Hey Falcons....Gopher Fan here

stpaulgoph · Post by **stpaulgoph** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:53 am

I am also pretty excited to see your center (I wont mis-spell his name).

Believe it or not Minney fans love o-line play and centers. We had Ben Hamilton who was first All American in 98, and Greg Eslinger who won both Rimington and Outland trophies in 2005 as best center and lineman in the country.

Our current starter, Bubba Brinkhaus, is solid, but not spectacular. It will be fun to see a great center on the field pulling again. 8)

p.s. Where is Omar Jacobs now?
p.p.s. You guys have the collest logos in the MAC. Ohio has the worst.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:55 am

stpaulgoph wrote:Thanks for the clarification point.

I hope he appears less smug on TV than Meyer does these days 8)

But my point remains...a spread O guy calling another spread O guy gimmicky doesnt make any sense?!?!

Brandon doesn't come across as too smug, not like Urban. Urban is smug because he's damn good at what he does. Brandon isn't, so doesn't have the same cockiness/attitude.

I didn't see where Brandon actually said your offense was gimmicky though. He's just saying that he doesn't believe your team is going to fully give up the power sets it has feasted on in recent years. He doesn't buy into the fact that you're going to spread the field.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:58 am

stpaulgoph wrote:I am also pretty excited to see your center (I wont mis-spell his name).

Believe it or not Minney fans love o-line play and centers. We had Ben Hamilton who was first All American in 98, and Greg Eslinger who won both Rimington and Outland trophies in 2005 as best center and lineman in the country.

Our current starter, Bubba Brinkhaus, is solid, but not spectacular. It will be fun to see a great center on the field pulling again. 8)

p.s. Where is Omar Jacobs now?
p.p.s. You guys have the collest logos in the MAC. Ohio has the worst.

Omar is currently unemployed. He went to NFL Europe but was hurt the entire season over there. He was in Chiefs camp, but cut before camp really started.

As to the logo, you may have just opened a can of worms

We're in the process of switching logos. Some here hate the new logo and love the old one (myself included). Others seem to think the new logo is god's gift to us as the greatest logo ever. It's been quite the debate around these parts...I'm sure you can find the old threads if you're interested...

stpaulgoph · Post by **stpaulgoph** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:59 am

So like a fake spread?

I dont get it I guess?

I dont know what it will totally look like, but watch any videos of Northwestern in 2005 to get an idea. It may not be the true spread that Urban runs (does he even use an running back?) but it will be different for Gopher fans thats for sure. We would run old I tight formations with one WR and all the uglies up front whippin people. No more. Excited/nervous to see the new offense.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=99uy1rrFGPI

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:05 am

stpaulgoph wrote:So like a fake spread?

I dont get it I guess?

I dont know what it will totally look like, but watch any videos of Northwestern in 2005 to get an idea. It may not be the true spread that Urban runs (does he even use an running back?) but it will be different for Gopher fans thats for sure. We would run old I tight formations with one WR and all the uglies up front whippin people. No more. Excited/nervous to see the new offense.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=99uy1rrFGPI

Don't try to make sense of our esteemed coach...he knows not of what he speaks.

As to Urban's offense, yes he most certainly does use a RB. Our offense under Urban was one of the most balanced in the country rushing for 200 & passing for 200 yards a game. The key running play in that scheme was the counter-option. The tailback would run a standard counter mis-direction, but the QB had the read of whether to give him the ball or to run it himself to the opposite side of the line. When we had a true rushing threat QB this play racked up tons of yards.

As flip mentioned you run out of the spread by spreading the defense horizontally then attacking what you deem to be the weakest seam in that defense.

stpaulgoph · Post by **stpaulgoph** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:11 am

Good info.

I thought Urban hadnt had a back at Florida rush for over 700 yards or something?

We will struggle to find balance as well.

Gophers set an NCAA record last year for rushing and passing for 2000 yards each in a season for 11 straight seasons. I imagine we will rush for 2000 this year but the passing might be tough...which is really depressing

Dayons_Den · Post by **Dayons_Den** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:21 am

MINNESOTA:
You may be surprised to know.... they have won 6 National Championships (in football)

Bronco Nagurski is their most fabled player.

Their RB coach is former 1000 NIU rusher Thomas Hammock who had an excellent first game of 2002 when the Huskies knocked off Wake Forrest in DeKalb when it was discovered he had a heart condition and had to quit. Hammock went on to student coach Michael Turner and came back to be an assistant to coach Garrett Wolfe.

There are actually 9,999 lakes.

[/b]

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:22 am

I cannot really speak to his players at Florida, but I know when he was in BG he definitely utilized the RB position quite heavily.

Jacobs4Heisman · Post by **Jacobs4Heisman** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:44 am

Flipper wrote:Why do people pay any attention to anything coaches say about a given opponent or what they're preparing for?

Because he sounds like a retard. Minnesota is going to the spread. He says he thinks they'll come out in two-tight-end stuff all day. Thank God he's not running the defense.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 10:48 am

No way are our LB's undersized. Dozier goes 6'0", 225, and is a solid mass of muscle. Haneline is now up to 231 and stands 6'2". Basler, Haneline's backup, is 6'3", 240. Loren Hargrove may be undersized by these standards at 5'11", 211. But that dude is built like a brick house.

Welcome to the site, Stpaulgoph! I certainly wish I could be at this game and look forward to Minnesota's return trip in 2008.

There are bascially 2 camps here....those that support Coach Brandon and those that think he's a total buffoon. I support the man. Everyone has given you a real nice report. For me, the key to a successful BG season hinges on 2 things...Consistent QB play and improved ST's. IF those two things happen, BG will be a very tough team to beat because, unlike some here, I think our D is gonna be special. I study this team and program very closely and I don't think I've ever seen such an athletic D at BG...at least in recent memory. They fly to the ball. hammb pointed out they have a tendancy to go for the big hit, and he's right. I certainly hope the staff shored up the tackling cuz I'd rather see a solid tackle than an "ESPN Highlight".

If our new starting SO QB struggles to run the offense and/or ST's are as horrible as last year, it won't matter how good our D is. We will struggle.

I don't recall Coach Brandon every saying "Gimmicky offense". He said he thought the info about your new spread was an illusion and he expects MN to line up and run the ball...like they usually do. I put MN right there with Wisky as far as a power ground game. The difference now is we have beef up front and plenty of quality depth to withstand the punishment.

I like BG's chances but then again, I am one of the optimistic ones. It wouldn't surprise me to see BG lose cuz, rebuilding or not, MN is still a Big Ten team and a physical one at that.

Here's to an injury free game and good luck after Sat night.

GO FALCONS

stpaulgoph · Post by **stpaulgoph** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 11:02 am

Thanks for the great post Falcon90.

Have you guys had problems matching up with really athletic TE's in the past?

Your WR's should have a field day against our defensive backfield, especially if your line plays up to its billing (especially at the tackles).

Do you have a lot of vertical play calling, or is it more short passes west
coast style, and screens and dump offs? That may be more manageable. Vertical stuff is what kills us. Look at any highlights from last year and it was a slot reciever on a skinny post all day (Mario Manningham had two TD's like that on the exact same play) and deep routes that hurt our secondary the most.

And btw, last year was a brutal year for us and Wisky was OK, but since 2000 MN has had the best running game by a significant margin (take the averages) in the Big Ten. Wisky has fallen off the map running wise since Dayne left, but they are looking like they will resurge with PJ Hill. We Minney fans gotta stick our necks out where we can (which is basically limited to our very strong running game).

BGGrad01 · Post by **BGGrad01** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 11:16 am

Last year, we had virtually no vertical passing game due to very conservative playcalling. A perceived lack of confidence in the QB and inexperienced receivers were the main factors for the playcalling. Hopefully, the combination of the more traditional pocket passer and more experienced receivers will lead to more vertical passing.

We definitely struggled with the TEs from Toledo a couple years ago. I don't think we see too many athletic TE's in the MAC.

Did Minny lose a lot from the secondary from last year? I saw that Minnesota was +18 in turnover margin last year. Was that due in large part to seniors that are now gone or a combination of factors including an offense that never turned it over (experience QB, RB, etc.)?

stpaulgoph · Post by **stpaulgoph** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 11:26 am

I would say a combo of both regarding the turnovers. We have all seniors in the starting backfield, but the only player I would hang my hat on is Dom Barber (Marion Barber III's little brother) who was HM last year all Big Ten. Everyone else is a senior and hasnt played much...what does that tell you?!?!

We got a lot of picks though last year and didnt turn it over much. Our best secondary player, and arguably best defensive player overall Dominic Jones (from Brookhaven HS) was kicked off the team this summer for his involvement in a sexual assault case (along with Ohio super recruit Alex Daniels who snubbed tOSU for MN). That is a huge blow. Like I mentioned above, we have 3 true frosh out of a possible 8 in the secondary two deeps.

Go deep BG, and go deep often! Play actions especially. We will bite and you can get some big plays on us.

If you dont match up well with athletic TE's than Jack Simmons is gonna be a difference maker for MN. Keep an eye out for him.

We have had some great TE's recently (Ben Utecht who just won a super bowl, and Matt Spaeth who won the Mackey award as nations best TE last year and AP 1st team AA) and have had a first team all Big Ten almost every year since 2002. Our new HC Tim Brewster is basically credited for the development of both Alge Crumpler and Antonio Gates and he has been riding Simmons all summer.

I predicted this before but Simmons should be our leading reciever come Sunday morning with over 100 yards recieving.

stpaulgoph · Post by **stpaulgoph** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 11:31 am

If anyone else has any Gopher questions I would be happy to answer.

Also a point to note is our very inconsistent FG kicker (missed 8 extra points last year). If we are on 4th and short to 4th and 5 yards between the 25 and 40 yard line we will go for it EVERY time I expect.

Flipper · Post by **Flipper** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 11:35 am

Jacobs4Heisman wrote:
Flipper wrote:Why do people pay any attention to anything coaches say about a given opponent or what they're preparing for?
Because he sounds like a retard. Minnesota is going to the spread. He says he thinks they'll come out in two-tight-end stuff all day. Thank God he's not running the defense.

And you sound like MACMAN...the man could just as easily said he expects Minnesota to start the Disney CHannel's "Hannah Montana" at QB. It's meaningless pregame talk and you're treating it like the gospel...