STrib: Limegrover explains why Gophers ran so much between the tackles

[BleedGopher]

per Joe:

Limegrover’s explanation Tuesday was fairly nuanced. It sounds like Kent State, with its multiple defensive fronts, had the patchwork offensive line and inexperienced tight end corps a bit flummoxed. Limegrover was careful not to criticize players, but I think this was a case where there were opportunities missed.

“We weren't going to spread it out against them because they did so many different things,” Limegrover said. “They were so multiple that it's hard to be able to put your finger on -- you want to make sure that you have people blocked. It was almost from snap to snap when you were preparing for them, the more you spread out, the more you started to get headaches trying to figure out where it was all fitting.”

He continued:

“We didn't play well up front. I think that's pretty well documented. Even with the way it looked, there were some things we didn't take advantage of. But also, what concerned us was a team that -- we're able to do our best on the perimeter when we have a good idea of what the defense is going to do -- when from snap to snap to snap it's a different picture for those kids as they're trying to go out and block. That's when somebody gets missed. That's when the big plays happen on the other side of scrimmage.”

http://www.startribune.com/limegrov...rs-ran-so-much-between-the-tackles/328846421/

Go Gophers!!

 

[watertown 1987 guy n]

Sounds like a load of bs. Apparently Kent St defensive coach became a genius in the week before the game. Just say we didn't play well and I blew it.

 

[RolGnav]

Good thing we won't play against any other teams that will mix it up like Kent State for the rest of the year... I was afraid we'd be running up the middle for the rest of the year. whew!

 

[Maroon92]

per Joe:

Limegrover’s explanation Tuesday was fairly nuanced. It sounds like Kent State, with its multiple defensive fronts, had the patchwork offensive line and inexperienced tight end corps a bit flummoxed. Limegrover was careful not to criticize players, but I think this was a case where there were opportunities missed.

“We weren't going to spread it out against them because they did so many different things,” Limegrover said. “They were so multiple that it's hard to be able to put your finger on -- you want to make sure that you have people blocked. It was almost from snap to snap when you were preparing for them, the more you spread out, the more you started to get headaches trying to figure out where it was all fitting.”

Go Gophers!!

what a load of crap- the defense moves around to confuse you and your answer is run basically the same play every time. Why doesn't he make game plan that confuses the defense-- that might help.

 

[cncmin]

what a load of crap- the defense moves around to confuse you and your answer is run basically the same play every time. Why doesn't he make game plan that confuses the defense-- that might help.

This. That might have been one of the very dumbest excuses for employing a sports strategy that I've ever heard.

 

[60's Guy]

Come on man! Really? .......Realllllly?

 

[alchemy2u]

If the Kent State defense is too difficult to play against then we are in for a very long season.

Total bull, we are a power B1G team, we dictate the plays.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Seany]

Wow. So what Limegrover is saying is that he allowed a team like Kent State to dictate our entire offensive attack? Nice...

Had he talked about our injuries along the OL and in the TE corps as being partly responsible for that offense last Saturday, that would have been understandable and justifiable, because we are really hurting in those areas and that is clearly hindering our performance on that side of the ball. This claptrap however, man, it is just absolute bunk. Every defense in college football flexes and utilizes motion, and defenses call audibles just as offenses do, so to use that as the excuse for retreating into an offensive shell against the likes of Kent State, yikes. That sure inspires confidence going forward.

 

[GoldenRodents]

OODA Loop

Wow. So what Limegrover is saying is that he allowed a team like Kent State to dictate our entire offensive attack? Nice...

Had he talked about our injuries along the OL and in the TE corps as being partly responsible for that offense last Saturday, that would have been understandable and justifiable, because we are really hurting in those areas and that is clearly hindering our performance on that side of the ball. This claptrap however, man, it is just absolute bunk. Every defense in college football flexes and utilizes motion, and defenses call audibles just as offenses do, so to use that as the excuse for retreating into an offensive shell against the likes of Kent State, yikes. That sure inspires confidence going forward.

They got into our OODA loop.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

That is a bizarre explanation. Every team we play this season will watch film on our offense and defense and try to come up with a strategy to counter it.

 

[beatles]

Hearing him say those things literally just made me angry. Does he not realize how bad he just made himself look? I don't even know what to say I'm just floored by his explanation.

 

[oleboy41]

ya'll need to relax. First off the blocking schemes are ALWAYS predicated on what the D front is doing. When you prepare for the D to show certain fronts and movements and they do something completely different it takes time to adjust. Now you hope that your OL is good enough to get guys blocked even if they're not getting the angles, leverage and doubles they would get if they had the right calls, but that wasn't the case for us. Also factor in that our the only 2 starters still playing the position they were in camp are Bobek and Mayes, both 1st year starters (and Mayes is hurt) and its no shock that they're struggling to adjust on the fly as a unit. And even then these guys can apparently barely move. That said I still think it was an overly conservative approach

 

[MNVCGUY]

Hearing him say those things literally just made me angry. Does he not realize how bad he just made himself look? I don't even know what to say I'm just floored by his explanation.

Yeah it would be one thing if he was talking about a great defensive team doing things to confuse our offense, but not Kent State. As someone else said if Kent State can confuse and shut down our offense then we are in for a really long season because the level of competition from here on out is only going to go up.

Reading the story I can understand where he was trying to go with his comments but he has to understand that it just makes you look bad and unprepared to admit that a team like Kent State can totally take your team out of its comfort zone by doing some unexpected things.

I really hope we see some steady play out of the offense on Saturday. If the offense continues to look lost and over-matched it will be really concerning heading into conference play. Hopefully we will see some signs that they are getting things back on track because while the defense will be able to keep us in games we are still going to need the offense to put up some points even if they end up falling short of the 30 points, 400 yards goal Kill put out there.

 

[corcoran1]

He basically is not going to throw his kids under the bus and say he had too much inexperience at TE to try toare enough adjustments. Our TES were missing blocks the whole game
Open it up and you have sacks and fumbles

KSU coaches were smart and lucky. They were aggressive and our blocking adjustments broke down because of I experience and confusion.
I am glad it D against them and not NW or Purdue.

 

[everybody knows my name]

Alright, I'm a pretty smart guy, and I just did a Pollyanna check and it came up negative. So here I go.

I was sitting in the open end zone with my little boy on Saturday, and while the doofuses around us were carping about the Gophers' conservative playcalling in the 4th quarter, I explained to my son that because of some injuries among our line and our tight ends, and in light of Leidner's two INTs, the coach had decided to play it safe and trust the defense to hold KSU in check. I told him it was disappointing, but probably the smart move.

Now here's Limegrover saying basically the exact same thing, and all you geniuses can't seem to grasp it.

Quitcherbitchin. If you don't like the view from the bandwagon, there's plenty of room on the sidewalk.

 

[Maximus]

I was sitting in the open end zone with my little boy on Saturday, and while the doofuses around us were carping about the Gophers' conservative playcalling in the 4th quarter, I explained to my son that because of some injuries among our line and our tight ends, and in light of Leidner's two INTs, the coach had decided to play it safe and trust the defense to hold KSU in check. I told him it was disappointing, but probably the smart move.

Yeah everybody, shut up about your opinions!

 

[Governor Sibley]

“We weren't going to spread it out against them because they did so many different things,” Limegrover said.

 

[MrC]

Why in the world would anyone expect an offessive coordinator to give complete, accurate information in an interview until after the season is over?

 

[Spoofin]

Why in the world would anyone expect an offessive coordinator to give complete, accurate information in an interview until after the season is over?

Thank you. When a coach gives a bizarre answer that doesn't make sense it doesn't mean he is clueless. He is simply side stepping the question. What would he benefit by being fully open on this subject?

 

[homermn]

Alright, I'm a pretty smart guy, and I just did a Pollyanna check and it came up negative. So here I go.

I was sitting in the open end zone with my little boy on Saturday, and while the doofuses around us were carping about the Gophers' conservative playcalling in the 4th quarter, I explained to my son that because of some injuries among our line and our tight ends, and in light of Leidner's two INTs, the coach had decided to play it safe and trust the defense to hold KSU in check. I told him it was disappointing, but probably the smart move.

Now here's Limegrover saying basically the exact same thing, and all you geniuses can't seem to grasp it.

Quitcherbitchin. If you don't like the view from the bandwagon, there's plenty of room on the sidewalk.

+1000000000000000000

 

[short ornery norwegian]

The Gophers offense has Issues. I know that, and the coaches know that.

But, what gets me is this: some posters on this board seem to be saying that the offense would be fine (or at least better) if they simply call the right plays. Well, I'm willing to bet the fans of the other team are saying the same thing.

But - gopher fans brag about how "our" defense can shut down the other team. But, apparently, the other team's defense should not be able to shut down the Gopher's offense, IF ONLY the coaches would call the right plays. You can't have it both ways. if the Gopher's defense can shut down the other team's offense, then the other team's defense (at least in theory) has the ability to shut down our offense.

It's about execution.

 

[Mulligan]

Yeah everybody, shut up about your opinions!

Where in the hell do you see anything remotely like, "shut up about your opinions?" We see multiple threads about Mitch and Limegrover and the same things over and over. When people rebut with their own opinions the narrative some folks like to spin is, "Poor, me, they're trying to shut me up because I'm critical." Fact is, these guys spend most of their waking time thinking about this stuff, and, although some people don't think it's valid, they also see how these players perform in practice and what mental and physical state they're in. Opine all you want, but don't whine when others bitch about it.

 

[Winnipegopher]

The Gophers offense has Issues. I know that, and the coaches know that.

But, what gets me is this: some posters on this board seem to be saying that the offense would be fine (or at least better) if they simply call the right plays. Well, I'm willing to bet the fans of the other team are saying the same thing.

But - gopher fans brag about how "our" defense can shut down the other team. But, apparently, the other team's defense should not be able to shut down the Gopher's offense, IF ONLY the coaches would call the right plays. You can't have it both ways. if the Gopher's defense can shut down the other team's offense, then the other team's defense (at least in theory) has the ability to shut down our offense.

It's about execution.

I somewhat agree with you but we are supposed to challenge for the west and we just beat a team 10-7 that Illinois beat 59-3, just days after their coach was fired.

It should be worrying that Illinois can score 59 and we can only score 10.

As for D, I don't see people taking a lot of pride in shutting down one of the worst teams in FBS.

 

[GopherHomer]

I somewhat agree with you but we are supposed to challenge for the west and we just beat a team 10-7 that Illinois beat 59-3, just days after their coach was fired.

It should be worrying that Illinois can score 59 and we can only score 10.

As for D, I don't see people taking a lot of pride in shutting down one of the worst teams in FBS.

This is the problem - for some reason many in our fanbase took for granted our back to back 8 win seasons and just assumed we'd replicate or build upon that success. Unfortunately, the last two seasons are closer to the ceiling than median for this program at this time.

 

[Golden_Sloth]

ya'll need to relax. First off the blocking schemes are ALWAYS predicated on what the D front is doing. When you prepare for the D to show certain fronts and movements and they do something completely different it takes time to adjust.

Sorry but I don't really agree with this. You should be able to execute any blocking scheme, be it man or zone, against any front. A little adjustment might be necessary sometimes but in general it shouldn't really matter how the D is lined up.

 

[Schnauzer]

gopher fans brag about how "our" defense can shut down the other team. But, apparently, the other team's defense should not be able to shut down the Gopher's offense, IF ONLY the coaches would call the right plays. You can't have it both ways. if the Gopher's defense can shut down the other team's offense, then the other team's defense (at least in theory) has the ability to shut down our offense.

Actually... You can have it both ways and it happens a lot. Having it both ways is also known as "blowout victory" for short. I think a lot of Gopher fans were expecting to have it both ways last Saturday.

 

[scools12]

The Gophers offense has Issues. I know that, and the coaches know that.

But, what gets me is this: some posters on this board seem to be saying that the offense would be fine (or at least better) if they simply call the right plays. Well, I'm willing to bet the fans of the other team are saying the same thing.

But - gopher fans brag about how "our" defense can shut down the other team. But, apparently, the other team's defense should not be able to shut down the Gopher's offense, IF ONLY the coaches would call the right plays. You can't have it both ways. if the Gopher's defense can shut down the other team's offense, then the other team's defense (at least in theory) has the ability to shut down our offense.

It's about execution.

Agree that Kent St deserves credit. They played well.

The execution within the Gophers OLine clearly was poor. Still the majority of the running plays called were basic straight ahead blocking. Injuries a factor yes but the Gophers should have been able to over power Kent St with size and strength at the line of scrimmage regardless of what defensive front they were facing. That did not happen.

 

[oleboy41]

Sorry but I don't really agree with this. You should be able to execute any blocking scheme, be it man or zone, against any front. A little adjustment might be necessary sometimes but in general it shouldn't really matter how the D is lined up.

So you don't agree that the OL has to identify the correct people to block? Yea the play is designed to work against multiple fronts but that is because there are numerous checks/adjustments the OL makes depending upon where the D front actually is and how they're aligned. My point is that having guys in new positions and next to guys they're not used to can make that difficult from guys potentially making the wrong reads, wrong calls, wrong adjustments, wrong steps, or just flat getting beat. The tackle may pass a guy to the guard but the guard may be doubling with the C or any number of things can go wrong. That's why every coach preaches continuity on the OL more than any other position

 

[STPGopher]

per Joe:

Limegrover’s explanation Tuesday was fairly nuanced. It sounds like Kent State, with its multiple defensive fronts, had the patchwork offensive line and inexperienced tight end corps a bit flummoxed. Limegrover was careful not to criticize players, but I think this was a case where there were opportunities missed.

“We weren't going to spread it out against them because they did so many different things,” Limegrover said. “They were so multiple that it's hard to be able to put your finger on -- you want to make sure that you have people blocked. It was almost from snap to snap when you were preparing for them, the more you spread out, the more you started to get headaches trying to figure out where it was all fitting.”

He continued:

“We didn't play well up front. I think that's pretty well documented. Even with the way it looked, there were some things we didn't take advantage of. But also, what concerned us was a team that -- we're able to do our best on the perimeter when we have a good idea of what the defense is going to do -- when from snap to snap to snap it's a different picture for those kids as they're trying to go out and block. That's when somebody gets missed. That's when the big plays happen on the other side of scrimmage.”

http://www.startribune.com/limegrov...rs-ran-so-much-between-the-tackles/328846421/

Go Gophers!!

Relax: Things will improve starting with Ohio University.

BTW Lookie at who is at #3:http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/22

 

[Winnipegopher]

Actually... You can have it both ways and it happens a lot. Having it both ways is also known as "blowout victory" for short. I think a lot of Gopher fans were expecting to have it both ways last Saturday.

+1. You nailed it.