Recap of Week 14

11-25-14

Probably thee biggest win for the Gophers yet this season (ideally the biggest comes against Wisconsin).  I am actually surprised the Gophers pulled out a 28-24 win against the 23rd ranked Huskers after going down 7-21 at halftime.  Historically, under Coach Kill, the Gophers lose the majority of the games when they are down by half.  The first quarter wasn't bad, both teams exchanged touchdowns and that was about it.  But, the second quarter is when the game took a turn for the worse; it started with Tommy Armstrong getting flushed out of the pocket and throwing an 18 yard ball to Pierson-El.  I thought a Gopher defender could have swatted away the ball because there were three defenders around... but hey that's none of my business.  Then the most heartbreaking play happened in that the Gophers drive down the field and have to kick a field goal, and it gets blocked, then returned for a touchdown, 85 yards...  Now I didn't fully analyze play, whether it was Santoso not getting the ball high enough or a blown coverage up the middle, I don't know.  But, overall, that outcome was completely unacceptable.  Fortunately for the Gophers their defense really stepped up in the second half by only letting up a field goal.  This allowed the Mitch Leidner and the offense to get more touches on the ball and drive down and score three touchdowns.  Cobb had a red sea parted for him for a 17 yard touchdown run, our big back Rodrick Williams Jr. bounced a run to the vulnerable outside and walked in a 19 yard touchdown, and finally Leidner had a two yard touchdown run to take the lead.  An improvement from last game was definitely the passing game, and a deep pass to K.J. Maye set up the winning touchdown.  But, I still think 135 passing yards is not enough to beat the top tier teams; still needs improvement.  The play of the game was made by Briean Boddy-Calhoun when he stripped the ball from a touchdown bound Pierson-El on the Minnesota two yard line.  One of the most crazy endings I have ever seen.  The game was finally sealed when Kirkwood broke a run of 10 yards for another Golden Gopher FIRST DOWN.  Huge win for the Gophers, and they absolutely need to take this momentum into Madison to get this win.

Now for the Michigan Wolverines... I am not going to waste my time, and the readers time with this because, frankly, the Wolverines do not deserve this.  It was a god awful game, extremely boring, and no team seemed like they wanted to win.  With this loss, it is likely Michigan will not go bowling and it is disappointing Hoke, and the players didn't come to this game fired up, and motivated to get bowl eligible.  Oh well, hopefully we get a new coach and some recruits to recommit...