STrib: Ready or not, freshmen are getting playing time for Gophers football team

[BleedGopher]

per Megan:

Coach P.J. Fleck remarked after the 35-7 Iowa loss last Friday how he noticed six freshmen on defense at one time. In all, 10 freshman defensive players played against Iowa — some on special teams — including four true freshman.

True freshman linebacker Cody Lindenberg started the first three games, while true freshman Michael Dixon took some reps at safety for Nubin against Iowa.

“It’s not like a decision, ‘Hey, we’re putting all these guys in at the same time.’ There’s rotations, there’s guys that get tired, and especially up front, there’s guys that you’re kind of shuffling through,” defensive coordinator Joe Rossi said Wednesday. “… But that said, that’s how it happens. Because in our two-deep, we have a lot of young people.”

When the Gophers take on Purdue on Friday at TCF Bank Stadium, it’s likely first-year players will continue to gain experience.

“They’ve got to make mistakes, and they’ve got to fail so that they can grow,” Rossi said. “And we’ve seen progress. It’s not at the speed we want, but that’s how it works. So we’re going to coach them really hard. … We want to expedite the process as much as possible.”

Ready or not, freshmen are getting playing time for Gophers football team

Graduations, injuries and COVID absences, especially on defense, have forced coach P.J. Fleck and defensive coordinator Joe Rossi to use young players who are still learning the ropes.

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[FredCoxRocks]

We're young on defense again. But are we the youngest D in college football? The second youngest? The third youngest? I don't know. Somebody please tell me...PJ is not giving me those numbers this year.

 

[MplsGopher]

Dixon should be getting most or all of the reps at safety for the rest of the season, if the Purdue game goes south.

Same for the rest of the corresponding spots on defense.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

We're young on defense again. But are we the youngest D in college football? The second youngest? The third youngest? I don't know. Somebody please tell me...PJ is not giving me those numbers this year.

I'm not sure doing that would do anything but enrage some folks

 

[U2Gopher]

Dixon should be getting most or all of the reps at safety for the rest of the season, if the Purdue game goes south.

Same for the rest of the corresponding spots on defense.

Mentally, I’m already in this mindset for the Purdue game, not after. Play Dixon and the other young kids on defense and let’s get more athletic on that side of the ball. I’d rather get beat playing them and improving for next year than hold the status quo.
What are your thoughts on Terell Smith? How big is he? Can he be converted to linebacker now or in the offseason since he is so handsy in coverage?

 

[MplsGopher]

Mentally, I’m already in this mindset for the Purdue game, not after. Play Dixon and the other young kids on defense and let’s get more athletic on that side of the ball. I’d rather get beat playing them and improving for next year than hold the status quo.
What are your thoughts on Terell Smith? How big is he? Can he be converted to linebacker now or in the offseason since he is so handsy in coverage?

He's a 2018 class defensive player. I think, enough said??

Teague has been pretty good, from what I understand, but apparently opted out this year. No where to be seen. And Oliver was looking like a solid K-Mart replacement, until he got hurt this spring.