One of the Overlooked Benefits of Last Night's Win

[Dave H]

The farther removed we get from it the more we can all be certain that the frantic check down, bleed the clock to the last second while running around like a chicken with its head cut off checking with the sideline over and over mess was Sanford. Thank goodness those days are behind us.

Sideline check offense is fine but what we were doing under Sanford was a friggin joke and so frustrating to watch.

Some of that was KC as well. I honestly think it was more of a function of Tanner Morgan than anyone. Not a rip, I think the coaches felt they gave him a better chance the more time they took to settle on the play.

 

[#2Gopher]

They explained THAT, too. Since there was a false start--a presnap penalty--the next play (QB sneak) never officially happened. So they were reviewing the most recent play.

I get that the play never happened due to the wipe out of the false start. However, "something" happened where there was a false start/action, meaning that the previous play in my opinion is in the past and you can't and shouldn't go back for a review or whatever.

 

[Dave H]

The run game struggled because of the defense Nebraska ran, because Nebraska has some dudes on that defense (whether we want to admit that or not), and because it was the first game of the season and having some new OL guys having to prepared for a very difficult to prepare for defensive scheme.

That is just the poop on that one. That was going to be like that. Was always going to be a very tough game to get a lot of yards on the ground against that defense.


So why doesn't everyone run that defense then??? Because there is no such thing as a perfect defense. If you pump up one thing, you lose something else. Defense is the art of trying to plug three holes with two fingers. As a DC, you plant your stake in the ground on what your identity is going to be and what you are going to refuse to give ground on, while then figuring out how you're going to make up for that in the other parts.

You have to have the right coach and the right mix of players to make a scheme work. Plenty of teams run 2 high zones but if you don't have the pass rush to make it work you will get picked apart by even a decent QB.

The 3-5-5 is confusing for offenses but just like anything it has weaknesses as you said. The more a team is exposed to it the more they can find those weaknesses. That is where a good coach adapts to tweak things. Its like when you primarily see 4-3 teams and then one week face a 3-4. It causes confusion and it becomes a chess match between the coaches.

I think Rhule is going to find his D gets beat after a while...not because he is a bad coach or the team stinks but because teams with more vets on them will expose the weaknesses more than we could. Plus people will be able to better tell the coaches tendencies whereas the Gophs had no idea what Rhule was prone to do in any situation. Nebraska is going to have a rough year, but if they can recruit players that fit the scheme they could turn it around if they keep the staff together.

 

[Dave H]

I get that the play never happened due to the wipe out of the false start. However, "something" happened where there was a false start/action, meaning that the previous play in my opinion is in the past and you can't and shouldn't go back for a review or whatever.

I agree with this. I understand the mechanics, but I think it is illogical. The only way it would make sense was if they got a delay penalty because they waited for the booth. Then I could agree but they were trying to hurry up, committed a penalty and almost got a TD out of it on the previous play. That makes zero sense in the real world.

 

[Gold Rush]

The farther removed we get from it the more we can all be certain that the frantic check down, bleed the clock to the last second while running around like a chicken with its head cut off checking with the sideline over and over mess was Sanford. Thank goodness those days are behind us.

Sideline check offense is fine but what we were doing under Sanford was a friggin joke and so frustrating to watch.

Geez -- that sucked. Watching Tanner Morgan running around frantically trying to get a play off while the clock bled to zero was excruciating to watch. That's not good football. I especially liked it when the Gophers went with a hurry up play even though it wasn't a huge success. They just might need that sometime. At any rate haven't seen that one from the Gophers in a very long time!!

 

[USAF]

I get that the play never happened due to the wipe out of the false start. However, "something" happened where there was a false start/action, meaning that the previous play in my opinion is in the past and you can't and shouldn't go back for a review or whatever.

Well that might be your opinion, hell it might be my opinion, but our opinion really doesnt matter. The rules matter.

They reviewed the play where the runming back was ruled down by contact just short of the goal line. Call stands....thankfully. False start stands, enforced...thankfully.

Not sure what there is to be confused about.

 

[#2Gopher]

Well that might be your opinion, hell it might be my opinion, but our opinion really doesnt matter. The rules matter.

They reviewed the play where the runming back was ruled down by contact just short of the goal line. Call stands....thankfully. False start stands, enforced...thankfully.

Not sure what there is to be confused about.

There shouldn't be a review. Hopefully they will look at this during the off season.

 

[Dakota2]

I get that the play never happened due to the wipe out of the false start. However, "something" happened where there was a false start/action, meaning that the previous play in my opinion is in the past and you can't and shouldn't go back for a review or whatever.

Dead ball penalty. No play.

 

[caliGopher]

You mean other than:
A money kicker?
An actual pass rush that sacked a mobile QB several times?
Great playmakers in the secondary in Nubin and Walley?
A WR who pulled off a memorable TD reception?
The fact we won without our best WR and LB?
Beating Nebraska for the 5th straight season?

Yeah, not much to get excited about.

We won the game. on your list, you left out in excitement that we did not lose a game we should not have, unlike the past two seasons.

As to the rest of your list, there were two phenomenal plays, one on "O" and one on "D". I can recall less than 10 plays as exciting and as clutch as Daniel Jackson's catch on offense in my years as a Gopher fan (going back to 1987). Nubin's second pick was huge in terms of the quality of the play and the timing of it.

We will know more about what we have in year seven of PJ Flack's tenure in a few weeks. Is Nebraska that good? Are we? It's hard to tell right now. Yeah, I'm disappointed in that.

That said, the game took place over 3+ hours and was as exciting as watching paint dry with the exception of about 2 minutes of play (not counting the time in between plays) that was much to get excited about. But don't get me wrong. If we go 15-0, average just over 2 yds per carry in the running game (the core of our offense), complete 54% of the pass attempts while averaging 4.5 yds per pass attempt, make 66% of our FGs (while nailing the game winner), get out-gained by a pedestrian one-dimensional offense that our offense made look dynamic, I will be thrilled. I will wait until I have more data on what we really have before I count on that even being a possibility, however.

All that, doesn't change we won. So here's hoping like 2019 we turn an absolutely disastrous performance that we needed a TON of help to win a game that should not have been in doubt into the type of season we had in 2019. We have proof it can happen.

We're going to need more than two great plays and a 2/3 kicking performance per game to get there. If you saw signs in Thursday's game that we are going to be competitive in the B1G this year (perhaps the west, but the B1G?), please share whatever your were consuming during the game to help you reach that conclusion. Maybe then I can see that this season will be different.

Unlike some of the posters suggestions, I'm not ready to throw in the towel on this season, but not much has changed on the offensive play calling, we clearly don't have a running back like Mo, and the O-line is not a disaster, but against the formations Nebraska was using, is a legitimate concern until they prove otherwise.

So, yeah, I saw a few good things, but nothing that gave me anything but blind hope this season will get out of the West and into B1G championship game. That is disappointing and does not an exciting game make. Colorado vs. TCU? That was an exciting football game. We can win without being exciting, but I'll stand by my assessment that game was not exciting, win or no. I never said it wasn't a win or I wasn't happy we won, but it was not exciting.

 

[#2Gopher]

Dead ball penalty. No play.

Yet you saw action. You need the take the words dead ball out of the equation. Cheap way of getting a look at the previous play.

 

[caliGopher]

You have to have the right coach and the right mix of players to make a scheme work. Plenty of teams run 2 high zones but if you don't have the pass rush to make it work you will get picked apart by even a decent QB.

The 3-5-5 is confusing for offenses but just like anything it has weaknesses as you said. The more a team is exposed to it the more they can find those weaknesses. That is where a good coach adapts to tweak things. Its like when you primarily see 4-3 teams and then one week face a 3-4. It causes confusion and it becomes a chess match between the coaches.

I think Rhule is going to find his D gets beat after a while...not because he is a bad coach or the team stinks but because teams with more vets on them will expose the weaknesses more than we could. Plus people will be able to better tell the coaches tendencies whereas the Gophs had no idea what Rhule was prone to do in any situation. Nebraska is going to have a rough year, but if they can recruit players that fit the scheme they could turn it around if they keep the staff together.

Actually the 3-5-5 is defense is easy to move the ball against, given there are two too many players on the field for the Defense. Guaranteed 5 yards on every play you run against it.

Sorry, couldn't resist.