I was very impressed and proud with the effort and the play of the Gophers last night in Iowa City. They walked into a lion's den, as exhibited by IA's first drive. From that point forward, they really took it to the Hawkeyes--especially on defense.
One cannot blame the play calling for Saturday's loss. The playbook was opened more widely than at any other time this season. The offense didn't not always execute the plays and if they had MN would have won going away.
Pass receiver play cost the Gophers the game. The fourth and one call at the goal line in the first half was brilliant but our senior tight end totally botched the back end of it. Numerous key passes were dropped. This is a combination of lack of talent and/or experience. Tyler Johnson dropped at least three catchable balls--one of which would have been a touchdown. But remember, Fleck has said that Corey Davis dropped all kinds of passes in his first two years at WMU.
The improvement of the OL and the DL this season is remarkable. And for MN to put its injured and inexperienced defense on the road against IA like it did and have that defense perform so well is really encouraging.
We might have witnessed two programs passing in different directions last night. IA under Ferentz will never change what it does on offense or defense. MN's defensive creativity last night with its battered line-up was inspiring. But where MN is going to blow IA away in the future is on offense. Once Fleck's entire system gets implemented and he has more experienced players executing it, teams like IA in the Big 10 are going to be in a world of trouble playing the Gophers. And once those players are more talented AND experienced, look out for MN.
The future of college football is with young, creative coaches like Fleck and Matt Campbell at Iowa State. Both were in the MAC at the same time. I'm glad we have Fleck because Campbell is not long for the state of Iowa after his upsets of both OK and TCU this season.
One cannot blame the play calling for Saturday's loss. The playbook was opened more widely than at any other time this season. The offense didn't not always execute the plays and if they had MN would have won going away.
Pass receiver play cost the Gophers the game. The fourth and one call at the goal line in the first half was brilliant but our senior tight end totally botched the back end of it. Numerous key passes were dropped. This is a combination of lack of talent and/or experience. Tyler Johnson dropped at least three catchable balls--one of which would have been a touchdown. But remember, Fleck has said that Corey Davis dropped all kinds of passes in his first two years at WMU.
The improvement of the OL and the DL this season is remarkable. And for MN to put its injured and inexperienced defense on the road against IA like it did and have that defense perform so well is really encouraging.
We might have witnessed two programs passing in different directions last night. IA under Ferentz will never change what it does on offense or defense. MN's defensive creativity last night with its battered line-up was inspiring. But where MN is going to blow IA away in the future is on offense. Once Fleck's entire system gets implemented and he has more experienced players executing it, teams like IA in the Big 10 are going to be in a world of trouble playing the Gophers. And once those players are more talented AND experienced, look out for MN.
The future of college football is with young, creative coaches like Fleck and Matt Campbell at Iowa State. Both were in the MAC at the same time. I'm glad we have Fleck because Campbell is not long for the state of Iowa after his upsets of both OK and TCU this season.
