Annexstad on transferring: "Just looking for the right spot. That right offense, right fit, right coaches, right culture"

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Hates Monikers said:
No, he hadn't been named the starter. But several in the media believed ZA would start or was leading the battle. Burns, for sure, was one.
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Ok that must have been what I was thinking about. Thanks for clearing up.
 

Triple D said:
The thing that irks me a little is that ZA influenced bringing in a hell of a player in Faalale and a good player in Dunlap, possibly also helped influence his brother Brock into coming....and in Flecks blind loyalty to Morgan that's not even worth mop up duty or a change of pace in a couple games last year and this year all the while being a good team mate? Thanks for all you did ZA, much appreciated. Disclaimer - I'm not bashing Morgan, just would have rewarded ZA with a bit of playing time for that.
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It's worse than that, in a sense.

ZA won the starting spot in 2018. Then he got thrown the wolves and got battered.

Morgan had to go in, because ZA was just too hurt to be effective ... this was true games before Nebraska, as well.


There is this idea that you shouldn't lose your starting spot because of injury. But once Morgan went in and did well, Fleck was too afraid to put ZA back into his starting roll and give him a chance.

Once Morgan did well in 2018 - unless someone has proof otherwise, but guessing it would've come out by now - he was all but guaranteed to be the starter for 2019, and the rest is history.


Just like it is all but guaranteed he will be the starter for 2022.
 

MplsGopher said:
It's worse than that, in a sense.

ZA won the starting spot in 2018. Then he got thrown the wolves and got battered.

Morgan had to go in, because ZA was just too hurt to be effective ... this was true games before Nebraska, as well.


There is this idea that you shouldn't lose your starting spot because of injury. But once Morgan went in and did well, Fleck was too afraid to put ZA back into his starting roll and give him a chance.

Once Morgan did well in 2018 - unless someone has proof otherwise, but guessing it would've come out by now - he was all but guaranteed to be the starter for 2019, and the rest is history.


Just like it is all but guaranteed he will be the starter for 2022.
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Or you know....the coaches thought Annexstad was the better option to start 2018 but then Morgan came in and did really well, so well in fact that Annexstad couldn't beat him out for the job in 2019 and Morgan went on to have one of the greatest QB seasons in the history of the school.

Good lord some of you are trying way too hard to make it seem like we had all these better options than Morgan available and just didn't play them because Fleck is too loyal to the winningest QB in the history of the University.

Maybe just maybe....there is a slim chance that Morgan was and still is the best option on the roster. Or we can just assume it is blind loyalty and the coaches are just letting better options rot on the bench because they want to lose and are willing to sacrifice wins to keep Morgan in there....because you know, that makes a ton of sense.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Or you know....the coaches thought Annexstad was the better option to start 2018 but then Morgan came in and did really well, so well in fact that Annexstad couldn't beat him out for the job in 2019 and Morgan went on to have one of the greatest QB seasons in the history of the school.

Good lord some of you are trying way too hard to make it seem like we had all these better options than Morgan available and just didn't play them because Fleck is too loyal to the winningest QB in the history of the University.

Maybe just maybe....there is a slim chance that Morgan was and still is the best option on the roster. Or we can just assume it is blind loyalty and the coaches are just letting better options rot on the bench because they want to lose and are willing to sacrifice wins to keep Morgan in there....because you know, that makes a ton of sense.
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If I recall correctly, ZA was on pace to be the starter his second year but was then injured before the first game and then Morgan played and played extremely well. ZA just had bad timing with his injuries and his long ball accuracy wasn't great when he was in but he was also running for his life. Shortly after Morgan started playing, if I recall correctly, Faalele's redshirt was burned because the pass rush was just too hot for the quarterback to be efficient. ZA played well but the offensive line defficiencies hurt is prospects for performing at a high level.
 

Ragnor said:
If I recall correctly, ZA was on pace to be the starter his second year but was then injured before the first game and then Morgan played and played extremely well. ZA just had bad timing with his injuries and his long ball accuracy wasn't great when he was in but he was also running for his life. Shortly after Morgan started playing, if I recall correctly, Faalele's redshirt was burned because the pass rush was just too hot for the quarterback to be efficient. ZA played well but the offensive line defficiencies hurt is prospects for performing at a high level.
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Always seemed like Morgan and Annexstad were pretty similar QBs from a skillset standpoint. Which would explain why they were in such a tight battle for the starting role in 2018 and 2019.

I hope it works out well for ZA with the transfer and he finds a place to play for a couple of seasons. Seems like a good kid so hopefully he finds a good fit somewhere else.
 


MNVCGUY said:
Or you know....the coaches thought Annexstad was the better option to start 2018 but then Morgan came in and did really well, so well in fact that Annexstad couldn't beat him out for the job in 2019 and Morgan went on to have one of the greatest QB seasons in the history of the school.

Good lord some of you are trying way too hard to make it seem like we had all these better options than Morgan available and just didn't play them because Fleck is too loyal to the winningest QB in the history of the University.

Maybe just maybe....there is a slim chance that Morgan was and still is the best option on the roster. Or we can just assume it is blind loyalty and the coaches are just letting better options rot on the bench because they want to lose and are willing to sacrifice wins to keep Morgan in there....because you know, that makes a ton of sense.
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There were a few times this year where Morgan needed a break. Ferentz is a pretty good coach and he switched QBs a few times. He called it right against the Gophers.
 

Dakota2 said:
There were a few times this year where Morgan needed a break. Ferentz is a pretty good coach and he switched QBs a few times. He called it right against the Gophers.
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Ferentz is, indeed, a pretty good coach. I think Fleck is a pretty good coach too... although we have a few budding 'cyber-coaches' here on GopherHole who might disagree with me on that.

Personally, I trust the current Gopher staff to make the best choice on who atarts at QB, and who plays 'QB-in-waiting'.
 
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MNVCGUY said:
Or you know....the coaches thought Annexstad was the better option to start 2018 but then Morgan came in and did really well, so well in fact that Annexstad couldn't beat him out for the job in 2019 and Morgan went on to have one of the greatest QB seasons in the history of the school.
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Maybe.

But why did ZA never get a chance to prove himself again back in 2018? Morgan did well, maybe it was the correct thing to not take him out, once he went in.

That season was "lost", though. When they fired Robb Smith after the ILL game. I mean even that game itself, got away really badly. Why not put ZA back in for that game?*

* I don't remember when ZA was ready to go again, physically, after his injuries. He could've been done for the season, for all I remember.
 

Triple D said:
The thing that irks me a little is that ZA influenced bringing in a hell of a player in Faalale and a good player in Dunlap, possibly also helped influence his brother Brock into coming....and in Flecks blind loyalty to Morgan that's not even worth mop up duty or a change of pace in a couple games last year and this year all the while being a good team mate? Thanks for all you did ZA, much appreciated. Disclaimer - I'm not bashing Morgan, just would have rewarded ZA with a bit of playing time for that.
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He was named starter as a true frosh...he was owed nothing.
 



MplsGopher said:
Maybe.

But why did ZA never get a chance to prove himself again back in 2018? Morgan did well, maybe it was the correct thing to not take him out, once he went in.

That season was "lost", though. When they fired Robb Smith after the ILL game. I mean even that game itself, got away really badly. Why not put ZA back in for that game?*

* I don't remember when ZA was ready to go again, physically, after his injuries. He could've been done for the season, for all I remember.
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Can't remember, but Morgan went 4-3 in 2018 while Zack was injured. Zack then got hurt again in 2019 and wasn't available most of the year, plus it served as a Red-Shirt year. Morgan went 11-2.

In the end they were probably pretty much the same guy in 2018, but Zack didn't look good in conference play.

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2018 was not "lost". If anything, the firing of Smith and play of Morgan saved the season. Don't forget we beat Wisconsin in 2018 for the first time in 15 years.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
2018 was not "lost". If anything, the firing of Smith and play of Morgan saved the season. Don't forget we beat Wisconsin in 2018 for the first time in 15 years.
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Good grief, you guys keep trying to reason with perhaps the most pathetic idiot on GH.
 




DarrenTheGreek said:
2018 was not "lost". If anything, the firing of Smith and play of Morgan saved the season. Don't forget we beat Wisconsin in 2018 for the first time in 15 years.
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Yes. The way I recall it,
— Rossi replaced Smith
— Morgan replaced Annexstad
— Faalele was inserted into the lineup
— Mo took over for the injured Smith and Brooks and started getting lots of carries.
...not necessarily in that order, but those were the key changes.

The result of all that: we finished the season really strong, crushing the Badgers in Madison to earn a bowl spot and then throttling Georgia Tech in the bowl game.

That was the appetizer, leading up to the deliciously satisfying main course in 2019.
 

RememberMurray said:
Yes. The way I recall it,
— Rossi replaced Smith
— Morgan replaced Annexstad
— Faalele was inserted into the lineup
— Mo took over for the injured Smith and Brooks and started getting lots of carries.
...not necessarily in that order, but those were the key changes.

The result of all that: we finished the season really strong, crushing the Badgers in Madison to earn a bowl spot and then throttling Georgia Tech in the bowl game.

That was the appetizer, leading up to the deliciously satisfying main course in 2019.
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I was so encouraged by the way we finished in 2018 that I actually went to a bowl game in Detroit and had a great time. Made me very optimistic for 2019.
 

Dakota2 said:
There were a few times this year where Morgan needed a break. Ferentz is a pretty good coach and he switched QBs a few times. He called it right against the Gophers.
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One of the things the Iowa fans on Rivals are always complaining about is the blind loyalty Ferentz has to his often underperforming QBs.

Once KF picks a QB he rarely changes course. Padilla started to get playing time because Petras had physical issue that were not allowing him to throw the ball effectively. (worse than usual)

It was true that KF did stick with Padilla vs us, which was pretty unusual, but who knows if Petras was feeling much better then.

For some reason Iowa has not had QBs like Brad Banks, or Drew Tate very often, guys that can move around and have some speed. Ricky Stanzi was the last one recall who had a little extra that put their offense up a level. Even the ones like Petras and Nate Stanley with allegedly strong arms are lead footed.
 

ZA is transferring to Augsburg to star in their new spread attack offense. He will also play LB on defense.
 
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You guys need to listen to more podcasts instead of getting all your information from gopherhole. Doogie just had an interview with ZA the other day. ZA loves the gophers and all things gophers. He just wants his shot at the next level and believes having the chance to play 2 years in a system will give him a better chance than just 1 season.
 

RememberMurray said:
Ferentz is, indeed, a pretty good coach. I think Fleck is a pretty good coach too... although we have a few budding 'cyber-coaches' here on GopherHole who might disagree with me on that.

Personally, I trust the current Gopher staff to make the best choice on who atarts at QB, and who plays 'QB-in-waiting'.
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And still, Mr. Cyber-coach genius, Fleck did not trust his OC -- who undoubtedly had some say or at least opinions on QB play -- enough to retain him another year.
 

paulser21 said:
You guys need to listen to more podcasts instead of getting all your information from gopherhole. Doogie just had an interview with ZA the other day. ZA loves the gophers and all things gophers. He just wants his shot at the next level and believes having the chance to play 2 years in a system will give him a better chance than just 1 season.
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and he cannot do that at Augsburg?
 

oak_street1981 said:
One of the things the Iowa fans on Rivals are always complaining about is the blind loyalty Ferentz has to his often underperforming QBs.

Once KF picks a QB he rarely changes course. Padilla started to get playing time because Petras had physical issue that were not allowing him to throw the ball effectively. (worse than usual)

It was true that KF did stick with Padilla vs us, which was pretty unusual, but who knows if Petras was feeling much better then.

For some reason Iowa has not had QBs like Brad Banks, or Drew Tate very often, guys that can move around and have some speed. Ricky Stanzi was the last one recall who had a little extra that put their offense up a level. Even the ones like Petras and Nate Stanley with allegedly strong arms are lead footed.
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For the Michigan game at Indy Ferentz re-inserted Petras as starter. By the second half he had jerked him for Padilla. Petras wasn't hurt.
 

Dakota2 said:
For the Michigan game at Indy Ferentz re-inserted Petras as starter. By the second half he had jerked him for Padilla. Petras wasn't hurt.
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How'd that work out? Didn't matter at that point.
 

paulser21 said:
You guys need to listen to more podcasts instead of getting all your information from gopherhole. Doogie just had an interview with ZA the other day. ZA loves the gophers and all things gophers. He just wants his shot at the next level and believes having the chance to play 2 years in a system will give him a better chance than just 1 season.
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Do we though? We just learned that information from Gopherhole!
 




oak_street1981 said:
For some reason Iowa has not had QBs like Brad Banks, or Drew Tate very often, guys that can move around and have some speed. Ricky Stanzi was the last one recall who had a little extra that put their offense up a level. Even the ones like Petras and Nate Stanley with allegedly strong arms are lead footed.
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Stanley appeared strangely fleet of foot when his blockers were allowed to mug MN linemen and linebackers on key third downs.
 

This seemed obvious. Kid should get a chance to play…somewhere. I wish the best to Zack.
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
With how poorly Tanner played in some games and PJ stuck with Tanner (despite basically shutting down the passing game) I think has more to do with how much PJ loves Tanner rather than putting someone even slightly better.

Tanner is like a son to PJ. My guess is, if PJ sticks around for the next 4 years. We’ll see him pull a striggling QB not named Tanner
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PJ had quite the bromance with Zach, when Zach was QB1
Must be what he does.
Good luck to him. Hope he does great where ever he lands.
 
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