Georgia Southern News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/georgia-southern/ Minnesota sports, but different Thu, 01 Jul 2021 19:27:38 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=32,height=32,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cropped-cropped-MSF-favicon-1.jpg Georgia Southern News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/georgia-southern/ 32 32 Gophers SQUUUUUEEEEK Out Win vs Georgia Southern in a Game They Didn’t Deserve… https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/gophers-squuuuueeeek-out-win-vs-georgia-southern-in-a-game-they-didnt-deserve-to-win/ https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/gophers-squuuuueeeek-out-win-vs-georgia-southern-in-a-game-they-didnt-deserve-to-win/#respond Sat, 14 Sep 2019 23:16:04 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=18342 It was a beautiful afternoon for football at TCF Bank Stadium, with the Georgia Southern Eagles strolling into town for their first-ever matchup vs the Gophers. The game didn’t start as beautiful as the weather, though. After forcing a 3-and-out, Tanner Morgan nearly threw an interception on Minnesota’s first play from scrimmage, then followed that up with an actual interception, that the Eagles then used to score and go up 7-0.

Morgan came back strong, though. He hit his old trusty target, Tyler Johnson, for two touchdowns in the 1st quarter and it was a 14-10, entering the 2nd. The Gophers moved the ball with relative ease, even with co-starter Mo Ibrahim sitting out with a leg injury. Speaking of running backs, Cam Wiley got the first two carries of his young Gopher career in the first half too.

Daniele Faalele helped Seth Greene into the endzone, on a wildcat run from the 5, later in the half, to make it 21-13 but the end of the half got REALLY dicey and made you question the entire coaching staff in the first half of this game. 

When Morgan threw the INT early in the game, he never should have been passing it. Not against this team. Then, on 4th and 1 around their own 30-yard-line and time running out in the first half, the Gophers went for it and couldn’t convert. They turned the ball over on downs and then gave up a touchdown, making it 21-20 entering halftime.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.29.1″ _i=”1″ _address=”0.0.0.1″] [/et_pb_code][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.29.1″ _i=”2″ _address=”0.0.0.2″]

I was hoping to run away with it in the 3rd quarter but that’s not what happened. More bad playcalling and poor play led to a scoreless 3rd quarter but it only took a few seconds into the 4th, for Bryce Williams to take in a half-yard score that put the good guys back on top by a TD + 2-pt conversion, 28-20. Let’s also remember that Georgia Southern’s last score in the 1st half never should have counted.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.29.1″ _i=”3″ _address=”0.0.0.3″] [/et_pb_code][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.29.1″ hover_enabled=”0″]

The only way to describe the 4th quarter of this game is a mental rollercoaster. The playcalling was questionable, at best, and the Gophers had trouble moving the football behind their backup running backs, after Mo Ibrahim didn’t play, because of a leg injury and a concussion for Rodney Smith in the 1st half.

The Gophers looked like they were about to secure a victory with a 10 point lead, late in the 4th quarter until this blocked kick happened and changed everything..

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.29.1″ hover_enabled=”0″] [/et_pb_code][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.29.1″ hover_enabled=”0″]

Suddenly, the Gophers needed Tanner Morgan again, and after a game where he played pretty poorly… he again came through in clutch time and drove the Gophers down the field before Tyler Johnson did Tyler Johnson things…

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.29.1″ hover_enabled=”0″] [/et_pb_code][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.29.1″ hover_enabled=”0″]

So, the Gophers get a dub in a game they probably shouldn’t have…. but they are heading into Big Ten play undefeated. The rest of the season won’t finish so well, though if they don’t figure out a lot of things over the next two weeks, before they travel to Purdue on the 28th…

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]]]> https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/gophers-squuuuueeeek-out-win-vs-georgia-southern-in-a-game-they-didnt-deserve-to-win/feed/ 0 Thu, 01 Jul 2021 14:27:35 +0000 Minnesota Gophers Football From Inside the Boxx.. Gophers vs Georgia Southern https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/from-inside-the-boxx-gophers-vs-georgia-southern/ https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/from-inside-the-boxx-gophers-vs-georgia-southern/#respond Sat, 14 Sep 2019 17:02:55 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=18336
[/et_pb_code][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.29.1″ hover_enabled=”0″]

Welcome to “From Inside the Boxx” where I will give you all of the last minute information you need for the Gopher home games from up in the press box. It’s a beautiful day today in Minneapolis… one of those days that makes you regret all of those years we watched fall football inside… Kickoff is going to be a balmy 72 degrees and we’ll see sun through the game’s entirety.

Speaking of the game, itself… I hope you are ready to watch 1970’s football.

Georgia Southern runs an all-triple-option offensive attack. They RARELY throw the football. All their media guide talks about is their lack of interceptions last season (they didn’t throw any) and their domination of the turnover battle. However, they did fumble 7 times last week in their win vs Maine. 

Shai Werts doesn’t look like he will be able to get over the injury that kept him out of last week’s game so it will be RS FR Justin Tomlin. He was 4/9 last week for 63 yards passing. He did run for 132 yards and a TD in 11 carries, though. They also had 2 running backs that went for 100 yards apiece.

That is the Georgia Southern offense. Stop the run and you win. Get ahead early (like the Gophers should) and you win. If you can force a turnover or two (GA Southern only had 5 turnovers all of 2018) then this could get out of hand…

Other notable tid-bits to make you smarter than those around you:

1. This is the first time Georgia Southern has ever played against MN.

2. This is a big game for recruiting. The Gophers have a honey hole in Georgia and currently have 12 players on roster that hail from the state. Some notables include, Rodney Smith, Shannon Brooks, Rashod Bateman, Terrell Smith, and Chris Williamson.

3. The Gophers have won 10-straight vs the Sun Belt and 17 straight non-conference games, in general.

4. Safety, Jordan Howden has been a MONSTER, leading the team in tackles (17) and pass breakups (4).

5. Rashod Bateman has 941 yards in his career (he’s a Sophomore) and will become the 2nd-fastest player to get to 1000 yards, if he gets 59 more today.

6. Georgia Southern’s kicker is really good and can hit from 50 with consistency.

7. Gerogia Southern really likes their defensive backs. They are both preseason Sun Belt All-Americans. We’ll really see how good they are today vs Johnson and Bateman.

Get ready for a lot of running because I expect the Gophers to establish the offensive line of scrimmage early… and running is all that Georgia Southern does. As long as the Gophers don’t turn the ball over, this should be a landslide.

PREDICTION: GOPHERS: 42 | Eagles: 13

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Follow along with me all game on Twitter: @RealMNSportsFan

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]]]> https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/from-inside-the-boxx-gophers-vs-georgia-southern/feed/ 0 Thu, 01 Jul 2021 14:27:35 +0000 Minnesota Gophers Football Some Palpable Optimism For Gopher Football Heading into Week 3 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/some-palpable-optimism-for-gopher-football-heading-into-week-3/ https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/some-palpable-optimism-for-gopher-football-heading-into-week-3/#respond Tue, 10 Sep 2019 15:55:35 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=18275 Before I head over to the U of M Athletic Facilities today for the Gopher Football weekly press conference, and we all move away from Fresno State and onto Georgia Southern, I think it’s important to get our minds right. There’s been too much negativity around how this team has started the 2019 season… undefeated after two games and I think I need to ease some animosities. 

That doesn’t mean I’m here to scold anyone who hasn’t jumped in the 2019 boat yet. As most of you know, I’m not about that. You’re a fan, just like me. You can feel however the fuck you want to. All of our brains work differently. That’s a good thing. However, I do want to tell you why I feel better about this Gopher team right now, than I have yet for 2019.

I was confident heading into the South Dakota State game; I was nervous/frustrated AF during it, and I was relieved/nervous AF for the future, afterward. Leading up to Fresno, I just wanted a win. I didn’t know what to expect. My feeling during the game was exactly the same as it was vs SDSU (nervous/frustrated AF) and the relief was certainly palpable afterward. But, once it was over, my outlook for the rest of the season was completely different than the previous week.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.27.4″ hover_enabled=”0″]

via GIPHY

[/et_pb_code][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.27.4″ hover_enabled=”0″]

Excited: That is the word I would use for how I’m feeling right now. 

That’s because the Gophers didn’t frustrate me in the same ways that they did vs SDSU. If you listen to a PJ Fleck interview or press conference, there is about a 78% chance that you will hear about “the 78%”. That’s the percentage of college football games that are won by teams who win the turnover battle. It’s a good focus because the Gophers finished last year with a -1 TO margin, even after a pretty successful season. 

“The ball is the program” is another saying that is difficult to avoid. PJ doesn’t just say these things to hear his own voice, though I know that’s how a lot of people feel about him. He knows that “not losing” is often enough to win, in this league. If you can play mistake-free (or as close as possible to that) you’ll win games, no matter how much talent you have. With a young team, avoiding turnovers can be tough but Fleck has been in control of the penalties since he arrived. In 2017, the Gophers were the LEAST penalized team in the entire country. Last year, they finished with the 5th FEWEST. This year hasn’t been like that… more on that in a second.

Against the Jackrabbits, they won the turnover battle but they still nearly lost the game. The most infuriating part of that contest was our inability to, both move the ball offensively and stop SDSU defensively. The Gophers didn’t seem to overmatch an FCS team like they should have. That was very worrisome. 

That was NOT the case vs Fresno State. No. The only team that almost beat the Gophers on Saturday night…. was the Gophers. They turned the ball over 3 times and muffed a fumble but when they weren’t turning the ball over, Fresno couldn’t stop them. Tanner Morgan was 16 of 23 passing and we ran the ball 52 times…. turnovers AND PENALTIES were the only thing stopping that offense.

Speaking of penalties, the box score says the Gophers committed 7 of them for a total of 65 yards but, if you add on the yardage that was gained and the TD’s that were scored by the Bulldogs following those flags, you could probably add about 150 yards and at least two of their TD’s. It was ugly in that regard but again, when the Gophers weren’t beating themselves, they were causing serious problems for the Fresno offense, compiling 4 sacks, 5 total TFL, 5 passes defended, 2 INT, and 4 forced fumbles.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.27.4″ hover_enabled=”0″]

via GIPHY

[/et_pb_code][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.27.4″ hover_enabled=”0″]

I saw what I wanted to see from the offense and defense, as far as what they are capable of (vs a damn good team in Fresno). We can move the ball up and down the field in multiple ways and our defense is going to be tough, as long as they can keep pressure in the backfield. Because the Gophers have proven their discipline over the last two years, I believe the penalty counts will come down tremendously, starting this weekend. They’ve had 7 penalties in each of the first two games. They averaged 3.9 last year and 3.2 the season before.

And now, the most difficult part of our non-conference schedule is over. I haven’t dug very deeply into Georgia Southern and their Triple-Option offense but, if the game vs Georgia Tech’s same style in last year’s Quick Lane Bowl was any indication of what we’ll see on Saturday, the Gophers will be JUST FINE.

The Maroon and Gold are favored by 15.5 over Georgia Southern right now and should be entering Big Ten play vs Purdue in two weeks, with a 3-0 record. After traveling for our first Big Ten contest, Illinois comes to TCF Bank Stadium in week 2. Never take a Big Ten opponent for granted but, on paper, we should be 5-0 heading to Nebraska for week 3, as long as we fix the turnover and penalty issues that were displayed in Fresno. 

Nebraska might be 3-3 heading into that contest, after losing to Colorado last weekend…

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]]]> https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/some-palpable-optimism-for-gopher-football-heading-into-week-3/feed/ 0 Thu, 01 Jul 2021 14:27:38 +0000 Minnesota Gophers Football