TURNOVER CHART PROVIDES MOTIVATION
Sept. 11, 2017
The chart said it all.
Last week, there was a zero next to Minnesota in the team meeting room, indicating that the Gophers were in a stalemate for turnover margin after week one.
This week, that number will be +2 after Minnesota’s defense throttled Oregon State’s offense Saturday night forcing and recovering three fumbles on a rainy evening in Corvallis, Ore.
Midway through the first quarter, safety Duke McGhee stripped the ball loose while making a tackle on an Oregon State receiver. Defensive back Kiondre Thomas fell on the ball for Minnesota’s first fumble recovery.
Minnesota’s next forced turnover came about five minutes later. Defensive lineman Gary Moore came shooting up the middle and strip-sacked Oregon State quarterback Jake Luton allowing linebacker Kamal Martin to fall on the prized possession.
In the third quarter, the Gophers collected their final turnover. Sophomore linebacker Thomas Barber popped the ball loose on a run up the middle and then fellow linebacker Jonathan Celestin swooped in and collect the pigskin.
Minnesota made Oregon State pay for each fumble turning the three errors into 17 points.
“They were biting the ball out there,” Fleck said. “We won the turnover margin. That was the shift in the game where we could finally separate and put the game away.”
Winning the turnover battle is something Fleck has been pushing since day one. That’s why he had the turnover margin chart – which features all 14 teams in the Big Ten – installed in the team meeting room. It’s one of the first things that the team sees every day and it stresses the importance of the ball. After a neutral turnover margin last week, Fleck stressed the need to cause some disruption.
“We dropped two last week that we should have had two more interceptions,” Fleck said. “Those are all the coulda, woulda, shouldas. That's why we kept that chart right there. The difference between really good and elite teams is this much. On the defensive side, it's getting the ball and getting the takeaways.”
Turnovers – like what happened on Saturday night – often turn games around.
“If you can do that, you are going to win a lot of games,” Fleck said. “I showed everybody that statistic when I first got here, when we were 117th in the country in turnover margin, you are one and 11. When you are number one in the country, you are 13 and 0. It is the number one stat in football.”
And after the second week of football, the Gophers are trending in the right direction.
http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/091117aac.html
Sept. 11, 2017
The chart said it all.
Last week, there was a zero next to Minnesota in the team meeting room, indicating that the Gophers were in a stalemate for turnover margin after week one.
This week, that number will be +2 after Minnesota’s defense throttled Oregon State’s offense Saturday night forcing and recovering three fumbles on a rainy evening in Corvallis, Ore.
Midway through the first quarter, safety Duke McGhee stripped the ball loose while making a tackle on an Oregon State receiver. Defensive back Kiondre Thomas fell on the ball for Minnesota’s first fumble recovery.
Minnesota’s next forced turnover came about five minutes later. Defensive lineman Gary Moore came shooting up the middle and strip-sacked Oregon State quarterback Jake Luton allowing linebacker Kamal Martin to fall on the prized possession.
In the third quarter, the Gophers collected their final turnover. Sophomore linebacker Thomas Barber popped the ball loose on a run up the middle and then fellow linebacker Jonathan Celestin swooped in and collect the pigskin.
Minnesota made Oregon State pay for each fumble turning the three errors into 17 points.
“They were biting the ball out there,” Fleck said. “We won the turnover margin. That was the shift in the game where we could finally separate and put the game away.”
Winning the turnover battle is something Fleck has been pushing since day one. That’s why he had the turnover margin chart – which features all 14 teams in the Big Ten – installed in the team meeting room. It’s one of the first things that the team sees every day and it stresses the importance of the ball. After a neutral turnover margin last week, Fleck stressed the need to cause some disruption.
“We dropped two last week that we should have had two more interceptions,” Fleck said. “Those are all the coulda, woulda, shouldas. That's why we kept that chart right there. The difference between really good and elite teams is this much. On the defensive side, it's getting the ball and getting the takeaways.”
Turnovers – like what happened on Saturday night – often turn games around.
“If you can do that, you are going to win a lot of games,” Fleck said. “I showed everybody that statistic when I first got here, when we were 117th in the country in turnover margin, you are one and 11. When you are number one in the country, you are 13 and 0. It is the number one stat in football.”
And after the second week of football, the Gophers are trending in the right direction.
http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/091117aac.html
