SiouxScore

Definitely. They have done some absolutely puzzling things to keep teams in games. Fleck took a lot of the blame for yesterdays game being the way it was in the press conference yesterday and deservedly so, some very puzzling coaching decisions and very few adjustments.

Twins coming through with the 8th inning rally. I was just hoping for a sac fly from Miguel but hey a grand slam is much better.

I'd love to see Alcala up was hoping they'd bring him up when they did Graterol. Never a bad thing to have another big arm strikeout guy out in the pen.

I think it was stupid to start but I don't really mind it. Yes the Twins lose a starter who has been pretty good against Cleveland this year, but now instead of facing the Indians top 3 starters the Twins still have to face their top 2 guys but get a Cleveland bullpen that has been up and down in the 2nd half. I think the Twins bullpen has been better than the Indians lately and with the key being for the Twins to get at least 1 win this weekend I like their chances in a bullpen battle.I think the Indians are using Clevinger for game 1 and I'd use two of Dobnak/Thorpe/Smeltzer in the matchup to get through 5 today and if you are leading or tied than you can go to the reliable guys. If you are losing you piece it together and load up with your top arms for the other game. Graterol, Romero, Littell, May, Duffy, Romo, Rogers.

That one combined with the strike 3 call to Cron that wasn't close and Rocco should've lost it. I'd like to see him show some emotion just once. Cruz stepped up on the strike 3 call though and ended up getting tossed evidently.

Twins have to convert on more of these chances. Leave the bases loaded in the 3rd and then can't score a run with nobody out and 2nd and 3rd in the 4th. Have to add on runs when you get the chance or it will come back and bite you later.

Man that was really fun to watch Graterol pitch. Good movement on the fastball to go with the velocity. Gave up a couple hits but extremely weak contact and hit spots pretty well too.

No doubt I'll keep rowing, I'd be disappointed with anything less than 8 wins this year and expect to be in the hunt for a B1G West title.

Why? Fell in love with UND hockey going to a game with a buddy who had a cousin on the team when I was a kid. Born and raised in northwest Minnesota and support my home state in everything else. Been to both UND and Gophers football games in my life too. Gophers and UND really only play at the same level in the one sport so it is easy.

They weren't a very good team Thursday night but I fully believe they will have a very good team this season. OC was hard for prepare for and they definitely struggled with the Jackrabbits offense. Give the guy credit he called a great game. NDSU fan I talked to said he took a lot of the 3 back wrinkles from NDSU and used the misdirection and wheel routes out of that formation like they do and it caused a lot of confusion for the young Gophers LBs. Your friend didn't hit the nail on the head at all. I wasn't fond of the Row the Boat stuff when they hired Fleck but learning more about it it has definitely grown on me. It really is their culture and whether people want to think it is a gimmick or not it I guess that is up to them. It has definitely been a part in helping Fleck and the staff bring in the highest rated recruiting classes in Gopher history the last 2 years. Like I said I think they'll have a really good year and could even win the west with the schedule they have. They obviously can't play like they did Thursday but with how last year ended and the number of starters returning I'm thinking that was more of a slip up and not a indictment on how this team will play this season.

I'm a UND hockey fan and a Gopher fan in everything else. I'll watch other UND sports and hope they do well as well but just much more invested in UND hockey and other Gopher sports.

They haven't been a consistently good team but Fleck is building something there and this should be a big year. You can think the playbook thing is a joke but having seen what they run for the last 2 years and what they showed Thursday night it was easy to see they weren't showing much. What they did run they didn't execute well at all, OL really had a bad game against SDSU.

I'm happy he is making an impact for UND. It just wasn't gonna happen for him at Minnesota he was buried on the depth chart but he did have one really solid spring game.

The Gophers will be fine they basically didn't show up Thursday, executed terribly, and showed a very limited amount of playbook and still got out with a win against a good FCS team. You can't just kick guys off scholarship unless they do something wrong. I'm sure Fleck talked to the kid about you might not see a lot of playing time here so if you want to explore a transfer the staff would help you out but the kid has decided to stay. The kid was already committed to the previous staff when Fleck took over and it would've been a bad start to pull a scholarship of an instate kid a couple weeks before sigining day. Would've really upset the high school coaches around the cities that he needed to have a good relationship with for future recruiting.

UND loses guys to Minnesota as walk-ons that they offer scholarships to. I know this isn't a serious thought at all but I should remind you your top running back is a drop down from Minnesota and he never saw a snap in his time as a Gopher. You've taken two other drop downs from the Gophers recently as well. One saw just special teams time and another never saw the field as a Gopher.

I'm a man just to make that clear and have no interest in having a husband. London was a Kill/Claeys recruit that Fleck kept in his first class because he wasn't gonna let go of any Minnesota kid in the class and make a bad impression with high school coaches. It is why we have a kicker on scholarship that is entering his RS Soph year and only just now had his first action as a kickoff specialist. You can think what you want about Fleck's style and he even says himself he isn't for everyone but there is a reason he is landing the best recruiting classes Minnesota has ever had and beating out a program like Georgia for a Georgia kid.

No problem maybe you'll be lucky enough to land a couple drop downs from Fleck's squad that could get you back to the playoffs. I don't have anything against UND football watch here and there and like them to have success. Nice to see Johannesson getting a lot of carries.

Rocco waited a long time to get the bullpen going again too. Way too long for my liking but that has been a common problem all year. Especially don't get it tonight when you can expand the rosters tomorrow and bring up more pitchers.

No Fleck wouldn't trade any of his QBs for the SDSU's except maybe a walk-on. The starter Annexstad was lost on the 2nd day of camp, Morgan is a solid game manager and won some big games last year and was 13-18 for 176 on Thursday night. They also have two freshman that have a chance to be really good. Problem Thursday night was the Gophers just didn't play well at all. They lacked energy, executed terribly, the offense and defense were extremely vanilla and they stuck to it despite the game being close. Execution was very poor and a ton of returning guys that you should know the type of performance you are gonna get had awful games. SDSU had an excellent gameplan and with a new OC the Gophers didn't know quite what to expect and definitely weren't prepared for the wrinkles the new OC had. With starting LB Kamal Martin out their OC targeted the young LBs and used a ton of motions and misdirection to slow them down and confuse them. Offensively the Gophers basically ran inside zone the whole game and didn't show anything else in the run game. They could've and should've thrown more as the secondary seemed to be the Jackrabbits weakness and trying to run the ball a ton despite your OL having a terrible game shortens the game and plays into SDSU's hands. SDSU had two touchdowns taken off the board yes but both wouldn't have happened without the penalties. The guy that got held makes the tackle without being wrapped up and the guy blocked in the back makes the tackle without the infraction. SDSU's OL also got away with a ton of extremely obvious holding inside as the reffing crew really struggled with calls in the trenches including a terrible blind side block call on the Gopher's Andries that was clean. I think this was a game that got the guys attention and they will learn a lesson from, luckily it will be a lesson learned in a win rather than a loss. There is a reason why people are saying this can be a big year for Gopher football to challenge for the West and I think they'll show that next Saturday. Lot of hate for Fleck on here from a ton of guys who have no idea how authentic he is. He is the same way with the media as he is in private. He is very positive sometimes overly positive and has a ton of energy and truly has created a family culture and atmosphere at Minnesota.

He hasn't figured it out all year. Its like he waits until a pitcher is in trouble before getting somebody ready in the bullpen instead of anticipating a trouble spot. I mean it is the 6th inning and it isn't like Berrios had been dominant you'd think you'd start to get someone ready after the leadoff hit. Instead he waits a couple more hitters before getting a guy loose. Absolutely can't afford losses in games like these. Offensive effort has been pretty putrid as well with 11 strikeouts in 6 innings.

Two nights in a row. The one guy the White Sox have that is a threat and the Twins haven't been very smart facing him so far this series.

Nice threat built by the Twins loading the bases with 2 outs in the 9th. Ump bailed out a struggling pitcher who had thrown 9 balls in a row I believe with a strike that was well low. That one really changed the at bat for Cron from 2-0 to 1-1 makes a huge difference.

The top of 8A is tougher yes but the real question is is EGF's schedule tougher than a EDC and that is a definite yes not even close. EGF only plays the bottom half of 8A teams like a total of 3 times. EGF plays one of the toughest schedules in single A.

Romo made one mistake and the guy took advantage of it, problem was an error and a seeing eye single made it the 3 run home run to take the lead instead of just a solo shot. Twins have also missed a few different opportunities with less than 2 out and guys in scoring position today, have to take advantage and add on in those situations.

Pitchers, pinch hitters, pinch runners, lineups, etc. Rocco has a lot of room to improve.