No, it wasn't a dream
The sun comes up....and BG still beat Minnesota yesterday.
Then, after 2020, BG loses three of its top players on the defensive side of the ball and the defensive coordinator.
I will admit, I didn't have much optimism for this unit this year. And they have been fantastic.
I think a lot of the credit goes to Eric Lewis, the new DC. This defense just seems to be where they need to be and they are tackling better than any defense we have had since the days of Mike Elko.
Fleck said we ran a system that they don't see much.
He said: "they would move, twist, stunt and blitz to be able to create some type of fury. That is what they did. They created confusion for some of our guys and we have to give them credit."
That's game prep for our new DC. (And a non-elite performance from Fleck's staff).
Also, BG did help themselves in the portal. Davon Ferguson had 2 sacks in this one and Devin Taylor had the second to last INT to help close the victory out. Bryce Brand made 7 tackles.
One of the fanbase's biggest gripes was lack of portal usage by Loeffler, and hopefully, this will open the door to a middle ground. We don't want to dominate the team with transfers, but filling gaps is OK. Clawson did it with success.
Just as importantly, though, homegrown Falcons made big plays.
You have Billie Roberts making maybe the game's key play on Fleck's 4th and 1 gamble inside his own 30...as well as breaking up a pass inside 4 minutes to play on a 3rd and 8 on the drive after the BG fumble, forcing a MN punt. (The last pass the Gophers threw that wasn't INT).
You have Jordan Anderson with the game-clinching pick--a great play.
You have Brock Horne with 9 tackles, a sack and a key forced fumble.
Darren Anders, 7 tackles.
Karl Brooks, sack.
And, of course, an overall great team effort.
Minnesota scored 30 points against Colorado, a P5 team.
They scored 10 against us. They made 12 first downs.
Their lead back had 141 on 27, but that includes a 54-yard run. Take that out and he had 87 yards on 26 carries. And he didn't make that 4th down conversion.
They attempted only 13 passes and completed only 5. And four sacks and 2 picks. Literally, they had more negative passing plays than positive passing plays.
They averaged 4.2 yards per play. They had 6.3 against the Buffaloes.
It is truly something to be proud of for our defense. The offense really struggled again, but the defense put them in position with the 4th down stop. The offense strung together an 8 play drive--including a 4th down CONVERSION inside our own territory (row that boat) and a big connection to Taron Keith and then the defense closed the door at the end.
In fact, MN was completely imploding at the end. BG had a drive from 13 minutes to 7 minutes that was extended twice by MN penalties, including after a missed FG. Their last four plays were blocked pass, heart-stopping muffed punt, and then 2 INT. Meanwhile, our guys were making plays.
It is one for the ages. All Big Ten wins are...truly all of them....but this was special because of the struggles that the program has had and the patience required as we rebuild. At last, we have some evidence--something beyond blind faith--that we are getting there. In my preview, I thought we might win 0 and would be likely to win 2. We are at 2 now...enjoy the ride.
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1 comment :
Well said as always O&B. It really does seem surreal to go from awful to amazing so fast. It's a testament to the recruiting and development of Loeffler's staff and the addition by subtraction factor for those who left. This D might be better than the Elko days because of how comparatively weaker the offense is. Absolutely amazing!
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