There’s a Much Different Feel to the 2021 Gopher Defense

BleedGopher

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Prove it​

Tanner Morgan struggled to find open receivers all Thursday night, both in 11v11 and 7v7 drills. He threw multiple interceptions and looked a bit flustered, as he tried to sort everything out. Even before his #1 receiver Chris Auman-Bell left the game with an apparent leg injury, Morgan struggled and so did the rest of the QB room.

The running game had its moments, but you wouldn’t expect any defense to hold down Mo Ibrahim and one of the most talented group of running backs in the country. As practice started to get toward its twilight, one thing became clear relatively early. The defense was better than the offense, at least on this night.

Again, results will be what we judge this “new and improved” Minnesota Gophers defense on. But heading into the season, there certainly seems to be something different to the swagger of this unit.


Go Gophers!!
 

What I hope is that maybe they were focusing on practicing the plays Morgan isn't as strong at, and that there are other play calls that would look much stronger but don't need practice.

Could also be a bit of gamesmanship by PJ, in the practices with media and/or fan presence he explicitly practices the plays on offense that need more work so that reporting is "Tanner Morgan looks shaky" going into the OSU game, and then we pull out a bunch of play calls Morgan has perfected and is confident with.

At least, that's what I'd like to believe.
 

What I hope is that maybe they were focusing on practicing the plays Morgan isn't as strong at, and that there are other play calls that would look much stronger but don't need practice.

Could also be a bit of gamesmanship by PJ, in the practices with media and/or fan presence he explicitly practices the plays on offense that need more work so that reporting is "Tanner Morgan looks shaky" going into the OSU game, and then we pull out a bunch of play calls Morgan has perfected and is confident with.

At least, that's what I'd like to believe.
Tanner morgan has always looks shakey at times. Even 2019 the first two series against Georgia southern were butt ugly

He is an elite game manager but isn’t going to win you games on his own.
 

Honestly, defense should be ahead of the offense in practice just because they have the advantage of having a very good idea of what is coming. That said, reports like this are encouraging because the offense should be good and if the defense takes a big step forward.....the potential is then there for a very special season.
 



Tanner morgan has always looks shakey at times. Even 2019 the first two series against Georgia southern were butt ugly

He is an elite game manager but isn’t going to win you games on his own.
Better or worse than leidner?
 

Better or worse than leidner?
Way better. But he was never perfect for a whole season. People act like his struggles at times last year was completely out of character
This is silly. Tanner Morgan is the best QB in school history. He is the 3rd rated passer in the history of the Big Ten. He is 2nd in Big Ten history in YPA. He still has two more years of Gopher football to go 🤞 and we are damn lucky to have him.
I agree with everything except the part where you say me saying he even had struggles in moments in 2019 is silly. He did have struggles at times in early 2019.
 





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