Gophers Spring Game report and analysis thread

They weren't great, they weren't awful like today; hence "decent". I don't remember a lot of rushed throws. I remember a lot of bad throws. There were some bad sacks as a result of holding the ball too long by both QBs.

Anyone know how many sacks we took last year in historical context?
 

The most shocking part is that our OL is supposed to be one of the better units. Hopefully today was just a bad day.
For run blocking, for pass blocking they are just average but that is ok with what our play action pass will be like.
 

Per cfbstats.com we allowed 27 sacks last year. Like someone said we allowed about 10 in a half-game scrimmage today. I think it's an anomaly.

Going back to 2007 mid-20s is about average for most FBS teams. We allowed only 12 in 2007. We allowed 39 in 2009.

Obviously that stat tells only part of the story but it tells us something.
 

When you know the QB isn't going to be sacked, why worry about it?
 




FSN: Gophers aerial attack largely grounded in spring game

While four different quarterbacks combined to throw for just 168 yards in a 19-0 game, the offense left the field at TCF Bank Stadium feeling pleased with the progress in spring while still acknowledging that a lot of work remains to be done before the season belgins.

"I thought at times we put good drives together. We've just got to finish," said redshirt sophomore quarterback Mitch Leidner. "And there's a couple times when me and the receivers have got to get on the same page, but I mean that's why we've got however many months to work on that."

http://msn.foxsports.com/north/story/gophers-aerial-attack-largely-grounded-in-spring-game-041214

Go Gophers!!
 

GopherSports: Gophers Hold Annual Spring Game
Offense scores 19 points, while defense notches four sacks and an interception

Football was on dispaly again at TCF Bank Stadium on Saturday, as Minnesota held its annual spring game in front of a crowd of about 5,000 fans.

The game, which featured the offense against the defense, wrapped up the Gophers' spring practice schedule when began on March 4.

The offense, adorned in gold jerseys, scored 19 points, while the white-clad defense recorded four sacks, two pass breakups and one interception.

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/041214aaa.html

Go Gophers!!
 

With maybe a couple exceptions, the D was our back-ups the entire time. Yet, we still couldn't pass worth a sh*t. There were 4 plays where we missed a delayed LB blitz all together and they actually just moved aside to let the play continue. Would have CRUSHED the QB otherwise. That is an issue, and discouraging, even if just a scrimmage. So was Leidner's choice to tuck and run rather than stand in the pocket (when he had no risk of getting hit). It was just a scrimmage, may mean nothing, but it was easy to see that there are still major issues with our passing game.

Berkeley looks fast and will be a weapon but did fumble and drop an easy pass too. I saw him pick up a blitz block, which was encouraging. Thought Nugget looked great.

Most impressive players to me were Myrick on D (awesome pick) and Duke on O (ran great routes, looked fast, and has awesome hands (stood out in warm ups to me too).

Go Gophers!
 



From my observations yesterday, Leidner looked poor for what I expect in improvement with him pretty much being a clear cut #1. Made some throws that left me scratching my head a little bit. Especially when he went down field with the football.

Berkeley Edwards started out rough with a dropped open swing pass that hit him right in the numbers which he shortly followed up with a fumble. After getting settled in, he played much better. I.E. The 30 some yard TD run he had.

Only defensive starter who I saw was Scott Ekpe. I was impressed win the 2nd string DB's though. Whether that was their skill or our porous passing downfield, I'm not sure. But, they looked good, I thought.
 

How many of you were at the Spring Game at the Dome when Holtz coached? They made it an event. I still have the mug they gave away. ( 50,000 attended ) About 5,000 fans this year; the same last year. Is it:
A. Overall lack of interest in Gopher football?
B. Kill's venue for the Spring Game?
C. Twins at Target Field?
D. Fans getting amped for the hockey finals?
E. The Masters?...( Don't laugh, that's why myself and a couple of buddies stayed away )
F. People opening up their cabins? ( Again, don't laugh. Brainerd/Nisswa area was extremely busy yesterday)
Summary. ...I'll say all of the above to varying degrees. With letter " A " being the primary reason. It is what it is until
until the Gophers do something beyond playing in a minor Bowl game in a sh-t hole like Houston, Texas.
 

The O-line and offense really struggled after Christenson and Bak went down last year, and it didn't look promising today. Everyone blamed the offensive struggles the end of last year on the QB play and losing Engel, but these guys are a lot more valuable than most realize.


The Gophers OL & QB play looked flat against the second team defense yesterday. I am sure Limegrover & Kill will use this as a starting point to snap them in place. The key to their success this coming season rests on the QBs & OL getting in sync.

Defense can keep them close in most games, but they have to be able to score TDs.
 

On a scale of 1 to 5, how high would you rank the important category of "goofy jar jar binks"? :confused:

Actually, it's incredibly important. I've heard from a source that the NFL are adding it to the combine next year.
 



I'm excited to see what Dimonic does after a full year in the system. Looked very poised and quick release.
 

The passing game was fine if you asked me. Streveler and Mckinzy went combined 9-11.
 

How many of you were at the Spring Game at the Dome when Holtz coached? They made it an event. I still have the mug they gave away. ( 50,000 attended ) About 5,000 fans this year; the same last year. Is it:
A. Overall lack of interest in Gopher football?
B. Kill's venue for the Spring Game?
C. Twins at Target Field?
D. Fans getting amped for the hockey finals?
E. The Masters?...( Don't laugh, that's why myself and a couple of buddies stayed away )
F. People opening up their cabins? ( Again, don't laugh. Brainerd/Nisswa area was extremely busy yesterday)
Summary. ...I'll say all of the above to varying degrees. With letter " A " being the primary reason. It is what it is until
until the Gophers do something beyond playing in a minor Bowl game in a sh-t hole like Houston, Texas.

You have listed six reasonable reasons for the problems that still exist today. I would add three more that would be specifically about lou hoax. His arrival in Minnesota coincided with the arrival of the LES STECKLE CHAPTER of the "curse of the Vikings on the Gopher Football Program story. That was an extremely LOW point for the vikqueen franchise.

Secondly, the damn dome was NEW and Minnesotan's were fascinated by having a controlled environment of comfort. Hoax sold that element and talked about it a lot.

Finally, AFTER hoax bagged a$$ for South Bend in the middle of his second season: MANY of those 50,000 suddenly passionate Gopher Fans who came to the Spring Game were so let down by the sudden departure of hoax that they abandoned Gopher Football themselves.

With his abandonment of the Gophers and the new fans: hoax did MORE to hurt Gopher Football than anyone else ever had done.
 

Wren, you hit it right on with Lou. When he came, I was pickled tink. Then he did a massive nut kick, and did what he did.
 

How many of you were at the Spring Game at the Dome when Holtz coached? They made it an event. I still have the mug they gave away. ( 50,000 attended ) About 5,000 fans this year; the same last year. Is it:
A. Overall lack of interest in Gopher football?
B. Kill's venue for the Spring Game?
C. Twins at Target Field?
D. Fans getting amped for the hockey finals?
E. The Masters?...( Don't laugh, that's why myself and a couple of buddies stayed away )
F. People opening up their cabins? ( Again, don't laugh. Brainerd/Nisswa area was extremely busy yesterday)
Summary. ...I'll say all of the above to varying degrees. With letter " A " being the primary reason. It is what it is until
until the Gophers do something beyond playing in a minor Bowl game in a sh-t hole like Houston, Texas.

So you're complaining about attendance, yet you didn't go because you didn't want to miss a few hours of the Masters....
 

McKinzy has the strongest arm of any QB on the roster. I'm not sure if he can throw it downfield the farthest, but it zips out fast and gets to receivers in a hurry on short passes.
 

You have listed six reasonable reasons for the problems that still exist today. I would add three more that would be specifically about lou hoax. His arrival in Minnesota coincided with the arrival of the LES STECKLE CHAPTER of the "curse of the Vikings on the Gopher Football Program story. That was an extremely LOW point for the vikqueen franchise.

Secondly, the damn dome was NEW and Minnesotan's were fascinated by having a controlled environment of comfort. Hoax sold that element and talked about it a lot.

Finally, AFTER hoax bagged a$$ for South Bend in the middle of his second season: MANY of those 50,000 suddenly passionate Gopher Fans who came to the Spring Game were so let down by the sudden departure of hoax that they abandoned Gopher Football themselves.

With his abandonment of the Gophers and the new fans: hoax did MORE to hurt Gopher Football than anyone else ever had done.

Agree, when Holtz departed it was a huge kick in the lowers. 3 of my friends immediately dropped their season tickets.
Quite frankly we've never recovered from that. We had a lifeline out the infamous Friday night Michigan game we completely blew My. wife and I on the walk back to the Marriott kept hearing the same comments: " Same old Gophers"
That night they had the single biggest walk up sale since the USC game with OJ at Memorial Stadium in 1968. We had a couple of great wins last year, but not enough to wet the appetite of a new group of fans. Kill will give a huge boost to Gopher football by beating Iowa and Wisconsin next year. I think our record again Wisconsin pisses more people off
( last 13 years) then you think. This is a " statement " year for Kill and staff. The team needs too at least equal last year's record, or I think it is a step backwards.
 

How many of you were at the Spring Game at the Dome when Holtz coached? They made it an event. I still have the mug they gave away. ( 50,000 attended ) About 5,000 fans this year; the same last year. Is it:
A. Overall lack of interest in Gopher football?
B. Kill's venue for the Spring Game?
C. Twins at Target Field?
D. Fans getting amped for the hockey finals?
E. The Masters?...( Don't laugh, that's why myself and a couple of buddies stayed away )
F. People opening up their cabins? ( Again, don't laugh. Brainerd/Nisswa area was extremely busy yesterday)
Summary. ...I'll say all of the above to varying degrees. With letter " A " being the primary reason. It is what it is until
until the Gophers do something beyond playing in a minor Bowl game in a sh-t hole like Houston, Texas.

All lame, like most excuses.
 

So you're complaining about attendance, yet you didn't go because you didn't want to miss a few hours of the Masters....

Not complaining about the attendance John. Just speculation on why people didn't show. Kill pretty much stated what the venue was going to be when he was on KFAN. They basically ran the same type of scrimmage in practice. I chose
Not to make the 140 mile trip from Nisswa for a glorified practice. I've been to practice. I have season tickets and will be to all games plus the away game at TCU. I'm a golfer and love the Masters. Easy choice.
 

Not complaining about the attendance John. Just speculation on why people didn't show. Kill pretty much stated what the venue was going to be when he was on KFAN. They basically ran the same type of scrimmage in practice. I chose
Not to make the 140 mile trip from Nisswa for a glorified practice. I've been to practice. I have season tickets and will be to all games plus the away game at TCU. I'm a golfer and love the Masters. Easy choice.

That's fine, and you just answered your own question. If a passionate Gopher fan such as yourself didn't find it worthwhile to make the drive down, other casual fans can't be blamed for finding a myriad of reasons not to go. I actually found the practices much more intense and interesting than what I saw yesterday.
 

That's fine, and you just answered your own question. If a passionate Gopher fan such as yourself didn't find it worthwhile to make the drive down, other casual fans can't be blamed for finding a myriad of reasons not to go. I actually found the practices much more intense and interesting than what I saw yesterday.

I certainly think the age of a game situation scrimmage is a thing of the past. Our children are all grown , so now it is a matter of choice. The kids went to the Spring Game through high school. I think Woody could make it a great experience
for young families. ( Don't know what they had for the kids yesterday)
 

I certainly think the age of a game situation scrimmage is a thing of the past. Our children are all grown , so now it is a matter of choice. The kids went to the Spring Game through high school. I think Woody could make it a great experience
for young families. ( Don't know what they had for the kids yesterday)
They let the kids (and adults) run onto the field through the tunnel after the game. That was cool. However, that was about it for the kids. I remember coming to TCF when it first opened for practice and they had a bounce house and all kinds of games for the kids. It was a better experience for families. All yesterday was was a practice with rap music blaring the entire time. Kill stated after early in his career here, that he wanted to make the Spring game an event, with local celebrities coaching teams. He didn't want to do it right away because he thought the team wasn't deep. Even with all the guys hurt, they could have made yesterday into some type of game.
 

That's fine, and you just answered your own question. If a passionate Gopher fan such as yourself didn't find it worthwhile to make the drive down, other casual fans can't be blamed for finding a myriad of reasons not to go. I actually found the practices much more intense and interesting than what I saw yesterday.

++111
 

I saw that Jameis Winston had 56 pass attempts in their spring game yesterday. I'm wondering if all our QB's made that many attempts combined? Seems like some of the teams still play it like a true game where as our coaches have made it into just a practice. Nothing wrong with that, just why I can see many people not really interested.
 

Agree, when Holtz departed it was a huge kick in the lowers. 3 of my friends immediately dropped their season tickets.
Quite frankly we've never recovered from that. We had a lifeline out the infamous Friday night Michigan game we completely blew My. wife and I on the walk back to the Marriott kept hearing the same comments: " Same old Gophers"
That night they had the single biggest walk up sale since the USC game with OJ at Memorial Stadium in 1968. We had a couple of great wins last year, but not enough to wet the appetite of a new group of fans. Kill will give a huge boost to Gopher football by beating Iowa and Wisconsin next year. I think our record again Wisconsin pisses more people off
( last 13 years) then you think. This is a " statement " year for Kill and staff. The team needs too at least equal last year's record, or I think it is a step backwards.


I totally agree that this is a statement year for Kill and his staff. And, for me: it starts and ends with the need to beat the stinking badgers. This will be kill's 4th attempt at wisky and he NEEDS to find a way to beat them. Enough is enough!

I also agree that especially with the large salary increases: Coach Kill and his staff must at least equal last year's 4 Conference win record.

And: to be a successful season they MUST go into Madison and WIN. Am I asking a lot? Yes, I am. The time for the talk and the hype and the hope has come and gone. It is time to beat the stinking badgers and at least 3 other Conference Teams. It would be a real PLUS to beat both iowa and wisky in the same season. Both these teams physically beat my Gophers up in 2013. It is time for Coach Kill and his staff to physically put a beat down on iowa and wisky in 2014.

Two quarterbacks have been run off during the past couple of seasons. It is time for this coaching staff to start putting their quarterbacks in situations in which they can succeed. The talk of a "multiple" quarterbacks philosophy by the Coach starts to ring empty when none of the quarterbacks are able to have a lot of success. The quarterback who led the team during their 4 game conference winning streak last season apparently was not of importance enough for Coach Kill and his staff to fight to retain and now the new three-headed quarterback system will be what is available...ALL that is available and experience at the qb position will once again be sadly lacking.

The Coaches need to come up with at least 4 Conference wins and one of those wins NEEDS to be at wisky in 2014. Otherwise, where is the program heading? I'm pulling for all 3 of our quarterbacks and Coach Kill and his staff. But: they do need to show me with enough Conference wins. And, this year, a bowl win would help too. I really do want to believe things are headed in the right direction...but I need to see consistency, at least a mid-level finish in the Conference and a nice bowl win to bolster my belief system would help a lot too!
 

First post, but I thought I'd share some observations I noticed myself:

1) Edwards is definitely as swift and quick as advertised. Sans the first quick pass (which he dropped) and the fumble, he was shifty and nimble in the open field. The running backs as a whole looked solid yesterday. He had a completely different gear than the DBs on his logn TD run. Cobb has the best vision of the bunch, and Roderick was no slouch in the department either. Kirkwood seemed to have gained some of his burst back, although he was a bit too ploddy and jumpy trying to find holes from what could I tell. Roderick hit the holes hard and quickly, which was great to see.

2) As mentioned, the 2nd string DBs looked great. Perhaps it's an indictment on the WRs, but they pressed and tailed great. Granted, some of the balls were underthrown, but the development there was great to see. Standouts would include Myrick and Jones. Props to the staff for the DB development-- the unit really looks like a strength with a lot of depth.

3) Receivers left a lot to be desired. I couldn't pinpoint it to either QB play or not, but the separation wasn't consistently there. Drewski had a nice step on Myrick on a floater near the endzone that Leidner overthrew (which Myrick nicely intecepted). Jones had a step on his man at one point, but dropped the ball as well. Same with Fruechte. Sardinha and Hutton looked pretty crisp on the underneath routes, as did the backs.

4) QBs were hard to tell with the lack of numbers, but I wasn't too displeased with their play. Leidner had an overthrow and a beautifully placed ball on the left hash that was dropped. Streveler looked quick, although his windup throw lacked a bit of zip. Rhoda had I think 1 throw which he completed. I'm not sure whether to chalk it up to rust or not, but there were definitely some miscommunication between the QB and the WR on several occasions.

5) Speaking of which, I know it was against the 2nd string D, but Mckinzy really looked great. I think he has the best pocket presence of the bunch-- he went through progressions and bolted-out only when necessary. Once again, I know it was against the lower-D, but his delivery was quick and just on an absolute line. I would say that he has the most zip out of any of the quarterbacks. The kid carries himself with some swagger-- can't recall the last time I noted that with a QB. I'm really excited to see how he develops.

6) Woz is all of 6' 9". Anyanwu was a beast on the underneath routes-- I think he can be a solid #2 or #3 TE along with Goodger.

Didn't get much of a view of the linemen (I was too focused on the skill-positions) but there were definitely a couple of breakdowns in protection that I noticed. Run blocking looked pretty solid. I specifically noted Hayes and McAvoy (can't remember which of the two) as getting some decent playing time.

That's it for the O. If anyone wants, I can write up something quick about the D too.
 





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