BowedButNotBeaten
Walk-on
Hello, Husker fans. Gopher fan here. I thought I'd give you some random thoughts on my team and Saturday's game.
1. I'm not able to make the road trip this year, but I've had great fun in previous seasons. I've really enjoyed the fans in Lincoln - really hospitable, really welcoming. You're an outlier in that respect when compared to some of the other local B1G fanbases.
2. We really miss Rodney Smith and Antoine Winfield. Winfield, especially, was the key to the defense. The poor kid just hasn't been able to stay healthy.
3. Our two freshmen running banks, Ibrahim and Williams, are doing fairly well. Neither is the receiver out of the backfield that Smith was.
4. Up until Ohio State, our offensive line was mediocre to putrid. I don't know what happened against the Buckeyes, but they opened holes and generated drive and generally looked competent. It may have been as simple as inserting big Daniel Faalele, the 400-pound true freshman out of Australia by way of IMG Academy. We'll see if this is the start of a trend or just an optimistic blip.
5. For the first time in recent memory, the Gophers have multiple talented receivers. Tyler Johnson, Rashod Bateman, and Chris Autman-Bell are tough and physical and can move. Seeing receivers able to work themselves open is shocking. Johnson gets the dropsies once in awhile, though.
6. Zack Annexstad at QB is a work in progress. He's been hampered by an ankle injury suffered in the first B1G game against Maryland, and that's slowed him somewhat. He has some decent skills, no question about it. But he tends to stare down his primary target (why defenses don't just drop a linebacker into zone coverage to stop his favored slant route to Johnson, I'll never know) and has shown very little ability to be accurate on the deep ball. But he's crisp on the shorter stuff, and Gopher fans are cautiously optimistic about his development.
7. Throwing picks needs to stop. The offense isn't good enough to overcome turnovers.
8. The linebackers are the strength of the defense. And Carter Coughlin is a great pass rusher from the hybrid defensive end. The secondary has been abused, though. Personally, I don't think it's lack of talent so much as questionable schemes from DC Robb Smith, the erstwhile DC from Arkansas. They've given up completion after completion after completion.
9. Emmitt Carpenter had been an excellent kicker until last week when he inexplicably missed two field goals that could have drastically changed the outcome of the Ohio State game.
10. I've seen most of the Nebraska games on tv. It's been a tough stretch, but other than Michigan the games haven't been routs.
11. My opinion? It should be a pretty tight game.
1. I'm not able to make the road trip this year, but I've had great fun in previous seasons. I've really enjoyed the fans in Lincoln - really hospitable, really welcoming. You're an outlier in that respect when compared to some of the other local B1G fanbases.
2. We really miss Rodney Smith and Antoine Winfield. Winfield, especially, was the key to the defense. The poor kid just hasn't been able to stay healthy.
3. Our two freshmen running banks, Ibrahim and Williams, are doing fairly well. Neither is the receiver out of the backfield that Smith was.
4. Up until Ohio State, our offensive line was mediocre to putrid. I don't know what happened against the Buckeyes, but they opened holes and generated drive and generally looked competent. It may have been as simple as inserting big Daniel Faalele, the 400-pound true freshman out of Australia by way of IMG Academy. We'll see if this is the start of a trend or just an optimistic blip.
5. For the first time in recent memory, the Gophers have multiple talented receivers. Tyler Johnson, Rashod Bateman, and Chris Autman-Bell are tough and physical and can move. Seeing receivers able to work themselves open is shocking. Johnson gets the dropsies once in awhile, though.
6. Zack Annexstad at QB is a work in progress. He's been hampered by an ankle injury suffered in the first B1G game against Maryland, and that's slowed him somewhat. He has some decent skills, no question about it. But he tends to stare down his primary target (why defenses don't just drop a linebacker into zone coverage to stop his favored slant route to Johnson, I'll never know) and has shown very little ability to be accurate on the deep ball. But he's crisp on the shorter stuff, and Gopher fans are cautiously optimistic about his development.
7. Throwing picks needs to stop. The offense isn't good enough to overcome turnovers.
8. The linebackers are the strength of the defense. And Carter Coughlin is a great pass rusher from the hybrid defensive end. The secondary has been abused, though. Personally, I don't think it's lack of talent so much as questionable schemes from DC Robb Smith, the erstwhile DC from Arkansas. They've given up completion after completion after completion.
9. Emmitt Carpenter had been an excellent kicker until last week when he inexplicably missed two field goals that could have drastically changed the outcome of the Ohio State game.
10. I've seen most of the Nebraska games on tv. It's been a tough stretch, but other than Michigan the games haven't been routs.
11. My opinion? It should be a pretty tight game.
