AZGopher8
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- Oct 28, 2019
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I know we have discussed the ups and downs of the season throughout the year, but I keep looking back over the whole season and wanted to get posters opinions/takes. Mine is probably too long winded, but here goes...consider yourself warned.
Great start to the season...obviously. I have no problem with the play calling or amount of runs/passes through this section as we literally dominated every game. There is no need to overthink anything that occurred during those first 4 games, including the special teams play. My only consideration would have been some of the personnel that we played. Could we have gotten some of the younger players ready sooner, especially at WR? I have wondered why MBS was on the field for the last half of 2021, much less any games in 2022. He doesn't compete for balls with the defender, has to have the ball in his "bread basket" to catch it, and repeatedly tips balls up for the defense to intercept. This was not an error once or twice...it is how he plays the game, every game.
CrAB's injury was huge. He is the epitome of a leader, as his importance was seen in how much he made everyone around him better. His presence allowed other receivers to be covered by lesser defenders. He was explosive enough to create separation and competes as well as anyone for the ball.
Then we had Mo injured for Purdue and it showed our team weaknesses. Beyond the drop off in RB, it showed serious issues with the OL in pass protection. Tanner had minimal time and receivers dropped balls or couldn't get any separation. Yes, we had opportunities to win this game, but see MBS above for a major reason we weren't ready. Our conservative play (and play calling) came into focus as one of our major weaknesses.
This led into the 3 consecutive losses. I was not surprised to lose to Illinois. Big Bret has our number. He knows how to scheme and have his team ready to compete against the Gophers. It didn't hurt that Purdue laid out a good road map for victory the week prior. He exploited our weaknesses. The Penn State game with Athan starting went as expected, the Gophers hung in for a while and eventually were overwhelmed. I do believe this is where handcuffing the offensive play calling really hurt. Certainly we could have been blown out sooner, but we literally had nothing to lose...as a conservative game plan gave us zero chance of victory.
In my opinion, the next stretch of games pointed out where Coach Fleck (and I am definitely a Fleck supporter - best coach in the last 50+ years for the Gophers...not close) needs to improve his best. I am a huge fan of what Tanner has done in his career for the Gophers and he will be remembered as one of the best QB's for the Gophers of the last 5 decades. That is true from the 2019 season alone. However, I do not believe we win the Nebraska game if he is not injured. The second half was a completely different ball game. Athan brings some tools that Tanner just does not possess. Our 2022 roster with injuries to CrAB was not designed to be able to win ball games like our 2019 roster was. Therefore, we needed our QB to be able to avoid a rush and keep the ball a few times on the fake to the RB and get yards with his legs. This opened up several opportunities for offensive production that was not there before.
Fleck's conservative/run heavy, wait until there is 1 or 2 seconds on the play clock (even when behind!) has to be better. I am not even talking about gashing a defense on the ground as we did against Iowa. We moved the ball well on the ground, there is no need to change what is working. However, it has been painfully clear that gaining yards and scoring points are two different things. Once we get into field goal range, we play "not to lose a chance to kick a field goal", rather than trying to score a touchdown. If you are gashing a defense and they key on your run to a greater degree inside the red zone, then have some ability to play action pass or roll out with run/pass options. This puts so much more pressure on the defense. You can literally see the team get ultraconservative inside the red zone, the players themselves tighten up.
I was so bored with our run heavy, suffocate the clock offense this year that I was seriously considering whether it was worth it to watch any more. I know some will see that as heresy, however, I do want to be entertained while watching. Yes, I want victories, but I do not want to be bored to tears in the process. I just don't have the capacity for that (I do realize that is a commentary on me rather than the Gophers). Some have compared our run/pass play calling to Michigan, however that is unfair for 2 major reasons. Michigan has won EVERY GAME they have played to this point in 2022. Therefore, it goes to reason that as they have been leading many of those games it will generally lead to less passing. As showcased yesterday versus OSU, they not only can pass with efficiency and explosiveness, they can also break long touchdown runs. As great as Mo is, and he is ridiculously great, he does not have break away speed. He will get caught from behind. So Michigan doesn't have to have 12-15 play drives to score a touchdown on the ground, it could be taken to the house at any time. This is important. As it is part of why we ended up on the wrong side of the Iowa score.
The Wisconsin game was redeeming, because the style of play was so much more fun to watch. Athan made incredible plays with defenders literally having a free run at him. Clearly, this should be more the route we strive for in the future. We were hiking the ball with 10 seconds left on the clock!! Can you imagine that, no risk of a delay of game or panicking to get the ball hiked. Receivers were making plays because they were actually part of the game plan for the WHOLE GAME! Please, please, please keep doing this!!!
Matthew Trickett is a very good collegiate kicker. Yes, he will miss some. But, overall he has been very solid and that is what you want. He gives you 3 points a high percentage of the time. Our punter is ok. Our kick return and punt return has been dismal under Fleck his entire tenure. I have no illusions this has any chance to improve. He is too conservative to risk actually working on returning kicks.
Brockington!! That was speed we have not seen here in a long time. Hence, this is on Fleck to put players in a position to succeed. He should have been on the field more this year. Even if he only knows a hand full of plays and routes. He possesses an ability our other receivers do not have. Take MBS off for every play even, I will take the rookie mistakes.
For those still here after the long brain dump....I will pray for your sanity. I also look forward to reading your thoughts on the season. Thanks Gopherhole for another year of experiencing the Gopher football season with others as invested as you are. The laughs, anger, meltdowns, victories, and especially the ax will all be remembered about 2022!
Great start to the season...obviously. I have no problem with the play calling or amount of runs/passes through this section as we literally dominated every game. There is no need to overthink anything that occurred during those first 4 games, including the special teams play. My only consideration would have been some of the personnel that we played. Could we have gotten some of the younger players ready sooner, especially at WR? I have wondered why MBS was on the field for the last half of 2021, much less any games in 2022. He doesn't compete for balls with the defender, has to have the ball in his "bread basket" to catch it, and repeatedly tips balls up for the defense to intercept. This was not an error once or twice...it is how he plays the game, every game.
CrAB's injury was huge. He is the epitome of a leader, as his importance was seen in how much he made everyone around him better. His presence allowed other receivers to be covered by lesser defenders. He was explosive enough to create separation and competes as well as anyone for the ball.
Then we had Mo injured for Purdue and it showed our team weaknesses. Beyond the drop off in RB, it showed serious issues with the OL in pass protection. Tanner had minimal time and receivers dropped balls or couldn't get any separation. Yes, we had opportunities to win this game, but see MBS above for a major reason we weren't ready. Our conservative play (and play calling) came into focus as one of our major weaknesses.
This led into the 3 consecutive losses. I was not surprised to lose to Illinois. Big Bret has our number. He knows how to scheme and have his team ready to compete against the Gophers. It didn't hurt that Purdue laid out a good road map for victory the week prior. He exploited our weaknesses. The Penn State game with Athan starting went as expected, the Gophers hung in for a while and eventually were overwhelmed. I do believe this is where handcuffing the offensive play calling really hurt. Certainly we could have been blown out sooner, but we literally had nothing to lose...as a conservative game plan gave us zero chance of victory.
In my opinion, the next stretch of games pointed out where Coach Fleck (and I am definitely a Fleck supporter - best coach in the last 50+ years for the Gophers...not close) needs to improve his best. I am a huge fan of what Tanner has done in his career for the Gophers and he will be remembered as one of the best QB's for the Gophers of the last 5 decades. That is true from the 2019 season alone. However, I do not believe we win the Nebraska game if he is not injured. The second half was a completely different ball game. Athan brings some tools that Tanner just does not possess. Our 2022 roster with injuries to CrAB was not designed to be able to win ball games like our 2019 roster was. Therefore, we needed our QB to be able to avoid a rush and keep the ball a few times on the fake to the RB and get yards with his legs. This opened up several opportunities for offensive production that was not there before.
Fleck's conservative/run heavy, wait until there is 1 or 2 seconds on the play clock (even when behind!) has to be better. I am not even talking about gashing a defense on the ground as we did against Iowa. We moved the ball well on the ground, there is no need to change what is working. However, it has been painfully clear that gaining yards and scoring points are two different things. Once we get into field goal range, we play "not to lose a chance to kick a field goal", rather than trying to score a touchdown. If you are gashing a defense and they key on your run to a greater degree inside the red zone, then have some ability to play action pass or roll out with run/pass options. This puts so much more pressure on the defense. You can literally see the team get ultraconservative inside the red zone, the players themselves tighten up.
I was so bored with our run heavy, suffocate the clock offense this year that I was seriously considering whether it was worth it to watch any more. I know some will see that as heresy, however, I do want to be entertained while watching. Yes, I want victories, but I do not want to be bored to tears in the process. I just don't have the capacity for that (I do realize that is a commentary on me rather than the Gophers). Some have compared our run/pass play calling to Michigan, however that is unfair for 2 major reasons. Michigan has won EVERY GAME they have played to this point in 2022. Therefore, it goes to reason that as they have been leading many of those games it will generally lead to less passing. As showcased yesterday versus OSU, they not only can pass with efficiency and explosiveness, they can also break long touchdown runs. As great as Mo is, and he is ridiculously great, he does not have break away speed. He will get caught from behind. So Michigan doesn't have to have 12-15 play drives to score a touchdown on the ground, it could be taken to the house at any time. This is important. As it is part of why we ended up on the wrong side of the Iowa score.
The Wisconsin game was redeeming, because the style of play was so much more fun to watch. Athan made incredible plays with defenders literally having a free run at him. Clearly, this should be more the route we strive for in the future. We were hiking the ball with 10 seconds left on the clock!! Can you imagine that, no risk of a delay of game or panicking to get the ball hiked. Receivers were making plays because they were actually part of the game plan for the WHOLE GAME! Please, please, please keep doing this!!!
Matthew Trickett is a very good collegiate kicker. Yes, he will miss some. But, overall he has been very solid and that is what you want. He gives you 3 points a high percentage of the time. Our punter is ok. Our kick return and punt return has been dismal under Fleck his entire tenure. I have no illusions this has any chance to improve. He is too conservative to risk actually working on returning kicks.
Brockington!! That was speed we have not seen here in a long time. Hence, this is on Fleck to put players in a position to succeed. He should have been on the field more this year. Even if he only knows a hand full of plays and routes. He possesses an ability our other receivers do not have. Take MBS off for every play even, I will take the rookie mistakes.
For those still here after the long brain dump....I will pray for your sanity. I also look forward to reading your thoughts on the season. Thanks Gopherhole for another year of experiencing the Gopher football season with others as invested as you are. The laughs, anger, meltdowns, victories, and especially the ax will all be remembered about 2022!
