Can Mitch Leidner Take Gophers to Next Level?
I am going to try not to be too critical of any Minnesota Gopher football players in my blog over the foreseeable future. It's not right to be too harsh to kids playing their hearts out who are really amateurs who happen to be the entertainment for millions of college football watchers.
But an interesting question arises when I look to next season: Can Mitch Leidner, Minnesota sophomore quarterback, take our football team to the next level? That level would be competing for a BIG West Division championship, going at least 6-2 in the BIG and making a New Year's Day Big Six bowl. Or even maintaining our second-place finish in the West Division with at least a 5-3 BIG mark.
My initial impression is no. And here's why. He completed an average of about 10 passes per game this season, for a completion rate of 49 percent. He has 13 career TD passes and nine interceptions. He's been sacked 31 times over parts of two seasons. That is just not gonna get Minnesota over the hump. Teams know if they stop the Minnesota run, they stop Minnesota. It's that simple.
I watched Mitch look great against Iowa, good against Ohio State, decent against Nebraska and absolutely awful against Wisconsin. Which is another team we NEED TO BEAT to get to the next level. He was terrible at TCU. In our other wins, he was capable. Don't get me wrong. I like Mitch Leidner. He has heart. He can run. He can be efficient with the read option. He's a goal-line bulldozer. But he just isn't a capable throwing quarterback and it will take one of those to get Minnesota to the next level.
So here is what I propose. One of the red-shirted quarterbacks on the roster will need to be carefully groomed to come in regularly next season in both running and passing situations. Kind of like when we used to toss in Max Shortell for some pinpoint accurate passes. A two-quarterback rotation CAN get Minnesota to the next level and Coach Jerry Kill has employed it in previous stints at Northern Illinois and Southern Illinois.
A threat of a throwing quarterback will keep defenses honest, put some punch in a stale passing game (Gophers were last in BIG passing last two seasons) and might even help recruit quality wideouts -- which is something we haven't had since DaJon Mcknight.
It will also give us dual dimensions, helping the Gophers be able to comeback from mid-sized, late game deficits. As it stands now, if were down by two TDs in the fourth quarter, its game over. We cant move the ball down the field in any sort of two-minute offense before the half or late in the game.
So your answer is Mitch Leidner can HELP take us to the next level. But he cannot do it by himself. He just needs an able passing quarterback who can spell him once in a while and who also can run the read option. And by that I don't mean a Rob Stave and Tanner MaCavoy situation (Wisconsin Tandem: one passes, one runs). You cant just bring in the passing guy on third and long. You have to give him a series here and there and bring him in when game dictates -- such as the catch-up situation we faced vs the Badgers in our last BIG game this year.
But an interesting question arises when I look to next season: Can Mitch Leidner, Minnesota sophomore quarterback, take our football team to the next level? That level would be competing for a BIG West Division championship, going at least 6-2 in the BIG and making a New Year's Day Big Six bowl. Or even maintaining our second-place finish in the West Division with at least a 5-3 BIG mark.
My initial impression is no. And here's why. He completed an average of about 10 passes per game this season, for a completion rate of 49 percent. He has 13 career TD passes and nine interceptions. He's been sacked 31 times over parts of two seasons. That is just not gonna get Minnesota over the hump. Teams know if they stop the Minnesota run, they stop Minnesota. It's that simple.
I watched Mitch look great against Iowa, good against Ohio State, decent against Nebraska and absolutely awful against Wisconsin. Which is another team we NEED TO BEAT to get to the next level. He was terrible at TCU. In our other wins, he was capable. Don't get me wrong. I like Mitch Leidner. He has heart. He can run. He can be efficient with the read option. He's a goal-line bulldozer. But he just isn't a capable throwing quarterback and it will take one of those to get Minnesota to the next level.
So here is what I propose. One of the red-shirted quarterbacks on the roster will need to be carefully groomed to come in regularly next season in both running and passing situations. Kind of like when we used to toss in Max Shortell for some pinpoint accurate passes. A two-quarterback rotation CAN get Minnesota to the next level and Coach Jerry Kill has employed it in previous stints at Northern Illinois and Southern Illinois.
A threat of a throwing quarterback will keep defenses honest, put some punch in a stale passing game (Gophers were last in BIG passing last two seasons) and might even help recruit quality wideouts -- which is something we haven't had since DaJon Mcknight.
It will also give us dual dimensions, helping the Gophers be able to comeback from mid-sized, late game deficits. As it stands now, if were down by two TDs in the fourth quarter, its game over. We cant move the ball down the field in any sort of two-minute offense before the half or late in the game.
So your answer is Mitch Leidner can HELP take us to the next level. But he cannot do it by himself. He just needs an able passing quarterback who can spell him once in a while and who also can run the read option. And by that I don't mean a Rob Stave and Tanner MaCavoy situation (Wisconsin Tandem: one passes, one runs). You cant just bring in the passing guy on third and long. You have to give him a series here and there and bring him in when game dictates -- such as the catch-up situation we faced vs the Badgers in our last BIG game this year.
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