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Michigan Football: 3 Minnesota Gophers to watch in the opener

By Jared Dettmer

Nov 23, 2019; Evanston, IL, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach PJ Fleck congratulates Minnesota Golden Gophers wide receiver Rashod Bateman (13) after his touchdown against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 23, 2019; Evanston, IL, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach PJ Fleck congratulates Minnesota Golden Gophers wide receiver Rashod Bateman (13) after his touchdown against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports /
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Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

QB Tanner Morgan

A major advantage Minnesota will have over the Wolverines is having a returning starter at the most important position in all of sports — quarterback.

Morgan was second in the conference only to Justin Fields in passing yards a season ago with 3,253 and paced the Big Ten in yards per game with just over 250.

It’s safe to say that Morgan could sling it a year ago, but he no longer has Johnson to take attention away from Bateman which opened the field up for deep shots over the middle and outside. It will be interesting to see what the Gopher offense looks like under new Offensive Coordinator Mike Sanford Jr. from Utah State.

A season ago, Utah State’s offensive strategy differed astronomically from Minnesota’s. Our own Adam Childs took a look at the Gophers’ offensive tendencies from last season here, and in his piece you will see a huge emphasis on time of possession for the Gophers.

Minnesota controlled the ball for just under 34 minutes per game last season, meanwhile Mike Sanford’s Utah State Aggies averaged just below the 25 minutes per game clip. Additionally, Minnesota passed the ball on about 37% of their offensive downs in 2019 while the Aggies passed it 52% of the time.

That is an absolutely enormous gap in time and philosophy which will be an intriguing storyline to watch not only in Week 1, but throughout the season for the Gophers as Mike Sanford may rely on Tanner Morgan to become much more of a passer than he was last season.

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