Grant won with Joe Kapp at QB. Went to the Super Bowl with him. He was a terrible passer. They won with a great Defense and solid Special Teams play.Those Vikings also won because they got 6-8 wins a year against god-awful Central Division foes. Great QB play is usually necessary to win, but Billy Kilmer, Jeff Hostetler, Trent Dilfer(!) and Rex Grossman (!!!!) took teams to the Super Bowl. Some of them even got a ring out of it.
Wisconsin has been damn good for years now but you can't say that about their Quarterbacks. Same with tOSU, FLA and many other College teams. The 9-12 games winners among the teams without great QBs, were full of talent at other positions.
The Gophers aren't full of 4 and 5 star guys. The O-Line has been pretty bad. The Defense Line? They need to blitz to get any pressure on the QB, leaving acres of yardage available if the QB takes off. Receivers aren't getting much space and Mitch hasn't looked good in any game really, except for Indiana State.
That said they are 6-2 and people seem upset that they aren't 8-0! Play the "shoulda/woulda" game and Rutgers and Oregon State fans would say that they should be 4-4 as much as Gopher fans are screaming that Minnesota should be 8-0. The irony seems to be that for years, Gopher fans have demanded defense, to "run the ball down their throats" and to "beat the teams they should beat". They are getting all of that and many are still p.o'ed about it.
Like those Bud Grant Vikings, the Gopher's record up to now is based largely on schedule, defense, not turning the ball over and a good running game. The Gopher schedule is changing, but the defense looks pretty healthy, they are scoring in the Red Zone and they certainly can run the ball. One has to hope that the GOOD Mitch, which we've seen against, MO, MI, NE, Purdue, Iowa, Indiana State and even for a half against WI is going to show up sometime .
He has to. Right?
Many people think that Claeys is not the long term answer. A few secretly, sometimes overtly, hope that the Gophers lose 2-3 more times over the next 5 games. Then Coyle pulls the trigger on that minuscule buyout. Even they can't be too upset if the Gophers win 3-4 of those games, as long as they beat the Badgers. Correct?
Me? I'd like to see them win those 5 games no matter how lousy they look.
Glad I got all that off my chest. Sorry if you read it down to here.
Wisconsin has been damn good for years now but you can't say that about their Quarterbacks. Same with tOSU, FLA and many other College teams. The 9-12 games winners among the teams without great QBs, were full of talent at other positions.
The Gophers aren't full of 4 and 5 star guys. The O-Line has been pretty bad. The Defense Line? They need to blitz to get any pressure on the QB, leaving acres of yardage available if the QB takes off. Receivers aren't getting much space and Mitch hasn't looked good in any game really, except for Indiana State.
That said they are 6-2 and people seem upset that they aren't 8-0! Play the "shoulda/woulda" game and Rutgers and Oregon State fans would say that they should be 4-4 as much as Gopher fans are screaming that Minnesota should be 8-0. The irony seems to be that for years, Gopher fans have demanded defense, to "run the ball down their throats" and to "beat the teams they should beat". They are getting all of that and many are still p.o'ed about it.
Like those Bud Grant Vikings, the Gopher's record up to now is based largely on schedule, defense, not turning the ball over and a good running game. The Gopher schedule is changing, but the defense looks pretty healthy, they are scoring in the Red Zone and they certainly can run the ball. One has to hope that the GOOD Mitch, which we've seen against, MO, MI, NE, Purdue, Iowa, Indiana State and even for a half against WI is going to show up sometime .
He has to. Right?
Many people think that Claeys is not the long term answer. A few secretly, sometimes overtly, hope that the Gophers lose 2-3 more times over the next 5 games. Then Coyle pulls the trigger on that minuscule buyout. Even they can't be too upset if the Gophers win 3-4 of those games, as long as they beat the Badgers. Correct?
Me? I'd like to see them win those 5 games no matter how lousy they look.
Glad I got all that off my chest. Sorry if you read it down to here.
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