O-Line

[Clark W. Griswold]

I could only listen to the game, but was impressed by what I heard. The radio guys were saying that SJSU was loading the box but it didn't make a difference. What did you guys see; was there anything different from the previous games? Did we finally just put a whole game together? How was Lauer?

 

[IDFM]

Lauer was very impressive. I would be shocked if he does not start the next game. Coach Kill has been talking about him off and on and I did not expect him to play that well for a redshirt freshman. He has a big future. I am looking forward in seeing MVs breakdown on The Daily Gopher because I will bet that the left side of the line did exceptional in various formations running the ball.

 

[WorkingMyTailOff]

Yes it looks like we have two solid Offensive Tackles. I also saw Epping laying on his man five yards down field a few times on Saturday.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

We looked good. The O Line was able to get consistent push forward after the ball carrier was stopped. We did exactly what we were supposed to do against a finesse team like SJ St. We'll have a much better idea of where we really stand though after we play Iowa. I thought Lauer looked good, but as soon as Ed Olson is healthy he'll be starting again imo. I never believed the "competition" between Olson & Lenk, as I always saw it as a motivational ploy. Lenk is by all accounts a good player, but he's never been able to put on the weight (more importantly, to keep the weight on) needed to play the position effectively. It should really be fun to watch Lenk vs Lauer in camp next year.

 

[dpodoll68]

It seems like the o line play has really taken off since they put Lauer in the starting lineup. He has occasional issues with pass blocking, but he is massive and a real road grader, especially when paired next to Epping. Campion is a full-grown man and is the best leader on the entire team. Christenson is very intelligent and plays that way. Epping is a mauler and is the best current player on the line. Bak is a grinder and has earned his way up (like Christenson) from walk-on status. The line is very solid for now and into the future, especially with zero seniors in the two-deeps. The starters are good and getting better all the time, and the guys who are 2nd (Lenk, T. Olson, Bjorklund, Bush, Pirsig) are almost all experienced and do a great job of pushing the starters. And this isn't even discussing guys currently or soon to be on the roster who I'm really looking forward to see, like Chef and the Mayes brothers. The offensive line is really looking up!

 

[e.bigelow]

It seems like the o line play has really taken off since they put Lauer in the starting lineup. He has occasional issues with pass blocking, but he is massive and a real road grader, especially when paired next to Epping. Campion is a full-grown man and is the best leader on the entire team. Christenson is very intelligent and plays that way. Epping is a mauler and is the best current player on the line. Bak is a grinder and has earned his way up (like Christenson) from walk-on status. The line is very solid for now and into the future, especially with zero seniors in the two-deeps. The starters are good and getting better all the time, and the guys who are 2nd (Lenk, T. Olson, Bjorklund, Bush, Pirsig) are almost all experienced and do a great job of pushing the starters. And this isn't even discussing guys currently or soon to be on the roster who I'm really looking forward to see, like Chef and the Mayes brothers. The offensive line is really looking up!

+1. Nailed it!

 

[Schnauzer]

It seems like the o line play has really taken off since they put Lauer in the starting lineup. He has occasional issues with pass blocking, but he is massive and a real road grader, especially when paired next to Epping. Campion is a full-grown man and is the best leader on the entire team. Christenson is very intelligent and plays that way. Epping is a mauler and is the best current player on the line. Bak is a grinder and has earned his way up (like Christenson) from walk-on status. The line is very solid for now and into the future, especially with zero seniors in the two-deeps. The starters are good and getting better all the time, and the guys who are 2nd (Lenk, T. Olson, Bjorklund, Bush, Pirsig) are almost all experienced and do a great job of pushing the starters. And this isn't even discussing guys currently or soon to be on the roster who I'm really looking forward to see, like Chef and the Mayes brothers. The offensive line is really looking up!

Excellent summary. Nailed it. I think this team still suffers from a general lack of talent at the skill positions (I said "general" because there are exceptions to that statement) but the coaching team has perhaps made its biggest impact with the O-line group. The O-line looks better and deeper than at any time in the TCF Bank Stadium era, with a bright future as well.

 

[50PoundHead]

Excellent summary. Nailed it. I think this team still suffers from a general lack of talent at the skill positions (I said "general" because there are exceptions to that statement) but the coaching team has perhaps made its biggest impact with the O-line group. The O-line looks better and deeper than at any time in the TCF Bank Stadium era, with a bright future as well.

Yeah, for all the talk of having better team speed at the "speed" positions, I'm not really seeing it. Our players line up in the right places and are able to utilize what speed they have more effectively (hence, better "football speed"), but I saw way too many plays (or lack of plays) in the defensive backfield again this past weekend. Granted, Fales is a big-time throwing QB and SJSU has a well-designed passing offense. On offense, our outside guys get no separation at all. I frankly don't know what kind of passers Leidner and Nelson are because every throw to a wide-out has to be right on the screws for there to be a chance at a completion.

Really liked the way the O-line stood up after Western Illinois. San Jose State is a bit on the small side upfront on defense, but I don't think that diminishes the absolute pounding our guys put on them. And, as dpodoll68 points out, a lot of quality depth being developed.

Big challenge next week as Iowa always brings it.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

It's exciting to look at our depth chart for the OL right now & only losing one starter (Ed Olson) we should be even better next year. To me the most important factor for offensive linemen is years in the program. A 5th year Senior who's a 6 on a 1-10 talent scale is usually a far better player than a True Freshman who's a 9 on the talent scale, so when I look at next year & the number of years these guys have in the program it's exciting.

Projected 2-Deep:

LT- R-Sr Lenk/R-So Lauer (8 yrs combined in program)
LG- R-Sr Epping (R-Jr Bjorklund) (9 years)
C- R-Jr Christenson (Sr T. Olson) (8 years)
LG- R-Sr Bak (R-So Hayes) (8 years)
RT- R-Jr Campion (R- Jr Bush) (8 years)

+
C- Sr Bobek
C- R-Jr Heifort
G- R-Jr K. McAvoy
G- R-Jr L. McAvoy
T- So A. Mayes
T- R-So Pirsig

 

[GophersInIowa]

Yeah, for all the talk of having better team speed at the "speed" positions, I'm not really seeing it. Our players line up in the right places and are able to utilize what speed they have more effectively (hence, better "football speed"), but I saw way too many plays (or lack of plays) in the defensive backfield again this past weekend. Granted, Fales is a big-time throwing QB and SJSU has a well-designed passing offense. On offense, our outside guys get no separation at all. I frankly don't know what kind of passers Leidner and Nelson are because every throw to a wide-out has to be right on the screws for there to be a chance at a completion.

Really liked the way the O-line stood up after Western Illinois. San Jose State is a bit on the small side upfront on defense, but I don't think that diminishes the absolute pounding our guys put on them. And, as dpodoll68 points out, a lot of quality depth being developed.

Big challenge next week as Iowa always brings it.

To me, it is obvious we are much faster on defense than we have been in a long time. LB's are running down WR's. D-lineman are making tackles down field.

If you look at almost all of their completions down field Saturday, it wasn't so much that we were burnt. It had a lot more to do with Fales' accuracy and the receivers just making a good play on the ball. They completed a bunch of the back shoulder passes in which our defenders were right there.

Remember a few years ago when South Dakota players were running away from our defenders left and right? I don't see that nearly as much anymore.

 

[50PoundHead]

To me, it is obvious we are much faster on defense than we have been in a long time. LB's are running down WR's. D-lineman are making tackles down field.

If you look at almost all of their completions down field Saturday, it wasn't so much that we were burnt. It had a lot more to do with Fales' accuracy and the receivers just making a good play on the ball. They completed a bunch of the back shoulder passes in which our defenders were right there.

Remember a few years ago when South Dakota players were running away from our defenders left and right? I don't see that nearly as much anymore.

You know a lot more about football than I do, but both Thompson and Vereen are a step slow because the inside/out stuff was a gift that kept on giving for SJSU. Vereen's weakness as a CB is that he couldn't turn and run with receivers and that showed up again on Saturday. Fales will be playing (or at least be holding a clipboard) on Sundays starting next year, but those were easy throws. I don't know if our current set of LBs are faster than Keanon Cooper, but I think Claeys has them drilled extremely well and the number of mistakes that are made are much less than what I've seen in well over a decade. Our LB corps plays much better than any in recent memory.

I guess I should amend my observation that we are playing "faster," but we still suffer a bit when our guys are isolated.

 

[stocker08]

To me, it is obvious we are much faster on defense than we have been in a long time. LB's are running down WR's. D-lineman are making tackles down field.

If you look at almost all of their completions down field Saturday, it wasn't so much that we were burnt. It had a lot more to do with Fales' accuracy and the receivers just making a good play on the ball. They completed a bunch of the back shoulder passes in which our defenders were right there.

Remember a few years ago when South Dakota players were running away from our defenders left and right? I don't see that nearly as much anymore.

Campbell certainly makes the defense look quick. He is a safety in the body of a linebacker. Will be an all big ten defense linebacker by his senior year.....maybe earlier.

 

[GophersInIowa]

You know a lot more about football than I do, but both Thompson and Vereen are a step slow because the inside/out stuff was a gift that kept on giving for SJSU. Vereen's weakness as a CB is that he couldn't turn and run with receivers and that showed up again on Saturday. Fales will be playing (or at least be holding a clipboard) on Sundays starting next year, but those were easy throws. I don't know if our current set of LBs are faster than Keanon Cooper, but I think Claeys has them drilled extremely well and the number of mistakes that are made are much less than what I've seen in well over a decade. Our LB corps plays much better than any in recent memory.

I guess I should amend my observation that we are playing "faster," but we still suffer a bit when our guys are isolated.

Vereen struggled one on one because he's a safety. Because they spread us out and because of BBC's injury, he had to match up with them in the nickel and dime. I don't see that happening much, if at all, the rest of the season.

The DB's may have struggled at times when isolated but it wasn't because of lack of speed in my opinion. The defenders were right there with the receivers just about every time.

I also disagree that those were easy throws. Fales put just about every single one of them right on the spot. Those back shoulder throws are all about timing and he was nearly perfect.

Campbell is faster than Cooper was. Hill, Wilson, and Manuel are all faster than Rallis.

I just don't see players running away from our defenders like in the past. Obviously we'll know more starting this weekend when the BT season starts.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

I also disagree that those were easy throws. Fales put just about every single one of them right on the spot. Those back shoulder throws are all about timing and he was nearly perfect.
Campbell is faster than Cooper was. Hill, Wilson, and Manuel are all faster than Rallis.

I just don't see players running away from our defenders like in the past. Obviously we'll know more starting this weekend when the BT season starts.

Fales made at least a dozen throws that would not be completed by any QB we see the rest of the season. Unless I'm mistaken, SJSU had switched this year to more with Fales under center, pro-style offense, and for this game they competely went back to what they did last year; shotgun, wide open offense. If so, I guarantee that was the reason for a lot of their early success throwing the ball.

I also think the SJSU defense is better than people here are giving them credit for. It may not be saying much but it was definitely the best defense the Gophers had seen this year.

In soooooo many ways, I am REALLY looking forward to Iowa. That game should be a really good gauge for where they are right now. I think they can run on Iowa; they are young up front, but start all Seniors at the LB positions. It'll be interesting to see how they move the ball.

 

[Dr.Don]

Fales made at least a dozen throws that would not be completed by any QB we see the rest of the season. Unless I'm mistaken, SJSU had switched this year to more with Fales under center, pro-style offense, and for this game they competely went back to what they did last year; shotgun, wide open offense. If so, I guarantee that was the reason for a lot of their early success throwing the ball.

I also think the SJSU defense is better than people here are giving them credit for. It may not be saying much but it was definitely the best defense the Gophers had seen this year.

In soooooo many ways, I am REALLY looking forward to Iowa. That game should be a really good gauge for where we are right now. I think we can run on Iowa; we are young up front, but start all Seniors at the LB positions. It'll be interesting to see how we move the ball.

FIFY, as I am assuming that our Gophers are we and the Hawkeyes are "they".

 

[50PoundHead]

Vereen struggled one on one because he's a safety. Because they spread us out and because of BBC's injury, he had to match up with them in the nickel and dime. I don't see that happening much, if at all, the rest of the season.

The DB's may have struggled at times when isolated but it wasn't because of lack of speed in my opinion. The defenders were right there with the receivers just about every time.

I also disagree that those were easy throws. Fales put just about every single one of them right on the spot. Those back shoulder throws are all about timing and he was nearly perfect.

Campbell is faster than Cooper was. Hill, Wilson, and Manuel are all faster than Rallis.

I just don't see players running away from our defenders like in the past. Obviously we'll know more starting this weekend when the BT season starts.

We're just going to have to agree to disagree. I think Murray is the only one of the starting DBs that has what I would call above average speed. Wells is a safety playing CB. Thompson and Vereen play well when the the play is in front of them, but there's no "turn and go" to their game at all. These guys are solid players and I'm not asking them to be something that they aren't.

I agree that Campbell has all the markings of a special athlete. He's the kind of back-seven player a team can really build around. I think you are faster than Mike Rallis.

I have a ton of respect for Claeys and if we keep upgrading the athleticism, we are going to have very good defenses.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

FIFY, as I am assuming that our Gophers are we and the Hawkeyes are "they".

Sorry, Honkers. I try to avoid using "we", "us" in my posts at all costs. It's a habit. I'm not on the team and I'm not even a UofM alum. Just a proud Minnesotan. I almost ALWAYS refer to the team as "the Gophers" or "they", et al. Force of habit I guess.

That being said, I hope we beat the living he!! out of Iowa on Saturday.

 

[Halsey Hall]

the key for the defense in the BIG will be the middle backer not biting on fakes and staying in the middle on runs up same area.

 

[Indi1006]

The Hawkeyes will be a good test of our OL. Their front seven are pretty good especially the LBers. I worry about Bak and wonder if at some point we don't see Bush in there for him kind of like what happened for us at LT. San Jose State was just overmatched up front and what happened Saturday isn't a good indication of how we'll do come B10 time, but the kids did what they had to do and that was to dominate the line of scrimmage and there are a lot of encouraging signs.

I also think that where where the rubber hits the road in conference season is how well they pass block. With our limited talent at WR and inexperienced passers for us to compete at the level that we all want to see they are going to have to pass block pretty darn well. Undertalented receivers and inexperienced QBs have a chance if the QB has time.

I think that our DBs are fine. We can't let a QB of that caliber set his feet and zing it around and with the lack of pass rush in the first half that's what happened. When I think about some of the DB groups we've fielded over the past 30 years I'll take this one all day long. I think our depth is solid and that overall we have B10 caliber kids back there. The pass rush is the key. We have to hit the QBs and get them to move their feet and get uncomortable in the pocket and also pick up a few sacks along the way.

Overall, the win this past Saturday was impressive. The players and coaches were resilient and fought back and really won going away. I don't think many times in the past decade we would have beaten a team like that the way we did. It just seems to me overall that we have a lot more leadership being shown on the field than we have had in the past. Maybe some of that is because our leaders now are generally pretty good players vs. lately the leaders being seniors who really weren't very good. That's a hard dynamic.