Chip Scoggins: Gophers' defense still not to Big Ten standards

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BleedGopher

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per Chip:

Jay Sawvel's job title is defensive coordinator. On Saturday, his business card should've read mad scientist.

Sawvel unveiled new wrinkles in scheme and personnel groupings in the Gophers' 31-24 victory over Colorado State at TCF Bank Stadium.

The result was a mixed bag. Some good, some bad, which is not unexpected considering the amount of experimenting the Gophers are doing with young players in key roles.

It was a weird performance, one that looked like two steps forward, one step back.

Defense has been the hallmark of this coaching regime, first under Jerry Kill and now Claeys, the architect. This version has more overall speed and better depth than other defenses under Claeys. Whether everything comes together remains a question to be answered.

"We definitely have to be better," said safety Damarius Travis, who grabbed an interception in the first half. "We're not where we want to be."

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-defense-still-not-to-big-ten-standards/394701711/

Go Gophers!!
 

Pass D played better but still room for improvement. Shocked the run D played that poorly. I noticed Stelter didn't play much if at all. He'll be needed at PSU.
 

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
Pass D played better but still room for improvement. Shocked the run D played that poorly. I noticed Stelter didn't play much if at all. He'll be needed at PSU.
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I'm not good at noticing subs but with the way we started the game (Richardson blowing up the first like 3 plays in the backfield) I figured we started letting younger guys play, trying different things as the game went on. Could this not be why we looked a little soft against the run?
 

Perhaps Sawvel is not that great as a DC? Certainly a fantastic position coach, but without Claeys it has looked different. Gave up lots of big plays already this year.
 

beavergopher said:
Perhaps Sawvel is not that great as a DC? Certainly a fantastic position coach, but without Claeys it has looked different. Gave up lots of big plays already this year.
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This is year 1 for him as DC. There will be some growing pains. He was good enough he would have gotten a shot at DC somewhere eventually anyway. I'm glad it was here.

Tracy can help him out some, give him some pointers. I think he'll be fine.
 


minibeaver said:
I'm not good at noticing subs but with the way we started the game (Richardson blowing up the first like 3 plays in the backfield) I figured we started letting younger guys play, trying different things as the game went on. Could this not be why we looked a little soft against the run?
Click to expand...

I kept looking for Stelter but never noticed him in there. Apparently there was an undisclosed issue during the Indi St game and he did log 2 tackles in this game. For some reason he only saw limited action.

http://www.twincities.com/2016/09/10/gophers-kobe-mccrary-has-big-rushing-day-in-blowout-win/ (at bottom)
http://www.espn.com/college-football/player/gamelog/_/id/3116075/andrew-stelter
 

I'm hoping some of the new schemes that are being tried and getting all the young guys experience early will pay off as the season goes on.

What was up with that one first half Td drive that the Rams had? The one where they gashed the Gophers D to the left every play. Most of the runs were to the outside and it happened to be Shenault's side (not sure who was at lb or de on that drive).
 

The new DC at WI was ridiculed here because of the performance of a very troubled USC team from whence he came.
And where did Sawel come from and what experience as a DC on a prior power 5 team did he have?
Growing in the job in the BIG is not a good thing.
 

Didn't the coaches say before the year that they were going to have to try new things/arrangements/etc. early in the year and it would take a bit to get the D to its peak? Why are we now surprised that is happening? Losing 3 players to discipline isn't helping the cause either.


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Spoofin said:
Didn't the coaches say before the year that they were going to have to try new things/arrangements/etc. early in the year and it would take a bit to get the D to its peak? Why are we now surprised that is happening? Losing 3 players to discipline isn't helping the cause either.
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Agreed. Shenault looked lost out there in pass coverage (he also never turns his head unlike the rest of the dbacks). The defense is fairly young playing more true freshman than I can recall in the past 5 years. They will get a ruder awakening next week when they actually play a Big Ten offense versus what they've seen the first 3 games. It's time to put up or shut up.
 

Sparlimb said:
Agreed. Shenault looked lost out there in pass coverage (he also never turns his head unlike the rest of the dbacks). .
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OMG. The D backs and dbacks coach have been reading Gopherhole and now they all turn their heads.... except shenault of course. Maybe he'll come around. [emoji90] [emoji90] [emoji79]

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Sparlimb said:
Agreed. Shenault looked lost out there in pass coverage (he also never turns his head unlike the rest of the dbacks). The defense is fairly young playing more true freshman than I can recall in the past 5 years. They will get a ruder awakening next week when they actually play a Big Ten offense versus what they've seen the first 3 games. <b>It's time to put up or shut up.</b>
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Yep. My hope is they have run a bunch of different things, sets, personnel, strategies, etc. - collected a bunch of data - and now can trim down to what they can and do well. It won't be what it was last year, but I think should improve more and more as the year continues. We just don't have the luxury this year of an EM31 you can put on an island and then use the other 10 guys to focus elsewhere. That made such a difference.


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Shenault had 10 tackles to lead the team and had a nice pass break-up along the sidelines. He improved markedly since the last game when he gave up 2 TDs. Not sure I saw another pass completed against him. Gopher DBs are taught to knock the ball out of the receiver's hands as opposed to turning to make and int last I heard.
 



That's why you schedule non-conference games, nincompoop.
 

Problem is we have the perfect schedule to stand out this year. But if the defense can't figure it out now, we will have blown that huge opportunity.
 

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