New coach – new look… Gophers set to kick off 2007 sesaon

Finally, after over 8 months of waiting, the Tim Brewster era is just about to get underway at the University of Minnesota. Through his first off season in Dinkytown, there is no question Brewster has done everything right off the field. He hired some respected coaches (thanks in part to a generous budget), he connected with high school coaches as well as fans, he talked about reasons why the Gophers could win instead of why they couldn’t, and he’s been a busy recruiter. All that remains is that one little other part of the job”¦ game day coaching. If Brewster is half as good on the field as he is off, I think we’ll find that we have a pretty darn good coach on our hands. With the season just about to get under way, here are my impressions on where the team is at, along with a quick look at the season opener vs. Bowling Green.

Team weakness

Cornerback ““ The Gophers biggest weakness heading into this season is at cornerback. After this past summers sexual assault incident when the four players were kicked off the team, there was a pretty good chance that the Gophers lost what would have been their two starters at cornerback in Dominic Jones and Keith Massey. Also of note now (which didn’t seem as big at the time) was Durrell Clark”“James barely having time to unpack his bags before leaving the program. James was a Junior College transfer who was considered one of the Gophers better signees of the 2007 class and was expected to compete for playing time as well.

After losing Clark”“James, Jones and Massey, the coaches had no choice but to move Jamal Harris back to cornerback (after being a long”“time cornerback he had been moved to safety). This is a bit of a concern, because last season Harris beat out Steib for a starting cornerback spot. Apparently the coaches thought they could do better because they moved him to safety, and now Harris is back at cornerback with Steib along side him. This situation has got make Gopher fans a little nervous heading into the season, especially considering there is little depth behind them. Three true freshmen, Curtis Thomas, Kyle Theret and Ryan Collado will see time this year, and may be moved into a starting role if Brewster doesn’t get results.

Depth ““ Another big area of concern for the Gophers this year ““ as it usually is ““ is depth. One area is at wide receiver. The Gophers have a couple of good options at starter in Ernie Wheelwright and Eric Decker, but after that it gets cloudy in a real hurry. It was looking like Mike Chambers would be an option to be the third starter after seeing some production last year as a freshman, but due to the equally thin secondary Chamber has been moved to cornerback (where he is listed as a backup, despite playing there for just a couple weeks). That leaves a couple of walk”“ons and several true freshmen competing for the remaining spots. When the depth charts were released today one of those true freshmen, Tray Herndon was listed as the third starter next to Decker and Wheelwright. Overall this could be a unit that will surprise, but with so many true freshmen and walk”“ons in the mix things could get ugly in a hurry if there are any injuries. In any case, tight end Jack Simmons will need to have a big season catching the ball to help the receivers out a bit. As I mentioned above, depth at cornerback is also a huge concern. Linebacker and quarterback are other positions where the Gophers don’t have a lot of experienced players. (to get a look at the Gophers depth chart, follow this link.)

Team strengths

Running backs ““ One area where the Gophers will not be thin is at Running Back. Amir Pinnix is back for his senior year after continuing the string of 1000 yard Gopher rushers last year. Jay Thomas could once again be ready to be a star (although he has been slowed by a sore leg this fall). After being slowed early last year by his recovery from his torn ACL in 2005, Thomas really turned it on at the end of the season having a good game against Michigan State, and then a huge game against Iowa with 170+ all purpose yards. The third guy in the mix is Duane Bennett, a true freshman. As camp has gone on just about everyone who has watched a practice or scrimmage has raved about Bennett, predicting big things from him. In fact, Bennett did well enough to supplant Thomas as the number two guy to start the year. Justin Valentine returns for his senior season at fullback after starting for most of the past three years, and Tommy Becker has been improving at fullback after transitioning from linebacker during spring practice.

Running game in general ““ Once again, the strength of the Gopher team in general appears to be with the running game. Even though there is a new offense in place, most of the key players from last years good running team are back in place. As I mentioned above, the running backs should be very good, and the offensive line returns three of five starters (although returning starter Ned Tavale is in a battle with D.J. Burris at guard) in addition to Ryan Ruckdashel, who saw a lot of time as a backup. Adam Weber should be prove to be a good running option at quarterback.

Other random notes

To this point, the quarterback battle has gone about as expected. Junior Tony Mortensen held a slight lead early on due to his experience, but coaches were encouraged by freshman Adam Weber’s athleticism and mental improvements. As camp went on, Weber starter getting more reps with the first team offense, and today he was named the starter. Weber is the more athletic of the two quarterbacks and is the better fit to run the spread offense. True freshman Clint Brewster is third string quarterback in front of junior Mike Maciejowski. Brewster will only play in an emergency.

““ For a change, the Gophers appear to have a good amount of depth on the defensive line.

““ Jason Giannini has won back the place kicking job from Joel Monroe

““ Another reason the loss of Dominic Jones hurts was because of his abilities as a kick return guy. Duane Bennett, Harold Howell and Jay Thomas will be asked to help fill the void.

What to expect this season

On offense”¦ One thing you could always count on with the previous coach staff was good to very good running offense, so naturally with a new regime in place there are going to be people who are concerned. Though it may take some time to get humming, I really don’t expect problems from the Gophers offense this year. The system the Gophers are running yielded huge results at Northwestern, the Gophers have some solid coaches, and more importantly the players the Gophers have coming back (at least the starters) are solid. I don’t think we’ll see any record setting performances it, but barring injuries the offense as a whole should be able to hold their own. Of course this all depends on the quarterback play.

Regardless of how the offense does though, remember that it will take Brewster a couple years to recruit the type and numbers of players he needs at each position to run the offense, so the types of issues that the Gophers may be have to deal with this year (such as the shortage of numbers at wide receiver) will not be totally unexpected.

On defense”¦ I have this crazy little hunch that our defense may not actually be completely terrible this year. I think our front seven should be okay against the run, and with improving juniors Willie Van De Steeg and Steve Davis still around we should have a decent pass rush. But as I mentioned earlier the story in the secondary is a different story, we could be in for a couple long games against better passing quarterbacks. Besides Chad Henne, the best quarterback the Gophers will face this year will likely be Curtis Painter of Purdue, so the defense should get a stiff test right away to open the Big Ten season and we should have our answer on how good they really are.

Special Teams”¦ Boy, who knows? From day one Brewster has emphasized special teams, but there are several things that will need to worked out and improved before this can be considered a solid unit. First and foremost will be to solidify the place kicking position. After struggling with extra points the past two seasons, Jason Giannini was benched late last season in favor Joel Monroe. Even though Monroe has good kickoffs, his place kicking does not have the greatest touch. At punter, the Gophers hope that Justin Kucek can improve. The return games suffered a huge blow with Dominic Jones was kicked off the team. Last year the Gophers were 1st in the Big Ten in kickoff returns and 2nd on punt returns. Jones was a big part of that, and we’ll soon find out if the Gophers have someone who can replace him. The one area where the Gophers should be very strong in special teams is in kick coverage. Last year the Gophers were 1st & 4th in the conference in kickoff & punt returns. So I guess what it’ll come down to is if one the two place kickers can really step up, and if they can find a good return option. If they can, then Minnesota should have one of the top groups of special teams in the conference.

Overall”¦ I’m not trying to take the easy way out here, but I really don’t know what to expect this year. Aside from Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State and possibly Penn State, the Big Ten looks pretty even to me. Games like Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern and possibly Iowa are all in the winnable category, but I don’t see any of them as locks. The best I see Minnesota going in the Big Ten is 4″“4, the worst is 1″“7.

Remember, the Gophers return about 14 or so starters from last years 3″“5 Big Ten team, so it’s not like the cupboard is completely bare. Also, the schedule got a little easier when we lost Penn State & Michigan state, and gained Northwestern and Illinois.

Keys to the season

““ Health: As I mentioned above, I feel like the Gophers have some very solid players, especially on offense. If these guys can stay healthy, there is the potential to do some good things.

““ Quarterback: Obviously, how well Adam Weber does not only learning the game, but directing a new offense will have a huge impact on the offense. That goes without saying.

““ Pass rush: Because of the thin defensive backfield for Minnesota, pass rush will be huge. Get some pressure on the quarterback, and make the cornerbacks job a lot easier.

““ Key game: Purdue. A win against Purdue would be a great start to the Big Ten season, and possibliy a sign that 4″“5 Big Ten wins would not be out of the question.

Quick Bowling Green preview

Seeing that this is the first game of a new coach, with a new offense and a new defense, it’s tough for me to try and analyze what will happen on the field. Quite frankly, nothing will surprise me. There could be a lot of rough moments, but the Gophers have enough talent on offense to generate several great moments as well. Defensively, this will be a great test for Minnesota. If the D gives up a lot of big plays, it could be a pretty clear sign that they’re going to struggle this season. But if can do well, well then maybe there’s hope.

As for Bowling Green, they should give the Gophers a decent opening test. They are solid, but not spectacular on offense (highlighted by a good ground game) and probably not quite as good on defense. The Falcon’s special teams was bad last year, and will need to improve in a hurry if they are going to compete with Minnesota. There isn’t any one player on their roster that should keep the Gopher coaches up late trying to scheme against. Like the Gophers, Bowling Green is hoping to get off to a strong start to get rid of bad vibes from the end of last year. In the Falcons case, they started off the 2006 season okay only to go in the tank and end of the year.

This probably won’t be an early season, 48″“10 win like we’ve seen so many of the past few seasons, but the Gophers have a talent advantage that should allow them to win rather easily.

Prediction: Minnesota 37 ““ Bowling Green 17

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