Calling Out the Defensive Line

[CaBisonFan]

I could not believe our defensive line play last Saturday. Talk about domination...whoa! Correct me if I'm wrong...but it seemed like the d-backs and linebackers were able to stay in coverage for a lot of the game.

Regardless...my hat is off to the line (on both sides of the ball)...and how they took it to a Big Ten team. I loved watching Gray franticly looking for somewhere to go out there. It was amazing.

I'd appreciate comments on this...specific players...etc.

[56BISON73]

I could not believe our defensive line play last Saturday. Talk about domination...whoa! Correct me if I'm wrong...but it seemed like the d-backs and linebackers were able to stay in coverage for a lot of the game.

Regardless...my hat is off to the line (on both sides of the ball)...and how they took it to a Big Ten team. I loved watching Gray franticly looking for somewhere to go out there. It was amazing.

I'd appreciate comments on this...specific players...etc.

We changed our D-line scheme in the second half. We started with the D-tackle pinching down and they would run right where he had been. Second half they played him straight up. Made a difference.

[Bison"FANatic"]

We needed to make some adjustments. They basically ran right through us on a few of the drives. I do believe the one gopher drive was 10 runs 0 passes and a touchdown. They did well and I never thought we would hold the almighty Gray to under what 30 or 40 yards. We do have some work to do there though and they should only get better. We have to remember we are only 3 games into the season, outlook looks great though.

[DjKyRo]

How huge has Kyle Emmanuel been already? Had a sack versus Lafayette and another here. You can tell his strength is having an impact elsewhere down the line and so far that's been a big reason we haven't missed Gratzek much.

[CaBisonFan]

I wondered why MN went away from their running game. The first drive was scary.

[tjbison]

Levon Perry will be a STUD when he is a Senior......wait by the end of the year.....or is he already!!!

Whole Line gets kudos they adjusted well after the first drive

[semobison]

I wondered why MN went away from their running game. The first drive was scary.

Williams TD on the last play of the half made it a 14 point game. We got a field goal to start the 2nd half and it was 17. I think down 17 they had to start throwing more than they wanted to. ...and yes their 95 yard drive for their 2nd TD was all on the ground! They ran through us on that drive! The last play of the 1st half was a game changer!

[KSBisonFan]

We needed to make some adjustments. They basically ran right through us on a few of the drives. I do believe the one gopher drive was 10 runs 0 passes and a touchdown. They did well and I never thought we would hold the almighty Gray to under what 30 or 40 yards. We do have some work to do there though and they should only get better. We have to remember we are only 3 games into the season, outlook looks great though.

It seemed to me we had different schemes against Gray and Shortell. Our line was playing stand up, contained rush against Gray and it worked great to contain him but their RB's had an easy 5 yards into our LB and secondary. We gave up a lot of yards to their RB up the middle and if they had stayed with that plan I would have been worried. Poor coaching by the Gopher staff. Instead we really contained Gray who looked at his primary receiver, tucked it and started running around like a gopher with it's head blown off. Played right into our hands.
When Shortell was in the game, our ends took a hard pass rush and pretty much ignored the run. On the big sack at the end of the game, our DE's took outside rushes and we stunted the LB right up the middle untouched. It was a thing of beauty.....Like shooting gophers in a barrel.
Also, if you watch the replay of William's pick six, he baited Shortell into that throw so bad it's funny. He dropped back to the the receiver's break and jumped the route better than when you time your car's speed perfectly to hit that gopher you see wanting to cross the highway and then hit it dead center with the front and back tires. When you look in your mirror, it's game over.
Anyway, I can't think of any more dead gopher analogies so that's all I got for analysis on this thread. Thank you, drive home safely!

[ndsubison1]

interior of the line needs to get better against the run

[1998braves64]

As someone mentioned my guess is the DEs were playing the contain game against Gray so they probably couldn't collapse on up the gut runs, and MN exploited this, and my guess is our DT were undersized compared to MN interior O line so they got decent rushing attack started? Guess didn't look at the weight/size differences so I may be wrong on this. I think forcing them into passing more is what helped us win the game as we were able to utilize our underrated D backs. Listened to "Fargo Flash" Justin Conzemius (sp?) on the Power trip morning show last thurs and he was saying that he thought the gophers could exploit them (d backs) and I was thinking he's going to be in for a surprise if that's what it ends up being. Interested to hear his take this week as he said he thought MN would be able to pull off this win.

[OrygunBison]

I am having a hard time using this game as a barometer on how good the D-line is. They gave up a ton of yardage right up the gut and off-tackle by the running backs. They also contained Gray pretty well, which is a different set of skills. Maybe it was just a simple trade? I personally think that this game gave me much more confidence in our secondary. We all already knew about MWill but other players stepped in to help as well. Helping them out, our DL's and LB's did a great job pressuring both QB's.

[CaBisonFan]

After reading some of your comments and watching the game again I can see what you're all talking about. Thanks...that's what I wanted was to hear from people who understand the details better.

[steelbison]

I thought we did a good job. We have to understand the caliber of o-lineman the Gophers has. Everyone that starts for them would be a player that in HS was better than the kids we have. So basically it would be like going against a better version of our O-line. Also understand that the scheme has to be different with a athlete the caliber of Gray. Then add on the quality of their RB's and you have a tough running attack to stop.

In my opinion this is the best Line/RB's we will face this year. Doubt we will see another RB with the speed and power of the two Gophers backs. That guy ran over Colton like he wasn't even there. I've never seen that happen in the MVFC.

[TateMosersneighbor]

Levon Perry will be a STUD when he is a Senior......wait by the end of the year.....or is he already!!!

Whole Line gets kudos they adjusted well after the first drive

Don't know what Q this happened...but Leevon must be working out a bit....

Check out on the tape that I'm sure you have one of our sacks...Perry absolutely blows away their LT, then takes a left turn and burries the QB...he then ran off the field. It was awesome...and a nicely schemed play too.

[Fightin' Bison]

Great pressure on the passer. Horrible run defense. Gophers had to abandon the run when they fell behind. If they had kept at it, they would have average about 7 yards per carry. Bison will not beat UNI playing the run like that.

[BisonNeil]

Great pressure on the passer. Horrible run defense. Gophers had to abandon the run when they fell behind. If they had kept at it, they would have average about 7 yards per carry. Bison will not beat UNI playing the run like that.

Copy that.

[CAS4127]

Copy that.

Copy, and our LB's just have to play more physical, despite their relatively small size. There is a time and a place for using pure athleticism, but there are also times/places where you just have to be physical, period. I think we may have had one of our weaknesses exposed by the gophers.

One other thought before I move on completely from the Gopher game, MN dropped some passes at critical times that could have sustained some of their drives in the 2nd half. There were a couple that were "dropped" because of seperation caused by good hits/tackles, but there was nearly a handful that were just dropped.

[HerdBot]

Great pressure on the passer. Horrible run defense. Gophers had to abandon the run when they fell behind. If they had kept at it, they would have average about 7 yards per carry. Bison will not beat UNI playing the run like that.

Rennie is similar to Gray except hes a better passer. He ran for 100 yards with 3 TD's and passed for 142 with 2 TD's against WIU. On top of that, they had their starting tailback go for over 100. Real similar to what happened to us last year. I think having played Gray once will help prepping for UNI.

[OrygunBison]

Copy, and our LB's just have to play more physical, despite their relatively small size. There is a time and a place for using pure athleticism, but there are also times/places where you just have to be physical, period. I think we may have had one of our weaknesses exposed by the gophers.


I'm completely with you on this. Not naming names... but I saw a certain #44 get absolutely blown apart by a certain FB coming through the hole - several times. It was pretty incredible. The RB had 5 yards before even being touched. The were running right at him. That must be fixed this week. There are probably 3, maybe 4, teams in the MVFC with a better running game than the Gophers. (We're one of them.)

[ndsubison1]

I thought we did a good job. We have to understand the caliber of o-lineman the Gophers has. Everyone that starts for them would be a player that in HS was better than the kids we have. So basically it would be like going against a better version of our O-line. Also understand that the scheme has to be different with a athlete the caliber of Gray. Then add on the quality of their RB's and you have a tough running attack to stop.

In my opinion this is the best Line/RB's we will face this year. Doubt we will see another RB with the speed and power of the two Gophers backs. That guy ran over Colton like he wasn't even there. I've never seen that happen in the MVFC.

i think it can be argued that UNI's line is better

[westnodak93bison]

I'm completely with you on this. Not naming names... but I saw a certain #44 get absolutely blown apart by a certain FB coming through the hole - several times. It was pretty incredible. The RB had 5 yards before even being touched. The were running right at him. That must be fixed this week. There are probably 3, maybe 4, teams in the MVFC with a better running game than the Gophers. (We're one of them.)

I agree. With our depth at DE I still think Kyle Emanuel would be one hell of a MLB.

[EndZoneQB]

I'm completely with you on this. Not naming names... but I saw a certain #44 get absolutely blown apart by a certain FB coming through the hole - several times. It was pretty incredible. The RB had 5 yards before even being touched. The were running right at him. That must be fixed this week. There are probably 3, maybe 4, teams in the MVFC with a better running game than the Gophers. (We're one of them.)

I've always felt like he was solid, but no Mays/Humber. Has Grant Olson put on any more weight? He seems to be the guy we need in the middle.