Beating the Teams we Should

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

I feel like this season we can make an argument that we did not lose any games to really embarrassing teams, nor did we pull off any huge wins against vastly better teams. For the sake of discussion, I put together two ways of looking at this.

Subjectively grouping the opponents into three categories:

Teams we are better than: 5-0
UNLV
UNH
Western Michigan
Syracuse (I know they may be BCS bound, but the Big East is horrendous)
Illinois

Teams at "our level": 1-2
Iowa
Purdue
MSU

Teams that are better than us: 0-4
Wisconsin
Michigan
Nebraska
Northwestern

We took out the teams below us, lost to the ones above us, and competed with the ones near us.

Another way I looked at things was how we played in conference based on B1G record.
0-8 opponents: 1-0
2-6 opponents: 0-1
3-5 opponents: 1-1
4-4 opponents: 0-1
5-3 opponents: 0-1
6-2 opponents: 0-1
7-1 opponents: 0-1

I think we solidified ourselves this year as belonging in that 2 to 3 win range. A big plus was winning the ones we should. A bit of a disappointment was not stealing one of the ones we shouldn't. Hopefully we build on this season, get ourselves to 3 or 4 conference wins next year, take care of business against the weak OC schedule, maybe steal a miracle, and position ourselves as a solid middle of the pack Big 10 team. Sorry that this got so long.

 

[Gopherprof]

I think Michigan State clearly proved that we aren't at their level. I'd bump them and Syracuse down a group. 4-4-4

That said, I am impressed by the coaches' ability to beat almost every team we had a decent chance at beating. I'm less impressed by our total lack of competitiveness against the bigger programs, particularly Wisconsin and Iowa, which are down this year.

Ah well. Can't complain too much about 6-6 in the second year.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I think Michigan State clearly proved that we aren't at their level. I'd bump them and Syracuse down a group. 4-4-4

That said, I am impressed by the coaches' ability to beat almost every team we had a decent chance at beating. I'm less impressed by our total lack of competitiveness against the bigger programs, particularly Wisconsin and Iowa, which are down this year.

Ah well. Can't complain too much about 6-6 in the second year.

This is exactly how I view it. I think Syracuse is on our level and I think that MSU is better than us. That said, coming into this year, I would have taken 6-6. I'm impressed with the development of a lot of the players and I think they are heading in the right direction.

 

[Monty519]

I think Michigan State clearly proved that we aren't at their level. I'd bump them and Syracuse down a group. 4-4-4.

Actually that'd be 4-3-5 split. But I agree, I'd put Syracuse at our level, and say we aren't on MSU's level, and no one watching that game could say that they thought physically, we matched up there at all. We had our chances, but it would have taken a superb effort to make that one happen. Now you could argue, if we're healthy, maybe that's a different story as I think we would have been more competitive in general in the conference, but MSU's record is very deceiving because of how close their games were and how their schedule lined up.

All in all, this was a more positive than negative year to me, but it's disappointing cause it felt like there was more out there that was missed on. The Northwestern game, the Michigan game, those left bad tastes. Iowa was a bad loss, but I think that was just one of those first experience for guys, they got a little overwhelmed. I think next year, that shouldn't be a problem, and we should expect to start competing on a weekly basis with most of the conference. We can't have the 31-0 halftime scores anymore, no matter who or where the game is or how many injuries we have (to a point obviously).

Speaking of injuries, next season is where I wanna see this S&C program really show its fruits, with more upperclassmen on the lines and a 3rd year in the system. That will go a long way in us being able to take the next step up in this conference.

 

[mplsbadger]

An interesting aside,

Lou Holtz was responding to a question on why so many Irish coaches have played for a national championship in their third season. He said the players he had in year one were as good as the players he had in year three. He said that in year three they were bought into the program. He said that they finally got tired of fighting it and got on board. After watching years 1&2, this is what it feels like is happening at Minnesota. I appreciated the solidarity of the team last week. I think the guys that are left this spring are going to be program guys. I also appreciate the efforts of these seniors for laying the foundation as 'founders' even thought they won't be around when things turn.

 

[RodentRampage]

This is exactly how I view it. I think Syracuse is on our level and I think that MSU is better than us. That said, coming into this year, I would have taken 6-6. I'm impressed with the development of a lot of the players and I think they are heading in the right direction.

I agree. MSU is a better team that the Gophers. They may only have 6 wins, but they had a number of close losses against good teams. I'd put Syracuse at least at our level. Sagarin has them at 51, and Minnesota at 72. After the last two seasons, beating the teams we are supposed to beat is a good step forward. The offense is disappointing, but the defense has carried the team on its back. Last season, the Gophers had 4 games where they gave up 40 or more points, this season, 0.

 

[westcoastgopher11]

So what % of the roster will be Kill vs Brewster guys next year? I figure buying in is probably easier to do when your coach is the guy that recruited you.

 

[John Galt]

So what % of the roster will be Kill vs Brewster guys next year? I figure buying in is probably easier to do when your coach is the guy that recruited you.

For all intent and purposes, 100% of the roster will be Kill's guys next year. It might be 80-90% of Kill's recruits in the 2-deeps, but I think it's safe to say that anyone who has stuck it out for 3 years under Kill is clearly on board.