In preparation for the spring game I have been watching some of the games from last fall (yes, I am that much of a geek). I have made a few observations.
My first observation is that Adam Weber is better than I thought he was. Stuck in my mind were those incredibly frustrating passes at the feet of wide open receivers. However, he also had some really nice games, most notably Michigan State. I am not sure what caused the low throws, my suspicion is it was the change in Adam's throwing motion but perhaps there was an injury we didn't know about. I don't think he had that problem the first two years. When Decker went down it certainly didn't help the offense. In many of the incomplete passes it looks as if the receiver ran the wrong route or, on the timing routes, was five or 10 steps away from where he was supposed to be. Another factor was too many attempted long passes. These are low percentage completion passes at all levels of the game, let alone with suspect blocking and relatively inexperienced receivers.
The second observation is that the offensive line did not play up to its physical abilities. When they were called upon to do relatively straight ahead run blocking they were okay. Not great, by any means, but okay. Where they seemed to have the most trouble was in pass blocking and more specifically, picking up the right person. I have no idea what the blocking schemes were but multiple times in a game you can see a defensive lineman being double teamed while another defensive player comes through the line untouched.
My last observation has to do with Jedd Fisch. Almost every game there was a play call that seemed brilliant and I think I was dazzled by that during the season. Re-watching the games however has made me aware that there were too many plays that were less than brilliant. I've already mentioned the long passes but in addition the running plays seemed to lack imagination. I don't think he ever ran the ball three times in a row even when the offensive line was dominant. I can see why pro-coaches spoke so highly of Fisch, because the passing schemes seem right on, (but they require a pro QB and receivers to execute) but I don't think he understood that for almost all colleges the ground game is paramount.
I think we will be a better team next year. A year of Weber (yes, I think Weber will start) working with his receivers will help a lot. In addition, Horton almost certainly has a better grasp of the college game then did Fisch. The emphasis will be on the run and play action passes which I think will play into the strength of the new offensive talent. If the offense can merely be average we will be an above average team. Most teams are somewhat unbalanced so a team with an average offense and an average defense will be an above average team.
Discuss.
Go Gophers!
My first observation is that Adam Weber is better than I thought he was. Stuck in my mind were those incredibly frustrating passes at the feet of wide open receivers. However, he also had some really nice games, most notably Michigan State. I am not sure what caused the low throws, my suspicion is it was the change in Adam's throwing motion but perhaps there was an injury we didn't know about. I don't think he had that problem the first two years. When Decker went down it certainly didn't help the offense. In many of the incomplete passes it looks as if the receiver ran the wrong route or, on the timing routes, was five or 10 steps away from where he was supposed to be. Another factor was too many attempted long passes. These are low percentage completion passes at all levels of the game, let alone with suspect blocking and relatively inexperienced receivers.
The second observation is that the offensive line did not play up to its physical abilities. When they were called upon to do relatively straight ahead run blocking they were okay. Not great, by any means, but okay. Where they seemed to have the most trouble was in pass blocking and more specifically, picking up the right person. I have no idea what the blocking schemes were but multiple times in a game you can see a defensive lineman being double teamed while another defensive player comes through the line untouched.
My last observation has to do with Jedd Fisch. Almost every game there was a play call that seemed brilliant and I think I was dazzled by that during the season. Re-watching the games however has made me aware that there were too many plays that were less than brilliant. I've already mentioned the long passes but in addition the running plays seemed to lack imagination. I don't think he ever ran the ball three times in a row even when the offensive line was dominant. I can see why pro-coaches spoke so highly of Fisch, because the passing schemes seem right on, (but they require a pro QB and receivers to execute) but I don't think he understood that for almost all colleges the ground game is paramount.
I think we will be a better team next year. A year of Weber (yes, I think Weber will start) working with his receivers will help a lot. In addition, Horton almost certainly has a better grasp of the college game then did Fisch. The emphasis will be on the run and play action passes which I think will play into the strength of the new offensive talent. If the offense can merely be average we will be an above average team. Most teams are somewhat unbalanced so a team with an average offense and an average defense will be an above average team.
Discuss.
Go Gophers!
