Hickey: 1 thing I learned about every B1G team in Week 1 (Minnesota: Mo Ibrahim isn’t running through that door)

[BleedGopher]

Per Hickey:

Minnesota: Mo Ibrahim isn’t running through that door​

In its first game since workhorse Mohamed Ibrahim’s graduation, Minnesota gained 55 rushing yards on 25 carries. The Gophers may have some offensive issues this season.

Hickey: 1 thing I learned about every B1G team in Week 1

Saturday Tradition's Alex Hickey shares 1 thing we learned about every Big Ten team in Week 1 of the 2023 season.

saturdaytradition.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[PMWinSTP]

It's like he only watched the plays on offense...

 

[nitramnaed]

He has a point.

 

[Gopherchase]

There wasn’t anywhere to run Thursday. We will miss Mo, but we also have a room full of kids that can take it 90 to the house which Mo couldn’t do. I’ll take the trade off as it’s hard to sustain long drives and score TDs against tough defenses we need big plays more often. One of the reasons we can’t kick Iowa’s door down is a lack of big plays against them.

 

[SHGopher]

There wasn’t anywhere to run Thursday. We will miss Mo, but we also have a room full of kids that can take it 90 to the house which Mo couldn’t do. I’ll take the trade off as it’s hard to sustain long drives and score TDs against tough defenses we need big plays more often. One of the reasons we can’t kick Iowa’s door down is a lack of big plays against them.

This.

Teams need explosives as the winning factor. Move the ball and boom -- or on defense slow and boom.

Mo had only around 70 yards against the Syracuse defense similar to Nebraska.

And as people are discussing, the blocking wasn't good last week.

So we do not know yet what the backs can do.

 

[RememberMurray]

This.

Teams need explosives as the winning factor. Move the ball and boom -- or on defense slow and boom.

Mo had only around 70 yards against the Syracuse defense similar to Nebraska.

And as people are discussing, the blocking wasn't good last week.

So we do not know yet what the backs can do.

If I recall correctly, Ibrahim only played one half in the Syracuse game. If I'm right about that, he was pretty much headed toward another 100+ yards rushing until he was pulled from the game.

That being said, this thread is interesting because it's really about a larger subject: can this Minnesota offense perform at a high level without Ibrahim (and with a new QB)? That's the bottom line. Whether it's a run-first, pass-first or balanced offense in 2023, we need a productive offense.

And... are Fleck and his offensive coaches making a deliberate choice to move away from ball control, and become more 'modern'? If so, we'll soon find out how well that works.

It's going to be a really interesting season.

 

[Dakota2]

If I recall correctly, Ibrahim only played one half in the Syracuse game. If I'm right about that, he was pretty much headed toward another 100+ yards rushing until he was pulled from the game.

That being said, this thread is interesting because it's really about a larger subject: can this Minnesota offense perform at a high level without Ibrahim (and with a new QB)? That's the bottom line. Whether it's a run-first, pass-first or balanced offense in 2023, we need a productive offense.

And... are Fleck and his offensive coaches making a deliberate choice to move away from ball control, and become more 'modern'? If so, we'll soon find out how well that works.

It's going to be a really interesting season.

The short passing game is a variant of ball control. Just needs the occasional shot down the field on first down or 2nd and short to keep things open for short routes and running game.

Our game plan against the Nebraska defense was pretty good. Athan can play much better than he did and receivers won’t drop many going forward.

 

[The prez sez]

I was a big fan of the 8-minute drives that we had in the past, but I'm also a fan of potential 8-second drives or however long it takes Brockington to catch a slant and turn on the jets, or Jackson catching everything in his zip code, and then turning the game back over to our defense. I'm sure we're going to find a run game, but kaliakmanis is the answer to all these run game concerns. Gentlemen, start your engines.

 

[Go4]

It's like he only watched the plays on offense...

more likely just looked at the box score