Higgy's Handshake - David Cobb

Posted by Higgy

This is long overdue and I apologize for the dormant state here at Recession Proof. I was traveling to Texas for Thanksgiving with my girlfriend's family, then stayed there for a friend's wedding the following weekend in Austin. I got back to the Twin Cities in time to experience several consecutive days of below-zero weather and am settled back in and ready to return to blogging.

The holiday week delayed the final regular-season handshake.

I've got several regular-season-ending articles in the works, but first we need to take a look back at the final game of that season, the 14-3 loss to the now B1G champs Michigan State. The loss was frustrating and full of second-guesses and hopes for a re-do on many of our offensive possessions, but as a Gopher fan, I've learned to embrace moral victories to an extent, and that game was certainly a moral victory.

First of all, the 11-point loss to the Legends Division champ was, at the time, the closest game for the Spartans in B1G play. They went on to beat Ohio State by 10 in the conference title game. Our defense held the Spartans to their second-lowest point total of the season, and many would say the team that only scored 13 in a loss to Notre Dame on Sept. 21 was a very different squad than the one we faced to close November.

Defensively, we allowed the Spartans to march down the field for touchdowns on their first possession of each half. After that? Nothing. Our defense stepped up and played great and kept us in the game. Similar to an effort against Wisconsin a week earlier, the Gopher defense stood tall against a tough opponent and showed both progress and promise.

So for the second week in a row we went toe-to-toe with an outstanding ranked foe. Our offense failed to get in the end zone, giving us 10 straight inept quarters without an offensive touchdown to end the season. But, even though we didn't cross the goal line, there were even some impressive aspects against the nation's top-ranked defense. We found ourselves in the red zone several times. We gained 249 yards with 125 through the air and 124 on the ground. We got 17 first downs - eight passing, eight rushing and one penalty - and were 8-for-20 on third down.

Those numbers don't paint the picture of a dominant offense by any means, but if you compare them to some of Michigan State's other box scores, they're certainly respectable. And the eye test might have been even better. We played pretty even at the line of scrimmage for the majority of the game, and were a few correctable mistakes (missed throws, drops) from pulling a stunning upset of a team that's now playing in the Rose Bowl.

The Cobb harvest was plentiful this season.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the ground work, as Minnesota had a 100-yard rusher against a defense that wasn't even allowing its opposing teams to rush for more than 70 yards per game. For his efforts in that final game - and really, all season - Higgy's Handshake is extended to JUNIOR RB DAVID COBB.

If you would've asked me to predict Cobb's chances of rushing for 100 yards against Michigan State prior to the game, I would've put it in the neighborhood of five to 10 percent. But there he was, bouncing off Spartan tacklers, hitting holes and making cuts en route to 101 yards on the ground on a very workman-like 27 carries.

Even during his spectacular, out-of-nowhere season, I kept expecting Cobb to struggle against the bigger, physical teams of the B1G. However, he impressed me a ton with his performance against the Spartans. He ran hard, got some tough yards and fell forward more often than not. I would've liked to see him involved more in the passing game as well to exploit MSU's aggressive defense.

It's hard to believe Cobb and his 1,000-plus yards didn't earn any All-B1G honors this season, but running back was a loaded position and very few are selected and honored every season. I'll touch on this in another upcoming post where I look at Gopher postseason accolades, but he ended up being the heart and soul of our offense - along with the line - and he deserved to be recognized for both his contributions, and his role in our surprising turnaround.

During his ascension, Cobb was a contender for this little weekly spotlight seemingly every week. It would've been easy to honor a defensive player for the way our 'D' played against Michigan State, but Cobb's 100 yards against the nation's No. 1 defense was the standout performance of the game. He has been both dynamic and consistent, and even though the B1G coaches or media didn't feel he was worthy of recognition, his impact on our season is validated on the stat sheet and ... even more importantly ... in the win column. Congrats on a great season finale' Mr. Cobb, and we're excited to see you run all over Reliant Stadium in 15 days and onto an All-B1G team a year from now.

EXTRA POINTS
-My girlfriend's dad has the B1G Network via Dish Network, so we got to watch the game at his place instead of venturing out into public. It was better that way for everyone involved. Plus, there were Thanksgiving leftover aplenty which helped ease the pain of defeat. Then, during my week in the Lone Star state, I got to experience the snow, ice and miserably cold temps I was hoping to dodge by heading south for 11 days. There's only one person in the state of Texas to blame for this ... Tubby Smith.

-There was plenty of serious concern about our receiving corps without Derrick Engel, but I thought both of our freshmen did a nice job stepping up. Drew Wolitarsky had three catches for 56 yards and Donovahn Jones had three for 47. I love what both those guys will bring to our offense for the bowl game and the three years to follow. Add in Maxx Williams - also a freshman - and that's a great young nucleus of skill players surrounding Phil "Full" Nelson.

-Speaking of Double X, I thought him and Cobb needed to be involved in the passing game more. You can bank on high-percentage throws to those guys to build QB confidence, get some offensive rhythm going and offset the Spartans' aggression. I loved the play call to get Goodger open in the end zone, and a more seasoned Nelson will put a little more touch on the pass or feel the pressure and slide a step to his right to get off the throw. That play was a great example of how football is a game of inches, or even a fingertip.

The last time Syracuse faced Minnesota, they had to contend
with the Gophers, and some Classy Gentlemen with field passes.

-Here's what I wrote on Facebook from the Denver airport Sunday as I was stuck in the middle of a fun five-hour delay and had just learned of the Gopher's bowl destination: "So we played well in a loss last year in the Houston Bowl and used that as a springboard into a season where we won two more games than the previous season and played tough against the conference's top teams, which landed us in ... the Houston Bowl. Oh well, it's a chance for 15 more practices, the second nine-win season in my lifetime and redemption against the Orange after they beat us in hoops in Maui. Is Greg Paulus still their QB?" I was only semi-joking about Paulus. I wasn't joking about how uncool it is to improve the way we did and land in the same spot. A win against Wisconsin or Michigan State would've gotten us to New Year's Day, but apparently the Texas Bowl, no matter what it's called, is our new Music City Bowl, which was our new Sun Bowl. Oh well. Let's go get that ninth win and fire it up for 2014. 

-Got to see the Longhorns' stadium during my trip to Austin. It's HUGE. And it's somehow way more on-campus than our on-campus stadium. Very cool set up. Would be interesting to see that campus come to life on game day.

-Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed the festive photo of the Classy Gentlemen. As Gopher fans, we had plenty to be thankful for this season. Hopefully we're thankful for a nine-win season in just over two weeks! I'm thirsty for Orange juice!