Building a strong foundation starts with the Offensive Line

Can the Gophers build the program up under Warinner so that we have stability and depth at the O-Line?

I hate to compliment Wiscy in any way, but that's what Barry Alvarez did. Year in and year out, they have an O-Line that can launch any RB's career to the stratosphere at least until they reach the pros. Their O-Line will make any QB with a little talent look great.

We need a system like they have to have program stability. I hope that PJF and Warinner are architecturally building a framework like Wiscy's.

That said, it is hard to judge our thin-depth O-Line play on the first game. We've got 4-1/2 healthy starters for the Spring. The current O-Line only had 3-1/2 weeks together.

If Warinner is truly a wizard, we hope that our O-Line will be much improved that the Gophers will knock off a couple of teams they are supposed to lose to at the tail end of the season barring injuries.

Wouldn't it be sweet if they can upset Wiscy?

We've got a coach who can recruit and sell the program to prospects who would otherwise have never considered playing for the Gophers. The new athletic facilities should increase our odds.

Spot on. Said many times here that the success for 2017 hinges on oline play, db health, and adequate qb play

Well, Connelly was flagged for grabbing the jersey and impeding the ambulation of a Buff player towards the ball carrier (for a split second) which along with (in the case of Wisconsin) subsequently tackling them to the ground is the bread and butter of the Wisconsin line. We also had two downfield blockers flagged for the impeding progress towards the ball carrier for a split second rather than the full second that typically draws a flag( obviously technically correct calls per the rule book but players are coached to do this grabbing as is custom throughout football).

I'm not sure if we're supposed to slip 20 bucks before the game?

Basically. Skill players are great but you control games like this up front. When you cant do that you'll struggle. Forget the QB battle, the non con has to be about OL improvement

Pompous Elitist said:

Well, Connelly was flagged for grabbing the jersey and impeding the ambulation of a Buff player towards the ball carrier (for a split second) which along with (in the case of Wisconsin) subsequently tackling them to the ground is the bread and butter of the Wisconsin line. We also had two downfield blockers flagged for the impeding progress towards the ball carrier for a split second rather than the full second that typically draws a flag( obviously technically correct calls per the rule book but players are coached to do this grabbing as is custom throughout football).

I'm not sure if we're supposed to slip 20 bucks before the game?

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That's a heck of a phrase. Well done

I'm not sure we have recruited well enough on the offensive line for the 2018 class to become elite. We need to add a really good recruit along with locking up Carroll and Benhart in 2019.

Olson and Connelly made their 1st starts ever. Weyler started at center for the 1st time ever. We also started 2 Jucos. This didn't have the makings of starting out fast. This groups improvement or lack thereof will largely dictate what kind of season we have.

I Agree

John Galt said:

Olson and Connelly made their 1st starts ever. Weyler started at center for the 1st time ever. We also started 2 Jucos. This didn't have the makings of starting out fast. This groups improvement or lack thereof will largely dictate what kind of season we have.

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I agree with your offensive line points John. First we need to recruit better candidates to become dominant. Currently, we can only focus on changing our best each day. (I'm sure that's what you meant to say too)

John Galt said:

I'm not sure we have recruited well enough on the offensive line for the 2018 class to become elite. We need to add a really good recruit along with locking up Carroll and Benhart in 2019.

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It's been a bit of a mixed bag in recruiting. Beier's one to keep an eye on that's been really underrated. He'll probably pick up a couple offers as the season goes on. Norton's well thought of too. You are right though that 2019's an important class. We seem to be in a good spot with Benhart and Fleck's recruiting ability will be put to the test with Carroll. With guys like Dovich, Andries, Schlueter and so on you have to hope Warinner can work his magic. It's a process though. The line should get better with time.