BleedGopher
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per Judd:
The victories over Wisconsin and Georgia Tech should establish a blue print for Minnesota heading into next season. It’s also why 2019 should begin with real expectations, as Fleck enters his third season as the Gophers’ coach. It doesn’t hurt that Ohio State and Michigan both aren’t on the Gophers’ schedule.
Fleck is a good recruiter and knows how to coach offense. He is going to need to settle on a quarterback — Tanner Morgan would seem to have the inside track — but the Gophers should be able to score points in 2019. They scored more than 30 points in six of their final nine games and had 28 against Nebraska.
The concern through the Illinois game was whether anybody on Fleck’s staff, including the coach, knew how to come up with a scheme to keep opponents out of the end zone. What was maddening from the outside, and had to be from Fleck’s chair as well, was how bad the defense looked. This had nothing to do with youth and certainly every player couldn’t have been that bad. This had to do with scheme and fundamentals, such as being in the right gap and tackling.
Rossi fixed those issues in a week and should have an even better group to work with next season. Linebacker Blake Cashman will be gone, but Thomas Barber and Carter Coughlin will provide experience at that position and the secondary should be much improved.
That unit will be helped by the return of standout defensive back Antoine Winfield Jr., who suffered a season-ending foot injury in the Big Ten opener. Winfield could be one of the top defensive players in the conference if he can remain healthy. Fleck also has added a few defensive tackles in this recruiting class who should step in and play.
Of course, trying to sell any positives regarding the defense would have been next to impossible if the ineptitude displayed under Smith had been allowed to continue. But with Rossi running the show it appears the Gophers defense has gone from laughing stock to legit.
That means it’s fair to expect that in Fleck’s third season his team will be spending the holidays playing a bowl game in a much warmer climate than Detroit.
http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/12/zulgad-turnaround-defense-increases-expectations-gophers-2019/
Go Gophers!!
The victories over Wisconsin and Georgia Tech should establish a blue print for Minnesota heading into next season. It’s also why 2019 should begin with real expectations, as Fleck enters his third season as the Gophers’ coach. It doesn’t hurt that Ohio State and Michigan both aren’t on the Gophers’ schedule.
Fleck is a good recruiter and knows how to coach offense. He is going to need to settle on a quarterback — Tanner Morgan would seem to have the inside track — but the Gophers should be able to score points in 2019. They scored more than 30 points in six of their final nine games and had 28 against Nebraska.
The concern through the Illinois game was whether anybody on Fleck’s staff, including the coach, knew how to come up with a scheme to keep opponents out of the end zone. What was maddening from the outside, and had to be from Fleck’s chair as well, was how bad the defense looked. This had nothing to do with youth and certainly every player couldn’t have been that bad. This had to do with scheme and fundamentals, such as being in the right gap and tackling.
Rossi fixed those issues in a week and should have an even better group to work with next season. Linebacker Blake Cashman will be gone, but Thomas Barber and Carter Coughlin will provide experience at that position and the secondary should be much improved.
That unit will be helped by the return of standout defensive back Antoine Winfield Jr., who suffered a season-ending foot injury in the Big Ten opener. Winfield could be one of the top defensive players in the conference if he can remain healthy. Fleck also has added a few defensive tackles in this recruiting class who should step in and play.
Of course, trying to sell any positives regarding the defense would have been next to impossible if the ineptitude displayed under Smith had been allowed to continue. But with Rossi running the show it appears the Gophers defense has gone from laughing stock to legit.
That means it’s fair to expect that in Fleck’s third season his team will be spending the holidays playing a bowl game in a much warmer climate than Detroit.
http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/12/zulgad-turnaround-defense-increases-expectations-gophers-2019/
Go Gophers!!
