Is it time to worry about Danny Collins and the defense?

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Watch how many times on defense we go with a three-man front drop the back eight into some sort of zone defense.

Every time we do this we give up 6 + yards of play.

Yet we keep going back to it on 3rd and 8, 2nd and 11, 1st and 15 etc. Etc. It's almost like we default to a Bend but not break defense anytime the other team has a little bit more than normal yardage to go on that down.

On the 4th and goal stop we actually brought pressure and because of it the opposing wide receivers were not given enough time to get open and we made a play on the ball and forced the turnover on Downs. I would rather lose being aggressive than lose being passive.

I hope this changes as our DC's tenure increases
 


The defense has been playing way too much because offense not sustaining drives and way too many 3 and out possessions on offense. If the offense sustains drives with points the Gopher defense is actually effective. This is my opinion but our biggest disappointment is not the defense but the offensive line has not played up to the potential they have. For the size those guys have, they have not been physical or even close to the standard level of a Big 10 offensive line play. The guys with N on their helmets have been better on the offensive line than the guy's wearing the M. If the defense get's adequate rest they can win games. The offense has to do there part. The Oline isn't living up to their standard from last year even.
 
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gopherdudepart2 said:
The defense has been playing way too much because offense not sustaining drives and way too many 3 and out possessions on offense. If the offense sustains drives with points the Gopher defense is actually effective. This is my opinion but our biggest disappointment is not the defense but the offensive line has not played up to the potential they have. For the size those guys have, they have not been physical or even close to the standard level of a Big 10 offensive line play. The guys with N on their helmets have been better on the offensive line than the guy's wearing the M. If the defense get's adequate rest they can win games. The offense has to do there part. The Oline isn't living up to their standard from last year even.
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'This is my opinion, but our biggest disappointment is not the defense, but the offensive line has not played up to the potential they have. ' But what if they have...
 


I’m not worried. The free market will solve the issue. He will get better or he will eventually be gone
 




Schnauzer said:
Offensive line issues have stalled drives and killed the run game.

This in turn has made the defense look bad

For me the defense has been moderately disappointing but the O line has been severely disappointing.
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Purdue and Rutgers started the game by gashing the defense.

We have no defensive line to speak of.

Both lines are the worst Fleck has had since year one.

It's pathetic.
 

The base defense may not be getting the most out of the players. The 4-2-5 does not seem the most effective. The 6-man box is not getting pressure or getting home on the QB, which gives WRs time to get open and for the ball to get there. As good as the DB room that we have it's just getting let out to dry.

Danny Collins has done good at scouting and preparation. Basically had a new scheme for Ohio State, had to pick a poison of either the run or the pass. Went large on stopping the run and OSU's top players made top plays consistently. As the gophers played a lot of man with a single high safety. Danny did get Sayin to get the ball out faster than most QBs we have faced so far.

I would say that in the center of our defense we are weaker and it does impact all the other players on the field.
 






Whytetale said:
'This is my opinion, but our biggest disappointment is not the defense, but the offensive line has not played up to the potential they have. ' But what if they have...
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I don’t think that’s the case. I see a lot of missed blocks, not getting manhandled (there has been some of that but not a ton). Disappointed by the very experienced transfers, they have been not playing too well.
 

Our defense is very roughly middle of the road in the B1G stats wise (with a pounding by the clear #1 in there) ... that's not great but it's NOT the biggest problem this team has.

www.sports-reference.com

2025 Big Ten Conference Team Defense | College Football at Sports-Reference.com

2025 Big Ten Conference Team Defense
www.sports-reference.com www.sports-reference.com

Granted tackling could be WAY better. We've had drives stopped and missed several one on one tackles and allowed first downs this year.
 

Texan Gopher said:
Watch how many times on defense we go with a three-man front drop the back eight into some sort of zone defense.

Every time we do this we give up 6 + yards of play.

Yet we keep going back to it on 3rd and 8, 2nd and 11, 1st and 15 etc. Etc. It's almost like we default to a Bend but not break defense anytime the other team has a little bit more than normal yardage to go on that down.

On the 4th and goal stop we actually brought pressure and because of it the opposing wide receivers were not given enough time to get open and we made a play on the ball and forced the turnover on Downs. I would rather lose being aggressive than lose being passive.

I hope this changes as our DC's tenure increases
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I agree.

At the same time I think that's the standard operating procedure in college football. Everyone seems to do it. I think there's some nuance in there where we could hopefully prevent the opposing team from just running between the DBs all the time for an easy catch.

Granted our offense does it to other teams at times too.
 


Some guy said:
I’m not worried. The free market will solve the issue. He will get better or he will eventually be gone
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My thoughts as well. We have a bunch of guys in their first year in their position or coaching at the U. They will evolve and figure it out or be gone. In this world of quick to fire, it will be interesting to see how much rope Fleck will afford his assistants.

Fleck is the winningest coach in the last 75 years of the program, and he has had 3 different OC's and 4 changes. He's had 4 DC's.
 

gopherphil said:
Is it time to bring Winston DeLattiboudere III home to run the defense?
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No, he has never been a DC, but maybe you we consider his DC as a candidate. His name is pretty familiar. Let's see how the season goes. I don't see a change after one season unless the wheels fall off.
 

Our best defensive lineman absolutely whiffing on a 3rd and 12 TD is not the fault of Collins.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
No, he has never been a DC, but maybe you we consider his DC as a candidate. His name is pretty familiar. Let's see how the season goes. I don't see a change after one season unless the wheels fall off.
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Agree
The fact that the defense keeps playing better in the second half tells me he can adjust. He just needs to adjust on Thursday instead of after the first quarter
 


I'm surprised how bad the run defense has been with a veteran DL and LB group. Is it the DL, specifically the interior that isn't doing their part or are the LBs bad? Or a combination?
 

Be careful with questions you might upset some Gopher fans and then they will question whether you're actually a Gopher fan.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I'm surprised how bad the run defense has been with a veteran DL and LB group. Is it the DL, specifically the interior that isn't doing their part or are the LBs bad? Or a combination?
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It seems like there are a lot of plays where players take the wrong angle or are in the wrong hole. Maybe it's because I'm focusing on him but a few times this year Koi comes flying in to a spot and his target has gone into a different gap. Concerning, but it seems like it can be fixed.
 

Mulligan said:
It seems like there are a lot of plays where players take the wrong angle or are in the wrong hole. Maybe it's because I'm focusing on him but a few times this year Koi comes flying in to a spot and his target has gone into a different gap. Concerning, but it seems like it can be fixed.
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Our defense is better than they are being given credit for. Mistakes have been made yes, but they had a lot to do with beating Purdue. Purdue scored 30 points against Notre Dame and 25 points against Illinois for some perspective. We have two really good safeties on the back end and the defensive is reliant on them to make a lot of plays. They make mistakes on reads, but they battle and that is better than giving up. This team is better at throwing the ball then running. We need to set up any runs we have with the pass to be successful. I'm looking forward to a big game Friday night against Nebraska. Do they have to play better to win yeah, but I like our team, they are a gritty, tough, fight you bunch of dudes.
 

gopherdudepart2 said:
Our defense is better than they are being given credit for. Mistakes have been made yes, but they had a lot to do with beating Purdue. Purdue scored 30 points against Notre Dame and 25 points against Illinois for some perspective. We have two really good safeties on the back end and the defensive is reliant on them to make a lot of plays. They make mistakes on reads, but they battle and that is better than giving up. This team is better at throwing the ball then running. We need to set up any runs we have with the pass to be successful. I'm looking forward to a big game Friday night against Nebraska. Do they have to play better to win yeah, but I like our team, they are a gritty, tough, fight you bunch of dudes.
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The defense definitely won the Purdue game.
 

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