As I look at the western conference this year, several teams are obviously in transition, seemingly providing an opening to up-and-coming programs. UW and U of N have new coaches and are replacing key players from last year. Minnesota, conversely, has made steady progress since Jerry Kill came on board and has been very stable. This could be a key year for the Gophers, as they show whether they belong in the upper echelon of the Big Ten, or even of the western conference, or are another team that hovers around the middle at or near .500 and waits for that occasional "big year" of 9 or 10 wins. I would not be shocked to see Minny win the west this year, but a losing Big Ten season in Minnesota could indicate the latter is true and that Kill has reached his peak at a school that has fewer real football highlights than any school other than IU for much of the last 50 years. Some could say the same of the 'Cats. Purdue, Illinois, and Iowa seem like the weak teams in our conference. UW and Nebby are strong programs that are always at least decent. NU and Minny are teams that have been on the rise with good coaches (NU for longer than Minny). Our game with the Gophers may be as big as we have in assessing where we stand in the conference this year and going forward.
Big Year for Minnesota or NU
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Huh? There are a lot of people here, myself included, that worry that 2012 was the aberration in an otherwise slow decline. I won't quote the 5-4-3-3-2-2-whatever guy, but...
This year, all I hear is "If Thorson...". Sure, I want the guy to be the next Persa, but will he? (i.e., can he carry an otherwise average team on his back). Even the "if Thorson" crowd isn't predicting 9 wins.
I don't see us as "on the rise". With two tough "academic" schools on our schedule, I see us as 'favored' in no more than three games this year - BSU, PU, ILL.
Honestly, I will be happy if we stem the bleeding, somehow win 6 games and end up in a bowl. I see us as a team needing to "arrest the fall" rather than "on the rise".
The one hope I have is that, after more than a decade as an offensive-oriented team, maybe we need to embrace the defense-first philosopy. I like teams like that, I just haven't seen one in purple uniforms (outside of Balt) since 1995
I still think Minny is a house of cards. We were not a great team last year, and lost but a touchdown, which could be reduced to 1-2 plays. And, like clockwork, Minny lost its bowl game to a comparable SEC team.
Minny is doing better than us, and at this point in the summer, I'm more optimistic for them than I am for us, but that still does not make them a "good" team.
Given that Minny has grown quite strong under Kill and that it's the first B1G game of the year, I agree it could be big in assessing where NU stands this year in the B1G West. However, I doubt it has much significance beyond the 2015 B1G West race, which feels to me to be as wide open as I can recall for any B1G division since the conference broke up into two divisions. On paper, it looks like a good year for a team not expected to do much in the preseason to rise out of (seemingly) nowhere and win it.
phatcat,
Wow, you know a lot more than most people. Here I thought we would be favored against Eastern Illinois. Please tell me why that would not be the case.
Is Garoppolo still playing QB for EIU? Maybe Tony Romo has a year of eligibility left.
One play, really. The kickoff return for a TD, right after we had put together a 97-yard TD drive. We'd been playing good defense and had the momentum, and then that kickoff return just killed us. But that doesn't mean that they were "a house of cards". We were a decent team last year - some good things and some bad, along with too many injuries - and so was Minnesota.
I agree, and dare I say it, we could very well be that team that rises out of (seemingly) nowhere to win the division. Fan bases tend to overlook their teams' weaknesses, but given the past two 5-7 seasons, I think our fan base is focused too much on the weaknesses. All college teams have to rebuild and will play some guys who don't have much experience. We have some question marks heading into the season, sure, but we also have a lot of talented players returning. If we stay relatively healthy (fingers crossed), we could surprise to the upside. I think we definitely have the talent to win the B1G West. None of the other teams in the division scare me. Wisconsin and Nebraska have new coaches, Minnesota is replacing its top RB and TE/WR, and Iowa's replacing some key players too. I think this is our year to go to Indy.
The Gophers have a tough schedule beginning with TCU who could be a national championship play-off team. That said they have a very solid defense with 2 CBs who will be drafted next spring in Eric Murray and Briean Boddy-Calhoun. The Gophers have the edge on NU on the lines and the Gopher QB has a year of experience under his belt. I don't think the Gophers are going to revert to mediocrity; the 2016 recruiting class has the 6th rated average in the B1G. This is a team with momentum and continuity in the coaching staff. I was at the Gopher -NU game last year in Mpls and it looked liked NU was taking control until Myrick ran the kick back fro a TD. NU has a major question at QB and it is difficult to see a redshirt freshman QB being consistent enough to be a difference maker. NU lacks a big time play maker like Persa, Colter, Mark or Ebert. Justin Jackson looks the part but can he carry the team if the QB play is average.
Good post. I'll be rooting for the Gophers against TCU, I know that much. You guys may have a solid defense, but TCU will still wear you down after a while. They're just too good. It'll be a fun game to watch, though.
From what I read, your biggest concern is a lack of playmakers on offense. Cobb and Williams are gone, and who will take their place? If you struggle on offense, you'll start to wear down on defense. We saw that all too much last year.
Yes, we have uncertainty at the QB position, that's for sure. We just hope that our OC will be able to develop one of the QBs, like he's done with other guys in the past. If our QB play is poor and our OL struggles like last year, then it'll be a long season. If the OL and WRs can improve, then I think we can surprise some people.
My error - I intended to put "FBS" games but failed to do so. If we lose to Eastern, are problems are pretty deep.
Looks like you read the post fairly closely, other than an oversight, do you agree that we are not a 'rising' team? I suppose as a 35-year NU fan I am naturally pessimistic, but I am crossing my fingers and hoping for 6 wins. Hard to clap with your fingers crossed, btw
Roderick Williams played ahead of Cobb for a time then got in the coach's doghouse. He looked like a beast in the spring game. The drop-off at RB will be less than you would think. Maxx Williams will be impossible to replace but there are some TEs with experience and potential.TCU is crazy fast with WRs who can really highpoint the ball.I hope the Gophers can stay close. I am a big Wildcat fan as my son graduated from NU. The Notre Dame last year was great.
phatcat,
Whether or not we are a "rising team" I believe is an open question at this point. In my view, Thorson will be the starter, and he fits our system much better than did Trevor. If that is the case, I think the o-line and receivers will look much better than last year when we had a qb who lacked mobility.
As a 54-year NU fan, I know that I fall into the "confused senior citizen" category, and I'm probably optimistic to a fault. You are most welcome to stop by our tailgate, drink a few Yeunglings and join the optimist camp. It will improve your outlook on life in general. I see an 8 win season and a decent bowl game coming up!
If you're going to be at the Penn State game, maybe I can look you up, No Chores. I might try to bring some Utz potato chips and Snyder's sourdough pretzels out there.
For sure I will be at two SAT bowls, Stanford and Duke. After that it gets cloudy as we now have a two year old in our midst.
To me, the traditional B1G need to "run the ball/stop the run" is upon us. Not like the Woody/Bo days, but if we run effectively, Thorson will have time to pass and if we stop the run, we appear to have a pretty good pass defense. It seems odd, with all of the footballs flying around for the last 15 years or so, but effective rushing has always been important to us. Not so much with defense agains the run, as we had that near-decade of inability to stop the pass no matter what.
In short, my hope is with the defense. I think the offense has one or two (depending on C.Jones health) proven stars. The rest, well, they have something to prove. The defense can make it moot if they regularly mangle the other team's offense like they did against a few teams last year
It really depends on our OL/DL. Especially the OL. If it plays better than last year, we could surprise a lot of people.
Williams indeed a pretty solid player, but I just don't see how the Minnesota passing game will get on track without Williams. Williams was quite simply the only guy who was a threat to a defense -- guys like Fruechte, May, and Wolitarsky may be nice possession guys, but none are really a huge threat to hit one deep with regularity. Combined with Leidner's general ineffectiveness throwing the ball, it's easy to see how the Gophers might struggle through the air enough to become one-dimensional.
OK? As with most of our games against the Gophers of late, I expect a pretty tight matchup. Will probably come down to which offense can make one more play than the other (or avoid a negative big play).
pawildcat,
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) I will be heading for the Dominican Republic on November 4 and not returning until December 2. Therefore, I won't be able to make the Penn State game, which is a bummer. However, I'll probably be at the first four home games. If you are able to attend one or more of them, please bring the chips and pretzels to our tailgate, and we'll treat you to a few Yeunglings.
That's probably the only time I'll get to Evanston this year, but we'll definitely do one in the future.
I agree. The Gophers have 3 RS freshmen WRs in Holland, Gentry and Gant who need to be productive.Those guys are big, fast and athletic. As good as Maxx was, they did not go to him as much as they should have and so the hole he leaves is not as big as it would seem. Leidner needs to be more consistent but QBs tend to improve with experience and he had some solid games last year.
Leidner has a year of starting experience now playing B1G football that will help him! He also has better WR targets next year in the 3 RS Freshman and Jeff Jones who will be a Big time playmaker at slot WR. RB Gophers will be fine lots of talent . Defense we are loaded with talent! Best DB group in the B1G.
Did wrassler just switch over to being a Gopher fan? Kind of creepy similarity... !
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