Gophers football: Five areas for improvements to produce wins

The Gophers flipped the formula Saturday but it ended with another negative number.

Instead of holding a lead at halftime and then playing poorly, like it did in losses to Iowa and North Carolina, Minnesota trailed No. 12 Michigan at halftime, but outscored the defending national champion 21-6 in the second half to make it a close 27-24 loss at Michigan Stadium.

Now, the Gophers (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten) need to put together more-complete games in the remaining seven conference games this season. Their next opportunity is against a new Big Ten opponent, USC, at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium. The 11th-ranked Trojans (3-1, 1-1) are 9.5-point favorites over the U.

“I’ve got to get a lot of things right to get us to play better, more consistent in 60 total minutes,” Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck said Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich. “Not near perfect football, but that’s we’re striving for. That is what we are capable of doing. It’s my job to get us to do that, and I’ve failed three times.”

Here are five things Minnesota can do to improve going into the Trojans game this weekend:

Cut down on O-line miscues

Minnesota had seven total penalties Saturday — including the disputed onside kick offsides call — and five were called on the offensive line. While setting back the offense, it just added to the attention on one of the team’s most-maligned positions group.

Michigan and its vaunted D-line had five sacks, including four in the second quarter, and Minnesota running backs averaged 3.6 yards per carry, which is right at the 3.8 season average going into the Little Brown Jug game. One of Fleck’s points was to better establish the run early, but the Gophers haven’t done it much at all against Power 4 competition.

“Those guys are playing their tail end off,” Fleck said Saturday. “Again, it…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/gophers-football-five-areas-improvements-231100272.html

Author : Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Publish date : 2024-09-29 23:11:00

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