PiPress: Departing seniors leaving big hole on offensive line

Limegrover is not good at either of his jobs.

Blaming Limegrover is such a tired cliche.

We regressed this season because of our defense. Our defense was worse this year (statistically) than our offense. We ran the ball decent (middle of the pack in the Big 10), we passed the ball decent (middle of the pack in the Big 10), we defended the pass alright, however, we simply could not stop the run this season.

But yeah, Limegrover's playcalling was the problem. If we just would have ran a couple more jet sweeps maybe we would have been able to stop the run.
 

I just see a lack of creativity on the offensive side of the ball. Our offense is very predictable because we only run a limited number of plays. Yes, the passing is better, but that is due to ML's improvement rather than the play calling. For whatever reason, Limey has a thing against rb screens, bubble screens, four yard slant routes, i.e. simple plays that can go for long yards. I do not have any faith in limey.

You've already set up a situation where you will not mentally have faith in Limey.

Offense sucks against NW, Colorado St., and Kent St . . . Limey sucks (no faith in Limey).
Offense improves in the Big 10 season. . . "that is due to ML's improvement rather than play calling".

What?

So the early season struggles where Limey was playing with a QB who was awful (Leidner was awful at the beginning of the year), that's on Limey. Improvements, no credit to Limey.

Oh, and we do run bubble screens and slants, quite a bit actually.
 

You've already set up a situation where you will not mentally have faith in Limey.

Offense sucks against NW, Colorado St., and Kent St . . . Limey sucks (no faith in Limey).
Offense improves in the Big 10 season. . . "that is due to ML's improvement rather than play calling".

What?

So the early season struggles where Limey was playing with a QB who was awful (Leidner was awful at the beginning of the year), that's on Limey. Improvements, no credit to Limey.

Oh, and we do run bubble screens and slants, quite a bit actually.

It appears that Claeys agrees with me that Limey was not a good offensive coordinator and that the improvements in ML were not enough to save his job. It is nice to be vindicated in a matter of hours. Good day!!;);)
 


It appears that Claeys agrees with me that Limey was not a good offensive coordinator and that the improvements in ML were not enough to save his job. It is nice to be vindicated in a matter of hours. Good day!!;);)

Well, I still think you add basically nothing to this board while B_L is one of the most knowledgable people who posts here. But go on and keep gloating. You're awesome.
 


Well, I still think you add basically nothing to this board while B_L is one of the most knowledgable people who posts here. But go on and keep gloating. You're awesome.

Ok. The head coach and I agree on getting rid of Limey, yet I add nothing. Whatever.
 

I don't think Claeys agrees with you, but what does he know he is only the head coach.

A head coach who has yet to prove he can handle the job given to him. I don't think that's enough ammo for you to gloat about.
 

A head coach who has yet to prove he can handle the job given to him. I don't think that's enough ammo for you to gloat about.

Wow. Now people here are completely dismissing our head coach's decision because they don't agree with it under the guise that Claeys has not proven that he is a good coach so his decisions should be taken with a grain of salt. Man, I still remember everyone on here just crucifying anyone who questioned Kill because ""he was the head coach and he knows better than anyone on GH about his players and coaches" therefore any decision he made was the right one. I guess this same standard does not apply to Claeys, despite him now being the head coach. Had Kill made this move, everyone would be on board with it and I would have been as well. I believe Kill should have gotten rid of Limey long before now and Kill's loyalty to Limey was his downfall and the reason I was losing faith that Kill would get us over the hump. I simply think that anyone who thought that Limey was a good OC, was selling this program short. We can do better than Limey.
 

Blaming Limegrover is such a tired cliche.

We regressed this season because of our defense. Our defense was worse this year (statistically) than our offense. We ran the ball decent (middle of the pack in the Big 10), we passed the ball decent (middle of the pack in the Big 10), we defended the pass alright, however, we simply could not stop the run this season.

But yeah, Limegrover's playcalling was the problem. If we just would have ran a couple more jet sweeps maybe we would have been able to stop the run.

You are correct about his play calling and grossly wrong about the cliche thing.
 



Not really getting this...based on their performance, is this really a big loss?
 

Not really getting this...based on their performance, is this really a big loss?

I think it's always a big deal to lose six guys in one position group who either played a lot this year or were expected to do so before they were injured. Even if the line's performance wasn't what we hoped, that's a lot of bodies to replace.
 

Wonder if Pirsig will move to LT or stay at RT. Competition will be wide open with new eyes on the group. Wonder is Trevor Olson will be kept on as Grad Assistant or is that a 1-2 year thing and done.
 

Wow. Now people here are completely dismissing our head coach's decision because they don't agree with it under the guise that Claeys has not proven that he is a good coach so his decisions should be taken with a grain of salt. Man, I still remember everyone on here just crucifying anyone who questioned Kill because ""he was the head coach and he knows better than anyone on GH about his players and coaches" therefore any decision he made was the right one. I guess this same standard does not apply to Claeys, despite him now being the head coach. Had Kill made this move, everyone would be on board with it and I would have been as well. I believe Kill should have gotten rid of Limey long before now and Kill's loyalty to Limey was his downfall and the reason I was losing faith that Kill would get us over the hump. I simply think that anyone who thought that Limey was a good OC, was selling this program short. We can do better than Limey.

Kill had years of experience as a head coach and turned around multiple programs. He was proven. Certainly Claeys had a hand in that success on the defensive side of the ball, but being the head man in charge is a different animal.
 



It appears that Claeys agrees with me that Limey was not a good offensive coordinator and that the improvements in ML were not enough to save his job. It is nice to be vindicated in a matter of hours. Good day!!;);)

Vindicated? Because Claeys might agree with you?

It really doesn't change anything that I said. The piece that I put in bold was completely illogical.
 

Wow. Now people here are completely dismissing our head coach's decision because they don't agree with it under the guise that Claeys has not proven that he is a good coach so his decisions should be taken with a grain of salt. Man, I still remember everyone on here just crucifying anyone who questioned Kill because ""he was the head coach and he knows better than anyone on GH about his players and coaches" therefore any decision he made was the right one. I guess this same standard does not apply to Claeys, despite him now being the head coach. Had Kill made this move, everyone would be on board with it and I would have been as well. I believe Kill should have gotten rid of Limey long before now and Kill's loyalty to Limey was his downfall and the reason I was losing faith that Kill would get us over the hump. I simply think that anyone who thought that Limey was a good OC, was selling this program short. We can do better than Limey.


I'm not dismissing his decision. If Claeys wants to move on, he should. He is the head coach. I've supported Claeys the entire time. However, simply because he makes a decision doesn't make that decision right.

If you really look at what I said, I was saying that our biggest problem was our inability to stop the run this season. Our defense let us down in as many Big 10 games this season as our offense. That's it. But I know, you're obsessed with Limegrover, it'll fun seeing who is your next obsession. My guess is it'll be the new offensive coordinator.
 

Blaming Limegrover is such a tired cliche.

We regressed this season because of our defense. Our defense was worse this year (statistically) than our offense. We ran the ball decent (middle of the pack in the Big 10), we passed the ball decent (middle of the pack in the Big 10), we defended the pass alright, however, we simply could not stop the run this season.

But yeah, Limegrover's playcalling was the problem. If we just would have ran a couple more jet sweeps maybe we would have been able to stop the run.

Rushing Defense by year
2015 172 yds/game
2014 175 yds/game
2013 158 yds/game
2012 172 yds/game
2011 186 yds/game

Rushing S&P+ was 72 this year I believe, which was average for the last 5 years. Last year it was better, but I believe the other 3 years were in the 70s or worse.

I would argue our buzzsaw of a schedule was the main reason we dropped more games, along with that close loss to Michigan. The Nebraska and Wisconsin games stand out as putrid defensive displays vs the run. Iowa was not pretty either. Other games, that skeleton crew did alright all things considered. It was a team loss type of year, all around. Defense, offense, special teams all found ways to lose games.
 

Vindicated? Because Claeys might agree with you?

It really doesn't change anything that I said. The piece that I put in bold was completely illogical.

I disagree that it is illogical. What does ML improving have to do with Limey as OC? Limey was not the QB coach that was coach Z. My point is that in so many games there was bad play calling. In the Wis. game, we go to Wildcat formation!! Why? That did not fool anyone and was a completely wasted down, leaving us 3rd and long. Despite it being a complete failure, Limey runs it again later in the game!! Why? To prove it doesn't work a second time? Limey just could not keep the flow going and wasted so many downs due to bad play calls. ML's improvement helped Limey out of some his bad play calling this year. Nevertheless, it was Limey's bad play calling that caused the gophers to so often be in 3rd and long situations. I just don't know how people watching our games felt like there was a rhythm or a reason for the play calling. So often it felt like the gophers would get a rhythm going, then there would be two boneheaded plays called leading us to a 3rd and long with an eventual punt. Limey was in over his head IMO.
 

I'm not dismissing his decision. If Claeys wants to move on, he should. He is the head coach. I've supported Claeys the entire time. However, simply because he makes a decision doesn't make that decision right.

If you really look at what I said, I was saying that our biggest problem was our inability to stop the run this season. Our defense let us down in as many Big 10 games this season as our offense. That's it. But I know, you're obsessed with Limegrover, it'll fun seeing who is your next obsession. My guess is it'll be the new offensive coordinator.

Quite frankly, this is first time I have ever had an issue with a position coach ever since I have been a Gopher fan. Under Brewster, I never complained about the play calling or blamed either the OC or DC, it was clear that Brewster was the problem. I will admit that I did get frustrated with the D during the Mason years, but there was change in the DC position - it did not stay static due to the fact that the defense was poor. It was painful to me watching our offense under Limegrover and I thought a change should have occurred before now. At this point, I will sit back and see what develops. But if I think a coaches is making boneheaded mistakes, I will call them out on a message board. Otherwise, what is the purpose of a message board? Peace.
 

I think the O line coach should be a full time job. No Assistant this or slash O Coordinator. Finding that person to focus on the line, and recruiting would be a good first step. The last good to very good O line Coach at the U was ......Gordy Shaw. Its been a while.
 

I think the O line coach should be a full time job. No Assistant this or slash O Coordinator. Finding that person to focus on the line, and recruiting would be a good first step. The last good to very good O line Coach at the U was ......Gordy Shaw. Its been a while.

This^
 

I disagree that it is illogical. What does ML improving have to do with Limey as OC? Limey was not the QB coach that was coach Z. My point is that in so many games there was bad play calling. In the Wis. game, we go to Wildcat formation!! Why? That did not fool anyone and was a completely wasted down, leaving us 3rd and long. Despite it being a complete failure, Limey runs it again later in the game!! Why? To prove it doesn't work a second time? Limey just could not keep the flow going and wasted so many downs due to bad play calls. ML's improvement helped Limey out of some his bad play calling this year. Nevertheless, it was Limey's bad play calling that caused the gophers to so often be in 3rd and long situations. I just don't know how people watching our games felt like there was a rhythm or a reason for the play calling. So often it felt like the gophers would get a rhythm going, then there would be two boneheaded plays called leading us to a 3rd and long with an eventual punt. Limey was in over his head IMO.

I believe my exact quote

"Oh great, the ****ing wildcat again, just punt it now"

Of course had it worked I would've pretended I fully supported the brilliant play call
 

I think the O line coach should be a full time job. No Assistant this or slash O Coordinator. Finding that person to focus on the line, and recruiting would be a good first step. The last good to very good O line Coach at the U was ......Gordy Shaw. Its been a while.

My understanding that's the plan. The new OC will double as QB coach and the OL coach will focus on OL

There was thought we'd eliminate a coach on D side, but we hired O'Brien so that went out the window
 

I disagree that it is illogical. What does ML improving have to do with Limey as OC? Limey was not the QB coach that was coach Z. My point is that in so many games there was bad play calling. In the Wis. game, we go to Wildcat formation!! Why? That did not fool anyone and was a completely wasted down, leaving us 3rd and long. Despite it being a complete failure, Limey runs it again later in the game!! Why? To prove it doesn't work a second time? Limey just could not keep the flow going and wasted so many downs due to bad play calls. ML's improvement helped Limey out of some his bad play calling this year. Nevertheless, it was Limey's bad play calling that caused the gophers to so often be in 3rd and long situations. I just don't know how people watching our games felt like there was a rhythm or a reason for the play calling. So often it felt like the gophers would get a rhythm going, then there would be two boneheaded plays called leading us to a 3rd and long with an eventual punt. Limey was in over his head IMO.

Probably nothing, I agree with you. However, that also makes the inverse true. When our offense was putrid at the beginning of the year and ML was awful, you can't really blame Limey for that either.
 

Rushing Defense by year
2015 172 yds/game
2014 175 yds/game
2013 158 yds/game
2012 172 yds/game
2012 186 yds/game

Rushing S&P+ was 72 this year I believe, which was average for the last 5 years. Last year it was better, but I believe the other 3 years were in the 70s or worse.

I would argue our buzzsaw of a schedule was the main reason we dropped more games, along with that close loss to Michigan. The Nebraska and Wisconsin games stand out as putrid defensive displays vs the run. Iowa was not pretty either. Other games, that skeleton crew did alright all things considered. It was a team loss type of year, all around. Defense, offense, special teams all found ways to lose games.

I agree with you, the schedule was a big difference.

But, this year. . . we were 10th in the Big 10 at stopping the run.
Last year - 6th
2013 - 8th

Our offense was about the same all three years, our rush defense dropped.
 

I think it's always a big deal to lose six guys in one position group who either played a lot this year or were expected to do so before they were injured. Even if the line's performance wasn't what we hoped, that's a lot of bodies to replace.

They did not play a lot and when playing were just OK...that's my point. Their loss should be based on performance, not potential. Not a big loss to me. Replacements played as good and sometimes better. Either way, the line play needs to improve next year.
 

They did not play a lot and when playing were just OK...that's my point. Their loss should be based on performance, not potential. Not a big loss to me. Replacements played as good and sometimes better. Either way, the line play needs to improve next year.

I'd agree that the line play needs to improve, but improving the results is going to be a tough job given that we are losing six guys who started this year and are bringing back just three guys with starting experience. I guess you can say they all sucked so it doesn't matter, but they were still the best players we had available at those positions and now they are gone. Certainly there are players on the roster who will be in the mix and many of their names have been mentioned in this thread and others. Recruiting will add more options, but I don't think you should dismiss:

Christenson and Bjorklund had all the starts at LG. Bjorklund also started 3 games at RG. I think Christenson missed 3 games due to injury and Bjorklund was somewhat limited by his knee.

Campion missed 8 games, he started at RT the other 4.

Bobek was a starter at center for five weeks until injured. Moore did a good job as a replacement and I think he's solid as a starter going into next year.

Bush was a backup, but started 4 games at LT.

Lauer was the starter at LT against TCU and started three other games there later in the year. He missed 7 games due to injury.

Hayes was a non-factor as far as I recall.

So they are losing six guys who totaled 32 starts. No, they aren't losing first team all-conference caliber players, but there are a lot of snaps to be replaced. Put another way, Connor Mayes, Pirsig and Moore may be penciled in as starters next year, but there isn't much experienced depth behind them. Lauer and Bobek would have provided depth, at a minimum. If we learned one thing this year, it's that you always can use more guys. I'm sure that some of the redshirts will step in and they will look for some juco help, but line depth will almost certainly remain a topic of concern heading into 2016.
 

I disagree that it is illogical. What does ML improving have to do with Limey as OC? Limey was not the QB coach that was coach Z. My point is that in so many games there was bad play calling. In the Wis. game, we go to Wildcat formation!! Why? That did not fool anyone and was a completely wasted down, leaving us 3rd and long. Despite it being a complete failure, Limey runs it again later in the game!! Why? To prove it doesn't work a second time? Limey just could not keep the flow going and wasted so many downs due to bad play calls. ML's improvement helped Limey out of some his bad play calling this year. Nevertheless, it was Limey's bad play calling that caused the gophers to so often be in 3rd and long situations. I just don't know how people watching our games felt like there was a rhythm or a reason for the play calling. So often it felt like the gophers would get a rhythm going, then there would be two boneheaded plays called leading us to a 3rd and long with an eventual punt. Limey was in over his head IMO.

I'm not sure if you specifically have said this in the past, but many here have said how plain and boring our offense is. "We just run the same 10 plays every game!!!" Then when we try something different, people hate that as well because it didn't work.

As for the wildcat, teams still run it so it must work to some degree. He tried something different, it didn't work. Doesn't mean it was stupid to try in my opinion.

If Brooks had thrown an interception instead of a TD in the Iowa game, there would have been people screaming about how dumb that play call was. Sometimes plays work, sometimes they don't.
 

I'm not sure if you specifically have said this in the past, but many here have said how plain and boring our offense is. "We just run the same 10 plays every game!!!" Then when we try something different, people hate that as well because it didn't work.

As for the wildcat, teams still run it so it must work to some degree. He tried something different, it didn't work. Doesn't mean it was stupid to try in my opinion.

If Brooks had thrown an interception instead of a TD in the Iowa game, there would have been people screaming about how dumb that play call was. Sometimes plays work, sometimes they don't.

Hey GII. I am certainly one of those fans that complained about the limited number of plays called and lack of offensive creativity. I specifically mentioned the wildcat because, IMO, we don't have the correct personnel to effectively run the wildcat. When I saw ML go to the wide receiver position, I knew the play was doomed because at that point Wis. knew we were going to run. That is why the offensive line got their asses blown off the line on those two plays. With ML was in the backfield the D had to at least respect the pass. Putting ML out wide clearly telegraphed we were going to run on that play. In my mind, when you have a guy like Q, then the wildcat is more effective. This is one example of the play calling that I disagreed with, but there have been other numerous play calls that I just scratched my head over. I know change can be scary due to the unknown, but with Limegrover I do not think that things were going to be much better next year. I think the team has been better under Claeys and I am going to trust that Claeys knows what he is doing. If he f's this up, I will be the first to admit that we should not have gotten rid of Limegrover, but I do not think I will be saying that.
 

Hey GII. I am certainly one of those fans that complained about the limited number of plays called and lack of offensive creativity. I specifically mentioned the wildcat because, IMO, we don't have the correct personnel to effectively run the wildcat. When I saw ML go to the wide receiver position, I knew the play was doomed because at that point Wis. knew we were going to run. That is why the offensive line got their asses blown off the line on those two plays. With ML was in the backfield the D had to at least respect the pass. Putting ML out wide clearly telegraphed we were going to run on that play. In my mind, when you have a guy like Q, then the wildcat is more effective. This is one example of the play calling that I disagreed with, but there have been other numerous play calls that I just scratched my head over. I know change can be scary due to the unknown, but with Limegrover I do not think that things were going to be much better next year. I think the team has been better under Claeys and I am going to trust that Claeys knows what he is doing. If he f's this up, I will be the first to admit that we should not have gotten rid of Limegrover, but I do not think I will be saying that.

I don't disagree with that. Definitely been some weird calls over the years. And to be clear, I am ok with the move. It's Claeys team now, he should run it how he wants to. Just think some people will find anything to complain about when it comes to Limegrover and the play calling (not you specifically).
 




Top Bottom