Tip of the Hat to the Offensive Line
by GopherNation on Oct 5, 2010 12:00 PM CDT
in Gopher Football
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This will surprise nobody but there has not been very much to praise about the Gopher's 2010 season. The team has a 1-4 record losing all of our games at home, the defense is playing at a level of badness that we never thought we'd see again and the end of the Brewster era appears to be more and more likely with each passing loss.
But I want to take some time to give a slight tip of the hat to the Offensive Line. The men in the trenches took a severe beating in the eyes of Gopher fans on message boards and blogs last year. They received much of the blame for the ineptitude of the offense. The run game was at the bottom of the Big Ten because there were no holes for our backs. Some would adamantly argue that Adam Weber had a terrible junior year because he was running for his life on every other play and the line was last in the Big Ten in sacks allowed. And drive after drive was killed by penalties which were often holding or a false start. And let's be honest, they truly were a significant contributor to the ineptitude of the Mulligan Offense of 2009.
But I want to take some time to acknowledge that this group is much improved. Are they going to collectively win any awards for being the top unit in the Big Ten? No, and I'm not campaigning for that. One year ago this unit seemed to be doing their best to prevent W's but in 2010 they are doing their best to help us win.
The Personnel
The personnel is not exactly the same but it is very similar. Jeff Wills at RT was the starter in 2009 and he took more abuse from fans than anybody else (and it wasn't even close). Time after time WIlls was beat by a speed rushing DE and he gave up far too many sacks. This year though? While I don't have the numbers of sacks allowed by individual player you do not see him isolated on replays for giving up pressure or sacks nearly as often as you did last year.
At RG the starter remains the same with Matt Carufel. The Notre Dame transfer wasn't really abused in 2009 but he also didn't open holes for the ground game like he was expected to. He is much better this year at creating holes for his backs and pushing people around a bit more.
D.J. Burris started at center for the final seven games of 2009, afterTow-Arnett went down with an injury. While I can't say I've been watching him every play to see his progress, you also haven't seen him highlighted for too many penalties or sacks allowed.
The LG was "anchored" in 2009 by Chris Bunders and he's the starter there in 2010 as well. I do recall specifically watching Bunders at times last year and defenders would run right by him for QB pressures or sacks. He's playing much better this year.
Last year LT was a mess with starters rotating in and out of this critical position. Dom Alford saw a lot of time there but was beat out this year by the redshirt freshman, Ed Olson. I watched Olson critically in the MTSU game and he missed some blocks and allowed more QB pressure than anyone else but even in just a few games he has really improved.
Mostly these guys as a unit have really taken some steps forward and it is really showing up in the numbers.
The Stats
Statistics are my first destination when trying to show how the OL has improved. I looked at the 2009 season comparing the four non-conference games plus Northwestern to the 2010 season.
| Rush Yds/Game | Rush Yds/Carry | Sacks Allowed | 1st Downs Rushing | % of all 1st Downs | |
| 2009 | 112 | 3.4 | 11 | 31 | 37.8% |
| 2010 | 166 | 3.9 | 5 | 48 | 43.2% |
As you can see we are rushing for more yards per game and more yards per carry. The OL has only given up 5 sacks after allowing 11 through this point a year ago. In 2009 through these five games we earned a first down on the ground just under 38% of the time and this year is is over 43%. All of these numbers point to the fact that offensive line is doing their job.
Also in 2009 the offensive line was often the excuse given as to why our quarterback was struggling. There was some truth to that but in 2010 our quarterback has statistically been much better. If the OL was partly to blame last year then they deserve some of the credit this year, it's only fair.
The End
None of this means that any of these guys are going to be a finalist for an Outland Trophy, I doubt any will even be recognized on an All-Big Ten team. This unit still has to face some pretty tough defensive fronts in the coming weeks and they will be tested. I doubt they'll dominate the line of scrimmage this week against Wisconsin or Ohio State or Iowa, but I also believe they will not be pushed around like they often were in 2009.
This group has improved and after taking a lot of heat in 2009 I think it is appropriate to recognize they did indeed improve and are playing solid football through fives games. Unfortunately the 1-4 record is all that matters right now, but it doesn't hurt to give a slight tip of the hat to the OL.
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GN--Agree
and let’s not forget that we really don’t have a RB that makes people miss. Every yard is directly related to there being a hole. The RB’s are running hard and looking better, but geez, it would be nice to see a jock strap on the field every once in awhile. And another thing to make your case is that Weber is slow to setup and does not have a quick release. Taking all that into consideration, I agree with your thesis, the OL is looking better.
While they are playing better
They’re not exactly pounding the rock in comparison to other Big Ten schools:
RUSHING OFFENSE G Att Yds Avg TD Yds/G
-——————————————————————————-
1. Michigan………… 5 228 1622 7.1 20 324.4
2. Wisconsin……….. 5 213 1195 5.6 16 239.0
3. Ohio State………. 5 214 1174 5.5 12 234.8
4. Michigan State…… 5 192 1101 5.7 12 220.2
5. Illinois………… 4 169 806 4.8 7 201.5
6. Purdue………….. 4 156 752 4.8 5 188.0
7. Iowa……………. 5 195 861 4.4 9 172.2
8. Minnesota……….. 5 211 830 3.9 7 166.0
9. Northwestern…….. 5 231 776 3.4 8 155.2
10.Penn State………. 5 169 691 4.1 5 138.2
11.Indiana…………. 4 120 427 3.6 8 106.8
If you need to see a great example of how prior losses have doomed the 2010 Gophers and Brewster’s regime, look back to 2008. Taylor Lewan’s dad went to Minnesota, and Taylor should have been a Brewster commit. Now, as a 6’8", 295 lb. redshirt freshmen, he’s a starting left tackle, trucking guys on the nation’s second-best offense.
Another example? Anyone else notice Josh Huff scoring a 41-yard TD catch in the Oregon-Stanford game Saturday night? 5 catches, 64 yards. He’d have been useful too.
I did say that yes we are not exactly dominant. But this unit did go from easily the worst in the Big Ten to much improved and they are not the weakness on this team anymore.
And as soon as I saw you had commented I knew it was going to be a comparison to Michigan and probably Lewan. The kid was coming here and was persuaded to play for Michigan. Your comments make it sound like Brewster didn’t try to recruit him or didn’t want him. He chose Michigan over Minnesota, he’s not the first kid to do so. We are happy that Lewan is the reason Michigan has a dominant rushing attack, I’m sure having a QB like Denard Robinson has nothing to do with it.
Another RB example would be LeMichael James. Would be nice to have him too. You don’t land every 4-star recruit that you want to land. The point is that the offensive line was ripped mercilessly last year and they were a huge question mark coming into the season. They have answered their critics thus far. Now that I’ve posted this, they’ll likely get killed on Saturday.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher
Yeah, I didn’t want to bring up the fact that most of the defenses that Minnesota has run over thus far were severely undersized, that the only D-line that compared to the Gophers, size-wise, stuffed them (USC), and the best 5 D-lines they are going to face this year (Wisconsin, Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State) await in the next 7 games.
Regarding Lewan, Huff, LeMichael James: Getting THOSE guys is why Brewster was hired, remember? He was going to get the difference makers. Now, whether he could coach them the way Rich Rod and Chip Kelly have coached their players into dominant offensive forces is another matter.
This is the stat-line for the Gophers against the one defense, USC, that’s had a defensive line that the Gophers had to worry about thus far this year:
37 rushes, 83 yards.
Oh yeah, the fifth big defensive line the Gophers will have to deal with is Michigan State, along with that little-regarded LB who de-committed from Minny after Mason was fired. That Greg Jones guy.
the 2009 comparison teams are similar
SDSU = USD
Cal = USC
Air Force = NIU
Syracuse and MTSU don’t work so well. But the comparison was non-conf + NU to non-conf + NU. Again, there is no doubt this unit is much better than it was a year ago. Just tired of writing over and over how terrible this team is and who is the next coach.
I realize Brewster is here to recruit. But not any coach gets 100% of the players he wants. That list of players we almost had or wish we would have had is much larger than what’s be listed in this thread.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher
JG 2112
another one that comes to mind is Eric Stephens the RB who decommitted and went to Tx Tech. His talents aren’t being utilized in that offense, but when he does get the ball, he looks good.
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