Mitch Leidner stayed awake into the wee hours last Friday morning, dissecting video of the previous night's loss to TCU.
By the time the junior met with Gophers quarterbacks coach Jim Zebrowski, Leidner came prepared with his own critique, along with a game plan for this Saturday's opponent, Colorado State.
"Coach Z said it was more of an interaction, rather than a coach talking, player listening, in the film session," offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover said. "Those are all signs of a guy maturing in all areas, and there were some things [Leidner] wasn't very happy with."
Leidner attempted a career-high 35 passes against TCU, completing 19. Coach Jerry Kill said Leidner missed "two or three critical throws," but the coach also counted five drops by Gophers receivers, along with several pass protection breakdowns.
"When he wasn't getting hit in the back, he threw the ball pretty well," Kill said.
One thing Leidner noticed on video was that he rushed his drop-back steps at times when under duress. He needs to remain consistent with that timing, he said, from every practice rep through the games.
"I thought I threw the football pretty well. I don't know about you guys [in the media]," said Leidner, who threw zero interceptions against a TCU team that averaged two picks per game last season. "I felt confident in my reads, and I thought my receivers did a good job as well."
Good kind of quiet
Gophers center Brian Bobek got his first start against TCU. The coaching staff considered it a quiet success.