BleedGopher
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per O'Brien:
With the Big Ten Media Day taking place in Chicago earlier this week, excitement is building as fans are getting ready for P.J. Fleck’s second season as the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ head football coach.
Season one under Fleck was disappointing yet was to be expected for Fleck in his first season in Minneapolis. But the first couple of years should not define Fleck’s time with the Gophers. One of Fleck’s many sayings is that it is important for everyone in the program to continuously “change their best.” In order to bring success to Minnesota in the future, it is important for the Gophers to do just that in key areas in the 2018 season.
One of the biggest reasons why Minnesota was unable to remain competitive in games against Big Ten opponents was because of their quarterback play last season. Demry Croft and Connor Rhoda split time as the starting quarterback and both struggled mightily. The Gophers were not only at the bottom of the conference in many offensive passing statistics, but they were among the worst in all of Division I football, ranking 122 in the country in total passing yards and 125 in in completion percentage. To put this into perspective, they ranked 122 and 125 out of 130 teams.
Having Croft and Rhoda split time at quarterback is definitely something the Fleck and the coaching staff should learn from. Since they split time, neither was able to build confidence and play well at the position.
Going into this year, the Gophers are in another interesting situation at quarterback. Tanner Morgan and Zack Annexstad both have never taken a snap at the collegiate level, and while they might have more raw talent than Rhoda or Croft, having experience in games is a huge benefit to any quarterback. It will be interesting to see if Minnesota will be able to improve in this area despite this lack of experience. Then again, it is also difficult to perform worse than they did last year.
The Gophers also struggled stopping the run throughout last year. Linebacker Thomas Barber did a great job in his sophomore season on the defensive side of the ball. He was considered a run-stopping machine last year, tied for third-most stops in run defense in Division I with 51 stops.
However, Minnesota did not get this type of production from other players on defense, especially in games against Michigan, Northwestern, and Wisconsin. In order to be more competitive in the Big Ten this year, the Gophers have to improve in this area as many of their opponents are committed to running the football.
Lastly, another area that Minnesota should focus on improving is the offensive line unit. The biggest problem with Minnesota’s offensive line last year was that the team lacked depth due to several injuries and redshirting some of the younger linemen. After getting players healthy and being able to play certain players without burning their redshirt, it appears as if the team will have a better situation at offensive line moving forward. This could be a big step forward for the Gophers from last year to this year because a good, stable offensive line can help the development of a young quarterback. Having a good offensive line means that the Gophers would be able to run the ball more effectively and protect the quarterback. Both of these elements would take pressure off of either Morgan or Annexstad.
Overall, it is probably unrealistic to have high expectations for this year’s Minnesota Gopher football squad, but that does not mean that it is unrealistic to expect the Gophers to improve in these areas. This year will be important in determining if any real improvement is made, and if there is improvement, then there is reason to be optimistic about the future of the Minnesota Gopher football program.
https://www.isportsweb.com/2018/07/26/minnesota-football-areas-to-improve-in-2018/
Go Gophers!!
With the Big Ten Media Day taking place in Chicago earlier this week, excitement is building as fans are getting ready for P.J. Fleck’s second season as the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ head football coach.
Season one under Fleck was disappointing yet was to be expected for Fleck in his first season in Minneapolis. But the first couple of years should not define Fleck’s time with the Gophers. One of Fleck’s many sayings is that it is important for everyone in the program to continuously “change their best.” In order to bring success to Minnesota in the future, it is important for the Gophers to do just that in key areas in the 2018 season.
One of the biggest reasons why Minnesota was unable to remain competitive in games against Big Ten opponents was because of their quarterback play last season. Demry Croft and Connor Rhoda split time as the starting quarterback and both struggled mightily. The Gophers were not only at the bottom of the conference in many offensive passing statistics, but they were among the worst in all of Division I football, ranking 122 in the country in total passing yards and 125 in in completion percentage. To put this into perspective, they ranked 122 and 125 out of 130 teams.
Having Croft and Rhoda split time at quarterback is definitely something the Fleck and the coaching staff should learn from. Since they split time, neither was able to build confidence and play well at the position.
Going into this year, the Gophers are in another interesting situation at quarterback. Tanner Morgan and Zack Annexstad both have never taken a snap at the collegiate level, and while they might have more raw talent than Rhoda or Croft, having experience in games is a huge benefit to any quarterback. It will be interesting to see if Minnesota will be able to improve in this area despite this lack of experience. Then again, it is also difficult to perform worse than they did last year.
The Gophers also struggled stopping the run throughout last year. Linebacker Thomas Barber did a great job in his sophomore season on the defensive side of the ball. He was considered a run-stopping machine last year, tied for third-most stops in run defense in Division I with 51 stops.
However, Minnesota did not get this type of production from other players on defense, especially in games against Michigan, Northwestern, and Wisconsin. In order to be more competitive in the Big Ten this year, the Gophers have to improve in this area as many of their opponents are committed to running the football.
Lastly, another area that Minnesota should focus on improving is the offensive line unit. The biggest problem with Minnesota’s offensive line last year was that the team lacked depth due to several injuries and redshirting some of the younger linemen. After getting players healthy and being able to play certain players without burning their redshirt, it appears as if the team will have a better situation at offensive line moving forward. This could be a big step forward for the Gophers from last year to this year because a good, stable offensive line can help the development of a young quarterback. Having a good offensive line means that the Gophers would be able to run the ball more effectively and protect the quarterback. Both of these elements would take pressure off of either Morgan or Annexstad.
Overall, it is probably unrealistic to have high expectations for this year’s Minnesota Gopher football squad, but that does not mean that it is unrealistic to expect the Gophers to improve in these areas. This year will be important in determining if any real improvement is made, and if there is improvement, then there is reason to be optimistic about the future of the Minnesota Gopher football program.
https://www.isportsweb.com/2018/07/26/minnesota-football-areas-to-improve-in-2018/
Go Gophers!!
