Gopher Football
Minnesota Backfield vs. Colorado State Linebackers:
After last season, it was clear that the Colorado State linebackers were left in a situation where they pretty much had nowhere to go but up. A strong rushing defense usually is headed by strong linebackers, but it’s safe to say CSU did NOT have that. Not even close. Four of their top five tacklers last season were defensive backs, and actually all five were if you count that the one linebacker who cracked the top five was actually moved there from the defensive backfield. Knowing that, it’s no surprise that CSU struggled versus the run last year. The Rams gave up 221 yards a game on the ground with a 5.7 yards against average. If there was good news coming into this season, it was that CSU returned all three of their starters at this position. However, the excitement diminished a little bit as the off season wore on. CSU’s hope for defensive improvements suffered a blow when their best returning linebacker, Luke Adkins, was not able to fully recover from an injury suffered last season. With Adkins out, CSU has been going with Jeff Horniek, a redshirt freshman. Despite the hardships, CSU did have an encouraging start to the season. Horniek, along with senior LB mates Courtney Jones and Jahmal Hall combined for 22 tackles and held Colorado to 3.9 yards per rush. It was a nice start to their year, and is something CSU will need more of this week if they are to stop the Gopher rushing attack.
The Gopher backfield got off to a strong start last week against Tulsa. Laurence Maroney was his usual brilliant self with a career high 203 yards rushing on just 21 carries. Amir Pinnix had 11 carries for 46 yards, and Gary Russell contributed 67 yards on just 6 carries. The only disappointing thing was that the running game was lacking consistency, but play calling and attitudes seemed to change after Minnesota took the big lead. At QB, Bryan Cupito had mixed results. Cupito did hit 14 of 25 passes for 235 yards, but he did throw for one INT, along with about two or three other passes that could’ve been intercepted. The coaches will hope to see improved decision making from Cupito this week.
Summary:
This could be a long day for the Colorado State linebackers. Even though they do return two starters from last season, it still looks like they will be overmatched, even if they have improved since last year. Any of the three running backs the Gophers go with should be able to see success. The only way I see this match up tilting the other way is if Cupito regresses and had a near-career worst game.
Advantage: Minnesota
Minnesota Offensive Line vs. Colorado State Defensive Line:
Barring break out seasons from about two different players, the CSU defensive line looks like it will be the weak point of the defense this year. There is a very little game experience, and the line as a whole is slightly undersized. The best player on the line looks like it’s going to be Jesse Nading. Even though he is only a sophomore, Nading is the leading returning tackler on the line this season. Last year he tallied 30 tackles (however only 1 sack), but he got off to a slow start last week with only 1 tackle (which was a sack) against Colorado. The Rams do start two seniors, Delroy Parke (DT) and Terrence Carter (DE), but each of them registered less then 15 tackles last season in limited action. The final starter is sophomore DT Blake Smith. Like Carter, Smith recorded only 11 tackles last season, and at only 270 pounds is undersized for a DT.
The Minnesota offensive line will be dealing with a couple injuries this week. Starting left tackle Joe Ainslie is not expected to play, and could miss a couple weeks with a hand injury. Replacing Ainslie is sophomore Steve Shidell, a player who was in the mix for the starting spot at right tackle before the season started. The other injury is to senior left guard Mark Setterstrom. Setterstrom got poked in the eye against Tulsa, but a visit to the hospital after the game cleared up any worry of a serious injury. Setterstrom has since progressed to the point where he is expected to play this week, but if there are any concerns about him before the game, expect the coaches to err on the side of safety and hold him out. If Setterstrom does start, he and center Greg Eslinger will make their 40th consecutive starts together. Last week the Gopher line didn’t have the greatest of games. Mason commented after the game that the area where he was disappointed was the consistency in the running game. After blowing open big holes for two long Laurence Maroney touchdown runs, the line did not do quite as well the rest of the way. Also, there is probably also a little bit of concern as to the amount of pressure Tulsa was able to put on Bryan Cupito.
Summary:
Despite the inconsistency of the line play last week and having a couple starters nicked up, don’t expect there to be too many problems with the play of the OL this week. The Gopher linemen always seem to play well at home, and both backups Minnesota would use are capable players. Colorado State just does not have the talent or experience on the defense line to slow down the excellent Gopher offensive line. The one area Minnesota will need to show improvement in is pass protection, but aside from that Minnesota should have their way. Expect at least 250 yard rushing performance this week.
Advantage: Minnesota
Minnesota Receivers vs. Colorado State Secondary:
The CSU secondary was supposed to be the obvious strength of the defense this year, and that still is the case. However, the unit suffered a serious blow two weeks ago when senior free safety Ben Stratton tore his ACL and was ruled out for the season. Stratton was CSU’s second leading tackler last year with 88, and was expected to be the leader of the defense this season. The Rams are in good shape at strong safety though, with senior Travis Garcia holding down the starting spot. Garcia has gone from a walkon running back to starting strong safety who is one of the leaders of the defense. The best player on the Rams defense looks like it’s junior CB Robert Hebert. At 6’1″ Hebert has good size, and last year he led CSU in pass breakups with 11. At the other CB spot is an up and coming sophomore. Darryl Williams beat out a couple different juniors for the starting spot, so Ram fans have to be excited about his future. But while standing at just 5’9″ though, Williams could be outmatched by the tall Gopher receivers.
If you had any doubts about the abilities of the Minnesota receivers coming into this season, they have be at least a little bit less after watching the first game. As expected, sophomore Ernie Wheelwright led the Gopher receivers to the tune of 5 catches for 95 yards and the teams only receiving TD. Perhaps most importantly is that Wheelwright hung onto the ball against Tulsa; a problem that plagued him last season. Logan Payne, who surprisingly ended up 1st on the depth chart on the other side of the field, also had an impressive debut. Payne was thrown to several times, and ended up with 3 receptions for 66 yards. Included in those catches were a couple of impressive leaping grabs. At 6’2″, it looks like Payne will give the Gophers another tall receiver to throw to. Not to be outdone, Jared Ellerson chipped in 5 catches for 65 yards. With Wheelwright having established himself as the #1 guy, Ellerson should see himself with more opportunities than he had last season.
Summary:
Even though the secondary is the strength of the CSU defense, I think Minnesota’s WR’s will be too much. Over the last few seasons the Gophers have become nationally knows as a great running team, but if they can get consistent QB play the receivers will establish their own identity as well. When the ball was thrown well to them last week, the WR’s did a very nice job of bringing the balls in. The Gophers just have too much talent at receiver for CSU to keep up with them.
Advantage: Minnesota
Overall Summary:
Defense was the weak point for Colorado State last year, and coming into this year they hoped to be significantly improved. Things started out OK against Colorado last week, but then the bottom fell out when they allowed 21 points in the 4th quarter to lose the game. For the contest they allowed 31 points and 396 yards of total offense to the Buffalos. Those numbers do not bode well for the Rams when they head into Minnesota this week. The Gophers remain capable of being one of the best offensive teams in the country, despite their somewhat rusty performance last week. When your team scored 41 points, and neither the coaches, players or fans seem to be happy about it, you know you might be good. Look for Minnesota to continue to move the ball and put points on the board this week.
Overall Advantage: Minnesota
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