't throw it all away by dumping a coach with 89 freshmen and sophomores on his roster and with 25 more on the way this year, I also hope that Brewster will stay the course, let his team develop, not bow to pressure to change coaches or coordinators, and not throw it all away. I hope that when Minnesota and Michigan play again for that Jug in 2011, the winner of the game can do more with it than what was done in 2005.

Not the 12-0 We Wanted Most, But a 12-0 We'll Gladly Take

Oops Pow Surprise — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:05:29 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

WHO WANTS STEEL RIBS OR STEEL HAM? (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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So. A month ago, if you'd been told that "12-0" was happening today, you'd probably be getting all giddy and buying a ticket for Pasadena. Of course, that 12-0 didn't come to fruition, on account of the Stanzageddon and all, but we do have the next best thing: Iowa 12, Minnesota 0.

Was it ugly? Christ yes, it was ugly; Iowa was 1-12 on 3rd down conversions, and theirs wasn't even the ugliest offense of the game.

Minnesota's offense, on the other hand, was one of the worst we've seen all season long. The two Minnesota quarterbacks - Adam Weber and MarQueis Gray - combined to go 14-42 through the air for 153 yards and one interception. That's an average of 3.6 yards per attempt, which is melt-your-retinas ugly. Oh, and Weber lost two of his three fumbles. Yes, Minnesota accounted for more yards than Iowa--201 to 171--but they needed 18 more plays to do so, meaning Iowa's own train wreck of an offense was at least more efficient. Sort of.

As for that Iowa offense, what's there to say? They clearly missed Adam Robinson's running ability when he went down with a re-injury of his ankle; he should be back in plenty of time for the bowl, so no real harm done here. But Brandon Wegher, from Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, one of the great town names in America (/Musberger'd), is really not an every-down back yet, and has no business trying to fill that role right now. That's not to say he's a bust or anything nearly as dour; it's just that there's a reason why, if all the tailbacks were healthy, he'd be about 4th or 5th string right now (Jewel Hampton, Robinson, Jeff Brinson, and maybe Paki Bomb). He's just a true freshman. Most true freshmen aren't ready to run the rock 25 times in a game--especially when they're evidently so green with the playbook that they're telegraphing every run play before the snap.

In fact, if this game proved anything, it's that injuries have wrecked any hope or semblance of consistency for the Iowa offense; James Vandenberg was the 20th different player to start on offense for Iowa this season. For the Iowa defense? 15--and two of those extra four starters were at the same position (Greg Castillo and Willie Lowe, for Shaun Prater at LCB). That's remarkably important; continuity is a big deal in a team sport like football, and as much as Kirk Ferentz and his staff preach the importance of the "next man in," with the notable exception of Riley Reiff, there's always been a marked dropoff in performance from starter to backup.

Thus, getting healthy for the bowl game and getting the best possible lineup (Bulaga, Dace Richardson, Rafael Eubanks, Reiff, and Kyle Calloway on the line; A-Rob and Brett Morse in the backfield; Trey Stross, Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, and Tony Moeaki as receivers) would be a welcome development for the offense. How many times has that ideal lineup been healthy and starting all at once? Twice: at Wisconsin and about the first 10 minutes of at Michigan State.

And let's not even get started on losing Hampton and Brinson before the season.

Yes, the above lineup is pretty unimpeachably Iowa's best; while Marvin McNutt is obviously talented, he's done his best as the third receiver instead of starting at wideout--think back to Mo Brown in 2002, for example. Unless something bad happens in practice between now and the bowl game, the Iowa offense is going to look a lot better, and it'll be independent of the playcalling (which always looks a lot better when the players can reliably execute it).

As for the defense, they were utterly lights-out; Weber was harassed throughout the day, and it's to his credit that he was "only" sacked five times. The Iowa defensive line combined for 7.0 TFL and 4 of the 5 sacks, and they abused the offensive line so thoroughly that Bob Griese was left questioning everything about the Gopher unit and their commitment to the sport. That was nice.

Really, this was as vintage a 2009 Iowa game as any this season. The offense struggled through injuries to key contributors but put up enough points to take a double-digit lead, and the defense choked the opposing offense to death long before the final whistle sounded. It's never been pretty, but at the end of the day, you cannot argue with this: it's another 10-win season for Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Well done, men. Well done indeed.

Now let's go cook up some steel bacon for dinner.

The Last Gopher Friday Preview Until Pizza Pizza? Minnesota at Iowa, November 21, 2009

JG2112 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:15:14 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

I knew life wouldn't be good once I got kicked out of the Institute of Technology.

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Give me or Tressel the Patriots. We would have punted on third down. 10:06 AM Nov 17th from TweetDeck
- from the "Not Kirk Ferentz" Twitter stream - http://twitter.com/NotKirkFerentz

Saturday is the end of the college football year, for all intents and purposes. outside of some rivalry games and conference title games. Then onto the bowls. Really, other than Florida/Alabama and Texas (or maybe TCU?) , the 66 or so bowl participants will be taking part in exhibition games in late December and early January in mostly warm climates, of which the most impressive part of the experience is usually the gifts given to the student-athletes that somehow are allowed under NCAA rules (example: last year each Gopher got a Vizio 26-inch LCD HDTV, a Bulova watch, and a Hat at the Insight Bowl.) Besides the gifts, ask Corey Wootton, Willis McGahee or Glen Mason: only bad things really happen in bowl games for the participants.

But back to tomorrow, when Tim Brewster will try for a significant milestone - his first rivalry game win. Last week Brew got his first win in November as a college coach. This week, a Big Ten win in November will increase his record in rivalry games to a robust 1-7. This comes on the heels of Maturi's weird comments to Sid in Thursday's Star Tribune, which indicated an endorsement of the program's direction but a peculiar non-endorsement of the coach. And while we can be literal and say that the only way that Brewster's job comes under fire is if they lose the next two games by 100 in the aggregate, the fact it's even being suggested is foolish in my opinion, but could be suggestive of things going on at Fort Bierman.

Iowa enters this game having endured a rough November thus far. First off, Northwestern put paid to Iowa's national championship hopes in Kinnick, and then Kirk Ferentz's lack of backbone gave away the outright Big Ten Title to Ohio State (pending their beatdown of Michigan). Oh yeah, Minnesota won't be the beneficiary of any Stanzi-balls on Saturday, either.

That really is unfortunate, because the backup QB, freshman James Vandenberg, played rather well in the Horseshoe, completing 20/33 for 233 yards, 2 TDs and 3 INTs (one at the end of the 1st half, one in OT). Playing in front of friendly fans may make him more relaxed. Then again, the pressure of Senior Day and the Pig may make him channel his inner Stanzi and get acquainted with BIG PLAYE TRAYE.

Looking at the rest of the offense, you know what you're getting with Iowa. The big hogs up front are interchangeable and generally awesome. LT Brian Bulaga is the standout. The Hawkeyes like running stretch plays where a TE (normally Tony Moeaki) will go in motion to Bulaga's side, and whichever RB is in the game (Adam Robinson, Brandon Wegher, Paki O'Meara) will plow behind those two for big chunks of yardage. As has been the case this year, Minnesota's DTs need to keep Iowa's line occupied so Campbell, Triplett, Lawrence and/or Cooper can flow to the ball, attack the lead blocker, and cut the play back for the help to arrive. If the D-line is pushed around and Iowa's line can get to the second level, this game will get ugly.

That's without mentioning Iowa's passing game, which as mentioned above, went for over 230 yards on Ohio State last week. Marvin McNutt is a former QB with significant height (please grow six inches Carter kthx) and superb speed, and I think every Minnesota fan knows about Derrell Johnson-Koulianos. Simmons (who returned to practice Wednesday after recovering from a leg ailment) and Marcus Sherels are carrying injuries which may make them vulnerable in pass coverage.

As for Iowa's defense, yikes. On the line, meet 2007 Cretin Derham Hall grad Broderick Binns (7 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks), along with Adrian Clayborn (8.5 sacks, 16.5 tackles for loss and THAT punt block against Penn State) and Karl Klug. The linebackers include A.J. Edds (65 tackles), Pat Angerer (119 tackles) and Jeremiah Hunter (83 tackles), and if you look to the secondary, meet Tyler Sash (6 INTs, 76 tackles), Amari Spievey, and Brett Greenwood.

This is the kind of defense that will give the Gopher offense fits (namely, competent and well-drilled). Iowa rarely sends its linebackers on blitzes because the front four can get pressure by itself. In almost every Gopher game this year we've watched this happen, so I'm even more concerned about tomorrow's game. Other than against Sparty, the Gophers, since the Penn State game, have had horrific pass protection which has led to Adam Weber looking like a true freshman in the pocket.

And sorry everyone, but this isn't the game to fully let MarQueis Gray loose on the football world. Brewster had his chance last week and decided not to, which suggests either coaching stubbornness or player incapabilities at this point. Gray, at this point in his development, would have been most effective against a team with slower defensive players who were frequently blitzing him and leaving him wide open running lanes, such as on November 14th at TCF. The last place you want Gray deciphering coverages is against a Norm Parker-drilled defense of veteran players, whose LBs don't even need to blitz you to get pressure.

So tomorrow you can expect Weber to be in the pocket, with lots of max protect (TEs and RBs) to provide support for Alford, Wills and Carufel in the hopes that Weber is given more than 3 seconds to wait for his WRs to break free from what are excellent Herkeye defensive backs. Once again, Hoese and Tow-Arnett will likely be utilized extensively in the passing game, trying to break the tackles of those excellent LBs. Blergh.

Oh, and have I mentioned that Brandon Green missed practice Wednesday with a knee injury and is questionable for Saturday? Calling Messrs. McKnight, Stoudermire, and yes, Carpenter, please be ready for action.

Anything else? Yeah. The forecast Saturday: around 55 and sunny.

Also, an aside: yeah, I recognize this is a conspiracy theory, BUT. The slate of games on Saturday is one of the least attractive collection of games I can ever remember this late in the season (thanks Florida and Alabama, among others, for scheduling soup cans this weekend). One of ESPN/ABC's featured games is Kansas at Texas.

Anyone else find it uniquely coincidental that ESPN is releasing an amazing slow drip of information from multiple sources (where have these former players been since August?) about Kansas HC Mark Mangino's bad temper and abuse at practice the same week it needs to drum up interest in a rather lackluster prime time game? At all?

Okay.

So what about Saturday? Minnesota has a chance here. It needs to attack Iowa's defense straight-on, because it can be run on. Weber cannot expect to spend much time, if any, looking in the pocket, and Fisch should not abandon the running game and put Weber into obvious passing situations.

As for Minnesota on defense, they need to roll support over to whoever is guarding the tall McNutt. Of course, this leaves the Gophers susceptible to either Johnson-Koulianos or Moeaki, but, you've got to try something.

Bottom line: games this year in Iowa City have been close. Northern Iowa, Arkansas State, Michigan, Indiana and NW were really all very tense, close games. Saturday SHOULD be no different. If the Gophers are not competitive, however, I guess Maturi will be having a discussion with Mr. Brewster about what is expected when the Gophers get their new TVs in Arizona. I don't see it happening.

Iowa 27 - Minnesota 20.

Daily Nugz - Tuesday, November 17, 2009

JG2112 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:00:21 -0000

More photos » by Paul Battaglia - AP

LOOK OUT IOWA.

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A little reaction from last Saturday: the end was achieved, which was bowl qualification. While we can choose to think that an opportunity was missed in not giving MarQueis Gray a few series for the sake of experience, that will make Gray's start on Saturday against Herky's Boys all the more stunning.

Hey, Gopher mens' basketball won last night! Check the live blog here. Check the game recap from the Strib here.

A few other Nugz:

(1) This guy has left Clemson's football team. Perhaps Minnesota could pick him up as a transfer. Lord knows he should be able to afford the plane ticket if his picture is anything to go by.

(2) Sorry, more from Wiz of Odds. Check out Pete Carroll getting a little ticked at Jim Harbaugh after Stanford blasted USC last Saturday. Perhaps the Gophers have a chance next year at the Bank?

(3) Yeah, Minnesota womens' volleyball beat down Wisconsin on Sunday, but this is HAWKEYE HATE WEEK, and the Lady Gophers bludgeoned the Hawkettes 3-0, in Iowa City, on Friday. A harbinger, ladies.

(4) Florida HS WR Toby Durham, whose cousin is recent Gophers commit Tyrone Bouie, is considering more visits (possibly behind paywall). His only visit thus far has been to Minnesota. He also has offers from Middle Tennessee, East Carolina, Colorado State, Toledo and UCF (uh, with that offer list, why hasn't he committed here already?). Durham claimed in the linked article that he is looking at academics first, and football second. Mr. Durham currently sports a 2.4 GPA.

The Illini lose to Northwestern, reality comes back with a vengeance

Joe Kutsunis — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:00:26 -0000

by Stephen Haas - AP

about 1 month ago: Illinois head coach Ron Zook argues with referee Dan Capron and field judge Craig Jeffreys over a call during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Northwestern at Memorial Stadium, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009, in Champaign, Ill. Northwestern won the game 21-16. (AP Photo/Decatur Herald & Review, Stephen Haas)

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You probably wont be reading anything much more about the football team for a while. With the loss in the waning moments to Northwestern on Saturday, the last hope of salvaging anything from this season evaporated. I won't talk about preseason expectations, about overall performance this year or speculate on the future here, that is for another post at the end of the season. I will however take a moment to reflect on the last two weeks of the football season, two weeks that were easily the most enjoyable all year. The team was performing like a great football team and winning, really winning for the first time all year. Most of us knew that the prospect of winning out the season and making a bowl at 6-6 was a pipe dream, but until you full on mathematically eliminated, why not have fun and hold on to hope?

The NU game ended up being very close to a sell out, based almost entirely on the combination of preseason ticket sales and the fact that the team was fun to watch again. It is also proof that football fans don't need a Rose Bowl every year to get excited about their team, just a good team that's fun to watch and will at least contend for a bowl most years. Illini fans saw that in Northwestern who are bowl bound again with 7 wins, and headed to their 3rd bowl in 5 years (and were even bowl eligible in 2007) Ryan field does not draw near as many fans as Memorial Stadium, even with the Illini at a much worse 3-7. Don't ever accuse the fans of not supporting this team.

Overall, in the game itself, we saw again the manner in which the team can fall apart or storm to victory based on just a few key situations. Unfortunately the team tended towards the former. For 99% of the first half the two teams were trading blows of missed field goals and stalled drives. Jacob Charest had not played his best, but Mikel Leshoure seemed to be maintaining the offense well enough. The key play, at the very end of the first half was a Charest interception, followed almost immediately by a Northwestern touchdown. The Illini went into half not up 3-0, but down 7-3. The chain of events had already begun however, and the problems only compounded from there.

I am not one to call out a coaching decision, because all I am is some kid who sits at his computer and admittedly know less than half of what it takes to actually make these decisions. That said however, I cannot figure out why the coaches sent Eddie McGee out for not one but two disastrous series in the third quarter. It seems like having to split time between preparing as a WR and as the backup QB somewhat handcuffed the play calling, because he threw all of one pass in his time taking snaps, almost always trying for yards on designed QB draws or just plain running for whatever he could get.

You could say that the Illini were just trying for a change of pace at QB for a running threat to go with Charest's arm, in much the same way that NU used Dan Persa or Minnesota used Marqueis Gray. I thought that too, but that did not explain why Eddie was sent back out for a second series of more of the same, even after nearly losing a fumble. Zook even explained after the game that he had pulled Charest because of the INT. After these two series in which the Illini had totaled just 50 yards and no points, the third quarter was over and the Illini were well on their way to being down 21 to 3.

Charest came back in the fourth quarter and played out of his mind, especially for a RS freshman in his first start, scoring two touchdowns. The fact that the Illini were in a position to possibly win the game in the final minute of the 4th is completely a testament to Charest, and the great catches made by the wide-outs, including Eddie McGee. The Illini were under the gun of the clock in the 4th, and it just makes you wonder how different a story it would have been the coaches had allowed Charest to work through his problems in the 3rd instead. Since sticking with Juice through thick and thin for 4 years, Zook has shown a much quicker trigger finger on pulling QB's for poor performance.

One thing I will say, that even though we will see a healthy Juice for the final two games, this team already has its next QB is in place, Jacob Charest looks like he has the makings of a very good passer.

Its too bad that most people are all now going to switch to basketball or focus on next year. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Week 11 in the Non-Con: What I Want

Bama Hawkeye — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:44:30 -0000

We have favorites and we have loyalties, but if the Big Ten is going to climb out the national perception doldrums, we're going to have to do it together. That means that we have to all be pulling in the same direction. Here's what I want to see from each Big Ten team in their non-conference battles this week. These columns are really short this time of year...

Minnesota (vs. South Dakota State)

I want to see Adam Weber and MarQueis Gray demonstrate why each should be the starting quarterback. I want to see the running game pound the smaller Jackrabbit (yes, that's the SDSU nickname) line. I want Minnesota to be up by such a comfortable margin that even if the Jackrabbits brought alum Adam Vinatieri out of stands to kick a game-ending field goal, it would only close the gap to a three touchdown defecit.

Make sure to go back and submit your picks for Week 11 of the Obligatory Predictions Contest. Weekly winners get a chance to write 500 words on the site.

What I Want

I want Minnesota to play withe the fire they showed in the second half last week.

What I Expect

Minnesota to clinch a bowl berth with a win that is closer than it should be.

What We've Got So Far

The Big Ten is 30-10 (.750) out of conference. The league is 5-8 against BCS Conference teams (plus Notre Dame). Indiana's loss to Virginia guarantees that the Big Ten can finish with no better than a .500 record against the other BCS schools. The league has two losses to non-BCS teams (Northern Illinois over Purdue and Central Michigan over Michigan State).

Halloween Crow Less an Omen More a Dish

Buck Bravo — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:00:40 -0000

The boo-birds were perched like crows to squawk as a flock on Saturday night. After abysmal offensive outings against Penn State and Ohio State, many Gopher fans were frustrated and calling for change. Criticism was abound for both the coaches and players. After all it was Halloween, and one must ask: Trick or Treat? The squawking crow has long been considered an omen of misfortune:

The Celts believed that Crow was an omen of death and conflict. She was associated with death transitions.

Instead of a trick, the perching boo-birds were subjected to a treat. Minnesota had their best offensive performance of the year. It turns out that the crow is subject to another form of symbolism, and it was served as a dish to the critics (myself included):

Eating crow (archaically, eating boiled crow) is an English-language idiom meaning humiliation by admitting wrongness or having been proven wrong after taking a strong position.

Recently I had been critical of Adam Weber's performance, and had written that he should be replaced with freshman MarQuies Gray for the majority of the snaps. Weber threw for over 400 yards and 5 touchdowns without his favorite receiver. Perhaps losing Eric Decker was the catalyst for Weber to step up and realize his potential. It was no trick that the offense spread the ball around, had improved blocking, had excellent play calling, and finally threw the ball downfield.

Even Patrick Reusse, a frequent critic of the Gopher program, wrote an article that was complimentary of Minnesota's surprise performance at this link. Reusse has a gift with words and described the sentiment of the boo-birds eloquently:

And there was one more potential distraction: The absolute conviction with which the small but deluded Gophers' fan base was stating that Brewster had to bench junior Adam Weber, a three-year starter at quarterback, and replace him with freshman MarQueis Gray.

While I doubt that Reusse read anything I wrote, I was amongst that "small but deluded Gophers' fan base." I still maintain that MarQuies Gray is the future of the program, and that it remains to be seen if Adam Weber can retain his newfound form, but I am not ashamed to eat crow for now.

I began writing this article on Sunday, but Golden Gopher Football Blog beat me to the punch by publishing an article today that contains a similar reference to the crow with eerily similar context:

Weber picked a really, really good time to have the game of his life with 414 yards and 5 TD's. My favorite part (well besides only the one pick)? His 61.3 completion percentage, completing 19 of his 31 attempts on the night. We can not only live with that Adam Weber, but we can win with him too.

It remains to be seen if the offensive dynamo is real, or if it was an apparition that will fade like a phantasm into the Halloween night. Perhaps the pumpkin-orange school color of Illinois will somehow inspire the treat to continue. For now, to eat crow is much better than to be one.

Greatly Abbreviated Preview: Michigan State vs. Minnesota

LVS — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:14:30 -0000

This guy deserves more attention.

Your MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS vs. the MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS

TCF BANK STADIUM, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA

8 P.M. (ET), BIG TEN NETWORK

WEATHER: MOSTLY CLEAR, 40 DEGREES.

[Note: this preview is going to be much shorter than usual, as yrs truly his his head on a pipe in the basement this morning, and has had a vicious headache ever since. Hopefully I won't have a seizure while typing this. Also, if my prediction is horribly wrong: built-in plausible deniability! --LVS.]

Here's what you need to know: Minnesota was not a good football team before the loss of Eric Decker, and much worse without him. Support:

MINNESOTA TEAM STATISTICS

Statistic	Relevant Number	Conf. Rank	Nat'l Rank
Scoring Offense	21.13 ppg	10	101
Passing Offense	186.88 ypg	8	89
Passing Efficiency	113.55	10	97
Rushing Offense	105.88 ypg	11	105
Total Offense	292.75 ypg	11	112
Turnover Margin	-4	7-t	90-t
Scoring Defense	25.13 ppg	8	70
Pass Defense	229.63 ypg	8	77
Pass Efficiency Defense	130.44	7	75
Rush Defense	177.88 ypg	10	96
Sacks	1.63 sacks/game	9	n/a
Total Defense	407.50 ypg	10	95

I mean, there's little that can be said which isn't already reflected in that chart. In the major statistical categories, Minnesota's best conference rank is 7th, and best national rank is 70th.

The passing game has been the best weapon for Minnesota so far this year (although, in comparison to the rushing game, that's not saying all that much). But, for some perspective, of Minnesota's 1495 passing yards this season, Eric Decker has 758 -- more than half the team's total -- and 5 of the 8 touchdown passes Minnesota quarterbacks have thrown this season. Without him, Minnesota is left with a shell of it's former passing game, and has virtually no running game to speak of. MSU's rushing defense has been mostly excellent this year; without having to worry about Minnesota doing much in that regard, we should be free to focus on stopping the pass. (More 3-3-5, plz!)

On defense for Minnesota, things aren't much better. We've complained all season long about MSU's performance on defense, but we're giving up nearly nearly 90 fewer yards per game than the Gophers. Minnesota has had a lot of difficulty getting to the quarterback, and the only occasions where Kirk Cousins has had difficulty this season have been when he's under pressure. Unless a pass rush magically appears, Cousins should be able to pick this defense apart.

Many Gopher fans would like to see MarQueis Gray take more snaps tomorrow. For every one pass attempt this season, Gray has rushed the ball three times. Some of that is obviously a function of him playing situationally, but I'd imagine we'll approach playing him in the same way we did for Denard Robinson -- and we made Robinson look absolutely silly. Gray concerns me more than Adam Weber does, simply because he's quite talented and is something of an unknown quantity -- i.e., he's capable of playing horribly, but he's also capable of doing some good things, whereas I see very little possibility of Weber having tons of success against us. Either way, we should be prepared.

In summation: we're more talented than Minnesota at nearly every position, and have performed better than them in nearly every meaningful statistical category. This game is in Minneapolis, true, but the Gophers are only 2-2 in the new place; it's not like the new stadium has been particularly foreboding for opponents this season. If MSU avoids shooting itself in the foot too many times, this game shouldn't be close. 27-10, MSU.*

Your own predictions in the comments, please!

*Dear God, I hope my optimism doesn't end up looking ridiculous.

A Consolidated Friday Preview of Minnesota Meh - Hockey v. Alaska-Anchorage, Football v. Sparty.

JG2112 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:00:38 -0000

More photos » by Al Goldis - AP

SPARTY NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Browse more photos »

Let's get hockey out of the way first. Lucia has a mess to figure out (three shutouts, and three losses and a tie in four games so far) and he needs to do it quick before the season spins out of control. The Seawolves provide a nice opportunity to right the ship. Here's a preview from Gopher Puck Live. If things develop this weekend in the rare Friday - Sunday series and warrant a review, you'll get one here.

Now, football. The Michigan State Spartans are coming to town. Gopher Nation talked with The Only Colors yesterday about some aspects of the game tomorrow. It's a critical game for both teams, and it's obviously Sparty's first trip to TCF. It's also another opportunity for Sparty to have a SPARTY NOOOOOOOOO moment.

Don't know what I'm talking about? If any fan base can relate to the SPARTY NOOOOOOOO moment, it's Minnesota. It's the combination of coaching, player, and scheme meltdowns that lead to a ridiculous late-game loss. Sparty has had this happen in comical ways over the years - obviously, having goofs like Bobby Williams and John L. Smith as your coach lead to comedy (on that note, can you believe Nick Saban once coached there?). For a good example, think the 2006 Notre Dame - Sparty game. Sparty surrendered a 37-21 fourth quarter lead in a pouring rainstorm. At home. Good fun - watch it here.

Sparty is having one heck of a run of SPARTY NOOOOOOOO moments this year, though. Take your pick as to which one is the best. Was it against Central Michigan, where the Chippewas recovered an onside kick and got to rekick their last-second field goal after Sparty was offside on a block, shocking the Spartans at home for the third time? Was it against Notre Dame, where Kirk Cousins missed a wide open receiver in the end zone on the game's penultimate play, and threw an INT across his body, on the run, into the center of the defense, on the final relevant play?

How about against Michigan, where Sparty shackled the Wolverines for 56 minutes, but let Tate Forcier construct two touchdowns to Darryl Stonum and Roy Roundtree, one with :09 left in the driving rain with Forcier completely exhausted, before midnight struck for Forcier in overtime? Last Saturday, however, may take the cake. Up by 4, Sparty coach Mark Dantonio decided to revert to a three-man rush until the game's last play, where he rushed seven. Kirk Ferentz called his bluff, motioned Tony Moeaki across the formation, got Marvin McNutt on a one-on-one situation AT THE THREE YARD line, ran a slant, and look at the picture above. Again, ONE ON ONE and a three yard SLANT pass was wide open? Truly, SPARTY NOOOOOOO. The Dantonio face after the TD catch was priceless, and totally deserved for the bitter Spartan coach.

Minnesota can relate to these kind of moments, however (Iowa 1994, Northwestern 2000, Michigan 2003 and 2004, Wisconsin 2005, Texas Tech 2006, the month of November 2008). The rules of college football now dictate that even if both teams wet the bed, someone has to win the game. Who is going to choke less? We'll find out tomorrow.

Before getting to some stats and predictions, a couple notes. First, all the best to Eric Decker. He is proof that the Scout and Rivals guys cannot quantify hard work, talent and perseverance. Think of all the fine receivers Minnesota has had over the years. Decker is the finest this university has ever seen (and Brewster, no, it's not an "excellent opportunity" for your team - losing Decker sucks - you ought to know this from November 2008). Unfortunately, that weird step he took on the out pass against Ohio State will directly affect his financial and football future, as it seems he'll need 5-8 months to recover from surgery on the foot. Whoever drafts this guy is getting a steal. Vikings or Lions, please pick him up.

In case you were wondering, had Glen Mason remained as coach, the Gophers' wideouts this year and last would have been Decker and Wisconsin WR David Gilreath. Gilreath, who decommitted after Mason was fired, would have been nice to have around in Decker's absence, both last year and this.

And if you shutter an envious eye at Spartan LB Greg Jones, the preseason Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, don't be too mad when you realize that Jones also de-committed from Minnesota after Mason was fired. Of course, Mason was a terrible recruiter, so this doesn't matter anymore. Jones and Campbell are similar players in production this year. However, Jones is but a junior while Campbell is gone in 2 months. (also, if you remember seeing starting Cal LB Devin Bishop, well, he had committed twice to Minny before Mason was fired, and he then decommitted to go to Cal.)

Alright, on to Saturday. When I previewed this game in August and debuted the term "Wild Rodent," I predicted a 23-20 win for Michigan State. Things haven't really changed this year to change my prediction in any significant way.

The teams line up pretty well in regard to scoring stats. Michigan State averages 27.25 ppg (57th nationally) and gives up 20.75 ppg (39th). On the other hand, Minnesota averages 21.13 ppg (101st) and gives up 25.13 ppg (70th). Based on these stats, empiricists would expect a 26-21 final score in favor of Sparty. Let's throw a couple more statistical and aesthetic logs on the fire:

(1) The biggest log, of course, is the absence of Decker. There are a couple ways this could go. On the one hand, Weber could look lost without his security blanket, will struggle, causing fan unrest (and let's face it, drunken students and fans will not be quiet on Halloween) and causing the coaches (if they're not oblivious) to play more Gray. On the other hand, Weber may feel more comfortable to spread the ball around to everyone, in turn making the Gopher offense more diverse and dangerous. Of course, this will require the Gopher WRs (Brandon, Stoudermire and Carpenter, in particular) to make plays. The chances are there, although without the Decker double-team, Sparty can commit more defenders to the rush. Spreading Sparty out with the pass may be the way to success.

(2) Michigan State has no such issues in the passing game, which could make tomorrow very depressing for Gopher fans. Sparty is 22nd nationally in passing offense, averaging 273.50 ypg. The Gophers, in contrast, are 77th nationally in pass defense, averaging 229.63 ypg. This despite playing Air Force and a first-time college QB (Paulus) in the opener. Sparty has a quality set of wide receivers: walk-on Blair White (who, conveniently, is also white), Mark Dell, BJ Cunningham and TE Charlie Gantt. As Minnesota gives up one passing touchdown each week where no Gopher defender is within 15 yards of the receiver (Air Force, Purdue, Penn State, Ohio State), expect a similar breakdown or two this week.

(3) Go back to #1. How much will MarQueis Gray play? If he does play, remember a couple of things: (a) Gray led his touchdown drive against the second-string Buckeye defense that had called off the dogs. Sparty's first-string defense is top quality. (b) Gray won't progress much past the first option and will be subject to a tough pass rush. Expect growing pains. (c) Remember, if Gray is in, Greg Jones will likely spy him. I'm not sure that will end too well for Gray. Perhaps Illinois's porous defense is a better week in which to further integrate Gray into the game.

(4) The night experience. Who knows how this will go? On the one hand, drunken students make for a raucous crowd. Will they keep the faith if things go wrong? Will they verbally assault Brewster and Fisch if the playcalling (probably) goes haywire? Will the cold sap the life out of the crowd (I saw this first-hand in Iowa City this year - their Homecoming crowd was dead after the second play of the game, a Stanzi INT for TD. The cold also played a large part in it. Frankly, so did playing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" when the Hawkeyes re-entered the stadium in the second half.)

Well, both teams are 4-4, which is what we thought they were in August. Sparty needs to recover from its SPARTY NOOOOOO moment last week, and needs to recover to meet its preseason bowl expectations. Minnesota continues to build toward success in 2011 (and fans, stop asking for it, because Tim Brewster's going to be here at least until 2011).

I'm not sure what to expect (though when Dantonio's team falls apart at some point tomorrow, I hope you yell SPARTY NOOOOOOOO), but I do know this. If Sparty gives up more than 20 points in 2009, they lose. I don't think it happens tomorrow (at least in regulation):

Michigan State 24 - Minnesota 20.