Hey Falcons....Gopher Fan here

[hammb]

Thanks for the great post Falcon90.

Have you guys had problems matching up with really athletic TE's in the past?

Your WR's should have a field day against our defensive backfield, especially if your line plays up to its billing (especially at the tackles).

Do you have a lot of vertical play calling, or is it more short passes west
coast style, and screens and dump offs? That may be more manageable. Vertical stuff is what kills us. Look at any highlights from last year and it was a slot reciever on a skinny post all day (Mario Manningham had two TD's like that on the exact same play) and deep routes that hurt our secondary the most.

There have been times where athletic TEs have given us fits...most specifically against our rival Toledo a few years back. Overall though it's tough to say because the TE is rarely seen as a key cog in the MAC. The athleticism we have at LB should allow us to cover an athletic TE, IMO. However, if you're going to the TE off playaction, or delayed type routes, it becomes more a question of whether our guys properly read their keys than just pure athleticism...on that we'll have to see. I expect this defense to be overall pretty good. If they cut down on the big plays they could very easily be a top defense in the MAC.


We are as anxiously awaiting the playcalling on offense as you are. Last season we played Freddie Barnes (now a WR) and Anthony Turner at QB for most of the year. When they were the guys we were completely horizontal with our passing game. Think 5 yard outs, 7 yard curls. Not really dump offs, these were the primary options in the passing game. When Sheehan played last year, the offense seemed to open up a bit more vertically. This was REALLY apparent in the spring game this year. Sheehan's squad went downfield, Turner's squad continued with the 5 yard, safe, passes. Unfortunately in Sheehan's time throwing downfield, he also threw 4 INTs in only 43 attempts...that's not acceptable.

I expect we will see some more downfield throws this year, but it remains to be seen whether we actually have the ability to complete those throws. Sheehan definitely has the arm, hopefully he's worked on his accuracy & we get some big plays from our WRs as well. The talent is there on this team to use the downfield throws, but until we see it it's tough to really say how much of the offense they will be.


If I were defending BG in the opening game of the season I would still load up the box and leave only one safety deep in coverage. I would force the young QB to show us that he can hit one over the top before I would change that strategy.

[Jacobs4Heisman]

Why do people pay any attention to anything coaches say about a given opponent or what they're preparing for?

Because he sounds like a retard. Minnesota is going to the spread. He says he thinks they'll come out in two-tight-end stuff all day. Thank God he's not running the defense.

And you sound like MACMAN...the man could just as easily said he expects Minnesota to start the Disney CHannel's "Hannah Montana" at QB. It's meaningless pregame talk and you're treating it like the gospel...

I don't care what he actually believes. I'd just prefer that he not sound like an idiot.

[stpaulgoph]

Simmons will be a feature of the passing game, not a play action or third read in a progression.

He has the size to be a mismatch for a secondary (6'4 250) and the speed to mis-match up against LBs (he runs in the mid 4.6 range for the forty). He also reportedly showed the best hands of anyone in Spring and Fall ball.

They will use him much like Dallas Clark with the Colts. Sometimes coming out of a traditional TE stance lined up on the line, sometimes as an H back out of the backfield, and he will also split out wide and line up as a true WR in the slot or on the outside for jump balls in goalline situations. He is the most versatile player on our offense and they will move him around so he can "pick" on different players and you cant get a read on what he is doing.

Gopher fans are very excited about him

If your coach is worth his whistle he will watch film, and use lots of play action and post and fly routes and attack us deep, loosen us up and then dink-and-dunk and run. I expect the Gophers will come out aggerssively and force you to loosen us up on playing the run.

[Falconfreak90]

Why do people pay any attention to anything coaches say about a given opponent or what they're preparing for?

Because he sounds like a retard. Minnesota is going to the spread. He says he thinks they'll come out in two-tight-end stuff all day. Thank God he's not running the defense.

And you sound like MACMAN...the man could just as easily said he expects Minnesota to start the Disney CHannel's "Hannah Montana" at QB. It's meaningless pregame talk and you're treating it like the gospel...

I agree, Flip. How many times did Lou Holtz say the opposing team was the best team in the country? Coach B can say whatever he wants but you know damn well it is "newspaper" talk. What if the new spread for MN doesn't work? If that happens, I would expect them to load up TE's and run the ball like they always do.

[Flipper]

Why do people pay any attention to anything coaches say about a given opponent or what they're preparing for?

Because he sounds like a retard. Minnesota is going to the spread. He says he thinks they'll come out in two-tight-end stuff all day. Thank God he's not running the defense.

And you sound like MACMAN...the man could just as easily said he expects Minnesota to start the Disney CHannel's "Hannah Montana" at QB. It's meaningless pregame talk and you're treating it like the gospel...

I don't care what he actually believes. I'd just prefer that he not sound like an idiot.

I cannot believe how petty you get in your criticisms sometimes....I hardly think a coach saying he expects a Big 10 team to come out and hammer at a MAC team with a big set is idiotic. So they're going to install a spread this year...the rules of college footbal do allow for teams to use various formations in the course of a game you know...you don't hafta pick one and stick with it...

THinking that the Gophers are going to blindly adhere to a single formation would be idiotic...

[Dayons_Den]

Better watch out Freak- mentioning that former Kent State LB to some Minny fans would be like mentioning a former Falcon head coach whose last name rhymes with his around here. . .

[Falconfreak90]

Better watch out Freak- mentioning that former Kent State LB to some Minny fans would be like mentioning a former Falcon head coach whose last name rhymes with his around here. . .

DD,

Thanks for the tip! Forgot about that. But since when does "Holtz" rhyme with "Ankney"? LOL! JK...Denny will never be forgotten, I'm sure of that.

[Redwingtom]

Why do people pay any attention to anything coaches say about a given opponent or what they're preparing for?

Because he sounds like a retard. Minnesota is going to the spread. He says he thinks they'll come out in two-tight-end stuff all day. Thank God he's not running the defense.

And you sound like MACMAN...the man could just as easily said he expects Minnesota to start the Disney CHannel's "Hannah Montana" at QB. It's meaningless pregame talk and you're treating it like the gospel...

No way would that pot smoking montana chick be starting for my beloved falcons!

[BGSUFootballFan]

Thanks for the great post Falcon90.

Have you guys had problems matching up with really athletic TE's in the past?

Your WR's should have a field day against our defensive backfield, especially if your line plays up to its billing (especially at the tackles).

Do you have a lot of vertical play calling, or is it more short passes west
coast style, and screens and dump offs? That may be more manageable. Vertical stuff is what kills us. Look at any highlights from last year and it was a slot reciever on a skinny post all day (Mario Manningham had two TD's like that on the exact same play) and deep routes that hurt our secondary the most.

And btw, last year was a brutal year for us and Wisky was OK, but since 2000 MN has had the best running game by a significant margin (take the averages) in the Big Ten. Wisky has fallen off the map running wise since Dayne left, but they are looking like they will resurge with PJ Hill. We Minney fans gotta stick our necks out where we can (which is basically limited to our very strong running game).

Yes, we have had trouble in the past with TE's. I can think of Toledo and Wisconsin as 2 examples.

All of our passes were really short routes last year. I believe we had like 60yards total passing against Wiscy. So unless our unproven Sheehan pulls a miracle, I don't expect us to torch your DB's deep like you might think.

Also Corey Partridge is our only proven WR. He's a great assest to our team, but I see him as more of a pos. type WR and not really a deep threat. But he is defn the type to play his guts out and scrap for every yard he can get. Freddie Barnes is now our #2 WR and my favorite player on the team. He is something special, especially in CLUTCH situations. But from the sounds of it, he is still hurting and out of shape so he might not play much at all Sat.

I appreciate all the wealth of info you have brought us about Minny, but I do have one small thing to mention. You say Wiscy hasn't had much of a running back since Ron Dayne, but don't forget about BRIAN CALHOUN. I remember 2yrs ago BG played Wiscy, and that kid absolutely torched our D in route to 56pts on us. He was defn a very good RB!

[stpaulgoph]

I am not saying Wisky hasnt had any good backs, but they havent been the same since Dayne left really until last year with PJ Hill.

Minney was averaging over 250 YPG for the season on the ground for 5-6 seasons in a row.

Calhoun was decent, but really struggled against good competition in Big Ten play. I remember a Wisky fan telling me he was better than the Gophers back that year, Laurence Maroney.

Minney has just been on a stretch with some talented backs. It looks like we will have 4 running backs that played within 3 seasons of each other in the NFL.

Marion Barber - Dallas
Laurence Maroney - NE
Thomas Tapeh - Eagles (starting FB)
Gary Russell - Steelers.

Tapeh and Barber played together, then Barber played with Maroney, then Maroney played with Russell. At least two of these four NFL rb's were on the Gophers roster for those three seasons at the same time.

Considering Tapeh graduated in 2003, and Maroney and Russell left in 2005, thats a lot of talent in a short window of time. Thats a majority of the reason Minney has been the best rushing team since 2000 in the conference.

1-2 NFL rb's from a BCS program every 3 seasons is pretty good. 3 RB's from a short period is great, and 4 is outstanding.

[hammb]

Calhoun was decent, but really struggled against good competition in Big Ten play. I remember a Wisky fan telling me he was better than the Gophers back that year, Laurence Maroney.

Bingo.

Calhoun torched teams like BG, but did nothing against the tougher competition he faced. He wasn't even in the same class as Maroney, IMO.

Minnesota has had one of, if not the, best running games in the country for the past 5 years or so. I fully expect them (spread or not) to come out still able to run the ball again this year.

[stpaulgoph]

Bingo.

Calhoun torched teams like BG, but did nothing against the tougher competition he faced. He wasn't even in the same class as Maroney, IMO.

You got that right Hammb. Calhoun has struggled to even get carries on the worst team in the NFL, while Maroney will be the starter on arguably the best team in the NFL. Not the same class at all. Not even same grade or school even...

I tend to think Gopher fans are a pretty pragmatic lot. Not very cocky or arrogant (Wisky fans are pretty abrasive) But we get defensive and ornery when people start generalizing our rb's or run game as just "pretty good" 8)

[tiznow]

Bingo.

Calhoun torched teams like BG, but did nothing against the tougher competition he faced. He wasn't even in the same class as Maroney, IMO.

You got that right Hammb. Calhoun has struggled to even get carries on the worst team in the NFL, while Maroney will be the starter on arguably the best team in the NFL. Not the same class at all. Not even same grade or school even...

I tend to think Gopher fans are a pretty pragmatic lot. Not very cocky or arrogant (Wisky fans are pretty abrasive) But we get defensive and ornery when people start generalizing our rb's or run game as just "pretty good" 8)

Gary Russell has a very good shot at making the Steelers. He should get a lot of playing time tonight. There are two open running back spots and three runners fighting for it.

[stpaulgoph]

I got a lot more optimistic about Russell when they cut Kevan Barlow.

He was a real stud in college, just was too "young" and didnt go to class. Nuff said.

[Falconfreak90]

The reason Brian Calhoun was able to run all over BG in 2005 is because the Wisky O line and that 270 FB were leveling the BG defenders all day. Bernstien...I think that's the FB's name. Heck I watched him knock our NG, Mike Thaler, on his kiester a couple times. It was pretty brutal to watch. Wisky basically ran 2 plays all day. Pitch Left and then Pitch Right and the pulling guards and FB just destroyed us. I could have rushed for 100+ that day the way Wisky was knocking our guys down.

MN running backs have been better than UW's the last few years.