Fleck: "I know we didn't throw the ball particularly a lot this year. I'm very aware of that.”

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Minnesota averaged 8.2 yards per passing attempt and 4.3 yards per rushing attempt. Running a more balanced offense would have made this team better.

I understand why that wasn't apparent to the coaching staff in-season, because the play calling was atrocious and led to that imbalance. Morgan had awful games because he was repeatedly asked to do things that were not aligned with his skills, so we didn't pass on first down because Morgan wasn't 'on' when in reality he was obviously uncomfortable.

Moreover, the play calling was stuck in the stone ages. Good modern offenses pass on 66% of first downs. They run on 66% of third downs in four down territory. They only call deep, low percentage plays on third down once or twice per season, just to keep other coaches on their toes, and certainly not in game-deciding situations.

I don't know the numbers for the Gophers on first down this year but they were pretty clearly taking the opposite of the 'money ball' approach. They made bad decisions and underperformed their talent because of it.

Sanford was a bad hire. PJ should have made the change immediately after the BGSU game, and it baffles me that he decided to wait.

Minnesota will still be run heavy under KC, but at least the play calls will be aligned with Tanner's strengths and put the offense in a position to succeed.
 
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short ornery norwegian said:
I think a lot of this gets back to the biggest question for 2022:

the offensive line.

conventional wisdom says that O line play is all about cohesion. The Gophers will have four new starters on the O-Line next year, and lose the blocking of Kieft at TE. We can debate the individual talent level of each new starter, but to me, it seems logical that no matter how talented, it will take time for the new line to mesh with each other and become a cohesive unit.

Stating the obvious - if the O-Line can't run block, it's hard to run. If the O-Line can't pass block, it's hard to pass.

So - for all the talk of Kirk C. coming back, I submit that the most important coach on the team next year is O-Line Coach Callahan.
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Knowing we were going to lose most of the starting O line after this past season, O-line Coach Callahan has been the most important coach the last two seasons. He has been preparing the replacements.
 

highwayman said:
Interesting. Must not work.
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More interesting, it does work. Offensive predictability cost us two wins against inferior teams. It also allowed some inferior teams to play us closer than talent would indicate.
 

DCinOK said:
All I can say is Spann-Ford has been criminally underutilized. I think he's a beast catching passes and his talent has been wasted.
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You can say Spann-Ford could have been used more. I think so too. But one thing Sanford should get credit for this past season is getting the TE into the offense.

Spann-Ford was our third leading receiver with 23 catches. Jackson was second with 25. CAB led with an underwhelming 36 catches.
 


SonjayLarrick said:
So a perspective different than yours is a wrong perspective?
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Where in his post did he even insinuate that your perspective was wrong? I've reread it 3 times now and haven't found a single verse where he implied you were wrong.
 

SixBySix said:
I wonder what the ratio looks like if you take out 4th quarter drives when we were ahead. Those long, win-finishing drives add a lot of extra runs to the final tally.
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It’s more the 8-consecutive run drives before kicking a field goal at the end of the half in the most important game of the year that has me concerned.
 

hello-world said:
Good modern offenses pass on 66% of first downs. They run on 66% of third downs in four down territory. They only call deep, low percentage plays on third down once or twice per season, just to keep other coaches on their toes, and certainly not in game-deciding situations.
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Wow. Those are amazing stats. Where did you get them? It's always good to provide a source, and a link or two, for corroboration.

66%! Only one or two deep passes on third down per season!

Who knew?
 

Speaking of passing, there was a situation in the first quarter, I think on UM's first possession, where we had a 2nd and 1 about our own 40. To me THAT would be a perfect deep pass situation. Is my thinking too boomeresque to understand the choice to dive for the first down instead?
 




highwayman said:
Interesting. Must not work.
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Seems to work just fine, depending on what you're aiming for.

The coaching staff is keenly aware that a one-dimensional offense is not enough to compete with the elite, upper-tier programs on a consistent basis. An RPO-based offense with a QB who can't run and that can't play from behind just has inherent limitations.
 

hello-world said:
Minnesota averaged 8.2 yards per passing attempt and 4.3 yards per rushing attempt. Running a more balanced offense would have made this team better.

I understand why that wasn't apparent to the coaching staff in-season, because the play calling was atrocious and led to that imbalance. Morgan had awful games because he was repeatedly asked to do things that were not aligned with his skills, so we didn't pass on first down because Morgan wasn't 'on' when in reality he was obviously uncomfortable.

Moreover, the play calling was stuck in the stone ages. Good modern offenses pass on 66% of first downs. They run on 66% of third downs in four down territory. They only call deep, low percentage plays on third down once or twice per season, just to keep other coaches on their toes, and certainly not in game-deciding situations.

I don't know the numbers for the Gophers on first down this year but they were pretty clearly taking the opposite of the 'money ball' approach. They made bad decisions and underperformed their talent because of it.

Sanford was a bad hire. PJ should have made the change immediately after the BGSU game, and it baffles me that he decided to wait.

Minnesota will still be run heavy under KC, but at least the play calls will be aligned with Tanner's strengths and put the offense in a position to succeed.
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Do rushing attempts include sacks? If so, that hurts the AYPC. Also, most short-yardage situations call for a run also hurting that average. Another thing to consider in the comparison is the ratio of turnovers per pass v rush. And what is the average yards per return of a fumble or interception. Both runs and passes work best when the defense expects the opposite -- they work well when the D isn't sure -- and work worst when the D guesses right. Using each type of play helps you succeed with the other.
 

The prez sez said:
Of all the bowl games so far, Oklahoma is showing the most diverse offense. They get the ball to playmakers in space. That's something I would like to see from gophers.
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In fairness, Oklahoma has the #1 ranked HS QB (Caleb Williams) as their starting QB. Their last 3 QB's were Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Spencer Rattler, and now Caleb Williams. The Gophers do need more play makers.
 



DarthGopher said:
Where in his post did he even insinuate that your perspective was wrong? I've reread it 3 times now and haven't found a single verse where he implied you were wrong.
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I never said he said my perspective was wrong. He claims to feel he understands everyone's perspective and then lists them. Which seems to be his perspective on others' perspectives. Which isn't really the same thing at all.
 



FanSinceTheFifties said:
Do rushing attempts include sacks? If so, that hurts the AYPC. Also, most short-yardage situations call for a run also hurting that average. Another thing to consider in the comparison is the ratio of turnovers per pass v rush. And what is the average yards per return of a fumble or interception. Both runs and passes work best when the defense expects the opposite -- they work well when the D isn't sure -- and work worst when the D guesses right. Using each type of play helps you succeed with the other.
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Yes. Hello-world's premise — which seems to be that passing is better than running, because yards per attempt is higher in passing than in rushing — is pretty shaky.

Most teams have substantially higher yards per attempt in passing when compared to yards per attempt rushing. It's the nature of the beast.

For example, take Michigan:
5.3 yards per attempt rushing, 8.3 yards per attempt passing. Yet Michigan had 359 passing attempts, 548 rushing attempts. Michigan loves to run the ball. And, last time I checked, the Wolverines won the B1G and are playing Georgia in a playoff game tomorrow night.
 

The sky was blue for most of the games as well, sometimes gray
 

gopher7 said:
View attachment 16237
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I have a question:

How did the Gopher pass protection look that day? Judging by the above numbers, when the Gophers chose to throw the ball the results were not too good. In fact, they were disastrous.

On the other hand, Minnesota did rush for 182 yards that day. Not too shabby.

So: would more passing (which was not going well), and less running (which was actually fairly successful) really have been a smarter approach?
 

RememberMurray said:
I have a question:

How did the Gopher pass protection look that day? Judging by the above numbers, when the Gophers chose to throw the ball the results were not too good. In fact, they were disastrous.

On the other hand, Minnesota did rush for 182 yards that day. Not too shabby.

So: would more passing (which was not going well), and less running (which was actually fairly successful) really have been a smarter approach?
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Would having the ability to pass more effectively perhaps been a way to turn giving up 14 points to Bowling Fucking Green into a win, instead of a horrible loss?
 


USAF said:
Would having the ability to pass more effectively perhaps been a way to turn giving up 14 points to Bowling Fucking Green into a win, instead of a horrible loss?
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Having the ability to pass better than they did on that particular day would have been awesome. Can you suddenly, somehow increase your ability to pass more effectively, in the middle of a game?

If that's a thing they could have done, they should have done it.

The grind the clock, run it down the opponents' throats offense was quite effective for most of the season. It was ineffective against Bowling Green and Illinois.
 

FanSinceTheFifties said:
Do rushing attempts include sacks? If so, that hurts the AYPC. Also, most short-yardage situations call for a run also hurting that average. Another thing to consider in the comparison is the ratio of turnovers per pass v rush. And what is the average yards per return of a fumble or interception. Both runs and passes work best when the defense expects the opposite -- they work well when the D isn't sure -- and work worst when the D guesses right. Using each type of play helps you succeed with the other.
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Rushing attempts and total yardage include sacks.
 


RememberMurray said:
Having the ability to pass better than they did on that particular day would have been awesome. Can you suddenly, somehow increase your ability to pass more effectively, in the middle of a game?

If that's a thing they could have done, they should have done it.

The grind the clock, run it down the opponents' throats offense was quite effective for most of the season. It was ineffective against Bowling Green and Illinois.
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Your argument is with the Head Coach. He just made it clear that he is not satisfied with a 70/30 run/pass ratio that contributed heavily to two losses from inferior teams. He disliked it so much he fired his OC/ QB coach.

It is comforting to know the HC is smarter than the Average Murr Keyboard Genius.
 

Dakota2 said:
Your argument is with the Head Coach. He just made it clear that he is not satisfied with a 70/30 run/pass ratio that contributed heavily to two losses from inferior teams. He disliked it so much he fired his OC/ QB coach.

It is comforting to know the HC is smarter than the Average Murr Keyboard Genius.
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Yeah, except I'm not arguing with the head coach. Not even close.

The passing game needed to be improved; there's no question. He is addressing that, as he should.

That's not the same thing as saying we're going to scrap our run-oriented, eat the clock, control the ball approach. He (Fleck) has never said he's going to do so.
 





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