Buck Bravo

While the Minnesota siege of Camp Randall was almost a successful campaign, “almost”  enters the record book indifferent from “never had a chance.”  Wisconsin did not play a good football game, but Minnesota made too many mistakes to pull out a win.  The Gophers almost lifted Paul Bunyan’s axe from the grounds of Camp Randall Stadium, but injuries and inexperience hobbled their effort and they fell under the very axe they sought.

Despite several mistakes and costly turnovers by Minnesota, Wisconsin only won by three points.  A top tier Division 1 team would have won by a much larger margin if given a three-car garage sized window of opportunity.  Each of the following events and decisions would have resulted in a different outcome for the game:

1. The fumble on the opening drive.  This one seems obvious, but it resulted in seven points towards a three point win.
2. Playing “not to lose” with 2:05 left in the first half.  An effective hurry-up offense could have tried to implement a series of sideline passes in order to drive into enemy territory for an  attempted score.  However, the coaching decision on this one may have been a good one since Minnesota’s young receivers, Adam Weber’s inconsistency, and Joel Monroe’s kicking had been liabilities in past weeks.  The point is that a strong offense would have had the confidence to run the two-minute drill.  Even a field goal could have sent the game to overtime.
3. Shady Salamon’s fumble with 7:55 left in the game.  Adam Weber pitched the ball behind Salamon instead of hitting him in stride.  This one also cost the Gophers seven points.
4. Adam Weber’s Decker-less struggles.  Many of his passes have been off-target.  Even the touchdown to Brodrick Smith was underthrown.  Several completions did not hit wide open receivers in stride (including the fumbled pitch to Salamon).  He appeared uncomfortable during the hurry-up offense near the end of the game and threw an interception.  Great quarterbacks shine under pressure and command the hurry-up offense in the two-minute drill.  Long term, losing Eric Decker for a few games may be the best thing that happened to Adam Weber.  Before the injury, Weber would try to force the ball to Decker without giving consideration to other wide receivers.  Now, he is being forced to read the defense and track multiple targets.  Remember the Brett Favre era for the Packers?  Almost every time he established a primary receiver who accumulated impressive statistics, the receiver would leave for a big payday.  Favre never missed a step, and would proceed to make average receivers appear extraordinary.
5. David Gilreath.  Gilreath chose to abandon his home state of Minnesota in order to play for Wisconsin.  Gilreath had a few key receptions for the Badgers.  He is a talented wide receiver who as a Gopher would have given Weber another dangerous target.  If Gilreath had remained home to be a Gopher, the final score probably would have been different.  Apparently the access to abundant fried cheese, liquor stores on Sunday, and the peace and quiet of the Wisconsin countryside is more desirable than an active, thriving metropolis with professional teams for every major sport.

The bottom line is that a three point loss to Wisconsin and a game ending touchdown by Northwestern are the difference between a 9-2 and a 7-4 record for Minnesota.  As the coaching staff bring in talented recruits and the young Gopher team matures, the program should continue to improve.  It just isn’t easy to watch a winnable game fall under the axe once again.

In my prior post, I promised to review Ohio State media and blogs prior to Saturday’s matchup.  I’ll make that post before Saturday.  For now, let’s briefly review overall team offense and defense statistics for Big Ten teams heading into conference play. 

Statistical comparisons of Big Ten teams are not entirely fair since non-conference schedules were of different difficulty levels.  While the Gophers were playing Montana State, Ohio State was playing USC.  Regardless of the strength of schedules, there are some interesting statistical observations to be made amongst Big Ten teams.

Let’s start with the offenses:

* Statistics for teams that have only played three games have been prorated

The Gophers are tied for second in the Big Ten with 36.3 points per game.  The Gophers have solid passing numbers with 967 yards placing them fourth in the conference.  The running game is eighth in the conference.  Hopefully the running game will continue to improve as Deleon Eskridge and Shady Salamon continue to pick up where Duane Bennett left off.

And now for the defense:

Despite last week’s stellar performance, the Gophers are seventh in the conference for total points allowed.  Middle of the pack performance in the Big Ten is definitely an improvement from last year.  Tying for first place with eight interceptions is likely not a fluke, as the revamped secondary appears to be the real deal.  With a new coordinator and several new and young players, expect the defense to continue to improve over the course of the year.

Look for a new post tomorrow reviewing Ohio State blog and media predictions.

Duane Bennett started off the season with two solid games, and appeared to be well on his way to becoming the next great Gopher running back.  Bennett was quick, he could break tackles, he was a good receiver, and he was a great pass blocker.  Unfortunately, a knee injury suffered in last Saturday’s game versus Bowling Green will sideline him for the rest of the season.

While Bennett will definitely be missed this year, his injury provides an opportunity for three true freshmen.  Junior Jay Thomas is a talented back, but his durability is a question mark after having both of his knees reconstructed.  My prior post on Thomas can be viewed here.  I would not be surprised if either Shady Salamon, Deleon Eskridge, or Kevin Whaley steps up and haves a big season.  Here’s some statistics and analyses on the three freshmen running backs:

Shady Salamon -Salamon is currently the favorite to become the featured running back for the Gophers.  Last year at this time he was the featured running back for Cretin-Derham Hall High School in Saint Paul.  Click on this link for his senior year high school statistics.  Salamon looked solid against Bowling Green with a few powerful runs and sound technique.  I’ll agree with other analysts and reporters that Salamon is the favorite to win the starting job.

Deleon Eskridge - Juniper Serra High School’s all time touchdown record was held by NFL Hall of Famer Lynn Swan until Deleon Eskridge came along.  From the videos I’ve seen, Eskridge is an excellent open field runner with experience against talented competition.  Click on this link for his senior year high school statistics.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back up Salamon along with junior Jay Thomas.  Here’s a link to a video of Eskridge in high school.

Kevin Whaley - Whaley was a first team all-state running back at Virginia’s Salem High School.  He rushed for 1661 yards and 25 touchdowns his senior year.  Whaley is definitely the underdog to become the starter, but with the numbers that he put up in high school don’t be suprised if he sees significant playing time.  Whaley is smaller than Salamon or Eskridge, but is very quick and makes great cuts on the field.

All three of these freshmen running backs have an opportunity to become regulars in the Gopher box scores over the next four years.  If any of them could have a run versus Montana State similar to the following video of Knowshon Moreno, expect the new featured running back to have arrived:

When looking back upon this season, defeating Bowling Green by a score of 42-17 will likely stand out as a big step in Tim Brewster’s rebuilding process.  Here are my thoughts from my post previewing the game:

The Gopher offense should have a strong showing.  Will the Gophers demonstrate defensive improvement versus last year with the addition of JUCO players and new defensive coordinator Ted Roof?  That question may determine the outcome of the game.

Adam Weber has come of age at quarterback.  His passes were crisp, timed well, and carefully placed to avoid turnovers.  Most importantly, his offense had 0 turnovers.  Eric Decker looked like an All American with athletic catches, explosive bursts of speed after the catch, and hard-nosed physical play.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching Weber make a perfect option pitch to Decker for a touchdown.  Weber went to Mounds View High School, where the quarterback option is a way of life.  He’s probably been running that play since junior high.  Ben Kuznia also impressed me with precise route running, clutch catches, and great downfield blocking.  Duane Bennett exhibited multi-dimensional talent with his receiving, rushing, and pass-blocking.  Shady Salamon was attacking the line of scrimmage, avoiding direct hits by the defense, and pushing forward after contact.  Even though he’s a true freshman, he looked like an experienced veteran.  I have no idea what a VO2MAX test is, but here’s a clip of Salamon’s:

The biggest issues that I have with the offense are related to injuries.  If the Gophers lose Duane Bennett, Ned Tavale, or Jeff Tow-Arnett to Saturday’s injuries the depth carts will be tested.  Bennett is having an MRI on his knee, which doesn’t sound good.

Ted Roof’s defense was vastly improved versus last year’s Bowling Green game.  I thought that Roof did a very good job of calling the right defensive formations to stop Bowling Green.  Most of Bowling Green’s big plays appeared to be due to mistakes by our players or the athleticism of Bowling Green.  The defense definitely has a swagger in that they thrive off of hard hits and physical play.  Tramaine Brock was all over the field.  Simoni Lawrence was hitting like a Mack truck.  The defensive line was tough and relentless.  Lee Campbell made some big hits and plugged up the middle of the field.  The defense is still young and inexperienced, which led to some breakdowns in coverage and gap assignments.  JUCOs Tramaine Brock, Traye Simmons, and Simoni Lawrence have given the defense a shot of adrenaline.  However, there were still too many successful Bowling Green plays that were due to lack of athleticism on the Gopher’s defense.  Bowling Green is a team with athletic players, but there’s definitely a need for the Gophers to bring in more defensive talent.  Overall, our defense is much better than last year and should be in the middle of the Big Ten pack come the end of non-conference play.

ESPNU displayed an interesting statistic during the game: The Gophers have the third fewest seniors on the roster of any Division I team.  The Gophers should continue to become a better football team as they mature and acclimate themselves to playing as a team.  ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg mentioned that the Gopher’s are “turning the corner” at this page.  I’m going to make a bold prediction after last night’s game:

We’ll be going to Detroit, a cornucopia of tourism and winter delight, for the Motor City Bowl come December.

The Golden Gopher Football Blog gives a good recap of the game, and The Daily Gopher also has several talking points on the game.  Both are great reads.