I had the opportunity to go to my first away game and take the trip to Oregon,and have now re-watched most of the game on DVR. Just wanted to follow up with some thoughts/questions that either haven't been discussed, or discussed much.
1. Don't underestimate the impact of the weather on the game plan with the heavy run emphasis. Before game time, a strong wind starting blowing making the passing game a little riskier than normal. Then add in misting rain beginning middle of the first-half and continuing for some time into 2nd half, and you have a "the ball is the program" mantra, you are going to play it conservative if you can.
2. Speaking of wind, I was watching Santoso kick field goals pre-game from 70 yards out with the wind. Not only did he have enough leg from that distance, but I believe he made 3 of 4 attempts. One of the kicks made it through 2/3 the way up the posts and would have been good from 80. Ridiculous leg strength.
3. I love me some Antoine Winfield as he is a difference maker on the field. That being said, I worry that he is very close to getting a personal foul for taunting as he has got in the face of at least 3 opponents after big plays. I swear I also saw him extend a hand to help an opponent up, only to withdraw the hand (could have been coincidental, but it sure appeared like he was intentionally toying with him). It goes against all the other aspects of respect Fleck is instilling like handing the ball to the refs, etc.
4. What am I missing with the Carpenter kick out of bounds that was flagged? Oregon St. started with the ball at their own 20 yard line. Shouldn't that have been a 15 yarder and placed at the 35? We wondered at the game, and then didn't see any explanation on my re-watch. No home fan uproar either.
5. It was interesting that Fleck decided to burn a time-out when Connely's helmet came off as opposed to Schlueter playing a snap at that time. It might have been an important 3rd down play on that long drive to put the nail in the coffin.
6. I disagree with STP on the TE's and blocking. While they may have not held every block, I think they are actually pretty good and you see many important blocks made by both Woz and Lingen.
7. Duke McGhee is really coming into his own as a senior and will be a huge part of this defense this year.
8. There is no question that Oregon St. isn't playing good to start the year. But don't be too quick to chalk this up to a win over a "terrible" team. Oregon St. returned a lot of players from their 2016 team that: a) played to a 5 pt. loss to a good Utah team; b) beat Oregon to end the season last year; c) throttled Arizona at the end of last year; c) and lost fairly close games to UCLA, Stanford and Boise St. They returned about 8 starters on D, have a solid QB, good RB and athletic WR's. Villamin is a stud. Are they playing well to start the season? Absolutely not. But they are still a dangerous team on the road in a night game, that we shouldn't take for granted a throttling of that team. I wonder if Anderson is losing the team as they play/played with little discipline.
9. To piggyback on #8 above, you have to give credit to the Gophers for maintaining composure at two points in the game where it looked like OSU was taking control and exercising their early season demons. You could feel the home crowd sensing it early when they had a couple big plays to in the first couple series, but we stopped that early energy to take a 17-0 lead. Then they storm back with some good and fluky plays to close the gap to 17-14 and have all the momentum at home and the crowd was getting loud. The Gophers once again curbed the momentum and took care of business.
10. Finally, a word of wisdom gained from experience on the road trip. When you are getting to the game and it is a balmy 80 degrees and beautiful out, listen to your wife when she tells you and the boys that you should bring your hoodies/coats just in case as it will get colder out. As the 3 of us sat shivering in the rain in our shorts and t-shirts about 3 hours later, we had to endure that knowing "I told you so" stare compounding the pain of the strong wind in our faces and pelting rain.
1. Don't underestimate the impact of the weather on the game plan with the heavy run emphasis. Before game time, a strong wind starting blowing making the passing game a little riskier than normal. Then add in misting rain beginning middle of the first-half and continuing for some time into 2nd half, and you have a "the ball is the program" mantra, you are going to play it conservative if you can.
2. Speaking of wind, I was watching Santoso kick field goals pre-game from 70 yards out with the wind. Not only did he have enough leg from that distance, but I believe he made 3 of 4 attempts. One of the kicks made it through 2/3 the way up the posts and would have been good from 80. Ridiculous leg strength.
3. I love me some Antoine Winfield as he is a difference maker on the field. That being said, I worry that he is very close to getting a personal foul for taunting as he has got in the face of at least 3 opponents after big plays. I swear I also saw him extend a hand to help an opponent up, only to withdraw the hand (could have been coincidental, but it sure appeared like he was intentionally toying with him). It goes against all the other aspects of respect Fleck is instilling like handing the ball to the refs, etc.
4. What am I missing with the Carpenter kick out of bounds that was flagged? Oregon St. started with the ball at their own 20 yard line. Shouldn't that have been a 15 yarder and placed at the 35? We wondered at the game, and then didn't see any explanation on my re-watch. No home fan uproar either.
5. It was interesting that Fleck decided to burn a time-out when Connely's helmet came off as opposed to Schlueter playing a snap at that time. It might have been an important 3rd down play on that long drive to put the nail in the coffin.
6. I disagree with STP on the TE's and blocking. While they may have not held every block, I think they are actually pretty good and you see many important blocks made by both Woz and Lingen.
7. Duke McGhee is really coming into his own as a senior and will be a huge part of this defense this year.
8. There is no question that Oregon St. isn't playing good to start the year. But don't be too quick to chalk this up to a win over a "terrible" team. Oregon St. returned a lot of players from their 2016 team that: a) played to a 5 pt. loss to a good Utah team; b) beat Oregon to end the season last year; c) throttled Arizona at the end of last year; c) and lost fairly close games to UCLA, Stanford and Boise St. They returned about 8 starters on D, have a solid QB, good RB and athletic WR's. Villamin is a stud. Are they playing well to start the season? Absolutely not. But they are still a dangerous team on the road in a night game, that we shouldn't take for granted a throttling of that team. I wonder if Anderson is losing the team as they play/played with little discipline.
9. To piggyback on #8 above, you have to give credit to the Gophers for maintaining composure at two points in the game where it looked like OSU was taking control and exercising their early season demons. You could feel the home crowd sensing it early when they had a couple big plays to in the first couple series, but we stopped that early energy to take a 17-0 lead. Then they storm back with some good and fluky plays to close the gap to 17-14 and have all the momentum at home and the crowd was getting loud. The Gophers once again curbed the momentum and took care of business.
10. Finally, a word of wisdom gained from experience on the road trip. When you are getting to the game and it is a balmy 80 degrees and beautiful out, listen to your wife when she tells you and the boys that you should bring your hoodies/coats just in case as it will get colder out. As the 3 of us sat shivering in the rain in our shorts and t-shirts about 3 hours later, we had to endure that knowing "I told you so" stare compounding the pain of the strong wind in our faces and pelting rain.
