Official Gophers Spring Game Reaction/Analysis Thread

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Leidner was solid, but I think Nelson is pretty far ahead of him still. It looked like Leidner had some happy feet in the pocket and looked to scramble too quickly. I'm sure going against most of the 1st team defense with the 2nd team O-line protecting him had something to do with that, but that was my overall impression.
 

I left after the first half but I really did not think Leidner threw the ball well at all. Yeah, he did run well out of the option and has definitely increased his speed; but his throwing and pocket awareness in the game situation was in need of improvement. I will say that the playbook was vanilla as expected from a spring game; but Leidner did not throw the ball well at all. Plus, there were a couple of occasion were he got sacked because of the awareness issues either by hanging onto the ball or not moving up into the pocket. I will grant it was one practice/game because I have seen him look better in other practices leading up to the game.
 


From what I understand, Tommy Olsen was not hurt but was not the starting guard. Did he play with the second team? Does it look like he may have peaked early and others have passed him by?
 


From an X's and O's standpoint, the thing that stood out to me was the frequent use of a rollout for the QB, and the quick passes to the FB or TE. It looks like they want to get the QB's out in space, and let them try to make a play - hit the pass if it's there, and run if it's not.

I'm hoping we're going to see a much more varied offense this year.

Observation - Banham was running against the #1 defense (minus the players who sat out) and did very well. I think he has the potential to be a 3rd-down, change-of-pace back -- providing that he can pass protect. He wiffed on at least one block that I remember.
 

gopher1more said:
From what I understand, Tommy Olsen was not hurt but was not the starting guard. Did he play with the second team? Does it look like he may have peaked early and others have passed him by?
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Last year at the end of the season when Tommy was healthy they kept Epping and Bak as the starting guards and Christenson at center. Everything I've read and seen so far this spring suggests that nothing has changed since then.

Here's what I've come up in terms of line experience. The # is of their starts.

Ed Olson: Left Tackle (27)
Zac Epping: Left Guard (8), Center (7), Right Guard (2)
Caleb Bak: Left Guard (4), Right Guard (11)
Josh Campion: Right Tackle (13)
Tommy Olson: Left Guard (6), Right Guard (3)
Jon Christenson: Left Guard (3), Center (3)
Marek Lenkiewicz: Left Tackle (6)

Judging by that and what I've seen, my guess is that the starting five right now is the same as it was at the end of the season (E.Olson, Epping, Christenson, Bak, Campion), with the top interior reserves being T.Olson and Bobek, Lenkiewicz at LT, and probably Foster Bush at RT.
 

Gopherprof said:
Last year at the end of the season when Tommy was healthy they kept Epping and Bak as the starting guards and Christenson at center. Everything I've read and seen so far this spring suggests that nothing has changed since then.

Here's what I've come up in terms of line experience. The # is of their starts.

Ed Olson: Left Tackle (27)
Zac Epping: Left Guard (8), Center (7), Right Guard (2)
Caleb Bak: Left Guard (4), Right Guard (11)
Josh Campion: Right Tackle (13)
Tommy Olson: Left Guard (6), Right Guard (3)
Jon Christenson: Left Guard (3), Center (3)
Marek Lenkiewicz: Left Tackle (6)

Judging by that and what I've seen, my guess is that the starting five right now is the same as it was at the end of the season (E.Olson, Epping, Christenson, Bak, Campion), with the top interior reserves being T.Olson and Bobek, Lenkiewicz at LT, and probably Foster Bush at RT.
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Seems reasonable based on what I have seen, heard, and read. The most difficult position to get a handle on is the center position because of Bobek being sick. I am afraid we won't have much clarity there until we are into fall camp for awhile.
 

I am concerned about what appears to be a lack of playmakers on the Gophers offense. There was no explosive quality to that offense on Saturday and it seemed like the team will have a hard time scoring against B1G defenses. Hopefully, between Andre McDonald, Berkley Edwards, and Devin Craword-Tufts someone will step up and add a big play dynamic to this offense. Obviously things are vanilla in the spring game, but watching that offense was like watching paint dry.

Defensively, there seems to be some better depth on both the dline and in the secondary. In most years, if the Gophers had 2 starters in the secondary out, it would be glaringly obvious, but that wasn't the case yesterday. Jack Lynn certainly looks the part of a B1G linebacker which is impressive for a redshirt freshman.
 



EG#9 said:
I am concerned about what appears to be a lack of playmakers on the Gophers offense. There was no explosive quality to that offense on Saturday and it seemed like the team will have a hard time scoring against B1G defenses. Hopefully, between Andre McDonald, Berkley Edwards, and Devin Craword-Tufts someone will step up and add a big play dynamic to this offense. Obviously things are vanilla in the spring game, but watching that offense was like watching paint dry.

Defensively, there seems to be some better depth on both the dline and in the secondary. In most years, if the Gophers had 2 starters in the secondary out, it would be glaringly obvious, but that wasn't the case yesterday. Jack Lynn certainly looks the part of a B1G linebacker which is impressive for a redshirt freshman.
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I think Harbison can be a big play maker for us. He looked good yesterday.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I think Harbison can be a big play maker for us. He looked good yesterday.
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I think so too GII. I think he has the look of a playmaker. Also, KJ Maye made some nice plays as well, guess we'll see.
 

The replay of te spring game is on right now on BTN if anyone hasn't seen it.
 

Gopherprof said:
Judging by that and what I've seen, my guess is that the starting five right now is the same as it was at the end of the season (E.Olson, Epping, Christenson, Bak, Campion), with the top interior reserves being T.Olson and Bobek, Lenkiewicz at LT, and probably Foster Bush at RT.
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Bjorklund started over Tommy on Saturday, so he is obviously also in the mix. I watched them both in high school...Tommy was certainly more hyped, but I thought Bjorklund fit Kill's scheme better. Either way, nice to have some depth and experience on the OLine for the first time in a while.
 



EG#9 said:
. Jack Lynn certainly looks the part of a B1G linebacker which is impressive for a redshirt freshman.
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Yes, he is. If you watched him closely he was in the hole, ranging side to side with his pads up field. I did not see him get caught up in the back wash as we have seen in previous years. This is a rally defense, and Lynn is key.
 

BoneLakeMafia said:
Bjorklund started over Tommy on Saturday, so he is obviously also in the mix. I watched them both in high school...Tommy was certainly more hyped, but I thought Bjorklund fit Kill's scheme better. Either way, nice to have some depth and experience on the OLine for the first time in a while.
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At the scrimmage a couple weeks ago, I think it was the Friday night one, Tommy was playing with both the 1's and 2's on a couple series. Definitely in the mix and may the best man win.
 


A couple more observations:

1) Poor Dexter Foreman. Fumbles the first snap he took in the spring game. Took a very long time for him to find the field again.

2) Eric Murray. Looked good for the most part, but blew coverage on the Hutton TD catch.

3) Banham. Very good and very small. Stayed low and would emerge out the wholes with a ton of speed. Looked very good, but the role he played will probably be filled by Berkley Edwards in the fall unless Cole can beat him out.

4) Reverses. Good plays with Fruechte rushing, but I am hoping they use Maye in this role.

5) Screen. They finally ran a screen and it was a dandy. Banham looked especially shifty on the catch and run. Why don't we run more screens?

6) Streveler. Looks like he needs some polish. Would be surprised if he doesn't redshirt unless he has a huge offseason.

7) Attendance. Was good. I am surprised they don't have turnstills or people with clickers just so they can document how many fans are attending. Would be good info to have from year to year.

8) Equip sale. I made it too late, but it looked like a couple tshirts were still there. Bunch of jerseys sold. Anyone get anything good?
 

go4rube said:
A couple more observations:


8) Equip sale. I made it too late, but it looked like a couple tshirts were still there. Bunch of jerseys sold. Anyone get anything good?
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I picked up a sweet Nishioka Twins jersey for $4 (bound to bring smiles or frowns to a lot of faces).

I too enjoyed the game a great deal. I agree with a lot of others here, and was impressed by Nelson's touch on the ball, and the excitement with which Hinjosa played (great to hear that he is a great kid).

I was hoping to see some more vertical passing, but there were a lot of good 15-25 yard passes thrown.
 

husker70 said:
Yes, he is. If you watched him closely he was in the hole, ranging side to side with his pads up field. I did not see him get caught up in the back wash as we have seen in previous years. This is a rally defense, and Lynn is key.
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Lynn still looks like his frame could support some more weight.
 

nokomismod said:
I picked up a sweet Nishioka Twins jersey for $4 (bound to bring smiles or frowns to a lot of faces).

I too enjoyed the game a great deal. I agree with a lot of others here, and was impressed by Nelson's touch on the ball, and the excitement with which Hinjosa played (great to hear that he is a great kid).

I was hoping to see some more vertical passing, but there were a lot of good 15-25 yard passes thrown.
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I'm assuming they paid you $4 to take it?
 


I went to the game and had a lot of similar observations. However, I was kind of just taking it all in and I missed some of the game just due to enjoying the weather and not always watching the game play.

But from watching it on TV yesterday, I have a few more observations.

#1: Our OL is getting a lot better, especially up the middle. Bjorklund, Hayes, Tommy Olson, Bak, Christenson and Epping will be a formative group of interior linemen. They are all good enough that I'd be comfortable with any of them starting. They are all athletic enough to run any play (all of the pulls and the traps), this is a luxury we haven't had since the Mason years. It was impressive to watch on TV.

#2: As others have said, Lynn looks the part. He is all over the place on defense, but I saw him get caught up in the linemen, make some bad reads, etc., a few times. I think he has as much talent as any LBer we've had here in awhile, he might just be a year or two removed from being real good. He kind of reminds me of Tinsley when he was young. With GT, I remember thinking that if he could just fly to the ball without reading anything, he was really good. The nuance eventually developed for GT and I'm sure it will for Lynn.

#3: Banham looks quick. I think it might be tough for Edwards to take that spot from him next year, which might be a good thing. Either way, I imagine we'll be seeing more and more of Banham. He played a part in the Bowl Game and he looked good in the Spring Game.

#4: Leidner is faster than I thought he'd be. I was expecting someone with mobility about like Cupido, but he moves about like Weber.

#5: Legania looked good. This could be big for us in that he's a real big body, but he was firing off the ball well and just is a big guy in the middle. He looked good!

#6: We have more depth in the secondary that I thought. Antonio Johnson, Levine, Murray, Shabazz were all impressive guys.
 

Bob_Loblaw

Thanks for the report. I am glad to hear that you were able to watch the game later on tape to get a better understanding of what was taking place. The wonderful weather was a distraction for all of us, although nice one.
 



Bob_Loblaw said:
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#2: As others have said, Lynn looks the part. He is all over the place on defense, but I saw him get caught up in the linemen, make some bad reads, etc., a few times. I think he has as much talent as any LBer we've had here in awhile, he might just be a year or two removed from being real good. He kind of reminds me of Tinsley when he was young. With GT, I remember thinking that if he could just fly to the ball without reading anything, he was really good. The nuance eventually developed for GT and I'm sure it will for Lynn.

I go way back and see a young Bill Light. He is in position with his eyes on the ball. He uses his hands well, and I think he was taken off his feet only once to twice. He reads very well. He was in position and pass went right passed him, but that can be noted and corrected. The thing I like best is how he attacks the hole. That in where 10 yard times are critical. He probably will play next year at 240, which on a 6'3" + frame is just about perfect. He will be playing behind Hagemann and Legania and that's a great place to start your Big 10 Career.
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Bob_Loblaw said:
#5: Legania looked good. This could be big for us in that he's a real big body, but he was firing off the ball well and just is a big guy in the middle. He looked good!.
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It would be huge if Legania were to contribute this year. He hasn't put up much for stats in previous years, but I'm hoping that he develops into a solid B1G player.
 




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