2012 Expectations...

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On offense your 2 most important positions/groups is your o-line and qb. With our o-line deeper and better our running game could go from average to good and the same for our receiving corps. With an improved senior qb our receiving corps and overall offensive efficiency should go up. By middle to end of the year we'll have a offense to be reckoned with. On defense it also starts up front and there could be more early season growing pains. I feel good about our linebacking group with depth and experience. The secondary should eb improved, especially with Kill indicating that Vereen and Wells are being moved to safety. Kill continues to emphasize special teams and we need more consistancy there. With a fairly healthy season 8-4, worst case 6-6 and injury filled from 6-6 to 4-8.
 

Somebody help me figure this out. I know I'm being a homer by expecting the Gophers to go to a bowl game. I completely understand "expert" Jerry Palm picking the Gophers as only one of three Big Ten teams not in bowls (OSU, MN and Indiana). What baffles me is how he thinks Illinois is going to be the 4th/5th best team in the conference. They were downright awful to end the season and have a new coaching staff.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
Somebody help me figure this out. I know I'm being a homer by expecting the Gophers to go to a bowl game. I completely understand "expert" Jerry Palm picking the Gophers as only one of three Big Ten teams not in bowls (OSU, MN and Indiana). What baffles me is how he thinks Illinois is going to be the 4th/5th best team in the conference. They were downright awful to end the season and have a new coaching staff.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions
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If we go to L. V. and lay a whipping on a pretty weak team, I think we'll get six or seven wins. If we squeak out a victory then maybe four or five. If we lose, then all bets are off. Since Brewster arrived we have made a practice of just beating teams we should put away, losing to teams we should beat and staying close in games we should lose. This continued through the first 2/3 of last year. I expect coach Kill's teams to reach a level of competence that changes that and I expect it this year. 6 wins.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
Somebody help me figure this out. I know I'm being a homer by expecting the Gophers to go to a bowl game. I completely understand "expert" Jerry Palm picking the Gophers as only one of three Big Ten teams not in bowls (OSU, MN and Indiana). What baffles me is how he thinks Illinois is going to be the 4th/5th best team in the conference. They were downright awful to end the season and have a new coaching staff.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions
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I think that OSU's Ineligibility will cost the league a bowl. I don't think you can have a team like that tag 5-6 teams with loses in conference play and still end up with nine teams with six wins playing in bowl games. We'll see, but to me that is another flaw in their analysis.
 


bleedsmaroonandgold said:
I predict a 14-0 season, with the only question mark being whether win 14 happens in the BCS title game or if the BCS screws us and we have to "settle" for the Rose Bowl.

Having said that, my expectations are the same as always. Improve. I will be furious at 3-9 again (especially given the weaker schedule), annoyed at 4-8 (with the weaker schedule, I don't really see 4 wins as an improvement), satisfied at 5-7 (hey, improve 2 wins a season and next years freshman will get to see a Rose Bowl before they graduate), and would be very pleased if we could make a bowl game next year as that would represent substantial improvement from what we saw this year.
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I am not sure I agree with you that the 2012 schedule is weaker than 2011.

As far as non-conf BCS schools, USC last year was way better than Syracuse, granted. But for MAC schools, Western Michigan is going to be much better than Miami-Ohio was last year, after all, they went to a bowl and barely got beat by Purdue. New Hampshire will be tough, a perennial FCS power, on par with NDSU I think. UNLV isn't going to be any worse than New Mexico State.

As for the B1G schedule, I expect Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern and Iowa to be as good this year as they were last year. I expect Michigan and Purdue to be much better. Wisconsin and Illinois probably will not be quite as good.

At the very least, I think the 2012 schedule is no stronger but certainly no weaker than 2011.
 

Die Hard GGF said:
On offense your 2 most important positions/groups is your o-line and qb. With our o-line deeper and better our running game could go from average to good and the same for our receiving corps. With an improved senior qb our receiving corps and overall offensive efficiency should go up. By middle to end of the year we'll have a offense to be reckoned with. On defense it also starts up front and there could be more early season growing pains. I feel good about our linebacking group with depth and experience. The secondary should eb improved, especially with Kill indicating that Vereen and Wells are being moved to safety. Kill continues to emphasize special teams and we need more consistancy there. With a fairly healthy season 8-4, worst case 6-6 and injury filled from 6-6 to 4-8.
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I agree with basically everything you said.

The only area of the team that I do not think will be as good as last year is the DL, largely because I don't see the kind of DT play the Gophers had last year due to graduation. I think DE play will be improved, however.
 

Sumtimegophs said:
I agree with basically everything you said.

The only area of the team that I do not think will be as good as last year is the DL, largely because I don't see the kind of DT play the Gophers had last year due to graduation. I think DE play will be improved, however.
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I'm looking for Rashede Hageman and maybe Roland Johnson or someone else, combined with a year's experience in the system and with the coaches to prove you wrong about DT play - and hope that isn't just wishful thinking.
 

nc2mn said:
I'm looking for Rashede Hageman and maybe Roland Johnson or someone else, combined with a year's experience in the system and with the coaches to prove you wrong about DT play - and hope that isn't just wishful thinking.
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Yeah, I guess the first liners will be fine, but the depth at DT is not where it was last year.
 




Just thought I'd bump this thread. I suspect most of us are more optomistic given the positive start.

At this point 4 more wins is .444 ball the rest of the way. I think the Gophers could now be favored in 3-4 of these games, (more obviously if they keep winning).

By way of a reminder:
Syracuse
@ Iowa
Northwestern
@ Wisconsin
Purdue
Michigan
@ Illinois
@ Nebraska
Michigan State
 

badgergopher said:
Just thought I'd bump this thread. I suspect most of us are more optomistic given the positive start.

At this point 4 more wins is .444 ball the rest of the way. I think the Gophers could now be favored in 3-4 of these games, (more obviously if they keep winning).

By way of a reminder:
Syracuse
@ Iowa
Northwestern
@ Wisconsin
Purdue
Michigan
@ Illinois
@ Nebraska
Michigan State
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Which 3-4 games will we be favored in? I don't see a single matchup (outside of Syracuse) where we aren't a Vegas underdog. Some winnable games, but I don't think we'd be favorites in any of those if they opened right now.
 

Gold Vision said:
Which 3-4 games will we be favored in? I don't see a single matchup (outside of Syracuse) where we aren't a Vegas underdog. Some winnable games, but I don't think we'd be favorites in any of those if they opened right now.
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Emphasis on 'could' (i.e. future if we keep winning). Thinking of Syracuse + 2, I'd say the 2 would have to come from Northwestern, @Wisconsin, Purdue, or @Illinois.
 



Syracuse will be tough but come away with a nice win and I think we can be setup nicely for the B1G. Iowa looks like a pretty winnable game to start. Follow up with a nice home win against northwestern and we are officially rolling. I think takin the axe back this year is not out of reach either. Starting hot at 7-0 I think we steal one from illinois and maybe surprise somebody (Mich, Mich St) at home to end up 8-4. Would love to have all the trophies in the case this year... how sweet would that be?!
 

t-docious said:
Syracuse will be tough but come away with a nice win and I think we can be setup nicely for the B1G. Iowa looks like a pretty winnable game to start. Follow up with a nice home win against northwestern and we are officially rolling. I think takin the axe back this year is not out of reach either. Starting hot at 7-0 I think we steal one from illinois and maybe surprise somebody (Mich, Mich St) at home to end up 8-4. Would love to have all the trophies in the case this year... how sweet would that be?!
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If by the good grace of God we were to start out 7-0. Can you imagine how amped the stadium would be for the purdue game?
 

t-docious said:
Syracuse will be tough but come away with a nice win and I think we can be setup nicely for the B1G. Iowa looks like a pretty winnable game to start. Follow up with a nice home win against northwestern and we are officially rolling. I think takin the axe back this year is not out of reach either. Starting hot at 7-0 I think we steal one from illinois and maybe surprise somebody (Mich, Mich St) at home to end up 8-4. Would love to have all the trophies in the case this year... how sweet would that be?!
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Did we get the Governors victory bell back from Penn State after all of those forfeited losses? That would be awesome since it is such a great trophy (sarcasm) but that would be the only way we possibly get all the trophies in our cases.
 

I think we gotta put one foot in front of the other at this point. Syracuse is gonna be tough, and our secondary needs to make plays to keep the passing attack at bay. Our run defense has been putrid so far and needs to be shored up before we dive into the Wisconsins, MSUs, and Denard Robinson/Michigans of the world. 4-0 is going to be possible but Syracuse will be our toughest game to date.

If we can take 1/3 trophies, win 3 conference games and get to a bowl I'll consider this season a strong success. We are building and any cracks can cause a young team to fall apart if the fundamentals aren't in place. I want to see fewer penalties in the Syracuse game, and better tackling in space. If we can get better every week I'll be excited to see where the season goes.
 

AuEGO4 said:
Did we get the Governors victory bell back from Penn State after all of those forfeited losses? That would be awesome since it is such a great trophy (sarcasm) but that would be the only way we possibly get all the trophies in our cases.
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I don't think Penn State will go out of their way to return it to us ahead of the game next year Sept 27th in Happy Valley. I'm down to win it and bring it back to Minneapolis the right way though!
 


Interesting read to see what people were saying back in March - So we are 3-0 this is my take for the rest of the year

Syracuse - Going to be tough but I say we pull the W
@ Iowa - Always tough to win in Iowa but this year it could happen - W
Northwestern - Being at home helps but this is a solid NW squad - L
@ Wisconsin - Like Kinnick, Camp Randall is a nightmare for Gophers but if WIS continues to struggle we could win - W
Purdue - Hate predicting home losses but like Northwestern this is a solid Purdue squad - L
Michigan - Would like to think we can beat them but more than likely - L
@ Illinois - 3 Big Ten Road wins? It could happen - W
@ Nebraska - 4 Big Ten Road Wins? Not gonna happen - L
Michigan State - 4 Big Ten home losses? Sadly I think that might be exactly what we are looking at - L

That puts my prediction at 7-5 which would be a good year all things considered. The scary part is I don't see any easy wins or next to certain wins on the schedule. Having said that I also think some of those L's could become W's with some solid play by the home team. Going to be very interesting to see how it all shakes out. Glad we got the 3 wins we were supposed to get and Syracuse is also very beatable to round out the non-conf slate.

Way the BIG looks right now this might be one of those crazy years where you never really know who is going to come out on top week to week because all the teams are pretty mediocre.
 



MNVCGUY said:
Interesting read to see what people were saying back in March - So we are 3-0 this is my take for the rest of the year

Syracuse - Going to be tough but I say we pull the W
@ Iowa - Always tough to win in Iowa but this year it could happen - W
Northwestern - Being at home helps but this is a solid NW squad - L
@ Wisconsin - Like Kinnick, Camp Randall is a nightmare for Gophers but if WIS continues to struggle we could win - W
Purdue - Hate predicting home losses but like Northwestern this is a solid Purdue squad - L
Michigan - Would like to think we can beat them but more than likely - L
@ Illinois - 3 Big Ten Road wins? It could happen - W
@ Nebraska - 4 Big Ten Road Wins? Not gonna happen - L
Michigan State - 4 Big Ten home losses? Sadly I think that might be exactly what we are looking at - L

That puts my prediction at 7-5 which would be a good year all things considered. The scary part is I don't see any easy wins or next to certain wins on the schedule. Having said that I also think some of those L's could become W's with some solid play by the home team. Going to be very interesting to see how it all shakes out. Glad we got the 3 wins we were supposed to get and Syracuse is also very beatable to round out the non-conf slate.

Way the BIG looks right now this might be one of those crazy years where you never really know who is going to come out on top week to week because all the teams are pretty mediocre.
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If (Big If) we win @ Iowa we would be 5-0 and have TCF SOLD OUT for Nothwestern. I think we should be able to beat them here (6-0).
 

I'm still thinking 5-7 is reasonable for this team. It's really unfortunate that we don't get Iowa and Wisconsin at home this year as I would lean toward Ws in those games if that were the case. On the road, I just don't think we can get it done. We haven't won in either place since 1999 (a W in Iowa City).

I think we drop a game we probably shouldn't (Syracuse?) and steal a couple at home that we probably shouldn't (Northwestern, Purdue?). That would be an OK season based on my expectations heading in.
 

With how our opponents have looked so far, there is no one game I am looking at right now where I don't see us being able to give ourselves a fighting chance if we bring our "A" game. Its been a long time since I have looked at a Gopher football schedule and felt that way, this year could be something pretty special.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Interesting read to see what people were saying back in March - So we are 3-0 this is my take for the rest of the year

Syracuse - Going to be tough but I say we pull the W
@ Iowa - Always tough to win in Iowa but this year it could happen - W
Northwestern - Being at home helps but this is a solid NW squad - L
@ Wisconsin - Like Kinnick, Camp Randall is a nightmare for Gophers but if WIS continues to struggle we could win - W
Purdue - Hate predicting home losses but like Northwestern this is a solid Purdue squad - L
Michigan - Would like to think we can beat them but more than likely - L
@ Illinois - 3 Big Ten Road wins? It could happen - W
@ Nebraska - 4 Big Ten Road Wins? Not gonna happen - L
Michigan State - 4 Big Ten home losses? Sadly I think that might be exactly what we are looking at - L

.
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You realize you are picking this young team to go 3-1 on the road in the Big Ten? I agree that whe W's you have may be the most winnable games, but they are all on the road which is never easy. Add to it that we have won two in a row over Iowa and embarraced Illinois.
 

I fully expect the Gophers to be 8-0 heading into a program-changing game at home against Michigan. In that game, they will open up a massive lead against the Wolverines. I forget how the rest of the story goes.
 

Parski1 said:
If (Big If) we win @ Iowa we would be 5-0 and have TCF SOLD OUT for Nothwestern. I think we should be able to beat them here (6-0).
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Selling out a game might be the toughest battle we have this season.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
I fully expect the Gophers to be 8-0 heading into a program-changing game at home against Michigan. In that game, they will open up a massive lead against the Wolverines. I forget how the rest of the story goes.
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I've seen that movie....the ending wasn't pretty...
 

MaxyJR1 said:
You realize you are picking this young team to go 3-1 on the road in the Big Ten? I agree that whe W's you have may be the most winnable games, but they are all on the road which is never easy. Add to it that we have won two in a row over Iowa and embarraced Illinois.
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Believe me I know. It stinks that our most winnable games in the conference from an opponent standpoint all fall on the road. Things are so up in the air as to how this season will play out it is ridiculous.
 

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