BleedGopher
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per CFN:
At what point do we give Minnesota under PJ Fleck the benefit of the doubt and assume the production will keep on rolling no matter what?
The offensive line might take a wee step back, but not by much. The receiving corps is fantastic, the passing game should be better, and the systems that helped produce all the wins over the last few years aren’t changing. There’s one big problem, though …
The Big Ten West is tougher now.
Nebraska hasn’t been anything more than a speed bump for the Gophers over the last four years, but it’s about to get a whole lot sharper. That’s the home opener, though.
Northwestern can’t help but be better than whatever that was last year, Illinois is a bear, Wisconsin is going to be a whole lot stronger, and Minnesota couldn’t beat Iowa before and now Kirk Ferentz has a quarterback. Throw in a road game at North Carolina, and the horrible break of getting both Michigan and Ohio State from the East, and coming up with a second straight eight-win regular season won’t be easy.
For now assume it’s a hard no on pulling off a win in Columbus, and until proven otherwise, winning in Iowa City is going to be rough, too. That means Minnesota can’t lose at North Carolina or Purdue and has to pull off at least three wins in home games against Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State, and Nebraska just to get to eight.
Minnesota didn’t beat a team that finished with more than seven wins last season, and this year there’s no Rutgers, New Mexico State, Western Illinois, or Colorado to fatten up on.
It’ll get to eight, and getting bowl eligible won’t be an issue, but it’s going to take something special to go into the regular season finale against Wisconsin with a shot at pulling off the Big Ten West.
Go Gophers!!
Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen
Set The Win Total At: 7.5At what point do we give Minnesota under PJ Fleck the benefit of the doubt and assume the production will keep on rolling no matter what?
The offensive line might take a wee step back, but not by much. The receiving corps is fantastic, the passing game should be better, and the systems that helped produce all the wins over the last few years aren’t changing. There’s one big problem, though …
The Big Ten West is tougher now.
Nebraska hasn’t been anything more than a speed bump for the Gophers over the last four years, but it’s about to get a whole lot sharper. That’s the home opener, though.
Northwestern can’t help but be better than whatever that was last year, Illinois is a bear, Wisconsin is going to be a whole lot stronger, and Minnesota couldn’t beat Iowa before and now Kirk Ferentz has a quarterback. Throw in a road game at North Carolina, and the horrible break of getting both Michigan and Ohio State from the East, and coming up with a second straight eight-win regular season won’t be easy.
For now assume it’s a hard no on pulling off a win in Columbus, and until proven otherwise, winning in Iowa City is going to be rough, too. That means Minnesota can’t lose at North Carolina or Purdue and has to pull off at least three wins in home games against Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State, and Nebraska just to get to eight.
Minnesota didn’t beat a team that finished with more than seven wins last season, and this year there’s no Rutgers, New Mexico State, Western Illinois, or Colorado to fatten up on.
It’ll get to eight, and getting bowl eligible won’t be an issue, but it’s going to take something special to go into the regular season finale against Wisconsin with a shot at pulling off the Big Ten West.
Go Gophers!!
