Chip Scoggins: Leidner's passing game remains a concern for Gophers

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BleedGopher

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per Chip:

It was the season opener and Leidner’s first game as the unquestioned starter. The Eastern Illinois game represented his first true moment in the quarterback spotlight. We bought the premise that he was overly excited and felt like he had something to prove.

But now? The concern level jumped a few notches on a postcard Saturday afternoon at TCF Bank Stadium.

Leidner left the game after a defender crashed into his knee and was scheduled to have an MRI, according to Coach Jerry Kill, who expressed concern about his quarterback’s status. The Gophers might be forced to start redshirt freshman Chris Streveler on the road against TCU next week.

Even if Leidner’s injury is not deemed serious, concerns about the passing game linger like a smudge mark. An area of emphasis before the season, the Gophers passing game has been virtually nonexistent in a pair of victories against weaker opponents.

Progress is hard to find.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/274239091.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue

Go Gophers!!
 

100th in the nation passing. kid was never a D1 qb. oh well.
 

We should run 5 or 6 or 7 bubble type plays and 3 or 4 or 5 screens to the backs a game. I don't get our play calling at all when it comes to the passing game there are ways to get production out of it and potentially get the kinks out on some easy throws to some of our best weapons.
 

Judd Zulgad: Even before Leidner's injury, concerns about QB existed

There is another interesting part of this equation, too, when it comes to Leidner. If he's able to play with a banged up knee, one would assume that much of his mobility has been lost.

This is important considering that he had five carries for 32 yards on Saturday, placing him second on the Gophers in rushing. This came after he had seven carries against Eastern Illinois. Smart or not, Leidner never has seemed to fear using his 6-foot-4, 237-pound frame to batter defenders.

Now, that option might be lost. Leidner could be forced to sit in the pocket next week, or Streveler might be asked to run the offense in only the third collegiate game in which he has been active.

Either scenario is far from ideal, but the Gophers' quarterback situation as a whole isn't anything near ideal these days.

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/...inders_injury_concerns_about_QB_existed090614

Go Gophers!!
 

Like I said before...Leidner was never a B1G qb, or an FBS qb...not even a FCS qb. I'd be hard pressed to see him start on a lot of DII teams.

He was recruited to MN as a tight-end. Switched to qb because he practiced well there...and not to sound like Allen Iverson...but 'practice
ain't games'. Games matter and you gotta have it or you don't. These two past games were his chance to prove us he's a B1G qb...he's not.

Someone mentioned recruit a JC qb, great idea. But we have to start talking about the option of Streveler...perhaps it'll push ML more.
Since the start of the season, we said he's the guy he's the guy he's the guy. Unquestioned #1...time to start questioning him.
 


Indi1006 said:
We should run 5 or 6 or 7 bubble type plays and 3 or 4 or 5 screens to the backs a game. I don't get our play calling at all when it comes to the passing game there are ways to get production out of it and potentially get the kinks out on some easy throws to some of our best weapons.
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It might have something to do with the staff wanting to keep things vanilla the first two games. I would expect some screens and misdirection plays next week against TCU and maybe that will get things going a bit.
 

jaymil said:
It might have something to do with the staff wanting to keep things vanilla the first two games. I would expect some screens and misdirection plays next week against TCU and maybe that will get things going a bit.
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I certainly hope so. We don't have a QB that can throw down the field, but that doesn't mean we have to resort to strictly handoffs and end arounds. We can have a successful offense without throwing the ball 20 yards down the field. But I wish we'd practice it in game situations. I don't think the benefit of keeping it tucked away outweighs the benefit gained from in game practice.
 

We have royally effed up our qb management over the past few years.
 




We're only 2 games in, although I'm not overly impressed so far, I'm not ready to throw the towel in on him yet either. When's the last time the Gophers has a good QB anyways?
 

You can always tell the guys who haven't watched a lot of young qbs struggle. It's not just a gopher problem or a zebrowski problem. Leidner's number are no worse than Nelson a year ago and he's had fewer opportunities. He's not seeing the field because he's a young QB. If he doesn't show signs of improvement I'll be really disappointed.

Get back to what works; work in Maxx, Wolitarsky. We're going to need to pass more come Big Ten season unless our run defense stiffens up.

We ran 80% of the time today because we could. Mentioning low yardage as some type of barometer is pretty silly.
 

mkAz said:
We're only 2 games in, although I'm not overly impressed so far, I'm not ready to throw the towel in on him yet either. When's the last time the Gophers has a good QB anyways?
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**Cough**Adam**Cough**Webber**Cough**Cough**
 

Studwell55 said:
We have royally effed up our qb management over the past few years.
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So should the coaches have named Shortell the starter or Nelson? Seems they both ran from competition.
 



you got that right. 2 qbs left cuz they felt they got benched by someone less skilled. Mitch is the mule with a spinnin wheel.. no one knows how he got it and dang if e knows how to use it.-lyle lanley
 

Or, maybe we could recruit a kid who can play catch.
 

Max left because he saw the writing on the wall. He was a pocket QB in a spread offense. Nelson was recruited to play in the spread, and that's what he excelled at. Then we decide to switch up the formula and go to a (mostly) power running attack. Go figure. Nelson transfers because he wants to chuck the pigskin some more. Not what I would have done but can't necessarily blame the kid. And now we have a QB who's limited in his passing ability but is a pretty solid runner, but it's obvious the coaches want to limit his rushes to keep him healthy.

Huh?
 

I am concerned, but not surprised that the passing game has been a mess. I can see the calls for "easier" passes, but MTSU played a lot of single high safety looks (an even that safety wasn't that high) and in those situations, you have to be able to make a team pay deep down the field. Leidner under threw the deep ball again today and that can't continue to happen.
 

Stupid question: why don't we throw the ball to Max more?

I'm not saying we need to throw it to him 12 times a game.

But 7-8 should be the bare minimum.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
You can always tell the guys who haven't watched a lot of young qbs struggle. It's not just a gopher problem or a zebrowski problem. Leidner's number are no worse than Nelson a year ago and he's had fewer opportunities. He's not seeing the field because he's a young QB. If he doesn't show signs of improvement I'll be really disappointed.

Get back to what works; work in Maxx, Wolitarsky. We're going to need to pass more come Big Ten season unless our run defense stiffens up.

We ran 80% of the time today because we could. Mentioning low yardage as some type of barometer is pretty silly.
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Leidner has been on campus nearly three years he's not young. Seriously, a RS soph is not a young pup. There are third year QBs all over the country lighting it up right now.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
You can always tell the guys who haven't watched a lot of young qbs struggle. It's not just a gopher problem or a zebrowski problem. Leidner's number are no worse than Nelson a year ago and he's had fewer opportunities. He's not seeing the field because he's a young QB. If he doesn't show signs of improvement I'll be really disappointed.

Get back to what works; work in Maxx, Wolitarsky. We're going to need to pass more come Big Ten season unless our run defense stiffens up.

We ran 80% of the time today because we could. Mentioning low yardage as some type of barometer is pretty silly.
Click to expand...
+1
I thought Leidner actually played better today than last week and had a pretty decent 1st half aside from the interception. Like Kill mentioned in the post game comments Middle Tennessee really seemed to play the pass on defense which gave the Gophers a lot of room to run and when a team is giving that to you you take it. I don't care how many yards our QB throws for when we can run for 295.
 

My point is we don't really have a large enough sample size to draw definitive conclusions. He's still developing. Has he been great? No. He's had some really awful decisions and missed opportunities.

We run a ridiculous proportion of the time. 50 runs out of 61 plays is almost absurd.

Lets see how he does when he gets a chance to get into a rhythm.
 

It really doesn't matter who plays quarterback. Limegrover knows exactly what calls Coach Kill wants him to run, and believe me, Coach Kill wants Coach Limegrover to call running plays.

There is no point trying to instruct Leider not to run. A coach can not "protect" a quarterback. Today Leidner got hurt trying to pass the ball. Maybe if he would have been trying to run the ball he wouldn't have gotten hurt? At any rate, Coach Kill will have to go with a quarterback who is healthy enough to play in Ft. Worth, TX next Saturday. That may...or...may not be Leidner. The show MUST go on. Hence: it really doesn't matter who plays quarterback. It's probably going to have to be one who is not injured so much that he can't play.

Quarterbacks: "...man up..." Be ready to go IF the coach calls your number!
 

Studwell55 said:
Stupid question: why don't we throw the ball to Max more?

I'm not saying we need to throw it to him 12 times a game.

But 7-8 should be the bare minimum.
Click to expand...

Limegrover addressed this some post game saying teams will do things to take Maxx away because they know how big a weapon he is, but I agree it would be nice to see him getting 5 catches a game instead of the 1-2 he seems to get most games. Always seems like good things happen when they do get the ball to him but it doesn't happen often enough. Which honestly I still have a hard time understanding because if you have a young QB and a passing game that is struggling the presence of a really good TE would seem like an obvious safety blanket.
 

Indi1006 said:
Leidner has been on campus nearly three years he's not young. Seriously, a RS soph is not a young pup. There are third year QBs all over the country lighting it up right now.
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Yep. I remember when it felt like every team had a better punter. Now it feels like that at the qb position. Prob is that we've played MTSU and E IL
 

MNVCGUY said:
Limegrover addressed this some post game saying teams will do things to take Maxx away because they know how big a weapon he is, but I agree it would be nice to see him getting 5 catches a game instead of the 1-2 he seems to get most games. Always seems like good things happen when they do get the ball to him but it doesn't happen often enough. Which honestly I still have a hard time understanding because if you have a young QB and a passing game that is struggling the presence of a really good TE would seem like an obvious safety blanket.
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I hear Lime and he's full of it. There are star receivers and TE all over the country catching a lot of balls even with extra attention from defenses.
 

Who is our backup this week if #7 is out? I have no idea who our 3 is.
 

Studwell55 said:
Stupid question: why don't we throw the ball to Max more?

I'm not saying we need to throw it to him 12 times a game.

But 7-8 should be the bare minimum.
Click to expand...

When you only throw the ball 10-12 times a game it is really tough to get a guy 7 catches. Especially when even great qbs can't can't always go 7-10.
 

I am disappointed in the number of pass attempts more than anything. I thought we learned from last year. Yet, through 2 games we have the same number of pays from scrimmage (119), yet have run 9 FEWER passes in 2014. I especially don't understand why CS5 didn't have a single attempt yesterday - and he may start against TCU.

Sent from my MZ617 using Tapatalk
 


imthewalrus;930509There is no point trying to instruct Leider not to run. A coach can not "protect" a quarterback. [/QUOTE said:
Yep. Leidner is a running QB who can be dangerous throwing because of that. Take away his running threat and what do you have?
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