Have to get more athletic on offensive line

gopherdudepart2

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 20, 2008
Messages
5,498
Reaction score
2,411
Points
113
Coaches see everything in practice but if the game film is showing what it should be showing we
are getting killed by two spots in the line the RT and the LG. Time to open the competition back up, the QB holds onto the ball at times to long but he isn't getting a lot of time in the pocket either.
 

I guess it comes down to recruiting philosophy in regards to the type of O-lineman you want to recruit. Is it a larger o-line that is less athletic or a more athletic o-line with undersized guys?
 

Coaches see everything in practice but if the game film is showing what it should be showing we
are getting killed by two spots in the line the RT and the LG. Time to open the competition back up, the QB holds onto the ball at times to long but he isn't getting a lot of time in the pocket either.

Bunders had a terrible game, was so badly beaten on the last play of the game he didn't even touch Scofield coming through on the stunt.

The only issue I have is the musical chairs approach removes any potential for growth as a unit. We already have Davis starting from now on, Stommes was hurt for a few games, Carufel @NW. removing Bunders for ? and Wills for ? would be tough especially if the replacement fares no better and Bunders or Wills comes back. Man to man consistency and communication are key for Oline play. We tried the rotation last year with scary results.
 

Time to open the competition back up, the QB holds onto the ball at times to long but he isn't getting a lot of time in the pocket either.

Pretty sure the competition is always open. Injuries are playing a big part right now.
 

Pretty sure the competition is always open. Injuries are playing a big part right now.

There are guys who started last year who cannot get on the field, and I just can't believe there's that massive a difference in the level of talent between them and the starters. I'm not saying the reserves are better, but it seems that Davis and/or Brewster has decided to play some guys, for better or worse. And right now, it's worse. You can't convince me that there's no one who could come in and give Wills a breather now and then.
 


I guess it comes down to recruiting philosophy in regards to the type of O-lineman you want to recruit. Is it a larger o-line that is less athletic or a more athletic o-line with undersized guys?

Or you could go with both.
 


There are guys who started last year who cannot get on the field, and I just can't believe there's that massive a difference in the level of talent between them and the starters. I'm not saying the reserves are better, but it seems that Davis and/or Brewster has decided to play some guys, for better or worse. And right now, it's worse. You can't convince me that there's no one who could come in and give Wills a breather now and then.

Exactly. It appears Tim Davis has either misjudged what he has or is not as good as we were led to believe. NO WAY can he continue to trot out this current group of starting five.

DJ Burris filled in for Carufel at Northwestern and the team finally ran the ball with success. Burris has five times more career starts that Carufel, was all-freshman All-Big Ten, yet Carufel continues to play (and struggle I might add). No one can tell me that Burris - with 21 career starts - shouldn't be starting somewhere on this very terrible OL that we're fielding now. Carufel has work to do. Just because he went to Notre Dame doesn't mean he automatically should start now. He is not getting it done.

Stommes and Alford have both started games this year. Yet, somehow we continue to play Wills at RT. Wills cannot block Big Ten caliber DEs. Period. He will absolutely get eaten alive by the ends from Iowa, Penn State, and Ohio State. It will get ugly.

I cannot believe Tim Davis is going to put his name on the line with the front five he's sending out there. There are about 85 career starts sitting on the bench! (Burris 21 career starts; Alford 11 career starts; Orton 6 career starts; Tavale 27 starts; Wynn 13 starts; Davis 5 starts). Yes, I know our line wasn't very good last year, but it was better than what is out there right now (and that says something). We lead the league in sacks allowed and last in rushing yards. And, we must lead the league in the famed "QB running for his life" category.

There HAS to be a better combo amongst that group than what we're trotting out there to fail now. There has to be. At a minimum, run some others out there in the game to find out. No possible way can you justify to me Wills playing every snap. It is incomprehensible that an OL coach with the pedigree of Davis does that.
 

GVBadger don't you have some better to do than be on this board all time? Go talk to your Becky friends, you are annoying.
 



As dissapointed as I am and frustrated at our results, I feel our talent level on the o line is poor. Yea, yea, no shock, however that is not entirely Brewsters issue from a recruitment perspective. He has proves he can bring in skilled playes that can make an impact early: WR's -Stoudemire, Green. RB-Bennett, Eskidge, Whaley. DB's - Theret, Rallis, Carter. Obviously some have played and performed better, but they all are playing. Hense the lack of talent in the Junior and senior class at those possitions. However O line, D line and LB's take time to get stronger (most important) and understand different schemes. There is no quick answer to improve an O line. As a comparison the hated Notre Dame team struggled for 2 years mainly because the o line couldn't block. Now Jimmy Claussen has time to throw and he is a Heisman candidate averaging 300+ yds a game. I'm not ready to call for a new coach, as he has brought in more talent overall, young talent. He hasn't had any continuety - changing d cordinators, offensive identity. There is a reason most top teams are senior laden; they have had 4 or 5 years in the same system perfecting it, not learning it like this team. Our QB is on his 3rd offense, our defenseive players are on their 4th defense. Starting over is not the answer. The anser is pulling this team together and beating Purdue, continue to survive with a poor O line. We all talked of how defensively we improved in the 2nd half of every game up until the Wisonsin game. Lets hope that is the trend, not the Wiscy game.
 

Burris-Jr
Brinkhaus-Jr
Tavale-Sr
Ruckdashel-Sr
Alford-Jr
Hudson*-Sr
Sekinger*-Sr


These are the upperclassmen who were expected to be unquestioned starters for the 2009 season, I'm sure many of them are upstanding fine young men, but as for football players, most have proven less than capable of starting in the Big Ten. I suppose rsSo Bunders, Wynn, Davis, Orton could be included, but a good program should depend on Jrs and Srs to fill out the trenches.
of this group, Burris and Alford have a chance to contribute, but they've both been beaten out in the past.
 

We lead the league in sacks given up and have the lowest rushing total

A lot of the breakdowns in protection have been coming from the Right tackle, Right Guard and Left Guards. That is saying something, a BIG statement that we are first in sacks given up and have the lowest rushing totals in the conference.

These are statistical catergories that you never want to lead the league in. We don't just need big plodding houses, we need big guy's that can move there feet, maintain there center of balance and not be tossed off there feet or get beat coming off the snap of the ball so much. I don't care about this so called continuity of the same starting five when were are getting whipped up front by an ordinary defensive front with the same starting five for consecutive weeks. How many times can you get beat by the same stunt in a game? What will happen when they go up against good fronts this week and the coming two week's? Davis replaced a guy that was offensive line coach because we were getting beat so much in the front five. This has not changed much since last year, dare I say we have even regressed a little bit?

It should be obvious with the amount of hit's the QB is getting and the poor running game that things are not working real well on offense especially up front. The coaches should be able to effect some kind of change here? Things are not getting better, up front they have become stagnant. The Gophers are 9-0 with Brewster coached teams that have 100+ yards rushing. That say's something about the opponents also, but it also say's a lot about controlling the clock and actually having some balance and offensive philosophy.
 




I can't believe that someone on this staff watched Wills play at JC and thought he would be worth a shot here. Gross misjudgement. His play on our final possession was about the worst I have ever seen. He is obese. Who thought that he was a good idea? Please disregard anything the person who is responsible for Wills ever suggests about OL recruits going forward. What year was that UW DE who humilated Obese Wills? That kid looked like he was having the time of his life lining up vs Wills.
 

Not really.

Sad thing is, this guy has a son, imagine how big of a boner that kid is gonna be, given what he has to look up to.

Unless there are more fathers who troll opposing team's message board trying to cock people off than I know of :confused: DOUBTFUL!!! The typical dad who probably is really into college athletics hoping his son can make up for his pathetic athletic past. Sorry bud, its your genes!!! Take a look in the mirror :clap:
 

Even though I think the O-line needs an upgrade in athleticism

They looked winded in the 4th quarter, there were at least 4-5 times in the second half that the line created a hole big enough to drive a truck through and our backs either got tripped up from behind and went down to easy(Eskeridge) or they crawled up the back of the lineman and did not even see the cutback or hole. I just cannot figure why Eskeridge misses so many cut-back opportunities and large holes that if he hit's them harder and scoots through he has a 25-35 yard gain in front of him instead of 3 yards. Eskeridge does not look slow but he sure as heck does not look explosive either. The line play has been bad at pass protection but there are times where they have created large holes and the tailbacks took no advantage of the situation. We would have a better running game if the backs would take advantage of what the O-line has given them at times.
 

I can't believe that someone on this staff watched Wills play at JC and thought he would be worth a shot here. Gross misjudgement. His play on our final possession was about the worst I have ever seen. He is obese. Who thought that he was a good idea? Please disregard anything the person who is responsible for Wills ever suggests about OL recruits going forward. What year was that UW DE who humilated Obese Wills? That kid looked like he was having the time of his life lining up vs Wills.

+71
 

I can't believe that someone on this staff watched Wills play at JC and thought he would be worth a shot here. Gross misjudgement. His play on our final possession was about the worst I have ever seen. He is obese. Who thought that he was a good idea? Please disregard anything the person who is responsible for Wills ever suggests about OL recruits going forward. What year was that UW DE who humilated Obese Wills? That kid looked like he was having the time of his life lining up vs Wills.

Ironic that your avatar is Rotundo and you are making light of Wills' obesity.
Anyone with a shred of football savvy can see what they saw, a 6'7'' 400 lb guy who can still run and move, who if he can gain strength and get down to 330 can whoop up on people. He's about halfway there, I personally think he should have redshirted, but I'm going to assume they were desperate enough to give him a shot ASAP. The final play of the game was a DE coming free from the left side, Stommes/Bunders so I'm not sure what you saw,(honestly maybe I missed it)
 

Ironic that your avatar is Rotundo and you are making light of Wills' obesity.
Anyone with a shred of football savvy can see what they saw, a 6'7'' 400 lb guy who can still run and move, who if he can gain strength and get down to 330 can whoop up on people. He's about halfway there, I personally think he should have redshirted, but I'm going to assume they were desperate enough to give him a shot ASAP. The final play of the game was a DE coming free from the left side, Stommes/Bunders so I'm not sure what you saw,(honestly maybe I missed it)

After watching the game again, Wills didn't get beat AT ALL until that final drive. Stommes was actually benched for most of the fourth quarter for getting beat most of the game. Wills isn't the whole O-Line and he's been getting better game by game. Give them time - They are mostly juniors and will get better and gel.
 

Ole, I agree Willis should have redshirted. He has pretty good quickness and feet for someone his wt. but he is toooo heavy. At 315 to 330 he would be very tough and a candidate for the next level. But at his wt. he is going to struggle. It is still pretty common knowledge that it takes an O-lineman 3-4 yrs to be able to play at this level. Most good teams line are jrs. or srs, and most redshirted.
 


Ironic that your avatar is Rotundo and you are making light of Wills' obesity.
Anyone with a shred of football savvy can see what they saw, a 6'7'' 400 lb guy who can still run and move, who if he can gain strength and get down to 330 can whoop up on people. He's about halfway there, I personally think he should have redshirted, but I'm going to assume they were desperate enough to give him a shot ASAP. The final play of the game was a DE coming free from the left side, Stommes/Bunders so I'm not sure what you saw,(honestly maybe I missed it)

The name is borne of early 80s wwf star Mike Rotundo. I was at the game and the only series I really watched on the tivo was our last "drive". Wills looked as bad as any football I have ever seen on that series. The UW DE was having a ball with Wills.
 

Ole, I agree Willis should have redshirted. He has pretty good quickness and feet for someone his wt. but he is toooo heavy. At 315 to 330 he would be very tough and a candidate for the next level. But at his wt. he is going to struggle. It is still pretty common knowledge that it takes an O-lineman 3-4 yrs to be able to play at this level. Most good teams line are jrs. or srs, and most red-shirted.

Right! And let's not forget that it is a completely new style of offense - which has as much effect on the o-line as it does the qb. So whatever the o-line learned in their redshirt, freshman and soph years is only 50% applicable and does not really cover what they need to know and be able to do this year. Too bad they couldn't have faced last year's schedule while going through this learning process.
 

Exactly. It appears Tim Davis has either misjudged what he has or is not as good as we were led to believe. NO WAY can he continue to trot out this current group of starting five.

DJ Burris filled in for Carufel at Northwestern and the team finally ran the ball with success. Burris has five times more career starts that Carufel, was all-freshman All-Big Ten, yet Carufel continues to play (and struggle I might add). No one can tell me that Burris - with 21 career starts - shouldn't be starting somewhere on this very terrible OL that we're fielding now. Carufel has work to do. Just because he went to Notre Dame doesn't mean he automatically should start now. He is not getting it done.

Stommes and Alford have both started games this year. Yet, somehow we continue to play Wills at RT. Wills cannot block Big Ten caliber DEs. Period. He will absolutely get eaten alive by the ends from Iowa, Penn State, and Ohio State. It will get ugly.

I cannot believe Tim Davis is going to put his name on the line with the front five he's sending out there. There are about 85 career starts sitting on the bench! (Burris 21 career starts; Alford 11 career starts; Orton 6 career starts; Tavale 27 starts; Wynn 13 starts; Davis 5 starts). Yes, I know our line wasn't very good last year, but it was better than what is out there right now (and that says something). We lead the league in sacks allowed and last in rushing yards. And, we must lead the league in the famed "QB running for his life" category.

There HAS to be a better combo amongst that group than what we're trotting out there to fail now. There has to be. At a minimum, run some others out there in the game to find out. No possible way can you justify to me Wills playing every snap. It is incomprehensible that an OL coach with the pedigree of Davis does that.

I agree 100%. Take a look at a guy like Ned Tavale. Granted, he hasn't been a world beater by any means over the course of his career. But he has started and contributed on some solid O-Lines that were able to protect the passer and create holes for our backs (going all the way back to Mase's last yr in 06). It's inexplicable to me why a 5th yr senior like Tavale is completely buried on the depth chart behind guys who have proven nothing this season.
 




Top Bottom