One of the things I was critical of the team, in the early season, was ball movement. I thought our guards did not do a good job of moving the ball. Well, I have seen us do better in the last couple games of moving the ball, even in losses. Now, I think we need to take more steps to get easier shots than we are getting, currently.

Where I work, our motto and goal is "Set our team and our clients up for success". We take that to heart in terms of what it takes and what is implied, and I think our business has done well with that conscience of thought. That is what we need to do to make baby steps for this team. We are still working way too hard to get good shots in this offense. Ball movement is an obvious one to fix but now we need PLAYER MOVEMENT to be better in our sets.

WHEN OFFENSES GO STAGNANT, YOU HAVE TO EVALUATE WHAT IS GOING ON, OFF THE BALL. To me, you don't need to go into a full blown motion offense in our sets, but I do think we need consistent cutters and player movement to make the opposing defense move. We need to be catching the ball off of movement to an area as opposed to standing around the perimeter and move the ball faster. When you just stand around the perimeter passing and reversing the ball, the defense stays balanced and is able to challenge our shots with no problems. Now if we move at least 2 people off the ball, at all times, then the defense has to be conscious of those players in where they move.

If you have read my posts, you know I am not as big of a fan of ON-BALL SCREENS as I am OFF-BALL SCREENS. ON-BALL screens are good if you can establish a screen/roll situation as an effective option consistently. I have not seen that out of our ON-BALL SCREENS. OFF-BALL SCREENS are more valuable because, ideally, you create mismatches as a result of the screens when a player catches the ball. The defender chasing the cutter, off the ball, is more susceptible to upfakes to drive past the defender or the offensive player will step through for an open jumper. But that requires PLAYER MOVEMENT. I think this level of execution would help Battle and Garcia, immensely. Then, when Garcia and Battle start getting consistent scoring, it will open the floor for others in the half court sets.

I have watched games and our numerous mistakes and am still more bullish on this team than most other fans. Because I have seen, and experienced, first hand, the process of going from bad to good. I do think we need to do a better job of setting up our guys for success. If we are missing open jumpers consistently, then we have to work harder on that skill as I think we have the right guys for that. But our player movement in our sets still has a lot to be desired, IMO.

After starting with the quarterback, running back and tight end positions, let's switch over to the defensive side of the ball and take a look at the safeties.

A look at rankings, rosters, and stat comparisons for Minnesota and Ohio State heading into Thursday night's matchup in Columbus

Login to view embedded media
The former Minnesota and former Purdue commit from the 2021 class. The journey didn't last long at TCU

On Brett Mc Murphy's list anyways.

Caught up with three-star WR Jaylen Watson, who is hearing from the Minnesota staff on a daily basis.

Watson shared the latest on his recruitment, what he is looking for in a school, an upcoming visit to Minneapolis, and more ⬇️


Login to view embedded media

University of Minnesota defensive lineman Thomas Rush has accepted an invitation to compete in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. The annual game is one of premier postseason showcase events in college football and will be played on Jan. 28, 2023, at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Calif.

Rush competed in all 13 games this year and finished the season with 34 tackles (20 solo), 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two pass breakups and one forced fumble.

Rush played in 59 career games for the Gophers and made 86 tackles (55 solo). He also totaled 13.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks. Rush broke up five passes in his career and forced one fumble and recovered one fumble.

Rush is the seventh Gopher to accept an invitation to a showcase bowl. All-American center John Michael Schmitz will participate in the Senior Bowl, while All-American running back Mohamed Ibrahim and defensive backs Terell Smith and Jordan Howden will play in the East-West Shrine Bowl. Quarterback Tanner Morgan and linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin will play in the Hula Bowl.

In on D for Titans vs Jags. He's number 50. The pride of Abilene Christian (and Minnesota).

5:49 pm - Pete Thamel has reported that Rutgers is targeting Ciarocca to be their next OC.

Login to view embedded media

5:30 pm - Sounds like Ciarocca to Rutgers as OC

—UPDATE—

Sounds like there will be more coaching movement coming soon… trying to confirm name and destination.

Anyone with PFF account care to let us know how Big Dan fared in their ratings this season? Number of snaps would be interesting also.

#8 MN has a very competitive dual match tomorrow at #7 NU tomorrow at 2pm CT on streamed live on B1GPlus!!

Wrestlestat has it at 15-15, and I have it at MN 18 - NU 12, and this match is so tight that it could go easily the other way, based on a couple of changes! I do think we will win, but a lot is riding on Pat McKee winning over Michael DeAugustino. They have pretty much split so far with Pat winning the key Natty matches.

This will be fun to watch, so tune in if you can!!!


Here's the article on this B1G Dual from Gophersports.com:

No. 8 Gophers Open Big Ten Gauntlet Against No. 7 Northwestern​

Gophersports.com
01/6/2023
Wrestling

MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 8 University of Minnesota wrestling program (7-0) is set to kick off the Big Ten dual season, as they will travel to Evanston, Illinois this weekend to take on the seventh-ranked Northwestern Wildcats (1-0).

The Gophers will enter conference competition looking to continue their best start to a season since the 2014-15 campaign, as they swept the non-conference schedule with signature wins over ranked opponents over South Dakota State, North Dakota State, Oklahoma State and Cal Poly.


This weekend's contest with the Wildcats will take place on Saturday, January 7 inside Welsh-Ryan Arena at 2:00 p.m. CST, with the dual being streamed live on B1G+. Fans can also follow along for live match-by-match updates on Twitter at @GopherWrestling.


Tale of the Tape - The Wildcats
Northwestern is led by seventh-year head coach Matt Storniolo, who comes into the weekend with a .500 career mark at 39-39. The Wildcats house an experienced lineup up and down the board, being led by four wrestlers ranked inside the top-10 including 125-pounder Michael DeAugustino and heavyweight Lucas Davison.


Northwestern comes into this weekend's matchup rather inexperienced in dual competition this season, winning their only dual of the season over unranked Virginia by a score of 20-13 in November. The Wildcats are coming off the heels of a Midlands team title last weekend, the host school's first time winning the event in school history.


The Series with Northwestern
Minnesota leads the all-time series against Northwestern with a record of 36-10-1 in a series that dates back to the 1928-29 season. The Golden Gophers have won 17 of the last 18 meetings between the two schools, including each of the previous three matchups. The most recent meeting came last season, where the Gophers dismantled Northwestern, 31-9, inside Maturi Pavilion.


First Meeting: W, 19-7 (1928-29 season)
Last Meeting: W, 31-9 (1/9/2022)
Longest Win Streak: W14 (12/6/1996-2/5/2016)
Longest Losing Streak: L3 (1/6/1968-1/18/1969)
Current Streak: W3 (1/20/2019-present)

Last Meeting
The "U" hosted Northwestern last season for their conference home opener on January 9, 2022 and defeated the Wildcats by a score of 31-9 on the back of four bonus-point victories throughout the contest. The Gophers rattled off seven wins throughout the dual, including each of the first six contests to secure the victory. The win was highlighted by Cael Carlson and Michial Foy, who each earned falls on the day.


Potential Matchups
This Saturday's matinee features a stacked slate between two Big Ten foes, with 18 total wrestlers ranked in the InterMat polls with the potential for eight ranked matchups in the dual.

The feature bout of the dual comes at 125 pounds between two All-Americans, as fourth-ranked Patrick McKee will take on No. 3 Michael DeAugustino in a top-5 lightweight showdown. This will be the fifth all-time meeting between the 125-pound hammers, with the two splitting the first four contests.

Aaron Nagao looks for perhaps the biggest win of his young career this weekend, as he's slated to wrestle two-time NCAA All-American Chris Cannon. Nagao holds a 12-2 record in his first season as a starter and is coming off a third-place finish at the Southern Scuffle.

Gopher All-American Jake Bergeland will also face a tough test at 141 pounds, as he will toe the line against No. 13 Frankie Tal-Shahar. Bergeland faced off against the Wildcat three times last season, winning all three bouts by narrow decisions.


At 149 pounds, Michael Blockhus looks to break through against a top-10 opponent in Yahya Thomas. The two opponents have traded wins in each of their previous three matchups, with Thomas earning a 6-1 decision in last season's dual to put the series at 2-1.


Brayton Lee returns to action at 157 pounds, as he's set for a top-15 showdown with Northwestern's Trevor Chumbley. Lee enters the dual in unfamiliar territory, as comes into the contest as an underdog for the first time in a dual since the 2020-21 season, where Lee faced off against top-ranked Ryan Deakin of Northwestern.


Bailee O'Reilly will look to improve upon his performance in last season's Northwestern dual as he will get a second crack at Northwestern's Troy Fisher. In last season's meeting, it was O'Reilly who prevailed via 9-5 decision.


A potential swing match comes at 197 pounds, as No. 30 Michial Foy will look to get a ranked victory over the 27th-ranked Andrew Davison in a contest that could clinch the dual for either program.


Up Next
Following this weekend's conference opener, the Gophers will return to action for a pair of B1G showdowns with Nebraska and Michigan State. The Gophers will first travel to Lincoln on Friday, January 13 to compete against the Cornhuskers at 8:00 p.m. CST, before returning home to host their first home conference dual of the year against Michigan State at 7:00 p.m. CST on Sunday, January 15. Both duals will be nationally televised live on the Big Ten Network.


Wrestlestat has the dual tied 15-15:

https://www.wrestlestat.com/compare/dua ... /minnesota


My Predictions:

MN vs. NU
125 #4 Pat McKee wins over #3 Michael DeAugustino (MN 3 - NU 0)
133 #13 Chris Cannon wins over #20 Aaron Nagao (3-3)
141 #8 Jake Bergeland over #13 Frankie Tal-Shahar (6-3)
149 #6 Yahya Thomas wins over #14 Michael Blockhus (6-6)
157 #13 Brayton Lee wins over #9 Trevor Chumbley (9-6)
165 #21 Andrew Sparks wins over David Ferrante (12-6)
174 #15 Bailee O’Reilly wins over #21 Troy Fisher (15-6)
184 #12 Isaiah Salazar wins over Jack Jessen 18-6
197 #30 Michial Foy loses to #27 Andrew Davison (18-9)
285 #4 Lucas Davison wins over #25 Garrett Joles (18-12)
Final Team Score MN 18 - NU 12

Gophers look to earn their first Big Ten win in a home tile with Nebraska today

Post your pregame, in-game, and postgame thoughts here...

Just wondering if anyone on the board with inside connections has heard anything about the development and potential of the following....

Hayden Schwartz, DL
Jacob Schuster, DL
Anthony Smith, DL
Deven Eastern, DL
Trey Bixby, DL
Devon Williams, LB
Maverick Barankowski, LB
Jameson Geers, TE
Nathan Jones, TE

Will any of these young guys help us next year??

With the graduation of LG, C and RG and talk of some young players looking good but probably a year away. What does next years OL look like?

Assuming we add one OL from the portal still?

Do we put Lewis at RT and move Carroll inside to RG???

What is the projected two deep for the OL?

We seem to have the skill positions looking good so need the OL dialed if we want to have a great offense.

Some names I believe could be of interest in the search, if I was a betting man, which I am. I believe Simon would likely be the odds on favorite but we will see which way P.J. goes.

Hope to have a new RB big board soon as well as a DB big board.

Login to view embedded media
Woodson not mincing words after Fran McCaffery’s latest outburst

Defensive line coach Brick Haley is leaving on a lateral move to Purdue to join Ryan Walters. They coached together previously. Another kick in the balls for leaving for a Big Ten West Rival! 🤮

Saw a report that PJ may bring in 24 year old former DE as his next DL coach. Currently at Akron.

This "could" be a great hire. Delatt seemed like an outstanding student/athlete and leader. He claimed academic All-Big Ten honors in 2019 as a senior, while also earning the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award and the Tony Dungy Award that same season.