Fox Sports: Gophers at the bye: Revisiting 5 preseason questions

per Fox Sports:

How many wins for a successful season?
Before the season we wrote that "a bowl game would be nice" but "a satisfying, successful campaign in Fleck’s second season (or, ahem, “Year One,” sorry) would have to include a win -- or at least a very close loss -- over a big-time opponent like Ohio State, Iowa or -- dare we say it -- Wisconsin." The season got off to a 3-0 start as expected, helping those bowl chances, but injuries have already hampered Minnesota and a rough start to the Big Ten season (a 42-13 pasting at the hands of Maryland) doesn't portend good things for the second half of our equation. The best hope for a big win (or a close defeat to a traditionally good team) likely is going to be the game out of the bye -- at home against Iowa.

How will the quarterback situation shake out?
True freshman walk-on Zack Annexstad was tabbed by head coach P.J. Fleck to be the starter and he's performed about how you'd expect a true freshman walk-on to perform. Annexstad has passed for over 200 yards just once -- 220 in the opening win over New Mexico State --- and completed 60 percent or more of his passes in two games, but under 50 percent in the other two. Annexstad did enough in Minnesota's three wins, but threw two interceptions in the loss. It's hard to see Minnesota having to rely on Annexstad to win a game for them in Big Ten play. He needs to just limit his mistakes. Minnesota did throw in one wrinkle to its quarterback group, using wide receiver (and former QB) Seth Green in wildcat formations. Green has four rushing touchdowns and one passing TD (on the his only attempt thus far in 2018).

Can they move the ball consistently through the air?
We covered some of this above, but while the freshman quarterback isn't putting up big numbers, Minnesota has discovered a couple of new targets. Tyler Johnson, as expected, has been the main receiver. The junior leads the team with 22 receptions, 295 yards and four TDs. Freshman Rashod Bateman has emerged as a legitimate No. 2 receiver. He has 20 receptions in four games, with at least five catches in three of those. Another freshman, Chris Autman-Bell has 11 catches. Unfortunately, the options thin out after that. The rest of the team has all of seven catches, and only one by a tight end. It's not hard to figure out who defenses should be covering.

But they’ll still be able to run the ball, right?
Welp, we thought the answer here was going to be a resounding yes and it looked like we were right … until Rodney Smith was hurt in the second game and lost for the season. Up to that point, the senior had 154 yards on 25 carries, a 6.16 average. Now Minnesota has to rely on a pair of freshmen. Mohamed Ibrahim ran for 101 yards in his debut, but then missed the next two games. He had 95 yards against Maryland, but needed 26 carries to get there (a 3.65 average). Bryce Williams has 283 yards on 74 carries (3.82 average), including 141 yards vs. Miami (Ohio) on 33 carries (4.27 average). The Gophers will certainly look to run the ball, especially with a young QB, but it might be more of three yards and a cloud of dust and hope to hit a big one every once in a while.

What do we expect from the defense?
Back in August we were fairly bullish on the Gophers' defensive unit and they looked even better than advertised in nonconference season, allowing just nine points per game. But in the fourth game, the Big Ten opener against Maryland, cornerback Kiondre Thomas was already out and then safety Antoine Winfield Jr., who was off to a stellar start, hurt his foot and is now lost for the season. Things went downhill quickly for Minnesota against the Terps after Winfield's injury. Perhaps this was just bad performance. Linebackers Blake Cashman (27 tackles, 6.5 TFL) and Carter Coughlin (5.5 TFL, four sacks) have been as good as expected, but Thomas Barber III (23 tackles, 1 TFL) has been quiet. The Gophers are going to need some players to step up in the secondary and defensive line, not only to help out the linebackers but also because this offense won't be able to carry the team. Three of the next four games are against Iowa (3-1), at Ohio State (4-0) and Indiana (3-1) and the other is at Nebraska, no easy task on the road. This season could get ugly very quickly if the defense continues to play like it did against Maryland.

https://www.foxsports.com/north/gallery/gophers-at-the-bye-revisiting-5-preseason-questions-092718

Go Gophers!!

Not a bad recap, but this was some plain sloppy reporting by Fox:

BleedGopher said:

per Fox Sports:

True freshman walk-on Zack Annexstad ... performed about how you'd expect a true freshman walk-on to perform. Annexstad has passed for over 200 yards just once -- 220 in the opening win over New Mexico State --- and completed 60 percent or more of his passes in two games, but under 50 percent in the other two. Annexstad did enough in Minnesota's three wins, but threw two interceptions in the loss.

Click to expand...

Now for some context.

Yes, ZA is a freshman, and he's going to have ups and downs. But to say that he's performed "about how you'd expect a true freshman walk-on to perform" is asinine, at best. The eye test alone should tell you there's some large potential upside here. And if you don't trust your own lyin' eyes, check the numbers.

The Fox reporter moans that ZA only passed for more than 200 yards once in his first four games ... ignoring the fact that the Gophers have only averaged about 160 yards a game passing over the last seven seasons.

ZA's completion percentage so far is 52.3, almost exactly what the team has averaged in completion percentage (about 52.5) in the last seven seasons.

His TD-INT ratio is 5-2, compared to 13.4-12.6 over the last seven seasons.

I know we haven't exactly been Quarterback U, but if someone told me that a freshman walk-on was going to complete passes at what has been the program's rate over the last seven years, for more yards per game and at a better TD-INT ratio, I'd say, "**** yeah, bring it on!"

Yeah, I know, small sample size. And three of the four games were non-conference. And I have no idea how ZA is going to hold up or perform against B1G defenses. Hell, he may not even be the starting QB by the end of the year.

But ... I've seen enough of his arm to know there's the potential here to have something this program hasn't had in a long, long time. And that's a hell of a lot more than I'd expect from a walk-on frosh.

JTG

Agee 100% with Rockford that the comment about ZA performing the way you would expect a true freshman walk on to perform is just silly. He didn't need to pass for big numbers in the first 3 games and his completion percentage would look even better if Johnson would stop dropping balls that hit him right in the hands. ZA has shown a level of composure that is not common in freshmen. He, along with the entire offense, had a rough game against Maryland but prior to that he had not looked at all like you would expect a true freshman walk on QB to look.

MNVCGUY said:

Agee 100% with Rockford that the comment about ZA performing the way you would expect a true freshman walk on to perform is just silly..

Click to expand...

Agreed. I'll even go one further, this is just a stupid comment. Most people would "expect" a true freshman walk on to be much worse than how he has actually performed. There is a lot of upside with ZA. The correct statement would have been "ZA has performed far better than a true freshman walk on should be expected to perform"

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

BleedGopher said:

per Fox Sports:

How many wins for a successful season?
Before the season we wrote that "a bowl game would be nice" but "a satisfying, successful campaign in Fleck’s second season (or, ahem, “Year One,” sorry) would have to include a win -- or at least a very close loss -- over a big-time opponent like Ohio State, Iowa or -- dare we say it -- Wisconsin." The season got off to a 3-0 start as expected, helping those bowl chances, but injuries have already hampered Minnesota and a rough start to the Big Ten season (a 42-13 pasting at the hands of Maryland) doesn't portend good things for the second half of our equation. The best hope for a big win (or a close defeat to a traditionally good team) likely is going to be the game out of the bye -- at home against Iowa.

How will the quarterback situation shake out?
True freshman walk-on Zack Annexstad was tabbed by head coach P.J. Fleck to be the starter and he's performed about how you'd expect a true freshman walk-on to perform. Annexstad has passed for over 200 yards just once -- 220 in the opening win over New Mexico State --- and completed 60 percent or more of his passes in two games, but under 50 percent in the other two. Annexstad did enough in Minnesota's three wins, but threw two interceptions in the loss. It's hard to see Minnesota having to rely on Annexstad to win a game for them in Big Ten play. He needs to just limit his mistakes. Minnesota did throw in one wrinkle to its quarterback group, using wide receiver (and former QB) Seth Green in wildcat formations. Green has four rushing touchdowns and one passing TD (on the his only attempt thus far in 2018).

Can they move the ball consistently through the air?
We covered some of this above, but while the freshman quarterback isn't putting up big numbers, Minnesota has discovered a couple of new targets. Tyler Johnson, as expected, has been the main receiver. The junior leads the team with 22 receptions, 295 yards and four TDs. Freshman Rashod Bateman has emerged as a legitimate No. 2 receiver. He has 20 receptions in four games, with at least five catches in three of those. Another freshman, Chris Autman-Bell has 11 catches. Unfortunately, the options thin out after that. The rest of the team has all of seven catches, and only one by a tight end. It's not hard to figure out who defenses should be covering.

But they’ll still be able to run the ball, right?
Welp, we thought the answer here was going to be a resounding yes and it looked like we were right … until Rodney Smith was hurt in the second game and lost for the season. Up to that point, the senior had 154 yards on 25 carries, a 6.16 average. Now Minnesota has to rely on a pair of freshmen. Mohamed Ibrahim ran for 101 yards in his debut, but then missed the next two games. He had 95 yards against Maryland, but needed 26 carries to get there (a 3.65 average). Bryce Williams has 283 yards on 74 carries (3.82 average), including 141 yards vs. Miami (Ohio) on 33 carries (4.27 average). The Gophers will certainly look to run the ball, especially with a young QB, but it might be more of three yards and a cloud of dust and hope to hit a big one every once in a while.

What do we expect from the defense?
Back in August we were fairly bullish on the Gophers' defensive unit and they looked even better than advertised in nonconference season, allowing just nine points per game. But in the fourth game, the Big Ten opener against Maryland, cornerback Kiondre Thomas was already out and then safety Antoine Winfield Jr., who was off to a stellar start, hurt his foot and is now lost for the season. Things went downhill quickly for Minnesota against the Terps after Winfield's injury. Perhaps this was just bad performance. Linebackers Blake Cashman (27 tackles, 6.5 TFL) and Carter Coughlin (5.5 TFL, four sacks) have been as good as expected, but Thomas Barber III (23 tackles, 1 TFL) has been quiet. The Gophers are going to need some players to step up in the secondary and defensive line, not only to help out the linebackers but also because this offense won't be able to carry the team. Three of the next four games are against Iowa (3-1), at Ohio State (4-0) and Indiana (3-1) and the other is at Nebraska, no easy task on the road. This season could get ugly very quickly if the defense continues to play like it did against Maryland.

https://www.foxsports.com/north/gallery/gophers-at-the-bye-revisiting-5-preseason-questions-092718

Go Gophers!!

Click to expand...

Even with Rodney or Shannon..this O-line is atrocious and can't open holes if they had AP in his prime. Those two would struggle to gain 30 yards a game, and since we're not going to play Faalele or Dunlap, it will not get better this season. It'll be tough sledding..

Gopher028 said:

Even with Rodney or Shannon..this O-line is atrocious and can't open holes if they had AP in his prime. Those two would struggle to gain 30 yards a game, and since we're not going to play Faalele or Dunlap, it will not get better this season. It'll be tough sledding..

Click to expand...

It's a good bet we'll see both last month of the season and hopefully a bowl game.

Gopher028 said:

Even with Rodney or Shannon..this O-line is atrocious and can't open holes if they had AP in his prime. Those two would struggle to gain 30 yards a game, and since we're not going to play Faalele or Dunlap, it will not get better this season. It'll be tough sledding..

Click to expand...

It is, but much like with Cobb, those backs are so good at absorbing contact and making a mountain out of a mole hole. The two freshman have that potential but right now, as expected they're atrocious in pass blocking. I'm hoping at some point we will see Edmonds, give him his four games before Brooks comes back, I remember being impressed with Edmonds ability to catch out of the backfield, keep his redshirt and see what we have

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk