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Lynn G. -> RE:Gopher Football (10/20/2007 9:32:40 PM)

It was absolutely the right decision to kick those three defensive guys off the team because of criminal activities - but would they have made a difference this year? Hopefully Brewster can recruit better character guys than those three.



So.Mn.Fan -> RE:Gopher Football (10/20/2007 10:26:26 PM)

The Gophers (1-7) hit a low point in what has been a miserable first season under first-year head coach Tim Brewster, giving up 585 total yards and squandering several chances down the stretch. Minnesota appeared to have a chance to take the ball and get a chance to win the game when North Dakota State line up to punt with 1:48 left. But Dom Barber ran into punter Mike Dragosavich to give the Bison a first down and seal the game. All those Bison fans who turned the Metrodome into Fargodome East roared their approval as the final whistle sounded, cementing a program-defining win under coach Craig Bohl. In the final year of their transition from Division II to the Football Championship Subdivision, the Bison were treating this game like their Super Bowl. They have 33 players from Minnesota on their roster, some of whom felt slighted when they weren't offered scholarships by the only Division I school in their home state, and won't be eligible to make the playoffs until next season. Gave up 585 yds. Yep, as you say, that's about as low as you can go. It better be. :oops:



Jeff Jesser -> RE:Gopher Football (10/21/2007 4:52:44 AM)

Hang in there peeps. This sucks but it's still Mason's guys that Brewster is working with. I didn't expect it to be this bad but I knew the transiton would be tough.



Karl Juhnke -> RE:Gopher Football (10/21/2007 10:07:14 PM)

They are a half a team right now. The offense is actually very competent. Especially considering it's being led by a freshman QB. But the defense is historically bad. It's got to be hard on the offense knowing that they have to score 40 to even have a shot at winning.



Gomer -> RE:Gopher Football (10/22/2007 6:24:42 AM)

As a MN native and NDSU alumni, it's always been well known that NDSU has had a great football program for years. MN is typically on the bottom of theirs. Close games are expected in these situations, but I fully expected NDSU to blow them out both years. Still, there has to be an odvious gap in the overall talent pool when NDSU has to play a great game to beat a D1 team that currently cannot compete. These types of upsets take place more often than we realize, but seems more extreme when it's a local setting. Recently, I've found myself weighing in on the recognition of a Bison win versus the demoralizing results for the Gophers, and the loss for the Gophers has to be much more extreme. In a nutshell, a historically terrible Gopher defense is the root of the MN program the last 30 years. Will it ever change? I've watched the Gophers put some good offense on the field, but have never known them as a defensive juggernaut of any sort. I was extremely proud of the Bison getting the win, but now when I look back after a day has gone by, it was just the Gophers. Now, it's much more intriging to say the Bison beat a Big Ten team and avoid saying the Gophers in the same sentence. I'm a fan of both programs and I'd like to see them both bring recognition to the region. I hate to say it, but I do see the Bison struggling to take another big step. For the Gophers, there's only one way to go but up in my opinion. They have a new stadium on the horizon, scholarships, and general resources to rebuild a program. The freshmen QB (Weber) has some good upside and the offense has clear promise, but if they don't figure out how to establish a respectable defense, it's really a mute point. We'll have to see what Brewster can do.



Lynn G. -> RE:Gopher Football (10/22/2007 3:08:39 PM)

I have a question about recruiting and high school players making commitments to colleges. Do the athletes have the same criteria with regard to applying to and getting accepted at the school? For example, Michael Floyd just gave a verbal to Notre Dame, but Notre Dame is a tough school to get into, both academically and, so I've heard, because of the Catholic standards. I don't know anything about Floyd's academic abilities, nor his religious affiliation, but do athletes ever get recruited by a school and then fail to gain entry via application? Or do they just get a free pass?



Cheesehead Craig -> RE:Gopher Football (10/22/2007 4:29:17 PM)

Lynn - I think ND would look at the prospects academic situation while recruiting him. Although I'm sure they've given a free pass or two on occassion. Jesser - Go ahead and blame that these are Mason's kids out there. :roll: The same ones that at least made minor Bowl games and were competitive out on the field. There isn't a huge dropoff in talent out there. It's the coaching. Brewster said after the game that the tackling is still a problem. After 2 months of games and there's still this basic issue to solve? Come on.



Jeff Jesser -> RE:Gopher Football (10/22/2007 4:39:28 PM)

[quote="Cheesehead Craig"]Lynn - I think ND would look at the prospects academic situation while recruiting him. Although I'm sure they've given a free pass or two on occassion. Jesser - Go ahead and blame that these are Mason's kids out there. :roll: The same ones that at least made minor Bowl games and were competitive out on the field. There isn't a huge dropoff in talent out there. It's the coaching. Brewster said after the game that the tackling is still a problem. After 2 months of games and there's still this basic issue to solve? Come on. [/quote] I'm trying to remain positive you hoser :taunt: I'll give Brewster 3 years before I start in on him. What I love about him so far is that he's pretty much only a recruiter. He's letting his coaches control the actual play. He is doing a great job, so far, on the recruiting aspect.



Jim Frenette -> RE:Gopher Football (10/22/2007 5:09:05 PM)

The Gophers were the second D-1 school the Bison beat this year. My question is why did they decide to go AA instead of 1-A? It would make a good #12 for the Big 10. I know in basketball to go 1A they have to have a facility that seats X number of fans. I'm guessing that might be the same for football. If anyone knows for sure, I would be interested. Lynn every school has their own requirements for the ACT/SAT and players have been recruited to only later denied admission because of these standards. Is that what you were looking for?



Lynn G. -> RE:Gopher Football (10/22/2007 5:24:12 PM)

Jim and Craig - thanks, you answered my question. As for Brewster - it does appear that his biggest asset is his recruiting (just got a four star wide receiver over the weekend), and by all accounts his staff of coaches are excellent. As a team of coaches - hopefully they can mold those recruits into something excellent. Just heard on KFAN this morning that Kirk Ferentz only had one win in his first season. The next two seasons only three wins each - yet today he's considered a top notch coach with winning teams. Barry Alvarez only had something like one or two wins in his first couple of seasons too. It's all about building a program, and Brewster is just starting.



Jim Frenette -> RE:Gopher Football (10/22/2007 5:34:08 PM)

Lynn it appears that He can recruit, but they all seem to be offense and the Gophers biggest problem is on the defense. It has been for years. They let a AA school push them around. And BTW, these are the same defense that have been to bowl games the last few years.



Karl Juhnke -> RE:Gopher Football (10/22/2007 7:43:46 PM)

[quote="Jim Frenette"]Lynn it appears that He can recruit, but they all seem to be offense and the Gophers biggest problem is on the defense. It has been for years. They let a AA school push them around. And BTW, these are the same defense that have been to bowl games the last few years.[/quote] He seems to be knocking it out of the park in recruiting...on paper of course. We'll see. I didn't know what to expect this year, but the complete badness of the defense took me by surpise a little bit. I saw the first game (Bowling Green) in person where you can see the whole field. It didn't really bother me much that they lost, because I liked the competitive nature they displayed. But the defense was scary. Opposing guys running around completely unbothered and unstopped. I came away with real mixed feelings. Enthused about the program. Dreading the fact that the defense was going to make it a long season. Both feelings have held up.



Cheesehead Craig -> RE:Gopher Football (10/22/2007 8:49:29 PM)

I know people like to point to Frye and Alvarez and that they had very little success their first seasons, but let's clarify something here. Both of those guys had absolute crap to work with when they came on board. Neither program had done jack for a long time. Brewster gets a team that at least had been to bowl games and had a winning record in recent memory. He's not building from scratch. He was brought on board to take the Gophers to the next level to a bigger bowl game. He had a hell of a lot more talent to work with than either Frye or Alvarez. Jeff, I do also agree that Brewster will need some time with his own recruits and I believe he deserves that chance. However, this team regessed quite a bit this year and when the coach comes out and says the basics are being missed, that's a big sign of trouble on a coaching level.



Jeff Jesser -> RE:Gopher Football (10/22/2007 8:57:04 PM)

That's all true but Mason's defenses sucked about as much as this years. It's not like the current defensive coaches inherited a really good D and made them this bad. They inherited a terrible D and have made it a bit worse. That part is troubling but I'm not overall worried yet.



Gomer -> RE:Gopher Football (10/23/2007 12:10:31 AM)

Key word is Brewster "HAD" a better team to inherit than some other coaches, but the only few players were actually any good - graduated. MN had 3-4 players last year that were good, but as a team, MN was not very good. That was then, this is now. MN is much worse coming into this season no matter how it gets sliced. I'm yet to be sold on Brewster because hype-guys like him worry me. Plus, I'm not so sure he anticipated the broad lack of talent of the squad when he took the job. Right now, MN does not have the raw talent to raise their level of play when games are on the line. Just too many weaknesses. That's what has to be addressed in building a program. Currently, there's a couple young players who will be okay for the long haul, but the new recruits better be a couple notches up on the talent pole before this gets turn around. A potential "quality" recruit has to like his odds to come in and play some ball in the Big Ten.



TJSweens -> RE:Gopher Football (10/23/2007 1:24:55 AM)

[quote="Cheesehead Craig"] Go ahead and blame that these are Mason's kids out there. The same ones that at least made minor Bowl games and were competitive out on the field. There isn't a huge dropoff in talent out there. It's the coaching. Brewster said after the game that the tackling is still a problem. After 2 months of games and there's still this basic issue to solve? Come on. [/quote] Stick to Wisconsin teams Craig. Three starters including the best defensive player were lost off of what was a bad defense to begin with due to rape charges. A senior starting QB, who holds the Gopher passing records graduated and has been replaced by a freshman. Several changes on the O-line as well. These are not the same players who achieved a monumental .500 season including a Toilet Bowl loss under Mason. Everet Whithers is a top flight defensive coordinator. You want to know why they can't at this level Craig? Because they aren't good enough to tackle at this level. As a unit they have about as much team speed on defense as a Minnesota high school team. This defense is a product of years of Mason burning recruiting bridges in this state. He could have had Laurenitus (sp) on this defense, but didn't even recruit him according to his mom. Brewster hired top coordinators and has amassed a class for next season that Lemming already has in the top 30 with more top flight commitments pending. Mason is laughing his ass off right now because he got out before the bottom fell out and he knows people like you are buying it.



Cheesehead Craig -> RE:Gopher Football (10/23/2007 2:02:41 AM)

Mason had to use young guys as well, and he made it work. I'm not saying that Mason was a great coach or anything, but he is sure as hell a better coach than Brewster. Brewster sounds like a great recruiter, but that's it. Mason never had any talent on D, but the unit at least put up a fight. This unit is beyond terrible. Look at the DBs, they don't know what their responsibilities are and simply exist out there. That's crap coaching. That side of the ball clearly took 3 steps back from when Mason was there, and that's bad. Don't give me this garbage about his cutting ties w/in the state and how that's hurt the program. Not every good h.s. player goes to the home state program. There's plenty of other states to get good players from. I was simply stating that it's not accurate to compare what Frye and Alvarez did to what Brewster is currently doing. Frye and Alvarez had nothing, NOTHING to build from. Brewster had at least some semblence of talent on his team. He reminds me of Childress in that he doesn't know how to manage the talent he has in front of him.



Lynn G. -> RE:Gopher Football (10/23/2007 2:20:18 AM)

Tell the guys that were on the teams that Alvarez and Frye and (are you forgetting?) Ferentz inherited that they were nothing. Sweet. BTW - what's up with the Badger player accused of some kind of domestic violence still being allowed to play under what's-his-name (I'm blanking on the current coach of the Badgers)? His "punishment" was to be held back for away games, but he still gets to play in front of the home crowd. Is that some new version of half-butt punishment? At least Brewster had the stones to kick the riffraff off the team, even knowing that the defense was going to suffer because of it.



Cheesehead Craig -> RE:Gopher Football (10/23/2007 2:57:08 AM)

Iowa - 17 years without a winning record before Frye. Wisconsin - 4 winning seasons in 18 years before Alvarez. Yes, Lynn, that's some programs that had nothing going for them when these guys took over. As for Lance Smith, the punishment was handed down by Alvarez and the dean of students, Lori Berquam. As to why it was done that way, I have no idea. It was a 5 game suspension. Alvarez isn't saying why it was chosen that way. The logic of it escapes me. The current coach is Bret Bielema. As for stones, Bielema kicked off the team's #1 DE before the season began. This is Smith's first offense and he's likely on a short leash with the team.



TJSweens -> RE:Gopher Football (10/23/2007 3:47:04 AM)

[quote="Cheesehead Craig"]Mason had to use young guys as well, and he made it work. I'm not saying that Mason was a great coach or anything, but he is sure as hell a better coach than Brewster. Brewster sounds like a great recruiter, but that's it. Mason never had any talent on D, but the unit at least put up a fight. This unit is beyond terrible. [/quote] Mason has proven nothing other than he can take a putrid program and transform it into abject mediocrity. He never had such a lack of defensive talent as this bunch and that is all on him. He was a terrible recruiter. Recruiting is the name of the game. You can be the greatest X's and O's coach in the world and it doesn't mean Jack if you can't get players. Brewster brought in 2 great coordinators and gave them autonomy. He asked at least one of them to make a silk purse out of a sows ear until he can get him some players. Being a head coach in college football is more about running an entire program than X's and O's. Time will prove Brewster to be much better at running a program than Glen Mason. BTW Brewster landed another 4 star recruit out of Chicago this weekend. That's 3 so far this year and he still in the running for more. Mason was lucky to get a 4 star per year.



Gomer -> RE:Gopher Football (10/23/2007 5:42:22 AM)

Recruiting is absolutley critical for rebuilding and it is clearly one of Brewster strengths. I'd say frye and Alvaraz did okay recruiting as well, and that was the reason the programs turned the corner. Lots of geniuses roan the country that have had the luxury of coaching talent. I agree, Brewster did hire good coordinators, but that won't pay off for a year or two when, hopefully, they have a talent pool. You can't make chicken salad out of chicken sh!t. You need eggs before cooking the omelete, so once Brewster brings in some players, these coaches will have some tools. Brewster took over a depleted program as much as any other coach in recent history. That might tell you why the few good players who graduated MN are doing well in the NFL. They carried this heap on their backs, and now we see there is no cream rising to the top. Time to move on and deal with the building process needed to get MN back in the hunt.



Jim Frenette -> RE:Gopher Football (10/25/2007 8:18:04 PM)

We have read a lot of a few good offense recruits and now this from Sid Three outstanding football players from Dallas Skyline High School who are being recruited by the Gophers visited Kansas State recently but indicated they still favor Minnesota. They are safety Keanon Cooper, linebacker Spencer Reeves and defensive back Troy Stoudemire. A fourth Skyline player, wide receiver Da'Jon McKnight, is also high on the Gophers. All four are being highly recruited. ... Lookin up :nodding:



Mr. Ed -> RE:Gopher Football (10/25/2007 9:17:22 PM)

[quote="Jim Frenette"]We have read a lot of a few good offense recruits and now this from Sid Three outstanding football players from Dallas Skyline High School who are being recruited by the Gophers visited Kansas State recently but indicated they still favor Minnesota. They are safety Keanon Cooper, linebacker Spencer Reeves and defensive back Troy Stoudemire. A fourth Skyline player, wide receiver Da'Jon McKnight, is also high on the Gophers. All four are being highly recruited. ... Lookin up :nodding:[/quote] The can sell kids on being on the field and contributing as Freshman,and in a number of cases, that will happen. I feel for the Gophs and the games they've lost but were in it. It's got to be tough.



TJSweens -> RE:Gopher Football (10/25/2007 9:40:30 PM)

I looked up the first 2 kids and they are both rated 3 star defensive players. If he can pick up those guys along with Willie Mobley from Eden Prairie and get his son Nolan to back out on his verbal commitment to Texas, Brewster will have nailed down one awesome recruiting class.



Jim Frenette -> RE:Gopher Football (10/25/2007 11:26:43 PM)

[quote="TJSweens"]I looked up the first 2 kids and they are both rated 3 star defensive players. If he can pick up those guys along with Willie Mobley from Eden Prairie and get his son Nolan to back out on his verbal commitment to Texas, Brewster will have nailed down one awesome recruiting class.[/quote] I like that additional info on those kids. I for one, have suffered watching the defense they have been marching out there the last few years. I still feel pain for that Michigan collapse.



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