Sports Huddle with Sid and Dave Tracy Claeys Interview 10-16-2016
**Quotes are not verbatim**
Congratulations on the win against Maryland…
Thanks. Great to get a win on the road. Defensively we did a good job, they’re a good football team. With three sacks, we controlled the clock. Conor (Rhoda) did a good job for not getting a lot of snaps all season. He didn’t make any major mistakes. We trust those two running backs to get it done for us.
Elusiveness of Maryland’s quarterback…
He’s a good athlete, makes a lot of people miss. We played smaller people on the defensive line to get good leverage and force him back inside. Defensively we played well, and offensively we stuck with the run game.
Gopher’s didn’t hurt themselves offensively with mistakes…
We had a couple procedure penalties we need to fix, but mostly we’ve done what we need to do. Their return guy is a good athlete too and we got a couple hits on him. Ryan Santoso also punted the ball really well. We need to play better on third down. Once we lost a lineman with a 17 point lead, we didn’t take any chances.
Thoughts on Antoine Winfield Jr…
He’s had some of the best coaching since he’s started playing football. He does have some instincts and when he gets around the ball he seems to make plays. He works extremely hard, and we enjoy having him. His dad is a really nice guy. He does a good job of going through the film with him. He can run, he can tackle, overall good player.
Shannon Brooks’ pass catching ability on the screen…
Coach Johnson made a great call, and the offensive line timed it up, and Shannon made a good move at the end to end it. The last drive of the first half and first drive of the second half allowed us to extra our lead and be comfortable.
Game day atmosphere at Maryland…
Another charter full of Gophers was able to go out there. Great, great trip overall for the athletic department and the atmosphere. Our kids are very appreciative of all the fans coming. It was a great experience and a lot of fun.
Assessment of Rodney Smith…
We put a few things in the passing game for him. He can do a lot of things, and Shannon is just as talented too. They can both catch. The more comfortable we get, the more they will be asked to do. Shows people that we can do more than just hand the ball off.
Thoughts on team’s quarterbacks…
Our quarterbacks are young, we’re going to try to do the best we can to keep the redshirt on those kids. Conor’s a competitor and has had a lot of snaps thru last spring and has shown he’s deserving of the backup role. The more snaps he gets, the more comfortable he’ll get.
Yesterday’s game was the best for the offensive line…
I agree. We were able to get off the ball and knock some linebackers. We weren’t able to do that against Iowa. We did a devent job of protecting Conor in the passing game. That was progress, and that’s what we need to continue to do. Once we are able to get our backs going, they are tough to stop.
Recruiting any quarterbacks…
Oh yeah. We have Seth Green and Mark Williams are still here. We’ll try to sign a quarterback each class. I think that’s important. The problem is with quarterbacks if you have too many good ones, then they’ll transfer. But that is part of the game. If you don’t have a good one, then you have a problem. We’ll try to recruit one each year.
Thoughts on Seth Green…
He’s done really good. We’re redshirting him, he does the scout team each week. He’s a good athlete, and has a good knowledge of the game. He works hard to learn the football game, and he works extremely hard. We’re excited for his future here.
Status of Mitch Leidner…
We aren’t sure yet. He stayed back this past week and got rest, so we meet with the doctors each week and we’ll see where he is at with the concussion protocol.
Any injuries in yesterday’s game…
Not that I’m aware of. The trainers said we got thru the game pretty clean, and only got away with minor things. As of now, there isn’t anything I’m aware of.
**Quotes are not verbatim**
Congratulations on the win against Maryland…
Thanks. Great to get a win on the road. Defensively we did a good job, they’re a good football team. With three sacks, we controlled the clock. Conor (Rhoda) did a good job for not getting a lot of snaps all season. He didn’t make any major mistakes. We trust those two running backs to get it done for us.
Elusiveness of Maryland’s quarterback…
He’s a good athlete, makes a lot of people miss. We played smaller people on the defensive line to get good leverage and force him back inside. Defensively we played well, and offensively we stuck with the run game.
Gopher’s didn’t hurt themselves offensively with mistakes…
We had a couple procedure penalties we need to fix, but mostly we’ve done what we need to do. Their return guy is a good athlete too and we got a couple hits on him. Ryan Santoso also punted the ball really well. We need to play better on third down. Once we lost a lineman with a 17 point lead, we didn’t take any chances.
Thoughts on Antoine Winfield Jr…
He’s had some of the best coaching since he’s started playing football. He does have some instincts and when he gets around the ball he seems to make plays. He works extremely hard, and we enjoy having him. His dad is a really nice guy. He does a good job of going through the film with him. He can run, he can tackle, overall good player.
Shannon Brooks’ pass catching ability on the screen…
Coach Johnson made a great call, and the offensive line timed it up, and Shannon made a good move at the end to end it. The last drive of the first half and first drive of the second half allowed us to extra our lead and be comfortable.
Game day atmosphere at Maryland…
Another charter full of Gophers was able to go out there. Great, great trip overall for the athletic department and the atmosphere. Our kids are very appreciative of all the fans coming. It was a great experience and a lot of fun.
Assessment of Rodney Smith…
We put a few things in the passing game for him. He can do a lot of things, and Shannon is just as talented too. They can both catch. The more comfortable we get, the more they will be asked to do. Shows people that we can do more than just hand the ball off.
Thoughts on team’s quarterbacks…
Our quarterbacks are young, we’re going to try to do the best we can to keep the redshirt on those kids. Conor’s a competitor and has had a lot of snaps thru last spring and has shown he’s deserving of the backup role. The more snaps he gets, the more comfortable he’ll get.
Yesterday’s game was the best for the offensive line…
I agree. We were able to get off the ball and knock some linebackers. We weren’t able to do that against Iowa. We did a devent job of protecting Conor in the passing game. That was progress, and that’s what we need to continue to do. Once we are able to get our backs going, they are tough to stop.
Recruiting any quarterbacks…
Oh yeah. We have Seth Green and Mark Williams are still here. We’ll try to sign a quarterback each class. I think that’s important. The problem is with quarterbacks if you have too many good ones, then they’ll transfer. But that is part of the game. If you don’t have a good one, then you have a problem. We’ll try to recruit one each year.
Thoughts on Seth Green…
He’s done really good. We’re redshirting him, he does the scout team each week. He’s a good athlete, and has a good knowledge of the game. He works hard to learn the football game, and he works extremely hard. We’re excited for his future here.
Status of Mitch Leidner…
We aren’t sure yet. He stayed back this past week and got rest, so we meet with the doctors each week and we’ll see where he is at with the concussion protocol.
Any injuries in yesterday’s game…
Not that I’m aware of. The trainers said we got thru the game pretty clean, and only got away with minor things. As of now, there isn’t anything I’m aware of.
