About that "youth" thing ...

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MaxyJR1 said:
Add to it that we have guys playing out of position and have a lack of some talent in the front seven and it magnifies the issues in the secondary.
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Yeah, I would argue that Coughlin would be a better LB than DL. Great speed rusher than gives opposing OT fits at times, but other than that I don't know if he is reasonable as a true 4-3 DE in the Big Ten.

Often wonder if we'd be better off playing a 3-4 front with Coughlin as a LB ... but I don't know how well he covers, if he were going to play OLB.
 

Shenault plays like a freshman. Can that count towards the numbers?
 


Gophers_4life said:
Saying "this is our primary problem" doesn't even hardly do it.

It's the entire kit and kaboodle of why our defense gives up so many big plays, which is the reason teams score against us.


Without Winfield, the secondary pretty much is horrible. Awful tackling. And sometimes breakdowns in coverage. Nebraska first two big TD runs were 100% caused by whiffs on tackles by CB. And they got two more big TD passes, one where a TE snuck out uncovered if I recall. So we really only got "beat", via drives with several smaller players, for 2 TD? Much more acceptable.
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So, given all that, how much of the problem is DC-related, and how much is personnel? My thought is that this has been primarily a personnel issue. Yes, a coach has to work with the talent available, and improve it as much as possible. But there are limits.

OTOH, from the soundbites this week, they may be moving toward a simpler approach ... which implies that scheme actually exacerbated the personnel problem.

Will be interesting to see what (if anything) changes.

JTG
 

There is a saying, "it's more about the Jimmy's and Joe's, than the X's and O's".

It's just tough to say. Perhaps it's a thing of "the road the hell is paved with good intentions", in that they were trying to scheme the defense to protect the secondary ... and it just didn't work.

Not sure if going back to base is the answer either. That still leaves the secondary expose, I think.


I'd be for trying something more radical. Switch to being a big blitzing team. You live and die by it ... but to me at least it feels like you're going down with a fight than just sitting there, defeated as big play after big play rattles off.
 


Gophers_4life said:
Switch to being a big blitzing team. You live and die by it ... but to me at least it feels like you're going down with a fight than just sitting there, defeated as big play after big play rattles off.
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Funny, I was thinking the same thing while watching the Nebraska tape.

JTG
 

Claeys as HC points allowed per game: 23.79
Fleck points allowed per game: 24.95

Difference 1.16
 

37score said:
Claeys as HC points allowed per game: 23.79
Fleck points allowed per game: 24.95

Difference 1.16
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How about in big ten games only?

Sent from my RS988 using Tapatalk
 





rockford said:
So far, we've been looking at what percentage of core players are underclassmen. Now, let's try to quantify how much those underclassmen are being relied on.

And therein -- as FTF pointed out -- lies our primary problem. It's not "youth," per se, but youth in the defensive backfield.

Now, that's hardly breaking news. But looking at the numbers have changed my perceptions a little bit.

• Overall, we're probably not remarkably young compared to conference foes. Indiana has nearly as high a percentage of underclassmen in their core group as we do. Wisconsin actually has a higher percentage of underclassmen in their core than us.

JTG
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get

Thanks, I haven't seen these numbers before. If we are not that young, then why does Fleck constantly cry about being so inexperienced? I've never heard a gopher coach in the past make this point so often. Unless your are Michigan or Ohio State, most coaches plan ahead for gap years by going JUCO.
 


a79krgm said:
get

Thanks, I haven't seen these numbers before. If we are not that young, then why does Fleck constantly cry about being so inexperienced? I've never heard a gopher coach in the past make this point so often. Unless your are Michigan or Ohio State, most coaches plan ahead for gap years by going JUCO.
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Evidently, the worst places to be young are QB and CB / S.
That's where we are young.
If PJ knew this or not, I don't know.

Also we are young I guess from the standpoint of we don't have many 2nd line Jr's and Sr's to play when our starters get hurt or stink.
 



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