The Gophers held their annual Spring Game on Thursday as weather pushed the start time ahead two days. Team Gold took on Team Maroon as the Gophers simulated a live game in front of a crowd at TCF Bank Stadium. Quarterback Tanner Morgan led the way, completing 18 of his 28 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Rodney Smith added a pair of touchdowns, stealing the show in the first half. Through the air, Tyler Johnson showed off his improved route running, grabbing two touchdowns, including an acrobatic one-handed score. The Gold team defeated the Maroon squad 24-20 in this season’s first live scrimmage.
A Look at the Quarterbacks
Zack Annextad, the preferred walk-on looked confident and poised in his Gophers debut. He goes through his reads and understands when to move in the pocket. He escaped to find a wide-open Rodney Smith for a 56-yard touchdown on Team Gold’s first drive of the game. In the second half, he delivered a beautiful strike on a nine route to Chris Autman-Bell up the sideline for 21 yards. Annexstad finished the night 11-for-18 with 186 yards and a touchdown. These stats are also slightly misleading due to a high volume of drops by both teams in the game.
Redshirt freshman Tanner Morgan was flashing his ability to create and extend with his legs. This spring, he’s shown everyone this is his strength. Morgan can move outside the pocket and keep his eyes down the field. In some instances, he used his legs, while in others he felt pressure at his side and shifted to deliver a 15-yard strike to wide receiver Tyler Johnson. During a 5-play, 84-yard touchdown drive, he eluded pressure, keeping his eyes down the field and extending when necessary. He found wide receiver Tyler Johnson who made an acrobatic one-handed grab over cornerback Antonio Shenault for a 33-yard score. In the second half, Morgan found Johnson for another 23-yard score as Johnson ran an excellent route to cause confusion in the secondary. Johnson is showing off the efficiency in his route running. He set his route up perfectly, causing the defensive back to swivel and gained extensive separation at the break point to haul in his second touchdown grab.
The one area where Morgan struggles is when he’s asked to drive the ball deep toward the hashes. This is evident on corner routes into Cover-2. Sometimes the ball is delivered late or hangs in the air. Morgan doesn’t have great arm strength, but he makes the intermediate throws and can get the offense in a flow because of his pocket presence. He plays to his strengths when he is on the field, which is important. He led the Gophers on two very impressive scoring drives where he displayed command of the team and offense.
Vic Viramontes had just one first half drive, completing one of his three passes. He took a sack and likely would have been called for intentional grounding in a live game. Viramontes did have a 15-yard run off a designed run, but that was about it. In an early second half drive, Viramontes botched an exchange which led to a fumble. He didn’t see any playing time after the mistake. It’s clear there’s a learning curve for the JUCO transfer as he acclimates to his new school.
Putting the R and P in “RPO”
This year, the quarterbacks have the ability to tuck and run or pass, which opens more interior lanes for running backs to move freely. Linebackers have to ensure they honor the legs of the quarterback and this is particularly evident within the interior. The run-option looks already displayed more promise. This was the case on a 15-yard run by Rodney Smith early in the first quarter. Quarterback Zak Annexstad had an option over the middle and the defense respected his arm. Last year, the team either had a quarterback in the game that wasn’t a running threat or couldn’t deliver intermediate passes to take pressure off the box. Having a dual-faceted quarterback is very important and the Gophers didn’t have one last year. This was a theme throughout the night when Minnesota ran RPO looks.
Ibrahim turns some heads
Mohamed Ibrahim is shifty in space and has an ability to make defenders miss. He has very quick feet and excellent lateral agility. He finished with 104 yards on 19 carries. Ibrahim reads his blockers well and has a very impressive jump-cut. In the passing game, he displays reliable hands and an ability to create after the catch. He looks like he will be an all-purpose running back, which is necessary to complement Rodney Smith well. The freshman running back is in a competition to claim the second running back spot with Shannon Brooks out for the season with a leg injury.
Opportunistic defense and pass rush
The Gophers’ defense forced five turnovers. Of course, the offense doesn’t like this statistic, but P.J. Fleck has to be encouraged when he sees the defense playing opportunistic. Some of this was related to blatant offensive mistakes, but excellent plays were executed, too. Redshirt freshman Boye Mafe won with speed off the edge to create a strip-sack and added another when stunting inside. He is an interesting pass rusher with a unique blend of speed and power and should contribute this season.
Showing off the hand technique
Defensively, one area which stood out is hand technique of the defensive linemen. It has been an area of emphasis in practice this year. This is particularly evident when you watch the defensive ends attempt to shed off the edge. It was a major problem and led to long runs by opposing running backs last year. Many of the edge players demonstrated an ability to shed and shut down the edges. Carter Coughlin also was holding up well against the run, something he really struggled with last year. There were leaky patches among the edge players, but some of this was due to scheme. Overall, you see players fighting through blocks by using hand technique as the main source, which is a key fundamental aspect of playing on the defensive line. Tai’yon Devers had one notable rep in the second half that really illustrated the importance of this.
Keep your eyes peeled on the interior this year
Inside, there were a few reps where defensive tackle O.J. Smith played zero and one technique, drawing attention and forcing runs outside for limited gain. This is a position/player to watch closely when the Gophers enter the regular season. The Gophers need to win inside to create more favorable opportunities for their edge players and five-technique defensive ends. Both teams had a combined six sacks tonight, which is a trend the team hopes will continue this season. Last year, the pass rush was almost non-existent during certain stretches of the season.
Overall impressions
The Spring game showed us a small sample size of how certain players handle a play script. Tanner Morgan had excellent command of the team and the offense moved well with him at the helm. Zack Annexstad displayed similar upside, showing confidence and familiarity with the system. The Gophers have talent at the quarterback position, but will need to overcome inexperience. Finally, the defense was creating turnovers and the defensive line is showing growth despite inexperience. There’s plenty of work to be done, but the team does look like they are in a better position than last April.