Tanner Morgan is the key this Saturday.

How will Morgan respond to the B1G game?

  • He is a zen master and will be fine!

    Votes: 33 44.6%
  • Will start rough but pull through in the end with no mistakes.

    Votes: 12 16.2%
  • Will have a few problems and produce at least 1 turnover.

    Votes: 28 37.8%
  • Will look like Kirk Cousins facing Khalil Mack!

    Votes: 1 1.4%

  • Total voters
    74

Otis

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Looking at this game, I see opportunities to stretch PSU's defense if we can throw accurately and quickly to our receivers and stretch the defense.

Will Tanner be big enough for the moment and control his emotions enough to play at his most accurate and best?

If he can I like our chances. If he is too amped and his throws are affected then I'm afraid we will have turnovers in the passing game and we will be behind the 8 ball.

He has proven in the past the moment isn't too big against non-conference teams and the Purdues of the B1G.

Can he do it against #5 in the nation?

I think he can.

Go Gophers!
 

I think there will be a lot of talk about his play post game. People will see that he is much more than a “game manager.”
 

Agree completely. Penn State has the best run defense of all B1G teams. If Penn State is able to shut down the Gophers run game, it will be up to Tanner Morgan to pick up the first downs. He has had a great year overall.
 

Have they really faced a dominant Run game yet? I mean Michigan has a solid run game with the Charbonnet kid - I believe he went for nearly 100 yards. With the elite DT for them suspended, there is a good chance our 3-headed monster (R. Smith, Brooks, Mo) could really wear them down. It will take some time, but we will gash them and then Tanner will need to hit the Slant patterns 100%. No incompetitions and no drops by WR's, IMHO
 

You can say it for pretty much every game but this game in particular will be huge for the O-Line and TEs. If they can give Morgan time to operate there will be opportunities for us to make some plays in the passing game and really stretch the field.

Very interested to see how the line stacks up against a very strong front 7 for Penn State (even without their DT). I have a feeling we will use the TE a ton to try and slow down their Defensive Ends who apparently are really quick and disruptive.

They are the best defense we have faced and we will be the best offense they have faced. Hopefully when he dust settles our best is better then theirs.
 


Ron Johnson said he thinks we’ll go 4 wide to minimize the impact of their talented front 7. They apparently aren’t as deep in the secondary, which opens up the possibility for favorable matchups.

Tanner set an all-time Big Ten record for completion percentage last time he had two weeks to prepare....
 

Have they really faced a dominant Run game yet? I mean Michigan has a solid run game with the Charbonnet kid - I believe he went for nearly 100 yards. With the elite DT for them suspended, there is a good chance our 3-headed monster (R. Smith, Brooks, Mo) could really wear them down. It will take some time, but we will gash them and then Tanner will need to hit the Slant patterns 100%. No incompetitions and no drops by WR's, IMHO

The best run offense (yards per game) they've faced is Buffalo. Buffalo averages 2 yards per game more than us and they've played against MAC defenses for most of the year. They had 184 rushing yards against Penn State in 58 attempts. Not great but if they can do that we should be able to be better.

Morgan and the receivers are going to need to be good, especially early in the game, to prevent Penn State from loading up the box and going all in to stop the run. If Penn State knows we're running we're not going to have much luck. If the passing is good enough that Penn State is putting more effort into defending passes, I feel pretty confident that the Gophers can average 4+ yards per attempt. I don't think it's a game where we can just keep running at them and wearing them down. It will need to be a more balanced offense and Morgan needs to be solid and the receivers need to focus on catching the ball rather than looking for big plays.

Penn State's offense also seems to be more oriented towards big plays than grinding out long drives so I could see there being a pretty big time of possession difference in our favor which should help wear out the defense even if we're running less.
 

I think the Gophers will be able to put enough points on the board against PSU. My two biggest concerns are a Morgan injury, or that the Gophers give up a pick six on one of the slant routes. They can't afford to give PSU any cheap points.
 

I think the Gophers will be able to put enough points on the board against PSU. My two biggest concerns are a Morgan injury, or that the Gophers give up a pick six on one of the slant routes. They can't afford to give PSU any cheap points.

In this same vein, special teams make me nervous every week. Need to get a good game from them this week
 



Completely agree. I think this is going to be a Tanner Morgan showing. Easily the best defense that we've seen. Can the line hold up and give him time to find our talented receivers.

So far this year....have we really had much of a balanced offensive game? Seems like it's either been 300+ on the ground or an air attack.

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To me the most interesting thing to watch will be Ciarocca’s play calling on standard downs - 1st and 10, 2nd and 6, etc.

Over the past few years it has been established that this is a run-first team and — even though the passing game has flourished so far — this year is no exception.

Will he be willing to deviate from the script that he is used to? Because Penn State’s run defense is much better than our run game, so he’s going to have to if we want to win.


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To me the most interesting thing to watch will be Ciarocca’s play calling on standard downs - 1st and 10, 2nd and 6, etc.

Over the past few years it has been established that this is a run-first team and — even though the passing game has flourished so far — this year is no exception.

Will he be willing to deviate from the script that he is used to? Because Penn State’s run defense is much better than our run game, so he’s going to have to if we want to win.


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I think Ciarocca does a phenomenal job of mixing up his play calling. We have been run-heavy this year but that's largely because we've been playing with the lead. If we need to be 50/50 balanced against PSU, that's what we will do, including passing on first downs early to set up the run game. I think we will be able to score points. It's up to the defense to hold PSU to 20 or less to give us a chance.
 

I’d guess a lot will depend on what PSU shows on defense. Early in the season it seemed like the coaches were determined to bang on the ground whether there were favorable numbers or not. Then Purdue happened and teams seemed to start respecting the aerial game more (at times at least) and we had better numbers on the ground. PSU has to know we can hurt them man on man and can kill them deep via YAC if they bring safeties down. How will they play us? How will TM2 read and react? Is TM2’s arm better (a little wobbly last 3 games - sore or mechanics?) TJ hands warmed up? Bateman ready to turn and burn on national TV? Line ready to move?
 



To me the most interesting thing to watch will be Ciarocca’s play calling on standard downs - 1st and 10, 2nd and 6, etc.

Over the past few years it has been established that this is a run-first team and — even though the passing game has flourished so far — this year is no exception.

Will he be willing to deviate from the script that he is used to? Because Penn State’s run defense is much better than our run game, so he’s going to have to if we want to win.


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I think the coaching staff does a great job of catching the defense guessing wrong on the offensive plan early in games. We came out passing against Purdue when we gashed them with the run last year and really put them behind quickly.

With 2 weeks to gameplan they will have a good idea on how to make the defense off-balance.

Question will be how do we respond to PSU's adjustments.
 

If we cannot run the ball with just 7 in the box, we probably lose. Cannot expect Morgan to put up big passing numbers without a running game. Without a running game our defense is on the field too much.
 


Looking at this game, I see opportunities to stretch PSU's defense if we can throw accurately and quickly to our receivers and stretch the defense.

Will Tanner be big enough for the moment and control his emotions enough to play at his most accurate and best?

If he can I like our chances. If he is too amped and his throws are affected then I'm afraid we will have turnovers in the passing game and we will be behind the 8 ball.

He has proven in the past the moment isn't too big against non-conference teams and the Purdues of the B1G.

Can he do it against #5 in the nation?

I think he can.

Go Gophers!

Throw quickly and stretch the defense, you may have to help me out with that one.
 

The O-line's ability to run block is the key. Do that well, and Gophs have a much better opportunity to win.
 

This is the game where I think we start to see things on offense that we haven't seen yet. A trick play at minimum.
 

This is the game where I think we start to see things on offense that we haven't seen yet. A trick play at minimum.

Big Dan in the backfield?
 

Throw quickly and stretch the defense, you may have to help me out with that one.

Stretch as in spread them out. 4 wide, that type of thing. Don't let them pack the box. You may be thinking more along the lines of stretching the field, ala taking the top off with vertical routes.
 


Stretch as in spread them out. 4 wide, that type of thing. Don't let them pack the box. You may be thinking more along the lines of stretching the field, ala taking the top off with vertical routes.

So far I've read the game plan should be to keep the tight end in to max protect, spread them out, throw quick passes, throw deep crossing routes, and commit to the running game.
 

So far I've read the game plan should be to keep the tight end in to max protect, spread them out, throw quick passes, throw deep crossing routes, and commit to the running game.

Imagine how much time PJ must be spending on Gopherhole this week getting insights on what his game plan will be. :cool02:
 

The moment won't be too big for him (he's proven that NO moment is too big), but I have no doubt he'll make a couple mistakes and probably turn it over once. As well as he's played, he's still pretty inexperienced and will be facing a super athletic and well-coached defense. I expect he'll miss here and there, take a couple sacks, and make a bad read or two on RPO which will result in a couple of those "near picks."

As others have said, success on the ground will be just as important. If MN goes for 175+ on the ground and Morgan goes something like 18-27 for 200, Gophers are probably very much in the game.
 

This is the game where I think we start to see things on offense that we haven't seen yet. A trick play at minimum.

Yes, especially after a bye week. Although, PSU might also have a few wrinkles in their play-calling.
 

PSU Defense
Rushing D = 68 ypg,
Passing D = 211 ypg,
Total D = 280 ypg, 9.6 ppg


Minnesota Defense
Rushing = 117 ypg
Passing = 166 ypg
Total = 284 ypg 20 ppg

PSU Offense
Rushing = 170 ypg
Passing = 252 ypg
Total = 422 ypg, 38 ppg

Minnesota Offense
Rushing = 204 ypg
Passing = 225 ypg
Total = 429 ypg, 38 ppg

Every B1G team that PSU has played ranks below us in total O
Iowa = 393 ypg, 24 ppg
Mich = 390 ypg, 32 ppg
Mich St = 346 ypg, 22 ppg

B1G teams that PSU played D
Iowa = 266 ypg 10 ppg
Mich = 266 ypg, 17 ppg
Mich St = 312 ypg, 22 ppg
 

PSU Defense
Rushing D = 68 ypg,
Passing D = 211 ypg,
Total D = 280 ypg, 9.6 ppg


Minnesota Defense
Rushing = 117 ypg
Passing = 166 ypg
Total = 284 ypg 20 ppg

PSU Offense
Rushing = 170 ypg
Passing = 252 ypg
Total = 422 ypg, 38 ppg

Minnesota Offense
Rushing = 204 ypg
Passing = 225 ypg
Total = 429 ypg, 38 ppg

Every B1G team that PSU has played ranks below us in total O
Iowa = 393 ypg, 24 ppg
Mich = 390 ypg, 32 ppg
Mich St = 346 ypg, 22 ppg

B1G teams that PSU played D
Iowa = 266 ypg 10 ppg
Mich = 266 ypg, 17 ppg
Mich St = 312 ypg, 22 ppg

I like to compare statistics of teams against FPI top 50 opponents...can you post those statistics so we can see how the two teams match up against better competition?
 

The best way to have success running the ball against PSU will be if Morgan can be elite in the passing game. Gonna have to get rid of the ball quickly and accurately! This is going to test every ounce of skill and leadership that Morgan has. I just hope he is up for the test.

This game is going to be epic!
 

The best way to have success running the ball against PSU will be if Morgan can be elite in the passing game. Gonna have to get rid of the ball quickly and accurately! This is going to test every ounce of skill and leadership that Morgan has. I just hope he is up for the test.

This game is going to be epic!

I agree. The good thing is that, at least from what I can see, Morgan does have a quick release.
 




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