Gophers discover that throwing downfield has been counterproductive

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Greder:

P.J. Fleck said Halloween 2021 included trick-or-treaters and their parents asking him to throw the ball more. Given the current circumstances, the Gophers football coach might have gotten more the same on Monday.

Through seven games, Minnesota has run the ball on 65 percent of offensive plays, down from 70 percent across 13 games last year. The trend is particularly accute when it comes to deep throws — passes of 20 or more yards. Pro Football Focus College said Minnesota attempted only one pass play of over 20 yards in the Gophers’ 31-0 win over Rutgers on Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium.

That meant quarterback Tanner Morgan attempted passes into short and intermediate areas.

“You have to know what it takes to win games,” Fleck said Monday. “We have thrown the ball vertically, and that’s where we have thrown some of our interceptions the last few games.”

www.yahoo.com

Gophers discover that throwing downfield has been counterproductive

P.J. Fleck said Halloween 2021 included trick-or-treaters and their parents asking him to throw the ball more. Given the current circumstances, the Gophers football coach might have gotten more the same on Monday. Through seven games, Minnesota has run the ball on 65 percent of offensive plays...
www.yahoo.com www.yahoo.com

Go Gophers!!
 



the run game opens up the vertical pass game and allows teams to take shots down field, its basic football , Its probably more of a personnel issue having a QB whose not a great deepball thrower and WRs who are pretty average
 




cheeseheadgophfan said:
Do they have a WR on the roster that can get deep? Lots of possession guys, but that seems to be what we are lacking. I'd like to see them try at least one go route per game to Wright.....just give him a shot at it.
Click to expand...

Maybe they're already trying this and we don't see it because the ball doesn't go his way. Wright does need to improve at the bread-n-butter crossing route over the middle in traffic (several incompletions), but he's made some amazing plays along the sidelines and some 50/50 balls. I have more confidence in him going up for a deep 50/50 ball than any other Gopher receiver, but that rarely happens.
 

Deep passes require the WRs to either separate significantly from coverage or to win a contested catch downfield.

Our current group hasn’t shown the ability to do either on a consistent basis.
 

For some reason this is hard to understand by some on here, but what people are really asking is whether it is possible to run the ball over and over to beat the Rutgers of the world and then just turn on the passing game when we face a team that we can't beat by running the ball 80% of the time?
 



Personnel issue. Need better receivers. While both Morgan and the OL could be better, WR is the biggest issue by far.
 

WoodburyTim said:
For some reason this is hard to understand by some on here, but what people are really asking is whether it is possible to run the ball over and over to beat the Rutgers of the world and then just turn on the passing game when we face a team that we can't beat by running the ball 80% of the time?
Click to expand...

Gophs actually had a 61%/39% run/pass mix through two possessions into the 3rd quarter (counting Tanner's 3 scrambles as attempted pass plays because they were). I think all the runs to finish the game and shorter throws might be skewing perceptions of the game.
 

mngolf said:
Personnel issue. Need better receivers. While both Morgan and the OL could be better, WR is the biggest issue by far.
Click to expand...
The last two deep receptions were thrown by Kaliakmanis at Penn St. One to Brockington and one to MBS.
 




Just wait till next year when they come out for the season opener running the Wishbone.

or maybe the Single Wing.

(I actually covered a team in Iowa HS FB that ran the old single wing. a direct snap to one of the backs, who would spin and hand the ball off, or fake a handoff and keep it. the thing is - they ran the offense so fast that even with binoculars, I could not tell who had the ball about half the time. It was fun to watch.)
 

mngolf said:
Personnel issue. Need better receivers. While both Morgan and the OL could be better, WR is the biggest issue by far.
Click to expand...
I essentially agree. We need receivers with certain skill sets. Right now It appears to me that we are lacking in receivers that are big and strong enough to be true boundary receivers (Save Wright). Can the staff create enough plays to create space without overhauling the O to help the current personnel? Can the staff come up with enough wrinkles in the two games we will really need it?

Though it may end up being tight contests I think that we can get by with this modest (I know that is a generous description) pass offense along with the running game, solid special teams play and solid defense.
 

beavergopher said:
They seem to forget RBs are eligible to catch passes. Bullshit excuse. The play calling is horribly simplistic.
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A lot of college playbooks are stunningly simplistic. I think Glen Mason had 4 run plays?

I've heard that the big jump from high school to college is physical. The big jump from college to the NFL is mental - the sophistication of the playbooks and film study.
 

BleedGopher said:
per Greder:

P.J. Fleck said Halloween 2021 included trick-or-treaters and their parents asking him to throw the ball more. Given the current circumstances, the Gophers football coach might have gotten more the same on Monday.

Through seven games, Minnesota has run the ball on 65 percent of offensive plays, down from 70 percent across 13 games last year. The trend is particularly accute when it comes to deep throws — passes of 20 or more yards. Pro Football Focus College said Minnesota attempted only one pass play of over 20 yards in the Gophers’ 31-0 win over Rutgers on Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium.

That meant quarterback Tanner Morgan attempted passes into short and intermediate areas.

“You have to know what it takes to win games,” Fleck said Monday. “We have thrown the ball vertically, and that’s where we have thrown some of our interceptions the last few games.”

www.yahoo.com

Gophers discover that throwing downfield has been counterproductive

P.J. Fleck said Halloween 2021 included trick-or-treaters and their parents asking him to throw the ball more. Given the current circumstances, the Gophers football coach might have gotten more the same on Monday. Through seven games, Minnesota has run the ball on 65 percent of offensive plays...
www.yahoo.com www.yahoo.com

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...
Too funny. Also got some PIs on those down field throws, so...
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Just wait till next year when they come out for the season opener running the Wishbone.

or maybe the Single Wing.

(I actually covered a team in Iowa HS FB that ran the old single wing. a direct snap to one of the backs, who would spin and hand the ball off, or fake a handoff and keep it. the thing is - they ran the offense so fast that even with binoculars, I could not tell who had the ball about half the time. It was fun to watch.)
Click to expand...
Haha, yeah it's crazy to see it these days! I coached high level HS football for a number of years and I remember in the early 2000's we played a team one week that ran the single wing (unseen in our parts for decades) and the next week played one of the first teams in the state to run a true no huddle, spread offense. Both weeks were absolute madness in preparation, lol!
 

WoodburyTim said:
For some reason this is hard to understand by some on here, but what people are really asking is whether it is possible to run the ball over and over to beat the Rutgers of the world and then just turn on the passing game when we face a team that we can't beat by running the ball 80% of the time?
Click to expand...
As usual, WoodburyTim is on the mark.
 

Panthadad2 said:
Gophs actually had a 61%/39% run/pass mix through two possessions into the 3rd quarter (counting Tanner's 3 scrambles as attempted pass plays because they were). I think all the runs to finish the game and shorter throws might be skewing perceptions of the game.
Click to expand...

Fair point. I should have probably phrased it as conservative play calling versus run/pass. Passing can also be done conservatively.
 

fmlizard said:
A lot of college playbooks are stunningly simplistic. I think Glen Mason had 4 run plays?

I've heard that the big jump from high school to college is physical. The big jump from college to the NFL is mental - the sophistication of the playbooks and film study.
Click to expand...
college playbook is simple compared to an NFL playbook but still a big jump from high school unless you played at IMG academy. Run game wise is very simple depending on the team, all we run is zone, I personally wish we could mix in some gap scheme plays like counter and power. I think the details seperate highschool and college. How a WR runs his routes matters much more than in high school. O lineman footwork, aiming points, and handplacement are much more important in college. QBs have to call more protections and see a variety of more coverages. There still is a big difference IMO
 

heard these stats on the new Gopher Gridiron Podcast

for the Month of October:

the #3 receiver position:

Dylan Wright = ran 53 routes - targeted 6 times - 0 catches
L. Brockington = ran 34 routes - targeted 2 times - 1 catch
---------Total = ran 87 routes - targeted 8 times - 1 catch

to quote Ryan Burns - "they're just running wind sprints."
 

Is it a combination of pass protection and unseasoned WRs?

We miss Fa'alele, Ko Kieft, and the CrAb.
 

BigGopher69 said:
college playbook is simple compared to an NFL playbook but still a big jump from high school unless you played at IMG academy. Run game wise is very simple depending on the team, all we run is zone, I personally wish we could mix in some gap scheme plays like counter and power. I think the details seperate highschool and college. How a WR runs his routes matters much more than in high school. O lineman footwork, aiming points, and handplacement are much more important in college. QBs have to call more protections and see a variety of more coverages. There still is a big difference IMO
Click to expand...
All that and sometimes (?)WR's often have an option/ can break off a route at certain times. Like if the QB is running for his life one can comeback/ cut off route or they have a read option (within the route).
 

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