5 College Football Programs On the Rise in 2019 (Minnesota)

BleedGopher

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Minnesota

Following his 5-7 debut season with the Gophers in 2017, P.J. Fleck rowed the boat to a 7-6 mark in 2018. The impressive part: a 37-15 win at Wisconsin to close out the regular season and 34-10 bowl victory over Georgia Tech.

The key for Minnesota in ’19 is improving on its three Big Ten victories from a year ago. While the quarterback spot might be a concern, running back Mohamed Ibrahim (1,160 rushing yards) and receiver Tyler Johnson (1,169 receiving yards, 12 TDs) are two of the best in the conference.

Not having to play Michigan and Ohio State, and getting Nebraska, Penn State and Wisconsin at home sure helps.

https://thegamehaus.com/sports/college-football-programs-on-the-rise-in-2019/2019/07/24/

Go Gophers!!
 

The QB spot is a lot of things, but it's not a "concern."

JTG
 

Arizona State, Iowa State, and Minnesota. It's going to be a big year for teams wearing (roughly) maroon and gold.
 

The QB spot is a lot of things, but it's not a "concern."

JTG

I think the QB spot is a concern for every football team ever. Bill Belichick is probably concerned about his QB room in some ways going into this season. I like what our guys showed last year and think the media is sleeping on them, but let's not pretend it's just piles of proven depth at the position.
 

It is funny how one guy writes something and it then finds its way into many other previews and predictions. Last year at this time the QB situation was a question mark and a concern for the Gophers. This year it may not be a central strength but it is not a concern. I think it is great that there are two guys that have already proven to be serviceable or better in that role. That makes it far from a concern. With great weapons in the form of deep running backs and skilled wide receivers, a lot of pressure is off the QB position.

I think a lot of writers learn of a "QB battle" and subscribe to the old "If you have two quarterbacks, you have none" saying.

I can't remember where I first saw this QB question raised but it has now worked its way into multiple articles/predictions.
 


People listing quarterback as a concern this year should read old Gopher pre-season evaluations where quarterback was not a concern because we had Mitch Leidner.

Would we rather have Mitch than Tanner or Zach?

This is why quarterback is not an issue to real followers of Minnesota football!
 

The constant lack of mentioning Rodney Smith or Shannon Brooks in articles like this just shows how lazy writing has become. Their return would help support the argument the gophers are on the rise more than anything else he wrote.
 

The constant lack of mentioning Rodney Smith or Shannon Brooks in articles like this just shows how lazy writing has become. Their return would help support the argument the gophers are on the rise more than anything else he wrote.

It's interesting.

So what you go back to is some writer was assigned a task of "write a preview on the Gophers". So they go and bring up the stats sheet to find a few prominent players, and Mo Ibrahim shows up.
They know little about Tanner Morgan because he didn't throw enough passes to qualify for the Big Ten efficiency rankings, so he's not even listed on some sites.

It's people trying to do previews on the Gophers who have literally not watched more than 5 downs of the 2018 season writing articles based off the stat sheet.
 

It's interesting.

So what you go back to is some writer was assigned a task of "write a preview on the Gophers". So they go and bring up the stats sheet to find a few prominent players, and Mo Ibrahim shows up.
They know little about Tanner Morgan because he didn't throw enough passes to qualify for the Big Ten efficiency rankings, so he's not even listed on some sites.

It's people trying to do previews on the Gophers who have literally not watched more than 5 downs of the 2018 season writing articles based off the stat sheet.

Hear, hear. Lazy reporting. I think authors would be better off visiting each team's online fan forum for info.
Or then again, maybe not.
 



I look at the glass and it's half full. If/when the starter goes down we will have a very capable QB to step in and win plenty of games. Looking forward to August 3rd to see the QB play as well as other positions.

Def tackle is more concerning to me as we all witnessed the gashings we received from WI and others when Steven Richardson was injured. Need depth there and we might have it now, just need to see it.
 

Hear, hear. Lazy reporting. I think authors would be better off visiting each team's online fan forum for info.
Or then again, maybe not.

I think that is how you get those silly stories where the writer says "fans are tired of" and I think Uh ,yeah I've heard a few guys bitch continuously about that online ... but nowhere else ...
 

They must have accidentally left Purdue and Wisconsin off the list.
 

People listing quarterback as a concern this year should read old Gopher pre-season evaluations where quarterback was not a concern because we had Mitch Leidner.

Would we rather have Mitch than Tanner or Zach?

This is why quarterback is not an issue to real followers of Minnesota football!

I personally believe Mitch would have done very, very well under Fleck's system. Just my opinion.
 



I think that is how you get those silly stories where the writer says "fans are tired of" and I think Uh ,yeah I've heard a few guys bitch continuously about that online ... but nowhere else ...

Oh, like how guys with radio shows will get a tweet from some idiot, and then they say "Gopher fans are really thin skinned about...".

No, most Gopher fans aren't. Most Gopher fans don't care about what you say. But one guy calling you out for lazy reporting doesn't mean they are bent out of shape. They are just calling it what it is.
 


Saying "QB is a concern" is true - if you look at it from a certain perspective.

Gophers do have a lot of pieces in place. QB is one of the variables that could mean the difference between an OK season, a good season, or a really good season.

So - if you think the Gophers have a chance at a really good season - let's say 9 or 10 wins - in order to reach that level, they will need a higher level of QB play than MN has received in recent years. If the Gophers get a 'game manager' level of QB play, they can still be decent, but to be a really good team, they will need more from the QB position. So the question becomes how much growth we will see from the returning QB's. If the 2019 level of QB play is identical to the 2018 level, I don't think that will be enough for a 9 or 10-win season.
 

Saying "QB is a concern" is true - if you look at it from a certain perspective.

Gophers do have a lot of pieces in place. QB is one of the variables that could mean the difference between an OK season, a good season, or a really good season.

So - if you think the Gophers have a chance at a really good season - let's say 9 or 10 wins - in order to reach that level, they will need a higher level of QB play than MN has received in recent years. If the Gophers get a 'game manager' level of QB play, they can still be decent, but to be a really good team, they will need more from the QB position. So the question becomes how much growth we will see from the returning QB's. If the 2019 level of QB play is identical to the 2018 level, I don't think that will be enough for a 9 or 10-win season.

Well, QB is the most important position in football. Some say it's the single most important position in sports. So I can see where you're coming from on this.

But we ended the season 3-1, with monster wins over Purdue, Wisconsin and Georgia Tech. And we achieved that finish with QB play that was... well, pretty good, I'd say. But certainly not exceptional. In other words, our 2018 QB play was, in fact, good enough to allow the Gophers to beat Purdue, Wisconsin and Georgia Tech — and we beat them soundly.

So... if I look on our 2019 schedule, I wonder: how many of our 2019 opponents are clearly better than the 2018 versions of Purdue, Wisconsin and Georgia Tech?

I'd say two: Iowa and Penn State.

That tells me that if our QB play is no better than in 2018, it could be a factor in the team losing those two games. Then, for the sake of the exercise let's say we lose one other random game to a team that's inferior to the 2018 versions of Purdue, Wisconsin and Georgia Tech; that would be three losses. And it would mean... 9 wins.

Bottom line: I think most here agree that the Gopher offense in 2019 is going to 'pound the rock', as Jerry Kill used to say. We're going to beat our opponents into submission with our running game, we're going to grind the clock and win time of possession — and hopefully we'll play defense like we did last season, after the coaching change.

Therefore, I just don't see our season hinging on how well the QBs play. The level of QB play will be important, yes. But it's not something I'm too worried about.

Plus, I really like our QBs. I think we'll be fine.
 

I haven't seen any projection of the Gophers coming season that mentions the impact of the Rossi promotion to Defensive Coordinator. I think that dramatically improved the team. A good test of whether this is true should come with the Fresno State game.
 

I haven't seen any projection of the Gophers coming season that mentions the impact of the Rossi promotion to Defensive Coordinator. I think that dramatically improved the team. A good test of whether this is true should come with the Fresno State game.

Good point.

If the Gopher defense plays in 2019 like it did after Rossi took over in 2018, we'll be solid. But it was a small sample size last season. Let's hope they can sustain that level of success.
 

I think the QB spot is a concern for every football team ever. Bill Belichick is probably concerned about his QB room in some ways going into this season. I like what our guys showed last year and think the media is sleeping on them, but let's not pretend it's just piles of proven depth at the position.

QB play isn’t about just playing well or playing poorly, it’s about capability. Can he thoroughly read defenses and audible into the right play. (Does the coach trust him to audible) can he check out of failed run calls into successful plays. Does he have a comprehensive understanding of the offense to open up the playbook and expand the offense. Do the coaches trust his decision making and give him the reigns. Can he win a game with his arm when a team is geared up to stop the run. Can he be successful when plays break down. Does the team have full trust in QB. Does he have the legs to keep a drive alive when needed.

Lots of dimensions to playing well vs playing poor. Last years Fr had a long way to go, but I expect must more this year and going forward.
 
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QB play isn’t about just playing well or playing poorly, it’s about capability. Can he thoroughly read defenses and audible into the right play. (Does the coach trust him to audible) can he check out of failed run calls into successful plays. Does he have a comprehensive understanding of the offense to open up the playbook and expand the offense. Do the coaches trust his decision making and give him the reigns. Can he win a game with his arm when a team is geared up to stop the run. Can he be successful when plays break down. Does the team have full trust in QB. Does he have the legs to keep a drive alive when needed.

Lots of dimensions to playing well vs playing poor. Last years Fr had a long way to go, but I expect must more this year and going forward.

You know, it would be great if somebody here was expert enough to educate the people like me who don't have a deep understanding how the RPO works.

To me, it looks like the QB holds the ball in the RB's belly while he reads one (or maybe two) players on the defense, and then makes a pretty simple decision: let the runner take the ball, or pull it out and make a quick throw to a pre-designated receiver.

If I'm even close to being right about that (I may not be), then that would mean that there would be little or no pre-snap reads, at least when they're running the RPO. There wouldn't be much of a need to audible at the line.

Maybe I'm all wet on this.
 

You know, it would be great if somebody here was expert enough to educate the people like me who don't have a deep understanding how the RPO works.

To me, it looks like the QB holds the ball in the RB's belly while he reads one (or maybe two) players on the defense, and then makes a pretty simple decision: let the runner take the ball, or pull it out and make a quick throw to a pre-designated receiver.

If I'm even close to being right about that (I may not be), then that would mean that there would be little or no pre-snap reads, at least when they're running the RPO. There wouldn't be much of a need to audible at the line.

Maybe I'm all wet on this.

There are both post snap and pre snap RPOs

You pretty accurately described a post snap RPO.
A pre-snap RPO is where you make a read and decision based on the alignment of the defense. Similar to an audible, but usually quicker since both plays are called pre-snap and the receivers run the pass play even if the quarterback hands it off.
 

There are both post snap and pre snap RPOs

You pretty accurately described a post snap RPO.
A pre-snap RPO is where you make a read and decision based on the alignment of the defense. Similar to an audible, but usually quicker since both plays are called pre-snap and the receivers run the pass play even if the quarterback hands it off.

I've never heard of it as either/or pre/post snap. There are pre and post snap reads in all RPO plays. The pre-snap read tells the QB where the advantage is by how the defense lines up and who the read is for post-snap. Based on what the read does after the snap helps the QB determine to hand off or pull back and pass.

Fleck's RPO at WMU used sets with motion pre-snap to make it easier for the QB to ID the advantage and player to read, thus increasing the success % of the eventual decision and play. Did not see very much motion last year but expect to see more of it this year.
 

Seems like Kirk is making the pre snap calls but obviously none of us really knows what’s going on with that. There probably some gamesmanship there as well.
 




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