MINN The Good...and Not so Good

[ru-baby]

So much good outweighing the the other side this week.

GOOD:

1. AK. QB had his best game at the time he most wanted it and perhaps when RU most needed it. Has really been good most of the season.
2. D line. Hell yeah-stopping the run and then the sacks out of nowhere in the second half. Well done.
3. Longrebeam-Looked like his old self. Difference maker when healthy.
4. Powell--Same as above. Key in stopping the run and laid some big hits.
5. J Benajamin. Always liked his burst. Really had a nice game.
6. Raymond. Think Benjamin ran better but his pass blocking was needed and well done.
7. Strong--A weapon. Fights for the ball.
8. Duff. Coming in to his own. Strong still high points and uses his height where Duff lets the ball come down to him, but such a big body can create matchup and open area issues. cant imagine him and Strong as hs wideouts on the same team.
9. Dremel punt return. Was real helpful. I say end the hard and fast rules on punt returns and trust him to fair catch where needed and try to advance where needed. Isnt that the point of develeopmental programs-to coach up and trust?
10. Miller's first half. Great route runner and nice catch on a very tough ball on the first TD.
11. Coaching-Credit where due. Came out ready to play and used the weapons that are there. (Long and Black on back burner with Strong and Duff choice apparently..gather the "jumbo" wr lineup.

NOT SO GOOD:

1. KO returns. Lets get Ben Black back there and coach him if in the end zone fair catch and if not give it a shot. Still need all the big plays that can be manufactured. The post safety free kick fair catch was outright absurd. Could have been out to 35 or 40 before engaged.
2. LB s isolated with TE and rbs. Still an issue. Minny figured it out for a bit but the Dline came out of nowehere and changed the game complexion. Overall still better but an issue that can be exploited. Hate to isolate anyone but M Walker I didnt see and wasnt on the injury report so perhaps they finally figured all of the chunk plays occurred while he was out there and getting taken out of plays or choosing wrong angles. Djabome made betrer choices yesterday and Wright is just the better choice.
3. Where are the screens?? Minny nearly all out blitzed for a prolonged period and it cried out for screens to halt the aggresivenes. We have two great options--the screen we have ussed to Strong, and bubble screens to Miller or Black. Hopefully like with lb issue this issue gets caught up on.
4. Miller drops. Kid has been excellent all year largely. Yesterday (and the 4th down USC drop) there were some drops that could have been consequential. Such a great route runner. Hopefully just needs to get back on track.
5. Obvious play calling. Yes a broken record as to AK and a running back running up to the line as if a play change occurring to something different...and then a routine handoff has ALWAYS come. UCLA saw it coming and Minny did at least two times. Dremel in motion on short yardage ALWAYS a run (why him and not a bigger receiver to block backside?). There are more but KC is real obvious if you watch just a little bit of this O. Maybe we are waiting for the one big pass to come out of the sequence:).

All in all a very good outing all around at avery needed time.

 

[RUbacker]

So much good outweighing the the other side this week.

GOOD:

1. AK. QB had his best game at the time he most wanted it and perhaps when RU most needed it. Has really been good most of the season.
2. D line. Hell yeah-stopping the run and then the sacks out of nowhere in the second half. Well done.
3. Longrebeam-Looked like his old self. Difference maker when healthy.
4. Powell--Same as above. Key in stopping the run and laid some big hits.
5. J Benajamin. Always liked his burst. Really had a nice game.
6. Raymond. Think Benjamin ran better but his pass blocking was needed and well done.
7. Strong--A weapon. Fights for the ball.
8. Duff. Coming in to his own. Strong still high points and uses his height where Duff lets the ball come down to him, but such a big body can create matchup and open area issues. cant imagine him and Strong as hs wideouts on the same team.
9. Dremel punt return. Was real helpful. I say end the hard and fast rules on punt returns and trust him to fair catch where needed and try to advance where needed. Isnt that the point of develeopmental programs-to coach up and trust?
10. Miller's first half. Great route runner and nice catch on a very tough ball on the first TD.
11. Coaching-Credit where due. Came out ready to play and used the weapons that are there. (Long and Black on back burner with Strong and Duff choice apparently..gather the "jumbo" wr lineup.

NOT SO GOOD:

1. KO returns. Lets get Ben Black back there and coach him if in the end zone fair catch and if not give it a shot. Still need all the big plays that can be manufactured. The post safety free kick fair catch was outright absurd. Could have been out to 35 or 40 before engaged.
2. LB s isolated with TE and rbs. Still an issue. Minny figured it out for a bit but the Dline came out of nowehere and changed the game complexion. Overall still better but an issue that can be exploited. Hate to isolate anyone but M Walker I didnt see and wasnt on the injury report so perhaps they finally figured all of the chunk plays occurred while he was out there and getting taken out of plays or choosing wrong angles. Djabome made betrer choices yesterday and Wright is just the better choice.
3. Where are the screens?? Minny nearly all out blitzed for a prolonged period and it cried out for screens to halt the aggresivenes. We have two great options--the screen we have ussed to Strong, and bubble screens to Miller or Black. Hopefully like with lb issue this issue gets caught up on.
4. Miller drops. Kid has been excellent all year largely. Yesterday (and the 4th down USC drop) there were some drops that could have been consequential. Such a great route runner. Hopefully just needs to get back on track.
5. Obvious play calling. Yes a broken record as to AK and a running back running up to the line as if a play change occurring to something different...and then a routine handoff has ALWAYS come. UCLA saw it coming and Minny did at least two times. Dremel in motion on short yardage ALWAYS a run (why him and not a bigger receiver to block backside?). There are more but KC is real obvious if you watch just a little bit of this O. Maybe we are waiting for the one big pass to come out of the sequence:).

All in all a very good outing all around at avery needed time.

I would like to move on from our OC Kirk. I think we can be so much better on offense. We are accumulating talent , except at TE , so we can be more explosive and unpredictable . We also need to get our ST back to where they were . This new way is not doing it for me. Those are the two items I want on my Christmas list for next year…..oh and lots of NIL.

 

[mildone]

I have a different view on AK’s game. I think it was okay, but not great. The long completions in the first half were high 50/50 balls that our WRs fought for and won. AK gets credit for putting the balls where the WRs had a decent chance to catch them. But those passes could also have wound up as INTs had the DBs made better plays on them. IMO, a great pass is only catchable by the WR.

And in the second half, when our OL started struggling to pass protect and AK was getting sacked, hit, hurried, and flushed out of the pocket, his accuracy started to suffer and we got very lucky to avoid even more INTs on some poorly throw balls.

I agree with GS who said AK is getting better. But he’s not fully there yet.

Agree with you on 2 through 8 being good.

Partially disagree about punt returns. Yes, Dremel’s return on the short punt was very helpful. But I think he’s already been given trust to make decisions - is just that his instructions as to how to decide what to do err on the side of caution. Which I find appropriate for the team at the moment given our unproven ability to score quickly and consistently to make up for turnovers that lead to easy points for the opponent.

Mostly disagree about KO returns. In most cases, the risk isn’t worth taking. Fair catch and you get the ball in great field position automatically. It just makes sense to take the low-risk freebie. Fans only see the potential benefit and don’t consider the ramifications of potential turnovers or the loss of the free yards when coverage stops the run back short of where we’d be with a FC.

Agree Millers drops were a problem but to be fair, a couple of the dropped passes were thrown overly hard and a bit too high making the catch harder than it ought to have been.

Agree about the screens. I cannot understand why we do t use them against overly aggressive pass rushes like everyone else does.

 

[ru-baby]

Partially disagree about punt returns. Yes, Dremel’s return on the short punt was very helpful. But I think he’s already been given trust to make decisions - is just that his instructions as to how to decide what to do err on the side of caution. Which I find appropriate for the team at the moment given our unproven ability to score quickly and consistently to make up for turnovers that lead to easy points for the opponent.

Mostly disagree about KO returns. In most cases, the risk isn’t worth taking. Fair catch and you get the ball in great field position automatically. It just makes sense to take the low-risk freebie. Fans only see the potential benefit and don’t consider the ramifications of potential turnovers or the loss of the free yards when coverage stops the run back short of where we’d be with a FC.

Punt returns--Not so sure Dremel has free hand to make decisions. Seems that if the ball hits the ground it has been drilled in him to get away from it. I think giving him some judgment range more than he has would cut down on those rolling balls (if playing RU wouldnt you rugby on the gound as you know you will get aroll and no return?) and allow for some positive yards where no one is within 10 yards, which we have seen fair caught.

KOs-mostly agree that its a risky play. BUT when the ko is inside the filed of play the odds are good that can get it to the 25. Inside the filed of play a choice--inside end zone fair catch seems fair. The free kick fair catch falls outside of the usual ko topic. That ball could have gone to the 30 or 40 easily without much risk as the free kick is from the 20. That tells me that Dremel is coached on the fair catch and not much leeway (even though Duff caught it it tells about instruction).

These two topics agree are not usually make or break but they have been obvious ones that have been negative this year, and in some ways perhaps bleed into a lack of overall agression when it seems that not all aspects of the game are being pursued aggresively.

 

[Joey Bacala]

NOT SO GOOD - what appeared to be a pretty serious injury to Abram Wright sustained while celebrating the safety. Ugh

 

[RUbacker]

NOT SO GOOD - what appeared to be a pretty serious injury to Abram Wright sustained while celebrating the safety. Ugh

he’s a good player

 

[jtung230]

Personal foul by Minny when we were pinned deep on a 3rd and 16. That was a turning point for the game.

 

[ru-baby]

That personal foul was a huge boost.

Thought they had some other open looks that were overthrown and drops that could have changed the games dynamics too that were a definite GOOD.

And yes Wright at lb is a GOOD.

Kyonte Hamilton also deserves individual praise too as he has been solid for a few weeks now.

 

[Knight Shift]

 

[winfield102]

It was clear the defensive staff and players were well prepared. Kudos to them. The defense was in excellent position all game, with 2-3 exceptions. Minnesota does a better job than RU in trying to get the defense out of position but we were so disciplined all game. I'm hoping we don't require a bye week for the defense to be prepared. The next 3 weeks will tell the story.

We've been getting owned all season when the opponent punts. That has to stop. Thank God we finally made the adjustment on the last punt.

KC needs a game plan for the entire game. Just feels like he is good for only a half of football. The plays are so basic and uninspiring. The 2nd TD to Miller was a nice play design. This team needs more of that.

 

[RU#1fan]

That personal foul was a huge boost.

Thought they had some other open looks that were overthrown and drops that could have changed the games dynamics too that were a definite GOOD.
And yes Wright at lb is a GOOD.

Kyonte Hamilton also deserves individual praise too as he has been solid for a few weeks now.

Yes..saw this late last season. Wright is very good at LB and has probably surpassed Walker. Gives us currently 3 solid LB’s on the playing roster. Need to stay healthy.
And the OP is spot on Longerbeam. Had a great game. Need that again this Saturday in a big way to contain Maryland’s WR Felton. He is a stud.

 

[ru-baby]

Wright is very good at LB and has probably surpassed Walker.

Without question. Was clear addition by subtraction.

 

[RUinBoston]

Agree Millers drops were a problem but to be fair, a couple of the dropped passes were thrown overly hard and a bit too high making the catch harder than it ought to have been.

Yeah, I thought Miller had 1 drop that he'd really want back. The other one that the announcer was getting on his case for was very high and hard, and I thought was less than 50/50 at best.