BTN: Best chance for each Big Ten team to pull an upset (Minnesota: Penn State)

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per BTN:

Minnesota. It wouldn’t be a shock to see Minnesota waltz into Beaver Stadium and shock Penn State on Oct. 1. The Nittany Lions are still a work in progress in Year Three under James Franklin. There is a new offensive coordinator (and offense) and quarterback, as well as a new defensive coordinator. And a new o-line coach in former Gopher OC and offensive line coach Matt Limegrover. The Gophers could be riding high on a 3-0 start as they head to State College for their first road game of the season coming off a home tilt vs. Colorado State. Penn State will be coming off a tough, physical game at Michigan.

http://btn.com/2016/08/01/dienhart-best-chance-for-each-big-ten-team-to-pull-an-upset/

Go Gophers!!
 

Personally I don't think they'll have a problem with penn st that particular day.. Therefore I don't consider it an upset.
 

Deckergopher said:
Personally I don't think they'll have a problem with penn st that particular day.. Therefore I don't consider it an upset.
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I agree, and would not call this an upset.

I expect a win there and believe it will happen.
 

I would call it an upset if they won. Penn St. is down but they still pull in a lot of talent and the Gopher's aren't consistently good enough to count a road win anywhere a sure win, let alone Happy Valley.
 



I don't know if it our best chance at an upset even if we are underdogs in the game come kickoff. If we are underdogs against Northwestern, Nebraska and Wisconsin I would think one of them would give us a better chance than PSU.
 


It's big because we arrive home to take on the Hawkeyes. Being 4-0 would create all kinds of interest even in this pro Viking town.
 




I think it would be a big win, but I wouldn't it would be that big of an upset, While Penn State has more talent on paper, I think were better coached, this game feels like the Michigan game in Hoke's last year. I would be more surprised if we won in Lincoln or Madison
 

bemidjigopher said:
I think it would be a big win, but I wouldn't it would be that big of an upset, While Penn State has more talent on paper, I think were better coached, this game feels like the Michigan game in Hoke's last year. I would be more surprised if we won in Lincoln or Madison
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Agree. Road tripping to Lincoln and Madison. I'm looking for a magical season...
 

Don't forget, this is a trophy game. The Nittany Lions will be fired up as they try to win the Victory Bell................
 





Is it a foregone conclusion that we will be underdogs?
 


BarnBoy said:
Is it a foregone conclusion that we will be underdogs?
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If we have an AMAZING non-conference run or Penn State has horrible non-conference run then maybe we won't be undredogs, but I'm thinking the best we'll get is maybe being considered evenly matched. We'll win though.
 

I don't get how this would be an upset. We beat them two seasons ago and it's not like they've been all that good under Franklin. Add to the mix trying to switch to the spread with players recruited play a more pro-style offense and losing most of last year's front seven will keep them from being that formidable. They have some nice players but the talent gap isn't as wide as it is with say Ohio St. Maybe in some minor sense it would be. We defend the spread well. Once we see how well the new offense works we should have a better idea.
 

BleedGopher said:
per BTN:

Minnesota. It wouldn’t be a shock to see Minnesota waltz into Beaver Stadium and shock Penn State on Oct. 1.
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So would it be a shock or wouldn't it be a shock?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

BarnBoy said:
Is it a foregone conclusion that we will be underdogs?
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Yes. Bill Connelly's bullish projections (relative to the Vegas consensus of 6 wins) give us a 30% chance to win and ESPN's FPI (which is probably garbage, but who knows for sure) give us a 20% chance to win.

If the game were today we'd be 6-8 point underdogs. In the best case scenario (we start the season strong and they sputter) we would be +3 or +4.

That all being said, I think we have a good chance and would not be at all surprised if we won. But people chalking up this game as an automatic "W" need to slow their roll and temper their expectations a bit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Penn State has a new offense, new offensive coordinator, new defensive coordinator, new offensive line coach and a new (and less talented) QB. They only won one more game than we did last year and lost their last 4.

We likely won't be be favored but I wouldn't call it an "upset" if we were to win.
 

Don't underestimate the fact that they play Michigan the week before us.
 

nsmike said:
Don't underestimate the fact that they play Michigan the week before us.
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The fact that Limegrover is coaching there should drop their offensive output by about 7 points a game too.
 

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