Games like these make me more excited for Kaliakmanis

While most QBs will not be this extreme, what you're describing with QBs throwing more in losses is just game script and it's the reason so many people make money betting on players like Fitzmagic, Winston, and Bortles. (Or Joe Flacco this year).

That's a normal phenomenon and I bet most QBs will have similar stats (eg they throw more in losses).

Receivers were not getting open today. While I don't ever believe a loss can be one person's fault. If anyone not named MBS had been given that route, the Gophers likely win today and Morgan doesn't end up heaving a third interception out of desperation.
Imho, MBS is becoming a liability on offense anytime he touches or is anywhere near the ball. That was his third or fourth major gaffe in 5 games this season.

The play call was fine. Pass was fine. Need to find somebody that can reliably catch in that situation.
 



I remember people talking about how when you caught a ball from Alipate, it would rip the skin right off your hands.

His arm strength is clearly the reason he's known as a Gopher great with the likes of Weber and Abdul-Khaliq.
Alipate did have talent. But he was recruited by Brewster. Brewster was fired. Alipate had the misfortune that Jerry Kill was hired to be the coach his final three seasons on the team. Kill tried hard to run Alipate off. Alipate never got an opportunity to play. It is entirely possible he was the best Gopher quarterback in the last 50 years but we will never know. Jerry did not want him on the team and Alipate never played quarterback for the the Gophers.

So, to say Alipate was a bust or an example of a bad quarterback, is unfair in my opinion. He never had an opportunity to play. He had enough ability to be highly rated coming out of high school, just not the opportunity to play in college. Jerry Kill used him to illustrate the definition of shunned.

We have seen enough of Athan to know if he is not a good quarterback it isn't because he has no passing ability.
 

You think Athan will run first?
joke-missed.gif
 


Morgan waa definately A reason the Gophers lost. Not THE reason, but A reason.
He played poorly. Poor decision making, bad reads, some badly thrown passes.
He wasn't good, it's ok to admit that.
 

Morgan waa definately A reason the Gophers lost. Not THE reason, but A reason.
He played poorly. Poor decision making, bad reads, some badly thrown passes.
He wasn't good, it's ok to admit that.
Morgan definitely struggles a bit when the run game doesn't get going. He'll never have the ability to create offense that Athan potentially can.
 





How many people here have seen Athan run or improvise vs a Big Ten team?
That’s the whole point dude we’ve all seen Morgan fail in these areas he’s a known quantity and he doesn’t cut it in games like yesterday. I could get off the couch and give 2 a run for his money in the 40 and 8 runs in the 4.65 range. How much better do you think our run offense would be when the D has to account for the quarterback?
 

That’s the whole point dude we’ve all seen Morgan fail in these areas he’s a known quantity and he doesn’t cut it in games like yesterday. I could get off the couch and give 2 a run for his money in the 40 and 8 runs in the 4.65 range. How much better do you think our run offense would be when the D has to account for the quarterback?
You didn't answer the question. Also you didn't answer my question yesterday about if you give up your paycheck every time you make a mistake at work.

Onto the ignore list you go.
 

We have seen enough of Athan to know if he is not a good quarterback it isn't because he has no passing ability.
He has thrown 5 passes in real action. We have no idea how he's going to hold up over the course of a full B1G game. He could be a rockstar or he could get the yips and turf every pass in the fourth quarter. We won't know what he is until he starts playing.

Meanwhile, Minnesota has QB with two nine win seasons, two wins over Wisconsin, and multiple bowl victories for the first time in ages. Would like to enjoy that without people clamouring for his freshman backup this year.
 

There is no question Athan has better arm and he is likely the future of Gopher football. From what we have seen from him in the limited amount of game snaps has been exciting.

As another poster stated, he is the best Gopher quarterback in my lifetime. For all we know Athan could be the next Graham Mertz.

Our offense is built around the run. The fact that our O-Line and RB group couldn’t get anything resembling a functional collegiate rushing offense going really killed us.
 



Imho, MBS is becoming a liability on offense anytime he touches or is anywhere near the ball. That was his third or fourth major gaffe in 5 games this season.

The play call was fine. Pass was fine. Need to find somebody that can reliably catch in that situation.

He drops a lot of passes. Shouldn't be the target in high leverage situations. And why was he wearing a hoodie yesterday? It was mid-60s!?
 

Meanwhile, Minnesota has QB with two nine win seasons, two wins over Wisconsin, and multiple bowl victories for the first time in ages. Would like to enjoy that without people clamouring for his freshman backup this year.

Agreed. Athan shouldn't replace Tanner in a game this season unless Tanner is injured, the team is far ahead, or the team is getting blown out. I think our defense and our schedule make the last situation pretty unlikely this season. Tanner has had some subpar games but I don't remember a truly horrible performance (like a few from Leidner) by Tanner. You can't argue with a 31-13 record as a starter especially in the player's final season.
 

He has thrown 5 passes in real action. We have no idea how he's going to hold up over the course of a full B1G game. He could be a rockstar or he could get the yips and turf every pass in the fourth quarter. We won't know what he is until he starts playing.

Meanwhile, Minnesota has QB with two nine win seasons, two wins over Wisconsin, and multiple bowl victories for the first time in ages. Would like to enjoy that without people clamouring for his freshman backup this year.

It's crazy to see people default to blaming Morgan when a game doesn't go our way. He's basically done nothing but win in his time as the starting QB here.

I said it in another thread already....for the majority of the game....each set of downs had basically one or two wasted plays because our running game couldn't get going at all. People acting like Morgan should be expected to convert 3rd and longs all game are kidding themselves. The running game should have been way cut back when it was clear it wasn't going to work.
 

I'm watching the Vikings game thinking......Athan should take over for Kirk Cousins too. /sarcasm
 


There is no question Athan has better arm and he is likely the future of Gopher football. From what we have seen from him in the limited amount of game snaps has been exciting.

As another poster stated, he is the best Gopher quarterback in my lifetime. For all we know Athan could be the next Graham Mertz.

Our offense is built around the run. The fact that our O-Line and RB group couldn’t get anything resembling a functional collegiate rushing offense going really killed us.
I think you nailed it with this post. Morgan is the best Gopher QB in my lifetime. I'm hopeful Athan is even better and he possibly could be. But as you said, he could end up being another Mertz for all we know. I'm excited about Knuth too. Time will tell.
 

He drops a lot of passes. Shouldn't be the target in high leverage situations. And why was he wearing a hoodie yesterday? It was mid-60s!?
I was down on Jackson last year but he has looked really good this year. MBS way too many drops. Wright can't seem to get open at the right times.
 

Agreed. Athan shouldn't replace Tanner in a game this season unless Tanner is injured, the team is far ahead, or the team is getting blown out. I think our defense and our schedule make the last situation pretty unlikely this season. Tanner has had some subpar games but I don't remember a truly horrible performance (like a few from Leidner) by Tanner. You can't argue with a 31-13 record as a starter especially in the player's final season.
This is spot on.
 

I don't know how much blame goes to Tanner, how much goes to the receivers, and how much goes to the offensive line and running backs. Today was the 9th start of Tanner's career where he threw 30 or more passes. The Gophers are 2-7 in those games. In games where he threw less than 30 passes, the Gophers are 29-6.

If Tanner is throwing 30 or more times a game, that's usually because of a combination of the running game not working and team falling behind and needing to catch up. For whatever reason, Tanner and the receivers don't respond well when the offensive load is all on their shoulders. Purdue's passing game was not great today (their rushing game was much better than usual) but O'Connell has no problem slinging 40 or more passes in a game.
The Gophers do well when the pass sets up the run. They also do well when the run just works, period. They are terrible when they try to run at will but cannot, bc this squad cannot pass at will to combat the situation where they are forced to pass, only.

The realization, as it should have last year against BG and Ill, should have come very early that the run wasn’t working just by trying to run it down their throats. The prior week they passed to set up the run and it worked extremely well. In the very few cases they did that yesterday (e.g., the game-tying drive), they were successful. But they kept abandoning this approach in favor of the opposite. It was frustrating to watch them make the same mistake over and over, and seemingly go completely away from the style that worked so well the prior weeks.

In the future, I hope that Athan is able to both set up the run with the pass and, like other great college QBs, pass when the situation of pass-only arises. If that happens, the Gophers may indeed have a stronger future ahead of them. If not, and if the Gophers continue to be unable to pass in situations where passing is necessary, then the Morgan-led Gophers resemble the best we can expect, where when the running game is stopped, they have little chance of winning. Need to improve on this dramatically to get to the next level.
 
Last edited:

The bigger point of this thread is that even if prime Tom Brady was quarterback, the backup quarterback is always the most popular person in the Twin Cities.
 

The bigger point of this thread is that even if prime Tom Brady was quarterback, the backup quarterback is always the most popular person in the Twin Cities.
No it’s not we have a quarterback with a lot of weaknesses who can thrive when the run is cooking but dies on the vine when asked to win a game through the air.
 

This is not a knock on Morgan, but you cannot coach arm strength. Receivers waiting on too many balls, affording for no yards after catch or allowing the defender to contest the catch.
 

We've seen AK throw how many passes in an actual game?! Yeah, that's what I thought.
 

Go back and watch all of the broken pocket played today that turned into incomplete passes or less than desirable QB scrambles.

Also, and most importantly, the ability to sit in the pocket and sling it downfield when things break down.

I like Tanner and the stability he has brought to the U, but he was clearly a weak point today.
Morgan didn't have a great game, but he played well enough for us to win. The O line was just a mess and the missed chip shot field goal and terrible TD drop by MBS were much bigger factors in this game. Hats off to the D for an incredible effort, just ran out of gas at the end with the O not helping much.
My factors in the loss are (in order):
1. Poor O line play
2. Drop TD by MBS that turned into a pick
3. O line and running game coach(es) not adjusting quick enough to the poor play
4. Missed chip shot FG
5. Low team energy to start the game
 


No it’s not we have a quarterback with a lot of weaknesses who can thrive when the run is cooking but dies on the vine when asked to win a game through the air.
It is too bad you didn't watch the Fresno State game (I think in 2019 - someone can correct me) when, with about 5 minutes to play, trailing by a touchdown, the Gophers the got ball deep in their own end zone. First down = TM sack, Second down = TM sack, Third down and 21, I believe, with TM standing in his own end zone = 10 yard completion, fourth down = 12 yard completion and a first down.

Under the pressure of the clock, TM drove the team down the field for a tieing touchdown with only 30 or 40 seconds on the clock. Gophers won by 3 in overtime.

I think this was one of the best clutch performances I have ever seen.

I usually don't respond to clowns/trolls like you but your inability to see what is actually happening on the field, your simple inability to actually look at the record irritates me. You are a clown unable to objectively see reality on the field.
 





Top Bottom