The University of Minnesota hired Jerry Kill to be its football coach in December 2010, and immediately the aura around its football team changed. Academics became important, character became important, and team became more than a word describing the club the football players belonged to. Minnesota football was renewed, except for one basic feature: in terms of winning ballgames, it still wasn't very good.
Over two seasons and three offseasons our Gophers changed. Kill brought in players who weren't especially coveted by BCS level programs and collectively were regarded as the worst sets of recruits in the Big Ten. To the keen observer, though, these kids as a whole were much better football players than advertised, and the level of smarts, character, and want-to was the highest it's been in many decades. The team, including former coach Tim Brewster's leftovers, started attending class, became structured in both academics and football activities, and began the process of becoming winners. The secret bane of all non-powerhouse programs, attrition, virtually disappeared.
We at Twinstalker fell in love. It wasn't perfect. There were pink flags that we deep down knew might be an issue, but we were in love. Certainly the strategy and playcalling of OC Matt Limegrover would improve with better teams. Certainly the defensive sets would be more appropriate to the opponent. Certainly Jerry Kill's in-game decision-making would be more sound. All we really needed was good players, and the were developing. They were coming.
Yes, we had monitored the program's development closely and determined that 2013 would be the first legitimate winning team under Kill. This would be the year that our Minnesota Gophers would be a better football team than half of the BCS programs, the year the team would finish in the middle of the Big Ten. And 2013 would be just the start. By 2014 the play of the lines would improve, linebackers would be found, and the skill positions would finally be manned with a few playmakers. Sure, the schedule would also strengthen considerably in 2014 and beyond, but for a team on the rise the challenges brought by the likes of Ohio State should be accepted with eagerness rather than consternation.
So when the season opening kickoff sailed through the air on that hot, late summer Thursday night, we were simply giddy to watch our beloved Maroon and Gold dissect WAC-level opponents through the nonconference season, followed by the Gophers announcing to the Big Ten there was a new team to deal with in 2013.
And then the Gophers ran their first play. Their first series. Their first defensive series. And it was all ugly. Through four games, most of them blowout scores in the Gophers' favor, the team showed itself to be anything but ready for Big Ten caliber opponents. The offense was simple and predictable, the line was barely mediocre and getting outplayed in some games, and the defense had issues all over the field, including the secondary, an area thought to be a strength. Those pink flags we hoped would disappear didn't. We were distraught.
At that point, prior to the Big Ten opener, we took a few moments to post a comment on the GopherIllustrated.com message board expressing how "profoundly disappointed" we were with the Gophers nonconference season. We critiqued the coaching, and we critiqued the play position by position, and it was a pretty negative piece if you were both blind and hopeful, which it always seems a majority of Gopher fans are. The replies were littered with you think you're so smart (maybe), you've never played or coached (wrong), and we devote a blog to cutting down a team we're supposedly fans of (wrong). We received no further apologetic replies, of course, when it turned out everything we said about our Gophers turned out to be spot on versus a very mediocre Iowa team. The Gophers gave us confirmation of their inadequacy the next week at Michigan. As it existed at that time, ours was a pretty bad football team.
We naturally wanted to say we "told you so" but those people are beyond hope. We decided to either drop it or bring it up again if the Gophers turned things around. Our main contention with the 4-0 Gophers was that offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover was primarily responsible for the poor and ugly play. While we didn't expect him to change, it was a hope we held. For sure there were other issues, but running a varied offensive attack was at the heart of the solution. Whether or not Limegrover had it in him was unknown.
We promised Monday that on Tuesday we'd share the thesis we'd posted before Iowa, and then later this week we'd analyze how each issue had evolved or devolved. Unfortunately, we found the post was no longer available, and we didn't really see the urgency in its recovery. While it won't be word for word, the issues we brought up are still pretty fresh in our collective mind.
Overall Offensive
The GopherIllustrated.com post, as stated, received its shared of stupid replies, as expected, but not nearly as many as similar posts in the past. Most of the board members there are not morons, those who are are just a bit louder. Don't just disagree, make sure you cut down the poster sharing his opinion. In this case, though, there were numerous comments that agreed with the most simple premise: Limegrover was proving to suck at his job. He was running a basic ten play read-option offense out of the shotgun or pistol set. The only play that worked consistently was the quarterback keeper. Anyone who's watch Big Ten football knew that that particlar play in this small offense would not work in the Big Ten, but it would get the QB injured eventually. That was especially problematic, because the Gophers had one well-rounded quarterback who was going to lead the program turnaround (assuming a more varied offense), and after that there appeared a drop-off.
Out of the I-formation Limegrover was running the power lead, and the offensive line was pushing no one back. We noticed Limegrover was staying in the middle and to the left, running over his one good lineman, left guard Zac Epping, but that strategy, too, was working only against the poorest of competition. The passing game was simple, and the array of routes were not allowing the receivers to separate. We looked at the team's strongest position, tight end, and wondered why Limegrover didn't build a module of plays around their quality junior Drew Goodger or their very impressive redshirt freshman Maxx Williams.
So the offense wasn't working, and it was putting the starting QB, the biggest key to a Minnesota Gopher turnaround, at risk. Philip Nelson had indeed injured himself in the third game, though the hamstring strain he sustained may have had little to do with the offense. Mitch Leidner had started the game against San Jose State, and he had performed unevenly. His throwing left much to be desired, but SJSU couldn't stop the QB keeper, so Leidner set a quirky sort of record for rushing touchdowns. Since nothing about the play appeared to extrapolate well to the Big Ten, we felt no real optimism from the display.
So what happened when the Big Ten season arrived? Well, as predicted, the offense just didn't work even at home against the lowliest of Big Ten opponents, the Iowa Hawkeyes. Nelson made the surprise start, and he looked like a quarterback who was both rusty and had no options. We're sure many delusional Gopher fan were surprised the team couldn't run the ball against Iowa, when it had done so well against New Mexico St. There was no offense at all and no hope for the Gopher to win a home game against one of the bottom teams in the conference. All was seemingly lost, except for one thing. Limegrover finally woke up.
The offensive coordinator must have been too close to the situation to understand the lopsided wins were in spite of his offensive strategy, not in accordance with it. That message got through in Big Ten week 2, and the Gophers expanded their playbook for the Michigan game. It was for this game that another big decision was made: Leidner would make the start over a healthy Nelson. This decision threw the Twinstalker crew into a tizzy. Really? The one hope you have for turning this program around is going to sit on the bench in favor of a freshman who is simply not as talented? We saw the future, and it was a Philip Nelson transfer.
The Gophers again looked bad against Michigan, and Leidner didn't play a great game, but somehow some hope came out of it all. Leidner proved to be capable as hopefully a backup, and Limegrover was mixing things up. Two games later Limegrover is being hailed as an innovative schemer for his game plan against Nebraska, and it looks like he's starting to understand that there exists a difference between Nelson and Leidner. We've often wondered whether all the preseason hype afforded a mediocre Leidner was more of a message to Nelson, and now we ask whether a now better-than-mediocre Leidner starting and playing a couple of series each game isn't serving the same purpose. We'd like to believe there is a plan and that Limegrover isn't simply obtuse to the difference in their talents.
There is no doubt that the Gophers hit Northwestern at precisely the right time and hit Nebraska at a good time, too, but the change in offensive philosophy doesn't need to get the full credit for the wins. Its importance lies in the future. Minnesota is unlikely to win games with a one-dimensional offense, and Limegrover seems to understand that now.
Quarterbacks
We've pretty much laid out our opinions on Nelson and Leidner. One comment we made in the GI post was that we no longer cared if true freshman Chris Streveler lost his redshirt. If Limegrover was going to use his QBs as he was in nonconference, it hardly mattered whether we had three or four more years of Streveler. We will just recruit one athletic QB every year; it doesn't take a lot of smarts or experience to run the offense Limegrover was throwing out there.
As for Nelson, it's difficult to distinguish his play from the new offense. He continues to throw a nice ball, and he is a running threat. We assume he is the clear-cut #1. We thought he was doing fine a month ago, and it's proven to be the case. Leidner at Michigan gave us confidence that he can be a quality backup, something that was never clear, despite the coaches' hype.
Offensive Line
Our GI post stated that the GI faithful were generally way too optimistic about this group. The recruits weren't highly touted, and Limegrover had shown nothing really in improving them. We've always stated that the upside of this group is average Big Ten quality, and they weren't close to that in the nonconference season. Making it extra difficult was the predictable offense being run.
This all proved out in the Iowa and Michigan games, as the offensive line was beaten quite badly in both. The unit played better at Michigan and still better at Northwestern and versus Nebraska. The last two games featured opponents with less than top DLs, but we think most Gopher improvements correlate positively with the opening up of the offense, and this is especially true for the offensive line.
We also pointed out two offensive tackle issues. The first is that right tackle Josh Campion hadn't played well. Neither had right guard Caleb Bak, but why pick on Campion? We picked on Campion because so many people confuse general praise with thinking a player is playing well. Campion is the Ra'Shede Hageman of 2013. The coaches hype him because they see potential in him. They're trying to give him confidence, because, as is our belief from watching him specifically on each play, he's just not doing as good a job as you would expect. At the line he's not much more than a body, maybe in the way but never driving his opponent off the ball or away from the QB. Since most plays are not run in his hole, his job usually is to get to the second level on a linebacker, and it's here where he almost never makes relevant contact with the defense. We state this in present tense, because it hasn't changed.
As poorly as we believe Campion had played when we wrote the post, the worst spot on the offensive line was at left tackle. We remarked that it bodes very badly for the future if one of the redshirt freshmen doesn't take over this season at left tackle. We didn't have to wait that long, because RS freshman Ben Lauer either started or got the bulk of the playing time against Iowa and has continued to play an important role. We haven't focused on him too much, but he looks like an inexperienced freshman with some potential. Another Minnesota kid not recruited by any big schools.
Running Back
Our opinion of the running back situation at Minnesota is that the quality of back recruited here since the Mason days is overall pretty low. Donnell Kirkwood had other opportunities, but he wasn't a top recruit and the rest of the backs had few BCS options, even Berkley Edwards whose lone commit-able BCS option ended up being Minnesota. Still, we thought Kirkwood was a very good back and had played very well in limited time. The other backs, especially Roderick Williams, had done good work.
What has changed? Well, with his blocking and hard running, we never thought we'd see Kirkwood beaten out when healthy, and it appears that is just what's happened. Former disappointment David Cobb has come on strong. His ability to block isn't at Kirkwood's level, but he actually runs better. One wonders if Kirkwood hard running style hasn't finally rubbed off on Cobb, who is also a powerful runner. The difference, though, is Cobb's ability to change direction, to find the crease that wasn't necessarily supposed to be there. His vision has been a large part of what's been lacking in Gopher RBs for some time, and we're very impressed. He is another reason the line appears to have improved.
Receiver and Tight End
We made three points about the wide receivers: first, the offense was completing discounting the receivers; second, it appeared none of them could get separation, which was likely related to the offense; third, that none of the Gopher wide-outs didn't seem hungry for the ball. We were personally disappointed that Derrick Engel hadn't distinguished himself against inferior competition. KJ Maye seemed the only receiver playing well
Limegrover's metamorphosis has made a huge difference for this group. What we're not sure we completely understand is the disappearance of Maye and the very limited play of Jamel Harbison. We're never sure of much, but we were pretty confident that Harbison would end up being the best receiver of the group of wide-outs. We're disappointed to not see him.
Engel, on the other hand, has become this year's AJ Barker, hopefully without the attitude. He's found separation, and he's going for the ball. It's amazing the transformation a player can make when the coach finally says "you're important."
We can't stop salivating at what we believe is coming from current true freshman Donovahn Jones. The kid has an athletic body and speed that screams NFL receiver. We haven't seen the hands, yet, but we'll guess the positive.
The other positive part of the passing game that has changed, starting with Michigan, is that it is now targeting our best threat, the tight ends. Williams is a beast, and Googer is very solid. Sophomore Lincoln Plsec, also solid as a blocker especially, should be a redshirt freshman DT, but what do we know?
General Defense
The concerns here about defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys surrounded his choosing defensive sets that depended on very, very good defensive tackles, and we didn't have any, except for Roland Johnson, who was only on the field half the time. It also depended on the filling of the LBs against the run, as, very familiarly, the linebackers were usually out of position. The importance of great DT and LB play is because the DEs almost exclusively go wide and leave gaping holes. The scheme wasn't working, the WAC-level teams were abusing the defense, and Iowa had to be licking its chops. Our knowledge of defensive schemes is extremely limited, but we felt we could tell that much.
Sure enough, Iowa, for the second year in a row took advantage of this defense and the lack of playmakers. Even Johnson was buried under the size of the Hawkeye linemen. Claeys is being outcoached by his Iowa counterpart, though Iowa isn't doing anything different, so Claeys is being outcoached really by the status quo. Ouch.
While the Michigan game got ugly, it wasn't clear that Michigan was that much better, and numerous factors played into the blowout. It's hard to pin it all on the defensive strategy. At Northwestern Claeys got lucky with the Wildcats' top two playmakers being out. Northwestern became very average, and once the Gophers caught on to the fact that they could stop Northwestern, they did. While the Gopher defense played well at times and adjusted well against Nebraska, we kept crossing our fingers that the Cornhuskers didn't just keep getting the ball to their very impressive RB Ameer Abdullah. Nebraska just didn't seem to make good decisions on offense, and their execution was often poor.
We brought up something we really hadn't seen around the parts, certainly under Glen Mason and of course under Brewster. The Gophers defense seems to have the ability to adjust to what is working against them. It's not perfect, but it's noticeable, and it's progress.
Defensive Line
We are accused of having something against DT Ra'Shede Hageman, but in our GI post we gave him some credit. A year ago he had played mostly horrible against nonconference FBS competition and been hyped and praised in spite of doing so. We noticed this year that he played better against this similar level of competition. He was making some tackles he hadn't made the year before, and he was getting his hands in the passing lane, which alone made him formidable. Unfortunately, he was getting blocked way too easily on way too many plays by a lone lineman.
We thought Roland Johnson had played very well. He was commanding double teams nearly every down, while Hageman got credit for doing so when it occurred rarely. We weren't especially impressed with the play of Cameron Botticelli and Scott Ekpe, either. The defensive ends took themselves out of the play often as part of Claeys' schemes, and none of them seem to stand out in getting to the QB.
Hageman, Johnson, and the rest disappeared against Iowa and Michigan, and we thought Hageman would be the greatest hype the college football world has ever seen, but then he showed up at Northwestern and helped to completely disrupt the Wildcats' offense. It was truly the first time we saw the kid do this, and we've watched and re-watched every game he'd played. Against Nebraska Hageman had his best game, save for some penalties. We never look at the present as much as the future, and the penalties were called on amazing plays by Hageman. They were unfortunate but took nothing away from what he might be becoming. How much a wounded Nebraska offensive line had to do with this is a question, but we are pretty certain Nebraska's backup guard should be better than the starter at Western Illinois. Hageman is making his senior season count, apparently.
Johnson also had a big game against Nebraska and played extremely well. If you're wondering which one Roland Johnson is, he's the one on the ground in the backfield who just tripped up the ball carrier and has two offensive linemen lying on him. His size is going to prevent him from playing at the next level, but he sure is fun to watch.
Linebacker
We weren't terribly impressed with the linebacking after the nonconference season, but we commented that Damien Wilson looked really good when he went the right direction. Despite not always reading the play right or knowing what to do, Wilson was always around the ball. I graded him relatively highly in spite of his flaws. Now I feel bad. He's clearly amazing and the best player on defense, making up for a number of his cohorts on the line and by his side. His contribution is easily the number one improvement in the team, followed by Hageman's.
The other linebackers did not have an especially good nonconference season. We weren't especially impressed by new LB De'Vondre Campbell, and seniors Aaron Hill and James Manuel were opportunistic but didn't seem to always make the standard plays, be in in the right position, fill the right holes. This remains the case, it seems, but middle linebacker Wilson makes up for a lot of the corps' mistakes.
Secondary
After four games we were bemoaning the loss of Troy Stoudermire and Michael Carter, as well as the basic incapacitation of safety turned corner Derrick Wells. Sophomore Eric Murray clearly had the ability to play at the Big Ten level, but he wasn't consistent, and often when he stuck with his receiver, he risked a penalty by not knowing where the ball was. Brock Vereen was clearly very good at safety, but Cedric Thompson, now playing every down, was struggling, as were the jucos taking over for Wells at corner. We were disappointed in this group.
What has changed over the four Big Ten games? Well, first Murray is better. He still doesn't look back for the ball enough, but he's sticking with his man more often. Vereen has been moved back to cornerback. It might not be his best position, but he's a true football player and possibly an NFLer. With the safety depth on the team, it is the right move to have him covering the corner. The group has improved considerably since the nonconference season.
Special Teams
We didn't say much, but we said the kicking and punting were terrible, and that Marcus Jones needed to be taken off the punt team, because he didn't know what he was doing and was dangerous. The coverage teams seemed good.
A lot has changed, foremost being Jones taken off punt returns. The punting isn't all that good still, but it's not an automatic criinge. What is puzzling is what Chris Hawthorne did to his placekicking over the summer. We were probably a little harsh on him in our GI post, mostly because he hadn't been perfect, and we were still considering how he'd looked in the past. Four more games has made us realize he's actually not a bad kicker right now. Not as consistent as we'd like, perhaps, but his kicks look like real field goals kicks and have a real chance, compared to his less powerful ones in previous years.
Extra stuff
We definitely held a negative view of the Gopher team four weeks ago, and they proved us right. They weren't ready for the Big Ten season. But we took space at the end of the GI post to comment that the team was extremely well-disciplined. Penalties were few, mental mistakes were few. That has continued into the Big Ten season, and further, it's likely part of the reason the team has been able to bounce back from poor play and a head coach leave of absence is their discipline and focus that Gopher teams of the past can match.
Conclusion
Our favorite team isn't a world beater by any means. Nor is it assured of winning another game this season. The schedule is tough, but had nothing changed, we would have predicted an 0-4 finish at this point. Had nothing changed, this could have been an 0-8 season. We are now fully back on the Jerry Kill bandwagon, after almost jumping off due to Limegrover. This weekend's game at Indiana is traditionally very difficult, and Indiana is a powerful offensive team. But no matter what occurs Saturday and for the rest of the year, as long as a coordinator doesn't lose it again, the team is back to improving and ready to break out in 2014. But have no doubt. While the Gophers might be considered a better team in 2013, the true turnaround took place in the last month.
Showing posts with label Tracy Claeys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tracy Claeys. Show all posts
Friday, November 1, 2013
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
The Curious Case of Hypus Prime
2008
It can be argued that the last time there was true optimism from the general Minnesota population for their Gopher football team was Tim Brewster's second season in the fall of 2008. The team started 7-1 and climbed to #19 in the AP rankings. After a false start in 2007 the enthusiastic coach brought in what appeared to be one of the better recruiting classes in the nation, according to Rivals.com. Along with Glen Mason holdovers, three key junior college additions led our Gophers to wins over some of the worst teams ever to grace our rodents' schedule. The team edged a Jerry Kill-led Northern Illinois team, then flattened Bowling Green, Montana, and Florida Atlantic before losing at Ohio State. The locals then beat three horrible Big Ten teams, including a quarterback-less Purdue squad to gain their seventh and final win.
Except to confused and desperately hopeful fans, the truth was the 2008 Gopher edition benefited from a feather-soft schedule and good share of luck to that point, and our Gophers may well be the worst midseason #19 team ever. The team, though, was playing with confidence, had perhaps the best receiver in the nation in Eric Decker, and pieced together a solid defense led by new coordinator Ted Roof. Further, recruiting was going well, at least online with Rivals. Recruitng genius Brewster had corralled the 16th best QB in the nation in Bloomington's Moses Alipate, the 41st tackle in Josh Campion, 24th RB Hasan Lipscomb, the 35th and 52nd best athletes (Kendall Gregory-Mcghee and Bryant Allen), and a four star juco receiver in Hayo Carpenter. Further, there was talk the 12th-ranked CB Michael Carter would switch his commitment from West Virginia. So when the Gophers dropped two home games in a row to fall to 7-3, the mood was still mostly hopeful, especially when one day after losing to a mediocre Michigan squad, the faithful got news that the 6th-ranked tight end in the country decided to stay home in Minneapolis. Washburn's own Ra'Shede Hageman was going to be a Gopher.
The 6-6, 250 pound Hageman not only chose Minnesota, he chose the U over helmet schools like Ohio State, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Florida. He chose us. Hageman just oozed potential at tight end or, more likely, on the defensive line. He was big and athletic, a basketball player. He had room to grow, and he was naturally strong and fast for his size. Despite the two-game slide at the time, Hageman's commitment represented the high point of the Brewster regime, which unraveled quickly even with a new stadium to celebrate.
2009
Hageman's celebrity, like that of may recruits, slowly vaporized with a redshirt his freshman 2009 season, highlighted only by his move from tight end to defensive end:
The following year as a redshirt freshman, Hageman was again talked up but played sparingly after moving to defensive tackle, and soon after Brewster was fired, he was suspended by interim coach Jeff Horton for academic issues. Seven weeks later, Jerry Kill became the new sheriff in town, and he challenged all his players to become better people and better students. Hageman responded positively.
2011
He also looked awfully good on a bus full of undersized, less athletic teammates. Now nearly 300 pounds of muscle, Hageman impressed all watching and reporting on Spring Practice 2011 as the one Gopher who looked like all those Ohio State guys. Reports glowed that he was doing well against the Gopher offensive linemen and to watch for him in the fall. The Gopher fanatics got excited. I got excited.
It became clear rather quickly that Kill's first squad in 2011 was overmatched. The team was well below average at nearly every position on the field. It could be argued, though, that defensive tackle was one of the few positions the Gophers had some quality. Seniors Brandon Kirksey and Anthony Jacobs were both highly recruited and had played well leading up to that year. While their season, especially Kirksey's, wasn't dominating, the two stayed on the field. Their back-ups, redshirt soph Hageman and redshirt freshman Cameron Botticelli, saw little action. I didn't really notice either too much until the season finale.
The Gophers were having a tough season in 2011, but it was nothing compared to what Illinois was experiencing. For the last game of the year, the Illini brought a lame duck coach and nothing else to TCF Bank Stadium except ineptitude and mistakes. The Gophers dominated the game, and I was especially impressed when I saw Ra'Shede Hageman destroy the opposing QB. Awesome, this is what we have to look forward to in 2012! And then came the instant replay. It turns out an Illini guard missed his assignment, and there was nobody to block Hageman. Oh, well. Then it happened again. Again I didn't notice at first, but the replay showed once more a completely unblocked Hageman getting his second sack of the day. Two tackles, both sacks. So the extent of his production this day was all due to missed assignments. Who could possibly misinterpret that?
Apparently those wearing maroon-colored glasses can see whatever they want to see, because the talk of the Gopher internet boards after the game was Ra'Shede Hageman and his destruction of Ilinois. I made mention that he wasn't blocked on either play and he had no other tackles, a truth that only vilified me amid the rapture. But, but...I'm watching those two plays as we speak, how can you argue with me? I pointed out that his one other tackle for loss on the season was also due to a missed assignment by an Iowa guard. That didn't help me. My point wasn't that Hageman wasn't going to be good his last two years, it was that we had zero evidence of him making anything happen thus far. He was a man of opportunity, obviously. He hadn't played much, and he didn't have any real experience at DT. Perhaps he'd be decent in 2012.
2012
Spring Practice 2012 brought familiar praise for Hageman. The moderators/reporters/spectators on Gopher Illustrated tossed out phrases like "man among boys" and such. The nickname Optimus Prime was thrown about. I was intrigued and couldn't wait for the season, especially when I read this during fall practice:
On pass plays the UNLV lineman naturally backed up 2-3 yards and defended their quarterback. But while Roland Johnson and DL Wilhite and others were breaking through, wreaking havoc and constantly pressuring the QB, Hageman wasn't close to the play. He happened to record a sack when his linemates flushed the UNLV quarterback, and the man blocking Hageman still at the point of contact lost our hero, who ran toward the near sideline and nabbed the QB for a three yard loss. On running plays Hageman was often blown back behind the linebackers or off to the side away from the play. At first there were double-teams, but that quickly changed, and when the play actually called for a double down on the DT, the extra UNLV lineman would brush off Hageman and go block another.
I was absolutely shocked and figured this had to be evident to the internet boards. It wasn't. No one wanted to believe Ra'Shede Hageman had played poorly. It made no sense to me. Certainly, this being an away game, they still have it on their DVRs and can watch, right? Apparently not. I graded out three players as having really poor performances that night: Hageman, OT Ed Olson, and WR Marcus Jones. I gave Marqueis Gray a "barely pass," and the rest of the team actually played okay or well, in my opinion. Well for a team that hadn't bowled for three seasons, that is.
I repeated the effort over the next eleven regular season games and the bowl game. I watched Hageman get destroyed every week, almost exclusively by one blocker. His problem was obvious. When the ball snapped, Hageman nearly stood up, and the opposing lineman would leverage the hell out of him. This wasn't new to me, as Kill and defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys both had said repeatedly he needed to get his pad level low. What I didn't expect was complimentary comments from the coaching staff about Hageman. Almost every week. What the heck? I can tell the difference between someone playing well and someone getting blown off the line. So what was going on here? And that's when I realized all the comments had something in common. They talked about him glowingly, they avoided talking about his play:
The Gophers still hadn't played a smash-mouth football game, and they clearly weren't as prepared as Iowa in Iowa City. Iowa had faced a tough Iowa State team already. The Hawkeyes were ready and made Hageman look like a high schooler. The poor guy was trying, but the Hawkeyes ran right through him. It didn't stop there. Other teams the following weeks dominated Hageman. He gave top effort throughout the Big Ten season, and the coaches continued to talk about his athleticism and pro potential, but glaringly missing were favorable comments about his play. Ekpe also struggled as the competition got tougher, but Ekpe isn't being declared one of the best players in the conference.
The previous link, by the way, includes a video which is a perfect example of how Hageman was able to pick up six sacks in 2012. On this one, the Wisconsin lineman across from him bumps Hageman then leaves him to get out ahead of the screen. Roland Johnson and DL Wilhite hold up the running back, and the QB has to eat the ball. Hageman is untouched to the QB after the initial bump. The other sacks and TFLs he had in 2012 were almost all either QB scrambles, with Hageman waiting near the LOS, plays like in the video, or simply due to missed assignments.
I don't profess to know everything, but I know when a player is getting beat nearly every play, and Hageman in 2012 fit that description. I felt bad for pointing it out at the time. I've got nothing against Hageman or even delusional Gopher fans, but the truth was evident in 2012. I don't have a link or remember which game, but finally Hageman made a really good play late in the season. I now figured we wouldn't hear much, because everyone seemed to think he was doing well the whole year. I was wrong. Tracy Claeys pointed to the play Hageman made and made it clear on that play that Hageman had done well. It was the first comment I'd heard all year about his play and not about his potential. The game escapes me, the exception to the rule doesn't. I also was thoroughly impressed by one play against Texas Tech in the bowl, where Hageman lined up on the outside and had a chance to take a couple of steps and gain momentum. He knocked the Tech tackle on his butt and got to the QB, though I can't remember if it was a pressure or the one sack he was credited with that game. He disrupted the opponent, finally, something I would expect about 20 times a game from a guy who gets as much attention as Hageman gets.
2013
Based on the 2012 season, I didn't even know whether Hageman would start this year. So you can imagine my surprise when talk of entering the 2013 NFL Draft started to leak. First off, why would an NFL team want a player who was getting punished nearly every play? Then I found why:
And maybe I was too harsh about his 2012 season. Maybe one more look would give me a different perspective. After the preview show, the Big Ten Network replayed the 2012 Purdue at Minnesota game. I decided to track each defensive play for a half and transcribe what I saw here. Here's what I saw of Ra'Shede Hageman or his backup Scott Ekpe, play by play:
It can be argued that the last time there was true optimism from the general Minnesota population for their Gopher football team was Tim Brewster's second season in the fall of 2008. The team started 7-1 and climbed to #19 in the AP rankings. After a false start in 2007 the enthusiastic coach brought in what appeared to be one of the better recruiting classes in the nation, according to Rivals.com. Along with Glen Mason holdovers, three key junior college additions led our Gophers to wins over some of the worst teams ever to grace our rodents' schedule. The team edged a Jerry Kill-led Northern Illinois team, then flattened Bowling Green, Montana, and Florida Atlantic before losing at Ohio State. The locals then beat three horrible Big Ten teams, including a quarterback-less Purdue squad to gain their seventh and final win.
Except to confused and desperately hopeful fans, the truth was the 2008 Gopher edition benefited from a feather-soft schedule and good share of luck to that point, and our Gophers may well be the worst midseason #19 team ever. The team, though, was playing with confidence, had perhaps the best receiver in the nation in Eric Decker, and pieced together a solid defense led by new coordinator Ted Roof. Further, recruiting was going well, at least online with Rivals. Recruitng genius Brewster had corralled the 16th best QB in the nation in Bloomington's Moses Alipate, the 41st tackle in Josh Campion, 24th RB Hasan Lipscomb, the 35th and 52nd best athletes (Kendall Gregory-Mcghee and Bryant Allen), and a four star juco receiver in Hayo Carpenter. Further, there was talk the 12th-ranked CB Michael Carter would switch his commitment from West Virginia. So when the Gophers dropped two home games in a row to fall to 7-3, the mood was still mostly hopeful, especially when one day after losing to a mediocre Michigan squad, the faithful got news that the 6th-ranked tight end in the country decided to stay home in Minneapolis. Washburn's own Ra'Shede Hageman was going to be a Gopher.
The 6-6, 250 pound Hageman not only chose Minnesota, he chose the U over helmet schools like Ohio State, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Florida. He chose us. Hageman just oozed potential at tight end or, more likely, on the defensive line. He was big and athletic, a basketball player. He had room to grow, and he was naturally strong and fast for his size. Despite the two-game slide at the time, Hageman's commitment represented the high point of the Brewster regime, which unraveled quickly even with a new stadium to celebrate.
2009
Hageman's celebrity, like that of may recruits, slowly vaporized with a redshirt his freshman 2009 season, highlighted only by his move from tight end to defensive end:
''He's a big, physical guy,'' Brewster said. ''He's really shown some natural abilities as a defensive end. ...For us to become an elite defense, which we want to become, you have to take athletes like that and expose them to the defensive side of the ball. We'll see how it works.''2010
Brewster said the physical requirements for the two positions are similar. ''You want quick-twitch guys who do a good job of getting off the ball and use their hands,'' he said. ''He's shown a knack for doing that.''
The following year as a redshirt freshman, Hageman was again talked up but played sparingly after moving to defensive tackle, and soon after Brewster was fired, he was suspended by interim coach Jeff Horton for academic issues. Seven weeks later, Jerry Kill became the new sheriff in town, and he challenged all his players to become better people and better students. Hageman responded positively.
2011
He also looked awfully good on a bus full of undersized, less athletic teammates. Now nearly 300 pounds of muscle, Hageman impressed all watching and reporting on Spring Practice 2011 as the one Gopher who looked like all those Ohio State guys. Reports glowed that he was doing well against the Gopher offensive linemen and to watch for him in the fall. The Gopher fanatics got excited. I got excited.
It became clear rather quickly that Kill's first squad in 2011 was overmatched. The team was well below average at nearly every position on the field. It could be argued, though, that defensive tackle was one of the few positions the Gophers had some quality. Seniors Brandon Kirksey and Anthony Jacobs were both highly recruited and had played well leading up to that year. While their season, especially Kirksey's, wasn't dominating, the two stayed on the field. Their back-ups, redshirt soph Hageman and redshirt freshman Cameron Botticelli, saw little action. I didn't really notice either too much until the season finale.
The Gophers were having a tough season in 2011, but it was nothing compared to what Illinois was experiencing. For the last game of the year, the Illini brought a lame duck coach and nothing else to TCF Bank Stadium except ineptitude and mistakes. The Gophers dominated the game, and I was especially impressed when I saw Ra'Shede Hageman destroy the opposing QB. Awesome, this is what we have to look forward to in 2012! And then came the instant replay. It turns out an Illini guard missed his assignment, and there was nobody to block Hageman. Oh, well. Then it happened again. Again I didn't notice at first, but the replay showed once more a completely unblocked Hageman getting his second sack of the day. Two tackles, both sacks. So the extent of his production this day was all due to missed assignments. Who could possibly misinterpret that?
Apparently those wearing maroon-colored glasses can see whatever they want to see, because the talk of the Gopher internet boards after the game was Ra'Shede Hageman and his destruction of Ilinois. I made mention that he wasn't blocked on either play and he had no other tackles, a truth that only vilified me amid the rapture. But, but...I'm watching those two plays as we speak, how can you argue with me? I pointed out that his one other tackle for loss on the season was also due to a missed assignment by an Iowa guard. That didn't help me. My point wasn't that Hageman wasn't going to be good his last two years, it was that we had zero evidence of him making anything happen thus far. He was a man of opportunity, obviously. He hadn't played much, and he didn't have any real experience at DT. Perhaps he'd be decent in 2012.
2012
Spring Practice 2012 brought familiar praise for Hageman. The moderators/reporters/spectators on Gopher Illustrated tossed out phrases like "man among boys" and such. The nickname Optimus Prime was thrown about. I was intrigued and couldn't wait for the season, especially when I read this during fall practice:
No Gopher discussed on the preview show received higher praise than junior defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman. Griffith doesn’t believe any center in the Big Ten can block Hageman who was outstanding in Minnesota’s final game last season against Illinois and has continued to progress. “In my mind he’s going to be tough to block for anybody,” Griffith said.
I was a little concerned, though. After all, Griffith was saying Hageman was outstanding against Illinois, and I knew that to be untrue. I was intrigued, but I was also very suspect. The 2012 opener against UNLV was coming up, and I decided I would watch the game, then the next day I would re-watch each play in slow motion. Optimus Prime would be under scrutiny. I kept an eye on Hageman throughout my initial viewing, and it was soon apparent he wasn't doing anything at all. On the other hand, newcomer Roland Johnson was creating chaos in the UNLV backfield. They couldn't contain Johnson even with double teams. Meanwhile, Hageman wasn't getting any penetration, and while he'd been double-teamed early, the UNLV line soon learned they could handle him with one lineman. Easily. On replay, in slow-motion, it was obvious that while certainly "no center in the Big Ten could block him" the one at UNLV sure could.Defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys told the Big Ten Network that Hageman, a former tight end, is now understanding the demands of his position. “There’s not a better athlete in the United States playing d-tackle than what Ra’Shede Hageman is,” Claeys said. “The more he continues to learn the game, the better off I think he will be.”
On pass plays the UNLV lineman naturally backed up 2-3 yards and defended their quarterback. But while Roland Johnson and DL Wilhite and others were breaking through, wreaking havoc and constantly pressuring the QB, Hageman wasn't close to the play. He happened to record a sack when his linemates flushed the UNLV quarterback, and the man blocking Hageman still at the point of contact lost our hero, who ran toward the near sideline and nabbed the QB for a three yard loss. On running plays Hageman was often blown back behind the linebackers or off to the side away from the play. At first there were double-teams, but that quickly changed, and when the play actually called for a double down on the DT, the extra UNLV lineman would brush off Hageman and go block another.
I was absolutely shocked and figured this had to be evident to the internet boards. It wasn't. No one wanted to believe Ra'Shede Hageman had played poorly. It made no sense to me. Certainly, this being an away game, they still have it on their DVRs and can watch, right? Apparently not. I graded out three players as having really poor performances that night: Hageman, OT Ed Olson, and WR Marcus Jones. I gave Marqueis Gray a "barely pass," and the rest of the team actually played okay or well, in my opinion. Well for a team that hadn't bowled for three seasons, that is.
I repeated the effort over the next eleven regular season games and the bowl game. I watched Hageman get destroyed every week, almost exclusively by one blocker. His problem was obvious. When the ball snapped, Hageman nearly stood up, and the opposing lineman would leverage the hell out of him. This wasn't new to me, as Kill and defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys both had said repeatedly he needed to get his pad level low. What I didn't expect was complimentary comments from the coaching staff about Hageman. Almost every week. What the heck? I can tell the difference between someone playing well and someone getting blown off the line. So what was going on here? And that's when I realized all the comments had something in common. They talked about him glowingly, they avoided talking about his play:
"Ra'Shede has certainly learned how to play defensive tackle," Kill said Tuesday. "His best years are way ahead of him. He's still learning. But he's continued to get better. Athletically, he's gifted; a gifted young man." --Kill prior to SyracuseYeah, but what about his actual play? It's okay to say he made some great plays. You say it about others. Unless, of course, his play is not actually good. And then this after Syracuse:
"He could arguably be the most talented defensive lineman in the conference," Big Ten Network analyst Howard Griffith said of Hageman. "If he plays the way he's supposed to, he has 'first-round pick' all over him. He just has that type of talent. But a lot of the things he does particularly well, when the Big Ten rolls around, might not show up in the stat sheet. So you have to have other guys step up and make plays."Yeah, but what about his play? Did you watch him against Syracuse? I did. He had an okay day for him, but it was not close to his hype, and it, well, simply was not good for a college lineman. Meanwhile, Hageman's backup at DT, true freshman Scott Ekpe, had shown some flashes of true talent through the first four games. My blogging is very sporadic, but my Gopher fandom is constant; I want to win, I wanted Ekpe in the game. I didn't need more material for a future blog entry. Play Ekpe more, I said.
The Gophers still hadn't played a smash-mouth football game, and they clearly weren't as prepared as Iowa in Iowa City. Iowa had faced a tough Iowa State team already. The Hawkeyes were ready and made Hageman look like a high schooler. The poor guy was trying, but the Hawkeyes ran right through him. It didn't stop there. Other teams the following weeks dominated Hageman. He gave top effort throughout the Big Ten season, and the coaches continued to talk about his athleticism and pro potential, but glaringly missing were favorable comments about his play. Ekpe also struggled as the competition got tougher, but Ekpe isn't being declared one of the best players in the conference.
The previous link, by the way, includes a video which is a perfect example of how Hageman was able to pick up six sacks in 2012. On this one, the Wisconsin lineman across from him bumps Hageman then leaves him to get out ahead of the screen. Roland Johnson and DL Wilhite hold up the running back, and the QB has to eat the ball. Hageman is untouched to the QB after the initial bump. The other sacks and TFLs he had in 2012 were almost all either QB scrambles, with Hageman waiting near the LOS, plays like in the video, or simply due to missed assignments.
I don't profess to know everything, but I know when a player is getting beat nearly every play, and Hageman in 2012 fit that description. I felt bad for pointing it out at the time. I've got nothing against Hageman or even delusional Gopher fans, but the truth was evident in 2012. I don't have a link or remember which game, but finally Hageman made a really good play late in the season. I now figured we wouldn't hear much, because everyone seemed to think he was doing well the whole year. I was wrong. Tracy Claeys pointed to the play Hageman made and made it clear on that play that Hageman had done well. It was the first comment I'd heard all year about his play and not about his potential. The game escapes me, the exception to the rule doesn't. I also was thoroughly impressed by one play against Texas Tech in the bowl, where Hageman lined up on the outside and had a chance to take a couple of steps and gain momentum. He knocked the Tech tackle on his butt and got to the QB, though I can't remember if it was a pressure or the one sack he was credited with that game. He disrupted the opponent, finally, something I would expect about 20 times a game from a guy who gets as much attention as Hageman gets.
2013
Based on the 2012 season, I didn't even know whether Hageman would start this year. So you can imagine my surprise when talk of entering the 2013 NFL Draft started to leak. First off, why would an NFL team want a player who was getting punished nearly every play? Then I found why:
Ra'Shede Hageman, Minnesota, DT: The 6-6, 312-pound converted tight end vertical jumped 36 inches this offseason when the Gophers tested him. More impressively, the former basketball standout (he used to play AAU ball against first-rounder Royce White) says he can still do a 360 dunk even though he's well over three bills. "But," Hageman adds, "it doesn't look as pretty as when I was 250."
Ra'Shede Hageman, a former hoops standout, can still do a 360 slam dunk at 312 pounds. (USATSI)Hageman was a big recruit for former coach Tim Brewster. Then-Gophers hoops coach Tubby Smith once tried to get him to come out for the basketball team, Hageman says. But the big man opted to focus solely on football, where he has blossomed into one of the Big Ten's better D-linemen.He's certainly the most athletic. Not only does he have the 36-inch vert, but he also has bench-pressed 465 pounds and clocked an electronically timed 10-yard sprint in 1.57 seconds. For comparison sake, no DT at this year's NFL Combine jumped higher than 33 inches, and Terron Armstead, the offensive tackle who ran the blazing 4.71 40 at the combine, did a 1.64 in his 10.
Hageman said watching the combine in February has "motivated me to be even get more serious in the weight room." His goals on the field for 2013: play with better pad level, play with more urgency off the ball and not take plays off.
And look at that picture. Wow.
Still, it's crazy to think any NFL team would want someone who gets beat most plays, right? I can only imagine the eyebrows that were raised in the coaches' meeting this past winter. But coaches know they have competing worries here, they got Hageman his NFL evaluation, and, well, this staff is pretty good at being tactful:
"That's kind of the benefit from it," Claeys said. "I think the NFL does a great job with that. They don't push kids to go too early like some of the other pro sports. We're waiting to get that form back for Ra'Shede and see what it says. You've got to do what's best for everybody involved. We'll do it for any player who requests us to come and do it and wants to be evaluated. But Ra'Shede is somebody, when the scouts show up, they've taken a look at."
This was Claeys' one comment on Hageman for the article. Nowhere does he say what would obviously be included by Marcus Fuller, that he's a heck of a player. Because he's not. So much for the evaluation, Hageman is still here, and the hype of Hypus Prime has gotten worse. On Friday night the Big Ten Network did its 2013 preview of Minnesota. Two messages I took from the preview. One is that they truly expect Minnesota to keep getting better. They love Jerry Kill. Second, I got the feeling they didn't put a whole lot of effort into Minnesota, which could have to do with the Gophers being their 10th stop. They talked about Nelson and Hageman and let the coordinators talk about anything else. The Hageman talk made me wince:
Got some good offseason news on defense when Ra'Shede Hageman decided to come back for his final season. Hageman a very athletic defensive tackle, the leader of a defense that improved by leaps and bounds last season.--Gerry DiNardoYes, Gerry, that was a real danger. Whew!
"Me being double-teamed as much as I hate it is, you know, I'm definitely looking out for the LBs to come down here and make plays, and when that happens, I definitely feel like the LBs are making plays." --Ra'Shede HagemanAll I can say is that I don't want to speak to the camera, so I can imagine others might feel the same way. It is pretty obvious, though, that Hageman was advised to talk about getting double-teamed. Or perhaps he was asked about double-team among other questions, and that's the only answer BTN showed.
"It all has to start up front, and we talk about Hageman really being able to be the mainstay of that defensive line, commanding double teams, forcing people to account for him on the blocking scheme..." --Howard GriffithHe doesn't command double teams any more than any DT would naturally. There are plays where you double on the DT. The problem is that with Hageman, the second lineman can slip off to a linebacker. Or I should say, that was the problem last year. People hate it when I say Hageman played poorly last year, and they project me as hating him and thinking he can't play well at all.. That's not true. I think he has the physical ability to play really well. Just like the coaches do.
And maybe I was too harsh about his 2012 season. Maybe one more look would give me a different perspective. After the preview show, the Big Ten Network replayed the 2012 Purdue at Minnesota game. I decided to track each defensive play for a half and transcribe what I saw here. Here's what I saw of Ra'Shede Hageman or his backup Scott Ekpe, play by play:
Play 1: From UM 46, pass, single-team, Hageman was the only DL to not have penetration, incomplete
Play 2.: From UM 46, run, double team, Hageman blown back five yards, RB goes 40 yards through his hole
Play 3: From UM 6, run, single-team, blown out five yards, RB hit his hole
Play 4: From UM 3, jumps offsides and knocks down guard, penalty
Play 5: From UM 1, run, double team, runner up middle stopped at LOS, Hageman ends up in end zone three yards away (holdin on PU away from Hageman)
Play 6: From UM 11, screen, Hageman let go, he follows the motion away from the play.
Play 7: From UM 1, play action pass, penetrated and was picked up by a RB. Can't be sure it was Hageman as I couldn't see the number.
Next series:
Play 1: From PU 11, run, double teamed, pushed back to the 15
Play 2: From PU 14, pass, single team, Hageman blows his guy back into the QB after throw on an incompletion. Unfortnuately, I'm only guessing it was Hageman, number wasn't visible (and Roland Johnson replaced Botticelli at other tackle, so it could have been Ekpe).
Play 3: From PU 14, pass, no penetration
Next series:
Play 1: From PU 25, run, single team, pushed out of play, run up his hole
Play 2: From PU 36, false start offense
Play 3: From PU 31, run, Ekpe in for him and stands up his man and pushes action toward RB
Play 4: From PU 32, pass, Ekpe doubled and doesn't penetrate, incomplete
Play 5: From PU 32, screen pass, Hageman neither penetration nor close to play
Next series:
Play 1: From PU 25, pass, Ekpe in, sack by Cockran, Ekpe no penetration
Play 2: From PU 25, run, Ekpe double and not a factor
Play 3: From PU 24, pass, Hageman did something inexplicable, he decided not to rush, not to drop, not to stunt. He just stood up and ran half-speed avoiding the OL and well away from the play.
Play 4.: From UM 44, pass, single team, no where near the QB
Next series was skipped on BTN
Next series (UM 31, PU 7 at this point)
Play 1: From PU 18, (in with Roland Johnson), pass, single team, only DL to not penetrate
Play 2: From PU 21, sweep, single team, buried in middle of line
Play 3: From PU 28, run, double team, blown out, but at least the two OL stayed with him
Play 4: From PU 29, pitch, single team, taken out of play easily
Play 5: From PU 35, pass, Ekpe in, doesn't penetrate
Except for one play where I can't verify it was actually him, Hageman could just as well not been on the field. I don't know what happened the one series BTN skipped, but it's basically irrelevant. Hageman was bad here. Not just bad, but really bad. Anybody could have been put in his place. This is what I saw all year, running the video play by play. I saw him make some tackles when plays broke, when the OL assigned to him didn't know what was happening. I remember him disrupting the opponent maybe twice all year. Roland Johnson did that on his first two plays against UNLV.
Meanwhile, Hageman has been named to the Chuck Bednarik, Bronko Nagurski, Outland Trophy, and Rotary Lombardi watch lists. He ranks 15th in ESPN's top 25 Big Ten players heading into the 2013 season, 11th on BTN. There's a gap between what I'm seeing and what's being implied. That much is clear. There is not a gap, though, between what I'm seeing and what is overtly said.
So I made an hypothesis, and while I don't think I've proven my curious case, it's hard to argue that your favorite guy is doing well when I'm watching him get blown out play after play. I really hope Hageman has a great senior year and that he gets drafted high and represents Minnesota well. All I hear is how hard he works and how he leads others to do so and how he's a great teammate. How can you not cheer for a guy like that?
Sid Hartman ran a quote from Jerry Kill that really sums up this piece. While he calls others on the line great football players, he does everything but with Hageman:
“There is no question that Ra’Shede Hageman is a phenomenon when it comes to his size, strength and speed,” Gophers football coach Jerry Kill said when asked how he looks at his defensive tackle.
“We need to have him have a great year,” Kill continued. “But I think he is also surrounded with some pretty great football players. Sometimes we forget Cameron Botticelli and Roland Johnsonand Thieren Cockran and Michael Amaefula, those kids. T.C. is 6-6 and about 255-260 now.
“I think our whole defensive line has improved. Part of that has been because of Ra’Shede’s hard work and his attitude. He has had a great, great summer and a great camp. So we look forward to continuing to watch his progress, because if he does what he needs to do and plays well, he’s one class away from graduating and it’s a good story. There’s no question about that.”
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