Jay Sawvel came in to chat on what is normally Paul Allen's time slot in the 9-Noon frame. Paul Allen was out today on schedule time off because of the Vikings bye week. Kevin Falness was the guy interviewing the Gophers defensive coordinator today.
Main Points:
-If you got a lead with five minutes or two minutes to go in the game, you don't need any more points. You got what you need and now it's time to protect it.
-We had an opportunity to make a couple tackles (on the Iowa TD run) and missed him and it was off to the races.
-On Kiante Hardin contributing at a high level last week after missing three games: He was not surprised at his performance last week. When Hardin is out there Minnesota is much better in the secondary. He is a big time playmaker and the quality of play on the defense is higher. In the next couple weeks he should get even better as he gets back into the swing of things.
-On Ray Buford: First game really playing, didn't play at corner against Oregon State. He has things to work on certainly, but he thought Buford was solid overall for his first game.
-On Tai'yon Devers: He was still a little bit hampered by the ankle injury last week. But you can see this week his snap and burst off the line is back and he is up to 100% this week and ready to roll.
-On the flu bug going through the locker room: Antonio Shenault was out the entire week last week with the sickness and was unable to play. Jack Lynn also had it and lost a bunch of weight, but he is getting back to full strength too. Doesn't see anyone else with the flu now so things are fine in that aspect.
-On Mike Sherels being back: He's just an outstanding person. It's good for the players to see what he went through and how he has over come it and continues to battle through it daily. He's just a great influence on the guys and they are all happy to have him back. From just seeing him at practice you would never know that something is wrong.
-Sherels Continued: He was at a really harrowing time, and there was even a chance that he wouldn't pull through. It shows the guys that things are much bigger than what happens from play to play and it shows how to really battle through adversity.
-On Maryland: They run a lot of misdirection and play fakes. Have to make sure they are ready to play at a high speed and confidence while being aware of everything that is going to be thrown at them. Can't play not to make a mistake, need to be ready to execute with great speed and aggressiveness.
-Tough to go on the road and win, thought they played well against Penn State on the road, just couldn't pull it out in the end.
-On being able to rebound from two tough losses: Everyone was pretty down Sunday, but Tuesday we practiced really well and Wednesday may have been our best practice all year, especially from a defensive standpoint.
-On Schedule: There are a couple teams in our half (of the division) that still have to play Michigan and Ohio State, so things are far from over. Obviously we have some work to do but we just have to take it one game at a time, and it starts with Maryland this weekend.
Main Points:
-If you got a lead with five minutes or two minutes to go in the game, you don't need any more points. You got what you need and now it's time to protect it.
-We had an opportunity to make a couple tackles (on the Iowa TD run) and missed him and it was off to the races.
-On Kiante Hardin contributing at a high level last week after missing three games: He was not surprised at his performance last week. When Hardin is out there Minnesota is much better in the secondary. He is a big time playmaker and the quality of play on the defense is higher. In the next couple weeks he should get even better as he gets back into the swing of things.
-On Ray Buford: First game really playing, didn't play at corner against Oregon State. He has things to work on certainly, but he thought Buford was solid overall for his first game.
-On Tai'yon Devers: He was still a little bit hampered by the ankle injury last week. But you can see this week his snap and burst off the line is back and he is up to 100% this week and ready to roll.
-On the flu bug going through the locker room: Antonio Shenault was out the entire week last week with the sickness and was unable to play. Jack Lynn also had it and lost a bunch of weight, but he is getting back to full strength too. Doesn't see anyone else with the flu now so things are fine in that aspect.
-On Mike Sherels being back: He's just an outstanding person. It's good for the players to see what he went through and how he has over come it and continues to battle through it daily. He's just a great influence on the guys and they are all happy to have him back. From just seeing him at practice you would never know that something is wrong.
-Sherels Continued: He was at a really harrowing time, and there was even a chance that he wouldn't pull through. It shows the guys that things are much bigger than what happens from play to play and it shows how to really battle through adversity.
-On Maryland: They run a lot of misdirection and play fakes. Have to make sure they are ready to play at a high speed and confidence while being aware of everything that is going to be thrown at them. Can't play not to make a mistake, need to be ready to execute with great speed and aggressiveness.
-Tough to go on the road and win, thought they played well against Penn State on the road, just couldn't pull it out in the end.
-On being able to rebound from two tough losses: Everyone was pretty down Sunday, but Tuesday we practiced really well and Wednesday may have been our best practice all year, especially from a defensive standpoint.
-On Schedule: There are a couple teams in our half (of the division) that still have to play Michigan and Ohio State, so things are far from over. Obviously we have some work to do but we just have to take it one game at a time, and it starts with Maryland this weekend.
