Purpose of Non-Conference Games

[John Galt]

Jerry Kill has done some great work with the program. In years past, the Gophers would lose often to mid-majors in the non-conference schedule, and even to the occasional FCS school. No game was a guaranteed win. We're now at the point where our fan base is livid when we don't win by enough or with style points. This by itself is a significant accomplishment that shouldn't be overlooked. So my question to the board is this: what is the purpose of the non-conference cupcakes that we scheduled? Is it:

1. Just win. Saturday's game was perfect, we took what they gave us, and became one game closer to bowl eligibility. We're a young team and need the extra practices in December, going to a bowl helps with recruiting, and we did what we needed to.

or

2. Win, but use the games as preparation for the B1G season. Implement the whole offense (jet sweeps, screen passes, downfield passes, etc.) in real game situations so that we are ready for the B1G season.

For the last few years, my answer would have been #1 given where the program was at. Now that we are in year #4 for Kill and we have successfully accomplished #1, IMO we need to get to #2. Don't get me wrong, I (and I think most fans on here) would have no problem winning every single B1G game the same way we won on Saturday. But since B1G defenses will be a little tougher to run on than SJSU, et al, non-conference games should be the time to get the other parts of the offense ready.

 

[gopherdudepart2]

I disagree that the fan base is livid when they have not won by enough or style point

Jerry Kill has done some great work with the program. In years past, the Gophers would lose often to mid-majors in the non-conference schedule, and even to the occasional FCS school. No game was a guaranteed win. "We're now at the point where our fan base is livid when we don't win by enough or with style points." This by itself is a significant accomplishment that shouldn't be overlooked. So my question to the board is this: what is the purpose of the non-conference cupcakes that we scheduled? Is it:

1. Just win. Saturday's game was perfect, we took what they gave us, and became one game closer to bowl eligibility. We're a young team and need the extra practices in December, going to a bowl helps with recruiting, and we did what we needed to.
or
2. Win, but use the games as preparation for the B1G season. Implement the whole offense (jet sweeps, screen passes, downfield passes, etc.) in real game situations so that we are ready for the B1G season.

I like option two because the repetition seems to be good for preparation and the mindset that you can execute success with the variation in plays calls.

Some of the concern, consternation, or annoyance is not with the fact that the Gophers are 3-1(Winning is always a positive thing) It is the fact that the Gopher offense has struggled against weak competition in the Non-conference schedule portion of this season. It's not like people are not happy that they are winning, they are just bummed that the offense doesn't seem like it is going to be enough to win a lot.
So far the Gophers have really struggled to move the football and convert first downs on offense without short fields. Struggling to convert first downs against lower competition doesn't usually bode well for great or vast improvement against teams that you have struggled with historically. Some of this is line continuity and injury's and some of it is timing of play calling. They don't have to appologize for being good at running the football, the Gophers,
but because of the predictable nature of the offensive tendancies they have shown so far, against perceived weaker defenses, they look like they will really struggle to be able to move the football and score points against strong defensive fronts.
So far the quarterback play with injury's seems to have created quite a bit of talk, Strevlar is a weapon and his speed is deceptive but if the young man decides to take the pounding he did last week, then look out for another possible injury.
The one thing Michigan does well is stop the run on the defensive side of the ball, and with what the Gophers have shown on film, they are going to be all over the play calls at the line. This seems to be the one thing that has always separated Michgan and Minnesota, there ability to control the line of scrimmage both on offense and defense. Even though the Gophers have shown improvement under coach Kills staff, the one thing they have not shown the ability to be able to do is control the line of scrimmage and play physical football against Michigan. Michigan see's Minnesota and they see red and fresh meat and seem to feast at the line, so they already seem to have a mental edge. How do you change that mindset when it has been so ingrained for so many football seasons? Is Minnesota up to the challenge at the line of scrimmage, that is the big question for Saturday? Doesn't take a Gopherhole expert to discern the fact that Michigan has continued to own the line of scrimmage for many years against the Gophers, without changing the mindset this year the likelihood this will change, is low. Not sure this year is going to be any different, with there inherent recruiting and in state talent they already have that advantage. This is why Michigan fans are ticked off at there coach, they know there a helmet school and should be playing better than they are. Bottom line there still Michigan and they still seem to own the line of scrimmage until that starts to change the results likely will not.

 

[Section2]

Twofold, in the program development state, these games are must win to get bowl eligible, which coaches talk about non stop as a crucial piece, so I'll take their word. Do whatever it takes to win.

Second piece is making the next step. Working out your weaknesses. Doing what you know you'll need to do instead of what you can do right now to win. Neither mase or kill have done that. Guess we are not at next level stage. Hope to be proven wrong and the pass game gels.

 

[GopherHomer]

Until we are legitimate contenders for the playoff, the goal of the non-conference should be to go 4-0 setting the team up to make a bowl game (3-0 or 2-0 as the schedules change). Now, that being said I think we could have worked on the passing game a little more while still being able to easily win 3 of our 4 games this preseason.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

OR - the purpose of the non-conference games is to win the winnable games, while not giving future opponents a look at the entire playbook. If, as some suggest, the Gophers used the non-conf games to practice the entire playbook, then all the future B1G opponents would have the Gophs' entire playbook on film (tape?) to study and prepare for. Hey guys - here's what we're going to run at you in two weeks. While we're at it, would you like to have a look at some new formations so you're not surprised when we use them against you?

I certainly hope, and expect, that the Gophs have NOT shown their entire offense to date, and will be ready to spring some surprises on future opponents.

 

[Mulligan]

With a freshman making his first start, you make sure of the win. Does little good to work on your passing game or your weaknesses getting ready for Michigan if you lose that game if the freshman QB turns it over enough times to get beat. Obviously, they need to do more on offense to beat Michigan, but it is what it is, and Kill did what he thought he had to do to get the win. Not sure why that's hard to grasp for some.

 

[John Galt]

OR - the purpose of the non-conference games is to win the winnable games, while not giving future opponents a look at the entire playbook. If, as some suggest, the Gophers used the non-conf games to practice the entire playbook, then all the future B1G opponents would have the Gophs' entire playbook on film (tape?) to study and prepare for. Hey guys - here's what we're going to run at you in two weeks. While we're at it, would you like to have a look at some new formations so you're not surprised when we use them against you?

I certainly hope, and expect, that the Gophs have NOT shown their entire offense to date, and will be ready to spring some surprises on future opponents.

If there is a playbook to open up, it should have been done against TCU. Besides, this is Kill's 4th year here. There's plenty of past film to evaluate at this point.

 

[bottlebass]

If there is a playbook to open up, it should have been done against TCU. Besides, this is Kill's 4th year here. There's plenty of past film to evaluate at this point.

They did open it up some against TCU. They tried to throw the ball a lot. And not just once we were way behind. The started the game out throwing the ball a lot. Our O line just didn't give ML time for the plays that were being called.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

They did open it up some against TCU. They tried to throw the ball a lot. And not just once we were way behind. The started the game out throwing the ball a lot. Our O line just didn't give ML time for the plays that were being called.

We didn't open it up that much. We threw the ball more because I think the coaches thought they had to. However, they were pretty vanilla pass plays that did not really stretch the field at all (except for the one where Leidner threw it blindly across his body and across the field into double coverage, which may have been the dumbest pass I've seen since Devon Gardener threw the pick-six with 0 return yards against Notre Dame last year)/

 

[Gopherdrummer]

I believe the coaches treated the non-con schedule as pre-season. Our offense looked flat against EIU and MTSU at times because we were deliberately running plays that were not our strength.

Unfortunately we got really injured. We played TCU with a battered QB and offense, and we forced the passing game. We saw a vanilla read option base offense against SJSU because it was the safe route to take to ensure a win, and we had a new QB in there for the whole game.

We didn't open up the playbook - hardly any shifts and motions, not many jet sweeps, not the same passing looks we used with success a year ago. I partially blame injuries on that as well as inconsistent QB play. But I do think the coaches were using the first two games as an opportunity to work on our weakest offensive sets in a game situation.