Through 2 Games We Only Have *3* Offensive Touchdowns.......

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Yeah, make that two touchdown drives. One was a gimme.

So, about one per game. Roughly the same average as the back half of last year.

This is the third year I've asked: How are we going to score, especially in the conference schedule? Most people heckle me. The question stands.
 


2-0 baby

defense wins championships, we're on our way to the rose bowl!
 

it definitely a cause for concern, although in terms of what have you done for me lately, they put together two very nice drives in the most recent quarter.

Let's hope it's a trend!
 


Yes, the offense sucks. There has obviously been some inconsistencies due to the change. I just don't know what else you want to know other than they're gonna get better as the O-line gels together better and as Weber gets more comfortable with the offense.

I'd much rather have offensive issues than defensive issues at this juncture, because it's FAR more likely the offensive issues will get ironed out, as many of them are just a sheer matter of execution (dropping the many drive killing penalties, Weber getting that ball around to his playmakers). Execution is something that can improve through repetition and practice, something they're going to continue to get. I'm not worried.....yet. But the fact that they are able to put drives together when they really need them is a sign of what they can be IMO.
 

Studwell55 said:
How are we going to score, especially in the conference schedule?
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I think I found the answer let me know if this helps:
Wikipedia said:
A touchdown is achieved when a player has legal possession of the ball and the ball crosses an imaginary vertical plane above the opposing team's goal line.
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In the last 10 games the O has scored 15 tds:
Indy - 1
Illinois - 2
Purdont - 1
NW - 1
Mich - 0
Wisc - 4
IA - 0
Kansas - 3
Cuse - 2
AFA - 1

Almost half the TDs came against two teams. Not good.
 



Times have changed

Defense is the focus and they have given up 13 points in the last 6 quarters and 3 TD's all season. Brewster is putting more and more talent on defense. Offense is a work in progress.
 


I'll worry about the offense when we have four offensive TD's in five games. This conversation is pointless.
 

I'll really start to worry when it costs us a game. Up until now they've found a way to get it done this season. There has been improvement on O from week 1 to week 2 and we're 2-0. I'm not pleased with the offense but I'm not going to go Chicken Little over it this early either. There are a few very simple changes that should greatly improve the production. If we fail to make them or improve further then we might be in trouble.
 



Share your concern - the Gophers the past three seasons have few long drives and often can't move the ball when they have to (third downs). Running game is not there. Today I came across a photo of Ben Hamilton leading the charge in the old run offense - wish we could do that now and still have Weber slinging some, too.

By the way, for those who haven't seen it, the U of M press has a new Gopher football history by Al Papas Jr. - mostly stats, drawings and diagramed plays, but plenty of text, too.
 

Section 100 said:
In the last 10 games the O has scored 15 tds:
Indy - 1
Illinois - 2
Purdont - 1
NW - 1
Mich - 0
Wisc - 4
IA - 0
Kansas - 3
Cuse - 2
AFA - 1

Almost half the TDs came against two teams. Not good.
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Good work on the research, I had no idea, this is pretty sad.......
 

This really should not be very surprising to people. Our offense was horrible last year, and now we brought in a new system. I will be very concerned if, as the year goes on, the offense does not get better. But right now is too early to worry.

However with that said, I don't think our offense that far away. We have done some good things, but penalties and drops have doomed us time and again. If we could find a way to clean those up we'd be much better. Hopefully as the players continue to learn we'll see that.

Looking at our team, I think no matter how much Brewster says he wants this to be a running team... it's just not. I want to see us pass to open up the run instead of the other way around. The talent we have dictates that. Right now we have two average running backs, and an offensive line that is below average in run blocking. On the other hand, we have a QB who is already the all-time school leader in completions, one of the best wide receivers in the country, along with a couple others that can hold their own. This team needs to pass.

What happened to Ben Kuznia? Has he played yet this year?

About that TD list, the scary thing is that in the Wisconsin game, 2 of those TDs came on very short fields. The first one we took over at the UW 11 yard line. The third one we stared at the UW 39. Only the second TD was one where we had some kind of a drive, starting at our own 42. Then the 4th TD was when we were down by 11 late and Wisconsin was in a prevent mode.
 


Iceland12 said:
Penalties have killed drive after drive and brought back some 1st downs and long gains. Fix this and touchdowns will come.
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Exactly! 4.5+ ypc is not a terrible stat. We've shot ourselves in the foot so many times these first two games. Combined with Weber's early struggles, and multiple dropped balls, the offense has looked much worse than it actually is.
 

Iceland12 said:
Penalties have killed drive after drive and brought back some 1st downs and long gains. Fix this and touchdowns will come.
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This is a real issue. They'll make plays, but then a penalty will screw it all up. It's hard to get rhythm when you're shooting yourself in the foot that much. Notice when the penalties stop, the drives move.
 

Gold Vision said:
Exactly! 4.5+ ypc is not a terrible stat. We've shot ourselves in the foot so many times these first two games. Combined with Weber's early struggles, and multiple dropped balls, the offense has looked much worse than it actually is.
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I agree. I thought that the offense looked fine against Air Force. The offense had an unusually few number of possessions to work with that game -- just eight. A combination of Weber's early inaccuracy/WR drops/a fumble/penalties killed at least three of them.
 



how about this.

through 2 games we have 746 yards of total offense. 5.8 yards per play. i'll take 4,476 yards of offense for the season any year, especially with an above average defense.

the problem is not necessarily the offense's ability to score TD's, the problem lies in this stat line: 18 penalties for 130 yards (most of which are on offense), and this: third down conversions 9 of 28.

if you shoot yourself in the foot with penalties and don't convert third downs, the ball rarely gets into the endzone.
 

The offense will improve, but look, our offense only needs to be as good as our defense is poor. Touchdowns are scored in all 3 phases of the game. I would much much rather have a stout and salty D and win small than score 30 or 40 pts a game and lose close ones (i.e. Purdue model). Sexy? No. Effective, Yes. This model only works so long as our D does its job and is not asked to do too much...there is a fine line there..little margin for error. Our special teams need to pick it up and get some touches soon...Troy, your time is now.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Defense is the focus and they have given up 13 points in the last 6 quarters and 3 TD's all season. Brewster is putting more and more talent on defense. Offense is a work in progress.
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I just don't think offense can continue to be a work in progress. We need a running game! Right now our primary weapon is Decker and teams will start to key in on him, knowing that we can't run the ball.


cduff said:
Looking at our team, I think no matter how much Brewster says he wants this to be a running team... it's just not. I want to see us pass to open up the run instead of the other way around. The talent we have dictates that. Right now we have two average running backs, and an offensive line that is below average in run blocking. On the other hand, we have a QB who is already the all-time school leader in completions, one of the best wide receivers in the country, along with a couple others that can hold their own. This team needs to pass.

About that TD list, the scary thing is that in the Wisconsin game, 2 of those TDs came on very short fields. The first one we took over at the UW 11 yard line. The third one we stared at the UW 39. Only the second TD was one where we had some kind of a drive, starting at our own 42. Then the 4th TD was when we were down by 11 late and Wisconsin was in a prevent mode.
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The 2 TDs against SU came on short fields too. D.Bennett had a 22 yd run for one.

alphagopher said:
The offense will improve, but look, our offense only needs to be as good as our defense is poor. Touchdowns are scored in all 3 phases of the game. I would much much rather have a stout and salty D and win small than score 30 or 40 pts a game and lose close ones (i.e. Purdue model). Sexy? No. Effective, Yes. This model only works so long as our D does its job and is not asked to do too much...there is a fine line there..little margin for error. Our special teams need to pick it up and get some touches soon...Troy, your time is now.
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Having a poor offense doesn't help out defense out. Think about road games when we don't get to travel as many guys. If the offense can't move the ball, then the D will be on the field a lot longer. Which isn't going to help. We can't expect the Defense to shut everyone out on a weekly basis. If offense can only muster 7-14 points a game that is putting a lot of pressure on the defense.
 

offense will be fine. It will never be great or even more than above average but it will be ok. We're not going to win many shootouts this year and luckily Cal is the only real high powered offense we'll face. Our D will have to get us some short fields to work with. The only real hope I have for the offense being better than average is if we start incorporating our speed guys (Hayo, Gray, Whaley, maybe Allen) into the game and getting them more touches. The best solution for lack of execution is the big play.
 

i'm batman said:
how about this.

through 2 games we have 746 yards of total offense. 5.8 yards per play. i'll take 4,476 yards of offense for the season any year, especially with an above average defense.

the problem is not necessarily the offense's ability to score TD's, the problem lies in this stat line: 18 penalties for 130 yards (most of which are on offense), and this: third down conversions 9 of 28.

if you shoot yourself in the foot with penalties and don't convert third downs, the ball rarely gets into the endzone.
Click to expand...

That's kind of a misleading stat. You could have six 3-and-outs (amassing 50 yds total) and then one play for 80 yards. That makes for 6.8 yds per play. That would be seven tries with only one TD. Not a good return.

That's EXACTLY the problem! The offenses' inability to punch it in. Let's apply your penalty theory...
746 yds / 128 plays = 5.8 yds per play
746 - 130 penalty yards= 616 yards / 128 plays = 4.8 per play

So, if the Gophs average almost 5 yards per play then they should be scoring every drive. (I realize it doesn't work that way, but that's my point regarding the yards per play stat. It's somewhat misleading.)

Something has to change. And this isn't a new problem. I provided the numbers to show that it started last year during the Indiana game. This is a trend that needs to break.

It starts up front. If this O-line doesn't progress then we're going to see more games in the 13-20 point range. I'd love to see a few more designed Webber runs.
 

I'm struggling to understand why people fail to see the significant strides that the offense made against Air Force. To put the stats into perspective (these exclude OT stats against Syracuse and the last possession at the end of the AF game):

Syracuse

Possessions: 14

Plays: 71

Yards: 353

Yards per play: 4.97

Air Force

Possessions: 8

Plays: 50

Yards: 330

Yards per play: 6.6


As you can see, the offense was far more efficient against Syracuse. It just may not have seemed that way because our overall numbers were depressed by substantially fewer plays/possessions. I would be absolutely ecstatic if the offense averaged anywhere near 6.6 yards per play the rest of the season.
 


For some perspective, Cal had a total of 15 offensive touchdowns against Maryland and Eastern Washington.
 

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