What's with all the shifts?

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BarnBoy

BarnBoy

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Great game plan. Shifting on almost every play in the 2nd half. This is a bit above my head? Is this meant to get the D to show their cards? Or confuse them?

Can some great offensive mind explain this to me?
 

I'm not a great offensive mind by any means but I do think it was meant to confuse Nebraska's young front 7 and create blocking mismatches as well as mismatches in the passing game. For example, the play where Ben Lauer was lined up wide in a bunch formation and Drew Goodger was lined up as the LT. On the surface that looks like a standard 5 man offensive line, but Goodger is actually an eligible receiver and slipped past coverage wide open in the middle of the field. Great call.
 

They actually showed how it works during the game on tv. The guys in motion cause defenders to have to defend the wide sweep which means they are late to rushes up the gut. And it worked, over and over. Many times defenses are called to defend certain formations. So the fact we kept switching our formation at the last minute caused Nebraska to be in the wrong defenses. It works best against bad defenses (which Nebraska isn't all that good). The best defenses get in a base defense and laugh at teams that shift all over. The good news is Indiana could fall into the same traps all game long next weekend.
 

Yep, it is intended to confuse the defense and get them out of position. In a way, it's kinda like being able to have several players go in motion.
 





The shift makes it harder for defenders to match up and the jet sweep action forces the linebackers, safeties and ends to defend the edge which slows them to defending the middle and opens up backside options.

basically, if you can get the defenders to take one step in the wrong direction, you create gaps and angles that allow you to block more effectively and run more effectively.

If you watch closely, you'll see how the Gophers were able to create running lanes inside off that action when they wanted to run up the middle and run counters once the defense was pinching and seal the end and run outside. Nelson's long run in the second half was off jet sweep action where Bak pulled and sealed the end and Max Williams cracked back and destroyed the OLB on the run side and Jones (man in motion) led Nelson down the field.

Also saw the backside passes to TE/FB away from the sweep action.

This was Limegrovers best game plan by far.
 

GopherinPhilly said:
This was Limegrovers best game plan by far.
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It absolutely was. Credit must be given when it is due. I just hope that this was a sign of things to come and not a situation where he only had this game plan because the book was already out on NE. It was quite clear after the B1G Championship that you could attack them in this fashion.

Great scheme, great execution. Physical domination. Let's keep it rolling.
 



hCBbAjV.jpg
 

There was a lot of shifting on defense, too. Gophers would show blitz, Martinez would change the play, Gophers would back off, Martinez would talk some more, etc. There were also exchanges when the cornerbacks were changing their drop depths after Martinez audibled. On a couple occasions, one CB would come up to press while his counterpart on the same side or the other side would deepen his drop. Watching Martinez and the offense while all this was going on, I think it was really screwing them up.
 

We confused the sh*t out of Nebraska on Offense & Defense the entire game I've never seen anything like it from a Gopher team...

I know it had to confuse Nebraska because I've been watching every Gopher play this Season & I had no idea what was coming next...

The pass play on 2nd Down late in the 4th to Williams was *GENUIS* because you know they were expecting a Run since we were trying to run out the clock...
 

Pellini at half-time interview...

thailleagle said:
We confused the sh*t out of Nebraska on Offense & Defense the entire game I've never seen anything like it from a Gopher team...

I know it had to confuse Nebraska because I've been watching every Gopher play this Season & I had no idea what was coming next...

The pass play on 2nd Down late in the 4th to Williams was *GENUIS* because you know they were expecting a Run since we were trying to run out the clock...
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"They're doing things they haven't shown before." -- Bo Pellini :eek:
 



MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota’s offensive minds didn’t have to go back far to find a proven way to attack Nebraska’s defense.

Gophers offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover said most of the staff’s time was spent watching video of just one recent Husker game.

“I hate to pick at old wounds, but we watched the tape of the Big Ten championship game a lot,” Limegrover said. “We felt they were a similar type of defense to Iowa, so we knew we couldn’t pound the ball.

“We wanted to go sideways like Wisconsin did. We started picking and pulling pieces from that game and we just put it together.”

While Minnesota’s 34-23 victory Saturday over the Huskers didn’t match the 70-31 pounding inflicted by the Badgers in last season’s Big Ten title game, losing to the Gophers for the first time since 1960 surely has a lot of the Husker faithful seeing red.

Especially after hearing that NU is still vulnerable to an offensive tactic that drew so much scrutiny at the end of last season..

It was that kind of day for the Gophers, who pushed and shoved Nebraska’s defense around and kept the Huskers’ offense off-balance despite NU having two weeks to prepare..

“We were able to stay committed to the run,” Minnesota acting head coach Tracy Claeys said. “There were some times when we didn’t get more than a yard or two, but David Cobb had some great runs that gave us a big spark.”

Running back Cobb, quarterback Philip Nelson and cornerback Brock Vereen all said no one was hanging their heads on the Minnesota sideline after the Huskers raced to a 10-0 lead.

“There definitely wasn’t a negative atmosphere on the sideline,” Vereen said. “It was just a matter of calming down and playing our game. Once we did that, we took over.”

Cobb was Minnesota’s workhorse, carrying the ball 31 times for 138 yards.

“From the first quarter on, throughout the game the offensive line had a great push,” Cobb said. “Really it was the O-line and just the whole play-calling scheme more so than me.”

Misdirection plays, more motion before the snap, plays dusted off from bowl games past — all of those were thrown at the Huskers à la Wisconsin in Indianapolis.

“Everyone was excited about the game plan,” Nelson said. “You know it’s a great game plan when everyone is excited about it.

“We knew going into this week that Nebraska is the type of a defense that you can’t let get comfortable, so that is where all the shifts and motions came in to play, and we were able to keep them on their heels.”

The Gophers ran 11 more plays from scrimmage — 71-60 — and outgained Nebraska 430-328.


http://www.omaha.com/article/20131026/HUSKERS/131028795/1685#gophers-take-page-from-badger-playbook
 

You have to feel very good about your coaching staff when they can come up with a game plan to take take advantage of an opponent's weaknesses. Quite frankly, us Gopher fans have not seen something like that in a long, long time. Our coaches aren't flashy, but they know how to coach and I will take that any day!!
 

Bottom line, we outcoached a team that had an extra week to prepare for us. Easily the best coached game by this staff since they've been here. And let's not forget the players, no penalties on all of the shifting and no turnovers despite all the misdirection and handoffs. Just a great effort by the entire program.
 

jaymil said:
Bottom line, we outcoached a team that had an extra week to prepare for us. Easily the best coached game by this staff since they've been here. And let's not forget the players, no penalties on all of the shifting and no turnovers despite all the misdirection and handoffs. Just a great effort by the entire program.
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No kidding. I enjoyed it after they called the penalty for illegal formation and then huddled-up to discuss it.

"They had to many people in the backfield Bill"

"No Eddie, they had to many men on the line"

" No Marty, they had to many men in motion"

" Ah, hell, just pick-up the flag."

:cheer:
 

Nadine asked RB Coach Brian Anderson about this:

NB: There were lots of shifts in offense this past game vs. Nebraska, what's the thought behind that?

BA: That's what we've always done, since we were at Southern Illinois and Northern Illinois, we need to get back to that. Kids have fun with that, that's a big part of that. We just wanted to get back into being us, and that's helped our offense tremendously, when you have that personnel to do those things with.

http://www.startribune.com/local/yourvoices/229809671.html

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
Nadine asked RB Coach Brian Anderson about this:

NB: There were lots of shifts in offense this past game vs. Nebraska, what's the thought behind that?

BA: That's what we've always done, since we were at Southern Illinois and Northern Illinois, we need to get back to that. Kids have fun with that, that's a big part of that. We just wanted to get back into being us, and that's helped our offense tremendously, when you have that personnel to do those things with.

http://www.startribune.com/local/yourvoices/229809671.html

Go Gophers!!
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Brick by brick.
 

After re-watching the game we did get some lucky breaks by the refs. There were several shifts where it was questionable if we were set for a second before the ball was snapped. It is dangerous to always have 2 guys in motion and obviously we have trouble overcoming even 5 yard penalties. So the shifting completely befuddled Nebraska, but if the yellow flags had been fly we would have had to temper that part of the gameplan down as the game went on. So hopefully they clean that up this week. We'll know pretty quick if we get too cute with it or if the players make a point of getting set after two or more players are in motion...
 

Sparlimb said:
After re-watching the game we did get some lucky breaks by the refs. There were several shifts where it was questionable if we were set for a second before the ball was snapped. It is dangerous to always have 2 guys in motion and obviously we have trouble overcoming even 5 yard penalties. So the shifting completely befuddled Nebraska, but if the yellow flags had been fly we would have had to temper that part of the gameplan down as the game went on. So hopefully they clean that up this week. We'll know pretty quick if we get too cute with it or if the players make a point of getting set after two or more players are in motion...
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You don't have to be set for a second (No one is counting). You just all have to be set and can't have two or more players shift without resetting.

They missed the illegal shift on the play prior to the 33 yd TD on 4th down. The WR moved up while the slot was in motion.

You can see in the NFL that they nit pic less and less with this and it tickles down.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
You don't have to be set for a second (No one is counting). You just all have to be set and can't have two or more players shift without resetting.

They missed the illegal shift on the play prior to the 33 yd TD on 4th down. The WR moved up while the slot was in motion.

You can see in the NFL that they nit pic less and less with this and it tickles down.
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AAHHHH...the old tickle down effect!
 

sparlimb, have you ever heard of the old adage for referees??? "Let 'em play"!!!
 

love the shifting and hope it continues this weekend. Indy's lb's are really not very good and forcing them to cover sideline to sideline should allow us to catch them a step slow everywhere and let us gash them like we did to Neb. It will also aid our QB's as it'll tip off if they are playing zone or man (at least in some cases). We need to take all the advantages we can against a D that will likely not counter-audible against us.
 

I may not have this exactly right... there was a play - in the first half - where Leidner lined up in the shotgun, with two lineman in the backfield to his right. The lineman moved up and over to the left side of the line. Leidner moved under center. When they moved you can see the NU d tackle slide from being nose up on the center to just into the gap between center and left guard. The other NU d tackle didn't move, leaving a huge hole right up the gut. Leidner took the snap and dove and scored. I had to watch it a few times to see everything that happened. It was cool to see how the shifting caused changes to Nebraska's dline that resulted in a score for the Gophers.
 

Dr.Don said:
sparlimb, have you ever heard of the old adage for referees??? "Let 'em play"!!!
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Well that is how I did it back when I reff'ed. I knew there was a beer at then end of the game, so I was in a hurry to get there...
 

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