Continued: Gophers get the job done in red zone in 3-0 start

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GOPHERS FOOTBALL

Up next: 11 a.m. Saturday vs.

Florida Atlantic • Metrodome

TV: Big Ten Network (830-AM)

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The real loser here, so far, is Joel Monroe.

Every game, every time the Gophers are driving down the field, the Gophers placekicker stretches and gets ready to try for a field goal. So far, just about all he's been allowed to do is kick extra points.

"It just means I take a lot of extra kicks into the net," Monroe said.

There are a few reasons for the Gophers' 3-0 start. The strength of the nonconference schedule is one. The Gophers' plus-7 turnover ratio is another. A third is the Gophers' efficiency on drives that reach inside the 20, or the red zone.

Through three games, the Gophers have had drives reach the red zone 11 times. Every one has resulted in a touchdown. The Gophers are one of 18 teams in Division I that have scored points on every drive into the red zone. But they are the only one to have scored touchdowns every time.

"The thing that's great about that is that you expect to do well now," quarterback Adam Weber said. As well he should. In the Gophers' 11 drives into the red zone, Weber is 4-for-4 for 24 yards and three touchdowns passing to go with six rushes for 26 yards and two more scores.

"It's not like one of those things where we don't know what's going to happen," Weber said. "I think we have established who we are when we get to the red zone that we're going to put the ball in the end zone."

It gets harder the closer you get to the end zone because there is less space for the defense to protect. Typically, teams use more and more zone defenses in the secondary as that defendable area shrinks. That means more eyes on the quarterback and more defenders that can sneak into passing lanes.

To combat that, a team must run the ball efficiently. Once the Gophers are inside the 20 this season, they have run 29 times for 116 yards, a 4-yard average.

Actually, as the field tightens, everything has to be done more efficiently. That was a focus for offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar entering this season. Many of the major players in the offense -- Weber, wide receiver Eric Decker and tight ends Jack Simmons and Nick Tow-Arnett -- are in their second year in Dunbar's spread offense. A year's experience allowed for more specialized work. Much of that work went into the red zone package.

"We started last spring," Dunbar said. "And we worked it all the way through."

But before that, Dunbar did a little research. First he looked at every red zone play the Gophers ran last season. Then he went to visit the Vikings and talked to offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.

"I said I wanted to see what everybody in the NFL was doing in the red zone, and I think he gave me about 4,000 clips. I sat around for six hours that day doing nothing but watching red zone plays, taking what I thought fit us."

There are plays for man coverage, such as the TD pass Decker caught against Montana State. There are plays against zone defense that require the receiver to find the open spot and the quarterback to find him. And don't forget the offensive line, which has allowed the Gophers to run the ball efficiently near the goal line.

"I credit coach Dunbar for making the right calls," Decker said. "He's a genius, in my opinion. He understands what they're trying to do."

It appears everyone on the Gophers offense knows what to do in that situation.

And as for Monroe?

"Don't worry," Decker said. "He'll get his chance."

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