Marcus Fuller blog: New play-caller for the Gophers receives high praise


Might be a good one for the new HC to retain.

The big thing was the offense was much less predictable.
 

Eskeridge found running room on the outside for the first time this season against Penn State. That was something that hadn't happened before for any of the Gophers running backs. I hope it continues.
 

I mostly liked it... except for the not scoring points until we were down big, and the play-action pass with only McKnight running a streak. Ran the play twice, WR was double covered both times--and the one time Weber actually threw it, it set off the INT, 50 yd return, 50 yd TD pass sequence. Yards are nice and stuff, but it's all about the points.
 

I mostly liked it... except for the not scoring points until we were down big, and the play-action pass with only McKnight running a streak. Ran the play twice, WR was double covered both times--and the one time Weber actually threw it, it set off the INT, 50 yd return, 50 yd TD pass sequence. Yards are nice and stuff, but it's all about the points.

That play was the most confusing and I'd love to be able to ask a coach about it.

The first throw looked like Weber expected him to cut off the route since he couldn't get over top.

The second throw was thrown into double coverage.

It is like they went to the sideline, and the coaches told weber to throw it up and give him a chance? I would have thought they would have talked to the receiver and told him to cut it off if you didn't get pass the safety?
 


That play was the most confusing and I'd love to be able to ask a coach about it.

The first throw looked like Weber expected him to cut off the route since he couldn't get over top.

The second throw was thrown into double coverage.

It is like they went to the sideline, and the coaches told weber to throw it up and give him a chance? I would have thought they would have talked to the receiver and told him to cut it off if you didn't get pass the safety?

Maybe with McKnight's size they liked their chances for a jump ball?
 

Jump ball between two would be pretty spectacular. With two you have a chance of being shielded and another person being able to jump untouched. With one on one it seems a lot more probable.

It really bugged me and it is times like this I wish our media would be able to ask these types of questions.
 

Jump ball between two would be pretty spectacular. With two you have a chance of being shielded and another person being able to jump untouched. With one on one it seems a lot more probable.

It really bugged me and it is times like this I wish our media would be able to ask these types of questions.

Good point, my thought was that it played into both gophers strengths. Weber could throw a ball that would either be caught by McKnight or Incomplete (I think he is a better passer the deeper the throw) and would allow McKnight to use his height advantage and basketball skills to make a catch(I think he is better at this then his route running). It would also eliminate any chance of them not being on the same page(the earlier play).
 

Insult to injury was PSU executing it to perfection. Throwing an easy lob to a WR who had the Corner and Safety on his back :(.
 



Insult to injury was PSU executing it to perfection. Throwing an easy lob to a WR who had the Corner and Safety on his back :(.

Their WR was a couple of steps clear, though. Their QB also threw it early and had the WR run under it, rather than the basketball jump ball that the Weber toss looked like.

On our end, I just couldn't believe that there wasn't anyone else running a route on that play. It's not like the pocket was moved around either, so Weber didn't exactly have lanes to tuck it and run when he saw the safety over the top. So odd.
 


That play was the most confusing and I'd love to be able to ask a coach about it.

I was thinking the same thing during the game and was EXTREMELY frustrated with the design. Funny thing was I saw the Vikings run almost EXACTLY the same play on Sunday night for a TD to Percy Harvin. In that instance, I didn't mind at all :) I guess it's all about the results. The coaches obviously saw something on film which made them believe that this play would work...that said, I would have probably trashed it after the first time it wasn't open.
 

I was thinking the same thing during the game and was EXTREMELY frustrated with the design. Funny thing was I saw the Vikings run almost EXACTLY the same play on Sunday night for a TD to Percy Harvin. In that instance, I didn't mind at all :) I guess it's all about the results. The coaches obviously saw something on film which made them believe that this play would work...that said, I would have probably trashed it after the first time it wasn't open.

For that to work, I would think you'd have to be running the ball like Wisconsin (or like the Vikings were against the Packers--who due to injuries were playing only 2 d-linemen on 95% of the snaps, so the safeties were in all-out crash mode on the non-Randy Moss side of the field)... and while we were having more success on the ground, I didn't seem like PSU was doing any sort of overload to stop it. There were a couple of other plays that looked like they were executed well, but very strangely designed...
 






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