Black Shoes Diaries: Opponent Snapshot: Minnesota Golden Gophers

[BleedGopher]

Per Tim:

Minnesota Wins If…

Minnesota almost always gives Penn State a hard time, but when you factor in that the Nittany Lions will be coming off a draining cross-country road trip at Washington, the potential for a rough start that has them staring at an early multiple-score deficit and having to play catch-up the rest of the game is even higher, given the abilities of Darius Taylor to pound the rock and for Smith to wreak havoc with the pass rush. Not to mention, if Lindsey shows vast improvement from his first year as a starter, it will add another dimension to the Gophers’ offense. It wouldn’t exactly be a shocker of a result if Minnesota were to find a way to get out of Happy Valley with a dub.

Penn State Wins If…

First and foremost, Penn State needs to contain Darius Taylor and the Gophers’ rushing attack. While I anticipate Lindsey will be improved at quarterback, I don’t think Minnesota would feel comfortable putting the entire weight of the offense on his shoulders. Also, while Smith will be a handful for the offense to deal with, the Gophers’ back seven has a lot of holes and question marks and could be exploitable by Rocco Becht and the Nittany Lion offense. It also sure would help if PSU is coming back from their trip Seattle beaming from a win instead of hung over after a loss.

Opponent Snapshot: Minnesota Golden Gophers

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Go Gophers!!

 

[caliGopher]

Someone else who didn't get the memo that PJ changed the offensive strategy 3 years ago....

 

[GoodasGold]

Someone else who didn't get the memo that PJ changed the offensive strategy 3 years ago....

“Three yds and a cloud of dust”. Let’s see now…that leaves fourth and 1. Punt!!

 

[FanSinceTheFifties]

“Three yds and a cloud of dust”. Let’s see now…that leaves fourth and 1. Punt!!

If you can count on three yards that 4th and one shouldn't scare you.

 

[fmlizard]

This is a good year to have @ Penn State on the schedule as they break in a new coach and a lot of roster changes.

 

[GooningGopher]

This is a good year to have @ Penn State on the schedule as they break in a new coach and a lot of roster changes.

Might be a good year for rivalry games:

- Penn state (reasons listed above)
- Michigan (same reasons listed above) & we get them at home
- Iowa, have them at home and Ferentz is 100
- Wisconsin, lol

If we win all of them, Fleck gets a lifetime contract and Gophers secure a playoff spot.

 

[caliGopher]

“Three yds and a cloud of dust”. Let’s see now…that leaves fourth and 1. Punt!!

Under PJ, offense has always been optional to "just sit on the ball and make it impossible for the other team to score by wasting a bunch of time and killing the clock."

And no, not 3 yards and a cloud of dust.

The read option that gave us 2019.....you may not have liked it, but at least we could execute it (sometimes).

And it was a hell of a lot better than the one-yard and a cloud of dust of the past three years (In fairness, when we played Northwestern State, we didn't need their QB to fumble when all they needed was a first down - even though he was completely untouched to pull out a win, so that's progress, right?).

I'd love to hear how PJ is selling the team to kids these days. "Offensively, we changed approaches three years ago. And by golly, we might just figure it out in the next three!"