On Saturday the Golden Gopher football program did something it had never done under Jerry Kill: they held a spring scrimmage. This didn't happen last spring due to a lack depth at several positions.

The pre-scrimmage festivities included this video with the Gophers donning some new Nike gear...

The video really jacked up the dudes because several players began jawing at each other across the field. Unfortunately the players taunting each other was one of the more exciting things that happened on this rainy spring Saturday.

Okay, that's not quite fair. In reality there were a number of things that were positives for the Gophers, although it was sometimes difficult to see them through some of the more glaring mistakes.

Phillip Nelson started out at QB for the Gold squad and reeled off a nice first down run on his first play. He showed good speed and vision on the play and throughout the scrimmage when he was in. Nelson did not complete a single pass in the scrimmage but his first pass attempt showed pretty good touch and was unfortunately dropped by TE Alex Bisch and probably should have been caught.

Mitch Leidner also got a lot of work at QB for the Gold team and showed a similar athletic ability to Nelson. Leidner, like Nelson, did not complete a pass during the scrimmage and both showed a tendency to throw short, which is not at all surprising for two kids who would normally be focused on completing their senior year in high school.

MarQueis Gray showed much improved touch on his first pass over the middle to TE John Rabe, but Rabe wasn't able to come down with it despite the ball hitting both of his hands. (Sensing a trend yet?)

Having said that, Gray definitely embodied one of the positives on the day. His passing touch and confidence compared to this time last season is startling. He had several nice passes, but overall the receivers weren't doing him any favors with a number of dropped balls. You can really tell that he's got a year of experience under his belt, and that he's really benefited from having the same group of coaches for two seasons in a row.

Max Shortell also got a good number of snaps and he looks to have improved in confidence and touch as well. You really can't say enough about how much having the same set of coaches two years in a row has done for this team, and QB's 1 & 2 show that perhaps the most.

From a defensive perspective, the D secondary has a chance to be a real bright spot for the Gophers. Jeremy Baltazar, a JUCO transfer, had a nice day. He shows solid cover skills and tackling. Martez Shabazz, another JUCO transfer will be a great addition. Michael Carter also looks like he may finally be ready to make an impact as he had a couple of nice pass break-ups. And of course, having Troy Stoudermire being back is huge. His experience and leadership will be a big boost to the Gopher D.

Another bright spot on Defense: Ra'Shede Hageman. Hageman showed a great motor, good speed, and of course unteachable size. We've been saying it for what seems like years, but Hageman really has a chance to make an impact this fall.

One thing that was interesting was who got carries at RB. JUCO transfer James Gillum had just one carry as far as I remember, Donnell Kirkwood had perhaps a handful, and Rachel Banham's brother Cole had eight. The bulk of the carries went to JoJuan Harper, a freshman from Columbia Heights. Harper ended up with 44 yards on the ground, but showed a tendency to be very careless with the football.

Overall it wasn't a flashy day. The defense seemed to play well, but that may well have been offset if the Gopher receivers would have done a better job of hauling in some passes. There were glimpses of good things from the QB's, the d-secondary, and the offensive line, particularly the interior.

If the Gophers are going to become the bowl team that they aspire to be this fall, on the offensive side, we will need to see continued touch and confidence from Gray, WR's & TE's who become more competent catching the ball, a RB who emerges from the pack as the go-to guy, and an offensive line that continues to improve.

On the defensive side of the ball the LB group was depleted during the spring game (Rallis, Cooper & Beal were all on the sideline), but that should prove to be a solid group. The d-line will need to figure out new ways to get to the QB and into the backfield, and the d-secondary will have to continue to show great speed and tackling ability.

As Teddy described last week, Thursday's are going to be a bit of a wildcard around here during the B1G 2012 series. But there's certainly some similarities between the teams that we're reviewing in the first few weeks of this series, namely that they all aspire to become bowl teams.

Minnesota is no different, and so I'm stealing Ted's idea. If Ted doesn't like it, he can suck it!

At 3-9 in 2011 the Gophers weren't bowl eligible. Not only that, but the Gophers were nowhere near finding the other three wins they needed to become eligible. If the Gophers had been the mediocre team that everyone expected them to be, and the team that they sort of were during the second half of the season, they might have had a shot. Instead they crapped the bed early & often and barely recovered in the second half.

When Joel Maturi fired Glen Mason after the 2006 season, the Gopher program was... oh, what's a good word here... how about, serviceable? They certainly weren't competing for championships, but they were bowl eligible most years under Mason. But the idea was that the Gophers had hit their ceiling with Mason, and that bringing in another coach would allow them to get to "the next level."

Enter Tim Brewster.

/shakes head

/begins dry heaving

/drinks bourbon

When Jerry Kill was hired after the 2010 season (and after everyone calmed down (/points at self) who was initially pissed about the hire), the sentiment quickly became "Hmmm, I like this guy. Maybe he can get us back to where we were in the Mason days." Yes, most of us were pining for the Mason days. For those of you who are fans of traditional "power" programs, go ahead and let that sink in for a moment.

With that in mind, let's take a look at Minnesota's schedule, broken down in three sections, and see if we can find 6 wins and get the Gophers bowl eligible for the first time since 2009.

Continue reading this post »

**A quick note: As you likely have heard by now, former Gopher LB Gary Tinsley was found dead last Friday morning in his dorm room, by fellow-Gopher LB Keanon Cooper. As a long-time Gopher fan who follows the team incredibly closely and who has been attending games since I can remember, I'm not sure how to deal with Tinsley's death during Minnesota week. When I read the news on Friday morning while working I began to tear up. I don't mean to over-dramatize the situation, but you don't realize how close you feel to these players until something like this happens. #RIPGT51**

Greetings loyal readers. Those of you who stuck with us through the dead of winter know that the pulse on the front page of this site grew a bit faint. That is ancient history. Today is the beginning of week 2 of B1G 2012, our comprehensive offseason preview series. From now through mid July, we'll be dedicating each week on OTE to individual programs, and providing daily team insight and analysis. We'll work in reverse chronological order from last year's conference finish.

SECOND IN A SERIES: THE MINNESOTA COCKTAIL PARTY PREVIEW

Last year, we introduced the concept of the "cocktail party preview." If you're new to these parts (or, gasp, weren't paying attention last year) here's the idea. Imagine you just graduated from school and you're looking for a job in this crappy economy, or you're employed, and your boss asks you to schmooze a few prospective clients on the golf course. Either way you're in front of somebody you really need to impress. As you sit down in the hiring partner's office, or walk up to the putting green, you notice your mark has a framed picture of Darrell Thompson on the wall, or a Gopher Head on his driver sleeve. "Did you go to Minnesota?" you ask politely. "Heck yeah," comes the response. "I've had football season tickets for 18 years." And then, after a pause, he asks, "You a fan?"

After you thank your lucky stars you're not a HOGeye, you ask yourself: what do I really know about Minnesota football? The bad news is not a lot. But have no fear, you read Off Tackle Empire's Minnesota Cocktail Party Preview, a distilled, no-nonsense, matter of fact primer for the unacquainted fan. The content that follows will arm you with just enough knowledge to navigate your way through any social encounter. Or at least give you enough information to make polite conversation at a cocktail party.

Like always, we've tweaked the format a bit this year in favor of a dichotomous "on one hand/on the other hand" approach. Just like most things in life, there's good news and bad news for the Gophers heading into 2012. What do you want to hear first?

On last season

The good news is...

Jerry Kill did something that Tim Brewster was never able to do, and he did it the very first time he had the chance: beat a border rival. That win came after the Gophers had started the season 1-6, and although they finished their final 5 games with only a 2-3 record, they played like a completely different team in those final 5 games.

They ended 2011 sealing the fate of Ron Zook at Illinois with a 27-7 win over the Illini.

The bad news is...

3-9 was certainly not the type of season Gopher fans expected to have in Jerry Kill's first season. After giving USC everything it could handle in Week 1, the next six weeks were like getting a root canal from a mechanic. They did win a game over Miami (Ohio) in that stretch, but there's just no denying the fact that the Gophers were just plain awful over that stretch.

The bottom line is that the Gophers looked lost and over-matched in every facet of the game more often than they looked like they knew what they were doing last season.

Continue reading this post »

Well hello there everyone! It's your old pal JDMill here, ready to drop some (lack of) knowledge on you regarding hockey, and specifically about the Gophers upcoming Frozen Four appearance.

Next Thursday, April 5th, the Gophers will take on the Boston College Eagles in the late game (or what I like to call "The Main Event") of the semifinals. "Puck Drop" is scheduled for 7pm CT, or after the Union College/Ferris State game. BC won the Hockey East conference and then blanked both Air Force (2-0) and Duluth (4-0) to earn their Frozen Four trip.

So what should you know about BC? Plenty.

First, what is most impressive is that Boston College has won their last 17 games in a row. SEVENTEEN! Yikes. BC has not lost a game since January 21st.

On their way to a 31-10-1 record, Boston College gave up just over 2 goals/game (2.07), and less than 27 shots/game. Offensively, BC scores 3.5 goals/game.

But here's something that I found interesting: Boston College gave up more than 2 goals just three times in their 31 wins, and all three of those times they gave up just 3 goals. In other words, in every game where BC gave up more than 3 goals (8 times), they lost.

As mentioned Boston College is on a hot streak, 17 wins in a row heading into the Frozen Four. What's more is that in those 17 wins, BC gave up more than two goals just one time. It happened to be the first game of the streak, meaning that they have 16 games in a row where they have not given up more than 2 goals. And to take it a step further, in those 16 games where they didn't give up more than 2 goals, they actually only allowed 2 goals 5 times. They also had 5 shutouts.

Boston College is difficult to score on, especially over the past 2 months.

By contrast the Gophers are... well, not that much different... at least on an overall basis.

Defensively the Gophers give up 2.21 goals/game, while scoring 3.67 goals/game, and they actually give up less shots than BC at just 24.9/game. The Gophers scored 4 goals or more in 17 games this season and they won 15 of them. The other two were a tie and a loss.

To recap...
When the Gophers score 4 or more goals, they win 88% of the time.
When BC gives up 4 or more goals, they lose 100% of the time.

So, looking only at stats, and considering my uneducated hockey mind (notice how I keep reminding you of that?), if the statistics hold true, and the Gophers can keep with their season average and get 4 goals past BC Junior Goalie Parker Milner (93.5 save %), they will beat Boston College.

It's really that simple folks. If the Gophers score 4 goals they will win.

Game Plan: Score 4 goals.

You're welcome.

(Please feel free to forward this simple game plan to Don Lucia. I'd do it myself, but that would just be arrogant.)

Hey, how 'bout them Gophers!?!?!

I gotta tell you, I haven't watched as many Gopher basketball games this season as maybe I should have, but that first half was REALLY fun last night. And about 3/4 of the 2nd half was reasonably fun too. And then the Gophers went into their Tubbishell, and then my ass began to pucker. Glad the Gophs pulled it out or it would have been a VERY uncomfortable night.

-In case you missed Sid being Sid over the weekend... Kaler is doing a good job convincing the state that the U should be able to sell booze in the suites and a beer garden, MBIII is retiring, Royce White is destined for first round status, and the Vikings signed something named EriC (with a C, not an N) Henderson.

-Coach Kill's group had a sloppy practice yesterday, but they kept up the pace and some of the younger Gophers showed a glimpse or two of what we're all so excited about.

-The Minnesota SBNation site recaps last night's win over THE PAC-12 REGULAR SEASON CHAMPION WASHINGTON HUSKIES!!! (caps and exclamation points added for dramatic effect)

-Be honest... a year ago you would have NEVER seen this coming.

-College Hockey News notes that even though the season isn't completely over, the WCHA is being hit hard with early departures.

-Rittenburg doesn't think it's unreasonable for Gopher fans to expect the football team to return to a bowl game this year.

What should Minnesota fans expect this season? Definitely more than three or four wins. It's not unreasonable at all to expect the Gophers to get back to a bowl.

Welcome to OTE's State of the B1G 2012, where we will be examining the B1G conference from as many angles as the twisted minds of our crack staff of writers can muster up.

...

Today we take a look at the bottom 1/3 of the conference to examine the state of what we will refer to as the B1G's lesser class. For the purposes of this piece we will look at the state of the four teams that finished 2011 with the worst conference records: Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota and Northwestern. While Ohio State finished with the same conference record as NWestern, I don't think anyone would put them in the lesser class of the B1G, so we're leaving them out.

The Recent Past

If you were picking a veritable murderers row of the B1G's lesser class, you'd do pretty well by coming up with this group. Only Purdue might round out the discussion, but they found their way to a .500 conference record last season, so they are spared association with this group for now.

At the very bottom is Indiana, a team that managed zero conference win and just one win overall in 2011, beating South Carolina State. Indiana is a team that made a nice hire in Kevin Wilson before the 2011 season, but it certainly didn't translate to the field in his first year. Indiana was the laughing stock of the B1G, and for that Gopher and Illini fans across B1G country thank them.

Continue reading this post »

A Twitter-ese response to yesterday's recruiting news might look something like this: "Glen Mason << Tim Brewster <<<<< Jerry Kill"

Remember how much of a priority Tim Brewster said closing up Minnesota's borders and keeping the states best players at home was? And we were ecstatic because it looked like he was doing it. His first full recruiting class locked up 4 of the top 10 recruits in Minnesota, followed by a 7 out of the top 10 class, and then a complete drop-off locking up only 2 of the top 10 in 2010.

Closing up the border is important because it means that your program makes a difference to the youngsters of the state. But it's not the full story. While Brewster landed 7 of 10 in 2009, only one of those, Ed Olson, has had a real and consistent impact. Ra'shede Hageman began to have in impact on the defensive side of the ball in 2011, despite being recruited as a TE.

Here we are again with the Golden Gopher program getting 7 of the top 10 in the state. This is huge for obvious reasons, but it also shuts everyone up who said that Kill couldn't recruit. As FrothyGopher so eloquently stated on Twitter last night by quoting Glengarry Glen Ross...

But here's what's different about this class of 7 Minnesota recruits that we couldn't say about the 2009 class... these guys actually fit what Jerry Kill is trying to do.

I'm not going to break each of these guys down, you'll get plenty of that next week, but the way this group of youngsters fits what we need is almost uncanny.

You want an athletic QB with good feet and a strong arm? The 3rd best recruit in the state fits that description.

You need a physical WR who can bang in the middle but also has the ability to stretch the field? Sounds like the guy who did some flip-flopping, but announced last night he's staying home.

You need maulers to make sure we can back-fill the O-line when the current group starts graduating? We've got one, two of those guys in our top 10.

How about a linebacker who has a nose for the ball? Yep, we got one of those too.

Coach Kill and Staff got a group of really good, home-grown players who fit the needs of the team. Hopefully this is a sign of continued good things to come.

I'm not a fan of waking up on Saturday mornings and not having any college football to look forward to for the day, but at least on this Saturday morning we've got some things to talk about.

New Jerseys

The new uni's were unveiled yesterday and the collective response seems to be a bit of a sigh of relief. There was some concern that things were going to be over the top with this unveiling, but Nike stuck with maroon, gold and white, and a pretty classic look.

Personally, I'm a big fan of more classic looking jerseys, and these jerseys are right up my alley. I'm a big fan of the all-maroon and the all-white looks and I am ecstatic with the fact that there doesn't seem to be an all-gold look. I actually don't care for the gold jerseys at all, but like the gold pants, maroon tops look.

Okay, enough fashion talk... okay, one more. Very cool how the bricks were incorporated into the numbers.

Coaching Staff

That silence you hear? That would be the coaching staff NOT experiencing turnover.

Recruiting

There's a difference between recruiting in Brewster's days vs recruiting these days. Kill's staff is putting on plenty of miles, but the difference seems to be that they aren't trying to be flashy about it, and they are working to land the right kind of players instead of the right names. Heard any reports of Kill taking a helicopter to Hopkins to see Andre McDonald play?

Speaking of McDonald, while I'm sure that Coach Kill would be happy to have McDonald join the program, I bet he's no fan of the games that the Hopkins WR has been playing during his recruiting. His antics are, of course, nowhere near what we saw with the Seantrel Henderson saga, but the commit/de-commit game and all the talk of where he'll be going is nothing but a distraction away from what kind of a player he is.

One thing is for sure, if McDonald does choose to stay home and play for the Gophers, he's not going to get any special treatment from the Coach.

Lastly, even without McDonald, Kill has landed 6 of the top 10 (according to Rivals) players in the state.

Attrition

It's early in the off-season (sigh) and we haven't heard much about players leaving the program yet. We did learn, however, that Wisconsin native Tom Parish has decided to leave the U of M. Parish was a big "get" in the 2010 class as he was the 2nd rated prospect in Wisconsin that year, and a highly rated dual-threat QB across the nation. But Parish slipped down the depth chart when Max Shortell impressed everyone through camps last year.

Here's hoping Parish lands someplace where his talents are well-used!

When last we left, our hero (me) was trying to figure out this crazy thing called hockey. I've been watching quite a bit of hockey since then, mostly of the high school variety, but it has helped me in a few ways.

Here are some updates:

-I now understand what cross-checking is.

-I have also learned what boarding is.

-I now think I understand what forechecking and backchecking are, but I'm not sure that I always recognize them.

So, I think I'm making some progress. Yay me.

What I've found interesting is that even though I don't know that much about hockey, I still find myself formulating an opinion about the play on the ice, or what the team I'm cheering for should be doing. I'm not sure if this is because I am a typical know-it-all blogger, or because as someone who watching A LOT of sports you tend to pick up on tendencies even when you don't know the game that well.

In any case, while watching the Gophers play Notre Dame and North Dakota, a few things came to mind that I thought I'd share here. Again, please keep in mind I'm no hockey guy. Jeffrick is the hockey guy around here.

There's been a huge issue this year on Friday night's for the Gophers. It's like they become a completely different team between Friday night and Saturday night. I'm not well versed enough in the game to know specifically what they are doing well on Saturday's that they aren't doing on Friday's, but it just seems to me that they come out slow and flat on Friday nights.

I have a couple of theories on that which other people probably picked up on a long time ago.

First, just about anytime the Gophers play they are going to be the favorite, the Goliath if you will. It's like in baseball, no matter who you are, you want to beat the Yankees. So the team they are playing against has spent an entire week pumping themselves up to play one of the most storied hockey programs in the country, and that means that Friday night they come out with guns a-blazin'. They bring everything they have, every effort they can muster, to beat the big guys.

Second, and this is the one I really want to talk about, is coaching. Now again, I don't know hockey very well, but to me if you have a week of practice, a week to prepare, and you come out flat and uninspired, that's about coaching. You've got an entire week for your team to get healthy, an entire week "rest," and an entire week to learn about your opponent and get your squad fired up to play on Friday night in some of the best atmosphere's that sports has to offer. Shouldn't you be able to light a fire under your team in that amount of time, or at least maybe in a pre-game speech?

There are good practice coaches, and there are good in-game coaches, and the coaches that are the best at what they do are pretty effective at both. The Gopher hockey team seems to need the bright lights and hitting of Friday night to get pumped up to play, but by then it's often too late. Thankfully for the most part they've been able to carry whatever fire they acquire on Friday nights into Saturday night.

Lastly, is there anything more exciting in hockey than a short-handed goal? I think a short-handed goal gets me more fired up than anything. I was watching a high school game last week and one guy on the team I was watching scored TWO short-handed goals in the span of 22 seconds. It was unbelievable. Really fired me up, you guys.

I grew up in the State of Hockey. Hockey is a sport that I like, but I don't really understand, which can make it pretty difficult to follow.

Here's what I think I know...

-I think I might understand what icing is, but sometimes I see the goalie put his glove up before the ref calls it, and I don't know how that's related.

-I mostly feel like I kind of understand what off-sides is.

-I know I like to watch the little black thing bounce around on the ice skaters sticks.

-I know what it means if a goalie is "standing on his head."

-I know what a "line" is.

-I know that if there is a penalty on a player whose team doesn't possess the puck that the ref will hold his hand up and the penalty won't be assessed until the team of said player touches the puck... I also know that because of this, the team that isn't going to get penalized may pull their goalie and send in another player.

-I know a win in regulation is worth 2 points, and a win in overtime is worth 1, but I'm not sure what happens when there's a tie.

Here's what I know I don't know...

-I have no idea what cross-checking is.

-Nor do I know what constitutes boarding.

-I almost never understand, in a non-penalty situation, why the ref blows the whistle and calls for a face-off.

-I have no idea how the players know when to substitute, or who is substituting for who... but I find the coordination of it to be fascinating.

-There is something, I believe it's some kind of strategery or something, called "the backcheck" (I think), but I have no idea what it is.

Every year for the past few years I've made a declaration that I was going to try to "get into" hockey. The nice thing that I've found, for me anyway, is that following college hockey is a bit easier than following the pros because college hockey is only played on the weekends (I think).

So I've been trying to watch more Gopher hockey, and I've been trying to keep up on some of the developments. I read Gopher Puck Live, and follow them on Twitter, as well as @GopherState.

When I watch Gopher Hockey one of the things I like best is that most of the team is from Minnesota, including three of the more exciting players on the team: Kent Patterson (Plymouth), Nick Bjugstad (Blaine) and Kyle Rau (Eden Prairie). Bjugstad and Rau are the top two goal scorers on the team, while Patterson already has the most shutouts in a season for a goalie in Gopher Hockey history.

Here's something else I don't quite understand. Somehow Bjugstad and Rau have both already been drafted by an NHL team (the Florida Panthers), so that team owns the "rights" to them when they enter the NHL, but they don't have to enter the NHL right away. As a fan, should this concern me? Not because I have a problem with them already being drafted by an NHL team, but because doesn't that mean they could leave at any time?

Rau is only a freshman, while Bjugstad is a sophomore, and while I'm not a great hockey mind by any means, it seems to me that both of them could do well in the NHL almost right away. I realize that players leaving early is simply part of college sports, but as a fan of Gopher football, I'm not exactly used to having to deal with the fact that our best player might be a short-timer.

The other thing I've been hearing a lot about is how the B1G is adding hockey to the conference slate because Penn State is adding hockey, so the Gophers will no longer be in the WCHA. As I've said, I don't have as much history with the Gophers as a lot of you, so I don't have any emotional attachment to the WCHA. But, I do think it's a shame that it sounds like we won't be playing teams like UND, UMD, St Cloud and Mankato quite as much, if at all. Those are some fun and heated games.

Having said that, I think it will be kind of cool to be able to build stronger rivalries with the other B1G schools. We already have a good hockey rivalry with Wisconsin, but adding yearly, conference rivalries with Michigan, MSU, Ohio State, and possibly someday Illinois, will be fun.

In any case, these are my very elementary thoughts on Gopher Hockey as a man trying to learn to understand the sport. What I know without question is that I like to see Gopher teams win, and the Gopher Hockey team does a fair amount of winning.

I may give more hockey thoughts throughout the season, but I'm no Jeffrick. Jeffrick is a 10-foot tall beast man who grew up in Canada and still plays "shinny" to this day. I'm just a guy who likes sports, who loves the Gophers, who appreciates college athletics slightly over pro sports, and who wants to do a better job of filling the void that college football is about to leave in my life.

Woke up to snow yesterday. Woke up this morning to realize that there's no Gopher football game tomorrow. Mbakwe is out for the season. Gopher Hockey is no longer ranked #1 in the nation. What a barren wasteland of nothingness, wailing and gnashing of teeth my life has become.

But, you know, Happy Friday!!! Really looking forward to the weekend, you guys!

-What we DO have to "look forward to" is the B1G Championship game. The folks at OTE give their predictions, and almost everyone is on Wisky... seewhatIdidthere?

-The odds makers have cast their lots on the possibility of Ohio State winning the B1G next season.

-DWG reviews the men's basketballers W over Virginia Tech, and admits to being joyfully wrong.

-KGorg previews this weekend's hockey series as the Gophers travel south on Hwy 169 to battle the host (thanks to @gopherstate for the correction) Mankato State Minnesota State Screaming Eagles Mavericks. Also, did you know that the show "Coach" was originally supposed to be about the U of M, but that the school withdrew their approval to use the university's name on the show? I, for one, did NOT know that.

-While the men's team heads south, the Gopher women of the ice head northwest to battle the fighting Sioux. Wait, that's not their nickname anymore, is it?

-The lady basketballers are struggling a bit. They suffered a loss to Wake Forest and will take on the #1 team in all the land this weekend.

-And because this band is amazing, and because I want you to love them as much as I do...

Well, it's official. The most sought-after unemployed coach in all the land is now the head man at Ohio State. Urban Meyer was officially introduced yesterday as the new head coach at OSU taking over a program that fell from grace faster than anything we've ever seen... until, you know, that thing in State College, PA happened. 

I know, I know, we all felt so sorry for OSU. The scandal, the firing, a 6-6 record... THE HORROR!!! 

But you can stop now because clearly things are going to be just fine at OSU.

So what does it all mean for the rest of us? And particularly, what does it mean for those of us who are trying to be built into a B1G contender? Let's explore, shall we?

Continue reading this post »

Saturday was not fun. The Badgers did essentially whatever they wanted to do to our Gophers on both sides of the ball. They moved the ball at will, and they stuffed our offense all day long. 

Not good times. 

We're supposed to be highly against moral victories, and I get that, but with what this team has been through in the last few years, I think it's okay to look at areas where we've improved. 

Jerry Kill said it numerous times in interviews last week, and he's completely right: Wisconsin is a team that is two plays away from being undefeated and a top 3 BCS team. They are a damn good football team, and they showed it to us on Saturday. 

And that, I think, is something we can take away from the loss to Wisconsin. Keeping in mind that I realize this was a completely ugly game to watch, but what was ugly about this game was different than what has been ugly in the past.

Think about the Michigan game... this was a game where we got absolutely trounced on the score board and all over the field. But a good amount of the problem with the Michigan game was that we made a boatload of mistakes. Michigan is a good, solid, talented team, and certainly are better than the Gophers right now and should beat them.

What you saw against Michigan was a good football team that beat a poor football team that was making a ton of mistakes. But Michigan is not 58 points better than Minnesota... at least not 58 points better than the Gopher team we have right now.

By comparison, what I saw on Saturday in a 29-point loss to Wisconsin, wasn't a football team that didn't know what it was doing and that was making a lot of costly mistakes, but instead a team that is still immature that was beaten by a team with superior talent that executed nearly flawlessly for 4 quarters.

In other words, this game, and the 29-point difference in score, had more to do with how good and disciplined Wisconsin is, not how bad and undisciplined the Gophers are. 

Although Wisconsin scored a touchdown on its opening drive, and rent-a-QB completed every pass he threw, the Gophers did an admirable job slowing down the Badgers on that drive.

MarQueis Gray did not have a great day as a QB, completing just 14 passes and throwing an interception. But off the top of my head I can think of at least 3 balls that Q threw that should have been caught. Additionally, the interception that he did throw, could, at least in part, be blamed on John Rabe for not adjusting. 

From a rushing standpoint we just could not get any momentum because Wisconsin is just to big, talented and disciplined.

From a defensive perspective, we were victim to the Russell Wilson show. (And by the way, how much do the B1G announcers and studio hosts LOVE Wilson? Good heavens am I glad he's only around for a year because the love-fest rivals the old John Madden/Brett Favre infidelities.) His accuracy is sick. His play-action fake destroyed us, and the sideline was open every single time he wanted it. Besides all of that, and outside of the opening series, his offensive line gave him all day to throw the ball, and when he ran out of time he found enough room to get yards to keep the ball moving. 

This is a Minnesota football team that is getting better, and they are showing signs of life in all aspects of the game (I didn't even touch on special teams which accounted for all of our points), but they ran into a team that was hitting on all cylinders on Saturday, and could probably hang with any team in the country right now. (How much would you love to see Wisconsin's offense face LSU's defense?)

Moral victory? Sure. But at least it's something.

Hate week round 2! We're a day away from bighting the Fadgers for the Axe! I think I speak for everyone in Gold Country when I say Buck the Fadgers! (insert additional homer comments followed by ! here)

-I love The Big Lebowski, and if you missed it, I wrote this week's OTE Power Poll, based on Big Lebowski quotes. I enjoyed writing it.

-If you missed it earlier this week, injured Rutgers player Eric LeGrand tweeted some fantastic news. News that I think we can all agree was much needed among college football fans.

-There's a lot of hate going around, and FBT does a bang-up job of reminding us just why there's so much hate flowing.

-DWG previews tonight's Gopher basketball tilt with Bucknell.

-More hate from SGH? 

-Gorg discusses the Gopher hockey team's #1 ranking and previews the trip to Madison this weekend.

-And lastly, if you are sitting behind any Badger fans at The Bank this weekend, watch out for this...

I'll admit, when The Big Lebowski came out, I didn't get it. I thought it was weird and disjointed and unremarkable. But like most Coen Brothers movies, you have to watch The Big Lebowski a good 5 or 6 times before you can truly appreciate it.

One of the things I love so much about The Big Lebowski is that the stuff that I laugh at when I watch that movie today, isn't necessarily the same stuff I laughed at the first half dozen times I saw it... not unlike the B1G. The things that I love about the B1G have changed over time. 

It's actually not unlike this B1G season. The teams that we thought were great early, are not the same as we think now. Quite an interesting Power Poll this week. Our writers had OSU ranked anywhere from #1 to #5, Wisconsin anywhere from #1 to #4, and MSU anywhere from #2 to #5. Only 1 team was universally picked in the same spot by everyone... Indiana at #12.

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If there is one "play" that seems to have defined Gopher football over the past decade, in my mind, it has to be opponent's 3rd & long. Since the days of Glen Mason, Gopher football has seemingly always given up first downs after forcing the opponent's offense into a 3rd & long situation. 

I'm not going to break down 10 years of 3rd down statistics, but suffice it to say that the Gophers have, for quite a long time, had difficulty getting the defense off the field in 3rd down situations. If you want to point to one stat that made winning difficult despite having some fantastic offenses during the Mason era, this is probably it.

From an "eyeball test" point of view, this season hasn't seemed much different.

In baseball, Billy Beane placed On Base % as a statistic above all other stats. You can't score runs unless you have runners on the bases.

3rd down efficiency is the On Base % of football. It's tough to score points if your offense can't stay on the field.

Can you get your defense off the field on 3rd down? Can you keep your offense on the field on 3rd down? 3rd down is the most important down in football. Like a team's ability to run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense, 3rd down efficiency is a stat that, to at least some extent, defines how good a football team is. 

One of the best teams in the B1G, the Wisconsin Badgers, come to The Bank this Saturday. The Badgers are very good on 3rd down on both sides of the ball. On offense they convert 55% of the 3rd downs that they face, while allowing their opponent to convert just 37% of the time. 

By the measure of 3rd down efficiency, like their W-L record, the Gophers are losing. The Gophers are converting roughly 2/3 of the 3rd downs they face as an offense (34%), while they are allowing their opponent's to convert 3rd downs nearly half of the time on defense (45%).

It's no surprise that the game in which the opponent had the best 3rd down efficiency against the Gopher defense was Michigan, a game that the Wolverines converted third downs at a 55% clip. Conversely, the Gopher offense had their worst game converting against Michigan as well... the Gophers did not convert a SINGLE 3rd down. 

For the season, the Gophers have had a better 3rd down efficiency than their opponent just once: this past Saturday at Michigan State. Facing 15 third downs, the Gophers converted 7 times, 47%. This was also the game in which the Gopher defense had their best day stopping the opponent on 3rd down, allowing the Spartans to convert first downs just 4 times out of 13 tries (31%). 

The Gopher football team has been horrible at times this season (see Michigan), and they have found ways to be competitive at others (see Michigan State). The Gophers had a very good opportunity to beat a very good team on Saturday, but were ultimately run down by a very physically talented Michigan State team. But the Gophers ability to stop the Spartans on 3rd down gave the Gopher offense more opportunities than they have had all season, and the Gopher offense took advantage by staying on the field after facing 3rd downs nearly half of the time. 

If the Gophers hope to be competitive this Saturday against Wisconsin, they they hope to win more games this season, and if they hope to build a program that is competitive every single Saturday and for the division and conference crowns overall, they will have to become a team that wins the battle of 3rd down.

Last Saturday's tough showing against MSU is a start in the right direction.

- You know what my wife says about Jerry Kill? "He's so cute! I just love him." So I've got that goin' for me... which is nice.

- I was thinking about how irritated and annoyed we all were, or most of us anyway (/points at self), when Jerry Kill got hired. And I know we've had this discussion a million times since, but now that we know almost for certain that Joel Maturi is a lame duck as Athletic Director, is there any doubt anymore that every ounce of our irritation and annoyance was directed at "Director's Cup" Joel?

- Down With Goldy shares recipes all the time, and we're supposed to be what DWG wants to grow up to be someday (his/their words, not mine), and I know that this isn't my recipe, but dudes & gals, seriously, you should try making this slow cooker lasagna... it's fantastical. I might suggest using bowtie pasta instead of the lasagna noodles, but that's just me.

- After the somber life that was being 1-6 I was having trouble seeing any light at the end of the tunnel. But after beating Iowa (again), and realizing how many young guys contributed in that game and are gaining valuable game experience, I'm starting to get excited for the NEXT couple seasons already. Here are some things to be excited about...

• More seasons with 7 home games
• Non-conference games that are winnable, but not (completely) boring (UNLV, Western Mich, San Jose St, Syracuse, North Carolina)
• An opening road game next year in... VEGAS!!! (Who's in!?!?!?!)
• Opening up the B1G schedule against Iowa each of the next two years.
• 9 game B1G schedules start in 2015?!?!

- You know who I really like right now? Duane Bennett. He's suddenly playing like a man possessed. Runs over, around and through people, won't go down, fights for extra yards. He's kind of like MBIII right now. (Don't get bent out of shape, I'm not comparing them. Just saying.)

- For one more day I'd like to revel in the meltdown that's happening in Iowa City right now. That is all. Oh, and this. 

- As mentioned in this morning's Nugz, the line for this week's game at MSU is Gophers -28, and as far as I can tell that line hasn't changed all week. My guess is that after MSU completely crapped the bed at Nebraska and suddenly the Gophers woke up in beating Iowa (again), that gamblers don't want a damn thing to do with either of these teams, and I can't blame them. 28 points is a big margin, but the Gophers have already lost to three B1G teams by 27 points or more. It's the classic which team is going to show up... and frankly, it's a problem across the entire B1G right now.

DallasGopher, TexasGopher, and Rencito... I believe all of you are in TX? Maybe the Dallas area. I have to head down there this weekend for a wedding. Staying in the Las Colinas area. Any idea of a bar around there that would have BTN where I could watch the Gophers?

Shoot me an email if you wish. jdmill.tdg@gmail.com

You know how the band 311 holds a concert every single year on March 11th, you know, cause it's 3/11? Anyway, I was wondering, do you think that on 11/3, since it's the opposite, they don't play any music at all?

-So I participated in a Mid-Season Division Arugments piece over at OTE for our division (is it Leaders or Legends? I refuse to learn which) that posted yesterday. My position was that although the Gophers mathematically can win the division, they won't. What you might find more interesting however, is that as of this morning, 6% of people voting in the pole (20 of 296) of who would win the division said that the Gophers would win it. 

-TheBigTenFootballDude doesn't care if the Gophers beat Iowa (again). He doesn't think the Gophers can beat MSU, and he thinks the spread (-28) is right on the money.

-As a huge fan of The Big Lebowski I find this animated gif absolutely outstanding.

-DWG welcomes Nebraska to B1G basketball? 

-Amelia proclaims the ugliness against Bemidji State was still a good learning process for Tubby's bunch.

-The Daily previews the upcoming series for Gopher Hockey against the Fighting Sue. By the way, if you're a twitterererererer, please start using #FightingSue... That's pretty funny.

It's been 4 days since the Gophers won a football game. This is getting ridiculous.

-Hey, the OTE Power Poll features something new this week... Indiana as the worst team in the conference. And a comparison to us as Ringo. What a difference a win makes, right honey bunny?

-Anybody see any good B1G related costumes this Halloween? These aren't B1G related, but pretty good just the same.

-FBT is reveling in the Gopher win, to be sure. But I think you'll agree there's a certain amount of joy for the Hawkeyes losing (again) all it's own.

-Still Got Hope? is doin' the bull dance, feelin' the flow. Workin' it. Workin' it.

-On a scale of 1 to awesome, DWG gives the Gopher basketball team a solid "meh" regarding their exhibition performance last evening.

-Gopher women's bball is set for a new season.

-Don Lucia wants to be The Man!

Hate week! The hate is flowing through me like the Mississippi River flows through Minnesota. It's pulsating in me. Or something like that.

-Ever heard the saying "better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt"? This is generally how I feel about Jim Souhan. And there is so much snark in this article about Coach Kill's contract that it makes me want to puke. Souhan doesn't get it, and once again, he proves it to us by putting it down in print.

It's understandable that Kill would ask his bosses for more time to turn around one of the worst programs in the country.

Do we even know that Coach Kill's agent ASKED for two more years? In his interview with Sid yesterday, U President Kaler said the additional 2  years were his decision.

To summarize, the U has guaranteed Kill $1.9 million more than he agreed to in December.

Let's be clear about something. There was no contract in place before this week. The parameters of a contract were agreed upon in December, leading to Coach Kill accepting the job, after which the contract has been negotiated since. This isn't an extension, it's the first contract Kill has signed. I get the "extension" angle that Souhan is going for, but it's idiotic. Is a 7-year first contract for a new coach a bit out of the ordinary? Sure. But U President Kaler is absolutely within his bounds to decide this contract should be longer based on circumstances and his belief that this program needs some stability. FBT agrees... so take THAT!!!

/takes a deep breath

-I enjoyed this piece offering some suggestions for new mascots for B1G teams, and was particularly pleased by the fact that the Gophers weren't somehow involved.

-Down With Goldy previews Mountain West basketball. I didn't read it, but I scrolled through it. Based on what I can tell TCU is the best team in the conference without question.

-A look at Minnesota natives Coleman and Ingram and their roles on the Tubby's squad this winter.

-Don Lucia thinks his team is taking baby steps. I bet his favorite movie is "What About Bob?"

-Good heavens do I miss this commercial campaign...

It's been freakin' ugly for the Gophers this year. After a spirited 2nd half performance against USC, the crap has been flying around in so many different ways it's getting hard to keep track of them. Every single writer on this blog has voted Minnesota the worst team in the B1G for the last several weeks, and for good reason. Indiana should be thanking us for keeping them out of the cellar.

So I decided it's time to steal BabaOReally's idea, and try to find some silver linings. This ought to be interesting.

Cloud: The Gophers lost to North Dakota State. It was gross, and it was the third time in five years that the Gophers have managed to lose to an FCS team. This feat was accomplished with 3 different coaches.

Silver Lining: The Gopher offense did manage an impressive opening drive against NDSU. A clock-eater that was balanced and resulted in a TD. While it's not a ton to build on, it does show that this offense, with preparation and clear direction, can execute.

Cloud: The first half of the season was the easier half for the Gophers, but they managed to lose three games (NMSU, NDSU & Purdue) that looked very winnable coming into the season. Things get much tougher from here on out with Nebraska, Wisky, MSU, Illinois, Iowa & N'Western on the schedule.

Silver Lining: I would say there are two here. First, our most winnable games are behind us, which means as fans we can approach each Gopher game moving forward completely devoid of optimism and most likely significantly boozed up. Second, N'Western is reeling after losing 4 straight even with #PersaStrong back at the helm. I'm not saying the Gophers will beat N'Western, I'm just saying that game suddenly looks slightly more interesting.

Cloud: At 1-5 overall, with the toughest part of their schedule coming up, it's likely that the Gophers will manage to drop 5 strait games at The Bank. 

Silver Lining: IT'S HOCKEY SEASON! The Gopher men's hockey team started out 4-0 with a sweep last weekend over defending National Champions University of Minnesota Duluth. The Gophers have one of the most exciting freshman in the game in native Minnesotan Kyle Rau, and the Gophers look to get back to their championship contending ways.

Cloud: The Gophers have the worst offense in the B1G.

Silver Lining: A lot of freshman are getting a significant amount of playing time which can only help their development. Against Purdue WR Marcus Jones had a 32 yard reception and a kickoff returned for a TD. QB Max Shortell has played in every game this season. Tommy Olson, Jimmy Gjere and Zac Epping have all gotten a good amount of playing time on the OL and are all freshmen. This playing time should help them out in coming years.