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Despite playing eight underclassmen in key roles, the Gophers’ offense has been showing the most improvement every week. However, much of the success has been squandered by a defense allowing explosive plays at an extremely high clip. It nearly happened again as the Minnesota defense surrendered 22 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
This time, the young offense had to make a play if the Gophers were going to claim their first Big Ten victory. With 1:24 left, backup quarterback Tanner Morgan was ready to step up and didn’t flinch.
The redshirt freshman quickly looked left and found true freshman Rashod Bateman for a deep 67-yard touchdown. The Gophers’ inexperienced offense managed to overcome a scare, pulling off a wild 38-31 win against Indiana.
Six different pass catchers posted receptions, including three freshmen wide receivers. The contributions of these young players, combined with junior Tyler Johnson’s five catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns, carried Minnesota past the Hoosiers.
Young players step up on offense
One thing was apparent after Friday’s game: the future appears bright for the Gophers’ offense. With key players making immediate contributions, the benefits will probably spill into the next couple of seasons. In Friday’s game, the wide receivers were making a huge impact as quarterback Tanner Morgan shredded the Indiana pass defense for 302 yards. It was highest single-game total posted by a Minnesota quarterback since 2015.
Morgan got the start as quarterback Zack Annexstad recovers from a midsection injury he suffered in last week’s game. Morgan completed 17 of his 24 passes for 302 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He was feeling the pocket well and delivering accurately to all three levels. His ability to move outside the pocket opens up inside rushing lanes and adds more deception to the run-pass option game. Morgan’s lone mistake came when he forced an interception in the fourth quarter. It didn’t prove costly, but gave Indiana a chance to stage a comeback attempt.
Five different players had rushes or receptions on the Gophers’ opening drive alone. Morgan’s mobility allowed the Gophers to move him outside the pocket and manufacture plays in space. Minnesota used a flea-flicker to find a Rashod Bateman for a 25-yard gain. A few plays later, Morgan connected with redshirt freshman Chris Autman-Bell off an in-breaking route for 21 yards. The Gophers managed to finish a 6-play, 77-yard scoring drive, capped by a Seth Green one-yard plunge.
Morgan was confident finding his pass catchers the entire night as offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca dialed up a variety of route concepts to get receivers open. It appeared he deployed an occasional hi-lo concept to get Rashod Bateman open underneath. During one drive, Bateman had three catches, Demetrius Douglas added two and Tyler Johnson hauled in an 8-yard touchdown. The Gophers’ wide receivers were running excellent routes and taking advantage of play design to create explosive plays. During an 8-play, 99-yard scoring drive, Johnson had three catches for 79 yards, including a 52-yard slant. His route running and ability to set up things up out of the break has improved substantially in the past year. Johnson did not play in the second half and it’s unclear exactly what caused the veteran receiver to exit the game.
Brooks returns for the first time
Outside of all the success in the passing game, running back Shannon Brooks added another dimension to the RPO and read-option looks. He returned after suffering a torn ACL in the spring. Brooks was also being held out due to allegations of an assault with a male roommate. He has not yet been charged for the incident and made his debut in Friday night’s game.
Brooks had 154 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries, breaking free for several explosive runs. The read and run-pass option looks were opening huge rushing lanes inside for Brooks to run free. However, two fumbles put a small damper on his performance as Minnesota squandered opportunities to extend drives. Brooks also left the game with an injury and did not return. If the veteran running back can stay healthy, Minnesota’s offense will have another weapon to deploy over the final four games.
Minnesota’s defense can’t prevent late explosive plays
After being trashed for 659 yards and ten explosive plays in a 53-28 loss to Nebraska last week, the Minnesota defense tried to make a few adjustments to their coverage schemes. The problem: it only helped patch the holes for so long. Four explosive plays helped the Hoosiers nearly pull off a dramatic comeback.
Minnesota mixed coverages throughout the game, playing more physical man looks on the outside. They still rotated into off and zone coverage, but managed to play more aggressive in the secondary. Several of the key third down plays by the defense came when they played the boundary out of man coverage. Cornerbacks are starting to show growth in the lean and locate technique when tasked with playing on an island. No matter what, the defense was just too inconsistent.
Early in the game, Minnesota sent stunts up front, but couldn’t get home twice as Indiana quarterback Peyton Ramsey slipped out for 25 yards. The Gophers’ defense allowed the Hoosiers to convert 5 of their first 6 third downs as running back Stevie Scott started to heat up. The big, physical back blew through the line of scrimmage for two early explosive plays. Otherwise, Scott was limited to just 96 yards as the Hoosiers were forced to heavily pass the ball.
MORE: http://www.1500espn.com/gophers-2/2018/10/notebook-tanner-morgan-leads-gophers-offense-wild-win/
This time, the young offense had to make a play if the Gophers were going to claim their first Big Ten victory. With 1:24 left, backup quarterback Tanner Morgan was ready to step up and didn’t flinch.
The redshirt freshman quickly looked left and found true freshman Rashod Bateman for a deep 67-yard touchdown. The Gophers’ inexperienced offense managed to overcome a scare, pulling off a wild 38-31 win against Indiana.
Six different pass catchers posted receptions, including three freshmen wide receivers. The contributions of these young players, combined with junior Tyler Johnson’s five catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns, carried Minnesota past the Hoosiers.
Young players step up on offense
One thing was apparent after Friday’s game: the future appears bright for the Gophers’ offense. With key players making immediate contributions, the benefits will probably spill into the next couple of seasons. In Friday’s game, the wide receivers were making a huge impact as quarterback Tanner Morgan shredded the Indiana pass defense for 302 yards. It was highest single-game total posted by a Minnesota quarterback since 2015.
Morgan got the start as quarterback Zack Annexstad recovers from a midsection injury he suffered in last week’s game. Morgan completed 17 of his 24 passes for 302 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He was feeling the pocket well and delivering accurately to all three levels. His ability to move outside the pocket opens up inside rushing lanes and adds more deception to the run-pass option game. Morgan’s lone mistake came when he forced an interception in the fourth quarter. It didn’t prove costly, but gave Indiana a chance to stage a comeback attempt.
Five different players had rushes or receptions on the Gophers’ opening drive alone. Morgan’s mobility allowed the Gophers to move him outside the pocket and manufacture plays in space. Minnesota used a flea-flicker to find a Rashod Bateman for a 25-yard gain. A few plays later, Morgan connected with redshirt freshman Chris Autman-Bell off an in-breaking route for 21 yards. The Gophers managed to finish a 6-play, 77-yard scoring drive, capped by a Seth Green one-yard plunge.
Morgan was confident finding his pass catchers the entire night as offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca dialed up a variety of route concepts to get receivers open. It appeared he deployed an occasional hi-lo concept to get Rashod Bateman open underneath. During one drive, Bateman had three catches, Demetrius Douglas added two and Tyler Johnson hauled in an 8-yard touchdown. The Gophers’ wide receivers were running excellent routes and taking advantage of play design to create explosive plays. During an 8-play, 99-yard scoring drive, Johnson had three catches for 79 yards, including a 52-yard slant. His route running and ability to set up things up out of the break has improved substantially in the past year. Johnson did not play in the second half and it’s unclear exactly what caused the veteran receiver to exit the game.
Brooks returns for the first time
Outside of all the success in the passing game, running back Shannon Brooks added another dimension to the RPO and read-option looks. He returned after suffering a torn ACL in the spring. Brooks was also being held out due to allegations of an assault with a male roommate. He has not yet been charged for the incident and made his debut in Friday night’s game.
Brooks had 154 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries, breaking free for several explosive runs. The read and run-pass option looks were opening huge rushing lanes inside for Brooks to run free. However, two fumbles put a small damper on his performance as Minnesota squandered opportunities to extend drives. Brooks also left the game with an injury and did not return. If the veteran running back can stay healthy, Minnesota’s offense will have another weapon to deploy over the final four games.
Minnesota’s defense can’t prevent late explosive plays
After being trashed for 659 yards and ten explosive plays in a 53-28 loss to Nebraska last week, the Minnesota defense tried to make a few adjustments to their coverage schemes. The problem: it only helped patch the holes for so long. Four explosive plays helped the Hoosiers nearly pull off a dramatic comeback.
Minnesota mixed coverages throughout the game, playing more physical man looks on the outside. They still rotated into off and zone coverage, but managed to play more aggressive in the secondary. Several of the key third down plays by the defense came when they played the boundary out of man coverage. Cornerbacks are starting to show growth in the lean and locate technique when tasked with playing on an island. No matter what, the defense was just too inconsistent.
Early in the game, Minnesota sent stunts up front, but couldn’t get home twice as Indiana quarterback Peyton Ramsey slipped out for 25 yards. The Gophers’ defense allowed the Hoosiers to convert 5 of their first 6 third downs as running back Stevie Scott started to heat up. The big, physical back blew through the line of scrimmage for two early explosive plays. Otherwise, Scott was limited to just 96 yards as the Hoosiers were forced to heavily pass the ball.
MORE: http://www.1500espn.com/gophers-2/2018/10/notebook-tanner-morgan-leads-gophers-offense-wild-win/
