I like a 5-2 look at times, but you seldom see it played.
I like Richardson's play on the nose. They could easily get into Eagle, or Oklahoma with TC , Moore, Richardson on the nose, Botticelli, and Say Elmore. Wilson and Lynn at linebacker. Run on that.
A 5-2 front, with Elmore as the Joker, or rover might be a way to put a nice vice grip on that dang cutback play.
Richardson has played excellent to solid and well beyond his experience level, Northwestern and the officials were allowing them to get under his pads more than my liking, he was getting the business but in the Big 10 he is going to have to fight through some of that stuff. Botticelli too, they got a nice hold on his pads a couple times and a real nice holding grip on the outside of his shoulder pads to drive him out of his gap and got away with it. Northwestern teaches holding and disguises it well but so does Purdue. I wasn't trying to ding the DT guy's to hard or get on their cases, just an observation on Saturday that Northwestern was having success with the Cutback, and yes Jackson was good at spinning off tackles and then reversing fields in to the inside trap, an open cutback. The Gopher DT as a group they are playing well,(coaches need to disguise their twists or when they are going to use it a little more) Botticelli has a chance to play on Sundays in the right defense.
it is just with that no huddle and rushed offensive calls it is easy for the Big guys to get winded and thus lose containment on their gap or even to lose a guy on a spin move like Jackson was getting away with. Iowa and Weisman love to run the cutback and they gashed us a lot with it last year by sealing Hageman and getting under his pads. I expect them to try the same but mix in quite a bit of play action passes to those tight ends they like to throw those quick dig routes too.
Wilson and Lynn played their butts off on Saturday and both looked kind of winded after the game, but I can see why those guys were pooped, doing a lot of running on Saturday and non-stop play like a track meet. So did Boddy Calhoun and Myrick in flying up to make stops after catches. A lot of snaps and I think Northwestern had something like 30 more snaps than the Gophers on offense.
Jack Lynn to me has impressed and improved a ton this season, he is really starting to be able to read the play, take on blocks and do the suttle stuff, be in the right spots even push a blocker back in to the play, and Wilson is as a good a linebacker as the Gophers have had in quite a while. The Wilson dude is quite a physical tough tackler, kind of like his cousin Cobb is a tough runner.
Lynn is much better at shedding blocks and taking on the play then I ever thouht he would be. Deniro Laster too, that young guy is going to be a really good linebacker, recognizing the play and staying in the right gaps.
One thing about Saturday, for the first time in a very long time I was confident the Gophers defense would hold and keep Northwestern from scoring those last couple drives with less than 3 minutes to play. Under this coaching staff they are developing the attitude that the defense can make the stop and finish football games and win. This wasn't a dominating performance by any means but the Gophers had some stuff not go their way and some adversity and they came out with a win so that say' a lot. This Gopher team controls their own destiny, and the sky is the limit for this group, I hope they realize it. There is room for improvement and these guy's have not even come close to playing their best football on defense yet. They are building towards that and definitely starting to develop some swagger and I like it. To me this defense can be stiff and physical like Iowa and I am really enjoying this season.
Purdue is going to be a tougher football game than most realize,(this game screams trap game) Homecoming and all of the distractions that go with it. This is an important win to get where they want to be (1967 needs to be replaced by 2014). Most just see the record for Purdue and assume that Purdue is no good, but there is talent on that team, nobody put's up 31 points on Michigan State and doesn't have good offensive talent, that and they hung with Notre Dame for a a half and played some good football. Make no mistake Purdue is coming in here expecting they can hang and win. The Gophers need another good week of practice. I have seen some good things out of them, they are good at running the football and have some serious wheels in the backfield so they Purdue will be a challenge. Overlooking those guys is not an option, or there will be a lot of unhappy Gophers on Saturday. If guy's have this marked down as a win already they better quit it, because Purdue is going to come to play.
