Postgame Thread: Gophers Lose to North Carolina

[Gopherchase]

Considering the talent around him and the talent he’s alleged to have, after further consideration that was the worst QB performance I’ve ever seen by a Gopher. I don’t know that his psyche or the teams confidence in him can be very easily restored. Even if he comes back and plays better going forward we need to hit the portal hard.

 

[Word]

Wasn't there talk of AK being injured/limited going into the season? Maybe he is not playing at 100% and that is contributing to the accuracy issues.

Just throwing that out there

 

[Gopherchase]

Wasn't there talk of AK being injured/limited going into the season? Maybe he is not playing at 100% and that is contributing to the accuracy issues.

Just throwing that out there

His throwing motion seems different and his swagger is muted. I was sure he was our QB messiah but seems to be fools gold.

 

[Dakota2]

I didn't expect the Gophers to win today, but hoped they'd be 4-1 after five games. But I was surprised at what a bad showing the Gophers made in the passing game, 11 of 30. If this doesn't improve, they will have to scratch and fight to get six wins and a bowl. Again, I'd like to see Kramer get a fair trial at some point in the next two games, and not in garbage time.

When has Kramer ever played in garbage time?

 

[btowngopher]

What if just the QB’s were flipped for just this game? No other changes. Would the Gophers come out victorious?

Yes

 

[Dakota2]

Rough game and hard to watch at times.

1) Poor offensive play calling
2) More dropped passes (seems to be becoming a theme this year)
3) Multiple defensive breakdowns, leaving wide open receivers
4) Athan really struggled and should have had two more interceptions, but they luckily were dropped

I think the defense will be fine, but it seems like the offense could really lower the ceiling of this team. Need to get that fixed soon. The worst part is NC was pretty much begging the Gophers to score touchdowns in the 2nd quarter with multiple interceptions by Maye, but of course the offense couldn't do anything with those turnovers.

Why does poor accuracy and some drops equate to poor offensive play calling? If AK is sharp and the receivers have a great game would the play calling still be bad?

Calling 30 pass plays was the reason our 31 rushing plays worked as well as they did. NC did not dare stack the box to stop Taylor.

 

[Dakota2]

He’s been inaccurate on short, intermediate, and deep throws. Bad form could account for some of it. Speaking from some personal experience many many moons ago and what ultimately stemmed from rotator cuff and elbow overuse stuff I compensated with a change in motion but accuracy suffered. I wonder. He doesn’t look like the same thrower this year.

He is throwing side armed too often in the worst situations. At least twice yesterday the low arm angle costs us bigtime.

Once he had a receiver in the middle 10 yards deep who was being mauled by a defender. Ref threw the flag for automatic first down. Meanwhile, AK was throwing from down under and bounced it off a D lineman's head, negating the penalty.

Later, he had a receiver open on the left sideline about 25 yards downfield. Might have been Jackson. Our guy was open and a D back was five yards in front of the receiver (our guy was behind the defense). AK needs air to drop it over the closer defender. But he sidearms it and it never gets more than six feet off the ground. Beaten defender is able to stick out a hand and deflect it. Could have been a big gainer.

 

[Dakota2]

Kramer is not the answer. The gameplan needs to improve greatly as many have posted. Just one example would be going to your big all-college TE on high percentage quick short passes 8-10 times a game.

AK is going to Spann-Ford plenty. He is giving him fastballs from ten yards away, some of which are behind him.

Many are giving up on Spann-Ford as a receiver. Don't. When the throws get decent he'll rock. What he has gotten so far this year would make Chris Carter look like stone hands.

 

[Dakota2]

Again, only saw the 2nd half and this really doesn't relate to yesterday's game, but is Bateman the last WR we had that could beat the DB right at the line-of-scrimmage?l Could be scheme issues, but none of WRs appear to be particularly explosive.

Brockington.

 

[Dakota2]

A new QB, RB, and OL, and aged hobbled veterans at WR and TE who did poorly.
PJ is rigid in his philosophy of clock control.
The season's first game against a good team and an away game.
So the loss should not be a shock.
The conference schedule, which is the only W/L record that counts, is challenging.
The end of this year will tell if this is all we can expect from PJ as a recruiter and coach or is there hope to actually make the playoffs next year.

PJ likes clock control, like any coach. He is not rigid on playing just for that. Yesterday we threw 30 times and ran 31. That is great balance, not rigidity.

We lost because our QB had a terrible day and his counterpart showed his Heisman self.

 

[Dakota2]

Actually encouraged by Fleck’s postgame presser. Seems like there is a sense of urgency.

AK’s inaccuracy is getting concerning. He missed some deep balls that would have changed the game. Our inability to make any explosive plays (run or pass) is such a killer. How many plays over 40 yards have we had the last two years?

AK's inaccuracy, while very real this season, is in his head. He has lost his poise.

You can't beat Wisconsin at Madison and Nebbie at Lincoln last season with a bad quarterback. AK has temporarily lost it. But it's still there

 

[Dakota2]

- At the 6 minute mark of the 3rd quarter, Athan scrambles for a first down and appears to get a lower body injury. Not good when that's maybe his best attribute right now. The announcers are commenting on how we have the momentum and have scored the last 10 points. The score is 21-13.
- A the 5 minute mark Athan underthrows an open receiver at the NC 5 yard line. If we score the touchdown there, we're likely down one point, 21-20. He is visibly limping after the play so in comes Kramer. Athan has accuracy issues, but if he isn't hurt, maybe he gets more juice on the ball, completes that throw and we're right in the game!
- At the 3 minute mark of same drive at the NC 34 with Athan on the bench, Kramer throws a terrible pick in the end zone. Game over.

https://www.google.com/search?q=min...ate=ive&vld=cid:d20cb181,vid:tD7CwV5qO6c,st:0

- Even with all of Athan's missed throws and the drops and defensive mistakes, we very easily could have been down only one late in the third quarter. I still think we lose because Athan likely couldn't run affectively anymore and Drake Maye is an awesome college quarterback.
- As someone else stated, if you swap starting quarterbacks and give us Drake Maye and give Athan to NC, we beat NC. Drake was easily the best player on the field. I did not see a large talent difference between the rest of the players. If Athan can improve A LOT over the next couple years, maybe we can have a poor man's version of Drake Maye at some point. Like Drake, he has good speed and a strong arm.
- Appalachian State is probably a pretty good team. They are 2-1 with their only loss to NC.
- NC could very well be a top ten team by the end of the year. They probably should be now given no one has played a more difficult first three teams. They stomped on what is probably a pretty good South Carolina team. South Carolina was leading #1 Georgia at the half this past week! How would you like to be South Carolina by the way? They played the #1 team and another team that should be top ten (according to me) in their first three games. Yikes! That's a tough way to start the year when everyone else is playing cream puffs!

Well, it turns out he didn't get hurt on the run you mention. He got leg cramps. That's why he looked so awkward going down at the end of the run.

He later got a cramp in his throwing forearm. Can't imagine making a throw with even the hint of a cramp in your throwing arm.

 

[Dakota2]

glass half full: a lot of season left to play. lots of room for improvement. most of the teams in the West look very beatable.

glass half empty: are Athan's problems fixable in mid-season? can you teach "touch?"

bottom line: barring a complete collapse, this team should win at least 7 games. meaning the overall results will come down to.......................who else..................Iowa and Wisconsin.

Don't need to teach touch but you do need to practice it. We have seen him drop in plenty of balls with some air last year. You are not Gatoraid Player of the Year in Illinois by throwing all rockets to high school receivers. His completion percentage would have been around 5%.

In practice this week, run the deep sideline and put a defender five yards short of where the ball needs to drop in. Give him a tennis racquet and let AK drop it in over the racquet 50 times a day.

He knows how to do it. He has lost his confidence right now and is panicking to get the ball there rather than thinking touch. He can get it back. He has been throwing a football since he could walk.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

Last year we couldn't wait to get rid of Morgan for ak, now we're ready to run ak out of town


Something's never change

Totally true. AK needs to play the whole year and evaluate at the end of the season. He’s got arm talent but the decision making and touch need work.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

We'll win comfortable

I’d take MN to cover, easy

 

[gopherguy15]

Why does poor accuracy and some drops equate to poor offensive play calling?

Huh?

 

[gopherbadgerman]

I don't understand why anybody thought the Gophers would win today. Fleck doesn't recruit at the level of UNC. We don't have the talent to compete with Top 25 programs right now.

We're a middling team with, unsurprisingly, middling recruiting. Our last few years' easy schedules and a few upsets have spoiled us. With a real schedule this year, I guess some fans are in for a reality shock.

We had the worst recruiting class in the Big 10 last year. Forget about clock management or burning TOs, Fleck's recruiting has been his biggest failure.

Fleck has to recruit better players if he wants to win more football games. If we keep recruiting at the level of Rutgers, in three years, that's against whom we'll be most competitive.

I totally agree with you. Fleck has actually overachieved relative to the talent level. But it’s his job to get better players. This board is full of disillusioned fans that think the gophers are WAY better than they actually are.

 

[Panthadad2]

Ryan Burns put out a nice article in GI illustrating all the numerous missed opportunities in the passing game vs UNC. In short, the game plan and play design was there for the most part. Receivers were open, some for potential home runs, but either the pass wasn't there or the ball was dropped. UNC made all their plays while the Gophs made very few, thus a blowout.

https://x.com/RyanBurnsMN/status/1703405286159954368?s=20

 

[btowngopher]

AK's inaccuracy, while very real this season, is in his head. He has lost his poise.

You can't beat Wisconsin at Madison and Nebbie at Lincoln last season with a bad quarterback. AK has temporarily lost it. But it's still there

It’s mostly the deep ball that has been inaccurate. We’ve probably had a dozen drops so far this year as well, including the one of Spann Ford vs EMU that resulted in a int.

 

[btowngopher]

Considering the talent around him and the talent he’s alleged to have, after further consideration that was the worst QB performance I’ve ever seen by a Gopher. I don’t know that his psyche or the teams confidence in him can be very easily restored. Even if he comes back and plays better going forward we need to hit the portal hard.

Might not be a bad idea to add one even if AK looks great. The depth behind him at this point would be rs frosh Viotto and true frosh Lindsey assuming he sticks.

 

[Dakota2]

Ryan Burns put out a nice article in GI illustrating all the numerous missed opportunities in the passing game vs UNC. In short, the game plan and play design was there for the most part. Receivers were open, some for potential home runs, but either the pass wasn't there or the ball was dropped. UNC made all their plays while the Gophs made very few, thus a blowout.

https://x.com/RyanBurnsMN/status/1703405286159954368?s=20

He’s spot on. Nothing wrong with game plan or play calling. Execution wasn’t there.

 

[Dakota2]

It’s mostly the deep ball that has been inaccurate. We’ve probably had a dozen drops so far this year as well, including the one of Spann Ford vs EMU that resulted in a int.

That one to BSF was way behind him. He reached back and tipped it for the interception. Poor throw.

AK had both leg cramps and also in forearm of his throwing arm. Had to affect his accuracy.

 

[Dakota2]

That one to BSF was way behind him. He reached back and tipped it for the interception. Poor throw.

AK had both leg cramps and also in forearm of his throwing arm. Had to affect his accuracy.

Memory left me. I think you are right about EMU interception. BSF muffed it.

 

[#2Gopher]

I'm in the camp that it just wasn't a good day for the Gophers, much like it wasn't a good day when we played Bowling Green. Granted, North Carolina is a much better team than Bowling Green is. I look to see a different team in a positive way this weekend.

 

[BilldGopher]

Only saw the 1st half and 4th Quarter on TV the first time...listened to the 3rd Quarter on the radio.

Rewatched the game into the 3rd Quarter tonight and will note that on passing plays where Athan rolled out he was being pursued by a NC defender practically every time. Actually running for his life. Not a strong X-O guy but looked to me that NC had an extra man ready to go after AK whenever he would roll out. Hard to tell if he actually had a pocket for most of those but still defender pursuit affects the QB.

Interestingly it also looked like we were doing the same to Maye. Unfortunately for us he was almost like Drew Brees and could evade, roll out, step-back, step-up...whatever...and make the throw to make the play. For those around back in the day, Brees tortured the Gophers the years he was QB for Purdue. Some QBs have it and some don't...Mayes does.

Finally, the NC homer shows I watched indicated they did not have much faith in their WRs. I say BS to that. I know we were discombobulated for most of the game but they were running their routes and the QB executed. They are just flat out better than us in that department. Sigh.

 

[MZBKA1]

Except we were 9th in the B1G in recruiting last year, not even close to last. The only position UNC had a better player was at QB.

Go lie and troll somewhere else loser.

2022 Recruit Big-Ten Football Team Rankings

In order to create the most comprehensive Team Recruiting Ranking without any notion of bias, 247Sports Team Recruiting Ranking is solely based on the 247Sports Composite Rating.

247sports.com

Minnesota, dead last.

Take your alternative facts somewhere else, loser.

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

2022 Recruit Big-Ten Football Team Rankings

In order to create the most comprehensive Team Recruiting Ranking without any notion of bias, 247Sports Team Recruiting Ranking is solely based on the 247Sports Composite Rating.

247sports.com

Minnesota, dead last.

Take your alternative facts somewhere else, loser.

That class was 2 years ago. Keep digging troll.

 

[IceBoxGopher]

Had a few days to ponder the game. Couple thoughts

Defensively, I think the Gophers did OK. They kept that game fairly winnable, especially turnovers that set up the offense well. In a way, I'm reminded of the 2014 loss to TCU.

That team also had a good defense but was just overwhelmed by a great offense. I'm not saying North Carolina is as good as the Frogs from that season, but they have a great QB.

On offense, it's a highly concerning situation. I've been trying to give AK the benefit of the doubt since he's still a young QB, but man, it's been a rough couple of weeks. I do think the running game can be effective with the players, but the passing game seems very ineffective.

Maybe when Crab gets back it will help Athan with another weapon? Regardless, some adjustments have to happen there.

 

[Solo]

Wasted a lot of money on a trip to UNC for a very poor performance.
The 3rd down quick snaps UNC had looked like a clown show on the Gophers sideline.
They were clearly not prepared on several of those plays with subbing and confusion, and inexplicably wouldn't use a timeout even in the first half. Poor game strategy.

 

[tpbeight]

Had a few days to ponder the game. Couple thoughts

Defensively, I think the Gophers did OK. They kept that game fairly winnable, especially turnovers that set up the offense well. In a way, I'm reminded of the 2014 loss to TCU.

That team also had a good defense but was just overwhelmed by a great offense. I'm not saying North Carolina is as good as the Frogs from that season, but they have a great QB.

On offense, it's a highly concerning situation. I've been trying to give AK the benefit of the doubt since he's still a young QB, but man, it's been a rough couple of weeks. I do think the running game can be effective with the players, but the passing game seems very ineffective.

Maybe when Crab gets back it will help Athan with another weapon? Regardless, some adjustments have to happen there.

Defense was OK. I didn't love their Drop-8 plan on every third down in the 1st half. Also, no real lane integrity up front. Our edges were soft and their QB took advantage. We have some playmakers on D, though.

Running the ball effectively with Taylor was great to see. I don't see what Tyler gives us, at all. In the running game, the drop off behind Taylor is huge. What ever happened to Evans? Our OL is OK. Boe is the weakest link and it's because he's just not an athlete. If Johnson is pushing for reps inside he's either a budding superstar, or someone in there isn't cutting it in the eyes of the coaches. Carroll in pass protection is rough to watch.

I thought we'd lose this game, but i hoped we'd be competitive. Everyone has something to fix right now. The coaching needs to be better, the QB & WR need to be better, pass protection needs to be better, & the secondary needs to be better. Did Nubin even play on Saturday? The only time i noticed him was when he was later over the top on a deep ball.

We'll win 5 or 6 but i don't see this team upsetting a top-level squad this year. I hope i'm wrong.