BTN: Big Ten West surprise team (Dienhart & Merriman: Minnesota)

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per BTN:

Tom Dienhart: Minnesota. Keep an eye on the Golden Gophers. While most focus on Wisconsin and Nebraska in the Big Ten West, the Golden Gophers may win the division, thanks to another strong defense.

Sean Merriman: Minnesota. This is my early pick to win the Big Ten West. Jerry Kill went from three wins in his first season at Minnesota, to six wins in his second year, to back-to-back eight-win seasons in 2013 and 2014. Now, it’s time for his Gophers to take the next step, which is winning the Big Ten West.

http://btn.com/2015/08/17/countdown-to-kickoff-big-ten-west-surprise-team/

Go Gophers!!
 

Should we really be considered a surprise pick at this point? We were one win away from winning the West last season and our two top competitors in the division are both in the midst of coaching changes. Picking Iowa would qualify as a surprise pick, picking us makes a lot of sense when you look at how things have gone the past few years and what is going on at some of the other top schools in the division.

Now had they picked us to win the conference that would have been a surprise pick :)
 

MNVCGUY said:
Should we really be considered a surprise pick at this point? We were one win away from winning the West last season and our two top competitors in the division are both in the midst of coaching changes. Picking Iowa would qualify as a surprise pick, picking us makes a lot of sense when you look at how things have gone the past few years and what is going on at some of the other top schools in the division.

Now had they picked us to win the conference that would have been a surprise pick :)
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We could win the West three years in a row, return everyone and we'd still be a surprise pick.
 

The conventional wisdom is that: "MN lost Cobb and Williams, so they might take a step back." That's what the casual fans and the National media know. You have to dig a little deeper to understand or accept that the Gophers are improving their depth and can be a contender this season.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
The conventional wisdom is that: "MN lost Cobb and Williams, so they might take a step back." That's what the casual fans and the National media know. You have to dig a little deeper to understand or accept that the Gophers are improving their depth and can be a contender this season.
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Every team in the Big Ten lost some good players. Wisconsin lost a Heisman candidate! They are taking a step WAYYY back.
 


I agree... it does seem as though the national media has concluded that Cobb and Maxxx will be too tough for the Gophers to replace. I love Cobb's game, but I sometimes wonder how many yards he would have finished his career with if Kirkwood had never been hurt. I do think a lot of yards were gained thanks to the O line. That being said, sure, I would RATHER have Maxx back for his Junior year and Cobb back as well. I just don't think national media looks deeply enough to see how potential growth in Leidner's passing ability, combined with Williams' production being spread around other receivers this season could be the same or better OVERALL. It will be interesting to see how many times we compare results to what would have happened if Cobb and Williams had still been around.

Meanwhile, Nebraska loses its best receiver and record breaking running back and national media assumes it will just be a reload. Same with Wisconsin. They have had so many top O lines and productive backs, the loss of a Heisman finalist isn't seen as scary as the Gophers losing Cobb.

When it comes to reproducing 8 wins, I worry more about Iowa unexpectedly rising from the dead, or Northwestern rebounding from their poor season. There are a lot of land mines awaiting the Gophers and I am more worried about that than I am replacing last season's stars.
 

I don't know if its just me but I feel like any running back could run behind the wisconsin o-line. I've never been impressed with any wisconsin running back once they got to the pros.
 

jordanras91 said:
I don't know if its just me but I feel like any running back could run behind the wisconsin o-line. I've never been impressed with any wisconsin running back once they got to the pros.
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And yet, the Melvin Gordon hype machine is in high gear.

But I'm sure he'll be different than every other running back since Wisky football was founded in 1993.
 

Are we really a surprise team when everyone and their uncle has pegged us as such?
 




Agree with most here. On one hand, I think it's odd that the loss of Williams, Cobb, and Wilson seem like such blows to us yet coaching changes & personnel losses in our division are largely ignored. At the same time, we haven't beat Iowa in Kinnick for ages, we caught Michigan in one of their worst years ever + Harbaugh may turn then around quicker than we expect, we stole one in Lincoln last year, and have yet to prove over 3 different coaches that we can beat Wisconsin with their system of O-Line + generic RB with 2,000 yards over the past decade. We escaped 2 games in Purdue and Northwestern last year as well.

I don't think the talent on the field this year will be worse than last year, despite our losses. Even so, it wouldn't surprise me to see us lose 3 of 4 to Mich/Neb/Wisc/Iowa, plus both of the OSU/TCU games, and end up 7-5 (with 6-6 a possibility with a loss to any of NW/Pur/Illinois). I'm not having a moment of negativity here, just saying that 6-6 wouldn't surprise me any more than 9-3 would. 10+ regular season wins would be a surprise, as it would mean either going 6-2 in conference AND beating TCU, or 7-1 in conference. I think if we're 6-2 this year in the BT we still don't win the West given IA/WI's schedule.
 

RailBaronYarr said:
Agree with most here. On one hand, I think it's odd that the loss of Williams, Cobb, and Wilson seem like such blows to us yet coaching changes & personnel losses in our division are largely ignored. At the same time, we haven't beat Iowa in Kinnick for ages, we caught Michigan in one of their worst years ever + Harbaugh may turn then around quicker than we expect, we stole one in Lincoln last year, and have yet to prove over 3 different coaches that we can beat Wisconsin with their system of O-Line + generic RB with 2,000 yards over the past decade. We escaped 2 games in Purdue and Northwestern last year as well.

I don't think the talent on the field this year will be worse than last year, despite our losses. Even so, it wouldn't surprise me to see us lose 3 of 4 to Mich/Neb/Wisc/Iowa, plus both of the OSU/TCU games, and end up 7-5 (with 6-6 a possibility with a loss to any of NW/Pur/Illinois). I'm not having a moment of negativity here, just saying that 6-6 wouldn't surprise me any more than 9-3 would. 10+ regular season wins would be a surprise, as it would mean either going 6-2 in conference AND beating TCU, or 7-1 in conference. I think if we're 6-2 this year in the BT we still don't win the West given IA/WI's schedule.
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I don't think we "stole" one in Lincoln last year. In fact, I think if anything... Nebraska almost "stole" that one from us thanks to the blocked field goal TD. Other than that play (10 point turn around), the Gophers were were more physical, and flat out BETTER.
 

Schnauzer said:
I don't think we "stole" one in Lincoln last year. In fact, I think if anything... Nebraska almost "stole" that one from us thanks to the blocked field goal TD. Other than that play (10 point turn around), the Gophers were were more physical, and flat out BETTER.
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Agree with this totally.
 




I mean, the game was extremely close. Not to make a whole thing out of this, but I consider the 2014 Nebraska game wholly different than the 2013 edition, or the 2014 games against Michigan or Iowa, where we were more physical, etc, and flat out outplayed them.

Nebraska was 2 and 11 yards away from 2 TDs in that game but for 2 fumbles by Pierson-El. Yes, they were incredible efforts on our part to force & recover them. But so was the effort to block a FG and return it for a TD for Nebraska! Total yards were near dead even. Yes, we lost Cobb 1 drive into the 3rd, but Nebraska lost their best WR, a starting OL, and another receiver earlier in the game. We didn't even take the lead for good until 3 minutes left in the game, so it's not like we staved off a miraculous comeback.

We can differ in our perception of the game, but I'd say that this is maybe one game in the last decade where luck/fate was on our side for once. If the story had been flipped and we lost a game in that fashion, ranked, at home, I'd certainly have felt like we were robbed.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Huge exaggeration. Last year wasn't even their worst (or 2nd-worst) year in the last decade.
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This.

Regardless, the Gophers did what good teams are supposed to do and that's manhandle an inferior team, which the Gophers clearly did, so RBY's point still doesn't hold.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Huge exaggeration. Last year wasn't even their worst (or 2nd-worst) year in the last decade.
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I qualified it with "one of." Yeah, the 08 team was worse, and the 09 one maybe only slightly so. But there was a huge to-do about them having lost 3 games before October for the first time ever last year. They won 5 total games. Ignoring 08/09, you have to go back to go back to 1984 to find a 6 win campaign, and 1967 to find a year with 5 or fewer wins. In the 70 seasons since WWII, this has to be in the bottom 5, right? I guess I'm not sure what the fuss is about. Michigan was about as vulnerable as we'll ever see them last year. We've lost to worse versions (see: 2008).

I'm totally behind the culture, preparation, and style of play a Kill team brings us relative to the past, but I'm just saying that things aligned for us pretty well last year and they could just as easily flip back this year in a couple of those games.
 

I believe you are referring to one turnover that, if it hadn't happened, was a penalty on Nebraska anyway. I don't think anyone would refer to that victory as a blow out, but to me it also didn't seem like the game was "stolen" from the Huskers.
 

Schnauzer said:
I believe you are referring to one turnover that, if it hadn't happened, was a penalty on Nebraska anyway. I don't think anyone would refer to that victory as a blow out, but to me it also didn't seem like the game was "stolen" from the Huskers.
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Yes, I remember. Again, we won the game. No argument. Maybe I'm the only Gopher fan who was doing more than a little butt clenching at the end of that game. I can't say if the penalty had been accepted that NE would have scored, but I can't say they wouldn't have, either. They were moving the ball damn well and still would have had 2 tries. Again, factor in the injuries to NE, etc etc. Flip the story and I would have walked away from that game pretty pissed.
 



As fans we've quickly become accustomed to entering each game with the thought that we can win this one. This is a welcomed reversal from only a few years ago when we were barely hoping for wins. Let's enjoy each play. I enjoy seeing an increasingly disciplined Gopher team that executes better through astute coaching and recruiting good citizen-athletes. Looking forward to the season.
 

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