Gopher Football
| Statistics | ||||||
| CB – Ukee Dozier (SR) | ||||||
| CB – Trumaine Banks (SO) | ||||||
| SS ““ Justin Fraley (SR) | ||||||
| FS ““ John Pawielski (JR) | ||||||
Game To Forget
Wisconsin. So many times in recent years it seems the Gopher pass defense has given the opposition QB a career game, and the November 6th contest against the Wisconsin Badgers was no exception. The Wisconsin offense had struggled badly for most of the season (albeit a good chunck of it was without Anthony Davis), but all of their ills were cured when the Gophers visited Madison. Coming into the game against the Gophers, Badger sophomore QB John Stocco’s best game was two weeks previous against Purdue (17/32, 211 yds, 1td, 1int). But in what seemed almost predictable, Stocco easily hit open receivers all day for a new career high against the Gophers, completing 19/26 passes, for 289 yards, 1 TD and 0 int’s. Stocco completed passes to nine different players in leading Wisconsin to a season high 38 points. In the next two games against Michigan State and Iowa Stocco came back down to earth, completing just 38/76 passes for 323 yards, with 0 TD’s and 2 int.
Game To Remember
Northwestern. After struggling the previous week at Colorado State, the Gopher secondary opened up Big Ten play with an extremely impressive performance against a potent Northwestern offense. The whole Gopher secondary, especially the cornerbacks, did a great job at making quick adjustments and sure tackles against the Wildcat quick rhythm passing game. The Gophers held Brett Basanez and the Wildcat offense to a season low 121 yards passing, letting them complete just 13 of 26 passes, and chipping in 1 interception. The following week, Basanez threw for over 250 yards and 2 TD’s in a win against Ohio State. It almost makes one think that Minnesota may have finally figured out how to at least slow down the spread offenses that have just killed them the past several years.
Relative Strength
Deep coverage. Though the pass defense still has some obvious problems, one area where there have been improvements is the covering the deep routes.
| 2005 Recruiting Commitments | |||||
| Boyd Coleman | 5’11” 170 lbs | Marietta, GA | |||
| Dominic Jones | 5’9″ 185 lbs | Columbus, OH | |||
| Keith Massey | 6’0″ 190 lbs | Columbus, OH | |||
I don’t think I can think of more than a couple of plays this season where the Gopher secondary truly got beat deep by an opposing wide receiver. The pass plays that I do remember going for big yards were mostly short passes that a receiver broke for a long gain. Cornerback Ukee Dozier and free safety John Pawielski come to mind as having done a particularly good job of this. This may be a bit of a Catch-22 though, as the opposition may have decided to take advantage of underneath cushions provided by the Gopher pass coverage on the line instead of trying their luck deep.
Relative Weakness
Third and long situations. There are a couple of key areas where I think the Gopher secondary could use some help, but none of them is as obvious as the big plays they allowed on third (and sometimes fourth) and long through the entire season. In the Iowa game in particular, I can remember at least three different times, where on third and long, the Iowa receiver would literally just run down the field to the first down marker, turn around, and receive the pass. It was just way too easy. I understand the soft coverage on the 7 and 8 yard routes on 3rd and 16, but that same coverage happened all over the field in those situations. Most of the time on these occasions the Gophers would choose to play zone coverage (which many teams do), but the biggest problem for us was that the guys on the field just didn’t react fast enough to the play. The receivers would just find the hole in the zone and receive the pass with minimal resistance.
Looking Ahead
No position on the team will see as much offseason excitement in starting battles as the secondary will, as at least three starting jobs could be up for grabs heading into spring practice. Starting seniors Ukee Dozier (cornerback) and Justin Fraley (strong safety) have graduated. Junior free safety John Pawielski is coming off a broken leg. The only player who looks to be a safe starter is Trumaine Banks, but even he will have to win back the confidence of the coaches after losing his starting job at times towards the end of the season.
Here’s what we do know. Trumaine Banks and sophomore Jamal Harris will be the leaders to win the starting cornerback spots. A dark horse to win a starting spot could be Brandon Owens. For the Music City Bowl Brandon was listed as a backup cornerback, but you have to think he’ll get some serious looks at free safety. After Owens, it will be interesting to see if any youngsters such as Stephon Rhea, Hussain Shakir, or Desi Steib step up. At strong safety, the early favorite has to be converted linebacker Terrance Campbell. He may not be the prototype to play this position, but nothing can replace 3 years of Big Ten starting experience. Others in the mix at safety will be Dominique Barber and Quentin White.
| Depth Chart Projection for 2005 | ||||||
| 1st String: | Trumaine Banks (JR) | Jamal Harris (SO) | Terrance Campbell (SR) | John Pawielski (SR) | ||
| 2nd String: | Amir Pinnix (SO) | Brandon Owens (JR) | Dominique Barber (SO) | Quentin White (SR) | ||
| 3rd String: | Desi Stieb (SO) | Stephon Rhea (SO) | Seth Thompson (SO) | Hussain Shakir (FR) | ||
Summary
On paper, this was a bad year for the Gopher secondary. The unit had its share of problems against Illinois State, Colorado State, Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa & Alabama. In all of these games, the secondary allowed a better passing performance than the opposition quarterbacks had generally given. But, as with every argument there is another side. I’m sure that, in their defense, any member of the Gopher defensive backfield would point out the lack of pass rush given by the defensive line for most of the year. They would have a point. Was the pass defense bad because there was no QB pressure? Or was there no QB pressure because receivers were always open? Maybe a little of both, but even if the line holds some of the blame, that still doesn’t excuse some of the easy third and long conversions we saw this year. With the new defensive coordinator coming in next season, I would like nothing more than to see a more aggressive approach in the secondary. With athletes like Terrance Campbell, Brandon Owens, Jamal Harris, and Dominique Barber in the mix, I have a feeling we may see a little change take place next year.
Season Grade: C
Talk about the Gopher Defensive Backs on the Gopher Football message board.
Previous article: 2004 Gopher Secondary Preview
Previous article: 2004 Gopher Linebackers Recap