The Athletic: Tanner Morgan vows to be better after Gophers’ dispiriting loss to Wolverines

[BleedGopher]

per The Athletic:

If the Golden Gophers’ terrific 2019 season had to be summed up with one image, it was the ball flying majestically out of Tanner Morgan’s hand, soaring through the air and falling perfectly into the hands of Rashod Bateman or Tyler Johnson for big gains.

Minnesota had one of the most explosive offenses in the country, with 14 passes from Morgan to Gophers receivers that went for at least 42 yards. Morgan set school records for completion percentage (66.0), pass efficiency rating (178.7) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (4.28), and was nearly perfect in victories over Penn State and Purdue during the Gophers’ 11-win season.

Morgan didn’t just excel, he also sparkled. And before the Big Ten season was postponed in September, there was Heisman hype surrounding Minnesota’s perfectionist quarterback. A season-opening date against 18th-ranked Michigan, in prime time no less, offered Morgan the chance to burst back into the conversation after players like Trevor Lawrence and Mac Jones got a head start.

Instead, the Gophers’ most consistent player wasn’t his usual razor-sharp self in a 49-24 loss to the Wolverines. Under pressure throughout the game from Michigan’s fast, aggressive defense, Morgan completed 18 of 31 passes for 197 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He threw behind open receivers, missed two in the end zone and never seemed in sync for much of the night.

“I just have to be better, period,” Morgan said. “It’s my fault. It’s not anybody else’s.”

Tanner Morgan vows to be better after Gophers’ dispiriting loss to Wolverines

Minnesota's most consistent player wasn't his usual razor-sharp self.

theathletic.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[MplsGopher]

He was pressured all night. That doesn't help.

 

[PMWinSTP]

He was pressured all night. That doesn't help.

Yes and no. He had time on many plays. Morgan didn't make his reads, go through his progressions, and locked in on receivers the whole game. Also tried to force passes to Bateman way too much. Fleck mentioned this in his presser. He needs to play better Friday.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

We have seen this before.

 

[The prez sez]

Yo: passes to Tight ends and RBs out in flats will open up the deep ball to CAB and Bateman. we never saw that against Michigan. We have to add that to the arsenal because other teams are readying blitz packages.

 

[MplsGopher]

Yes and no. He had time on many plays. Morgan didn't make his reads, go through his progressions, and locked in on receivers the whole game. Also tried to force passes to Bateman way too much. Fleck mentioned this in his presser. He needs to play better Friday.

You state it well, and are correct. I was just saying the pressure didn't help matters.

 

[MplsGopher]

Yo: passes to Tight ends and RBs out in flats will open up the deep ball to CAB and Bateman. we never saw that against Michigan. We have to add that to the arsenal because other teams are readying blitz packages.

The blood is very much in the water ... and on tape. You can beat the Gopher OL by using stunts, twists, and blitzes.

Guess what you're getting for the rest of the season, men?

 

[Plausible Deniability]

Dude did not look comfortable for much of the game; happy feet, bailing prematurely

 

[MplsGopher]

https://www.startribune.com/gophers...do-after-lopsided-loss-to-michigan/572863801/
...
Fleck called Morgan’s performance “inconsistent’’ but didn’t fully blame his quarterback, who was under duress from Michigan’s defense.

“Alabama and Ohio State — those are the two teams I’ve watched protect well against that [Michigan] front,’’ Fleck said.

Fleck acknowledged he and his team have “a lot of work to do’’ before they can approach the heights they reached last year. Michigan made that perfectly clear Saturday night.

 

[touchdownvikings]

Yo: passes to Tight ends and RBs out in flats will open up the deep ball to CAB and Bateman. we never saw that against Michigan. We have to add that to the arsenal because other teams are readying blitz packages.

You win the award for most intelligent post of the day!

 

[MaxyJR1]

Yo: passes to Tight ends and RBs out in flats will open up the deep ball to CAB and Bateman. we never saw that against Michigan. We have to add that to the arsenal because other teams are readying blitz packages.

Ding, Ding, Ding. I was thinking the same thing. We aren't going to be able to average the depth of the routes we had last year with all the 2 WR sets. May have to check down a bit more and run to set up the big hitters.

 

[Taji34]

Tanner definitely was pressured, and when he wasn't he locked into his reads. These are the types of things you can get away with if you first game is vs a non-conference opponent that you're expected to beat by a long shot, but not when you're first game is against Michigan.

I hope this is just knocking the rust off, and being a bit rattled by that sack and fumble on our second or third possession? I can't think of a QB who doesn't get rattled in that situation.

EDIT: Michigan basically did what I hoped we'd do. Rattle the QB with a big sack and shatter their confidence. If you make them think they don't have time to go through reads, even if they do most of the time, they will begin to lock into the first or second read rather than going through the whole progression.

 

[MGGopher]

The blood is very much in the water ... and on tape. You can beat the Gopher OL by using stunts, twists, and blitzes.

Guess what you're getting for the rest of the season, men?

This was the case last season as well. All 3 of our non-con opponents -- especially SDSU -- used a ton of loops, twists, etc and MN struggled to pick them up. They got a lot better as the year went along and the OL gelled a bit. It's unfortunately going to take time, but I expect them to be better next week and continue improving.

 

[PMWinSTP]

This was the case last season as well. All 3 of our non-con opponents -- especially SDSU -- used a ton of loops, twists, etc and MN struggled to pick them up. They got a lot better as the year went along and the OL gelled a bit. It's unfortunately going to take time, but I expect them to be better next week and continue improving.

Next two are perfect opponents to get things fixed.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Next two are perfect opponents to get things fixed.

This does not exist in gopher football.

 

[fair]

A few of you touched on it, but I was wondering all night what happened to our bread and butter last year- the slant. TJ was near-unstoppable on those, but was he really the only one who could run that route? Almost all of our deep plays came as a result of defenses biting on the slant route.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

Yo: passes to Tight ends and RBs out in flats will open up the deep ball to CAB and Bateman. we never saw that against Michigan. We have to add that to the arsenal because other teams are readying blitz packages.

I am not sure what game you were watching? 8 of the 18 completions were to TE’s or RB’s on Saturday night. That is a much higher percentage than at any time last year. Mo had 4 catches.

IMO, we are a much better offense in 3 WR sets. We saw very little of that on Saturday. When we went 3 wide, Jackson was the 3rd WR on the field. It will be interesting to see his development and if he is the 3rd WR on Friday.

I sincerely hope Sanford does not deviate too much from the offensive philosophy of the past few years under Kirk.

 

[MplsGopher]

Next two are perfect opponents to get things fixed.

I hope so. They're still road games and they're still against Big Ten teams.

They both got blasted in week 1 ... but the biggest improvement a team makes is week 1 to week 2.

 

[MplsGopher]

I am not sure what game you were watching? 8 of the 18 completions were to TE’s or RB’s on Saturday night. That is a much higher percentage than at any time last year. Mo had 4 catches.

IMO, we are a much better offense in 3 WR sets. We saw very little of that on Saturday. When we went 3 wide, Jackson was the 3rd WR on the field. It will be interesting to see his development and if he is the 3rd WR on Friday.

I sincerely hope Sanford does not deviate too much from the offensive philosophy of the past few years under Kirk.

We have a lot of talented, experienced TEs, while we only have two experienced WRs. Not saying we should not go 3 wide, or that 3 wide won't happen more often in the future.

Being multi-formation is how you get good matchups, to take advantage of. We should not focus on a single personnel.

The base philosophy is the RPO, and that hasn't and isn't changing.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

We have a lot of talented, experienced TEs, while we only have two experienced WRs. Not saying we should not go 3 wide, or that 3 wide won't happen more often in the future.

Being multi-formation is how you get good matchups, to take advantage of. We should not focus on a single personnel.

The base philosophy is the RPO, and that hasn't and isn't changing.

I don’t disagree that being multiple is helpful.

It felt like on Saturday we had more 2TE sets than we did last year and there were definitely more throws to TE’s and RB’s than we saw at any time last year.

I am curious to see what the offense looks like on Friday and how it evolves throughout the year.

 

[MplsGopher]

I don’t disagree that being multiple is helpful.

It felt like on Saturday we had more 2TE sets than we did last year and there were definitely more throws to TE’s and RB’s than we saw at any time last year.

I am curious to see what the offense looks like on Friday and how it evolves throughout the year.

Would love to get Dan Jackson the ball in space and let him try to work. See what he can do