WRs are the key to the season.

[Otis]

For all the talk about how not having Mo cost us the Purdue game the fact is we probably win if our receivers catch all the balls thrown into their hands.

We catch the ball and we move the chains and score touchdowns. Morgan has made very few errors so far. Three of his interceptions were results from either no catches and a tipped ball. He’s right up around 70% completions.

Regardless of how many yards we get on the ground we can still win through the air by being efficient. They are never going to ignore the ground game because all three of our top backs are capable of going for over 100 yards in a game. Mo does this like Old Faithful! That is always going to create passing opportunities as teams overplay the run.

If our receivers could be “Chris Carter” and catch everything that hits their hands, we are pretty much unbeatable.

I hope the Gophers spent the past week drilling watching the ball into their hands and they catch like they did at MSU the rest of the season.

If so, expect similar results.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

with all due respect, I would say that the OL is the key to the season.

If the OL plays well, Mo has room to run and Tanner has time to pass. Of course, the WR's need to catch the ball, but the odds of Tanner throwing a catchable ball are much higher if he is not being pressured. and if the OL is playing well, BSF does not have to stay in to help block, adding another threat to the passing game.

and, if the OL is playing well, then the Gophers have the opportunity to play their ball-control game and eat up TOP.

so yes, the WR's are important, but it all starts with the OL. if the OL plays well, the Gophers can beat any team on the schedule. If the OL does not play well, the Gophers can lose to any team on the schedule.

 

[mngolf]

And I see that Garcia-Castenada(whom we we're in on) is now back into the transfer portal. So much for GBR.

 

[Some Day...Maybe]

For all the talk about how not having Mo cost us the Purdue game the fact is we probably win if our receivers catch all the balls thrown into their hands.

We catch the ball and we move the chains and score touchdowns. Morgan has made very few errors so far. Three of his interceptions were results from either no catches and a tipped ball. He’s right up around 70% completions.

Regardless of how many yards we get on the ground we can still win through the air by being efficient. They are never going to ignore the ground game because all three of our top backs are capable of going for over 100 yards in a game. Mo does this like Old Faithful! That is always going to create passing opportunities as teams overplay the run.

If our receivers could be “Chris Carter” and catch everything that hits their hands, we are pretty much unbeatable.

I hope the Gophers spent the past week drilling watching the ball into their hands and they catch like they did at MSU the rest of the season.

If so, expect similar results.

This is a good post. Our receivers don't have a lot of experience and are an unknown. They will need to play well. I think I saw where Crab had more career catches than all our other receivers combined. They need to gROW.

 

[denguegopher]

with all due respect, I would say that the OL is the key to the season.

If the OL plays well, Mo has room to run and Tanner has time to pass. Of course, the WR's need to catch the ball, but the odds of Tanner throwing a catchable ball are much higher if he is not being pressured. and if the OL is playing well, BSF does not have to stay in to help block, adding another threat to the passing game.

and, if the OL is playing well, then the Gophers have the opportunity to play their ball-control game and eat up TOP.

so yes, the WR's are important, but it all starts with the OL. if the OL plays well, the Gophers can beat any team on the schedule. If the OL does not play well, the Gophers can lose to any team on the schedule.

Although a slightly different argument I would take an awesome wide receiver over a great O-lineman any day. Both are important but a great WR can take routine pass play and score a long TD. That means that the offense does not need to execute a flawless 12 play drive to score. Its more likely that a penalty or busted play will prevent that 12 play drive from ever occurring. But that's just me. Years ago a friend of mine was on the faculty at Alabama. He was selected to join the team for one of their Birmingham home games. At the team dinner the night before the game, then coach Mike Dubose?, in his address mentioned the importance of the O-line. He talked about a play from one of their recent games where they had a receiver open for a long pass. However, one of the O-line guys could not maintain his block and the QB had to throw it early, resulting a harmless incompletion. Dubose's whole point was that if that block had been maintained they would have made a big play and probably have won the game. Obviously, both are important, but it seems that we have frequently been able to to put together solid to very, very good, o-lines, but our best years have been when we also have an outstanding receiver or two. Go Gophers!

 

[PMWinSTP]

A balanced offense is key, not one part over the other. The Sparty game showed how that works. Still scratching my head with the very conservative offensive gameplan used against Purdue.

 

[Six to Eight]

..... the fact is we probably win if our receivers catch all the balls thrown into their hands.

We catch the ball and we move the chains and score touchdowns. Morgan has made very few errors so far. Three of his interceptions were results from either no catches and a tipped ball. He’s right up around 70% completions.

This isn't true. Morgan threw 3 of his 4 interceptions against Purdue. One on an egregious drop by MBS, one purely bad throw in the second half, and the first INT when the D-lineman tipped Tanner's throw after he had run outside the pocket. That one was clearly on Tanner, either decision-wise or execution.

No one player lost us the game but no one really stepped up and played well, either. When your star running back is out, you expect your 5th year starting QB, leader of the offense to play his best. Tanner looked very good against MSU but not so much last game.

 

[skiumah1]

I will say it's a little surprising we haven't had better WR play since Johnson, then Bateman, left.

It's tough to be spoiled with those guys as they made life so much easier for Tanner.

The 2 years with Sanford I think also set us back with the passing game as a whole. Kirk has already done a better job with these guys this year and giving them routes that can get them open.

Jackson was a 4 star recruit and starting to see a little more from him.

I thought Wright would have come along a little bit more than he has but he's still young-ish and learning.

 

[MNVCGUY]

I will say it's a little surprising we haven't had better WR play since Johnson, then Bateman, left.

It's tough to be spoiled with those guys as they made life so much easier for Tanner.

The 2 years with Sanford I think also set us back with the passing game as a whole. Kirk has already done a better job with these guys this year and giving them routes that can get them open.

Jackson was a 4 star recruit and starting to see a little more from him.

I thought Wright would have come along a little bit more than he has but he's still young-ish and learning.

In Jackson's defense the main thing holding him back to this point has been health. When he is in there he looks really good.

Wright has been a little more frustrating. Seems to have a ton of talent but for whatever reason it still hasn't come together for him. If it ever does he could break out in a big way but no guarantee that it will.

 

[Governor Sibley]

Wright is in his third year of college football.

He is a bit of a mystery to me.

 

[Pompous Elitist]

Agree with OP have to make teams pay for stacking up against the run as we’re sure to see on Saturday. The guys have been hot (MSU) and cold (Purdue). Blockers have to block, coaches have to draw up plays that don’t require an eternity for receiver to come open, hang Tanner out to dry as we saw last year at times.

 

[FanSinceTheFifties]

with all due respect, I would say that the OL is the key to the season.

If the OL plays well, Mo has room to run and Tanner has time to pass. Of course, the WR's need to catch the ball, but the odds of Tanner throwing a catchable ball are much higher if he is not being pressured. and if the OL is playing well, BSF does not have to stay in to help block, adding another threat to the passing game.

and, if the OL is playing well, then the Gophers have the opportunity to play their ball-control game and eat up TOP.

so yes, the WR's are important, but it all starts with the OL. if the OL plays well, the Gophers can beat any team on the schedule. If the OL does not play well, the Gophers can lose to any team on the schedule.

Agree, 100 per cent. Since it seems inevitable that running backs will get injured, the OL needs to dominate no matter how far down the depth chart we are forced to reach.

 

[swingman]

if the Purdue starting cb who left the game dazed and puking is still in the protocol, that likely helps.

Purdue scheme is vulnerable to TEs as rcvrs.

 

[MNVCGUY]

if the Purdue starting cb who left the game dazed and puking is still in the protocol, that likely helps.

Purdue scheme is vulnerable to TEs as rcvrs.

Assume you were going for Illinois there? Otherwise not really sure how that helps us

 

[skiumah1]

This is poking it's head out today.

I understand the O-Line wasn't good, but somebody may need to get more than 6 inches of separation.

 

[topos]

Easily my biggest disappointment. I felt like we always over recruited WRs since fleck took over. None have been good other than CAB and Bateman, both recruited very early in the Fleck era.

 

[Otis]

I still stand by this thread.

 

[DCinOK]

The real "Key" to the season is the Season. Or the Keys. One or the other, I'm not sure which.

 

[Some Day...Maybe]

In Jackson's defense the main thing holding him back to this point has been health. When he is in there he looks really good.

Wright has been a little more frustrating. Seems to have a ton of talent but for whatever reason it still hasn't come together for him. If it ever does he could break out in a big way but no guarantee that it will.

I don’t think it will ever come together for Wright. I don’t think he should be starting at this point.

 

[Some Day...Maybe]

Wright is in his third year of college football.

He is a bit of a mystery to me.

He’s not good. That’s how bad our receding corps is. He shouldn’t be starting, or playing much.

 

[Dakota2]

He’s not good. That’s how bad our receding corps is. He shouldn’t be starting, or playing much.

Who should play ahead of him?

 

[cjbfbp]

This is a good post. Our receivers don't have a lot of experience and are an unknown. They will need to play well. I think I saw where Crab had more career catches than all our other receivers combined. They need to gROW.

CrAB is an anomaly (a 6th year player) who will soon mostly disappear as a type. Brown-Stephens has appeared in 19 games, Daniel Jackson in 20, and Dylan Wright in 15 for the Gophers. I would call all of them pretty experienced.

 

[Gophergrandpa]

This is poking it's head out today.

I understand the O-Line wasn't good, but somebody may need to get more than 6 inches of separation.

… and try to high-point a contested ball. WaIting to make a bread basket catch when surrounded by a couple of defenders is a losing tactic.

 

[PhiloVance]

with all due respect, I would say that the OL is the key to the season.

If the OL plays well, Mo has room to run and Tanner has time to pass. Of course, the WR's need to catch the ball, but the odds of Tanner throwing a catchable ball are much higher if he is not being pressured. and if the OL is playing well, BSF does not have to stay in to help block, adding another threat to the passing game.

and, if the OL is playing well, then the Gophers have the opportunity to play their ball-control game and eat up TOP.

so yes, the WR's are important, but it all starts with the OL. if the OL plays well, the Gophers can beat any team on the schedule. If the OL does not play well, the Gophers can lose to any team on the schedule.

The OL was gathering acolytes when playing against poorer competition New Mexico State, Western Illinois, Colorado and Michigan State but came under scrutiny when playing more talented teams Purdue and Illinois.

 

[Gophergrandpa]

If our WRs are, across the board, unable to get separation in man coverage, why not experiment (2nd and short) with a speed merchant like Hoskins on a fly route? Or a bubble screen or jet sweep? Good things happened when we let a 5’7” walk-on from Menominee return kickoffs. There might be a little WR talent unused, sitting in our bench.

 

[Gophergrandpa]

I probably will start the analysis over coffee some morning, but does any Gopher Holer remember a Gopher game in which the passing game line was worse in a game than against Illinois? We went 6 for 18 (33%) for a total of 38 yards with 0 TDs and 3 INTs. Is there a Wacker/Mason/Brewster/Kill game in which our passing line was worse? Serious question.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I probably will start the analysis over coffee some morning, but does any Gopher Holer remember a Gopher game in which the passing game line was worse in a game than against Illinois? We went 6 for 18 (33%) for a total of 38 yards with 0 TDs and 3 INTs. Is there a Wacker/Mason/Brewster/Kill game in which our passing line was worse? Serious question.

Against a significantly worse opponent (Bowling Green), we went 5-13 (38%) for 0 TD and 2 INTs last year.

Demry Croft went 2-11 (18%) for 43 yards and 3 INTs against Northwestern (he had a few more duds that year too).

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

I probably will start the analysis over coffee some morning, but does any Gopher Holer remember a Gopher game in which the passing game line was worse in a game than against Illinois? We went 6 for 18 (33%) for a total of 38 yards with 0 TDs and 3 INTs. Is there a Wacker/Mason/Brewster/Kill game in which our passing line was worse? Serious question.

Yards wise you have to back to the San Jose State game in 2014 when Streveler threw for 7 yards on 1 of 7 passing. But of course he and Cobb combined for 368 on the ground that day.

 

[Gold Rush]

This is poking it's head out today.

I understand the O-Line wasn't good, but somebody may need to get more than 6 inches of separation.

Nailed it. The Gopher receivers were absolutely blanketed by the Illini defensive backs all game long. Meanwhile, there was about 5 yards of separation for the Illini receivers the entire game and it was a lot easier for them to complete passes. If the receivers are open, Morgan will complete the passes but even the best NFL QB's would have a hard time completing passes with receivers simply not open time and time again.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

I'm kinda glad it was an away game ... but wish I could have seen the game with a view like a home game too.

The Purdue game I felt the WRs didn't help Morgan and he didn't help himself much at all either ... I wonder if that was the case with Illinois too. But TV only provides so much visibility.