gopherdudepart2
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In the first half the Gophers were moving the ball against Northwestern a little bit, but stalled out twice at the 30 yard line either by execution or play calls. We cannot block two or three tight ends sets so were going to need more spread sets.
Have to get plays that develop quickly with a chance to move the chains, get the players having fun again and having some success on offense. I keep hearing about all of the injury's to the O-line and although no doubt that has played a role in the offensive struggles, to me another big issue has been the injury's to the tight ends and lack of blocking from the full back position that we are used to that has hurt the offense a lot. There always seems to be one person missing a block, or one or two people aligned wrong, or making a mistake in going the wrong direction. There are no seams to run at up front because everyone is overloading on the edge, consistently running twist stunts and teams are bringing back side pressure to the blind side.
We are getting overloaded on the left side of the offensive line and keep getting beat by blitz pressure and the QB really has been limited in the amount of time he has had to throw the ball at least all of the early games it was that way.
Northwestern was getting pressure off the edge without the extra blitzer, there D ends were beating our tackles one on one and I would agree those are some of the better defensive ends we will see in Big 10 play besides Iowa. People are crashing there defensive ends down on us hard.
This is captain obvious, but to me you have to shorten the amount of time it takes for plays to develop, that means, up tempo, maybe even some no huddle, where your throwing quick outs, quick dig routes, middle screens, and even some option pitch off the read option for the QB. Running what the Gophers traditionally run isn't gonna work this year because we don't have the horses that can block it both in the O-line and tight ends due to Injuries. We traditionally have tall tight ends that are strong and good blockers like extra tackles on the line and the Gophers simply do not have that this year. There going to have to throw more and Mitch is going to have to find a way to play fast, make quick decisions and throw an accurate ball. Croft will need to play in case of injury because right now we don't have a back up QB with game experience beyond the limited play Croft had against Northwestern. Croft needs to play because Mitch is inconsistent and Strev has moved to WR.
If there going to keep looking to throw the ball to the tight end, or need a good seal blocker they should possibly consider moving Gaelin Elemore back to the tight end position from defensive end. This offense is in strong need of an athletic H-back. I only suggest Elmore because he has tight end experience at least in fall camp. In this offense the tight end this team likes to run you need an athletic, big guy that can run from the H back spot and get open in space, can block and push people just getting in the way some and is quick enough to pick up and get in front of the edge blitzers. To me we have plenty of defensive lineman and red-shirting line man, on offense we lack an athletic big man that can run, with Plesk and Anywonyou out and Lingen playing the traditional blocking roll we don't have an H-back like Williams right now. I realize Max was a good football player and hard to replace, but we sure do miss his athleticism, and Goodgers ability to seal the edge blitzers. That might be to risky this late in the season but I would try and work him Elmore on offense some in case you need a more athletic H-back. I would like to see more three and four wide receiver sets and more pick plays from those sets.
Have to get plays that develop quickly with a chance to move the chains, get the players having fun again and having some success on offense. I keep hearing about all of the injury's to the O-line and although no doubt that has played a role in the offensive struggles, to me another big issue has been the injury's to the tight ends and lack of blocking from the full back position that we are used to that has hurt the offense a lot. There always seems to be one person missing a block, or one or two people aligned wrong, or making a mistake in going the wrong direction. There are no seams to run at up front because everyone is overloading on the edge, consistently running twist stunts and teams are bringing back side pressure to the blind side.
We are getting overloaded on the left side of the offensive line and keep getting beat by blitz pressure and the QB really has been limited in the amount of time he has had to throw the ball at least all of the early games it was that way.
Northwestern was getting pressure off the edge without the extra blitzer, there D ends were beating our tackles one on one and I would agree those are some of the better defensive ends we will see in Big 10 play besides Iowa. People are crashing there defensive ends down on us hard.
This is captain obvious, but to me you have to shorten the amount of time it takes for plays to develop, that means, up tempo, maybe even some no huddle, where your throwing quick outs, quick dig routes, middle screens, and even some option pitch off the read option for the QB. Running what the Gophers traditionally run isn't gonna work this year because we don't have the horses that can block it both in the O-line and tight ends due to Injuries. We traditionally have tall tight ends that are strong and good blockers like extra tackles on the line and the Gophers simply do not have that this year. There going to have to throw more and Mitch is going to have to find a way to play fast, make quick decisions and throw an accurate ball. Croft will need to play in case of injury because right now we don't have a back up QB with game experience beyond the limited play Croft had against Northwestern. Croft needs to play because Mitch is inconsistent and Strev has moved to WR.
If there going to keep looking to throw the ball to the tight end, or need a good seal blocker they should possibly consider moving Gaelin Elemore back to the tight end position from defensive end. This offense is in strong need of an athletic H-back. I only suggest Elmore because he has tight end experience at least in fall camp. In this offense the tight end this team likes to run you need an athletic, big guy that can run from the H back spot and get open in space, can block and push people just getting in the way some and is quick enough to pick up and get in front of the edge blitzers. To me we have plenty of defensive lineman and red-shirting line man, on offense we lack an athletic big man that can run, with Plesk and Anywonyou out and Lingen playing the traditional blocking roll we don't have an H-back like Williams right now. I realize Max was a good football player and hard to replace, but we sure do miss his athleticism, and Goodgers ability to seal the edge blitzers. That might be to risky this late in the season but I would try and work him Elmore on offense some in case you need a more athletic H-back. I would like to see more three and four wide receiver sets and more pick plays from those sets.
