2010 Schedule

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eker0016

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Since I'm sick of reading the handwringing and bashing on both the BB and FB boards, I've decided to start a constructive discussion.

Early predictions on the 2010 schedule. Who do we have to beat, who are tossups, who would be a signature win etc.?

@Middle Tennessee State - W
South Dakota - W
Southern California - L (with a chance for a sneaky upset against a team that is reeling right now)
Northern Illinois - should win, but tough team W
Northwestern - tough team on the rise, W
@Wisconsin - got some experience, doesn't lose a lot. Tough game. L
@Purdue - L another team on the rise, toss-up. I think we split the Purdue/NW games
Penn State - W - Tim Brewster wins the first game he is supposed to lose.
Ohio State - L
@Michigan State - W program in turmoil due to losses, arrests
@Illinois - W see MSU, replace arrests with transfers
Iowa - L

The schedule looks very similar to last year, except we get the good teams at home and the bad teams away. Hopefully this means we can steal 1-2 of the games we are "supposed to lose" (a la PSU). I see a 7-5 season as realistic and likely optimistic...thoughts?
 

This is a really difficult schedule to predict. We could improve a little and have a terrible outcome. Or we could improve a little beyond that and be Rose Bowl bound. This is the kind of schedule you'd want if you were a top tier team. This is the kind you'd hate if you were a bottom tier team. We're in the middle. It could go either way.

Without seeing an improved offense, we're 5-7. Ugh. If our offense steps forward?? Sky's the limit.
 

MTS is 9-3 this season (granted with a weak schedule) and returns all but five starters. playing in murfreesburo on a thursday and some MTS fans suggesting a "black out" which they do better then the gophers do a gold out. i wouldn't chalk that game up to a win.

should be tough. they are definitely better than syracuse.
 

eker0016 said:
Since I'm sick of reading the handwringing and bashing on both the BB and FB boards, I've decided to start a constructive discussion.

Early predictions on the 2010 schedule. Who do we have to beat, who are tossups, who would be a signature win etc.?

@Middle Tennessee State - W
South Dakota - W
Southern California - L (with a chance for a sneaky upset against a team that is reeling right now)
Northern Illinois - should win, but tough team W
Northwestern - tough team on the rise, W
@Wisconsin - got some experience, doesn't lose a lot. Tough game. L
@Purdue - L another team on the rise, toss-up. I think we split the Purdue/NW games
Penn State - W - Tim Brewster wins the first game he is supposed to lose.
Ohio State - L
@Michigan State - W program in turmoil due to losses, arrests
@Illinois - W see MSU, replace arrests with transfers
Iowa - L

The schedule looks very similar to last year, except we get the good teams at home and the bad teams away. Hopefully this means we can steal 1-2 of the games we are "supposed to lose" (a la PSU). I see a 7-5 season as realistic and likely optimistic...thoughts?
Click to expand...

Mid Ten - W
SD - W
USC - L (signature win if we get it)
N Ill - W
NU - W
WI - L (slight potential for signature, they'd have to start the season ranked and remain undefeated)
PU - W
PSU - L (signature)
OSU - L (signature)
MSU - L
Ill - W
Iowa - L (signature, maybe... they're tough to predict)

My knee-jerk reaction is a 6-6 year, if we hold the course. 8 wins with a 5-3 B10 record is a highly successful season, or even 8 wins with a 4-4 B10 record, as we'd beat USC. That said, I see more room for upset losses (N Ill, NU, PU, Ill) than I do for upset wins (WI, Iowa, MSU). course, that is very far into the future, who knows what will happen in the meantime. Of course, to take the next step we need to exceed expectations at some point. 2010 and 2011 are big opportunities for that.

Note: I really haven't looked into what each team is losing/gaining, so this is a very rough projection.
 

hyaluronic said:
That said, I see more room for upset losses (N Ill, NU, PU, Ill) than I do for upset wins (WI, Iowa, MSU). course, that is very far into the future, who knows what will happen in the meantime. Of course, to take the next step we need to exceed expectations at some point. 2010 and 2011 are big opportunities for that.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the thoughts. I complete agree with your two points here:

1. More room for upset losses

2. We need to exceed expectations at some point.

In each of the last two years, I feel that we have (largely) beat the teams we are supposed to beat and lose to the teams to which we are supposed to lose. Along the way, we've lost to a team each year we should have beat (NW in 08, Ill in 09). There have been stretches in several games where I felt we were playing "above our ability," but we've never done that for a full game. That is one of the only complaints I've had against Brew so far (other than his handling of Dunbar/Fisch).
 


The home game against PSU is Brew's best shot at a signature win next year.
 

Will be easier to handicap after the bowl game

Maybe we'll see a flash of offense at Tempe - Gray at wide reciever, maybe even playing QB for a spell. MT State will be very tough for an opener, especially with this season's offense; Northwestern will be tough, too. I think we might knock off Iowa or Penn State or both. Hard to see anything much better than 6-6. 2011 will be the year for us.
 

@Mid TN St - Loss (9-3 team steals a win while we still debate starting QB, WR's, and RB)
So Dakota - Win (lopsided win brings big hype that the offense has been found)
So Cal - Loss (lopsided loss brings fans back to reality)
No Illinois - Win (close win, but it's still a win)
N'western - Win (no Kafka = no worries)
@Wisconsin - Loss (the pivotal game that falls apart late and sends us reeling)
@Purdue - Loss (PU turnover issues long solved, we lose a tough road game)
Penn St - Pick (I can see a win with an established offense, and a loss if it's the Brewster norm)
Ohio St - Loss (over matched in all aspects)
@Mich St - Loss (payback for this year)
@Illinois - Win (Zook on the outs or a first year coach still figuring things out)
Iowa - Win (just a hunch)

5-6 and 1 pick. That's assuming Weber is the starter and Gray is lightly used again. If Gray starts, well... we need to see what he can actually do but I believe he could only do better.
 

8-4 is the benchmark for me.

I agree with OP's W/L's, but I would say that either the WI or IA game also needs to be a W.

MTSU is better than people think. But as a Big Ten team you need to beat the Sunbelt teams evey time if you ever want to be better than mediocre.

The program needs an 8-win season. And this can be accomplished by beating all but one of the opponents they should beat (MTSU, NI, SD, NU, PU, IL, MSU), beating one rival (IA or WI) and having one big signature upset victory at home (USC, OSU, PSU).
 



5-7 and our nightmare will be over:

@Middle Tennessee State - W
South Dakota - W
Southern California - L
Northern Illinois - W
Northwestern - W
@Wisconsin - L
@Purdue - L
Penn State - L
Ohio State - L
@Michigan State - L
@Illinois - W
Iowa - L
 

Here is how i see it playing out.

@Middle Tennessee State - W
South Dakota - W
Southern California - W (Yes i think we can upset USC, they nothing special)
Northern Illinois - W
Northwestern - W
@Wisconsin - W (Another upset here)
@Purdue - W
Penn State - L
Ohio State - L
@Michigan State - L
@Illinois - W
Iowa - W

Yes 9-3.
 

I think our defense takes a step backward next year as they have massive holes to fill with inexperienced players. I think their offense will improve slightly but not nearly to the level they need to get to compete in the Big Ten successfully.

I think the team goes backward next year to 4-8 and a 10th place finish in the Big Ten. Sorry.....I know a lot of Gopher fans don't want to hear this....but I have a very bad feeling about this.

And no -- if the team finishes at 5-7 I will not be overjoyed because they exceeded my expectations.
 

gophersfan said:
Here is how i see it playing out.

@Middle Tennessee State - W
South Dakota - W
Southern California - W (Yes i think we can upset USC, they nothing special)
Northern Illinois - W
Northwestern - W
@Wisconsin - W (Another upset here)
@Purdue - W
Penn State - L
Ohio State - L
@Michigan State - L
@Illinois - W
Iowa - W

Yes 9-3.
Click to expand...
I like your attitude man! I think our offense will improve "tremendously"--I really do. Another year in the system and the o-line will be greatly improved and the receivers will start to figure things out. No matter who plays Q, we will be improved there because they have the whole offseason to work within Fisch's system. I'm hoping that Gray can step up here but I just want the best player playing, whoever it happens to be.

Defensively, I see a very inexperienced but very talented group. Unlike some people on here, I think Cosgrove did a great job with the group he had. I think we will have one of the young DE's step up and be a play maker (hoping for Hageman) and our LB's will be the fastest prolly in the history of the program. Carter is a stud DB and I think Lewis or one of the other RS freshman will step up and Collado has proven that he deserves some minutes (I'm hoping at safety) Our safetie's really need to step up, we need someone to emerge as a playmaker here (I've heard good things about that Juco they have coming in.)

I'm predicting 8-4 next year, I think this team will show the offense that we were hoping for this year and our defense will be top 5 in the big ten.
 



hyaluronic said:
Mid Ten - W
SD - W
USC - L (signature win if we get it)
N Ill - W
NU - W
WI - L (slight potential for signature, they'd have to start the season ranked and remain undefeated)
PU - W
PSU - L (signature)
OSU - L (signature)
MSU - L
Ill - W
Iowa - L (signature, maybe... they're tough to predict)

My knee-jerk reaction is a 6-6 year, if we hold the course. 8 wins with a 5-3 B10 record is a highly successful season, or even 8 wins with a 4-4 B10 record, as we'd beat USC. That said, I see more room for upset losses (N Ill, NU, PU, Ill) than I do for upset wins (WI, Iowa, MSU). course, that is very far into the future, who knows what will happen in the meantime. Of course, to take the next step we need to exceed expectations at some point. 2010 and 2011 are big opportunities for that.

Note: I really haven't looked into what each team is losing/gaining, so this is a very rough projection.
Click to expand...


I agree with the 6-6 record. As long as the offense improves, moves the ball some, scores some points, and makes the team competitive, it will be a succesfull season. I don't expect miracles but I wouldn't want to tolerate another complete offensive breakdown.
 

i think a lot of the time, especially in the becky and hogeye games, we were our own worst enemy. in 2010, if we stop making mental mistakes and score TD's instead of FG's near the goal line, we go 8-4 perhaps 9-3. if we keep doing the same as we did this year, we have some agonizing defeats and go 5-7. we were very close to being 7-5 or 8-4 this year and i have hope that we'll turn it around, so i say 8-4 in 2010.

then in 2011 B10 championship talk will begin
 

eker0016 said:
In each of the last two years, I feel that we have (largely) beat the teams we are supposed to beat and lose to the teams to which we are supposed to lose. Along the way, we've lost to a team each year we should have beat (NW in 08, Ill in 09). There have been stretches in several games where I felt we were playing "above our ability," but we've never done that for a full game. That is one of the only complaints I've had against Brew so far (other than his handling of Dunbar/Fisch).
Click to expand...

I think we've played 1 stellar complete game for a win against quality teams in each of the last 2 seasons. In '08 vs Illinois and '09 vs Michigan State. But your point is taken, sometimes we seem to play against ourselves as much as our opponent.
 

gophersfan said:
Here is how i see it playing out.

@Middle Tennessee State - W
South Dakota - W
Southern California - W (Yes i think we can upset USC, they nothing special)
Northern Illinois - W
Northwestern - W
@Wisconsin - W (Another upset here)
@Purdue - W
Penn State - L
Ohio State - L
@Michigan State - L
@Illinois - W
Iowa - W

Yes 9-3.
Click to expand...

USC will beat us by 40. Barkley being a freshman was the only reason they failed to do anything this year. Next year with a season under his belt, USC will have a lot more confidence. It's gonna be a bad loss. We do not match up anywhere with there entire team......Their entire freshman class could start and we would still get demolished.
 

Gold Rush said:
I think our defense takes a step backward next year as they have massive holes to fill with inexperienced players. I think their offense will improve slightly but not nearly to the level they need to get to compete in the Big Ten successfully.

I think the team goes backward next year to 4-8 and a 10th place finish in the Big Ten. Sorry.....I know a lot of Gopher fans don't want to hear this....but I have a very bad feeling about this.

And no -- if the team finishes at 5-7 I will not be overjoyed because they exceeded my expectations.
Click to expand...

Can't buy the defense takes a step back theory. As posted on several threads now, please go back and see who was on the field at critical times last season. Anyone remember who forces the fumble against AF? Just one example, of which there were many. Here's another: Cooper didn't start either, at least not every game. But he sure was there when things got hot. Please correct if I'm wrong, but I believe due to playing time last season you can shorten the list of "new" defensive players considerable. And, as is the case with all of us, like it or not, each returner will be a year older.
 

maxwellsmart said:
Can't buy the defense takes a step back theory. As posted on several threads now, please go back and see who was on the field at critical times last season. Anyone remember who forces the fumble against AF? Just one example, of which there were many. Here's another: Cooper didn't start either, at least not every game. But he sure was there when things got hot. Please correct if I'm wrong, but I believe due to playing time last season you can shorten the list of "new" defensive players considerable. And, as is the case with all of us, like it or not, each returner will be a year older.
Click to expand...

I will certainly agree. Our defense can only get better next year. Brew has recruited some very nice athletes on defense and I love Carter,Tinsley, Cooper, Edwards, and Kirksey. His offensive recruiting leaves a lot to be desired, however.
 

Overall decline in experience on the defensive side. There will be a curve involved. Impossible to predict when the net result will be positive. Could be the first game, could be 2011. It's a question. Just like the O. Almost completely returning, second year in system. A line that should be reaching maturity. Should be a no brainer net increase, but I'm not making that bet. Big ??'s
 

WAGopher said:
I think we've played 1 stellar complete game for a win against quality teams in each of the last 2 seasons. In '08 vs Illinois and '09 vs Michigan State. But your point is taken, sometimes we seem to play against ourselves as much as our opponent.
Click to expand...

I agree with that. I remember Illinois being a decent team when we played them, we helped send them into a tailspin (kind of like they did to us this year!). I flew home and went to the MSU game this year and I was really excited for the rest of the season after seeing Weber uncork all of those deep passes to McKnight, Stoudermire, Green and Tow-Arnett.
 

Schnoodler said:
Overall decline in experience on the defensive side. There will be a curve involved. Impossible to predict when the net result will be positive. Could be the first game, could be 2011. It's a question. Just like the O. Almost completely returning, second year in system. A line that should be reaching maturity. Should be a no brainer net increase, but I'm not making that bet. Big ??'s
Click to expand...

Yes, overall decline in experience on defense is a known factor, so must be given consideration. But there is plenty of upside, including returners with lots of playing time and perceived athleticism of last year's redshirts and incoming class. Do defensive coaches return? All that would make me optimistic, though I confess to suffering that condition my entire life.
 

We will know this team is good if we blow out a few of the early teams. It's feels like it's been a while since we've crushed a team we are supposed to crush.
 


This thread deserves a bump, as it exposes some of the morons for who they are. All of you rah-rah Brewster kool-aid drinkers need now to shut the hell up. You have lost all credibility. It was painfully obvious we needed to fire this coach (who has not shown an ounce of ability to game plan or develop talent) a long time ago. You kool-aid drinkers have managed to shout-down naysayers, like myself, for far too long. This will happen no longer. Step out of the way so we can fire this coach and begin to move this program forward.
 

charlesbenjamin7 said:
This thread deserves a bump, as it exposes some of the morons for who they are. All of you rah-rah Brewster kool-aid drinkers need now to shut the hell up. You have lost all credibility. It was painfully obvious we needed to fire this coach (who has not shown an ounce of ability to game plan or develop talent) a long time ago. You kool-aid drinkers have managed to shout-down naysayers, like myself, for far too long. This will happen no longer. Step out of the way so we can fire this coach and begin to move this program forward.
Click to expand...

Nice life.
 

charlesbenjamin7 said:
This thread deserves a bump, as it exposes some of the morons for who they are. All of you rah-rah Brewster kool-aid drinkers need now to shut the hell up. You have lost all credibility. It was painfully obvious we needed to fire this coach (who has not shown an ounce of ability to game plan or develop talent) a long time ago. You kool-aid drinkers have managed to shout-down naysayers, like myself, for far too long. This will happen no longer. Step out of the way so we can fire this coach and begin to move this program forward.
Click to expand...

Sh1t! I wondered what was holding this program back. I thought it had something to do with the budget or Maturi or something. Here, all along it's been a couple dozen people on this message board. Good to know! Let's just nuke the board and we'll be on our way to Pasadena!

Have you been in Tibet for the last last week or something? You're about the 53rd person to come on here demanding that all of the Brewster supporters self immolate. I'd say that I'm sorry you got all butthurt the last couple of years based on my support of Brewster; but I already apologized to Maroon for being a giant prick to him last year and I only had one apology to give. You'll have to look elsewhere to find cosmic justice, Chuck.
 

I'll give the apology MBA, I havent' used mine up yet.

I'm sorry you're such a big dickwad.

I'm sorry that it takes a terrible Gopher event for you and your hater buddies to feel good about yourselves.

It sounds like two apologies, but really it's one.
 

Ahhh…the name-calling. I should have suspected that old Brewster-backer tactic was coming. When the facts speak for themselves, and there are no more arguments to make, the moron will always resort to name-calling.
 

charlesbenjamin7 said:
Ahhh…the name-calling. I should have suspected that old Brewster-backer tactic was coming. When the facts speak for themselves, and there are no more arguments to make, the moron will always resort to name-calling.
Click to expand...

Let's see if I have this straight.

You bump a thread that is nine months old and your first sentence at 6:20 p.m. is:

"This thread deserves a bump, as it exposes some of the morons for who they are."

You return at 10:55 p.m. to whine about name calling.

Needless to say....well done, sir. Well done.
 

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