All things fall practice camp

Donate To GopherHole

FSN: Sophomores take on leadership role in Gophers' young receiver corps

MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota wide receiver Drew Wolitarsky is only a sophomore, but he feels like an upperclassman.

With such a young wide receiver corps, Wolitarsky and fellow sophomore Donovahn Jones are already among the elder statesmen, especially when it comes to playing experience. The duo saw plenty of action immediately, as Wolitarsky played in all 13 games and made four starts late in the season.

"I feel like I've been here forever," Wolitarsky joked after Sunday's practice.

http://www.foxsports.com/north/stor...p-role-in-gophers-young-receiver-corps-080314

Go Gophers!!
 

Limegrover sees Leidner trying to hard sometimes and notes a change in how ......

......how Kill is handling the QB. Posted by: Joe Christensen

Gophers offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover met with the media after Sunday's practice and offered his assessment of quarterback Mitch Leidner. Some interesting stuff in here:

"He’s going to have his ups and downs," Limegrover said. "Things aren’t going to go right, and he’s going to learn from it. The crazy thing is you hear so much about Mitch, you think he’s a fifth-year senior, but he’s just a redshirt sophomore. Every day he’s still learning. But the guys have really taken to him."

And in what areas does Leidner need to improve?

To read the rest of the article click on the link below.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/blogs/Gridiron_Gold.html
 

GG07 said:
Maybe he should work on turning his damn head when the ball is in the air
Click to expand...

Thought the same exact thing. Murray does everything else well. We will see if he learns too turn his head this year.
 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Future is bright with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gophers?src=hash">#Gophers</a> freshmen WRs Isaiah Gentry and Melvin Holland Jr. <a href="http://t.co/6FvZvkPayr">http://t.co/6FvZvkPayr</a></p>— Marcus R. Fuller (@GophersNow) <a href="https://twitter.com/GophersNow/statuses/496153829873045504">August 4, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 


Guys...once again, it's not about "learning" to turn his head. It's about that being the mode of instruction that the staff is choosing to use. They are teaching the DBs to not turn their heads. Your protests are the equivalent of looking at a kid whose parents are purposefully not teaching him how to swim and saying, "Man, if only that kid would just learn how to swim."
 

dpodoll68 said:
Guys...once again, it's not about "learning" to turn his head. It's about that being the mode of instruction that the staff is choosing to use. They are teaching the DBs to not turn their heads. Your protests are the equivalent of looking at a kid whose parents are purposefully not teaching him how to swim and saying, "Man, if only that kid would just learn how to swim."
Click to expand...

+1
People need to get over the head turning hang-up. There can be a penalty for "face guarding" which can be avoided by the D back turning his head and looking for the ball but turning the head is not required. I think I have seen face guarding called once in 50 years of watching football.
 

diefirma said:
+1
People need to get over the head turning hang-up. There can be a penalty for "face guarding" which can be avoided by the D back turning his head and looking for the ball but turning the head is not required. I think I have seen face guarding called once in 50 years of watching football.
Click to expand...

Not in NCAA.
 

It's ok to disagree with Sawvel's philosophy. The coaches on here should chime in but whether a DB plays the eye/hands or plays the ball should depend on the the route, coverage, whether they are on the hip or "burned". NCAA rules seem to encourage playing the ball and the NFL even more so (see below) because of PI/running into the receiver. We got away with several callable interference-related penalties last season. The NCAA officials are much more lenient than NFL.

I'm not a coach...but IMO we left several easy Interceptions/bats on the table last year. On the other hand the advantage of playing the hands or eyes is probably that the DB can blanket their man more effectively and not give up the big play. It probably evens out in the end. The end result was good. As our DBs get better they will also probably be more likely to play the ball in certain situations.

k. Tackling or running into a receiver when a forward pass obviously is underthrown or overthrown is disregarding the ball and is illegal. This is not pass interference but a violation of Rule 9-1-12-a, which carries a penalty of 15 yards from the previous spot plus a first down. Flagrant offenders shall be disqualified.

From NCAA rule book.
 



Pompous Elitist said:
It's ok to disagree with Sawvel's philosophy. The coaches on here should chime in but whether a DB plays the eye/hands or plays the ball should depend on the the route, coverage, whether they are on the hip or "burned". NCAA rules seem to encourage playing the ball and the NFL even more so (see below) because of PI/running into the receiver. We got away with several callable interference-related penalties last season. The NCAA officials are much more lenient than NFL.

I'm not a coach...but IMO we left several easy Interceptions/bats on the table last year. On the other hand the advantage of playing the hands or eyes is probably that the DB can blanket their man more effectively and not give up the big play. It probably evens out in the end. The end result was good. As our DBs get better they will also probably be more likely to play the ball in certain situations.

k. Tackling or running into a receiver when a forward pass obviously is underthrown or overthrown is disregarding the ball and is illegal. This is not pass interference but a violation of Rule 9-1-12-a, which carries a penalty of 15 yards from the previous spot plus a first down. Flagrant offenders shall be disqualified.

From NCAA rule book.
Click to expand...

Blatent faceguarding isn't a penalty though as long as you don't contact the receiver.

It's a question of whether you want your defense to maybe make a handful more picks per year or give up a handful less of big plays. It's possible when the offense proves it can put up more points, the defensive coaches give the DBs more freedom.
 

Agreed but there were many instances of our guy running into the receiver, some that weren't called (thankfully). For example, when we have the receiver pinned or cornered in the endzone it should be feasible to turn and look for the ball. That is a penalty waiting to happen.
 

Just got new training aids:

MiamiJ1.jpg
 

Oh no! Our "all things fall camp" post has been usurped by a chiropractic convention panel!
 



dpodoll68 said:
Guys...once again, it's not about "learning" to turn his head. It's about that being the mode of instruction that the staff is choosing to use. They are teaching the DBs to not turn their heads. Your protests are the equivalent of looking at a kid whose parents are purposefully not teaching him how to swim and saying, "Man, if only that kid would just learn how to swim."
Click to expand...

Or possibly it is the equivalent of someone noticing the difference between said player and top corners at the NFL level. You may be right, he may not be told to, but I'd like to see your source please.
 

Sparlimb said:
Or possibly it is the equivalent of someone noticing the difference between said player and top corners at the NFL level. You may be right, he may not be told to, but I'd like to see your source please.
Click to expand...

Sparlimb, if it is prevalent with our DB's, evidently that is what is being taught based on the philosophy of our Coaching Staff. I have a tendency to trust them more than our GH experts.
 

Coach Sawvel has talked about playing more zone this year, so hopefully that results in a few more interceptions.
 

Coach Sawvel should be worried... Apparently there are a lot of people in the private sector, who are more qualified than him in coaching up a defensive back. Watch out Jay!
 

Dr.Don said:
Sparlimb, if it is prevalent with our DB's, evidently that is what is being taught based on the philosophy of our Coaching Staff. I have a tendency to trust them more than our GH experts.
Click to expand...

That would only make sense considering we have seen a significant improvement in our secondary since Kill's arrival. However, we apparently could be even better if Claeys and Kill read GH.
 

Dr.Don said:
Sparlimb, if it is prevalent with our DB's, evidently that is what is being taught based on the philosophy of our Coaching Staff. I have a tendency to trust them more than our GH experts.
Click to expand...

I do too, but if we (as a collective) are going to argue the point, we should be up front about whether we believe this is taught, based on observation, or if we read a direct quote where Sawvel said this is how I teach this and why. How was that for a run-on sentence?
 

Sparlimb said:
I do too, but if we (as a collective) are going to argue the point, we should be up front about whether we believe this is taught, based on observation, or if we read a direct quote where Sawvel said this is how I teach this and why. How was that for a run-on sentence?
Click to expand...

Sawvel owes none of us an explanation and observation from GopherHolers and commenting on their disagreements, and GH'ers aren't paid a penny for their expertise , and Sawvel knows more than we do, and Sawvel teaches his philosophy with success and I read with disdain about fans who know more than the Coaching Staff and I get numerous concussions from delerious head shakes reading all of the expert advice and I am gonna have a beer(S) and try figure out what a run on sentence is.
 

Sparlimb said:
I do too, but if we (as a collective) are going to argue the point, we should be up front about whether we believe this is taught, based on observation, or if we read a direct quote where Sawvel said this is how I teach this and why. How was that for a run-on sentence?
Click to expand...
Dr. Don's crap aside, I thought I read a quote a while back that talked about this, but I couldn't tell you the source.
 

matt said:
Dr. Don's crap aside, I thought I read a quote a while back that talked about this, but I couldn't tell you the source.
Click to expand...

CRAP??? You call my bullschidt CRAP? How dare you.

"I thought I read...". Now that is crap, matt.
 

Dr.Don said:
Sawvel owes none of us an explanation and observation from GopherHolers and commenting on their disagreements, and GH'ers aren't paid a penny for their expertise , and Sawvel knows more than we do, and Sawvel teaches his philosophy with success and I read with disdain about fans who know more than the Coaching Staff and I get numerous concussions from delerious head shakes reading all of the expert advice and I am gonna have a beer(S) and try figure out what a run on sentence is.
Click to expand...

I agree he (Sawvel) doesn't owe us squat. Not what I was asking. Posts above have made the assertion that is what is taught. I just want the source, or conversely, those posters to admit it is purely their opinion (which is equal in weight to my own). I'm heading in for beer #2...
 

Kind of wish this thread wasn't Jacked by head turning being taught/not taught talk and got back to what was seen at Fall camp
 

So I've heard all 4 qbs(Strevler, Perra, McKinzie, Rhoda) mentioned as contending neck & neck for the #2 QB spot... (Praying to jobu that this gets the post off neck turning, Lol)
 

Lordshawesome said:
So I've heard all 4 qbs(Strevler, Perra, McKinzie, Rhoda) mentioned as contending neck & neck for the #2 QB spot... (Praying to jobu that this gets the post off neck turning, Lol)
Click to expand...

What I'm hearing/reading isn't great. In a nutshell, Streveler is the clear #2, but while he's lightening fast & very athletic, he isn't much of a passer. Same hinky motion, same wobbly ducks, not that accurate, etc. Rhoda is a good passer, but not much of a runner. Perra looks to be a good passer, not such a great runner. McKinzy hasn't shown much of anything & will likely need a red-shirt year. I've maintained all along that the dropp off from Nelson to Leidner, if one exists, is negligible, but the drop off from Leidner or Nelson as our #2, to Streveler as our #2 is huge. Let's hope Mitch stays healthy.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
What I'm hearing/reading isn't great. In a nutshell, Streveler is the clear #2, but while he's lightening fast & very athletic, he isn't much of a passer. Same hinky motion, same wobbly ducks, not that accurate, etc. Rhoda is a good passer, but not much of a runner. Perra looks to be a good passer, not such a great runner. McKinzy hasn't shown much of anything & will likely need a red-shirt year. I've maintained all along that the dropp off from Nelson to Leidner, if one exists, is negligible, but the drop off from Leidner or Nelson as our #2, to Streveler as our #2 is huge. Let's hope Mitch stays healthy.
Click to expand...

Whatever you say, Costa. Get your ass over to practice and help get Streveler up to par, man.
 

The QB position can quickly be the Achilles' heel of the Gophers if Mitch is injured. What about trying out Conner Krizancic if the other backups can't step up this season? Can't wait to see what Demry Croft can do.
 

I've read if McKenzie can pick up the offence quick enough, it could be him. I've seen camp notes, saying he has the total package of what kill wants in a QB.
 

The drop off from Leidner seemed minimal in the spring game. Streveler and Mckinzy seemed just as efficient as Leidner.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom