Scott Frost News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/scott-frost/ Minnesota sports, but different Sun, 17 Oct 2021 12:15:59 +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 Scott Frost News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/scott-frost/ 32 32 Gopher Defense Finishes What Tanner Morgan Started vs Nebraska https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/gopher-defense-finishes-what-tanner-morgan-started-vs-nebraska/ Sat, 16 Oct 2021 20:24:48 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=36611 It was a beautiful fall morning in Dinkytown on Saturday. The perfect day for an 11 AM football game between two Big Ten West teams that badly needed victories. Entering the weekend, Scott Frost’s Nebraska Cornhuskers had struggled to finish games against the many ranked opponents on their 2021 schedule.

Meanwhile, PJ Fleck’s Minnesota Gophers entered trying to show the conference that whatever happened in their loss to FCS Bowling Green three weeks ago, was just a fluke. Oh, and that “sloganeering” works.

After Mohamed Ibrahim won the coin toss, making him 5-0 at midfield this season, a different Minnesota offense took the field than what we’ve seen so far this year. Trey Potts joined Mo on the season-ending injury list after a freak injury vs Purdue landed him in an Indiana hospital for much of the bye week.

So without their top two running backs, PJ Fleck and Mike Sanford turned to their 5th-year quarterback, Tanner Morgan, hoping he could throw them to victory against the Huskers.

Different Half, Different Tanner

In the first half, Tanner rewarded the offensive aggressiveness by tossing the ball around like a Heisman candidate, completing 93% of his passes for 171 yards and 2 touchdowns. Both TD’s were great throws and even better catches by Michael Brown-Stephens and, especially, Chris Autman-Bell. Minnesota entered half time with a 21-9 lead.

The Gophers looked ready to feed Morgan when they came out of the locker room for half two. Tanner, however, wasn’t the same guy that we saw for the first 30 minutes. After completing 15 of 16 passes in the first half, Tanner threw two-straight interceptions to start the second.

The latter of those two picks turned into a Nebraska touchdown that put the Gophers in serious trouble of losing the lead. But when one part of your team struggles, you need others to pick them up. That’s exactly what happened on Saturday. Morgan and a suddenly stagnant Minnesota offense punted four times in a row after his two second half picks.

After such a hot 1st half, Morgan and the offense were making a call to the bullpen. They needed help.

Defense saves victory

The Minnesota Gopher defense has been pretty good all season, especially against the run. But to win Saturday, PJ Fleck needed even more from that side of the field. And he got it.

While they did plenty of bending, the defense never broke. Nebraska racked up a respectable 377 yards of total offense, but that fell far short of the 493 yards they averaged entering the weekend (2nd in Big Ten). The difference was how Minnesota played QB Adrian Martinez, who led the Huskers in run and pass yards entering Saturday.

Martinez made some nice throws but was never able to get comfortable, completing just 55% of his passes. Part of his uneasiness in the pocket was his inability to run. The Husker leading rusher was held to -17 yards on the ground Saturday.

And when the Gophers really needed a big play from their defense, they got it. Multiple times. Most notably, they held up at the goal line on 4th down in the 3rd quarter, with the lead at risk. Then, they forced a safety in the 4th quarter to help put the game away.

Teammate stuff

Sanford, Morgan and the Minnesota offense may have built the lead needed for victory. But Joe Rossi, Mariano Sori-Marin and Co saved it in the second. People helping people. Beautiful stuff.

Now, (3-5) Nebraska will face Purdue before ending with one of the most difficult remaining schedules in the nation. The (4-2) Minnesota Gophers, on the other hand, will be favored in their next three games against Maryland, @ Northwestern and Illinois, before heading south to play the Big Ten West favorite, #2 Iowa Hawkeyes about a month from now.

Nothing is guaranteed in college football… except Scott Frost losing to PJ Fleck.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

]]> Sun, 17 Oct 2021 07:15:59 +0000 Minnesota Gophers Football Gophers Will Face a Desperate Scott Frost, Nebraska Team on Saturday https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/gophers-will-face-a-desperate-scott-frost-nebraska-team-on-saturday/ Fri, 15 Oct 2021 15:05:43 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=36594 You learn most about a person when their back is against the wall. Or in the case of Nebraska football, you learn most about a program when it appears on the precipice of disaster. That’s the outside perception of 4th-year head coach Scott Frost and his (3-4) Cornhuskers heading into Saturday’s matchup vs the Minnesota Gophers.

Inside Husker Nation, many fans and all of the Frost sympathizers see a good 2021 team that continues to get better as the season goes on. The problem has been their incredibly difficult schedule to start the season. Nebraska has already played against three ranked opponents and they’re yet to claim victory.

In fact, after falling to #9 Michigan last weekend, Scotty Frost is 0-10 against top-25 teams since taking over Nebraska. Some numbers matter and some don’t. This one looks like the former.

Schedule from hell

Life won’t get any easier for the Cornhuskers going forward.

Saturday’s matchup against the Gophers at Huntington Bank Stadium is the first of two straight non-ranked opponents the Huskers will face. They host Purdue after their bye week, before finishing vs (#6) Ohio State, @ Wisconsin and vs (#2) Iowa. Frost needs to somehow find three victories out of those 5 games just to get bowl eligible.

That makes the games against Minnesota and Purdue must-win. It’s very clear why Frost may or may not have went out of his way to try canceling the back-to-back matchups vs Oklahoma in 2021 and 2022. If Nebraska loses this weekend in Minneapolis, the 2021 season could quickly spiral out of control, leaving plenty of questions about Scotty’s status for next year.

Optimistic Desperation in Lincoln

Someway, somehow, despite his 15-24 record, Frost still has more defenders than offenders throughout Husker Nation and its media. Barring a horrific finish that changes minds in Lincoln, Frost’s job is expected to be safe this offseason.

Frost is proud of his team because they continue to show fight and play well, despite their propensity to lose close games against ranked opponents. None of Nebraska’s four losses this season, including the three against ranked teams, have been by more than one score.

The Huskers lost by 8 to Illinois, by 7 to (#3) Oklahoma and by a pair of field goals to (#20) Michigan State and (#9) Michigan. Keeping things close might be enough for Frost to keep his job security when facing ranked opponents, but it won’t get him off the hook in Lincoln against a flawed Minnesota Gophers team.

Given their remaining schedule, the Huskers cannot afford to lose to the Gophers on Saturday. It would put them in an hole that would be impossible to dig out of. Losing in Dinkytown this weekend would signal the start of that “spiraled season” previously mentioned.

Gophers need to be prepared

The Minnesota Gophers have owned the Nebraska Cornhuskers during PJ Fleck’s tenure, posting a 3-1 record that has given the maroon and gold faithful infinite bragging rights over the loud and annoying Big Red fanbase. But the Huskers need this win more than the Gophers do.

Sure, Minnesota needs Saturday if they are going to stand any chance of competing with Iowa for a Big Ten West title. But, Nebraska and their coaching staff are playing for their credibility and, quite possibly, their job security. Oh, and Frost hates PJ Fleck, constantly throwing passive aggressive shots at him through the media. Randy Johnson (Star Tribune) dug up this gem of a quote for a piece he wrote in Friday’s paper. It was uttered at Big Ten Media Day back in June.

That means PJ Fleck needs to have his team ready to play on Saturday morning. Desperate teams and desperate head coaches can be dangerous but they can also be taken advantage of. I expect the Huskers to throw anything and everything at the wall in hopes that it sticks for a victory.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

]]> Fri, 15 Oct 2021 10:05:47 +0000 Minnesota Gophers Football The Gophers Are About to Make a Statement Out of Nebraska on Saturday https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/the-gophers-are-about-to-make-a-statement-out-of-nebraska-on-saturday/ https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/the-gophers-are-about-to-make-a-statement-out-of-nebraska-on-saturday/#respond Fri, 11 Oct 2019 12:57:33 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=18760 Saturday vs. the Nebraska Cornhuskers, is the biggest football game that the Minnesota Gophers have played in 15 years. But don’t let that keep you awake, when you lie down on Friday night, Gopher fans. The only people who should be losing sleep at night, are those who are cheering for “Big Red” in 2019. The Cornhuskers came into this season, getting their testicles fondled by just about every expert around the country, who was looking for a Big Ten West winner. By the time all of that fondling was finally over, the chaffe was real… even though it only lasted until Week 2 of the non-conference season, when Nebraska lost to Colorado.

Then, Ohio State beat them by 487 points (or something resembling to that) a couple of weeks later, in a game that wasn’t even that close. In-between, they gave up 38 points and barely pulled out a 4-point victory over Illinois (Gophers beat IL by 23), then kicked a game-winning field goal at home, to to scrape one out last week vs Northwestern, 13-10 (NW is also bad).

It’s not just the scores of these games, though… they’ve been ugly to ingest. I watched back the Northwestern game and fell asleep 3 times, puked once, and almost opted to watch European Kickball at one point… (ok, that last one’s a lie)

With Adrian Martinez and JD Spielman both very questionable for the Huskers, due to injuries, you can’t expect their offense to put up a bunch of points (even if those two do play). Nebraska has failed to score over 13 points for two straight weeks, with their two stars, and are now coming into (likely) poor weather conditions at TCF Bank Stadium. If they aren’t 100%, it might be a big mistake for Frost to play either one in those conditions.

While the Huskers are hitting a low point in their offense, the Gophers are just hitting stride in theirs. And… unlike “Big Red”, I expect the Gophers to post a bunch of points… because that’s what they’ve done all season.

Don’t talk to me about the weather. That’s advantage-MN, too. All you have to do is look back to last year vs Purdue, in the game that turned the Gophers’ season around, or this quote from Carter Coughlin, in this week’s weekly press conference:

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Through 5 games, SDSU (Week 1) stands as the only team to hold the Gophers under 30 points this season. After an inconsistent start out of the offensive line, plus the process it has been to get all of the running backs healthy, the run game finally found its footing last week, vs Illinois. They posted a total of 332 yards and Rodney Smith put up a career-high (211), while Shannon Brooks’ hit the 100-yd mark (111) for the first time since his return from injury, vs Purdue.

So, what are you going to do, to stop this run game… stack the box? You’d better hope you don’t have to because you don’t want to leave your DB’s without help vs Tyler Johnson, Rashod Bateman, & Co… Forcing Tanner Morgan to beat you might be your best avenue to success, but you’d better put it away before crunch time, because Tanner Morgan has done nothing but dagger teams late, all season. And he continues to get noticeably better with every game.

In a sport where scoring more points than the other team is the objective, I’m just trying to figure out how Frost & Co. plan on winning this one at The Bank?

The Gophers are better than the Huskers on both offense, defense, and already carry themselves like they’ve been winning for years (thanks to their culture — see below). If you’ve been reading, watching, or listening to me all week long, you’ve heard me say it a stupid amount of times. This is a massive game for the Gophers, but it is one they should win, easily. Nebraska is reeling right now. They’re stumbling back against the ropes and just waiting for a knockout punch.

The only thing that can beat the Gophers on Saturday, is themselves. Could that happen? Absolutely. If you watch sports (especially MN ones) then you know just how quickly all of this can change. Plus, this is a classic rally-killer game for Minnesota Gophers Football. Throughout the last 50 years, they’ve found ways to lose these games. But that’s where PJ Fleck’s culture (quickly becoming this program’s culture) comes into play:

  • Every week is its own season
  • One game at a time.
  • One week at a time.
  • No win should get you too high.
  • No loss should get you too low.
  • Week-to-week momentum doesn’t exist.

Did any of those sound repetitive or redundant? Exactly.

I’ve covered this team all season. I’ve been at (almost) all of the weekly press conferences/scrums and stuck around for the post games, too. I can’t imagine being a Ryan Burns (GopherIllustrated.com), Megan Ryan (Star Tribune), or Andy Greder (Pioneer Press) who have all covered PJ Fleck for his entire tenure (I believe). It’s redundant to me already. You know what these guys are going to say for just about every question.

You won’t get bulletin board material (unless its a shot from PJ to the media) and you won’t hear anything about one game being bigger than another. They are all the same. They are all important. They will all be treated as such. It’s that type of consistency that will help make PJ Fleck a great college football coach. When you never waiver from your message, no matter the situation or opponent, it breeds confidence, builds focus, and engrains trust. The consistency feasts on its own consistency, building even more on top, until you trust and believe in the message 100%. I can literally see it happening before my eyes. It’s only a matter of time before everyone else does, too.

Even the eyes that are glued shut, will start to see this weekend.

PREDICTION: GOPHERS: 42 | Huskers: 24

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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