ESPN: With Minnesota rediscovering some offensive mojo it could get worse for Riley

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per ESPN:

Tragic Mike: Nebraska is seemingly inventing torturous ways to lose in the closing seconds at this point, and this is miles away from what Mike Riley surely envisioned when he left Oregon State to take over a program that had been nothing if not consistent under Bo Pelini. The Huskers might actually be that right now, though coming up short in the fourth quarter isn’t exactly the kind of consistency they were anticipating -- and dropping to 2-4 isn’t going to win over the fan base.

With Minnesota rediscovering some offensive mojo despite dealing with an injury outbreak during the first half of the season, it could get worse for Riley as he takes the Huskers on the road desperately in need of a conference win. The Gophers and their hard-hitting defense aren’t going to make that easy, and after demolishing Purdue, they also need a victory if they are going to sneak back into the West Division race at all.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post...ed-by-huge-showdown-for-the-state-of-michigan

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
per ESPN:

Tragic Mike: Nebraska is seemingly inventing torturous ways to lose in the closing seconds at this point, and this is miles away from what Mike Riley surely envisioned when he left Oregon State to take over a program that had been nothing if not consistent under Bo Pelini. The Huskers might actually be that right now, though coming up short in the fourth quarter isn’t exactly the kind of consistency they were anticipating -- and dropping to 2-4 isn’t going to win over the fan base.

With Minnesota rediscovering some offensive mojo despite dealing with an injury outbreak during the first half of the season, it could get worse for Riley as he takes the Huskers on the road desperately in need of a conference win. The Gophers and their hard-hitting defense aren’t going to make that easy, and after demolishing Purdue, they also need a victory if they are going to sneak back into the West Division race at all.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post...ed-by-huge-showdown-for-the-state-of-michigan

Go Gophers!!
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Pretty much sums it up. This may not be a close game....
 



Hard to say.

Nebraska should have the talent to win fairly securely, but I'm not sure the team and Riley are on the same page. Should have stuck with Bo.
 


We'll get Nebraska's best shot early but if the Gophers can score early (a huge, huge ask of this team, I realize) and get the crowd behind them it could snowball (maybe an early INT? Armstrong hasn't been the best at ball security this year.)

People will point to Nebraska's great run defense as matching up well with our strength - and they're not necessarily wrong, the Huskers allow fewer than 100 yards per game on the ground - they have not played great rushing teams (their games so far have been against the #73, 77, 99, 102, 103 and 111 ranked teams in rushing yards per game). We're not a great rushing team either, but we're better than those teams and have a chance to establish something on the ground on Saturday.

Can't wait.
 

Gopher07 said:
We'll get Nebraska's best shot early but if the Gophers can score early (a huge, huge ask of this team, I realize) and get the crowd behind them it could snowball (maybe an early INT? Armstrong hasn't been the best at ball security this year.)

People will point to Nebraska's great run defense as matching up well with our strength - and they're not necessarily wrong, the Huskers allow fewer than 100 yards per game on the ground - they have not played great rushing teams (their games so far have been against the #73, 77, 99, 102, 103 and 111 ranked teams in rushing yards per game). We're not a great rushing team either, but we're better than those teams and have a chance to establish something on the ground on Saturday.

Can't wait.
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Debatable. You can argue that they may have already given up on their season with the way things ended against Wisconsin. Couple that with home field advantage and the gophs coming off of a blowout and I think it's safe to say Minnesota will be much more enthusiastic going into this game.
 

die hard gopher said:
Debatable. You can argue that they may have already given up on their season with the way things ended against Wisconsin. Couple that with home field advantage and the gophs coming off of a blowout and I think it's safe to say Minnesota will be much more enthusiastic going into this game.
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I wouldn't say that's safe to say. I think the Huskers will come in desperate and play as if their season is on the line. We'll have our hands full.
 

Their season is basically on the line (losing on Saturday means Nebraska needs to sweep Rutgers and Purdue and win two of three from Northwestern, Iowa and Michigan State to reach bowl eligibility) and they know they've been in all their games (they've led or been tied with 14 seconds to play in all six of their games this season).

I'm guessing they probably feel like they've got to go out and prove that they're better than their record - and will try to do it with a fast start on Saturday, particularly knowing that we're an awful first-quarter team. A quick deficit might have their fears creeping in though, and on the road it might be difficult to overcome.
 



Things are starting to change, but I still consider beating Nebraska to be a pretty big upset. I still view them as a 'have' and us as a 'have not.' Part of the reason I am so ecstatic about the last two seasons is, in part, because we were somehow able to beat the Huskers. I forever want to beat wisconsin, but I still believe that beating Nebraska does more for us nationally. I'm not saying we should storm the field, but it will take a number of years of dominance before I EVER expect a victory against Nebraska.
 

No reason for overconfidence. Husker losses were by razor thin margins in final seconds. They have a stable of good running backs and a QB who is much more of a playmaker than Mitch. They will be up for the game. Their one weakness, pass defense, we are not designed to exploit. Our offense has worked for three halves - two against Ohio U and one against lowly Purdue. As noted by others here, they are strong against the run. Should be a close game, hard fought.
 

Huskers have not given up. They've lost in heartbreaking fashion and come back and compete the next week.

You can make the argument that Kent State and Ohio are better than Purdue.
 

Hates Monikers said:
I wouldn't say that's safe to say. I think the Huskers will come in desperate and play as if their season is on the line. We'll have our hands full.
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I think that was last week for the huskers. It's just too mentally exhausting to lose in the fashion that they have so many times this year. It really takes a toll. Gophers fans should know this best.
 





Hates Monikers said:
I wouldn't say that's safe to say. I think the Huskers will come in desperate and play as if their season is on the line. We'll have our hands full.
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I agree. And let's also not forget the 15,000 fans the huskers will bring to TCF so if they start out strong they will have fans there cheering pretty darn loud. I'm really excited for this game!
 

'13Gopher said:
I agree. And let's also not forget the 15,000 fans the huskers will bring to TCF so if they start out strong they will have fans there cheering pretty darn loud. I'm really excited for this game!
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You really think they'll have 15K there?
 

die hard gopher said:
Debatable. You can argue that they may have already given up on their season with the way things ended against Wisconsin. Couple that with home field advantage and the gophs coming off of a blowout and I think it's safe to say Minnesota will be much more enthusiastic going into this game.
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You can play this game all day:

Example A: Purdue had home field advantage and their heads high after a toughly-fought game against MSU. The Gophers had just been dismantled by Northwestern and had reason to worry given their offensive ineptitude. Advantage Purdue?

Example B: Minnesota has a false sense of confidence (a blowout against a terrible Purdue team) while Nebraska is an injured animal that is better then their record indicates, having lost four games by 11 points. Advantage Nebraska?

Just trying to show that these Psych 101 storylines can go both ways...

For the record, I think we take this one...

Go Gophers!
 


'13Gopher said:
I don't have a single idea how many fans they will have but I do know Huskers travel with the best of them.
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They do, but we also are doing much better in attendance compared to their last two visits. I think they will have eight or nine thousand which is still a lot. I think the days where Iowa, Nebraska and Wisco having 20,000 fans in our house are over.
 

bemidjigopher said:
They do, but we also are doing much better in attendance compared to their last two visits. I think they will have eight or nine thousand which is still a lot. I think the days where Iowa, Nebraska and Wisco having 20,000 fans in our house are over.
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agreed.
 

We need to win this game in order to maintain control over the $5 Bits of Broken chair trophy.
 

expect the best, never too high, never too low. gophers need a win, best way is to bring an attitude that MN will beat down whoever they play, and then make the plays. don't always win. but need to approach games as a winner.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Hard to say.

Should have stuck with Bo.
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They really should have, but at Nebraska, never having less than 9 wins in a season, having three 10 win seasons in seven years, and finishing with an overall record of 67-27 is grounds for termination. Bo's currently got Youngstown State ranked at #9 in the FCS standings, meanwhile, look at NU. Pelini can be about an emotional trainwreck sometimes (especially towards the end of his tenure), but in my opinion much of that can be traced due to the fact that he was under massive pressure, and you can see that in his two most notable outbursts, the leaked locker room rant following the home loss to UCLA and his behavior in the Iowa game and press conference afterwards, both of which took place in 2013. He knew the axeman was coming, and the common theme is that both times he explicitly stated "Hey, f*** these a-holes. If they want to fire me, go for it. We'll see how they do without me.".

A lot of truth to what Bo said, calling out the fair-weathered nature of the fanbase while marveling at the absurdly unrealistic expectations of those fans and the Nebraska athletic administration. I mean they're completely delusional, unaccepting of the fact that this isn't the 1960's, 70's, 80's or 90's, when Nebraska was a regular national title contender. None of that should have come as a surprise to Bo though. I mean hell, he did finish out the season for Solich, who was fired after going 58-19 in six seasons at Nebraska, including a 12, an 11, and a 10 win season.
 

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