Minnesota Golden Gophers 2016 Football Preview - Corn Nation

[Iceland12]

Nebraska's SB NATION's take on the 2016 Gophers.

Johnson's philosophy seems to be similar to Limegrover's: run the ball primarily, and work in some short passes, but with some different wrinkles: more zone read and utilize an up-tempo, no-huddle approach. That would seem to be a good match with the skills senior quarterback Mitch Leidner (6'4" 237 lbs.) brings. In fact, Leidner and Johnson both hail from Lakeville, MN, where both were both coached in high school by Johnson's father Dick.

Leidner, who took over as Minnesota's starting quarterback in 2013, completed 59.5% of his passes last season for 2,701 yards and 14 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. Leidner added 270 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. Despite having a career 56% completion percentage, ESPN's Todd McShay slotted him at #25 in his first 2017 NFL Mock Draft. Now, almost nobody in Minnesota believes that Leidner is a potential first round draft pick; mind you; Minnesota hasn't had a quarterback drafted since 1972. But the Gophers would love to see Leidner live up to McShay's projection, though they aren't going to put any money on it...

Defensively, the Gophers were mostly in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten: 9th in scoring defense, 7th in total defense, 10th in rush defense and 4th in pass defense. SB Nation's Bill Connelly pointed out that last season, Minnesota epitomized the "bend but don't break" philosophy. The Gophers only allowed 16 plays to gain 30 yards or more last season, ranking sixth in the nation...

Injuries up front were a key reason why the Gophers lost seven games last season; it doesn't take much of a stretch to think that the Gophers will be better in 2016. A friendlier schedule that replaces Ohio State and Michigan as crossover games with Penn State, Maryland and Rutgers could make the Gophers a darkhorse candidate to challenge in the Big Ten's West division this season. But to do that, the Gophers will need to reclaim the Broken Chair trophy from Mike Riley and the Huskers.

http://www.cornnation.com/2016/8/22/12581212/minnesota-golden-gophers-2016-football-preview

 

[PMWinSTP]

Nebraska's SB NATION's take on the 2016 Gophers.

Johnson's philosophy seems to be similar to Limegrover's: run the ball primarily, and work in some short passes, but with some different wrinkles: more zone read and utilize an up-tempo, no-huddle approach. That would seem to be a good match with the skills senior quarterback Mitch Leidner (6'4" 237 lbs.) brings. In fact, Leidner and Johnson both hail from Lakeville, MN, where both were both coached in high school by Johnson's father Dick.

Leidner, who took over as Minnesota's starting quarterback in 2013, completed 59.5% of his passes last season for 2,701 yards and 14 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. Leidner added 270 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. Despite having a career 56% completion percentage, ESPN's Todd McShay slotted him at #25 in his first 2017 NFL Mock Draft. Now, almost nobody in Minnesota believes that Leidner is a potential first round draft pick; mind you; Minnesota hasn't had a quarterback drafted since 1972. But the Gophers would love to see Leidner live up to McShay's projection, though they aren't going to put any money on it...

Defensively, the Gophers were mostly in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten: 9th in scoring defense, 7th in total defense, 10th in rush defense and 4th in pass defense. SB Nation's Bill Connelly pointed out that last season, Minnesota epitomized the "bend but don't break" philosophy. The Gophers only allowed 16 plays to gain 30 yards or more last season, ranking sixth in the nation...

Injuries up front were a key reason why the Gophers lost seven games last season; it doesn't take much of a stretch to think that the Gophers will be better in 2016. A friendlier schedule that replaces Ohio State and Michigan as crossover games with Penn State, Maryland and Rutgers could make the Gophers a darkhorse candidate to challenge in the Big Ten's West division this season. But to do that, the Gophers will need to reclaim the Broken Chair trophy from Mike Riley and the Huskers.

http://www.cornnation.com/2016/8/22/12581212/minnesota-golden-gophers-2016-football-preview

It's interesting that these articles all seem to peg Johnson's offense as primarily run. At LA-Laffayette it was statistically very balanced between pass and run. Maybe he's run first, but it's a very balanced attack. If history is correct, Gophs should be right around 400 yd/gm...pretty evenly split between pass and run.