Open Practice (Family Day) will be August 2 at 6:00 PM

Big Ten Network were there today but showed no plays. Lots of talking... O-Line biggest concern.
Defense looks good. Drake makes quick decisions. Kingsbury maybe all conference.
Perich will be all over the field. RB room is deep but back to O-Line concerns if we can dominate on the ground.
Danny Collins will have defense flying around and aggressive ... is the feeling I got.
Today was first padded practice.
Agree. I'm glad that Howard Griffith was able to explain those "situational situations."
 


Was there last night as well. Thought the 1st team Dline was ahead of the 1st team Oline (although someone posted earlier the OL was mixing and matching). I hope for no injuries on the Dline though cuz I thought the 2nd Oline definitely had an edge on the 2nd Dline.

Also, was sitting in the 138-139 sections. Haven’t noticed this before last night, but some maintenance is definitely needed. (I guess still 3+ weeks til gameday) Minor damag to chairs, chipped/missing concrete around stair handrails, black gates at entry are weathered.
 


All true, but we're really just in year 2 of the 3rd chapter of PJ Fleck as Gophers head coach: Rev Share Fights Back. (2024 - )

Ch 2: Rise of the Transfer Portal and the Weak Big Ten West (2021-2023)
(The Lost Chaper: Covid Blues (2020) )
Ch 1: Traditional College Football and the Three Year Climb to Greatness (2017-2019)
 


Here's the whole post from Jake Butt:

" here at practice for the camp tour. PJ Fleck is a great coach and deserves more credit than he gets. Steady as they come. 8 wins+ in 4 of last 6 seasons. He does it through discipline, ball control, minimizing mistakes, and togetherness. Practice was full of energy- a given wherever PJ Fleck is leading. Big question.. when will they take that next step and get to 10 wins and enter the playoff conversation?

Drake Lindsey is a big, tall, confident QB. He *does not* hang onto the ball. Gets to the top of his drop, hitch, throw. Ball is out! Will be hard to get pressure on him bc of how quickly he releases the ball. This will help the OL.

Gophers are loaded at RB with a nice blend of talent. Heavy rotation at WR and TE even mixing in Koi Perich (more on that later).

OL will be the key to this offense. Particularly at tackle after losing guys to the NFL and portal. Have to be better running the ball this year to play to their standard. So far in practice I’d say DL is winning the POA.

That being said 1st unit DL looks the part. Anthony Smith is an NFL body and looked like a freak from warm ups through team drills.
LB room is loaded and made their presence felt during live periods.
#49 Kingsbury was everywhere today. Made a ton of tackles, had multiple PBUs, and looked fast and physical. Felt like he has all conference potential in the future.

Safety room will be one of the best in B10. Koi is special and gives them a ton of flexibility as he can wear many hats, but do not overlook Kerry Brown. Very sound and solid. Trustworthy.

CB room has new faces but #4 ZaQuan Bryan will anchor the room. First live period he had the best form tackle of any defensive player. Followed up with a number of plays made in the back end, including one where he ran probably 40 yards in zone coverage effectively filling the roll of deep safety to break up a pass in the end zone.

Danny Collins will have a chance to disguise and mix coverage to play with opposing QBs eyes. This will force mistakes or force the QBs to hold the ball allowing the pass rush to get home. Another reason I was impressed with
QB Drake Lindsey’s processing. He did not waste time guessing the coverage. Ball was out quick, though that does mean there were a few chances to push the ball down field that weren’t taken."
 

"Big question.. when will they take that next step and get to 10 wins and enter the playoff conversation?"

Big Ten ideal mix of post-season each year: 3 blue bloods/national brand programs and 1 Cinderella (like Indiana 2024).

We can be that Cinderella. Hopefully sooner than later!
 

Here's the whole post from Jake Butt:

" here at practice for the camp tour. PJ Fleck is a great coach and deserves more credit than he gets. Steady as they come. 8 wins+ in 4 of last 6 seasons. He does it through discipline, ball control, minimizing mistakes, and togetherness. Practice was full of energy- a given wherever PJ Fleck is leading. Big question.. when will they take that next step and get to 10 wins and enter the playoff conversation?

Drake Lindsey is a big, tall, confident QB. He *does not* hang onto the ball. Gets to the top of his drop, hitch, throw. Ball is out! Will be hard to get pressure on him bc of how quickly he releases the ball. This will help the OL.

Gophers are loaded at RB with a nice blend of talent. Heavy rotation at WR and TE even mixing in Koi Perich (more on that later).

OL will be the key to this offense. Particularly at tackle after losing guys to the NFL and portal. Have to be better running the ball this year to play to their standard. So far in practice I’d say DL is winning the POA.

That being said 1st unit DL looks the part. Anthony Smith is an NFL body and looked like a freak from warm ups through team drills.
LB room is loaded and made their presence felt during live periods.
#49 Kingsbury was everywhere today. Made a ton of tackles, had multiple PBUs, and looked fast and physical. Felt like he has all conference potential in the future.

Safety room will be one of the best in B10. Koi is special and gives them a ton of flexibility as he can wear many hats, but do not overlook Kerry Brown. Very sound and solid. Trustworthy.

CB room has new faces but #4 ZaQuan Bryan will anchor the room. First live period he had the best form tackle of any defensive player. Followed up with a number of plays made in the back end, including one where he ran probably 40 yards in zone coverage effectively filling the roll of deep safety to break up a pass in the end zone.

Danny Collins will have a chance to disguise and mix coverage to play with opposing QBs eyes. This will force mistakes or force the QBs to hold the ball allowing the pass rush to get home. Another reason I was impressed with
QB Drake Lindsey’s processing. He did not waste time guessing the coverage. Ball was out quick, though that does mean there were a few chances to push the ball down field that weren’t taken."
This assessment matches up well with what I saw, though I thought the OL looked fine. Only thing on defense I couldn't really get a good bead on was the LB play.
 

Was there last night as well. Thought the 1st team Dline was ahead of the 1st team Oline (although someone posted earlier the OL was mixing and matching). I hope for no injuries on the Dline though cuz I thought the 2nd Oline definitely had an edge on the 2nd Dline.

Also, was sitting in the 138-139 sections. Haven’t noticed this before last night, but some maintenance is definitely needed. (I guess still 3+ weeks til gameday) Minor damag to chairs, chipped/missing concrete around stair handrails, black gates at entry are weathered.
Been like that for a few years now and nothing is ever done.
 



FYI for everyone concerned - it’s very common for front 7’s to look better than and take advantage of o-lines in fall camp/practices for many reasons. Add in all of our new faces there and it will be very noticeable. Still a few more weeks
 

FYI for everyone concerned - it’s very common for front 7’s to look better than and take advantage of o-lines in fall camp/practices for many reasons. Add in all of our new faces there and it will be very noticeable. Still a few more weeks
Yep. The Vikings sub reddit is having the same conversation
 





On the Big Ten Network show they mentioned seeing 3 safeties on the field in nickel instead of the more traditional 3 CBs. I can see one of the safeties taking on a bit of the role of Jack Henderson last year.

Super pumped about the defense. If CB play can be solid, really has the chance to be extremely good.
 

On the Big Ten Network show they mentioned seeing 3 safeties on the field in nickel instead of the more traditional 3 CBs. I can see one of the safeties taking on a bit of the role of Jack Henderson last year.

Super pumped about the defense. If CB play can be solid, really has the chance to be extremely good.
Another reason I think the OL will be fine. Held up fine against the DL. Same for the offense overall, looked good against what is probably a top 10-15 defense.
 





BTN is having an hour show today at 2 pm and then again at 6 pm on Minnesota spring football. I think it's about last night.
 


Jake Butt....so I had to look him up....highly decorated Michigan tight end. 3 ACL injuries, torn miniscus and other injuries messed up his career real bad.
The Athletic .... story of injuries
 


Jake Butt....so I had to look him up....highly decorated Michigan tight end. 3 ACL injuries, torn miniscus and other injuries messed up his career real bad.
The Athletic .... story of injuries
Many of you probably already know this part to his story, but here is for those that don't. His case was the first I had heard about a college player taking out an insurance policy on himself (but I doubt it was actually the first).

 





Yes. I think someone posted a video of it in this thread.

Is this the one you're referring to? Doesn't look like a TD, but it is the same route combination described. The CB in question that got beat was John Nestor😬
 


Is this the one you're referring to? Doesn't look like a TD, but it is the same route combination described. The CB in question that got beat was John Nestor😬

The Butt breaks it down really well here.

Not the best play as has to turn all the way around to make it back to him, but I think the concepts on both sides also favored the O.
 




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