Tanner Morgan and the Minnesota Passing Game Against Wisconsin

goldenboy said:

This was the first year I can remember that the Gopher passing scheme could actually manipulate the defense to get what they wanted. There have been years that has been true in the run game, but the passing game settled for what the defense gave us. Sure, we have a nice stable of receivers now, but our routes now put defenders in positions where they have to make decisions about who to cover and that leads to open guys.

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Halsey Hall said:

If the great Mason offenses had had a qb like Morgan, I can't imagine how good they would have been.

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WinLoseOrTy said:

2003 NCAA Passing Efficiency Rating leaders

Rank	Player	Pos	Cl	Gm	Patt	Pcomp	Comppct	Int	Intpct	Pyds	Ydspatt	TDs	TDpct	Rating
1	Philip Rivers, North Carolina St.	QB	SR	13	483	348	72.05	7	1.45	4491	9.30	34	7.04	170.5
2	Ben Roethlisberger, Miami (Ohio)	QB	JR	14	495	342	69.09	10	2.02	4486	9.06	37	7.47	165.8
3	Matt Leinart, Southern California	QB	SO	13	402	255	63.43	9	2.24	3556	8.85	38	9.45	164.5
4	Ryan Dinwiddie, Boise St.	QB	SR	14	446	276	61.88	7	1.57	4356	9.77	31	6.95	163.7
5	Asad Abdul-Khaliq, Minnesota	QB	SR	13	250	158	63.20	5	2.00	2401	9.60	17	6.80	162.3
6	Bruce Gradkowski, Toledo	QB	SO	12	389	277	71.21	7	1.80	3210	8.25	29	7.46	161.5
7	Jason White, Oklahoma	QB	SR	14	451	278	61.64	10	2.22	3846	8.53	40	8.87	158.1
8	Rod Rutherford, Pittsburgh	QB	SR	13	413	247	59.81	14	3.39	3679	8.91	37	8.96	157.4
9	Bill Whittemore, Kansas	QB	SR	10	263	159	60.46	6	2.28	2385	9.07	18	6.84	154.7
10	Kevin Kolb, Houston	QB	FR	13	360	220	61.11	6	1.67	3131	8.70	25	6.94	153.8
11	Bradlee Van Pelt, Colorado St.	QB	SR	13	297	180	60.61	13	4.38	2845	9.58	19	6.40	153.4
12	Alex Smith, Utah	QB	SO	11	266	173	65.04	3	1.13	2247	8.45	15	5.64	152.3
13	B.J. Symons, Texas Tech	QB	SR	13	719	470	65.37	22	3.06	5833	8.11	52	7.23	151.3
14	Buck Pierce, New Mexico St.	QB	JR	11	170	118	69.41	6	3.53	1510	8.88	7	4.12	150.6
15	Charlie Frye, Akron	QB	JR	12	421	273	64.85	9	2.14	3549	8.43	22	5.23	148.6
16	Matt Mauck, LSU	QB	JR	14	358	229	63.97	14	3.91	2825	7.89	28	7.82	148.2
17	Eli Manning, Mississippi	QB	SR	13	441	275	62.36	10	2.27	3600	8.16	29	6.58	148.1
18	Jim Sorgi, Wisconsin	QB	SR	12	248	140	56.45	9	3.63	2251	9.08	17	6.85	148.1
19	Matt Jones, Arkansas	QB	JR	13	230	132	57.39	7	3.04	1917	8.33	18	7.83	147.1
20	Aaron Rodgers, California	QB	SO	13	349	215	61.60	5	1.43	2903	8.32	19	5.44	146.6

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Some decent names on that list....

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RememberMurray said:

Interesting and informative...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cc_ZX9dejk

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happygophersgolucky said:

Thanks for the link. My #1 takeaway from the start of the 1st qtr was that Tanner and the Gopher passing game were mostly unsuccessful until the running game was established with Mo. After the 1st slant completion to Tyler, there were 4 incomplete passes, The 1st had to be thrown high to clear the DL's raised arms. It was thus too high to catch. The next 2 were deflected by raised arms. The next was batted down by a rushing OLB who stepped back from Faalele to jump up. No running plays + good pocket protection = 0.200 passing completion.

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RememberMurray said:

It looks to me like the passing plays are deliberately designed in such a way that the QB quickly reads the defender and, if the defender reacts to the potential handoff in a certain way, the QB pulls the ball from the running back's midsection and fires the ball around the defender. On some of the plays it appears that Morgan whips a bullet right past the defender's helmet. The decision is quick, the pass has to be on time and accurate. Watching this video, I'm not surprised that a few throws get batted down each game; it's the nature of the beast. And after seeing this breakdown analysis, I feel as though I understand the RPO a lot better than I did previously.

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GFBfan said:

I wouldn't consider the passing offense sophisticated. What they do is pretty basic. They just do the same thing out of so many different looks to create easy reads for the QB.
What I also like about the offense in general is the continually go back to plays/concepts that are successful until the defense can stop it. Once a D does stop a certain play once, they don't go away from it, until the D proves it can stop it more than once and then they have adjustments to those plays to throw the D off.

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