Greg Harbaugh Jr.

What is he doing well this season as he's starting again for the Gophers under center? What are the areas that you feel like he still needs to grow in?

So the Drake Lindsey situation is one where why is the NFL so high on them? Well, it's because of the way that their offensive coordinator, Greg Harbaugh.

Now, I think that's an important distinction this week because people are going to see it spelled Harbaugh.

It's the same spelling.

And then they do have an ancillary receiver by the name of Jalen Smith, but a lot of it's going to come down to Tracy and Jennings.

If Darius is healthy, he's also going to catch four between four and six passes out of the backfield.

But I'm fascinated to see which way Greg Harbaugh, their offensive coordinator, goes to try and attack this Michigan defense because if Michigan can just win up front with four and can drop seven – May the Lord bless you and keep you and shine down upon you against this Michigan defense that I have a lot of respect for.

But if you can hold up and give Drake some time, that's where you're hoping you can win on the outside.

What do you think Minnesota needs to do on offense to hang in there and to potentially win the game?

Yeah, last week against Washington was a big improvement compared to, I think, what we've seen under Greg Harbaugh Jr., which it's weird he spells his name like Harbaugh, but he has no relation.

But he's been calling plays now.

This is his fourth season as the offensive coordinator.

Now they've had their opportunities to do so because I'll forever think about that 2015 game as I take it down memory lane here where the Gophers had it.

first in goal, I think at the three, and their offensive coordinator and their head coach were the only two people in Huntington Bank Stadium or TCF Bank Stadium back at the time to not know the clock was running.

And they ran the most elaborate shift in motion that you've ever seen, and then they don't end up scoring after they get all frazzled.

So they've had their opportunities, but even the Vegas spread on this game, which I think has been bet down to five or six points for Michigan, It is going to be very interesting to see how these two teams match up.

And there's a lot of continuity on this team as a result.

And we're going to start there.

Let's start on the offensive side of the ball under an offensive coordinator, Greg Harbo, who hopefully alongside PJ Fleck knows when the clock is running or not running if it comes down to that.

I think it surprised a lot of people outside of Minneapolis.

We'll see if you read my article on gophergazette.com. Oh, no.

When was the last time an opponent scored 27 or more points as Greg Harbaugh's offense did in Husky Stadium?

This is really embarrassing, but I am going to say 2019.

Derek, do you see what I have to deal with here? We do this together.

So what did you think of your maroon and gold on Saturday night?

Well, I thought that...

this game against Washington was probably the most multiple set offense that I've seen from a Greg Harbaugh team at Minnesota.

And what I mean by that is prior to really the, the Akron game and, and, all previous seasons that Greg's been the offensive coordinator, they've been very pro style heavy.

So I think getting...

You know, Harbaugh deserves a lot of credit, I think, for just adding in some wrinkles, trying to find ways to just get the motor going for the offense if it's stagnant, if it's struggling with the run game.

We know Drake Lindsey is getting better and better with going through his reads and making decisions and throwing the ball down the field and everything.

You know, the interception was an eyebrow raiser last night.

But I think overall, I thought Drake played really well last night.

So I think, you know, Greg Harbaugh deserves a lot of credit for that.

And the players certainly deserve a lot of credit for that.

And PJ, I mean, listen, you and I have gotten on PJ's case about in the past about leaning too heavily into the run game and relying too on it too much and not really having enough of a downfield passing attack.

So I think that limits some of what Ryan Walters can do with creativity just because when you have young players, they're more prone to make mistakes.

So you play a lot more base defense, which makes it easier in theory for Greg Harbaugh and Drake Lindsey to decipher what they're doing.

So that's going to be the thing is it's in Washington run defense, too, that's averaging under three yards a carry.

They've been giving up for the record here, Luke.

I did ask Greg Harbaugh today.

I mean, he walks up to the podium and I got to lead with it and I go, hey, so you ran some gap scheme.

Talk some gap scheme to me.

For those of you new here, what does that mean? How far past the line of scrimmage are these balls going? On average, to their slot receiver, leading receiver Desmond Roebuck, three yards.

We're touring around.

Greg Harbaugh Jr. actually was the guy touring me around.

He was there on staff.

He's the current offensive coordinator.

We've seen it in the portal.

When offensive coordinators leave, they really want that package deal of the quarterback and the coordinator because you get to jumpstart a lot of things.

We have that with Greg Harbaugh Jr. and Drake Lindsey who have a great relationship.

And I can't say enough good things about both of those guys.

I've been, I was really encouraged by that first drive.

Well, that is where, with Roman, as his role continues to expand, the thing for Harbaugh is going to be, it can't be when Roman Voss is on the field, you're like 80% pass.

Because that is going to be the thing that opposing defensive coordinators are going to figure out, which is why Roman's got to prove himself as a run blocker, where coming out of high school, he never had to block because he always had the ball in his hands.

I know, what a great problem to have.

But that is going to be the thing for him, and Harbaugh is going to be, how do you figure out how to use him in a way, to your point, Dan, he can be a mismatch for whatever he's out on the field to do.

But I'm all in favor of continuing to give him more opportunities, especially as you have to get into, say, a four-minute drill or a two-minute drill, where clearly you're going to be passed.

Well, I think that's the type of role that can be a 15-20 snap a game role.

yeah.