Nate Sandell: Close look at numbers shows Gophers defense has been stout

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Sandell:

Minnesota has yet to be scored upon in drives that have started inside its opponent's 20-yard line (0-of-12). On those 12 drives, the defense has given up an average of 14 yards and hasn't allowed an opponent past Minnesota's 46-yard line.

It still may be premature to consider this defense among the FBS' best, but if not it is at the very least headed in that direction.

When Kill took over the program four years ago, the goal was to establish a defensive foundation and build from there. The Gophers have accomplished the first part. The offense remains a work-in-progress, but the defense has reached a point where it can put Minnesota in position to consistently win games.

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/...rs_shows_Gophers_defense_has_been_stout100114

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
per Sandell:

Minnesota has yet to be scored upon in drives that have started inside its opponent's 20-yard line (0-of-12). On those 12 drives, the defense has given up an average of 14 yards and hasn't allowed an opponent past Minnesota's 46-yard line.

It still may be premature to consider this defense among the FBS' best, but if not it is at the very least headed in that direction.

When Kill took over the program four years ago, the goal was to establish a defensive foundation and build from there. The Gophers have accomplished the first part. The offense remains a work-in-progress, but the defense has reached a point where it can put Minnesota in position to consistently win games.

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/...rs_shows_Gophers_defense_has_been_stout100114

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

The run D to me is the most impressive part of this defenses' record so far.
Wilson and Bottecelli playing out of their minds and the stoutness of Richardson has helped even with the loss of Ekpe.
I'm trying to hold myself back from getting too excited about the Dline's future, but when you see a freshman like Elmore manhandling a Michigan tackle into the QB, Richardson pushing guys around into the backfield, and Stelter/Allen also contributing it's hard not to envision a D-line that could be epically good for the next few years.
 

I have said this before but the back seven are I think as good as any in the Big 10. And we are deep. We can play nickel, dime, or straight up. And the absolute strength is up the middle, Thompson and Wilson. They also are play makers. We have continue to get turnovers. Wilson is on a mission. Lynn is hitting his stride, and Campbell is a freak. Lasiter got some playing time and made the most of it. Then there is the defensive line. When Allen went down and Elmore blew on to scene, and now we had depth and rotation. Richardson is an old school nose tackle. Leverage, quickness, strength. Earlier I was thinking what ever happened to Theiren Cockran and there he was.
 

husker70 said:
I have said this before but the back seven are I think as good as any in the Big 10. And we are deep. We can play nickel, dime, or straight up. And the absolute strength is up the middle, Thompson and Wilson. They also are play makers. We have continue to get turnovers. Wilson is on a mission. Lynn is hitting his stride, and Campbell is a freak. Lasiter got some playing time and made the most of it. Then there is the defensive line. When Allen went down and Elmore blew on to scene, and now we had depth and rotation. Richardson is an old school nose tackle. Leverage, quickness, strength. Earlier I was thinking what ever happened to Theiren Cockran and there he was.
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Who is Allen? The last two posters have referenced him?
 



Ole said:
The run D to me is the most impressive part of this defenses' record so far.
Wilson and Bottecelli playing out of their minds and the stoutness of Richardson has helped even with the loss of Ekpe.
I'm trying to hold myself back from getting too excited about the Dline's future, but when you see a freshman like Elmore manhandling a Michigan tackle into the QB, Richardson pushing guys around into the backfield, and Stelter/Moore also contributing it's hard not to envision a D-line that could be epically good for the next few years.
Click to expand...

crap. needed coffee.
I think Husker meant Scott Ekpe
 

What husker typed should have been Alex Keith.
 

I just had to google the Gopher Football roster thanks to you guys. Kept thinking to myself, who the heck is this Allen guy on our D-line? :D
 

Have we put 8 guys in the box yet this year?

Have we ever walked a safety up?

We are doing okay by having 6-7 people in the box.

We never hear the names of our safeties. That's good. It means the game is being played in front of them.

Basically all the tackles we missed against Michigan were on one play in the first quarter.
 



Ah, got it. I even looked at the roster and didn't put it together.

Yes, our D-Line is looking very good, and very young! We seem to have a perfect balance on the defensive side of the ball for continued strong defenses. A mix of Seniors and underclassmen so that we have a lot of solid leadership from the older guys, but a lot of talent and skill from the younger guys. I don't look anywhere on the defense and think that we're gonna be screwed next year. Maybe not quite as good, but definitely not screwed.

This should be a great recruiting tool as well. Look at all the young guys getting a run right now, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Recruits should look at this and see that they could be a part of a defense that is kicking out guys to the NFL and they could get to play right away if they are good enough.
 

Just looking at the stats it show that the defense if working well. I too, thought they would be tested by the run because of the you DT's. However the top three tacklers are the 3 LB's and when that is happening they are doing their job at each level.
 

I agree with everything said in this thread, but in reference to stopping the run we still have some very tough tests forthcoming. I still want to see our run defense hold up against Wisconsin, Iowa (although the Hawkeyes have struggled running the ball) and Nebraska.
 

GopherHomer said:
I agree with everything said in this thread, but in reference to stopping the run we still have some very tough tests forthcoming. I still want to see our run defense hold up against Wisconsin, Iowa (although the Hawkeyes have struggled running the ball) and Nebraska.
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Agreed. We have played a whole bunch of spread offense teams and Michigan who played the worst QB we will see all season. I think our defense is doing an awesome job, and man is Richardson really impressing me. I don't believe very many if any defenses could "stop" wisconsin or nebraska's run attack but if we can contain it and limit it I will be impressed.
 



RunGopherRun said:
Yes, our D-Line is looking very good, and very young! We seem to have a perfect balance on the defensive side of the ball for continued strong defenses. A mix of Seniors and underclassmen so that we have a lot of solid leadership from the older guys, but a lot of talent and skill from the younger guys. I don't look anywhere on the defense and think that we're gonna be screwed next year. Maybe not quite as good, but definitely not screwed.
Click to expand...

An early look at next year's depth chart:

DE Cockran SR
DT Ekpe JR
DT Richardson SO
DE Ekpe JR
OLB Poock SO/Laster SO
MLB Lynn JR
OLB Campbell SR
CB Boddy-Calhoun SR
SS Travis SR
FS Johnson SR
CB Murray SR

Other than Poock/Laster, everyone will have a ton of starting/playing experience, and our entire starting secondary will be seniors. Pretty cool to think that the defense could continue to get even better.
 

dpodoll68 said:
An early look at next year's depth chart:

DE Cockran SR
DT Ekpe JR
DT Richardson SO
DE Ekpe JR
OLB Poock SO/Laster SO
MLB Lynn JR
OLB Campbell SR
CB Boddy-Calhoun SR
SS Travis SR
FS Johnson SR
CB Murray SR

Other than Poock/Laster, everyone will have a ton of starting/playing experience, and our entire starting secondary will be seniors. Pretty cool to think that the defense could continue to get even better.
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That right there is exciting!

4 seniors in the secondary could be a concern if they were the only ones out there playing. This year we have also seen Myrick, McGhee and James back there as frosh and soph. Also, on the D-line there are all of the rotational guys as well, with Keith, Elmore, Stelter, Moore, all being back as well.
 

I'm pretty sure we're going to get gashed against the run at some point this year. Probably more than once.
 

Defense

Studwell55 said:
I'm pretty sure we're going to get gashed against the run at some point this year. Probably more than once.
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If we do get killed by the run at some point this year, I just hope its not Iowa again. We need to stop Weisman.
 

proudgopher said:
If we do get killed by the run at some point this year, I just hope its not Iowa again. We need to stop Weisman.
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IF we get gashed by the run i guess my preference would be nebraska doing it and us beating iowa and wisconsin. I really just am sick of losing to wisconsin
 

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