Changes coming to the offense

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I like it. Just in time for lipscomb next year and ofcourse this bowl game.
 

I like it, it seems out staff saw how our offense crawled after the Web to Decks ticket expired when decks got hurt.

I think a lot of our fans will come together with this offensive change!

Props to the coaches for bringing Tim Davis in!
 

I don't get it really . . . you can run the ball very effectively out of the spread when you have the correct players running the spread. You need Wr's that scare DB's and safety's, you need a QB who can really run, an O line that is athletic and a running back that knows how to find cut back lanes. I do not blame the poor running game on the philosophy I blame it on the lack of spread talent. Brew is recruiting spread type guys like Gray it will just take time.

Now the only reason I can think of that he wants to show power run is that there are a lot of big time O-line recruits that Brew desperately needs to land, and maybe showing them that there will be more power O running will help him land a few of these guys. All O-line men love pounding on guys at least the BIG good ones do. This might be a recruiting tactic more than anything. Let's hope it works.

So if Dunbar calls a pass then he calls which pass play they will run . . . and if he calls a run then Brew and the new guy call the running play? I don't know if I like that idea, seems like to many people involved. or am I missing something?
 

Gopher4life, I agree with what you are saying. It seems strange to me that we bring in a complex system that takes years to learn and recruit and develop the right personnel. Then when we just start to get the basics down we are going to abandon it and go back to a power running game.

In addition, it will be more difficult to disguise our playcalling between runs and passes if we are going to have completely different personnel and sets in there for each running versus passing play. That defeats the purpose of the spread.

Dunbar left Cal for this exact reason. He did not have as much control over the offense as he would have liked. I would not be surprised if he takes the first new opportunity that comes his way. I just hope we don’t end up with some sort of mix and match offense that has no clear identity and leaves us with nothing that we are really good at doing and bunch of stuff that we are mediocre at doing instead. There is only so much time the team has to practice and learn different offensive systems.

With that said, I definitely was not a fan of Meyer to begin with and think that Tim Davis will be a huge upgrade. Meyer was the one guy on the staff who had no Div I experience, only Div III. I just don’t think he knew how to prepare this talented of players to compete at this level. Tim Davis should also be able to recruit in Wisconsin from his time at UW, which Meyer was supposed to do for us.

Also, I hate the upright blocking stance to go with the stay between D-lineman and QB mentality instead of attacking the D-linemen. Wynn, in particular, ends up backing up 5 yards every play before he even touches the defensive end. By then the Defensive End has so much momentum that Wynn can't do much to protect Weber. The other thing that chaps my hide, is the running play that we always run from the shotgun where our back cuts accross the front of Weber to get the ball and has to run to the opposite side of the line. It takes way too long to develop, everyone we play expects it, and it never gives us a significant gain. Both of those are just bad coaching and areas Davis needs to change.

I really wish Davis the best and hope he is able to toughen us up a lot.
 


yay! no more (or at least way fewer) sideline passes on 3rd and 1!!

i think brewster realized that it is pretty ridiculous to NEVER line up under center on 3rd and short. look at a spread team like florida. they spread it out as much as anyone, but they still line up in a power I and pound the ball in short yardage situations. while obviously tebow is a beast and their o-line is better, weber is a big boy and runs downhill just fine. why did dunbar never put weber under center and have him fall down for a yard? watching the gophers line up in a shotgun formation on 3rd and 1 and then throw the ball 15 yards to the sideline or run that ridiculous WR end around got pretty old. those plays may work once in a while, but come on. i like dunbar's offense just fine, but i think it definitely needed less pizazz and more punch. a guy whose first comments about the new job focus on kicking ass sounds like a good candidate to me.
 

DCGopher said:
Gopher4life, I agree with what you are saying. It seems strange to me that we bring in a complex system that takes years to learn and recruit and develop the right personnel. Then when we just start to get the basics down we are going to abandon it and go back to a power running game.

In addition, it will be more difficult to disguise our playcalling between runs and passes if we are going to have completely different personnel and sets in there for each running versus passing play. That defeats the purpose of the spread.
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I don't think we're abandoning anything. I think Brew is doing what most on this board have been begging for by adding some power run aspects and under center aspects to the O game plan. If we get into power run formations ONLY when we intend to run and ONLY in specific situations, then yes, it will be tough to disguise our plans. We could still be successful even though everyone and their blind grandma knows what we're up to but that would require exceptional execution at all times.

But what I hope and suspect will be the plan is to add more options/looks from power oriented formations. Mix in some play action and you've got a style of ball you can go to anytime. Also, with athletic tight ends you can start in a power formation and motion into more of a spread look. Football is never all or nothing with your style (unless the coach or OC want to be that way).

I also don't think that changing the mentality of the line or their technique means we can't be a spread team. Getting off the ball and knocking a DL on his butt is a good option whether you are 5 wide or I formation.

My only (and biggest concern) is the idea of Dunbar only being in charge of the pass. Makes me think of the Vikings triangle of authority...too many spoons stirring the pot.
 

There's room for every idea and every coach if egos don't get in the way.

I've never liked the spread that much, but you can run out of that system. Tiller has had a number of good RBs at Purdue and Marshawn Lynch was no slouch at Cal. Northwestern also had a fairly solid set of runners when Dunbar was there.

The spread just doesn't seem to be a "power at the point-of-attack" kind of offense and with the team moving outdoors and playing outside in November, we may need more of that. There needs to be different looks and as long as each look doesn't telegraph a play, I think this is the way to go.

Florida and Ohio State are good models. Meyer is as big a spread advocate as anyone, but as GoBigGoph said, they line it up in a power set from time-to-time with excellent results. Ohio State used to be solely smash-mouth, but they are changing it up with Pryor. It all boils down to multiple sets and multiple options off each set. We are only two years into Dunbar's system, so tossing it all out may seem a bit premature as he doesn't have a whole recruiting generation of his players, but from what I have seen thus far, his version of the spread seems really predictable.

Picking up on what GoBigGoph said, I'm an old guy who actually remembers the living-and-breathing version of Vince Lombardi. Amongst his many quotes, the one I have liked most over the years is this one: "Some people try to find things in this game that don't exist but football is only two things - blocking and tackling." This team needs more punch to go with the pizzazz.
 

Dunbar's Sara Spread in its entirety is past history at Minnesota. Good. When you are undermanded as we are, there needs to be a focus on attempting to keep the opposition off balance and prepare for various looks.

Whoever we play in the bowl game won't have a clue what we will look like on offense or who they will line up against. The best teams in the Big Ten run the ball on the average 60%. I would like to see us be one of them.
 



I think the running game should be pretty good next year, as we'll have an older line, with a new piece that should work out well, new coaching, and three experienced backs and two/three new guys (including Whaley) who could also make an impact.
 

Love the hire but improvement will come anyway.

I like the hire nice to find a guy willing to come to the Gophers with his track record. That being said I am expecting a better year next year no matter who is coaching the line. A year of experience is huge for players especially ones still growing into their bodies. Lets also remember the experience of our RBs this year after Bennett was injured we were using true freshman to run what can be a complicated offense. Combine all that together and you can see problems next year should be much improved.

I would hope the new coach along the line can get to the keeping it simple stage. We are relying on young players at this point let them play without filling their heads with so much junk. The easier the game is to play the better talent will show through.
 

i don't think that going under center more will change anything for the worst. first of all, i saw penn state go under center quite a bit, and they are redefining the spread.

also, i dont think that it takes away the advantage of surprise, run equal amount of run and pass plays from under center, and it will open up the play action, which is just horrible when the QB is in the shotgun.
 

While I think Davis is a great pick up, I'm a little concerned that we added a fair amount of uncertainty in the OC spot. That can't be good for recruiting.

reading between the lines, it would seem Dunbar is not on board with this and his contract is up at the end of next year. Not that if he bolts we won't find a decent replacement, but the uncertainty in the mean time might hurt us.
 




I am tired of hearing about Gordy Shaw. If Shaw was such a great coach, he would be at a major college right now, not in South Dakota.

This offense has been pretty bad for two years now and some changes need to be made. I am glad Brewster realizes this and is trying to correct the problem. I have said over and over we need to try some 2 back sets and put Weber under center, especially on third and short situations. We have kids like Tate or Hoese who would do a great job as a FB in my opinion and they would help pick up these third and shorts. I can not stand watching this offense try to pick up third downs from less than 2 yards by throwing to the sideline because there is no way they will be able to run for it.

I think we need more depth and we need to get bigger and stronger, but I think we probably need better blocking schemes, too.

But maybe most of all, we have got to stop being so stupid and taking all these penalties. These false start penalties can be corrected and you don't see a well coached team committing so many stupid penalties.

Looking forward to the Motor City Bowl already...........
 

Brewster isn't abandoning anything. He is simply doing what any wise person would do: making adjustments to improve upon the current system. He is continuing the pass, while stocking up on the run -- making sure to have two solid dimensions, not just one.
 

gold rush,

Gordie Shaw has very personal reasons to stay within a reasonable drive of the Twin Cities. If he wanted to move, he'd have DI job in a second.
 

Remember, the last time a system revision was put in for a bowl game was for the 2002 Music City Bowl.

The new defense whipped Arkansas. Maybe the new offensive wrinkle can do the same to Ball St. (or Buffalo, or Kansas, or Nebraska)
 

Should make things interesting...so who is going to play fullback though? I know they touted Small, but isn't that more just a goal line or third and short type thing? I would think it would be tough for him to play fullback all the time if we are going to be using one a lot. Hopefully we run a offense similar to PSU. I am curious to see how this shared play calling works out though, I have not heard of this kind of thing before so I don't really know what to expect. Anyone know of any past examples of situations like this one?
 

Interesting in that several folks on this board speak of how intricate and hard to learn this offense
is and yet Coach Brewster told the people at one of his luncheons this fall that this spread of-
fense is not that difficult to learn. He was very emphatic on that day in response to a question
from the audience which addressed whether or not the players were having a problem
picking up the finer points of the offense. He doesn't want to hear that it's too tough to learn.
Eric Decker and one other player, I can't remember who it was, actually put on demo on how the
the "reads" work. Very interesting.
 

GoBigGoph said:
i think brewster realized that it is pretty ridiculous to NEVER line up under center on 3rd and short. look at a spread team like florida. they spread it out as much as anyone, but they still line up in a power I and pound the ball in short yardage situations. while obviously tebow is a beast and their o-line is better, weber is a big boy and runs downhill just fine. why did dunbar never put weber under center and have him fall down for a yard? watching the gophers line up in a shotgun formation on 3rd and 1 and then throw the ball 15 yards to the sideline or run that ridiculous WR end around got pretty old. those plays may work once in a while, but come on. i like dunbar's offense just fine, but i think it definitely needed less pizazz and more punch. a guy whose first comments about the new job focus on kicking ass sounds like a good candidate to me.
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Here Here to that!
 

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