we now have the opportunity to go go to game 3 and even though we are 3-0


Smith is fired

What’s MN record?

Select quotes from postgame interviews. Credit to Kelly Quinlan from Jackets Online/Rivals for the videos. You can see his YouTube channel here.

"We had probably 50 plays, and that's probably the least we had all season." - QB TaQuon Marshall

"They out-physicaled us from the jump. They outplayed us from the jump." - QB TaQuon Marshall

"They didn't punt. I don't even know what the punter's number is." - DE Desmond Branch

"Lord knows how many yards #24 had." - DE Desmond Branch

"We knew they were going to run the ball down their throats. We knew that all through practice, and we just didn't stop it." - DE Desmond Branch

"We never got to see their punter." - Paul Johnson

"They did pretty much whatever they wanted, right? We never stopped the run." - Paul Johnson

"They did a good job of popping the B-Gap linebacker straight in the A-gap... They did a good job of getting guys to miss on their blocks." - QB TaQuon Marshall

"They were physical. They played a hard game." - LB Brant Mitchell

"(Mo Ibrahim) is a hard runner. He doesn't come down easy, you know. You hit him low, and he still falls forward. Credit to him, he's a good back. He played really well against us." - LB Brant Mitchell

"Two things we were expecting from them (RPOs and screens), they really went away from." S Malik Rivera

"Well certainly that wasn't the way you'd script the end to your season, but sometimes you don't get to write your own scripts. They played better than we did, coached better than we did, and won the game." - Paul Johnson

"We struggled inside some, but we also struggled on the perimeter. We didn't block them anywhere." - Paul Johnson

"We didn't go any (contact-on-contact) live (in practice). Clearly the way we started the game physically, we needed some of that (contact-on-contact)." - Paul Johnson

"Sometimes they'd slant the tackles out and pop the linebackers. We knew exactly what they were doing, but you just have to execute." - Paul Johnson

He has the boys right on track. -5.5 dogs today. Nice try GT on your coach’s Swan Song. It’s gonna take a Herculean Effort for the negative media to spin the end of this season.

is this defensive performance greater than, less than, equal to what Claeys did vs WSU best pass team in nation a few years back? Gophers had some missing dbacks

This is best rushing team in nation and they are completely out of their element with us missing some front 7 guys including our best 2 defensive players (Winfield, Cashman) and starting D tackles

This better get a lot of good pub

What do you all say?!

Minnesota is outscoring all 5 other bowl teams today:

Boise 0
BC 7
TCU 7
Cal 7
Georgia Tech 10

All other teams 31 Minnesota 34

When they went to a gamebreak with a highlight from our game (TJ last TD catch), after mentioning TJ’s breakout year, announcer Kelly Stouffer said that they had done the Paul Bunyan’s Axe game and he never thought he’d see the day but Minnesota was more physical than Wisconsin on the LOS. Announcer Jason Bonetti chimed in, ‘by a wide margin. It was not even close’ and that Minnesota dominated.

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Gophers Dominate Georgia Tech in 34-10 Bowl Win
Mohamed Ibrahim rushed for 224 yards and two scores

2019 SEASON TICKET INFORMATION
POSTGAME REACTION
FULL SCHEDULE
ROSTER

DETROIT -- Mohamed Ibrahim ran for career-high 224 yards and two touchdowns, leading Minnesota to a 34-10 victory over Georgia Tech on Wednesday night in the Quick Lane Bowl.

The Golden Gophers (7-6) won three of their last four games, and Ibrahim had a lot to do with that. The redshirt freshman running back had 121 yards rushing in a win at Wisconsin that made Minnesota bowl eligible and ran for 155 yards last month in a victory over Purdue.

The Yellow Jackets (7-6) did not have the speed or strength to slow down Ibrahim and their triple-option offense was stunted in coach Paul Johnson's finale .

The Gophers limited Georgia Tech to 206 yards on the ground after it led the nation with 335 yards rushing per game.

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Minnesota led 13-0 early in the second quarter after Tanner Morgan threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Johnson in the first quarter and Emmit Carpenter made two field goals. Ibrahim's 3-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter made it 20-3.

The Yellow Jackets responded with Nathan Cottrell's 20-yard touchdown run, but their defense allowed Ibrahim to score again on the ensuing drive. Morgan connected with Johnson on a 30-yard touchdown strike with 6:19 left, giving the Gophers a 24-point cushion.

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THE TAKEAWAY

Minnesota: Ibrahim has the potential to be one of the top players on offense in the Big Ten next season. He runs with a mix of speed and power, running past defenders or punishing them by lowering his shoulder.

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets were in trouble when they fell behind because they don't pass much, making it tough to come back. They averaged fewer than 10 passes during the regular season and it was clear both of their quarterbacks were not comfortable dropping back to throw.

RECORD WATCH

Johnson set single-season school records with 1,169 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns. He finished the season with 78 catches, six short of another Minnesota rec

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UP NEXT

Minnesota: The Gophers had a nation-high 52 percent of their roster filled by freshmen, giving them a lot of hope for next season when they open at home Aug. 29 against South Dakota State.

Georgia Tech: It will be challenging for Geoff Collins to win in his coaching debut with the Yellow Jackets. They play Aug. 22 at Clemson in the first game on the ACC Network. The former Temple coach, who is from Georgia, will be installing a new offense without a handful of starters on offense and the defense is losing eight starters.

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https://gophersports.com/news/2018/12/26/Gophers-Dominate-Georgia-Tech-Quick-Lane.aspx

Any Rabid Gopher Fans staying local for the bowl game that want to eat, drink and be merry together?

https://georgiatech.rivals.com/news/jol-tv-taquon-marshall-and-desmond-branch-post-quick-lane-bowl

GT's QB and DE talk about the game. There were a few funny quotes -

• I don't even know what the number of their punter was, we never saw him
  
• We probably ran only 50 plays, the least we had all season
  
• Lord knows how many yards #24 had

On mobile can’t post

Looks like they’re having fun!!!

Horse crap picture and no sound for the last half hour.

So...

Before everyone goes, "here he goes again", hear me out...

The Gopher's are the team we all share the love for. I'm assuming everyone here has an NFL team as well. For those who have an NFL team that has no playoff opportunity or chance, you can leave the thread now. For everyone else, here we go...

I am a Texans fan. Most of y'all are Vikings fans.

So, this week will give us all 50% happiness, 0% happiness, or 100% happiness depending on the outcomes.

HEDGE YOUR BETS !!!!

If you are a Vikings fan, bet a Bears and Georgia Tech parlay.

You either win good $$$ to cover your emotional pain or you lose a few bucks but you get at least 50% happiness as either the Vikings made the playoffs or the Gophers win the bowl game.

See what I am doing here ?

I have $200 on GT

I have $300 on the Jaguars to cover (+9)

I have $100 on a GT and Jags parlay.

No matter what though...


We still have the damn AXE baby !!!

What you got? Will we see something crazy called on offense today? Fake punt? I'd kind of like to see something like that double reverse flea flicker pass to Witham we saw earlier this year against OH St.

PJ Fleck returns to Michigan
Despite being in the same conference as Michigan and Michigan State, the Minnesota coach is making his second trip back to the Great Lakes State for a game since leaving Western Michigan to take over the Gophers two seasons ago. His first visit was a 33-10 loss to the Wolverines in Ann Arbor in 2017.

Some local spectators will be cheering on the 38-year-old coach, who turned WMU into a Midwestern power during his four years in Kalamazoo. Known for his "Row The Boat" mantra, the always-excitable Fleck won the Mid-American Conference championship to cap off a 13-0 regular season with the Broncos in 2016. That season ended, however, with Wisconsin topping WMU in the Cotton Bowl.

As he did at WMU, Fleck has Minnesota bowl eligible in only his second season.

Paul Johnson says farewell
The 61-year-old Georgia Tech coach will retire following the game. He's the fourth-winningest coach in school history, behind only three College Football Hall of Fame coaches in Bobby Dodd, Bill Alexander and John Heisman. The Yellow Jackets won the ACC in 2009 under Johnson and appeared in the conference title game four times during his 11 years. They won the Orange Bowl in 2014.

Before arriving in Atlanta, Johnson won back-to-back Division I-AA championships at Georgia Southern in 1999 and 2000. He spent 2002-07 at Navy, where the Midshipmen won eight games or more in five of his six years as head coach. That included a 10-2 season in 2004. He accepted the Georgia Tech job in 2008.


Probably the most notable player Johnson sent to the NFL was former Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, who played three seasons at Georgia Tech from 2004-06, won Biletnikoff Award in 2006 and was selected No. 2 overall by the Lions in the 2007 NFL draft.

Triple-option bonanza
Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter have lulled fans at Ford Field to sleep with their lackluster offense this season. Expect a stadium-wide wake-up call from Georgia Tech during this bowl game.

Johnson has employed the triple-option flexbone offense since his days at Georgia Southern, and, boy, is it actually really fun to watch. The Yellow Jackets' rushing attack gashes teams left and right with their hidden-ball tricks and zany play calls. They rushed for 542 yards and eight touchdowns alone against Louisville this fall and have thrown for only 1,012 yards through 12 games — averaging just 85 yards passing per game.

Try your best to keep your eye on the ball. We triple dare you.

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/...-returns-michigan-quick-lane-bowl/2402252002/

Detroit — Perhaps it could be considered simplistic to sum up second-year Minnesota Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck by the collection of phrases and acronyms that make up a majority of his soundbites.

There’s “Row the boat,” an expression that caught the attention of a national audience during Western Michigan’s run to the Cotton Bowl in 2016, Fleck’s final ride of a four-year stint as the Broncos’ head coach; or his take one the word “family,” which in Fleck’s mind, translates to: Forget About Me, I Love You.

These easily digestible metaphors are commonplace in most collegiate sports programs. But according to Fleck, who’s back in the state of Michigan ahead of Wednesday’s Quick Lane Bowl matchup with Georgia Tech, these messages resonate because, from top to bottom, they’re rooted in a culture of “serving and giving.”

“We just want to be a part of change,” Fleck said Monday during a team charity event at Gleaners Community Food Bank in Detroit.

“That’s when you know you have the right culture and have a positive environment for growth in every area of their life … they feel like they can make a huge difference not only on our team, but outside.”

And Fleck also believes in “the process,” which he said is “hard for coaches because we’re in an instant gratification and a win-now society.”

For players to buy into a change of culture, they have to feel comfortable with the person selling it, which naturally takes time — especially for someone who, for those who don’t know him, can sometimes sound more like a self-help book author than a football coach.

In his inaugural season at Western Michigan, his team finished 1-11. Last year, Minnesota went 5-7 and missed a postseason berth before finishing 6-6 this year.

“Year one, in our way, can be hard at times,” Fleck said. “One thing I learned at Western Michigan was be yourself; you get hired to be your culture. Be your culture.”

There are supplementary values that go along with Fleck and his coaching style, but they’re all more or less entrenched in the rowboat theory: a group’s success is tied together by the cohesive effort of all individuals.

And that includes the person directing the watercraft. Fleck said that to form a bond with his players, he goes further than just having an open-door policy.

“One of the rules I have, I don’t like to sit behind my desk when I talk to players,” Fleck said. “If a player comes in with an issue or just wants to talk, just kind of rap for a little bit, we’ll go sit on the couch.”

While Fleck’s exuberant personality has typically called for an adjustment period within a particular program, it’s worked wonders in securing a recruit’s loyalty. Fleck’s 2016 recruting class at Western Michigan was ranked No. 1 in the MAC by 24/7 Sports.

The following year, current Gophers’ starting quarterback Tanner Morgan flipped his recruitment from Western Michigan upon a single phone call from Fleck, despite having never stepped foot in the state of Minnesota.

Morgan said Monday that he rode with Fleck because he’s a coach who aims to improve his players in “all four areas of your life” — another colloquialism — “academically, athletically, socially and spiritually.”

“His culture, the row the boat culture, I just fell in love with it,” Morgan said. “It’s selfless, it’s about serving and giving, helping others more than yourself.”

There have been some considerable marks of progress with this year’s Gophers squad. Aside from a return to the postseason, Minnesota beat arch-rival Wisconsin in Madison for the first time since 1994 to earn a bowl bid, Fleck’s marquee win in maroon and gold thus far.

Not to mention, Minnesota has one of the youngest teams in college football — five freshmen and five sophomores started in the Gophers’ season-opener against New Mexico State — so there are plenty of reasons to be patient with his vision of bringing Minnesota its first Big Ten title since 1967.

And if nothing else, it’s certain that his team will be paddling in-stride.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/s...ng-into-p-j-flecks-f-m-l-y-values/2410468002/

The Boise State/BC game has been delayed due to weather.

Is this gonna impact espn covering the gopher game?

Will the start of our game be broadcast on one of the espn alternate channels instead?

Gophers 38
Yellowjackets 31

Prove me wrong.

Paul Johnson is coaching his final game at Georgia Tech today. His Yellow Jackets are 7-5 with no signature wins and just one relatively bad loss, to USF. Georgia Tech has an excellent run game -- they lead the nation in rushing yards per game and are 12th in rushing yards per attempt -- but have struggled defensively, both in the run and pass game.

Quarterbacks TaQuon Marshall and Tobias Oliver are as much of running backs as they are quarterbacks. They're fast and agile and are the Yellow Jackets' two leading rushers. In Georgia Tech's flexbone offense, there are three others in the backfield: two A-backs and a B-back. The A-backs are behind the tackles. They're often put in motion pre-snap and are usually the ones optioning out with the quarterback on triple options. The B-back is lined up behind the quarterback with his hand in the dirt. Georgia Tech's offense has three base plays: the dive (hand-off to the B-back), sweep (pitch to A-back who goes in motion pre-snap), and triple option. Georgia Tech's offensive line is decent in the run game but has struggled in the pass game, which makes sense as they were recruited to almost exclusively run block. Georgia Tech has only thrown the ball for 100+ yards four times this season, and against Virginia Tech, they only attempted one pass which fell incomplete.

Georgia Tech fired former Minnesota DC Ted Roof after last season and brought in Appalachian State DC Nate Woody, who had a great track record with the Mountaineers. The defense hasn't been as strong in Atlanta. Georgia Tech plays a 3-4, and defensive end Anree Saint-Amour is the best player in the front seven. The linebackers have struggled to tackle, as the highest-rated tackling grade among their starters is 54.7. GT plays a lot of Cover 3 and Cover 4, so they are among the best in the ACC at not giving up big plays but are among the worst otherwise.