Locked On Gophers POSTCAST: Gophers Lose In HEART BREAKING Fashion After Missed GW FG Kick

golers lose in dramatic fashion to North Carolina final score 1917 we got the legend Ron Johnson to break it all down it's all coming up next on the lock on Gophers [Music] postcast you are locked on Golden Gophers postcast part of lockon Minnesota on the locked on podcast Network your team every day what's up what's up back in the lab back at it first Gophers postcast episode of the 2024 season right here on the lockdown Sports Minnesota Network your team every day you got myself Luke Inman at lukor spin joining me as always gopher Hall of Famer Ron Johnson host of The Ron Johnson show each and every Tuesday follow him on X if you haven't already he's at three Ron Johnson Ron a Minnesota football team losing on a miss kick in dramatic Fashion Stop me if you've heard that one before yeah it is what it is ah man it's just it sucks it's still it's still raw isn't it it's still so fresh that's what's tough about these postcast coming on here after a tough dramatic emotional loss and obviously it's emotional for you gopher's Hall of Famer obviously that one's tough man plenty to get into over these next 30 minutes got our instant reaction first gopher's heartbreak of the Season that is but first quick reminder before we get started this episode brought to to you by prize picks prize picks the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports go to priz picks.com lockon use code all lowercase locked on for a first deposit match up to $100 okay um tons to tackle in here over these next 2530 minutes game one new quarterback new defensive coordinator no Darius Taylor on the field no Drake May though on the field for the tar Hills uh the Line open Gophers by two slowly moved to North Carolina by two sure enough North Carolina wins by two just tells you how freaky good Las Vegas is with the the spread and the lines and everything else but honestly Ron what I was going to say it just felt like the more people you talk to the more no one really knew what to expect in this first game from both these teams in the end though obviously we we had a back and forth Affair all night it came down to the final play 47 yard field goal attempt by the Big 10 kicker of the year last year missed it heartbreak at TCF just another early loss to the Tar Heels now in back-to-back Seasons uh golfers start 2024 just on a terribly sour note 1917 your final why don't you just start with your biggest takeaways kind of your a topics from the game oh yeah I mean if if North Carolina looked really good like last year with Drake May and the Gophers came up short I don't think we'd be feeling this way but North Carolina looked very inept early on Max Johnson didn't look like he was the guy um has the size has the prototypical body type of an NFL quarterback of course his dad uh played in the NFL for a while as well um so pretty sure he's learned a ton from his dad his brother's on the team playing tight end um but he didn't look great and when you look at the total yard you know he only had 105 passing yards total um you know for the team and so max Johnson just wasn't what we thought they got the ball done on the ground like 147 rushing yards normally it's the Gophers that outrush teams and just bully teams and uh I don't know if it's without Darius Taylor or what it is but it just did not look like the Russian attack that PJ Fleck likes to have um I don't know why I felt like Max brosmer uh brosmer uh had a a governor on it seemed like they were holding him back a little bit uh running a lot of fstep drop stuff that I didn't really agree with uh late in the game you see him go quick game you see him go three-step you see him get the ball out of his hands quick and what happens guys are making plays I you can ask darl Thompson you can ask Justin guard I all day before the game during the game I kept saying they have to go three-step this North Carolina defense was pinning their ears back and they were coming after them they were showing a varied of pressures they were trying to show you know fivan dogs bringing six showing five bringing seven showing seven bringing three like they were gonna confuse Max and that was their goal and they did it and even with the go for going Max protection it just felt felt like the ball was in his hands too long well when you go quick you don't have time to think you get the ball out to your first read and that was my takeaway I I wish what they did in the fourth quarter they had done that to start the game come out the game let him be Drew Brees Peyton Manning and just be the Maestro on the on the field and just pick guys out to get the ball to instead of all right here's a drawn up play and it's a five-step drop and here's your two reads and that's it after that you got to run I just I wasn't a fan of some of the early play calls uh you know what funny too um the first quarter and a half for both teams so sloppy it almost felt like both teams didn't realize like hey you you know this this counts now we're not in practice anymore you throw an interception and all of a sudden coach just Blows the Whistle says H just run it again no like both teams took a minute or two to really finally like get into gear and get into a rhythm it felt like again the game was delayed an hour or two so some slippery kind of wet conditions out there to deal with honestly it's tough for me here because I don't know how much to read into one game but the kicker kesich absolutely money last year by the way Big 10 kicker the uh season for a reason right he missed two kicks tonight including a chip shot and then what would have been the gamewinner I know we're going to keep talking about the quarterback the defense and all that but especially knowing just thinking about how PJ Flex likes to play the game Flow right the way he wants to win these low-scoring games do we need to be worried about the kicking game already like because again there going to need him to bounce back in a big way just knowing how many close and and tightly contested games they're probably going to be in this year like where's your Panic meter at with the special teams in kicking gamees specifically a Miss Chip Shot run 27 y allaha Blair Walsh same side of the end zone everybody was thinking it and then a chance to redeem himself from 47 out where's the Panic meter at uh I'm not panicking it's G it's one game uh North Carolina they were already The Underdogs North Carolina anyway originally you know that was kind of thought that the Gophers uh They Come Away with this when they stole a win well clearly North Carolina and I said this on every show I've said this on my show I said this on the football party North Carolina was an unknown as well uh their quarterback Max Johnson looked worse than Max brosmer so they were in the same situation their running back just got it done they had their starting running back I think if darus Taylor plays it's a different game uh I think darus Taylor probably for sure goes over 100 yards he has a little bit more Breakaway speed has the ability to catch it out the back field he's a little bit faster a little bit quicker you understand the offense a little bit better uh so you know him being out was a huge blow to the goers and with a soft tissue injury like a hamstring you just don't know how long it's going to be and that's what sucks um the good thing is you have two more games after this that their non-conference and so you can go two and one I mean it would have been nice to go three and0 heading into the Big 10 play uh North Carolina was a win that a lot of people didn't give him credit for I thought that would have been one um and now they just have to go out and and and beat you know what is Road Island and Nevada right and they're two and one and so yeah I'm not going to panic yet it's it's it's too early uh things happen um I mean even the uh the broadcast was saying like you know he missed one from the right hash so why try to line it back up again on the right hash just go down the middle uh because down the middle he probably makes it um yeah I don't know like you know why not try to get more yards why not try to throw the ball a couple more time I get it like you don't want to get sacked and go backwards because you know even though we can see the green line on TV uh PJ you know that line has been told to them by you know by the team like hey his his Target area is this this is the long this is where we feel safe with him you know kicking from and so that Target line is given to the media the media puts it on TV for us to see it but they all know the line too and so they probably were close and like ah if he takes the sack we're screwed so that was another reason for the run but I I would have run some kind of toss outside uh to to to give him a chance in space and now it's on the other hash like the right has was already a bad one but no I'm not going to panic yet this is to yeah no a lot of good points there good breakdown kind of talk me off the ledge a little bit I want to Circle back to your original topic that you opened with because I I agree with you this is this is going to be the a topic for this team all year they they're going to have to pass to set up the run this season if they don't want the the same ninan boxes they saw all last year with with C Manis under Center who who just could never make defenses pay for loading up the box you know PJ's always going to want to establish the run as well I mean since he's been there I think they said on the broadcast he's run the ball almost 65% of the time when you look at his passing plays versus running plays 65% of the time but passing to set up the run it just feels like it's going to be so huge and something they they really have struggled with for years now it feels like you bring in the new kid Max brosmer I guess if I'm being honest I didn't think he was anything special there but fourth quarter minute left here Ron puts on his marching boots got him all the way down there gives him a chance to win it at the end uh give us the official Ron Johnson breakdown your first impres you mentioned you didn't like the game plan not enough three-step drops and all that but you know that feels like more of a coaching blueprint thing I guess what was your KNE Jack reaction to uh just the new passing game and you know is is Max brosmer really kind of the ceiling of this team like the golfers are only going to go as far as Max brosmer is going to let him yeah I mean they are but here's the problem like third down they were in way too many unmanageable third Downs like you want to be in third and three third and two third and four leaving cuz you can control that I mean at at the worst you should be third and five I mean if you get two plays you got to get two yards and two plays that should gives you about to the five and a half six yards to get to end up third and four it just seemed like first and second down wasn't great that's why some of those hitches and and and quick throws out to Daniel Jackson and uh Elijah Spencer uh the Jet Sweep to Christian uh uh driver I wanted to see more of that quicker early on first down doesn't need to be fstep drop go for it all quick get out your hands put yourself in second and in second and five now boom second and five you got the whole Playbook now you can run another hitch get another first down you can run a slant get a first down you can run the ball and get two to three yards you can run play action I mean there's so much but when you're second and nine and then you're third and nine you're telling them what you got to do next you got either run a draw or pass the ball and so they were very predictable when you look at like third down efficiency that was the problem and that that's where I draw it four for 12 is not going to win you a game you're getting off the field way too much whereas your defense is not getting off the field because North Carolina was 50% on third Downs if they're 50% on third Downs you're not coming off the field and your your defense is tired and that's what happened you know they kept showing the graphic from last year's game vers North Carolina gopher's offense two of 13 on third down just to your point there as well I think the other big part to this whole thing here this whole equation any quarterback no matter who it is no matter the level of play even can't do it all on their own right so there's got to be a playmaker or two that can go bail them out once in a while go get those 50-50 balls and what have you so I guess my question is after Daniel Jackson who we know can be legit he can be that number one guy but who's got to step up and be that number two who's the plan B when teams double Daniel Jackson you mentioned Elijah Spencer I know he's kind of struggled with some drops been a little inconsistent at times is it him or do they have to turn to someone else or even you know you mentioned the tight end driver for that matter as well do they have the talent in the room I guess as we sit here today to help this new quarterback out yeah Elijah Spencer's good we know Christian driver is good uh Daniel Jackson is a is a star I mean you saw him make play after play after play um but yeah I I think they do have the guy in the room but honestly we we know it comes down recruiting he has a lot freshman waiting in the wings they're just not ready yet uh so when you look at the weapons he has out there it's one of those things where you just got to get like I mean when I played nothing against the other receivers I had on the field with me but I didn't have three stars with me it was me my sophomore year I had Luke leveron who went to the NFL after that it was just me uh we had one guy come in Antoine Burns end up going to like Carolina I think for practice squad or something like that but you know like I didn't have two to three dogs behind me it was me and so just get get the guy the ball get Daniel Jackson the ball somehow some way hitches let him make guys miss run Slants let him make guys miss and get an open field so yeah I I don't know like it it just like I said it felt like a lot of long routes um and so you can't really blame the receivers oh and lcky Brockington was the other one and he got lucky on his fumble but you know lcky Brockington I think could be another good one but same thing running hitches and Slants and then run after the catch yards after the catch were huge uh when you talk about getting first downs and Daniel Jackson and Micky Brockington which you know could have been worse if his fumble went a different direction but it bounced right back into Major's hands um that's that's where I go with it I think they have the guys uh but they got to have more complimentary routes for what they're to do I'm I'm with youon I think a lot of people in the comments and sitting listening at home are with you as well like you got a new quarterback coming from D2 New Hampshire first thing I'm doing all offseason building a game plan to get him into a rhythm get him some confidence some easy throws right away B basically just setting this up as simple as possible for him at least that first quarter or two just to again help him get into some sort of Rhythm and get that confidence going a little bit we even see that in the NFL with 10-year veteran uh quarterbacks still so I was a little bummed out for sure the last part of this whole equation the running game felt like the boys up front started to find some rhythm in that second quarter again first quarter and a half for both teams just felt very off very sloppy but started to see that push the pile a little bit more like we're used to we've seen so many times not just under PJ Fleck era but but gopher's history it feels like really it's always that next man up philosophy no Darius Taylor Marcus major kind of got rolling a little bit at times you saw some flashes some spurts behind that big offensive line started wearing down that you know North Carolina front seven at times just not long enough in the end but talk to me about the running game I guess just the depth they've got at running back like how important is Taylor get going to be for this team and how big's the drop off I guess from him to guys like Marcus major and Jordan nuben back there so the one thing I say about having Dar Darius Jack uh Darius Taylor he's a home run hitter like we've seen that last year you know in the time he was on the field he was one of the best backs in in the Big 10 last year if he played the whole season who knows how many yards he would actually had um the one thing he does he he allows you to run play action and actually like they truly believe you might hand the ball off to him he allows you to run play action fake the play action and still come back to a running back screen because he can catch the ball he play receiver in high school when you look at him lining up or motioning out the back field like I think there's things they want to do with him that they can't do with other guys and if until he gets back we just won't know yeah well said all right don't go anywhere plenty more breakdown from this one plus we got to do a little Deep dive into the new defensive coordinator for the golfers that's all coming up right after this quick reminder tonight's episode brought to you by eBay Motors passion Drive patience the formula for winning championships also what keeps your ride or die alive in eBay Motors they got everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to the ultimate Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights they literally they got it all and whether you're into speed power or style they got you covered 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you'll always find exactly what you looking for and with eBay's guaranteed fit your part guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back with all the parts you need at the prices you want easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusions apply eBay's guaranteed fit only available to us customers just talk to me about what you saw with the defense just kind of big picture as a whole like knee- jerker action obviously we got this big change at defensive coordinator this year a lot of people kind of wondering what everything's going to look like playing the game like you did Ron at such a a high level you know the X's and O's kind of better than anybody that I know anyway so what specifically did you notice or did you take away from tonight's defense the way they played and and maybe the way it was called that maybe looked different than what we saw last year uh so last year they were I mean statistically they were terrible um and so I said to on the pregame show that uh even though you know when you think about the new new defense quote unquote you got you know Tyler nubin gone uh Darius green didn't play uh so you saw some new faces out there but you still had Justin Wy you still had Jack Henderson you still had the front seven uh with a linebacker and uh Cody lindenberg J Joiner Devin Eastern um you know so you still have some guys um the one thing I said like I said third down like they struggled last year on third down um and and they struggled tonight and I think that's that's that's my problem with that when you when you struggle early on and then you're still struggling it it just I don't know I because we could say you know was Joe rossy's defense last year now it's a new defense they're having the same issues getting off the field on third down um what do you think just going back to the offense here for a second I know I'm flip-flopping but but ultimately what do you think's more most important to this team if they're getting win games the quarterback the running back staying healthy or the offensive line being as good and as you know dominant as they're supposed to be on paper like what's the Catalyst to making this offense just find that next gear take that next step that we've all been waiting feels like years for well they have a big line like we know that their big the offensive line is is gigantic um they have some big pieces there you look at their receiver they have Daniel Jo you know Jackson um you're not going to get 15 studs and so you have the one uh use them I I I keep going back to this I think it's the play calling like they got to find a way to get more out of the play calling like I'm just not I wasn't super impressed with the fstep drop stuff and and and just to hit back and that's why I had to grab my notebook going back to the defense when you look at third down last year 46% third down conversion for defense was last in the Big 10 46% they are now 50% to start the season off so they for sure I mean we we will go through and there's only one game so maybe somebody else will run into a juggernaut this weekend but after Saturday's games I'm going to go back and look at these stats and maybe I'll bring this back up on the next postcast but they're going to probably be last in in on third downs and you can't give up half you can't allow that and think you're going to be good offensively same thing they converted 35.2% of their third Downs was 12th so like you you it's like literally doing the same I feel like it's doing the same thing because what is that four divided by 12 33% you know so you got 33 they were 33% uh 33.3% now 35.2% last year was 12 33% it's probably 12th 13th or 14th when you think about I mean what what some of these teams are going to face because they're not some teams have tough opponents but some teams are just getting easy on and so 33% for yourself is not good and then giving up 50% like you're just you're one if you're giving up 50% your defense is on the field way too long and then two if you're only converting 33% you're putting your defense back out there too fast right so it's a recipe for what happened which is a subpar team able to claw back and find a way to win with a you know last minute driv and field gold and then you still had a chance and you missed the field goal so you just called out two very obvious kind of of glaring holes weaknesses that need to be short up and fixed I I know it's only one game small samples size here Ron but what what's the one thing then on the opposite end of this that that this team is gonna have to hang their hat on the most this year as far as like their biggest strength and identity goes and how they're going to have to win football games just knowing the makeup and the way they are built oh sorry say it again well I was just going to say you you pointed out two great you know obvious glaring holes in weaknesses and I I I get it we're only going off one game here small sample but what what is going to have to be the thing they hang their hat on what's their biggest strength and kind of identity as far as how they're going to win football games this year in 2024 I think he's gonna be running the ball you look at you look at Darius Taylor and when he's back and healthy uh the offensive line is is well built I think it's going to be running the ball and then using play action but you know if if this if this is the max brosmer season brosmer season um they've got to go quick game like he looks really good like he got the ball out of his hands extremely fast in that fourth quarter Drive um but that's because he was going quick game that's because he wasn't having to sit back there in a five or seven step drop and and wait for a long developing route it was Corner route hitch boom get the hand up get the ball on my hand go to the hitch you know let me get in the playmaker hands now they were running double hooks where lamei Brock was in the slot he broke a tackle like he was able to Zing the ball and get out of his hands fast before the Defenders were able to even break so I think that's the key you got to you got to give Max what he's good at which is spread guys out easier figuring out targets if you go four wise and you spread them out they can't if they Max Blitz you you you have one-on-one covers now so now if they Rush seven and you got four receivers somebody's going to be open uh like Donald Driver was open on that one the guy fell and he just didn't have enough time that would have been a touchdown that that wins the game maybe or or or ices the game but you know there was a lot of situations like that where I I think it's just it's it's it's got to be maxed like you got to hang your hat on the fact that this kid can throw the ball but you got to you got to go quick game you cannot try to sit back and and think every route combination you've drawn up is going to work so quick sneak peek at the schedule coming up then uh Rhode Island then Nevada feels like they almost have to win both those games right to get to where they want to go because we'll go through the rest of the schedule here in a second but I'm telling you now and you know this already it gets tough in a hurry after these next two games yeah and and they're winnable we know that uh but but at the end of the day just like uh Georgia Tech Florida State you you you line up and play like you can Florida State could have said as good as they were Georgia Tech like I don't care what they say you are we can still beat you and they did and so I think that's going to be the key for this team too is like don't worry about what they're saying even if you're supposed to beat them beat them worse even if they're supposed to lose go out there and beat them like you gotta you got to have that mindset in every game and I think they have the pieces it's just can they put it together um but I'm I'm going to stick to my guns on that too like you're not going to win those games if you don't go quick like you got to go quick game or you got to get daryus Taylor back if you don't have darus Taylor you got to go quick because what the quick game does is it slows the defensive lineman down and they can't just rush full speed head down they're G to try to get their hands up and block the three-step well now they've slowed down now you can run some thre step hitch and then two more and then throw like there's a lot of things you can do once you have the defensive line not being able to just tee off on you no I think uh I think you're driving home a great Point here Ron I think you're totally right uh Here Comes The Gauntlet Iowa week four at home at Michigan USC at home then UCLA you get a bye Maryland I know a lot can change from now till then but on paper dude that that feels like an absolute Gauntlet coming up Iowa Michigan USC UCLA well I mean it's the big 10 and so we knew that going into this season uh when they added Washington Oregon um UCLA and USC we I mean we all said it it it's going to make the big 10 harder now it's it's not easy to win anymore like it used to be East West and you could just you know try to beat Wisconsin beat Iowa you're in the Big 10 Championship it's not happening no more so uh yeah yeah it's not happening so I was just gonna say just to round it out here then you got Illinois Ruckers Penn State Wisconsin just to your point I was just going to say no real gimmies here but I will say of yeah every week you got to show up no excuses but outside of Michigan and Penn State they shouldn't be more than a a touchdown Underdog in any of those which means a lot of these games outside of two of them right Michigan Penn State they should be either favored or have at least a Fighter's chance here to Come Away with some victories maybe not I mean we'll see because again just like you know Vegas does it like as far as point spread yeah it's going to be how do they look against Nevada and Rhode Island like does the offense get better do they get worse um you know does Max out there and throw for 300 yards like it's all going to matter and so again when you look at the stat line 78 yards rushing 4.1 yard so this is crazy they got 4.1 yards per play and uh North Carolina had 3.9 yards per play big difference North Carolina has 64 offensive plays Minnesota have 55 so nine less plays you do that in math that's 36 more that's 36 more yards probably is a touchdown on one of those drives or field goal like they just they had it they had the pieces they had the stuff uh the goers didn't have it they didn't have it tonight they could not get going it was very stale uh because I was in the I was in I was I was in the stadium till third quarter ended and it was stale it was it was like it it did not have a super game day feel like after like kickoff early on pregame student section was rocking I'm going have I'm you know I might tweet out the video tomorrow um that I took in the stadium but rocking and then once the game got started they're were quiet like you know you got to like first home game right you got to come out and hit hit him with a stutter go hit them with something nasty just to get the crowd hype and show what your quarterback can do let them air it out like yeah if I'm so glad you said that I'm so glad you said that Ron and you were there so you would know but it felt like at home it felt like both teams came out stale as well it was almost like both teams were just waiting for the other team to throw that first punch to throw that haym maker and it didn't really come until like I said uh halfway through the second quarter really at the earliest uh coming up next which gophers look like the part of a possible NFL prospect that's all coming up right after this quick reminder tonight's episode also brought To Us by prize picks prize picks America's number one fantasy sports app with more than 3 million members to date for me and my money it's just by far the easiest it's the most exciting way to get in on all the action while you watch your favorite sports and you watch your favorite players so simple all you got to do you pick more or you pick Less on two or more player stats and you watch the winnings roll in take your pick on more or less add them to your price piix entry today plus they now offer Apple pay for quick and easy deposits into your account all season long download the price fix app today and use code locked on for a first deposit match up to $100 one more time that's that's code locked on all lowercase for a first deposit match up to $100 okay you know I'm a huge NFL draft nerd a draft nut here so so talk to me about the potential prospects for this gopher team because right now from everything I've heard I count at least three if not more guys maybe correct me if I'm wrong but at least three guys we could very well hear their name called Next April in the draft starting with the left tackle ear say people are absolutely buzzing about this dude they talked about him a lot on the broadcast the combination of size this athleticism he brings to the table is the hype real and and how how high do you think he could go I guess next April yeah I mean honestly I mean I know he's gonna probably be a top 50 I think he's in the top 50 when you talk about offensive tackles in the country now again it's going to be predicated on the rest of this year how how often does he keep keep the quarterback safe does he have some Christian darus in him where he's punching guys you know legally in the chess and knocking him back um all that's going to be seen he's going to have a chance to do a Senior Bowl we know that uh but Aron urser is won uh you got Martez Lewis who's the other tackle big huge red sir senior uh you know when you look at and I'm just sticking with the uh offense of course Daniel Jackson a red sh senior you know he's gonna have a chance you know to get to the league Max brosmer that one I don't know about now after tonight I don't think any team would feel like oh let's bring them in uh he has some quick twitch stuff and maybe they can blame it on his coach um but you know those are some guys right away that I feel like you know what these gu and then you know Quinn Carroll is a weird story because you know he was one of the top high school players in the state left him with Den Notre Dame and now transfer back to Minnesota um I don't know I I I just feel like Quinn Carol has been around enough he's a big tall guard and you know maybe he has a shot as well uh you know you're talking about Ur maybe being a top 50 pick remember Daniel fele I think he went to the Ravens he was he was projected be a top 50 tackle as well this is the last highest drafted gopher tackle that went in the NFL draft uh he ended up going in round four I remember to the Ravens pick 111 I just pulled it up so yeah could be following those footsteps but sounds like could be drafted even higher all right last one before we got to get out of here just give me one bold prediction for the Gopher season could be anything uh specific player stats team record anything you want just one Ron Johnson spicy prediction here for 2024 uh I think Daniel Jackson is going to hit a thousand yards I think you know when you look at what he did tonight you know his ability to make you know run after the catch his ability to be there uh a lot of pass interference calls on him though I will say that uh but I think Daniel Jackson has a chance to go for a thousand yards this year I like it all right we got to get out of here Gophers losing heartbreaking Fashion Week one game one vers North Carolina final score 1917 you got three more home games all in a row starts next week verse Rhode Island Saturday September 7th kickoff for that one 11:00 a.m. huge shout out to all the every dayers out there that always make us your first listen rest assured we'll be back each and every game right here breaking it all down got to go make sure you check out all of Ron's work on X at three Ron Johnson plus check them out on the Ron Johnson show each and every week right here on the lockdown Sports Minnesota Network go like this video uh subscribe to the channel if you haven't already so close to 8,000 subscribers that's always much much appreciated all right goers Hall of Famer Ron Johnson Luke Inman on X lukor spin we'll see you September 7th but until then signing out