All Things 2019 Gophers Fall Camp Thread

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Face The Facts said:
Regarding the kicking game, since Fleck has been here, we've only had one game with a margin of 6 points or less. 2017 MSU when we came from behind to give MSU a scare thans to Demry Croft having the game of his life. 27-30 final.

Fleck has had 5 other games where margin was 7.
4 of those were wins.

I appreciate a good FG kicker, but we haven't played a lot of close games under Fleck.
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Any chance our FG kicker played a role in those games “not being close”?


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PitinoFan said:
Sounds like they’ll have to build their offense around a porous left side of the line....lots of quick hitting passes, double teams and rolling the QB to the right, in addition to a heavy dose of the running game. Morgan and these receivers are capable of the quick passing game. They’ll still have to take an occasional shot down the field to keep defenses honest. Rodney’s receiving skills will come in handy too.

We cannot have Morgan getting hit from the blind side.


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Got to realize these open practices are running pretty straight up base plays in the scrimmage. Based on the finish last year and the thought that this offense is bringing back all the skill players, Fleck's RPO has the wrinkles to make quick decisions based on exposing the defense.
 



Spoofin said:
Any chance our FG kicker played a role in those games “not being close”?


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Good question.

Here are the wins under Fleck with my analysis of whether kicking mattered:

W 17–7 (late FG to go up by 10 against Buffalo, I say not really)
W 48–14 (not really)
W 34–3 (not really)
W 24–17 (20 yard fg and 3 extra points vs Illinois)
W 54–21 (not really)
W 48–10(not really)
W 21–14 (Yes! Fresno St)
W 26–3 (not really)
W 38-31 (37 yard FG and 5 extra points, so yeh)
W 41-10 (not really)
W 37-15 (not really)
W 34-10 (not really)
 


PMWinSTP said:
Yeah, Fleck lit up Oliver. Stopped practice to basically tell the coaches to get him off the field. He basically wouldn't and took off his helmet and tossed it to the ground. Rodney Smith then went across the field to the defensive side, talked to Oliver for a few minutes on the sideline and then walked with him into the tunnel. Oliver came out maybe 15 minutes later and was on the field for scrimmages...looks like he is a starter on ST.
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Thanks for your comments on this and the other remarks on practices. Sincerely appreciate it.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Perhaps they both have gotten a lot better...glass half full?!? Devers got around the edge on pretty much everyone in front of him. He's got his technique down and engages at the right time as the lineman is moving out and back to contain him.
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So we expect him to have 30 sacks this season?

I don’t recall many in the previous seasons.
 



PitinoFan said:
Sounds like they’ll have to build their offense around a porous left side of the line....lots of quick hitting passes, double teams and rolling the QB to the right, in addition to a heavy dose of the running game. Morgan and these receivers are capable of the quick passing game. They’ll still have to take an occasional shot down the field to keep defenses honest. Rodney’s receiving skills will come in handy too.

We cannot have Morgan getting hit from the blind side.
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Again, I just don’t see why you wouldn’t put Andries at LT, if it’s that bad. Similar to a Josh Campion.
 


Oregon Gopher said:
Are you Kramer’s uncle? Seem to take any potentially negative take on the young man very personally
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Not related. Kramer has played really well in camp. He definitely struggled in the scrimmage with the 2s, mostly because of pressure. He also made some really nice throws and no disastrous mistakes. I thought Clark outplayed Kramer a bit last night, but then also threw an awful interception at the end. I think the competition is close and certainly not a layup for Clark. I could definitely see Clark winning the battle and hope he has a bright future.

Pet peeves
thinking X QB is a lock, it's the hardest position to project
thinking a shorter QB will be ineffective, will have all their passes batted down
 

Gophers_4life said:
What’s “quite a bit” in your book?
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Played in 11 games, was on the field regularly in the last four conference games. Didn't show up a lot in stats but had a good amount of playing time.
 



dpodoll68 said:
I wasn't there last night, but last Saturday Schlueter was with the 1s and Dickson was with the 2s.
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Schlueter and he was getting beat as usual. JMS must be an inferior center to not be starting ahead of Schlueter
 

Gophers_4life said:
Again, I just don’t see why you wouldn’t put Andries at LT, if it’s that bad. Similar to a Josh Campion.
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In the bowl game Andries played LT and Olson played LG. Just move JMS into center and we are set.
 

Halsey Hall said:
In the bowl game Andries played LT and Olson played LG. Just move JMS into center and we are set.
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Hmm. Coaches are there, I’m not. But if neither Dickson or Schlueter figures it out, I sure hope it doesn’t take most of the season to get back to what worked well in they bowl game.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Played in 11 games, was on the field regularly in the last four conference games. Didn't show up a lot in stats but had a good amount of playing time.
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To me, quite a bit means getting put in regularly against every opponent drive, as part of a rotation or staying on the majority of the time, and being consistent listed in the top two at a position.

Not just making an appearance at some point of a game.

We can just disagree.

I hope he has 30 sacks this year. But previous years don’t indicate that.
 

Gophers_4life said:
To me, quite a bit means getting put in regularly against every opponent drive, as part of a rotation or staying on the majority of the time, and being consistent listed in the top two at a position.

Not just making an appearance at some point of a game.

We can just disagree.

I hope he has 30 sacks this year. But previous years don’t indicate that.
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Post was observation of one practice and what stood out to me. Devers stood out, as others at the practice have also posted. You parlayed that into your 30 sack comment.

My playing time response was to a post wondering if he was even on the roster.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Hmm. Coaches are there, I’m not. But if neither Dickson or Schlueter figures it out, I sure hope it doesn’t take most of the season to get back to what worked well in they bowl game.
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Completely agree. I'm not there every day and only see things from distance, but if I were walking in I'd put Andries and Faalele at tackles, Dunlop at one guard, Olson at either the other guard or center, and then whoever your best remaining lineman is at the other spot. That would be our lineup for at least this season and next season.
 

IronOre said:
Completely agree. I'm not there every day and only see things from distance, but if I were walking in I'd put Andries and Faalele at tackles, Dunlop at one guard, Olson at either the other guard or center, and then whoever your best remaining lineman is at the other spot. That would be our lineup for at least this season and next season.
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So, for someone that was there, what was rest of the 1's? Big Dan of course, but was Dunlap at LG or RG? I assume Andries was at other guard with Olson at center. Is that correct?
 

Gophers_4life said:
Hmm. Coaches are there, I’m not. But if neither Dickson or Schlueter figures it out, I sure hope it doesn’t take most of the season to get back to what worked well in they bowl game.
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Most O-line coaches will tell you it is best practice to put your 5 best O-lineman out there and then figure out positions later. So the reason why they haven't put JMS at starting center is probably because Schlueter and Dickson are just better at this point.

What I wouldn't mind seeing however would be Andries at LT and Schlueter at LG because Schlueter is still pretty decent at run blocking. But maybe the coaches feel Blaise is too valuable at OG right now and his value would be diminished at LT and they are content with having a sub par pass blocking LT as long as he is good enough at run blocking.
 

TNGophfan said:
So, for someone that was there, what was rest of the 1's? Big Dan of course, but was Dunlap at LG or RG? I assume Andries was at other guard with Olson at center. Is that correct?
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Dunlap was at RG. Olson at Center and Andries at left guard. Big Dan at RT. Schlueter at LT.
 

die hard gopher said:
Most O-line coaches will tell you it is best practice to put your 5 best O-lineman out there and then figure out positions later. So the reason why they haven't put JMS at starting center is probably because Schlueter and Dickson are just better at this point.
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If we get into the season and things remain the same, you are right. However right now it seems clear that they are just hoping for some development with the 2 LTs before moving Blaise over.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Hmm. Coaches are there, I’m not. But if neither Dickson or Schlueter figures it out, I sure hope it doesn’t take most of the season to get back to what worked well in they bowl game.
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I'll also add that while they did start Blaise at LT in the bowl game, they did play Schlueter quite a bit at LT in that game as well with Blaise at RG. They played well with both configurations in that game.

And a few more things

1. If Schlueter is good at run blocking which i believe he is, that will help to minimize the amount of third and long situations we are in which I think will be a lot less than what is was at the beginning of Big Ten play last year. Maybe JMS is a better pass blocker for a center is than Schlueter is for an LT but Schlueter is a much better run blocking LT than JMS is at center which limits the need to pass. If we have an effective run game like we didd at the end of last year then we will pass more when we want to and not when we have to.

2. Schlueter this year will have the benefit of blocking for a QB that has much better pocket presence and is a more decisive runner than Annexstad. Last year most of Schlueter's sacks came when he got beat when the edge rusher went to the outside. When that happened, Annexstad would usually run backwards, right into the pass rusher. Morgan on the other hand actually steps up in the pocket instead of going backwards and most of the time when Schlueter got beat it wasn't because the rusher went inside of him.

3. Schlueter is now a RS junior instead of a sophomore or freshman. He is up to 325 pounds on the roster and was 305 last year and 298 the year before. Hopefully the added size helps him hold up more, either in pass pro or in run blocking.

4. The D-line is always going to be ahead of the O-line at this point in the year at all levels of football, especially when the D tries new excotic blitzes and stunts. Hopefully by Big Ten, Schlueter has some nice chemistry with the rest of the O-line and TE's.

5. I've read before that apparently last year, Schlueter was dealing with some sort of hip injury throughout the year that slowed him down. Don't quote me on that though.
 

Section2 said:
Not related. Kramer has played really well in camp. He definitely struggled in the scrimmage with the 2s, mostly because of pressure. He also made some really nice throws and no disastrous mistakes. I thought Clark outplayed Kramer a bit last night, but then also threw an awful interception at the end. I think the competition is close and certainly not a layup for Clark. I could definitely see Clark winning the battle and hope he has a bright future.

Pet peeves
thinking X QB is a lock, it's the hardest position to project
thinking a shorter QB will be ineffective, will have all their passes batted down
Click to expand...

Your second pet peeve is based on what, pervasive discrimination against QBs under six feet tall? There is a reason that there a lot fewer of them in college compared to high school; and a lot fewer of them in the Pros compared to college.
 

die hard gopher said:
I'll also add that while they did start Blaise at LT in the bowl game, they did play Schlueter quite a bit at LT in that game as well with Blaise at RG. They played well with both configurations in that game.

And a few more things

1. If Schlueter is good at run blocking which i believe he is, that will help to minimize the amount of third and long situations we are in which I think will be a lot less than what is was at the beginning of Big Ten play last year. Maybe JMS is a better pass blocker for a center is than Schlueter is for an LT but Schlueter is a much better run blocking LT than JMS is at center which limits the need to pass. If we have an effective run game like we didd at the end of last year then we will pass more when we want to and not when we have to.

2. Schlueter this year will have the benefit of blocking for a QB that has much better pocket presence and is a more decisive runner than Annexstad. Last year most of Schlueter's sacks came when he got beat when the edge rusher went to the outside. When that happened, Annexstad would usually run backwards, right into the pass rusher. Morgan on the other hand actually steps up in the pocket instead of going backwards and most of the time when Schlueter got beat it wasn't because the rusher went inside of him.

3. Schlueter is now a RS junior instead of a sophomore or freshman. He is up to 325 pounds on the roster and was 305 last year and 298 the year before. Hopefully the added size helps him hold up more, either in pass pro or in run blocking.

4. The D-line is always going to be ahead of the O-line at this point in the year at all levels of football, especially when the D tries new excotic blitzes and stunts. Hopefully by Big Ten, Schlueter has some nice chemistry with the rest of the O-line and TE's.

5. I've read before that apparently last year, Schlueter was dealing with some sort of hip injury throughout the year that slowed him down. Don't quote me on that though.
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Appreciate the comments! Hope he has a great season
 

Section2 said:
If we get into the season and things remain the same, you are right. However right now it seems clear that they are just hoping for some development with the 2 LTs before moving Blaise over.
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To me, this is what camp is for, right?
 

2. Schlueter this year will have the benefit of blocking for a QB that has much better pocket presence and is a more decisive runner than Annexstad. Last year most of Schlueter's sacks came when he got beat when the edge rusher went to the outside. When that happened, Annexstad would usually run backwards, right into the pass rusher. Morgan on the other hand actually steps up in the pocket instead of going backwards and most of the time when Schlueter got beat it wasn't because the rusher went inside of him.
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Agree that the above is important. Joe Montana saved many an offensive lineman from surrendering a sack because of his incredible pocket presence.
 

Morgan was sacked 12 times in his 6 starts. I think that can improved upon, but it’s not terrible.

He was not sacked against Wisconsin.

Annexstad was sacked 15 times in 6 games.

I didn’t include the 1 sack given up to Nebraska, since they both played a half, and I don’t which QB was sacked.


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PitinoFan said:
Morgan was sacked 12 times in his 6 starts. I think that can improved upon, but it’s not terrible.

He was not sacked against Wisconsin.

Annexstad was sacked 15 times in 6 games.

I didn’t include the 1 sack given up to Nebraska, since they both played a half, and I don’t which QB was sacked.


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I just checked the play by play for that game and Annexstad was sacked.

So Annexstad was sacked 16 times to Tanner's 12 but Annexstad played against two inferior defenses in New Mexico State and Miami of Ohio. Of course Morgan had the benefit of Faalele at RT although Annexstad did too against OSU, Nebraska and the second half of Iowa.
 
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