1st Gopher Report
The Gopher Report
Adam Weber (#8) is off to a hot start.
Adam Weber (#8) is off to a hot start.
-Lyle Zergio
Lyle here, checking in after 3 games with your Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Gophers had a solid road effort against Middle Tennessee State in which the Gophers won 21-17. That game was a well fought road effort by the Gophers just doing enough to get the win. The defense played well, stopping the Blue Raiders to a -35 yards rushing. This is an amazing stat, and the whole team played very well in getting the win to bring them to a 1-0 record.
The next game, against FCS West was total domination by the Gophers. The first play from scrimmage was a deep bomb to Brandon Green from Adam Weber. That would show you how the rest of this game would play out. Adam Weber had a career day throwing for 570 yards with 8 TD's. This set a school record, and gave the Gophers a lot of confidence with its 1st game at TCF Bank Stadium for the 2010 season. There's not much else to say about this one, but Weber's big performance vaulted him into the top 5 passing leaders after this week with 797 passing yards 10 TD's.
The game on Saturday against the USC Trojans was a horrible game. The Gophers started off well driving the whole field, but opted for a FG instead of trying to get it in from the red zone. When I asked the coach why he chose the FG, he told me that he thought he better take the points and get an early lead and see what his defense could do. Well, this ended up setting the tone for the game as after this FG make from Ellestad, the Trojan defense stopped the Gophers all day long, and the Gopher's defense couldn't stop the Trojan offense.
After losing 52-24, interim head coach Jeff Horton said this, "We thought we could get to them early and get the crowd going with the field goal. It wasn't a good game for us, but we now know where we stand against one of the best teams in the nation. We will focus on changing how we play defense, maybe less man coverage, and we have to find a way to get to the QB."
The biggest surprise has been how well Weber has played this year. He currently ranks 2nd in the nation for pass yards with 1,157 yards and 12 TD's vs. just 2 INT's. These are sick numbers, but the only real test the Gophers have played so far is the Trojans. They will have a tough rest of the schedule. Here's an outlook of how the rest of the schedule looks to be:
There are 11 other recruits that the Gophers are currently invested in including two 4* WR recruits. All of the current recruits are scheduled to come in on Week 9 where the Gophers play vs. Ohio State.
Looking at the current recruits, Jermaine Johnson, 1* recruit, will probably get a look at FB next year, but he might benefit from red-shirting for a year or two.
P Ricky Williams, a 2* recruit, figures to be the back-up punter, or try out place kicking. There's not much else available for that position, so he will get a good look at being the kicker next year.
Lastly is HB Tyrone Gaither, a 3* recruit, will probably red-shirt his first year with many HB's already available ahead of him. He should learn a lot his first year here.
Well, that's it for now, I'll check back in a couple of weeks, and hopefully we'll see many more Gopher wins!
P.S. I've been told by sources that the Gophers are currently seeking a new head coach, I'll update if I hear any more information.
Lyle here, checking in after 3 games with your Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Gophers had a solid road effort against Middle Tennessee State in which the Gophers won 21-17. That game was a well fought road effort by the Gophers just doing enough to get the win. The defense played well, stopping the Blue Raiders to a -35 yards rushing. This is an amazing stat, and the whole team played very well in getting the win to bring them to a 1-0 record.
The next game, against FCS West was total domination by the Gophers. The first play from scrimmage was a deep bomb to Brandon Green from Adam Weber. That would show you how the rest of this game would play out. Adam Weber had a career day throwing for 570 yards with 8 TD's. This set a school record, and gave the Gophers a lot of confidence with its 1st game at TCF Bank Stadium for the 2010 season. There's not much else to say about this one, but Weber's big performance vaulted him into the top 5 passing leaders after this week with 797 passing yards 10 TD's.
The game on Saturday against the USC Trojans was a horrible game. The Gophers started off well driving the whole field, but opted for a FG instead of trying to get it in from the red zone. When I asked the coach why he chose the FG, he told me that he thought he better take the points and get an early lead and see what his defense could do. Well, this ended up setting the tone for the game as after this FG make from Ellestad, the Trojan defense stopped the Gophers all day long, and the Gopher's defense couldn't stop the Trojan offense.
After losing 52-24, interim head coach Jeff Horton said this, "We thought we could get to them early and get the crowd going with the field goal. It wasn't a good game for us, but we now know where we stand against one of the best teams in the nation. We will focus on changing how we play defense, maybe less man coverage, and we have to find a way to get to the QB."
The biggest surprise has been how well Weber has played this year. He currently ranks 2nd in the nation for pass yards with 1,157 yards and 12 TD's vs. just 2 INT's. These are sick numbers, but the only real test the Gophers have played so far is the Trojans. They will have a tough rest of the schedule. Here's an outlook of how the rest of the schedule looks to be:
| Minnesota Golden Gophers 2010 Schedule | ||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | RESULT | ||
| Sep 2 | at Middle Tennesse State | Won, 21-17 | ||
| Sep 11 | vs FCS West | Won, 63-21 | ||
| Sep 18 | vs USC | Lost, 52-24 | ||
| Sep 25 | vs Northern Illinois | |||
| Oct 2 | vs Northwestern | |||
| Oct 9 | at Wisconsin | |||
| Oct 16 | at Purdue | |||
| Oct 23 | vs Penn State | |||
| Oct 30 | vs Ohio State | |||
| Nov 6 | at Michigan State | |||
| Nov 13 | at Illinois | |||
| Nov 27 | vs Iowa | |||
There are 11 other recruits that the Gophers are currently invested in including two 4* WR recruits. All of the current recruits are scheduled to come in on Week 9 where the Gophers play vs. Ohio State.
Looking at the current recruits, Jermaine Johnson, 1* recruit, will probably get a look at FB next year, but he might benefit from red-shirting for a year or two.
P Ricky Williams, a 2* recruit, figures to be the back-up punter, or try out place kicking. There's not much else available for that position, so he will get a good look at being the kicker next year.
Lastly is HB Tyrone Gaither, a 3* recruit, will probably red-shirt his first year with many HB's already available ahead of him. He should learn a lot his first year here.
Well, that's it for now, I'll check back in a couple of weeks, and hopefully we'll see many more Gopher wins!
P.S. I've been told by sources that the Gophers are currently seeking a new head coach, I'll update if I hear any more information.
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