Gophers Weight Gainers/Losers

One of the things that always impresses me each year is the work that head strength and conditioning coach Eric Klein and his staff do with the players each year.  Whether that be trimming down to be more quick and agile or putting on much needed weight/muscle to be more effective in the trenches.  The greatest improvements are generally seen in year one in the program, but some players you see take a jump each year.

Take a look at the #StillGotGraphic below and check out the weight gains and losses from 2014 to 2015.  Mind you, I am only comparing what is on the Gophersports.com roster page from 2014 to today.  Connor Mayes may already be 340 by the time this post is up.

Gopher Skill Players: Top 10 for 2015

Everyone loves a countdown, right?  Except when it’s one of those bleacher report style click-bait things.  Screw that noise.

For 2015, the Gophers start the year with a huge question. How do they replace the production of  David Cobb and Maxx Williams on offense?  

For this countdown, I'm excluding the quarterback from offensive "skill positions" because we know we’ll have Mitch Leidner back .  Manning Camp Mitch is going to have even more weight on his shoulders coming into this year as he and the staff search to find the guy(s) who should get the ball.  The good news is there are many candidates.

As usual, Kill plays it pretty close to the vest.  Throughout the spring and into the summer we've heard him praise a number of different players in classic Jerry Kill generalities:  "Did a nice job", "Had a good day",  "Really playing well", "I like him a lot," etc. 

We’ve also seen that those at the top of the proverbial depth chart pre-season may not be who we find starting to close out the year.  To recap, here’s what the Gophers are losing from 2014 as far as receiving and rushing goes:

That’s 1728 of 2813 rushing yards (61.4%) and 1285 of 1844 (69.7%) of receiving yardage. 

I’m going to use a proprietary blend of dynamic-ness/upside-ness and playing time.  It’s all very scientific and totally on the level, trust me:

10.  (5-way tie!) Lincoln Plsek /Jerry Gibson/Duke Anyanwu /Brandon Lingen/Nate Wozniak, TEs -  So, right from the start I’m cheating.  This is a hugely important position in the Limgrover offense, but I haven't a clue who gets the bulk of the catches.

With Anyanwu (RSSo.) and Plsek (Sr.) both recovering from knee and back injuries respectively, the door cracks open a little bit more for someone else to step up.  At this point, it appears Plsek is in risk of missing the opener, but Anyanwu is out just a couple of weeks. Plsek is more of a classic blocking tight end with Anyanwu with more speed and athleticism. 

Gibson may or may not be ready for prime time yet as a redshirt freshman.  He's a heck of an athlete though and next to Lingen and Anyanwu may be the most likely to be that receiving tight end.  “Six-foot-Ten” Nate Wozniak deserves a special shout-out because Kill mentioned him at Big Ten Media days and again after the scrimmage.  It’s hard to believe Wozniak can play every down – I would expect more of a specialist with his length.  Lingen also getting a lot of praise and had a decent amount of run as a true freshman last year  Maybe he’s the guy? It’ll probably end up being one of the other nine tight ends on the roster.   ¯\(°_o)/¯

9.  Eric Carter, WR – The redshirt sophomore had just one catch last year, but it wasn’t too long ago that many were high on his prospects.  He made a nice 12 yard catch on third down on the first drive of the gopher fall scrimmage.  He's not a starter yet, but with only two returning receivers with 10+ catches, anyone can make the jump.

8.  Berkley Edwards, RB – Edwards is one of the running backs in the hunt for carries and looks like an option for a change-of-pace runner at 5’9” 195lbs.  He had 30 carries for 140 yards and 2 TDs in 2014 as a redshirt freshman in 2014 and really showed so flashes of being the lightning to someone's thunder.

7.  Melvin Holland Jr., WR -  Jerry Kill calls him gunpowder!  Holland caught a 56 yard pass in the scrimmage from a slant pass against the first team defense.  The RS freshman has a lot of skill and Leidner has said that he has “taken the most strides.”  I really like him as a possession guy that can generate yards after the catch with his elusiveness.

6.  Rodney Smith, RB – The redshirt freshman got the second drive of the fall scrimmage and is in the hunt for major carries this season if Williams doesn’t carry the bulk of the load.  He did get stuffed by Everett Williams on said second drive because the dreads have eyes. 

Everett Williams

5.  Drew Wolitarsky, WR – Wolitarsky at times has shown the ability to find openings in a defense.  Coming off a 10 catch year as a sophomore, he is a likely starter outside.  As important as catching passes, his 6’3”, 220lb frame may need to replace some of the blocking that Isaac Freuchte brought to the squad in 2014. 

4.  Isaiah Gentry, WR – I’m going out on a limb with Gentry in the 4 spot.  He’s 6’4”, can run well and goes up in the air to catch the ball.  A big part of Maxx’s ability to have success was to get those jump balls and I think Gentry can mimic that effect.  When was the last time we had a receiver with size that could go deep?

3.  KJ Maye, WR – KJ is the odds-on favorite to be the leading receiver and also happens to be the returning receiver with the most receptions.  He also jet-sweeped (jetswept?) the Hawkeyes to death last November, which was terrific.  He’s an undersized receiver at 5’10”, but could be very valuable working underneath with some of the younger and bigger players “taking the top off” of defenses.

2.  Rodrick Williams, RB – Nugget seems to be the favorite to replace a lot of the Cobb production.  He committed himself in the off-season and got in better shape anticipating a heavier workload.  In my opinion, he doesn’t have as much of that one-cut ability that Cobb showed, but I like him to be a grinder and break some tackles. I expect him to lead the team in rushing attempts and touchdowns this season.

1.  Jeff Jones, RB/WR – The redshirt freshman has been moved to the slot wide receiver position to catch passes and maybe run some jet sweeps.  The Under Armor All America MVP has come in with a lot of hype out of Washburn Hs and will finally get a chance to show what he can do this year.  I expect him to get some carries from the backfield as well.  By the end of the year, he could be getting a lot of touches per game both on the ground and through the air.  He has all of the talent and skills to be our biggest impact player.

Honorable Mention:  Shannon Brooks (RB), Chris Streveler (QB/WR?), “Six foot Five” Rashad Still (WR), Desmond Gant, WR

What do you think?  Who comes through and shines as a play maker for the Gophers this season?  Who did your buddy TRE miss?  Which one of those tight ends comes through?

Whatever Cures Ya, Kills Ya

Here's the thing... when you are willing to use the kind of language that Norwood Teague used in those texts to a University of Minnesota employee that he had just met that same evening, it ain't your first rodeo.

When you're willing, in public, to pinch the butt of a woman you met mere hours before, this isn't the first time you've been there.

When you're willing to ask a married woman if she is happy in her marriage, and if she is willing to cheat on her husband, it doesn't matter that you've had two rum-punches and a glass of Merlot... you've played this game before. 

This, folks, is the most disturbing part of the Norwood Teague saga. Nobody uses that kind of language in a text to a woman, acts the way he acted, or asks the questions he asked in that short of a timeframe just because of alcohol. 

Especially not someone who has as much experience with alcohol in professional situations as Teague.

Those are the actions of a man who has used these tactics before, and man for whom these tactics, sadly, probably worked at some point.

But I'm not here to be a revisionist historian. 

I'm not going to tell you that Teague's bravado made me uncomfortable all along. On the contrary, I thought it was exactly what this Athletic Department needed at a time when raising money for facilities was Priority #1.

I liked Norwood Teague. I liked that he was going after the big dollars. I liked that he wasn't afraid to make a move in the Men's Basketball program. I liked that he was committed to football as a way to "feed" the Athletic Programs at large. 

Heck, I kind of liked the fact that he wasn't afraid to tip a few back with the donors and have boosters over to his place to do whatever it is rich people do when they are trying to get each other to hand over handsome sums of money.

He was the right personality with the right experience at the right time. He oversaw the Athletic Department while football was making its way back to a New Year's Day bowl game, while corporate donors were coming forward to fund facilities, and perhaps most importantly, while all Athletic Programs were raising their grade-point averages to historic levels.

But those things won't be Norwood Teague's legacy anymore. 

He won't be remembered for the good things he did while at the helm. We'll probably all forget about #HailTeague on Twitter. We won't remember him waxing nostalgic about music on KFAN.

We'll probably remember him as a drunk.

And that's unfortunate. Not because it diminishes what he accomplished while at the University of Minnesota. It's unfortunate because, while alcohol is the excuse being thrown around for his actions, the truth is that he didn't act the way he did because of alcohol. 

I'm willing to say that alcohol fueled the flame, but it certainly didn't light the match.

Whatever it is about Norwood Teague that made him a great fundraiser and good Athletic Director, is the same thing that got him in trouble. He didn't have it in him to stop when someone told him no.

When you're raising money, they call it charisma. When you've been dismissed due to harassment, they call it arrogance.

Walter Palmer Redeemed

SGH back for the two one five.

BARRETT ON ICE

GOPHER NUMEROLOGY: THE TALE OF THE TAPE vs tOSU

You want words, read Frothy's post.  I give you pictures... me like pictures.  Also, Numerology.  Here is the tale of the tape for Saturday's tilt:

Source for awful IQ stats:  Link

The Unimportant Game that Means Everything

Remember when I used to blog here? Those were the days. Ridiculous 100,000 word challenges, a few laughs, a few tears, nipple tassels galore. I miss those days.

First things first, barring a schizoid break or brain tumor that compels me to eschew sleep and do nothing but blog for the next month, that 100k goal will die in agonizing hell fire. It was a run. Anyway, I owe some charity of your choosing $500 bones. I haven't forgotten and won't forget - but we'll settle up at the end of the season.

Second, since it's been a while, let's just agree to never discuss the Illinois game again. It never happened. "What never happened?" you ask. Exactly.

Third, my nuts are sore from a weekend full of flexing. Sweet Sassy that Iowa game was something. FOTB Matt Humbert over at The Daily Gopher posted a terrific piece on what it means in the grand scheme of things, concluding that the game exorcised some old demons and left us basking in the light of hope. We at SGH have always had hope, but its sweet bosom is riper and more succulent that it's felt in a long while. The hope bosom makes everything right.

Crushing Iowa while nuzzled into the hope bosom.

So, here we are at 7-2, about the best all but the most optimistic Gopher fans would have predicted at the start of the season. 7-2 with the Buckeyes coming to town. The Buckeyes who hold a 42 - 7 record against us. The Buckeyes who we've beaten exactly twice since Richard Nixon was in office. We can talk about our historical ineptitude against Michigan. but no one has had our number as consistently and brutally as Ohio State.

Thing is, though, this game isn't really all that important. Our path to the West Division crown doesn't have Ohio State in it. I mean, we play them, so they're technically in our paths, like, literally, but, whatever, we don't need to beat them to win the West. If you told me to choose two games remaining on our schedule I'd like to win, this one wouldn't be on the list. There are ways for us to win the division by not beating both Nebraska and Wisconsin, but they're tricky and outside of our control to some extent. Give me those two games and let the results of this one be damned.

So, yeah, this game is meaningless. Who cares what happens? Get through it unscathed, preferably not giving up triple digits to maintain a modicum of respect and keep the powder dry for the all-important games against the Huskers and the Huns to the East.

But while that may be the pragmatic approach, man, I don't know anyone who looks at it that way. Notwithstanding [REDCATED], things feel really different here now. Maybe it's the sweet, succulent bosom of hope afforded to us by cracking the whupping stick on Iowa. Maybe it's that we have Floyd and the Jug together for the first time in my life. Maybe this is just what every fan of a respectable, competent team feels. But I am really looking forward to this game on Saturday.

It's not that I think we're going to win - it would take a lot to go right for that to happen. I just look forward to seeing if we might win and, more importantly, how we stack up. The B1G isn't rife with spectacular teams this year, but OSU is the best candidate we'll see. This will be a great test for us against the best in the conference.

We'll come in with a lot of confidence. The Bucks just played in their biggest game of the regular season and may be a little off their peak. It'll be cold as hell. It's Year 4. The outcome of this game may not mean much to determining the winner of the Western Division; that will be settled in the next three weeks. But it means everything to us.

Chart Depicting Gopher Rollercoaster Ride

#NOREASON

The Iowa Defense is Formidable and Stuff

I don't know... I laughed.

This post is a follow-up to my post on Monday about the Hawkeye offense.  Sure, the offense has some neat parts and all, but the defense is what is most impressive about our corn people to the south.



Iowa ranks 18th in the nation in points against. (20.0ppg)  They are coming off of a week where they only allowed 7 to Pat Fitzgerald's Veiny Forehead. 

Here's a list of Iowa's best defensive performances this year:

Granted, our Gophers have given up more points to some of these teams, but I found it notable that they stifle the the suckier teams -- which I suppose makes sense.  Ball State is 2-2 in the MAC, ISU hasn't won a game in conference play and Pitt is 2-3 in the ACC.  Their other three games where they allowed 23, 29 and 38 points were against teams that as of right now (looking at you, IU) are all .500 or better.  And in two of they last three they gave up 29 and 38!



What does it all mean?  I don't know, I'm just trying to spin a scenario where the Gophers should be able to put up some points.

Kill said in the presser this week that Iowa is always a team that gets better during the year.  Lets look at the Hawkeyes by position.

Defensive Line

Drew Ott

The starting defensive ends are Nate Meier and Drew Ott.  Each have a whopping 40 total tackles on the year, but Ott is a pressure-machine.  The 6'4", 270lb junior has 10.5 tackles for loss and 8.0 sacks on the year.  He's had at least one sack in each of the last three contests.  He also has seven hurries and a pretty sweet beard. Fear him.

The defensive tackles are also very good.  Senior Louis Trinca-Pasat is coming off a game where he had three sacks and made Trevor Siemian cry. (unconfirmed)  He is fourth on the team in total tackles and has the most among defensive lineman with an incredible 50.  His 9.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks are both second on the team.  The other tackle is 6'5", 315 senior Carl Davis.  He's a space eater type that occasionally gets into the backfield as well.  Kill refers to the two defensive tackles as "special" and not in the normal Iowa way.



Linebackers

Quinton Alston

The linebackers have been a bit banged up of late, but still are a strong unit featuring the team's leading tackler, senior Quinton Alston.  Last week, Alston moved to WLB as Reggie Spearman was out.  Travis Perry started in the middle.  The Outlaw Josey Jewell has also been banged up, but is normally a starter.  Alston is the gem of this group though, he gets tackles, breaks up passes (4) and gets to the QB (2 sacks, 1 hurry).  Not sure if he's related to Skip 2 My Lou or not though.  In this week's presser Limegrover calls the linebacking group very consistent, but says the front four really picks them.



Secondary

Kirk Lowdermilk has a son on the Hawkeyes and he's pretty dang good!  Ol' Milky is second on the team with 58 tackles and the other safety, Jordan Lomax is third with 52.  They have 3 interceptions between them.  Desmond King and Greg Mabin are the starting corners.  Travis Perry and Maurice Fleming round out the group.  These guy held Siemian to 68 yards passing last week.  They also held Maryland to under 50% passing and 206 total yards even though they lost that one. Sudfeld and company were abysmal for Indiana as well, throwing for 116 yards and 3 INTs.  As a team they have 10 interceptions and 30 passes broken up. 

Followers for Vodka Samm - Part 2

With apologies to Daniel Keyes.



November 3, 2014

LMFAO! The losers at BHGP went through with their procedure this morning and I have 13,500 Twitter followers now. Check it out! All the more people to hear what a dump minisnooooooooooowDUH is. RAH!

I like having all of these people following me, but I don't know what most of them are saying. It's like they're speaking another language. They must have gone to school at DUH U. LMAO!!

I tried tweeting at Флора Ольховская about how the Goofer players are a bunch of thugs, but she never responded.

When the BHGP guys were talking about their plan, they said something about "Ukranian spam bots" and "thousands of followers for $3.99," but I don't know what any of that means. I'm just happy me and Валентина Науменко can follow Goofer recruits on Twitter and tell them what a dump Minnesota is. ROTFLMAO

Iowa is Pretty Good Now I Guess

In the words of our good buddy W at DownwithGoldy.com -- Is Iowa, like good?

While we were living the dream as a borderline ranked team and not losing to Illinois it seemed easy to overlook Iowa.  Everyone was doing it, not just we Gopher brethren.  (As opposed to wee Gopher brethren, that's MV).  They currently sit at 6-2 (3-1) and are tied with the Gophers and Wisconsin for second in the Kanye West division behind 4-1 Nebraska.

They stumbled early with a loss to Iowa State and that's when I think I wrote them off with a chuckle.  Which is probably the same thing that everyone is now doing with our Gophers.  "You lost to Illinois?  HAR HAR HAR."

The Gophers' three conference wins are now looking less than stellar as they have a combined record of 5-10 in Big Ten play.  But looky here, Iowa's 3 wins are against similarly poor opponents (3-11 Big Ten record) and everyone is tripping over their dicks in fear.  Iowa lost to a 3-2 Maryland squad while we all know the Gophers succumbed to the Illini (1-4) for their only conference loss.  There is some justification in that the Hawkeyes whipped these likely bottom-feeders in a more convincing fashion than Minnesota did.  They won those 3 games a combined 117-46, while Minnesota won theirs 93-69.

The way the Gophers play with their power run style, I just don't think you're going to see a lot of blowouts.  However, there is definitely room for concern on the defense.  They gave up a lot of big plays to Purdue.  And Iowa has been putting up big points of late, scoring 124 points over their last three games (2-1).

Let's try and take a look at what has been working for Iowa on offense and see if we can recognize what we should be most afraid of:

The Quarterback Position

Junior Jake Rudock is in his second year leading the Hawkeyes' offense.  Looking at the numbers, his 2014 varies from 2013 in a couple of key categories.  He has cut down his interceptions -- through 7 games, he has just 3 interceptions as opposed to 13 over 13 games in 2013.  He's also increased his completion percentage from 59.0% to 64.6%.  His first two career 300+ yard passing games have also come this year in the Maryland loss and an early season beating of Ball State.

One negative is that he's taking sacks at a much higher rate.  He already has been sacked 11 times as opposed to 14 in all of 2013.  This is interesting because Iowa was thought to have a great O-line coming into the year, more to come on that when we get to the O-Line.

In his last three games, Rudock has been solid.  He's passed for 62% completion with an average of 255 yards per game.  He's throw just 5 TDs and 1 INT over that span.

The Running Backs

I still have flashbacks of Mark Weisman running wild all over the Gophers in 2013.  I had hash for breakfast that day.  Weisman finished 2013 with 975 yards on 227 carries and had 8 touchdowns.  This year, Weisman has had his ups and downs, but is still extremely dangerous in short yardage.  He's already amassed 13 scores and has two or more TDs in each of the last 5 games.   The only game he hasn't reached the end zone was against Ball State.   On the season he has 521 yards on 133 carries, good for a 3.9 ypc.  Weisman has a total of 8 receptions in the last two years, so he is not a factor in the passing game.  Senior Damon Bullock is a threat out of the backfield though, catching 25 balls for 206 yards.

Jordan Canzeri (ankle) and LeShun Daniels (knee) have been battling injuries, with Daniels being lost for the year.  Freshman back Jonathan Parker was hurt on the opening kickoff last week as well.  In total, 5 other running backs have had carries besides Weisman, but they may have finally settled on the lightning to Weisman's thunder just this past week.    Freshman Akrum Wadley ran for 106 yards and a score on 15 carries despite not getting a touch in the first quarter. 

Over the last three games Iowa has run for 221, 116 and 207 yards.  The 116 against Maryland was on 31 carries and Rudock threw the ball 56 times that game.  Iowa gets 200+ yards = bad, who knew?

The Receivers

Iowa seems to have a decent history with having at least one pretty good reciever in the corps and this year is no different with senior WR Kevante Martin-Manley.  Seventeen different players have caught a pass for Iowa this year, but Martin-Manley leads the way with 36 receptions for 336 yards and 18 of those have been for a first down or score.  He has just one TD, and three other Hawkeyes have 2 TDs to lead the team.  Rudock likes to sprinkle.  Junior Tevaun Smith is the #2 receiver and he's already surpassed his receiving totals from last year by catching 27 balls for 326 yards.  Senior Damond Powell appears to be a deep threat with 14 receptions at a 20ypc clip.  He has a 72 yard score on the year.  Junior tight-end Jake Duzey has 26 receptions for only 180 yards... possibly a safety valve for Rudock.

Over the past 3 contests, the top receivers been Matt Vandenburg, Damon Bullock and Damond Powell.  Martin-Manley has just 104 yards total over that period.  In fact, over the 8 games, 6 different players have led the team in receiving yards. 

The Offensive Line

Iowa has a great history of strong offensive lines and coming into this season the story was that this year would be no different.  Prior to the year, the highly rated Hawkeyes were said to be led by left tackle Brandon Scherff, a guy who is considered among the best in the nation.  Austin Blythe was projected at center and a potential Rimington candidate -- and pre-season all Big Ten Jordan Walsh would slot in at right guard.  Big boy Andrew Donnal was to move over from backing up Scherff to right tackle.   Left guard was pretty much up for grabs, but probably would be another great big white guy.

Some things have changed since then.  Blythe is now the starting left guard and senior Tommy Gaul is at center.  Scherff is still holding it down at LT, OMG you guys did you know he was a HS quarterback? Jordan Walsh remains at right guard although Sean Welsh got some time in as well last week.  Andrew Donnal is also still at right tackle.


You might think going from 15 sacks allowed in 2013 to 13 sacks allowed so far this year that the line has had problems.  However, it should be noted that 15 sacks allowed was the lowest in the Big Ten last year and that Iowa threw the ball 375 times that year.  This year they've already thrown it 288 times and that 13 sacks allowed number is 5th best in the now 14 team conference.  Minnesota is 4th best allowing 12 sacks thus far, MSU leads... they've allowed just 5 sacks.  Wow. 


Rushing for Iowa has been pedestrian as a whole on the year.  They're mid-table in both yards per game and yards per carry.  They are tenth in the Big Ten in rushing yards.  We've seen that number tick up a bit in the last few wins, so perhaps they've figured it out.

Formations

As a bonus, I'll share what I've read over at the Gazette about Iowa's formations.  Last week, they ran the 22 (RB, FB, 2 TE) 32% of the time.  They ran the 21 (RB, FB, 1 TE) 22.5%, 11 (1 RB, 1 TE) 29.5% and the 12 (1 RB, 2 TE) 15.5%.  Of note here is that they completed some of the bigger passes of the game out of the sets with the FB and a flea flicker out of a 3 TE set (only time they ran that set).  Tricky tricky, Kirk.


Stay tuned over the next couple of days for some coverage on the Iowa defense.  Or at least to check out whatever the hell it is that Frothy is doing.

Followers for Vodka Samm - Part 1

With apologies to Daniel Keyes.

November 2, 2014

Goooooooooooferrrrrs! LMAO. ILLIONOIS?!!  LMAO!  minisooooooDUH got trounced by these losers?  RAH!! Junk team with a dump stadiette getting FLUKE cupcake wins and going to bowls in buttfuck detroit! Loserville minisooooooooooDUH barely beat Turdue. RAH!

ClusterFuckCirt’s HAWKEYS go to shit STADIETTE this weekend to beat JERRI KEEL and DUH cupcake store Goooooofers. The duck FCS powerhouses like NDSU and UNI! RAH!!

Yesterday the LOOSERS at BHGP told me I was banned from everywhere on the Innernet and they wanted to help. Said NCDOUCHEA said telling goofer recruits about MURDERapolis was a violation. You just can’t make this shit up!!!

They said if I get 13,000 Twitter followers I’ll be NORMAL and allowed back on the internet. LMFFAAO. Said they got a bunch of followers for Vodka Samm and now she’s normal and want to do the same thing for me and they’d get 13,000 followers for me tomorrow.

Goofers suck hairy, fat ones and their Gooferhole fans swallow.....LMFAO!!