Link: Gopher targets headline top New York City players

bradt or 'brat' as I pronounce it in my head, is one of my favorite posters on here.

But Twitter just informed me that he's weirdly hostile towards the pipeline protesters.

Too bad

...a zone read is considered a trick play:

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Now that this guy/group went undercover and have many top people in the democratic party on film saying they pay $ to send people to start trouble, commit massive voter fraud, etc

Has the main stream media touched this or ignored it?

I haven't seen anything but I don't watch my TV

Jay Johnson today said Mark Williams is practicing but is not participating in contact drills. They'll determine his position in the spring. Johnson spoke highly of Green and said he's heard good reports of him as the scout team QB and that he's a high intellect guy.

Johnson named Eric Carter as the guy that will probably get the most reps with Brian Smith out. That's music to my ears as Carter brings a little different skill set than the others.

Sawvel spoke glowingly of Damarius Travis today. He said the defense was driving on three wheels without him and that he would have been worth two or three wins to the team last season.

Poore sounded pleased with the development of Johanneson and Femi-Cole. Repeatedly said how talented and competitive the running back group is.

Link: McBrayer talks NYC pipeline, impressions of freshman

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Seriously - it is a joke.

"We play productive players,” Claeys said. “It’s no secret. Our kids know at our place: If you want to play on game day, you’ve got to practice well. If you practice well, you will get your opportunities on game day.”

Sorry for the staggering on these stats, but you guys will get the idea. Purdue last in rushing, but dangerous on the passing game. We need Hardin (obviously) and we need a pass rush. Note the # of attempts for Blough, but does not show up on the efficiency meter. Looks like a bombs away type of game for them as they try to catch up.

PASSING AVG./GAME G COMP.-ATT.-INT. PCT. YARDS TD LONG AVG./GAME
David Blough, Purdue 8 207-358-12 57.8 2346 16 88 293.3
Richard Lagow, Indiana 8 163-271-11 60.1 2180 12 79 272.5
Clayton Thorson, Northwestern 8 165-289-6 57.1 1942 15 58 242.8
Trace McSorley, Penn State 8 123-223-3 55.2 1818 12 80 227.3
Tommy Armstrong Jr., Nebraska 8 115-217-7 53.0 1764 11 72 220.5
Wilton Speight, Michigan 8 130-207-3 62.8 1691 13 54 211.4
J.T. Barrett, Ohio State 8 145-227-4 63.9 1675 17 79 209.4
Tyler O'Connor, Michigan State 7 98-163-7 60.1 1341 12 86 191.6
Mitch Leidner, Minnesota 7 107-186-5 57.5 1274 5 35 182.0
C.J. Beathard, Iowa 8 118-201-4 58.7 1380 11 51 172.5
Min. 15 att./game

PASS EFFICIENCY G COMP.-ATT.-INT. PCT. YARDS TD LONG RATING
P. Hills, Maryland 7 93-140-3 66.4 1070 10 66 149.9
Wilton Speight, Michigan 8 130-207-3 62.8 1691 13 54 149.2
J.T. Barrett, Ohio State 8 145-227-4 63.9 1675 17 79 147.0
Tyler O'Connor, Michigan State 7 98-163-7 60.1 1341 12 86 144.9
Trace McSorley, Penn State 8 123-223-3 55.2 1818 12 80 138.7
Richard Lagow, Indiana 8 163-271-11 60.1 2180 12 79 134.2
Tommy Armstrong Jr., Nebraska 8 115-217-7 53.0 1764 11 72 131.6
C.J. Beathard, Iowa 8 118-201-4 58.7 1380 11 51 130.5
Clayton Thorson, Northwestern 8 165-289-6 57.1 1942 15 58 126.5
Alex Hornibrook, Wisconsin 7 75-131-7 57.3 948 6 57 122.5
Min. 15 att./game

RECEPTIONS/GAME G REC. YARDS TD LONG REC./GAME AVG./C AVG./G
Austin Carr, Northwestern 8 58 878 9 58 7.3 15.1 109.8
Curtis Samuel, Ohio State 8 44 539 3 79 5.5 12.3 67.4
Drew Wolitarsky, Minnesota 8 40 514 3 35 5.0 12.9 64.3
Domonique Young, Purdue 6 29 338 1 36 4.8 11.7 56.3
Amara Darboh, Michigan 8 38 664 5 46 4.8 17.5 83.0
R.J. Shelton, Michigan State 8 37 598 4 86 4.6 16.2 74.8
Mitchell Paige, Indiana 8 37 393 2 28 4.6 10.6 49.1
Nick Westbrook, Indiana 8 36 628 4 79 4.5 17.4 78.5
Ricky Jones, Indiana 8 35 616 1 65 4.4 17.6 77.0
Malik Turner, Illinois 8 35 523 4 68 4.4 14.9 65.4

Jonah still listed out-
Brian Smith not to be found in the 2-deeps.

Congratulations @bradt42 on your 40,000th post!

I just couldn't let it pass without note. I believe this was the post:

https://minnesota.forums.rivals.com/threads/how-close-are-we.25270/#post-448233

Bradt is now #7 on the all-time post list, and none of the posters above him are active. I fully expect him to be #4 before 2017 starts. The next closest active poster is @-TUNDRA- , with 28,988 posts.

Thanks for all the entertainment!

The Gophers offered 6-foot DB Raheem Layne. It's his first offer.

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Link: Best pictures from the Gophers' big win over Illinois

Per Coach Claeys on his weekly radio show. Didn't got into detail, but said it was a violation of team rules.

Nice to see Gophs beat another team that has out-recruited them and has better talent!

Five year Rivals team recruiting rank averages:

MN: 57
IL: 55
RU: 48
MD: 42
Oregon State: 45
Iowa: 50
PSU: 32

Played PSU to overtime on the road despite PSU vastly superior talent; played Iowa to one score game despite Iowa's better talent!

Claeys first class was ranked 41; best in years, so he's on a trend to out recruit what IL, RU, MD, OSU and IA did last five years!

Which are you guys more excited about, staff proven ability to coach lesser talent up and beat more talented rosters or staff proven ability to recruit better than predecessor?

Link: 11 Days Away
Coach Pitino posted a new blog after the scrimmage at DePaul and gave a few of the highlights and how individual guys preformed at the scrimmage. Nate Mason's 12 assists and 1 turnover, and Akeem Springs 7-13 performance from 3 were two that stuck out for me. Coffey's balanced game was good to see as well. Love to see these blog updates from Pitino.

Confirmed that Joshua Croslen will be here this weekend. He joins Raheem Layne, Bruce Judson, and Bryson Jackson.

CBS Sports today has Gophers vs Stanford in the Holiday Bowl ... hopefully!

Mitch Leidner

• Purdue's physical and has played a lot of teams close.
• Emphasizing in practice to start fast and stay fast.

Nick Rallis

• This team is close and has good leadership. We won't let each other not go all out in practice.
• We talk about lowering our target zone. Sherels points things out with targeting in the film room. If the coaches see it, they'll mention it but it's not something we're specifically working on.
• Rallis was the ring leader of giving Scott Ekpe a hard time for trying to pick up the fumble against Illinois. "He looked a little old."
• Not too much of an adjustment to play a team that passes as much as Purdue
• "We know we have to win out to win (the Big Ten West)." But the focus is one day and one practice at a time. It's a big deal if we have a couple bad practices in a row in practice. "We can't afford one bad practice."
• "Merrick's a hard dude to block."
• Seth Green is doing a great job at scout team quarterback. Johannesson, Femi-Cole have done well. Matt Morse is challenging us.

Jon Celestin

• First thing he did after getting back from the game was turn on the Wisconsin game. Rooted for Wisconsin with some guilt but a Wisconsin win helped them in the Big Ten West hunt. Watched the game as a player rather than a fan and took notes.
• We're getting more contribution from each class and each position group this year on defense more than last year.

Tracy Claeys

• The players have fun at practice; there's been great energy.
• Kids have found the sports psychologists very helpful.
• Purdue is skilled at wide receiver. They like to throw screens and get the ball out in space. We'll have to do a great job of tackling.
• Against Purdue, they'll have to get pressure without blitzing a lot of people because that reduces the likelihood
• "I feel like I'm on vacation with injuries compared to a year ago."
• Pirsig and Craighton have been cleared to practice, and Richardson's good to go as well.
• KiAnte Hardin can run, he can get out of breaks efficiently and that allows him to close on the ball when it's in the air. Great DBs like him have a mentality to take the ball away and get after people. While a lot of places are playing 7v7 in the spring, Webb City's probably running middle drill.
• All of our great DBs have wanted to play DB. Not a believer in moving receivers to DB; they need a certain mentality.
• The NFL knows how to practice without pads and not get people hurt. If you can do that in college, that's a big advantage.
• Wants safeties that can both cover and tackle in the box because otherwise you show your cards when they line up. Winfield and Travis are pretty compatible that way.
• Jalen Myrick has graded out pretty well. He gave up the post route against Rutgers and we tell our corners that if you give up the post, you can't play here. Other than that, he's done awfully well. "The side of the field he's in has been awfully productive this year."

OK, I need to know if I can dream or not?

If the Gophers win the last 4 games, and win the West title, and go to Indy, and somehow win the Big10 Championship, are we automatically in the Rose Bowl?

Please help, I need to know if I should book my airline tickets

Gophers open as 16.5 favorites

How long has it been since we were double digit favorites 3 games in a row?

We are already 2/3 the way through our season, a season I wait for during 9 long months of the off season. I try and enjoy every week leading up to the game, and every game even when it is closer than I like (sometimes it is very hard in the heat of the moment of the game). Yet I'm left with the question after reading this board, other boards, twitter, etc.; especially after many of our recent wins . . . when are we allowed to enjoy the season? It seems like after every week, there is more negative discussion about what the Gophers are doing bad, or how we are never going to win when it matters, than any real enjoyment of enjoying the game and a win. Don't get me wrong, I think there are many that have good solid analysis of both our strengths and warts and that is good discussion. I'm talking about the same posters with the same negative points (many incredibly personal and derogatory towards our players) with no balance.

We couldn't enjoy the Oregon St. win because they were terrible. Even though ranked Utah escaped with a close win, and a Cal, who's beat 2 ranked teams at the time, couldn't get a win.

We couldn't enjoy the Indiana St. lopsided game because they are FCS, and terrible, and our 3rd stringers gave up some late points. Even though that same team beat Illinois St., who upset Northwestern.

We certainly couldn't enjoy the Colorado close victory because they were terrible. Even though they came closer to upsetting ranked Boise St., who had more difficulty with CSU.

We obviously couldn't accept losing to Penn St. as this was a very bad Penn St. team that we had no business losing to. Even though their recruiting classes were way higher than our players, and they were good enough to upset #2 Ohio St and are now ranked.

We obviously couldn't accept the embarrassing loss to our rival Iowa, as they were a bad Iowa team. Even though Iowa was good enough to be within a TD late against Wisconsin, who it is clear the Gophers have no chance against the Badgers.

Maryland, are you kidding me, there are a terrible team, so no reason we should feel good about a 3 TD road win against them. Even though a Dantonio coached Spartan team lost to them by 10, and Maryland played everyone's darling Indiana to a TD loss on the road.

No way to enjoy squeaking by Rutgers after jumping up on them 21-3 with many chances to put them away, as they are the worst Big 10 team ever. Ok, I agree they are pretty bad, but I think their QB we faced gives them a lift for the rest of the year. It was just one of those games that we would have lost in the past.

Beating Illinois by 3 TD's plus on the road? They are terrible despite Lovie's excellence as a coach, nothing to take from that game. Even though Illinois went on the road to Nebraska and was up 16-10 going into the 4th quarter against the Huskers, who many say we have little chance against.

I understand there is some nitpicking available against my points above and some hyperbole thrown in, but you get my point. As Nine's thread about how close we are outlined, I think we are much closer than many think. The fact that people get so frustrated, or have a lack of satisfaction with wins against some of the lower Big 10 teams, tells me we have forgotten that part of the reason they (the other teams) look so bad, is our program has progressed where we should beat the lower rung teams in the conference. That wasn't always the case. Anyways, I feel better after pounding that out.

When I coached basketball, I looked for 2 BIG PICTURE THINGS.. One is to make sure my guys or gals were doing what they were supposed to do and try to get a feel to who is playing with confidence. The other is to see if the opponent has lost complete confidence and hope to win.. If the 2nd was true, I know we had the win in our back pockets.

All the champions, at any level, are mentally strong in that when they get "punched in the mouth" sort of speak, they come back as strong or stronger than ever. Weak mental teams are like the bully that gets punched in the mouth and cant get their swag back...... Minnesota is playing weak mentally after getting "punched in the mouth" by the Eagles..... I know everyone will talk about the injuries to the o-line, which is true, and the o-line has been horrible.... But Bradford has lost his timing and the team cant run the ball so it hurts the team even more when Bradford cant scramble. Chicago has injuries as well and the Vikes are not taking advantage of the Bears injuries yet the Bears seem to be gaining confidence.. That is not how potential champions play, and I am pissed at the Vikes right now as a result.....SMH

Dang they look highly talented from top to bottom this year ... and Thibs knows how to utilize the depth ... thinking they can win between 45-50 games this year. KAT for MVP!

Packers lose. Seahawks lose. Arizona, who was supposed to be a contender, loses. Detroit loses. Washington ties.

And at halftime, Philly is up 13-10 at Dallas. That would really be the icing on the cake.