Northern Illinois @ Minnesota: What we learned

This young Gopher fan found better things to watch than the 4th Qtr
Photo by JT

Another gut wrenching loss.  What can you say that hasn't already been uttered in an overheard expletive laced tirade on the post-game walk to your car. Another glorious evening for football at The Bank, made ruinous by poor run blocking, and even poorer tackling. Sigh.  Losing at home is not a habit I'd like to see develop.  But it's happening.  At least last year, we respectably defended our home turf with a winning record (4-3), with respectable losses to Cal and Wisconsin, and Illinois in a headscratcher.  We seemed to own the night with the Air Force and Michigan State wins with some timely (if not lucky) bounces that went our way.  That all seems so distant now.  Truly, my confidence in the Brewster regime is all but dead.  Only an improbable run in the conference schedule will restore it to at least measurable levels.

Now NIU is no pushover MAC team, but they certainly aren't USC either.  Yet they came in and pretty much did the same damn thing to us that SoCal did.  Ran the ball down our throats.  Life seemed so much simpler 2 weeks ago, when we could just blame our pass defense on the inexperience of Christyn Lews and James Manuel (or conversley the suspension of Theret and the injury to Royston).  Now that we've been gashed in both the pass and run, the defensive troubles seem so much more, well, troubling.  The Huskies managed 34 points on the Gophers, in only 23 minutes of possession.  Disgraceful.


Clearly NIU head coach Jerry Kill saw something on our tape vs. USC that he liked.  I'm guessing it was the way our linebackers seem to always be 1 or 2 steps out of position, leaving major running holes wide open. Going into this game I thought we were going to get 'Dante Warren-ed' to death by a better and more experienced Chandler Harnish. Turns out, they didn't even need him to do much more than be a caretaker for the offense, letting Chad Spann carry the load.  In that limited time NIU had the ball, Spann managed to rack up 223 yards on just 15 carries.  Yeah, that's nearly 11 ypc.  You'd think Barry Sanders or Gale Sayers was lining up across from us with those kind of numbers. And Harnish's legs? Well, he seemed to be the one player we actually did scheme for, and his runs were held in check. But that isn't  worth much when the halfback lining up behind him can just get you 10 yards a crack.

This looks like a stout  bunch in the Maroon.  Key word - 'looks'.
Photo by JT

At the beginning of this season, I really did believe that the front 7 of this team would continually improve and ultimately become the strength of this defense.  They certainly appear to be an athletic enough group.  Chalk their performance up to inexperience and poor coaching?  I suppose so, but my confidence in Cosgrove is virtually gone, to say nothing of Brewster.  Last year I feld like Cosgrove had really maximized the talent on our defense, making them a cohesive unit that kept us in games all season.  This year, I am really at loss for what has happened so far, and how things will progress/regress into th future.  Perhaps all the Nebraska and Wisconsin Cosgrove-haters  who warned us had it right?  
 
On offense, OC Horton again tried valiantly to establish the run, but simply could not. Our longest run from scrimmage was a measly 12 yards, and the one explosive run we did muster (Bennett's 3rd quarter sprint to the east endzone) was called back on a hold. NIU's defensive rotations (6-man line shifts) seemed to keep them from getting worn down later in the game, and kept running room difficult all game.  And once again, Weber was serviceable and didn't do anything to cost us the game (although that desparation shovel pass was an absolutely dreadful decision).  He padded his stats again late in the game on some nice drives that ultimately just closed the margin of victory for NIU.  MarQueis again looked the part of a potential All-Big Ten WR (maybe Dave Mona wasn't insane for claiming that?). 

Thumbs down Gophers, you let my boys down
Photo by JT

 
But I need to stay positive here. There were some aspects about last Saturday's gameday that I did like:
1) The weather. Just about a perfect evening for football. Fireworks at the half were nice too.
2) My entire family taking in a Gopher football game (as we like to do as a full group annually), including my two boys getting to go to their first game at The Bank!
3) The Ski-U-Brat. Tasty, but the brat itself needs to be a bit larger, to match the scale of the bun.
4) Fresh mini donuts. Sweet and delicious. 
5) "Goldy's Groove" in the 3rd Quarter. Attention TCF Bank Stadium Operations Manger(s) - keep this feature. I'm all about anyway we can incorporate Earth, Wind, and Fire in to gameday.  And 'Let's Groove Tonight' did inspire some excellent fan dancing.  How about next week we rock Funkadelic's 'One Nation Under a Groove'?
6) MarQueis Gray. He's real good at WR. He's not fumbling the ball. And Weber is finding him  I like it. 

So there were plenty of reasons to enjoy myself. Just not football. Well, except for MarQueis Gray.  He can actually play football.


Fireworks. I enjoy them even when losing.  Photo by JT

So how is this team going fare against Northwestern?  The 4-0 Wildcats haven't won a single game convincingly against less than impressive opponents. Like most of our games versus the Mildcats, I expect a shootout.  And tomorrow we should have our first of several weekly opposing views from a fan of our current Big Ten opponent.  This week, my friend and Northwestern alum, TKL will be putting together a preview of his own of the game. He's also using my tickets, as I can't get up to the Twin Cities for a 4th straight weekend. Before you scoff at my selling season ticket seats to the enemy, remember this is a Northwestern guy, not some Badger jackhole or Hawkeye d-bag.  And Northwestern alumni will always beat the rest of the Big Ten alums in 'gentlemanly-like behavior' at all sporting events.  Except for that one NU fan who got ejected from Welsh-Ryan Arena last year for yelling at Ed Hightower.  But then, who hasn't yelled at Ed Hightower?  So no worries, he'll behave himself and be respectful.  And he's graciously agreed to share with us what he thinks of our new digs and the upgraded 'college football on campus' atmosphere.

And what did we learn?  I learned that we can't even stop a MAC team's running game.  I learned that our offensive line cannot create running lanes against a MAC team.  But I also learned that the most beautiful of autumn nights cannot quite be ruined by gross incompetence.   And finally, I learned that I learned that having your wife and kids smiling at the game only goes so far, and that eventually you just need to abandon your family and grab a beer.  Thanks for being there Mr. Omar Douglas Redux.  That Surly Furious on tap at Stub and Herbs we had went a long way to soothe my nerves.  And as my favorite beer, Surly Furious shall become the first of our Crew's Brews we highlight, as we suffer through this season and find different beers to ease the pain (stay tuned for more of our GEHG's Crew's Brews). Ethanol is needed to survive our Big Ten season and brutal remaining home schedule.  Beer is the vehicle.

Desperation Setting In? Here Come the Huskies: NIU @ Minnesota Preview

If this week's game preview post title seems a bit cocksure, don't misinterpret.  Desperation is indeed looming, and could set in fully if Northern Illinois beats us at home.  And the NIU Huskies are a pretty decent MAC team with a pretty decent quarterback (more on him later) that could easily send this season into a nightmarish death spiral. A decent that might not even be slowed by the winning of a few 'trinket games' later in the year.

And as if this game wasn't enough for the team to focus on, now there seems to be an undercurrent of dissent among at least one player.  WR/KR Troy Stoudemire made it public by his recent Facebook declaration that he is no longer a Gopher.  One assumes this was caused by Brewster's indefinite suspension of Troy for 'conduct detrimental to the team'.  The team has said nothing officially about Stoudemire's departure, and apparently he's not yet spoken to the staff formally about leaving 'the U'.  Maybe he's just blowing off steam over the internets?  If so, its too bad he missed the halftime public service announcement at last week's USC game about 'going to far' with social networking.

Whatever the case, the loss of our #3 receiver and top kick return man shouldn't be our primary concern going into this game.  That honor goes to Husky QB, Chandler Harnish.  Harnish, who wasn't the Week 1 game starter under center, lost the QB battle to DeMarcus Grady in training camp.  But after a rough 3 INT opener at Iowa State and a wacky low-angle throwing motion, Harnish was given the start in Week 2 vs. UND.  No stranger to starting, Harnish has led the Huskies at QB in 18 games over the last 2 years. And in just two games this seasonb(UND and Illinois), the junior QB rolled up some impressive numbers -- 350 yards in the air and nearly 300 on the ground.  Uh oh - dual threat QB. Dante Warren, but with more experience, comes to mind.  And that smells like trouble.  I presume this time around we'll actually gameplan for a QB with legs.  Perhaps worst of all, he sort of has that bad-ass, focused, football-is-my-life, Eric Decker-esque look to him.  Great.

Chandler Harnish means business

Harnish is not alone in the backfield either, as he can turn around and hand the ball to Chad Spann, a 5'9" 198 lb senior halfback.  Spann has averaged nearly 80 yards per game, and already broke a 79 TD this season.  Statistically, none of the Husky receivers stand out - none have even 100 yards receiving thru 3 games, so Harnish is doing a nice job spreading the ball around, but his wheels are the bigger concern.  Its clear then, that stopping Harnish and Spann will be paramount if a Gopher win is to occur.  To many 6-7 yard runs on 1st or 2nd down will put the Gopher defense in a bad spot, and allow the Huskies to keep the D off-balance, keeping them guessing if Harnish will be throwing or running in short down and distances.  Watching some of Harnish's highlights from the Illini game, they have some designed QB runs that look very effective, and some short delayed passing routes over the middle that will keep our linebackers busy.

The NIU defense has allowed fewer yards than their offense has gained, but that hasn't translated into wins for them.  They have been gashed for 175 yards per game on the ground, and look like they could be a team susceptible to the Gopher's run game.  Illinois racked up over 300 yards on the ground last week, so that bodes well for us and controlling the clock.

I have little faith that our defense will be disciplined enough to stop Harnish all game, and so I think the key this week lies in keeping him off the field by dominating the time of possession.  If the offensive line can play well and Bennett is back and healthy, this is the most likely route to victory for the Gophers.

This Saturday's game is an opportunity for the Gophers to get up off the ground, dust off our pants, wipe the blood of our nose, and play like a real Big Ten team.  That means putting down the Huskies with the same type of ball-control offense we saw versus the Blue Raiders in the opener.  Make no mistake though, NIU was a preseason pick to win the MAC West division and are eager to beat a big conference opponent before moving on to their conference schedule.  They also have a recently infirmed coach to play for and rally around.  Coach Jerry Kill was recently hospitalized for dehydration, and also had an undisclosed surgery earlier in the season, though he will be on the sidelines of TCF Bank Stadium this Saturday night.

Originally, I had called for this game to be the let-down loss on the schedule, after stealing a win from USC.  Obviously, that scenario didn't play out.  But based on the Chandler Harnish film I watched this week, I am still VERY skeptical that we can win this game.  Harnish looks to be a dangerous player, the kind that our defense may not be experienced enough to stop.  If the RB Spann was the focal point of the NIU offense, I'd be much more confident.  Unfortunately he is not, and Harnish will likely shred us as he can pass on the run, or just tuck it and take off with deceptive speed and good vision.  Ball control with Bennett, Eskeridge, and Kirkwood is needed to limit Harnish's touches. Can the Gophs control the clock for 45 minutes out of 60 again to gain the victory? I fear not.

Prediction: Minnesota 24, Northern Illinois 31

Gopher Player of the Game: Duane Bennett - 24 carries for 145 yards and 2 TDs

Huskie Player of the Game: Chandler Harnish - 15 carries for 110 yards rushing and 2 TDs, 14-20 for 120 yards and 2 TDs