Souhan: Defense once again was awful, and it could have looked worse

[BleedGopher]

per Souhan:

The Gophers have taken an old offensive innovation and adapted it on the other side of the ball.

They have implemented — innovated, even — the Spread Defense.

Their front creates running lanes that could charge tolls. Their secondary leaves open swaths of green space that could be designated national parks. Minutes after the game, the Maryland football team’s Twitter account displayed a picture of their quarterback under large letters spelling “Boat Rowed,’’ a shot at Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck’s slogan.

Defense once again was awful, and it could have looked worse

The most immediate cause of Friday night's Gophers loss at Maryland was a missed extra point in overtime; the true culprit was a defense that has allowed 94 points in two weeks.

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[Replacement Gopher]

I honestly don’t know how Souhan has a job after his fire Kill due to his epilepsy article.

 

[GopherGod]

For the defense to be this bad, Fleck had to have whiffed on a ton of recruits over the last couple seasons. When you have a young guy like Cody L having to start this early, you missed big time. Seems like a great kid but not a kid who should be a Big Ten starting LB

 

[GopherDog1]

For the defense to be this bad, Fleck had to have whiffed on a ton of recruits over the last couple seasons. When you have a young guy like Cody L having to start this early, you missed big time. Seems like a great kid but not a kid who should be a Big Ten starting LB

Was thinking the same thing. Not only Cody L but MSM #55. Brutal technique and angles to the ball. I guess not only him but others too have whiffed in the last 2 games. Maybe just need better athletes on D to compensate for poor coaching or it could be that they are just so young and we are looking at this for the future but they should have better tackling form than this. Coughlin had better form than these guys.

 

[WhoFellDownTheGopherHole?]

It would be one thing if we had a bunch of skilled but green guys who just need time to learn. Unfortunately we have guys who don't look very skilled at all, and still need time to learn. I'll be happy to eat my words, but this doesn't look like something that gets fixed in half a season or even by next season.

 

[BilldGopher]

Certainly the 2018 Purdue game and going forward demonstrated coaching was the issue...not the personnel...for that season.

Not enough data yet but looks like the Gophers are dealing with coaching not up to getting at least a decent performance out of the personnel being fielded.

We know that covid took out Spring Ball and really limited summer into early-fall coaching opportunities. What I don't know is whether covid-related protocols in place NOW with the season underway are restricting teaching, drills, and one-on-one preparation relative to a "normal" season? If yes, there would be a negative feedback loop into the coaching and game planning...a very insidious one at that.

Unfortunately, it is impossible in the covid alternative timeline to not wonder these things. Obviously it did not seem to be an issue with either Michigan or Maryland, so that to me really brings it back to talent level and not being able to make it marginally successful on gameday. Yuck.