Minnesota vs. #11 USC
October 5, 2024 at 4:40pm
Huntington Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN: 50,913 (of 50,805)
Total Time: 3 hours 16 minutes

Gophers can be a real problem for football. Back in high school, we used to play pickup football games on a field that was swiss-cheesed by a gopher. Tripping and injuries due to gopher holes was a common occurrence. Apparently Whac-a-Mole isn’t as easy as it looks. Complete tangent.

Maybe you’ve also noticed that the title is an amalgamation of recycled headlines, but then again, so are the criticisms. We’ve harped on this stuff all season:

• slow first half starts
• poor offensive line play in pass protection
• Miller Moss being rushed and hit all the time
• procedural penalties
• receivers dropping balls at crucial moments
• turnovers
• red zone scoring issues

The weather wasn’t even cold or snowing. Yet, the offensive line continues to look like the Disney on Ice rendition, allowing the opposing defenses to consistently generate pressure with only 3-4 people on the pass rush. That leaves 8-9 people dropping into coverage, so on top of rushing poor Moss, he has to somehow get the ball out in a cluttered coverage to receivers that may just end up dropping it. This all took place after 2:00pm so they don’t even have that excuse. Turns out it’s not just the mornings that were getting to them, it’s just how they are. 

The defense, really feeling the absence of linebacker Eric Gentry, allowed the most points in a second half this year (14), compared to the previous high of 10 from the LSU game. Up to that point in the season, they had only allowed 17 points in second halves. Still, they did enough for the offense to win the game despite the turnovers and short possession times putting more pressure on them.

And yes, we can all harp on the refs again, but we can only complain about that so much. It’s not like the Pac-12 was any better with that though. Unless it’s super egregious, it usually is not looked upon well to blame refs for a loss. But if we’re going to talk about refs, did everyone see how the Gophers head coach, P.J. Fleck, gave one of the refs a nice little shove?

Seems suspect to me. Anyway, enough about that.

It’s year three under Lincoln Riley and it should have been better than this by now. He’s a better coach than this, but really has not shown it in many ways. That being said…

CommBro Breaker

…the Helton comparisons are really just wacko. Has everyone already forgotten how bad that really was? Do people really think they should be pulling the plug that quickly? How many truly elite coaches are even out there? One that wins against everyone they’re supposed to, never gets upset, or makes weird decisions. By the criteria that are being expected, not even the successful—or all-time greats—would qualify. 

Jim Harbaugh took like 6 years before his first win against their chief rival, Ohio State. His tenure included some random upsets, a 3-7 bowl record (including a 5 bowl losing streak before making the playoffs to extend it to 0-7), losing to unranked Michigan State (their closest UCLA equivalent) at home more than once, some mediocre seasons, and even a losing season. He eventually took them to the playoffs a few times, and even won a national championship (albeit controversially). Y’all would’ve wanted his ass fired

Then there was Kalen DeBoer, where many were ready to anoint him as the second-coming of Nick Saban post-Georgia win…right until he leads them to the upset land against unranked 2-2 Vanderbilt on the road. Even with the Georgia win, they very nearly squandered a 28 point lead.

If Nick Saban himself were the coach, we still wouldn’t be free from the delusion. He’d be criticized for hiring Sark as offensive coordinator or any of the upsets they suffered. He’d be roasted alive for the kick six, allowing their rival to win off of an ill-advised 57-yard field goal attempt. Saban had to argue to get 1 second back on the clock in order to make the attempt that was returned for a touchdown rather than opt for overtime. That decision lost 100% cost them the spot in the final BCS national championship game.

And all of these guys started with far better rosters than the aforementioned Helton stiffed Lincoln Riley with. Let’s have some perspective here, huh? No one is immune to bone-headed decisions and Riley has already made huge strides on defense. He deserves more time to prove whether or not he’s got what it takes here, especially when the NIL landscape seems to shift faster than the rules of an elementary school basketball game 30 seconds before recess ends. It might just be frustrating in the meantime. 

Uplifting Stat of the Week: Eddie Czaplicki has retaken his rightful spot at #1 in the nation in average yards per punt.

Uplifting/Depressing Stat of the Week: Despite being #28 in the nation in scoring defense (18.4 ppg), they are #108 in sacks per game (1.2 per game) and #105 in tackles for a loss (4.6 per game)

Conspiracy Continuation Stat of the Week: Miller Moss completed only 9 passes to different receivers, even if you include both the interceptions. It’s a sad week now that the streak is finally broken

Good/Badisms

Good: Woody Mark’s one-handed catch and run for a first down out of bounds to bail out Moss from what would’ve been a costly sack or incompletion and help set up Michael Lantz for his field goal.

Good: Michael Lantz sinking a career-long 54-yard field goal to tie the game at the half despite the false start setting them back after the Minnesota timeout negated the 49-yarder he made. Whew, that was long-winded. Oh yeah, and it was windy when he kicked it.

Good: Woody Marks able to take the direct snap for a touchdown

Bad: We’ve gone over most if it, but I can toss in a few more.

Bad: Missed field goal by Lantz on the first possession

Bad: Moss throwing into double coverage to Duce that led to an interception

Bad: The OL allowing Moss to be hit as he threw, resulting in an interception