Ask a Gopher fan

GTFLETCH

GTFLETCH

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Write Up about Minn on the Stingtalk Board by womanandcookies: https://stingtalk.com/board/threads/quick-lane-bowl-vs-minnesota.99326/page-11#post-2252173

I'll do a quick write up for now, and maybe something more later.

Coaching: PJ Fleck is like a Dabo version 2.0. I find his "row the boat" mantra to be pretty dumb. After they lost to Illinois this year, there was plenty of talk of his seat getting hot. His rah rah style of coaching has left a lot to be desired in actual results. Once he beat Wisconsin though, it doesn't matter anymore. The school is back in love with him. He's not an X's and O's type coach. He gets the players amp'd up but nothing they run is terribly creative and I don't remember too many times this year they took some chances. He has improved recruiting but his coordinators aren't fantastic and he was left with basically no QBs on roster.

Defense: They run a 4-3 scheme, but this is a mixed bag. They started the year with a DC named Robb Smith who was ***. He came from Arkansas to join PJ Fleck and Arkansas were glad to see him go. After Minnesota got rid of him, their defense improved by a huge margin. This was a team that lost to an 0-7 Nebraska and then a very bad Illinois team. Both games they gave up over 50 points. After they fired him they held Purdue to 10 and Wisconsin to 14. Their LBs are pretty good, their d-line never really got a steady pressure at all throughout the year. They were only 64th in total defense (76th against the run). The last game against Wisconsin though, they forced a bunch of turnovers. Johnathan Taylor still got 120 yards, but Hornibrook looked horrible. A good chunk of that was Minnesota getting to him. This being a rivalry game and Wisconsin coming off a huge disappointment of a year, the results may not be indicative of either teams actual ability. They haven't played any option based teams in the past two years since Fleck was on. They mostly deal with pro set power rushing in the Big 10.

Offense: Their OC (Kirk Ciarrocca) followed PJ Fleck from Western Michigan. He runs a spread option almost entirely out of the shotgun. Their QB situation was between a freshman and walk-on true freshman throughout the year. By the end of the year they have stuck with Tanner Morgan a recruit they took from Western Michigan when Fleck left. With consistent pressure and blitz's I don't think it'd be hard to slow them down. They want to run first and if they establish the run then the will be in control. If we can stop the run and force them to pass we'll likely be doing well. Their most successful pass play is a slant route to their star WR - Tyler Johnson (first team Big 10). I've seen them run this play back to back multiple times this year. Playing man to man, they will call this play without hesitation. He's a JR and likely a mid to late round draft pick if he keeps his play up next year. For their run options, they have a freshman named Ibrahim who is pretty good, and gets a lot of caries as their main RB. Their O-line at the start of the season was giving up sacks left and right. Mixed with a freshman QB, freshman RB was a nightmare with lots of turnovers. They seemed to have gotten better as the year went on and then by the OSU game they started a 6'10" 400lb freshman who has really helped improve their line.

Hope that's helpful. Their mascot is pretty awesome. Goldy had some fantastic halloween costumes every year. 2017 and 2018. He's also been known to truck a 12 year old or two in mascot pee wee football.
 

CoxswainofDT

Georgia Tech Fan
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2
Good discussion. A couple points to add from the MN perspective. This will be Minnesota's 20th bowl appearance and fans are more than used to their share of getting 'passed over' in the bowl pecking order over the years. However, at least for the B1G those rules have changed and teams like MN have actually 'played up' a bowl level recently especially when a fellow B1G member qualifies for The Playoff. For whatever the reasons, the Gophers have looked like a completely different defense since Smith (former DC) was fired mid-season and the film shows it. It went from complete train wreck to competent almost overnight. The Gophers have warts, but Fleck has already built one of the best WR units (GA product R. Bateman included) in the B1G in just his second year @ MN. Provided home-grown talent Tyler Johnson doesn't declare early, all will return next season. The Gophers should put up points, so for me it comes down to which defense shows up and how well they can contain GT's unique offense.
 
GTonTop88

GTonTop88

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GopherGuy said:
For those of you asking, I can tell you our short yardage gain plays, 3rd/4th down (wildcat) has stiffled everyone to date. I have seen ONCE all year where it failed. Converted QB (6'4, 240ish) is more of a beast than our GA rookie receiver Rashod Bateman, and sometimes he throws or hands off to the decoy RB. Don't expect 4th down to mean punt for the Gophers. I'm telling you, this could be a fun game to watch... on TV.
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Our coach doesn’t punt much either, but when we do we have an All-American type punter who looks like and old school full-back.

P.S. on kickoff, don’t kick it to #28
 
stech81

stech81

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CoxswainofDT said:
Good discussion. A couple points to add from the MN perspective. This will be Minnesota's 20th bowl appearance and fans are more than used to their share of getting 'passed over' in the bowl pecking order over the years. However, at least for the B1G those rules have changed and teams like MN have actually 'played up' a bowl level recently especially when a fellow B1G member qualifies for The Playoff. For whatever the reasons, the Gophers have looked like a completely different defense since Smith (former DC) was fired mid-season and the film shows it. It went from complete train wreck to competent almost overnight. The Gophers have warts, but Fleck has already built one of the best WR units (GA product R. Bateman included) in the B1G in just his second year @ MN. Provided home-grown talent Tyler Johnson doesn't declare early, all will return next season. The Gophers should put up points, so for me it comes down to which defense shows up and how well they can contain GT's unique offense.
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Look I stay drunk most time ( do to living with my wife) but sitting here drinking both team will not show up very well do it the miles and it being the day after Christmas . But both of us want to look good on TV. So I have come up with a plan, we both wear gold to the game. That way after the game we can both claim we had a lot of fans at the game. Oh and to help us please wear different shades of gold and mix in a few wearing white and a few in navy blue.
 
Old South Stands

Old South Stands

Jolly Good Fellow
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244
GopherGuy said:
Let me start off by saying, no trolling. Us Minnesotans know as little about Georgia Tech as most of you presumably know about us. We're stuck in this ridiculous Detroit toilet bowl together, and we both hate our rivals in red & black and that stupid "G" on the side of the helmet. At least we both sport gold and are facing a Power-5 team.

That being said, let's talk football. I think this is a good match-up of schools that are far better than our records reflect.
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Or hockey...

 

Deleted member 2897

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stech81 said:
Look I stay drunk most time ( do to living with my wife) but sitting here drinking both team will not show up very well do it the miles and it being the day after Christmas . But both of us want to look good on TV. So I have come up with a plan, we both wear gold to the game. That way after the game we can both claim we had a lot of fans at the game. Oh and to help us please wear different shades of gold and mix in a few wearing white and a few in navy blue.
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This is the best thing I have read all day.
 
GTNavyNuke

GTNavyNuke

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Good post. My daughter, who graduated from GT, lives in St Paul MN now. The people from MN are really nice when you talk with them and will do anything to help you.

But that is also their downfall. Driving there is completely different than most cities south of them. They are trying to be so courteous they slow up or stop for anyone who may possibly have the right of way. The wait for everyone else at a four way stop. They let anyone merge at any time. They don't cut people off on the highway. Have to wonder if all that niceness makes it harder to play tough football. (tic)

I'd love to live in St Paul. But only in the two summer months a year. (again tic) Actually, it's comfortable there on and off for about 7-8 months a year.

As to football, that's why we play the game. Who knows which team will show up and who will care the most. It'll be fun to watch. We don't have a choice.

TheTechGuy said:
I think most on here would be comfortable with Canada annexing Minnesota if it got us out of the Quick Lane Bowl. Your thoughts?
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MN is better suited in Canada than the US. People from MN are much more socially aligned with Canadians (i.e. being nice) than other parts of the US. When Canada builds the wall, maybe it can go south to include MN.
 
ibeattetris

ibeattetris

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stech81 said:
Look I stay drunk most time ( do to living with my wife) but sitting here drinking both team will not show up very well do it the miles and it being the day after Christmas . But both of us want to look good on TV. So I have come up with a plan, we both wear gold to the game. That way after the game we can both claim we had a lot of fans at the game. Oh and to help us please wear different shades of gold and mix in a few wearing white and a few in navy blue.
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Get this man a "Featured Member" banner for this post alone.
 
85Escape

85Escape

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stech81 said:
Look I stay drunk most time ( do to living with my wife) but sitting here drinking both team will not show up very well do it the miles and it being the day after Christmas . But both of us want to look good on TV. So I have come up with a plan, we both wear gold to the game. That way after the game we can both claim we had a lot of fans at the game. Oh and to help us please wear different shades of gold and mix in a few wearing white and a few in navy blue.
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It's brilliant. Or, as we say, drunius. Both teams having a "Gold Out" would be pretty dang funny. We should seriously try to get it going. Is there a way we can insult the ACC office while we are at it?
 
stech81

stech81

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BilldGopher said:
Our gold is different than your gold...although our new helmets do have a metallic look that could be worn by Tech teams with no problem except for the big M on them...
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Hell we don't wear the same shade of gold just get a few to wear blue and some white we will both look good. As for the M it's ok teams like UNC and uga can't read.
 
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