STrib: Fleck told Tanner and Zack it's a competition for QB1

[Winasota Gopher]

I have heard that adage about QBs multiple times but I really don't think it applies in this case. Both guys have shown an ability to get the job done which is rare and this is one of those cases where I think most of us would feel pretty confident in either of those two leading the team.

With Morgan and Annexstad I just don't know that you are going to have a clear cut lead guy. I would give the edge to Morgan based on how last year ended but if Annexstad beats him out so be it. They have similar skill sets so it doesn't seem likely that one of them dominates the other at this point.

The X factor would be someone like Clark coming in and blowing the team away with their play. That is the only real scenario outside of injury where there is likely to be a clear cut, no question, number one guy. More then likely we will be looking at a 1a/1b scenario.

I would however like to see us roll with one guy as the starter and not do the whole rotating QBs thing. That rarely seems to work and based on how Fleck has handled things I don't see him being a big proponent of that either. Have a starter and mix in the wildcat.

My comment was more about it being a good thing if one of these two very competent QBs becomes a clear cut favorite. Not because the other is worse but because one is simply that much better. I don’t want two equally good QBs making it a constant debate over when to pull the trigger on a backup if you hit a patch.

I want a stud starting qb.

 

[Off-GridTNgopher]

I keep going back and fourth here as to who's qb2 and who's qb3.. Regardless I like the idea of having 2 QBs with B10 starting experience as backups

 

[FredCoxRocks]

"If you have two QB's you don't have one".

I want someone to run away with this. I don't care who it is, but I want it to be because they worked their asses off and are head and shoulders the guy.

Was that Bill Walsh who coined that phrase?...oh, wait...nevermind.

 

[fmlizard]

Was that Bill Walsh who coined that phrase?...oh, wait...nevermind.

LOL. Mike Tyson also said "Everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the mouth". I suppose that's the counterpoint to "If you have two QBs you don't have one". It's good to have hope and options when things inevitably go badly. Feels good that we might have that for a few years here.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

LOL. Mike Tyson also said "Everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the mouth". I suppose that's the counterpoint to "If you have two QBs you don't have one". It's good to have hope and options when things inevitably go badly. Feels good that we might have that for a few years here.

Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.

- Captain Hadley, Shawshank Redemption 2

 

[Pompous Elitist]

The present situation is this: we have one guy we know can get it done vs Big Ten competition, and another guy that can maybe get it done. It’s nice to think ZA will look like Tom Brady with his injuries healed and a competent offensive line but we don’t have nearly as much evidence that is true or even possible at this point. It would be crazy for PJ to pull Morgan after the relatively impressive (for a MN QB) performance he put on last year unless he is 100% sure ZA will be better when the bullets are live. I can’t see how he can be certain of that so I expect TM will have to play himself out of QB1.

The wildcard is how ready JC is coming out of a competitive Texas league. Maybe he has the big arm, the pocket presence, the moxie we’ve been waiting for and pushes to start right away. Unknowable. The spring game will be interesting!

 

[oak_street1981]

Sophomore Zack Annexstad and redshirt sophomore Tanner Morgan split the season last year, and Fleck said that competition will continue into 2019.

Go Gophers!![/QUOTE]

This is all 100 percent coach speak BS, and should be ignored completely. Morgan earned the job and is the QB. KC and PJF trust Tanner Morgan completely.

Tanner Morgan proved he can make the throws and keep control of the offense.

Almost as impressive as his throws down the stretch was the lack of pre-snap penalties on a team that sits on the line for 20 plus seconds waiting for a call.

The only way anyone other than Tanner Morgan runs the show is if he gets injured, or Morgan really sucks once the real games start. (At Fresno, or the first good Big Ten team).

Having depth is nice though. This program has not had any real depth at QB since Assad and that JC guy shared the job for a while back in 2001 or so.

P. Nelson and Mitch could have been a competition, but Phillip started throwing the ball into the ground like Donovan McNabb and quit on his team, so that ended quickly. (and we all know know the CFL star that starred at SDSU cannot throw the ball 35 yards in the air., thanks to GWG.

 

[HoustonTXGopher]

If our offensive line is good enough to provide us a really solid running game it won't matter which QB is in the game. They are both good enough to make some plays and keep drives alive.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Sophomore Zack Annexstad and redshirt sophomore Tanner Morgan split the season last year, and Fleck said that competition will continue into 2019.

Go Gophers!!

This is all 100 percent coach speak BS, and should be ignored completely. Morgan earned the job and is the QB. KC and PJF trust Tanner Morgan completely.

Tanner Morgan proved he can make the throws and keep control of the offense.

Almost as impressive as his throws down the stretch was the lack of pre-snap penalties on a team that sits on the line for 20 plus seconds waiting for a call.

The only way anyone other than Tanner Morgan runs the show is if he gets injured, or Morgan really sucks once the real games start. (At Fresno, or the first good Big Ten team).

Having depth is nice though. This program has not had any real depth at QB since Assad and that JC guy shared the job for a while back in 2001 or so.

P. Nelson and Mitch could have been a competition, but Phillip started throwing the ball into the ground like Donovan McNabb and quit on his team, so that ended quickly. (and we all know know the CFL star that starred at SDSU cannot throw the ball 35 yards in the air., thanks to GWG.[/QUOTE]

Cool. I'll commit this post to memory and see how it ages.

 

[oak_street1981]

This is all 100 percent coach speak BS, and should be ignored completely. Morgan earned the job and is the QB. KC and PJF trust Tanner Morgan completely.


Cool. I'll commit this post to memory and see how it ages.

Good for you, that would be a good plan. My experience has been that coaches go with players that they trust and continue to produce. Tanner Morgan fits the bill, unless he gets injured or plays poorly in early games, which I pointed out. He is not gong to lose the job in camp.

Sorry for pushing the envelope and taking a position on what a player might do next do next year on an fan board, I know that is pretty revolutionary.

I guess I really stuck my neck out on this one. cool

 

[PMWinSTP]

Good for you, that would be a good plan. My experience has been that coaches go with players that they trust and continue to produce. Tanner Morgan fits the bill, unless he gets injured or plays poorly in early games, which I pointed out. He is not gong to lose the job in camp.

Sorry for pushing the envelope and taking a position on what a player might do next do next year on an fan board, I know that is pretty revolutionary.

I guess I really stuck my neck out on this one. cool

Thanks. Long rebuttal to a short response. Hope you are right.

 

[oak_street1981]

Long rebuttal? It was not that long, but i guess you committed the first one to memory, so another five or six sentences is not too hard to deal with.

I slog through, prioritize and take action on hundreds of of ugly emails every day at work so I guess perspective is everything. The limitations and pitfalls of email and board postings are very similar.

cool

 

[PMWinSTP]

Long rebuttal? It was not that long, but i guess you committed the first one to memory, so another five or six sentences is not too hard to deal with.

I slog through, prioritize and take action on hundreds of of ugly emails every day at work so I guess perspective is everything. The limitations and pitfalls of email and board postings are very similar.

cool

I'm happy for you. It was a long rebuttal to a short response. I hope you are right.

 

[oak_street1981]

good to know you are happy. ok.. shorter

 

[John Galt]

I'm with Captain Morgan. It's pretty hard to justify benching a guy who just had by far the most impressive Freshman QB performance in school history, and one of the best statistical totals of ANY QB who has ever played here.

That said, I don't see what PJF has to lose by keeping competition lively in spring ball. It's also not fair to consign ZA's career to the bench over something that was mostly an injury that happened as a Freshman.

I do hope they pick someone in spring. I'm hoping they don't go into fall camp splitting reps.

This sums it up perfectly. Morgan led us to a strong finish and a blowout win in Madison and the bowl game. He’s not going to be on the sideline on the first possession opening night.

 

[Spoofin]

TM2 was better than ZA5 last year even when he was healthy. Against better teams to boot. Unless ZA5 improved significantly since last year this competition is a “competition”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PitinoFan]

Tanner displayed an “it” factor on the field that we didn’t see from Zack. I can’t really explain it, but he just carries himself like a winner. To be fair, Tanner had an extra year to prepare for that moment, but if Tanner continues to improve, I think the job is his. I have high expectations for him.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Johnnyboy18]

Annexstad won the job when both were 100% healthy so I don't think it's that outlandish to think he'll be the QB next year.

 

[Some guy]

"If you have two QB's you don't have one".

I want someone to run away with this. I don't care who it is, but I want it to be because they worked their asses off and are head and shoulders the guy.

Not saying either guy is Tom Brady or Tim Tebow. But those are the greatest nfl QB of all time and one of the greatest college players of all time...both of whom played in two quarterback systems for part of their career

 

[oleboy41]

Sophomore Zack Annexstad and redshirt sophomore Tanner Morgan split the season last year, and Fleck said that competition will continue into 2019.

Go Gophers!!

This is all 100 percent coach speak BS, and should be ignored completely. Morgan earned the job and is the QB. KC and PJF trust Tanner Morgan completely.

Tanner Morgan proved he can make the throws and keep control of the offense.

Almost as impressive as his throws down the stretch was the lack of pre-snap penalties on a team that sits on the line for 20 plus seconds waiting for a call.

The only way anyone other than Tanner Morgan runs the show is if he gets injured, or Morgan really sucks once the real games start. (At Fresno, or the first good Big Ten team).

Having depth is nice though. This program has not had any real depth at QB since Assad and that JC guy shared the job for a while back in 2001 or so.

P. Nelson and Mitch could have been a competition, but Phillip started throwing the ball into the ground like Donovan McNabb and quit on his team, so that ended quickly. (and we all know know the CFL star that starred at SDSU cannot throw the ball 35 yards in the air., thanks to GWG.[/QUOTE]

Eh. Personally I thought ZA showed more talent and moxie when he was playing. He was also playing with a much worse OL and defense than Morgan. He was a bit too loose with the ball but that's frosh stuff. Morgan played well, I just think ZA has more talent and more 'it'

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

Sophomore Zack Annexstad and redshirt sophomore Tanner Morgan split the season last year, and Fleck said that competition will continue into 2019.

Go Gophers!!

This is all 100 percent coach speak BS, and should be ignored completely. Morgan earned the job and is the QB. KC and PJF trust Tanner Morgan completely.

Tanner Morgan proved he can make the throws and keep control of the offense.

Almost as impressive as his throws down the stretch was the lack of pre-snap penalties on a team that sits on the line for 20 plus seconds waiting for a call.

The only way anyone other than Tanner Morgan runs the show is if he gets injured, or Morgan really sucks once the real games start. (At Fresno, or the first good Big Ten team).

Having depth is nice though. This program has not had any real depth at QB since Assad and that JC guy shared the job for a while back in 2001 or so.

P. Nelson and Mitch could have been a competition, but Phillip started throwing the ball into the ground like Donovan McNabb and quit on his team, so that ended quickly. (and we all know know the CFL star that starred at SDSU cannot throw the ball 35 yards in the air., thanks to GWG.

Not sure what previous QB's under different coaching staffs have to do with Morgan and Annexstad, but for accuracy's sake, how is a QB who spent most of the season as a CFL backup, now a CFL star? I also said he could barely throw it 35 yards, which was the truth in that game. He also didn't play at SDSU, he played at USD.

 

[DoubleB]

IMHO
we have a better OL than last year. Bigger Stronger and a year with a coach that can produce and expand the OL Skill
We have more experience WR's that can and have proven they can catch balls and run routes
We have a 4 headed RB attack that at the end of the year if all stay healthy everyone will say "how did they all gain that many yards"

So QB- Both QB's from last years have gained experience and both want to play and both are pushing each other

The net result of the above statements is that If our OC is any good at all we will have a very fun and exciting team to watch this Fall whoever is the starter lets hope we are dominate enough that the 2nd team gets plenty of work too

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

I thought Morgan was going to be the starter last year, but Annexstad ending up beating him out for a reason. I'm not sure why people think this is just coach speak and that there's not actually a competition after looking at their stats.

Annexstad's stats last year: 97/187 - 52% 1277 yards, 9 TDs 7 INTs in 6.5 games
Morgan's stats last year: 89/152 - 59% 1401 yards, 9 TDs 6 INTs in 6.5 games

Morgan had the edge in completion percentage, but otherwise they were pretty even. Morgan was also healthy and had Faalele starting in all of his games. Annexstad was only 100% healthy for 2 games, and only had Faalele playing/starting in 2 games. Morgan has also been in the program a year longer.

When looking at our big wins last year, those were done more with defense and the ability to run the ball over QB play. Here are their stats in those big wins.

Annexstad vs Fresno St: 16/26 - 62% 175 yards, 0 TDs 0 INTs

Morgan vs Purdue: 10/18 - 56% 139 yards, 1 TD 1 INT
Morgan vs Wisconsin: 9/16 - 56% 124 yards, 0 TDs 0 INTs
Morgan vs GT: 7/13 - 54% 132 yards, 2 TDs 0 INTs

Morgan's stats aren't exactly stellar in those games, he just managed them well. I think this staff see's higher potential in Annexstad, which is why he was named the starter last season. He will be given the chance to win the job back this season.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Sophomore Zack Annexstad and redshirt sophomore Tanner Morgan split the season last year, and Fleck said that competition will continue into 2019.

Go Gophers!!

This is all 100 percent coach speak BS, and should be ignored completely. Morgan earned the job and is the QB. KC and PJF trust Tanner Morgan completely.

Tanner Morgan proved he can make the throws and keep control of the offense.

Almost as impressive as his throws down the stretch was the lack of pre-snap penalties on a team that sits on the line for 20 plus seconds waiting for a call.

The only way anyone other than Tanner Morgan runs the show is if he gets injured, or Morgan really sucks once the real games start. (At Fresno, or the first good Big Ten team).

Having depth is nice though. This program has not had any real depth at QB since Assad and that JC guy shared the job for a while back in 2001 or so.

P. Nelson and Mitch could have been a competition, but Phillip started throwing the ball into the ground like Donovan McNabb and quit on his team, so that ended quickly. (and we all know know the CFL star that starred at SDSU cannot throw the ball 35 yards in the air., thanks to GWG.[/QUOTE]

OK. please tell us how you know that. Have you spoken to Fleck and Kirk C about it?

And please expand on why they trust Morgan and not Annexstad, when Annexstad won the competition last year and was the game-one starter?

At the very least, you could have said "in my opinion."

In MY opinion, if I had to bet my own money, I would put the odds as Morgan starting game 1 - but I see it as a much closer decision, maybe 60-40 or 55-45 in favor of Morgan. It's not a slam dunk. At least in my opinion. But again, I haven't talked to the coaches about it, so I don't know what they're really thinking.

 

[Maverick]

I agree with most of this, however I think Tanner needs to significantly improve his touch on deep throws... If he can do that, he will be the complete QB we need.

 

[#2Gopher]

I have no idea of the growth and maturity level of each QB so having a hard time making a judgement. I'll have to watch the spring game to see if anything jumps out.

 

[Pompous Elitist]

If ZA wasn’t from Norseland, MN would this conversation be happening? #oneofus

 

[PMWinSTP]

I thought Morgan was going to be the starter last year, but Annexstad ending up beating him out for a reason. I'm not sure why people think this is just coach speak and that there's not actually a competition after looking at their stats.

Annexstad's stats last year: 97/187 - 52% 1277 yards, 9 TDs 7 INTs in 6.5 games
Morgan's stats last year: 89/152 - 59% 1401 yards, 9 TDs 6 INTs in 6.5 games

Morgan had the edge in completion percentage, but otherwise they were pretty even. Morgan was also healthy and had Faalele starting in all of his games. Annexstad was only 100% healthy for 2 games, and only had Faalele playing/starting in 2 games. Morgan has also been in the program a year longer.

When looking at our big wins last year, those were done more with defense and the ability to run the ball over QB play. Here are their stats in those big wins.

Annexstad vs Fresno St: 16/26 - 62% 175 yards, 0 TDs 0 INTs

Morgan vs Purdue: 10/18 - 56% 139 yards, 1 TD 1 INT
Morgan vs Wisconsin: 9/16 - 56% 124 yards, 0 TDs 0 INTs
Morgan vs GT: 7/13 - 54% 132 yards, 2 TDs 0 INTs

Morgan's stats aren't exactly stellar in those games, he just managed them well. I think this staff see's higher potential in Annexstad, which is why he was named the starter last season. He will be given the chance to win the job back this season.

My thoughts as well...defense and run game were biggest pieces of those wins. Gophs had big TOP advantage against Pur and Wisc.

Morgan also had those INTs in back to back series against NW. He locked on the receiver in both cases. First one killed what was looking like a nice drive and most likely a Gophs score. Second one gave NW a short field and led to their first TD. Strip fumble in 4th was a killer too.

 

[Kit Johnson]

I personally feel the real competition is going to be for the back-up position. Many of you are leaving out the name C. Kramer who is a pretty darn good athlete who brings a little more to the table athletically than the others. I don't know if a lot of you have seen him play personally other than on tape but he is an exceptional player. I feel all the candidates are going to do well and I am excited to see how this is going to turnout. I felt the opportunity for the QB to run a little more last year presented itself in certain games and in the RPO system having a QB that can do it in the right spots helps open the running game a little more.

 

[PMWinSTP]

It will be interesting if Fleck is ever able to get and/or develop a QB that can win games for us, himself.

Minnesota football, at least going back to Mason, has been about running backs winning games for us. It really hasn't ever been about a QB being "the dude" and winning the game.

AA-K fit that role in 2003.