Why is nobody talking about the defense?

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fmlizard

fmlizard

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I'm frustrated the Gophers lost the opener just like anyone else. There's been endless pixels spilled about a boring, predictable offense, the overall direction of the program, etc.

I don't recall seeing a thread about the defense and the new DC, Corey Hetherman. Turning around a defensive drop last season while replacing Joe Rossi was a big question coming into the season and so far, so great.

Seems like people are writing off the great defensive performance because Drake Maye is a New England Patriot now, but they still had their star RB, 4 returning OL starters, an experienced transfer QB who started at LSU and Texas A&M, and multiple top 15 recruiting classes that should be upperclassmen now.

Holding that to 105 passing yards and 252 total yards is quite good, no?
 


I was impressed with our defense. We had too many missed tackles but I am hopeful this will be cleared up with more game experience.

I told my season ticket group this... our offense is so bad that any time our defense makes a mistake it is magnified.
 

I mean, the Gophs put themselves in a position to win a good NC game and just...didn't. Defense was a huge part of it.
 

MNfootballfan said:
I was impressed with our defense. We had too many missed tackles but I am hopeful this will be cleared up with more game experience.

I told my season ticket group this... our offense is so bad that any time our defense makes a mistake it is magnified.
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Yeah, the missed tackles had me yelling at times. Some of that could have been the wet field. Some of that could have been UNC's stud RB. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a bit more of that this year (compared to Rossi years) as this defense was flying around quite a bit more.
 


fmlizard said:
I'm frustrated the Gophers lost the opener just like anyone else. There's been endless pixels spilled about a boring, predictable offense, the overall direction of the program, etc.

I don't recall seeing a thread about the defense and the new DC, Corey Hetherman. Turning around a defensive drop last season while replacing Joe Rossi was a big question coming into the season and so far, so great.

Seems like people are writing off the great defensive performance because Drake Maye is a New England Patriot now, but they still had their star RB, 4 returning OL starters, an experienced transfer QB who started at LSU and Texas A&M, and multiple top 15 recruiting classes that should be upperclassmen now.

Holding that to 105 passing yards and 252 total yards is quite good, no?
Click to expand...
Hate to pick nits, but we are the team with 4 returning OL starters.
They were the team replacing 4 OL starters.
 

Listening to Daniel House and Ryan Burns break it down on GGR podcast, I think there were small mistakes and details that need to get cleaned up and those mistakes ended up being crucial to losing the game. Missed tackles, untimely penalties, etc.

The upside is seeing our defense moving quickly and flying around, being physical. If they stay healthy, this unit will get continue to get better as the season goes on.
 

Panthadad2 said:
Yeah, the missed tackles had me yelling at times. Some of that could have been the wet field. Some of that could have been UNC's stud RB. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a bit more of that this year (compared to Rossi years) as this defense was flying around quite a bit more.
Click to expand...
Absolutely agree with you on both of the excuses for missed tackles and I agree with you that there will probably be some more missed tackles than the years past. Our defense was much more aggressive. That is not a knock on Rossi's defenses, just a different approach. What will make or break our defense this year is if we are able to connect on the blitz's. If you can get a sack or rush a pass it was a successful blitz. If you miss on your blitz the QB steps up and has a wide open field to make a read. Risk/reward.
 

fmlizard said:
I'm frustrated the Gophers lost the opener just like anyone else. There's been endless pixels spilled about a boring, predictable offense, the overall direction of the program, etc.

I don't recall seeing a thread about the defense and the new DC, Corey Hetherman. Turning around a defensive drop last season while replacing Joe Rossi was a big question coming into the season and so far, so great.

Seems like people are writing off the great defensive performance because Drake Maye is a New England Patriot now, but they still had their star RB, 4 returning OL starters, an experienced transfer QB who started at LSU and Texas A&M, and multiple top 15 recruiting classes that should be upperclassmen now.

Holding that to 105 passing yards and 252 total yards is quite good, no?
Click to expand...
Great points! The defense held NC to one TD, which should have been enough to win, though who thought they'd get 4 field goals, one from 52 yards? Our offense is at the bottom of the B10 stats out today in rushing, passing, everything. Need a new OC. Simon alone - for the rest of the season?
 



I was overall satisfied by the defense, to me the game on Thursday showed it can be solid. That being said, I also think that North Carolina has a bad offense. Max Johnson is on his third team for reason. Their running back is very good and we were able to hold him to 129 yards, but even that isn't too impressive considering we were able to stack the box with 9 almost every play after Johnson went down.
 

NC RB is a stud. He was breaking a ton of tackles. Not sure if tackling is an issue for our D or NC has our old version of Mo at RB.
 


Panthadad2 said:
Yeah, the missed tackles had me yelling at times. Some of that could have been the wet field. Some of that could have been UNC's stud RB. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a bit more of that this year (compared to Rossi years) as this defense was flying around quite a bit more.
Click to expand...
While the D was overall good, the 3 missed tackles/bad angles on the short QB TD run were just as responsible for losing as missing 2 field goals. 4 point swing there to allow a not-dynamic runner to score.
 



Defense played decent.

Penalties stopped them from getting off the field a few times and tackling misses were frustrating, but they did their job and kept them out of the end zone. Despite playing nearly the entire third quarter.
 


MonikerSchmoniker45 said:
Our corners looked good.
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They definitely did. Hoping this is the year Walley really puts it all together. Feel like the talent has always been there and we've seen flashes of greatness. Just hasn't been consistent enough in the past. This is the year.
 

fmlizard said:
While the D was overall good, the 3 missed tackles/bad angles on the short QB TD run were just as responsible for losing as missing 2 field goals. 4 point swing there to allow a not-dynamic runner to score.
Click to expand...
Exactly. It was 3rd and goal and appears on the blitz that Henderson took too much of an inside angle and Gousby the outside which gave Johnson an easy lane to the goal line. Then Maverick totally missed a clear shot. Easy for me to say but this TD could have been prevented.
 


fmlizard said:
I don't recall seeing a thread about the defense and the new DC, Corey Hetherman. Turning around a defensive drop last season while replacing Joe Rossi was a big question coming into the season and so far, so great.
Click to expand...
NC is replacing a 1st round draft talent at QB and clearly they are taking a huge step back. Until we have more data, we don't know if this is similar to keeping powerhouse Iowa under 10 . I think we see some promise here though.
 

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