What changes can we realistically make between now and Iowa?

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The issue is players not making plays, not the plays themselves IMO.

WRs are open at times… passes don’t get to them. Dudes are missing blocks, etc.

Defensive players are in position to make plays but miss tackles, over pursue (sometimes in very weird ways), or get tentative and get caught in no man’s land.

I don’t believe you can change plays and suddenly have guys who aren’t making them, suddenly make them because the play is different.

Gotta find guys who can make those plays…

I’m worried about sending AK out there to stare down his receivers and throw late into Iowa’s defense.
 

Get healthy and focus on fundamentals...

Sound tackling for D

Sound route running for WRs for separation

Find some way to use TEs in passing game

Sound QB pass protection from the O-line. [On this one, have we done any max-protect plays at all this year? Admittedly not a strong X-O guy but that was our bread, butter, and the knife for a couple of seasons. That 3rd down sack on AK right up the middle was brutal.]
 

Taylor will be back before the other two. I already said my prediction is CL misses the season and all this he might play stuff is theater and we will hear after the fact it was a hamstring or groin tear off the bone or something like that...one that will make you say no way he was going to be able play with that. Hope I’m wrong, but given PJs injury history that is my thought.
 


A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
The issue is players not making plays, not the plays themselves IMO.

WRs are open at times… passes don’t get to them. Dudes are missing blocks, etc.

Defensive players are in position to make plays but miss tackles, over pursue (sometimes in very weird ways), or get tentative and get caught in no man’s land.

I don’t believe you can change plays and suddenly have guys who aren’t making them, suddenly make them because the play is different.

Gotta find guys who can make those plays…

I’m worried about sending AK out there to stare down his receivers and throw late into Iowa’s defense.
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Our OC sucks. Our OC sucks. There is so much wrong with our coaching it’s pathetic.
 

I do think we'll see a bit more things come naturally & easier, but it will be more so because the class of opponent will be quite a bit less.

I know the focus is on the Gophers & how lousy they looked, but I was more so really impressed by Michigan. That's a complete football team that doesn't appear to have a weakness.

Things will look a bit more regular when we're punching in our weight class.
 

If you aren't going to make any changes when the score is 52 to 10...why we would expect any versus Iowa.
At 52 to 10 to run the clock out with your starters annoyed me the most of anything that happened.
Put the backups in and let them try to score. If they fail, they still grow. Never getting on the field is demoralizing. I'd like to see our backup QB get some snaps. I'd like to see us compete despite the score...running the play clock to 1 second with your starters is chicken shit. All to insure you only lose by 42...versus 49 or more. I'd like my players to think we could cut the margin to something less than 42 by scoring once or twice versus laying down.
 

Injuries have been piling up. Is get healthy during bye an option?

Hopefully AK's arm is healthy where he can throw 4 yards on 3rd and 3. ;) Still haven't seen that one yet reliably. On paper he's a 4-star recruit. When are we going to see that?
 



A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
The issue is players not making plays, not the plays themselves IMO.

WRs are open at times… passes don’t get to them. Dudes are missing blocks, etc.

Defensive players are in position to make plays but miss tackles, over pursue (sometimes in very weird ways), or get tentative and get caught in no man’s land.

I don’t believe you can change plays and suddenly have guys who aren’t making them, suddenly make them because the play is different.

Gotta find guys who can make those plays…

I’m worried about sending AK out there to stare down his receivers and throw late into Iowa’s defense.
Click to expand...

"Gotta find guys who can make those plays…" It's easy to find guys like that. It's harder to get them to come to Minneapolis.


"
 

BilldGopher said:
Get healthy and focus on fundamentals...

Sound tackling for D

Sound route running for WRs for separation

Find some way to use TEs in passing game

Sound QB pass protection from the O-line. [On this one, have we done any max-protect plays at all this year? Admittedly not a strong X-O guy but that was our bread, butter, and the knife for a couple of seasons. That 3rd down sack on AK right up the middle was brutal.]
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We max protect frequently. BSF is good for at least one hold a game when we idiotically put him in pass pro
 


What changes did Iowa make after getting run by Penn State?
 



On defense our LBs are killing us. Out of position when it comes to gap control and in any zone pass coverage they are terribly.out of place.

On offense I simply can't figure out our passing game. Is it the actual play calls. Is it the Era and their routes ? Is it AK ?

What would our Offense look like with a dual threat QB ? Why are not recruiting a QB that can actually make the RPO and roll out passing game effective ?
 

The play calling was so damn predictable in the second half, it's maddening.

Outside zone. Inside zone. Incomplete pass. Punt.

One time the incomplete pass was replaced with a pick six, because, again, it was so damn predictable.
 

Can we run some plays that get th ball out of Athens hands quickly.? He’s constantly dodging the rush and looks lost at times. Pleas try some quick slants or WR screeens to get the ball wide. Michigan was killing us by getting the ball outside for big runs. Put presss on the other teams LB or DBBs. Learn from what is killing us. See if the wrs can make someone miss a tickle. Seems the OC is making some things overly difficult.
 

60's Guy said:
If you aren't going to make any changes when the score is 52 to 10...why we would expect any versus Iowa.
At 52 to 10 to run the clock out with your starters annoyed me the most of anything that happened.
Put the backups in and let them try to score. If they fail, they still grow. Never getting on the field is demoralizing. I'd like to see our backup QB get some snaps. I'd like to see us compete despite the score...running the play clock to 1 second with your starters is chicken shit. All to insure you only lose by 42...versus 49 or more. I'd like my players to think we could cut the margin to something less than 42 by scoring once or twice versus laying down.
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100% this.
And it infects the program. And what we saw yesterday and against NW is the end result of seven years of dumb things like that
 

El Amin Fan said:
Obviously #1 goal is to get Taylor, CrAB and Lindenberg healthy. What are the chances all 3 will play? I bet low.

Beyond that, what can we do to get this offense going? Will Fleck make any meaningful changes during the bye week?
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Well they can’t get players to transfer in by then so not too much I’d guess
 

gopherbadgerman said:
Well they can’t get players to transfer in by then so not too much I’d guess
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One thing that certainly can’t be changed unfortunately
is the fact that I think PJ has the worst and least experienced staff in P5 football. KC has runaway twice we have a guy who was an analyst a couple of years ago calling plays, our DB coaches have turned over completely, we’ve had six I think DL coaches in seven years it’s just a shit show.
 

Not much can change this season IMO. However the off-season will be huge and very telling. Offense needs a home run OC and to hit on a QB transfer portal. Fleck needs to continue to evolve his portal use.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Not much can change this season IMO. However the off-season will be huge and very telling. Offense needs a home run OC and to hit on a QB transfer portal. Fleck needs to continue to evolve his portal use.
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Understatement of the year. You referring to taking WRs then not playing them orthrowing them the ball? Or wishing/hoping that FCs and d2 guys can make the jump and intead get exposed in the fireq? Or established RBs getting usurped by freshmen?
PJs transfer execution needs to change or nobody will ever come heree.
 

El Amin Fan said:
Obviously #1 goal is to get Taylor, CrAB and Lindenberg healthy. What are the chances all 3 will play? I bet low.

Beyond that, what can we do to get this offense going? Will Fleck make any meaningful changes during the bye week?
Click to expand...

The best thing the team can do it not play Michigan again
 

In 2021, the offense made a sudden, near miraculous improvement for the Iowa game. “Where was this offense all year??”

It’s because they let Simon calls the plays and “benched” Sanford. They wouldn’t come out and say it, but that’s what it was.


The same thing could realistically be done his year.


While acknowledgeding that no play call can ever work without execution, I vehemently disagree that the play calls don’t mater st all and/or that our play calls now are just fine.

The right play all at the right time makes a huge difference.

Otherwise, you could say the same thing for Robb Smith defenses. “If the players would just execute what he called, it would work”.
 


I don't know why it's so hard to throw short passes to move the chains. The rest of football is running mostly spread offenses. Can we please at least have a short passing game that doesn't hit a guy's back or helmet?
 

how about this: put in some designed QB roll-outs. Let the QB get out in space and hopefully find some open throwing lanes. if necessary, adjust the pass-blocking schemes accordingly. if nobody is open, have the QB try to run for positive yardage.

also - try to set up some intermediate pass routes - get some 10- or 12-yard gains. it seems as if the passing game is either a dump-off or a deep shot. there has to be something in-between - but again, that depends on giving the QB time to throw and finding open throwing lanes.
 

Texan Gopher said:
On defense our LBs are killing us. Out of position when it comes to gap control and in any zone pass coverage they are terribly.out of place.

On offense I simply can't figure out our passing game. Is it the actual play calls. Is it the Era and their routes ? Is it AK ?

What would our Offense look like with a dual threat QB ? Why are not recruiting a QB that can actually make the RPO and roll out passing game effective ?
Click to expand...
People have been ripping our Secondary but the linebackers are playing absolutely terrible all season. They do not maintain gap integrity, have terrible senseless drops in zone coverage, not even covering anyone, and are slow footed and cannot cover. They need to re-open the competition at linebacker and figure out who can run and who can actually shed a block and tackle. We have 1
starting capable linebacker right now, all others are posers and not Big 10 caliber football players.
 

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