I came away with some different ideas on a few things. The announcers, Tom Luginbill and Brian Griese, I thought were more than fair in their assessments during the game. On a couple of the penalties that I didn't like last night make sense after watching it and listening to the explanation. The one they didn't agree with the officials on was the TCU fumble on a catch that was called stopped forward progress in the second quarter. It was NO doubt a fumble all the way.
1. Mitch Leidner is not the runner that is going to make a defense cringe. 12 carries for 23 yrds. The coaches have to give him some more short routs to build his confidence with his passing. Some of his passes last night would have made Joe Kapp proud. I just hope they give whoever is their #2 QB some snaps in these next few games.
2. Rodney Smith needs more carries and made the feature back. He is so quick and makes people miss like the good backs do. There's room for Rodrick Williams in the offense. I just don't think he is the number one RB. He had a costly fumble in the end zone.
3. The student section was fabulous. Everything you could ask for. They came early, and most of them stayed till the end. They made a lot of noise, and looked like they were having a great time. I hope they show up like that for the other 6 home games.
4. The defense did a great job. They held a very good offense to only 23 points. Considering how many times our offense went 3 and out, and them not getting much of a rest in that heat. Very good game by Julian Huff. He was attacking the QB all night long.
5. Like I said before, after watching the game again and listening to the explanation's, they weren't as bad as I thought they were during the game. I just don't understand why they wouldn't have had officials from another conference working this game.
Griese and Luginbill mentioned more than once there is no question MN is going to be a contender in the West if not the number one favorite even. They also said why Leidner was getting sacked from the right end was because they didn't think Ben Lauer was 100% after having knee surgery during the summer. And the coaches did switch Persig over to take Lauer spot and F. Bush then taking Persigs spot.
And they were really impressed with freshman Julian Huff on how he was playing for a rookie. Up and comer that kid is.
You could really tell Kill was more that a little upset with James fair catching that punt on the 3 yard line. He probably won't be doing that again.
Overall great game Gophers. Good things lye ahead for this team.
1. Mitch Leidner is not the runner that is going to make a defense cringe. 12 carries for 23 yrds. The coaches have to give him some more short routs to build his confidence with his passing. Some of his passes last night would have made Joe Kapp proud. I just hope they give whoever is their #2 QB some snaps in these next few games.
2. Rodney Smith needs more carries and made the feature back. He is so quick and makes people miss like the good backs do. There's room for Rodrick Williams in the offense. I just don't think he is the number one RB. He had a costly fumble in the end zone.
3. The student section was fabulous. Everything you could ask for. They came early, and most of them stayed till the end. They made a lot of noise, and looked like they were having a great time. I hope they show up like that for the other 6 home games.
4. The defense did a great job. They held a very good offense to only 23 points. Considering how many times our offense went 3 and out, and them not getting much of a rest in that heat. Very good game by Julian Huff. He was attacking the QB all night long.
5. Like I said before, after watching the game again and listening to the explanation's, they weren't as bad as I thought they were during the game. I just don't understand why they wouldn't have had officials from another conference working this game.
Griese and Luginbill mentioned more than once there is no question MN is going to be a contender in the West if not the number one favorite even. They also said why Leidner was getting sacked from the right end was because they didn't think Ben Lauer was 100% after having knee surgery during the summer. And the coaches did switch Persig over to take Lauer spot and F. Bush then taking Persigs spot.
And they were really impressed with freshman Julian Huff on how he was playing for a rookie. Up and comer that kid is.
You could really tell Kill was more that a little upset with James fair catching that punt on the 3 yard line. He probably won't be doing that again.
Overall great game Gophers. Good things lye ahead for this team.
