Gophers' OC Greg Harbaugh Jr. learned from North Carolina game, ready to move on

The Gophers offense is looking to have a better offensive showing in Week 2 against Rhode Island.

Greg Harbaugh Jr. / GopherSports /

The Gophers' new-look offense with transfer portal quarterback and second-year play-caller Greg Harbaugh Jr. got off to a shaky start in Week 1 against North Carolina. They have a great opportunity to flip the script in Week 2 against Rhode Island.

"It's the next game, you know? I think if I'm going to sit there and preach offensively to our guys to have a 1-0 mentality every single day, I'm going to have that approach this week," Harbaugh said.

Minnesota's third down efficiency jumps off the box score as one of the biggest questions from their season opener. They were 4 of 12 on the evening, converting only 33% of their chances. Inversely, the Tar Heels were 8 of 16, converting 50% of their chances.

"I always challenge Max (Brosmer) with let's be as efficient as we can on first and second down, and see if we cannot have a third down this week. We always say that during the week as we're going throughout the week and when we're game planning on third down. It's a little bit of humor between us that we want to stay out of that third-and-long," Harbaugh said.

"With third-and-medium, it is what it is. That's a manageable third-down situation, but we want to be in as many third-and-one to third-and-fours as we possibly can throughout the entire game."

The Gophers offense actually gained more yards per play at 4.4 compared to 3.9 for North Carolina, but they had five three and outs compared to only three from the Tar Heels. Ultimately, the fact that Minnesota had only four offensive plays in the third quarter compared to 27 from UNC could've been the difference in the game.

"Once that game ended, you watch it. You learn from it, you gain experience, and then you move on. You look at a year ago, we're in that same position, and we won the game, and now this year, we're in the same exact position, and we lost the game," Harbaugh said. "Hopefully, our guys learn from it. I know I did. I know the rest of the staff did, and we just got to put ourselves in a position when we are in that position again, to go win the game."

While the vibe around the future of the Gophers 2024 season could be much different if preseason All-American kicker Dragan Kesich made just one of his two missed kicks, their offense still has a lot of room for improvement. A Week 2 matchup with Rhode Island will be a great opportunity for Harbaugh and Brosmer to find their rhythm.