Official B10 Western Division Champs Thread - Golden Gophers

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USAF said:
It matters not who wins between WI and IA. Gophers control their own destiny.
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Well.....yes. But at the same time.....if Iowa beats Wisconsin.....the Gophers could afford to drop the Wisconsin game and still win the West if they win the next four.
 


RememberMurray said:
I want to beat both Iowa AND Wisconsin, head-to-head. And I don't think that is too far-fetched.
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With the way the defense is playing....I think both Iowa and Wisconsin are going to have a tough time moving the ball. The coaching staff will have to open up the playbook though.
 






If Tanner was rounding into his 2019 self, they’d let him—want him to—throw the ball more often. A lot more often. PJ says over and over that he values explosive plays. And passes are much more likely to produce explosive plays. So it seems obvious they aren’t comfortable with Tanner regularly throwing the ball as part of a balanced, less predictable offensive attack. I’m very happy we won, and it was a good win, a solid win. Great showing for our D and for OL and RBs. But something might be up with Tanner … or with our WR group. A nagging injury(ies)? The OC or PJ simply didn’t want Tanner throwing in the 2nd half even, it seemed, when the safeties cheated up.
 

stocker08 said:
With the way the defense is playing....I think both Iowa and Wisconsin are going to have a tough time moving the ball. The coaching staff will have to open up the playbook though.
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We were able to beat Maryland with one hand tied behind our back, which is pretty impressive. I think our offense will need both hands in play against Iowa and Wisconsin (and possibly Illinois).
 



Gophergrandpa said:
If Tanner was rounding into his 2019 self, they’d let him—want him to—throw the ball more often. A lot more often. PJ says over and over that he values explosive plays. And passes are much more likely to produce explosive plays. So it seems obvious they aren’t comfortable with Tanner regularly throwing the ball as part of a balanced, less predictable offensive attack. I’m very happy we won, and it was a good win, a solid win. Great showing for our D and for OL and RBs. But something might be up with Tanner … or with our WR group. A nagging injury(ies)? The OC or PJ simply didn’t want Tanner throwing in the 2nd half even, it seemed, when the safeties cheated up.
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You don't think it MIGHT have something to do with the way our running game — behind our massive, mobile, powerful offensive line — was GASHING their defense, while simultaneously eating the clock and keeping their high-powered passing game off the field — any chance that had something to do with it?
 

RememberMurray said:
You don't think it MIGHT have something to do with the way our running game — behind our massive, mobile, powerful offensive line — was GASHING their defense, while simultaneously eating the clock and keeping their high-powered passing game off the field — any chance that had something to do with it?
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Nice post after the fact. O-line played great today, obviously. But Trey Potts should get as many carries as it takes to win a game, right? You're a cliche machine. A joke. Stop preaching at people with capital letters. No one gave you a pedestal. Everyone has an opinion but most of us realize it's just that.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
If Tanner was rounding into his 2019 self, they’d let him—want him to—throw the ball more often. A lot more often. PJ says over and over that he values explosive plays. And passes are much more likely to produce explosive plays. So it seems obvious they aren’t comfortable with Tanner regularly throwing the ball as part of a balanced, less predictable offensive attack. I’m very happy we won, and it was a good win, a solid win. Great showing for our D and for OL and RBs. But something might be up with Tanner … or with our WR group. A nagging injury(ies)? The OC or PJ simply didn’t want Tanner throwing in the 2nd half even, it seemed, when the safeties cheated up.
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I found it really odd that they didn't let Tanner throw one into the endzone right before halftime.
 


Six to Eight said:
Nice post after the fact. O-line played great today, obviously. But Trey Potts should get as many carries as it takes to win a game, right? You're a cliche machine. A joke. Stop preaching at people with capital letters. No one gave you a pedestal. Everyone has an opinion but most of us realize it's just that.
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The offense did pretty well against Maryland.

Just my opinion, of course. I'd love to hear yours.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
If Tanner was rounding into his 2019 self, they’d let him—want him to—throw the ball more often. A lot more often. PJ says over and over that he values explosive plays. And passes are much more likely to produce explosive plays. So it seems obvious they aren’t comfortable with Tanner regularly throwing the ball as part of a balanced, less predictable offensive attack. I’m very happy we won, and it was a good win, a solid win. Great showing for our D and for OL and RBs. But something might be up with Tanner … or with our WR group. A nagging injury(ies)? The OC or PJ simply didn’t want Tanner throwing in the 2nd half even, it seemed, when the safeties cheated up.
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I think they were killing the clock the entire second half because Maryland has an explosive offense. As long as they could get first downs running and killing the clock, why pass?
 

RememberMurray said:
You don't think it MIGHT have something to do with the way our running game — behind our massive, mobile, powerful offensive line — was GASHING their defense, while simultaneously eating the clock and keeping their high-powered passing game off the field — any chance that had something to do with it?
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It very well be that the reason we went 23 straight running plays in the 2nd half is that our OL is dominant in run blocking, that eats the clock, etc. But the comment I was responding to said Tanner is now “rounding into his 2019 form.” This game was great, but it doesn’t remind me of Tanner slinging the ball around in 2019. Not in the slightest. That’s all. Tanner was a frequently-employed passer in a very balanced offense in 2019; he isn’t in 2021. We have a very good offense this year. Fun to watch. My point was simply that Tanner isn’t “rounding into 2019 form”—mostly because our offense this year has gone in a different direction than 2019.
 
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Gophergrandpa said:
It very well be that the reason we went 23 straight running plays is that our OL is dominant in run blocking. But the comment I was responding to said Tanner is now “rounding into his 2019 form.” This game was great, but it doesn’t remind me of Tanner slinging the ball around in 2019.
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I owe you a sincere apology for the tone of my response to you. Really bad form on my part. I am sorry.
 

RememberMurray said:
I owe you a sincere apology for the tone of my response to you. Really bad form on my part. I am sorry.
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No need to apologize. You are a passionate Gopher fan (as am I). Your analysis of the second half is probably right. Even without the all caps.

But I was just writing about whether Tanner was “rounding into 2019 form.” I don’t think he is being given a chance to round into 2019 form (when he threw for over 3000 yards). I love our running game and the depth we have at RB. The reason I pine for Tanner to throw more this year is so that we have our passing game ready and battle tested (just like our running game) for Iowa and Wisconsin, both of which can really clog up the lanes of even the best of running games. If we can pass on Iowa and Wisconsin when they cheat up to destroy our run game, we have a chance to beat them both this year … because neither of the has a dominant offense. Long range, my comment is about whether we are giving the passing side of our offense the same game-condition, developmental opportunities as the running side. It might matter when we run into Iowa and Wisconsin.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
No need to apologize. You are a passionate Gopher fan (as am I). Your analysis of the second half is probably right. Even without the all caps.

But I was just writing about whether Tanner was “rounding into 2019 form.” I don’t think he is being given a chance to round into 2019 form (when he threw for over 3000 yards). I love our running game and the depth we have at RB. The reason I pine for Tanner to throw more this year is so that we have our passing game ready and battle tested (just like our running game) for Iowa and Wisconsin, both of which can really clog up the lanes of even the best of running games. If we can pass on Iowa and Wisconsin when they cheat up to destroy our run game, we have a chance to beat them both this year … because neither of the has a dominant offense. Long range, my comment is about whether we are giving the passing side of our offense the same game-condition, developmental opportunities as the running side. It might matter when we run into Iowa and Wisconsin.
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Thank you. You are a gentleman.

I think you make some interesting points about the passing game. I just posted on a different thread that we seem to have gotten away from that quick read RPO that worked so well in 2019. That might be because Ciarrocca is gone, might be because Tyler and Rashod are gone. It might be a little of both.
 


RememberMurray said:
Thank you. You are a gentleman.

I think you make some interesting points about the passing game. I just posted on a different thread that we seem to have gotten away from that quick read RPO that worked so well in 2019. That might be because Ciarrocca is gone, might be because Tyler and Rashod are gone. It might be a little of both.
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You are right. We don’t use the Ciarrocca version RPO anymore, it seems. That RPO had Tanner read the free safety in the first second or two after the snap. Free safety stays back in coverage, you hand off to the RB because we have numbers at the line. If the free safety crashes down to the line to support run defense, you pull the ball and throw a slant to the slot receiver at the spot the safety has just vacated. It all happened almost instantly, and it was at Tanner’s option based on a post-snap read. It was designed to stress a specific conflict situation for the safety.

Whether we run or pass now seems determined pre-snap, perhaps based on the personnel package the defense has on the field. If Tanner were still being given the true option to throw or pass, as in 2019, it is inconceivable that we would be running on 75-80% of all plays, or that we would be running on 23 consecutive plays, even when the free safety was committing to run support. We simply aren’t running the 2019 version RPO anymore—for whatever reasons.

I love this year’s team. I love that we are winning all of our toss-up B1G games. I simply wish we were developing this year’s cadre of young receivers a little more in game conditions. We might need them more in November.
 
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The 2019 gophers didn’t run post snap RPO nearly as much as people think
Most of those were called passes.
 

It would be really nice to get Jackson back. I think he's sneaky-good.

I can't tell what's going on with Dylan Wright. On the early long throw to him, the one where defensive pass interference was called, it looked like he completely misjudged the ball. He stopped running downfield and broke toward the near sideline, as if he thought the pass was going to be under thrown, and it sailed over his head. It looked as though, had he kept running downfield, he might have had a chance for a catch.

The play starts at about 1:07 in this video. Side note: Tanner releases the pass from his own 44 yard line, and the ball hits the ground at the Maryland two yard line. That's 54 yards in the air.

 
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RememberMurray said:
It would be really nice to get Jackson back. I think he's sneaky-good.

I can't tell what's going on with Dylan Wright. On the early long throw to him, the one where defensive pass interference was called, it looked like he completely misjudged the ball. He stopped running downfield and broke toward the near sideline, as if he thought the pass was going to be under thrown, and it sailed over his head. It looked as though, had he kept running downfield, he might have had a chance for a catch.

The play starts at about 1:07 in this video. Side note: Tanner releases the pass from his own 44 yard line, and the ball hits the ground at the Maryland two yard line. That's 54 yards in the air.

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The pass didn't "sail over his head." He broke toward the sideline because it was underthrown. He couldn't get his arms up to catch it due to the PI. He was around the 5 yard line. It would have hit him in the chest .

I think his problem is inconsistent hands. That's probably why he couldn't get on the field at his previous school, and why he's not on the field more here.
 

USAF said:
The pass didn't "sail over his head." He broke toward the sideline because it was underthrown. He couldn't get his arms up to catch it due to the PI. He was around the 5 yard line. It would have hit him in the chest .

I think his problem is inconsistent hands. That's probably why he couldn't get on the field at his previous school, and why he's not on the field more here.
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Well, if it was under thrown then that is one helluva deep pass route. Morgan had to dodge a bit in the pocket, so maybe that forced him to throw late.

You might be correct about Wright's hands. Whatever the problem is, it is a shame because that kid looks really, really good at times.
 

I know there is a psychological component to getting over the hump vs Iowa and Wisconsin, but from a talent perspective, this team is good enough to face either one and get through a first quarter without facing a huge deficit.

In 2019 Iowa jumped on us. I don't see them wanting to try, or being able to put Petras in that situation against us. At the end of the first quarter with them, we should be in a close game provided we don't turnover the ball, and that's not something we typically do.

Iowa's defensive line is younger (and excellent) but they are smaller as well. I'll be curious to see if they can stop the run vs Wisconsin this weekend.

Wisconsin vs Minnesota. Minnesota SHOULD have won it last year, but didn't. This year we just seem like the better team offensively. Far less mistakes and running game is probably similar at this point. Their defense is excellent, but the fact we can pass and run the ball as well as any team they probably faced is probably a good sign for us. If there was a year we should beat Wisconsin soundly, it would be this year with a 34-16 type game similar to what we just had against Maryland. I think Bucky will try to run, run, run, but I think we have the d-line depth to stop it now.
 

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