Halloween from 219

A MarQueis Gray Sighting

Lets hope we see much more of this against Illinois - Red Zone Offense!











The Halloween Show

For my fellow band geeks out there, the Halloween Medley Halftime show was outstanding. It almost made up for the plethora of Jared Allen costumes in attendance.

U-G-L-Y

WOW. I didn't think our offense could look any worse the week after a putrid shut-out that included a goal stuff of Whaley. Yet what transpired today was even more horrific, the one garbage time TD notwithstanding.

Adam Weber has completely and utterly regressed to a one WR QB, who wasn't helped by horrid drops (Eric Lair when the ball hits you IN THE FACE CATCH IT!), yet more consistent pressure, and his own horrible decisions. It is amazing tOSU wasn't up 21 points at more at half. That points to how well our D played once again. It is beyond sickening just how bad the offense under Weber has been. Check out these stats, up to date as of the end of today's game. Keep in mind there are 120 teams in D1 football. And 11 teams in the Big Ten.

Yards/game -- 293.7 -- 110th in the nation (11th in the conference)
Points/game -- 23.1 -- 83rd in the nation (10th in the conference)
Sacked/game -- 2.3 -- 76th in the nations (9th in the conference)
Rush Att/game -- 29.9 -- 105th in the nation (11th in the conference)
Rush Yds/att -- 3.5 -- 85th in the nation (9th in the conference)

It is truly pathetic the offense has been this bad. We need to establish some identity on offense, and much like Gopher Bandana Guy, I welcome a switch to MarQueis. He is not the savior, but he brings a spark to the O, and will get valuable experience for the future. Plus, he can't be ANY worse than Weber at under-utilizing the talent (or at least highly recruited players) that populate our skill positions.

And please Jedd Fisch, for the love of all that is holy, RUN THE GODD*MN BALL consistently! Stay with it! Failing that, go to quick hitting passes, just get positive yards every play, setting up makeable 3rd downs!

By the way, if you want to check out a great site for stats (where I got the data above) check out this site

Well, I'm off to quaff some Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA Ale to dull the pain of watching our offense.

The Future is now. Bring on MarQueis.

So it took me a bit longer to give up on Weber than most. I can admit that. I've been fairly loyal to him over the last several weeks, still holding out hope that he'd eventually return to his 2008 form. Adam Weber had played admirably for the Gophers for 3 and a half years, but its time for him to hand the reigns over.

I realize I'm a couple weeks late on this sentiment, relative to the rest of the Gopher football blogosphere and message boards, but we need to start playing for our future and not this season. We're 4-4 now, with a moderate chance for a minor bowl. But if we want to play for more in 2010 and 2011, let's let MarQueis run the offense from here on out, and be thankful we have an experienced backup on the roster who can come in should the need arise. Gray may struggle, and it may be downright ugly at times, but let's consider it an investment.

Brewster wants the running game to be his stamp on the program now, but Gray's tenure as the starting QB will be the real stamp, as he is Brewster's top recruit to date, and the future of Golden Gopher football.

Obviously Gray's performance against OSU was mostly during mop up time, but during that time, he was still clearly the best player on the field, and looked sharp, especially on the short throws. While preparing for Michigan State next week, I'd love for us to mess with their gameplanning by having us split snaps in practice between Weber and Gray, and not declare a starter. Let them sweat a bit about how to defend both.

More discussion to come with the weekly 'What we learned' post.

Jedd Fisch Is The Key

Heading into a cold, rainy, sloppy mess of a game at Penn State, it is imperative that offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch do everything in his power to establish the run, and control the ball. Between Adam Weber's inconsistent play, the home-field advantage that PSU enjoys, and the inclement weather, the Gophers simply can not afford to fall behind early, or by more than a touchdown or ten points. The much-maligned Gopher offensive line has begun to play better as of late, leading the way to 2 strong rushing performances at Northwestern and home against Purdue. After averaging roughly 180 yards rushing in those 2 games, we must see kid genius Fisch stick to a steady diet of runs, be it sweeps to the edge utilizing Whaley's speed, or possible straight dives utilizing Bennett's drive and power as the largest of the 3 backs. Of course, that same line managed all of 4 first downs rushing and 57 yards total on the ground home against a stout Wisconsin front. Much like the arrogant Madison squad, the PSU defense boasts a stout defensive line, and a supposedly weak secondary. Unlike the Wisconsin game, the weather (and Adam Weber's JaMarcus Russell-like accuracy) most likely will not allow us to take advantage of the PSU secondary.

Fisch must mix it up as well, and see if some called MarQueis Gray scrambles or reverses to one of our tight ends would work. In particular, I remember sophomore Eric Lair showing some speed and athleticism when called upon to do so vs. Wisconsin. Fisch has to keep pounding the ball from a variety of formations, and can't fall in love with having Weber throw out of the gun, even if we get in an early hole. This is exactly the type of game where we need to see every single athlete we have being utilized and seeing what shakes out. We are a heavy dog, and have to play loose to get after this team.

That being said, the PSU offense boasts a bevy of weapons the likes of which the Gophers haven't seen since the Cal game. The Lions are 23rd in the nation in total offense, with a nice balance between the run and the pass. Of course, piling up 31 points on Akron and Temple, and 52 on Eastern Illinois boosts those numbers. Hopefully our D can slow the Nittany Lion attack a bit more than Illinois did in surrendering 35 points.

If, and it is a huge IF, our D/ST can keep the Nittany Lions under 28 points, and IF our offense can consistently move the chains and put some points up on the board, we can look for Brew's first signature win. To do that, we need to see Bandana Man's Man-Crush Troy Stoudamire continue his unbelievable return year by breaking one (or two!) to put up some quick td's.

Jedd Fisch, please, please stay with the rushing attack and keep the PSU offense off the field.