** 2019 Opponent Previews : Minnesota (Game 7) **

[Nebfanatic]

8 hours ago, huKSer said:

 

Or one of their fans that post here

I've encountered other goof fans this offseason who were the same 

[Nebfanatic]

1 hour ago, melscott62 said:

First game....I wouldn’t read much into it.  

It doesn't tell us much but it does tell us something. I think they held some stuff back on offense but the D is where I think they were exposed. Their run defense did not look good enough coupled with what they can do offensively. They have playmakers but their QB is below average and their line struggled to get a push and protect the QB. Falaalele got abused on the edge, he was getting beat over and over in pass pro. Something that 2017 taught me is some things you can't just fix in a weeks worth of practice.

[brophog]

18 minutes ago, Nebfanatic said:

I think they held some stuff back on offense 

 

They better hope so. I think PJ got a hold of a youth team playbook. 

[Nebfanatic]

1 minute ago, brophog said:

 

They better hope so. I think PJ got a hold of a youth team playbook. 

Honestly, it was hard to watch. Very vanilla RPO scheme. Not sure I saw a pull all night.

[Husker in WI]

I think a lot of their struggles were basic first game things - vanilla scheme, rust, and probably overlooking the opponent some. But there were definitely concerning things for them, as others pointed out. Defense looked pretty slow overall, Coughlin was quick off the edge but didn't really show any pass rush moves and frequently ran himself out of the play.

 

Offensively, Faalele was bad but the RG Dunlap was atrocious! Proof that size isn't everything, reminded me of Toniu Fonoti's ill-fated NFL comeback - seeing a 400+ (360 for Dunlap) lb man reverse pancaked by a much smaller d-lineman is a sight to see. Bateman had some great plays, but SDSU did a decent job on Johnson and he dropped a couple balls as well. Smith looked like a running back with multiple knee surgeries in his past. They'll clean it up and be better than that for sure, but the line is a major concern until they prove otherwise.

[Nebfanatic]

3 minutes ago, Husker in WI said:

I think a lot of their struggles were basic first game things - vanilla scheme, rust, and probably overlooking the opponent some. But there were definitely concerning things for them, as others pointed out. Defense looked pretty slow overall, Coughlin was quick off the edge but didn't really show any pass rush moves and frequently ran himself out of the play.

 

Offensively, Faalele was bad but the RG Dunlap was atrocious! Proof that size isn't everything, reminded me of Toniu Fonoti's ill-fated NFL comeback - seeing a 400+ (360 for Dunlap) lb man reverse pancaked by a much smaller d-lineman is a sight to see. Bateman had some great plays, but SDSU did a decent job on Johnson and he dropped a couple balls as well. Smith looked like a running back with multiple knee surgeries in his past. They'll clean it up and be better than that for sure, but the line is a major concern until they prove otherwise.

Both lines. Their offense will get better than it was but the run defense was weak and that was not something I expected. It's also a bigger red flag to me than most anything else. They need to get some major improvement in play along the line of scrimmage or they are going to have a tough time once conference play rolls around.

[everybody knows my name]

8 hours ago, brophog said:

 

It is just one game, but it’s also quite similar to last year’s non-con where wins hid some of their issues. This was a good FCS school they played, but Minnesota should have at least had an advantage on the lines and they were often dominated. Outside a couple splash plays, hard to tell which was the FCS school.

 

I think they’ll still go undefeated in the non-con portion, but they need to significantly ramp up their energy level to compete against anyone in the Big Ten. Poor effort all night, imo.

 

Can't deny it, you're right.  Aside from a few flashy moments, my Gophers looked bad last night.  Like you guys, we are choosing to keep the faith and hope for the best.  I hope that my boys justify this faith, because we need to be good to compete in an improved West.

[WyoHusker56]

1 hour ago, everybody knows my name said:

 

Can't deny it, you're right.  Aside from a few flashy moments, my Gophers looked bad last night.  Like you guys, we are choosing to keep the faith and hope for the best.  I hope that my boys justify this faith, because we need to be good to compete in an improved West.

 

I don't doubt that you all will bounce back and make adjustments and still have a good season. However, there is no doubt that game exposed some concerning areas for you.

[BowedButNotBeaten]

That game did not go at all like I expected it to. My god, the offensive line looked constipated all night. The defensive line looked drugged. Tyler Johnson dropped two balls. I'm not sure we'll try a field goal all year because we don't appear to have a kicker who knows where the uprights are.

 

I will, however, disagree with some of you about QB Tanner Morgan. He continues to be sneaky efficient. His QB rating last year would have been top 30 in the country as a true freshman if he'd had enough attempts, and his rating last night was even higher. I think the Gophers need to throw the ball more.

[deedsker]

2 minutes ago, BowedButNotBeaten said:

I think the Gophers need to throw the ball more.

[GSG]

2 minutes ago, BowedButNotBeaten said:

That game did not go at all like I expected it to. My god, the offensive line looked constipated all night. The defensive line looked drugged. Tyler Johnson dropped two balls. I'm not sure we'll try a field goal all year because we don't appear to have a kicker who knows where the uprights are.

 

I will, however, disagree with some of you about QB Tanner Morgan. He continues to be sneaky efficient. His QB rating last year would have been top 30 in the country as a true freshman if he'd had enough attempts, and his rating last night was even higher. I think the Gophers need to throw the ball more.

 

I didn't catch a lot of the game, but was your pass protection decent? Is Morgan going to be as effective if he's constantly running for his life or getting hit? 

[Scarlet Overkill]

4 hours ago, melscott62 said:

First game....I wouldn’t read much into it.  

 

Exactly.  Everyone likes to overreact, good or bad.  They found a way to win, or at least they found a way to capitalize on the other team making a few more mistakes than they did and got the W.  1-0 is always good.

[Husker in WI]

5 minutes ago, BowedButNotBeaten said:

That game did not go at all like I expected it to. My god, the offensive line looked constipated all night. The defensive line looked drugged. Tyler Johnson dropped two balls. I'm not sure we'll try a field goal all year because we don't appear to have a kicker who knows where the uprights are.

 

I will, however, disagree with some of you about QB Tanner Morgan. He continues to be sneaky efficient. His QB rating last year would have been top 30 in the country as a true redshirt freshman if he'd had enough attempts, and his rating last night was even higher. I think the Gophers need to throw the ball more.

 

Fixed it, still impressive but slightly less so. Morgan definitely wasn't the problem though, he looked pretty good. I still don't know what his ceiling is, but he's tough, mobile, and made some nice throws.

 

Question, I got the impression from the Minnesota board that drops aren't actually that unusual for Johnson - kinda the TO issue where he's really really good and makes crazy catches, but also randomly drops catchable balls. Is that actually the case or did the drops come out of nowhere?

[Nebfanatic]

12 minutes ago, GSG said:

 

I didn't catch a lot of the game, but was your pass protection decent? Is Morgan going to be as effective if he's constantly running for his life or getting hit? 

Pass pro wasn't great. My thing with Morgan is he doesn't really have a deep ball and he isn't a good enough decision maker to trust with 35 attempts a game. That said, I think he will improve over the year and be pretty solid but I am more concerned about the lines.

[Husker in WI]

3 minutes ago, BlitzFirst said:

 

 

His QBR was 62.9 - see here:  https://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore?gameId=401112229

 

Hardly great at all.  But I agree with you that he was efficient...more of a game manager than wow maker.

 

I don't really love QBR, I suspect he was dinged for sacks that weren't his fault and a potentially harsh opponent adjustment against a probably decent SDSU defense. One or two of the sacks I think he was part of the problem, but several he wasn't and I don't think QBR actually differentiates between sacks - could be wrong there. I think it's better than regular passer rating, but it still has significant flaws. But to your point I don't think anyone is claiming he's a "wow" player.