ESPN Bowl Breakdown: Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per ESPN:

Missouri Motivation factor: When isn’t Missouri feeling slighted? The past two seasons, no one thought the Tigers had any business competing for a top spot in the SEC East, but lo and behold they’ve won the division each year. After getting blown out in the SEC title game last year, Missouri came back in the bowl game and beat Oklahoma State by double digits. Could we see a repeat?

Minnesota Motivation factor: Kill’s staff built a lot of momentum this season while riding Cobb for most of their eight wins. While the Gophers have shown marked improvement, a bowl loss would leave them with the same 8-5 record as a year ago. Winning is a way to validate the steps forward they have taken on paper and keep the positive vibes going into the offseason.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/112415/buffalo-wild-wings-citrus-bowl

Go Gophers!!
 



They aren't that good. Remember, they are on the much weaker side of the SEC. Their best win is over a 7-5 Texas A&M team. The two best teams they played (Bama and UGA) smoked them. This is winnable. Of course, good Mitch needs to show up or it could be a miserable game.
 

Why do you single out Mitch? We need GOOD EVERYBODY to show up.
 




Dr.Don said:
Why do you single out Mitch? We need GOOD EVERYBODY to show up.
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Because if a DB, DL, or WR doesn't play well we can still win any given game. If Mitch doesn't show up or plays poorly it's tough to win.

But I agree with you, people should lay off a little.
 





Will red shirt freshmen like Rodney Smith, Melvin Holland, and others get to play? What is the NCAA rules about bowl games and who is eligible to play?

It will be great for the RS freshmen to get a taste of post season play.
 

hungan1 said:
Will red shirt freshmen like Rodney Smith, Melvin Holland, and others get to play? What is the NCAA rules about bowl games and who is eligible to play?

It will be great for the RS freshmen to get a taste of post season play.
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I remember Kill saying on the sports huddle LONG time ago that this was one of the rules he wanted to change. As of now i believe they cant play or they will lose a year of eligibility. Quite frankly, If they did allow redshirts it would almost be like a preview for next season, then maybe the preseason rankings would matter more? Idk just a thought.
 




hungan1 said:
Will red shirt freshmen like Rodney Smith, Melvin Holland, and others get to play? What is the NCAA rules about bowl games and who is eligible to play?

It will be great for the RS freshmen to get a taste of post season play.
Click to expand...

Unless something changed and I totally missed it redshirts still can't play in bowl games. I can understand why some would like to see that change but the game still is part of this season so if I kid is redshirting I really don't see why anyone should expect them to suddenly be eligible in the final game of the year.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Unless something changed and I totally missed it redshirts still can't play in bowl games. I can understand why some would like to see that change but the game still is part of this season so if I kid is redshirting I really don't see why anyone should expect them to suddenly be eligible in the final game of the year.
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I believe Wolitarsky will be ready. Cobb should be 100%. We also had a few others that were nursing injuries. (am I missing some?)
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
They aren't that good. Remember, they are on the much weaker side of the SEC. Their best win is over a 7-5 Texas A&M team. The two best teams they played (Bama and UGA) smoked them. This is winnable. Of course, good Mitch needs to show up or it could be a miserable game.
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I'll have to agree and disagree, respectfully. The two best teams we played did smoke us (That Georgia beatdown was unexplainable-The Tide game was a little more like I figured it would go). Anyway, in my opinion the best team we beat at the time we played them was Arkansas. Arkansas, despite being 6-6 had some close losses to quality opponents, but more importantly had just shut out two quality teams (LSU and Ole Miss) the two weeks prior to facing Mizzou. They were rolling when we played them. aTm was kind of on a downslide in my opinion. Also, I can't stand these cliches, but I have never watched a Mizzou team that really depended on what team shows up. This year's Mizzou team has never been a world beater, even when they were playing well. But they sure can be shoddy. When we're rolling, we're pretty solid though.

M-I-Z-Z-O-U
 

We have been plagued by injuries all year. After we had a week off we came back and beat Northwestern 25-17 and the next week off was followed by a drubbing of Iowa 51-14.
Mizzou had a week off and came back to lose to Georgia 0-31 and the next time they had a week off they came back and beat Texas A&M 34-27.
We use our weeks off better and because Mizzou played last week, we get an extra one. Like Rescooter said, we will have Cobb at 100% hopefully (we may have beaten Wisky had he been 100%), Wolitarsky will help in a big area of need and Leidner has been injured all year. That is just some of the injuries. We won't underestimate our opponent like we did last year (we do seem to play up or down to our opponents ability at times…which explains the Purdue, Illinois and last year's bowl game). Hopefully they will underestimate us…Kill's teams love being the underdogs.
 

CoMn said:
We have been plagued by injuries all year. After we had a week off we came back and beat Northwestern 25-17 and the next week off was followed by a drubbing of Iowa 51-14.
Mizzou had a week off and came back to lose to Georgia 0-31 and the next time they had a week off they came back and beat Texas A&M 34-27.
We use our weeks off better and because Mizzou played last week, we get an extra one. Like Rescooter said, we will have Cobb at 100% hopefully (we may have beaten Wisky had he been 100%), Wolitarsky will help in a big area of need and Leidner has been injured all year. That is just some of the injuries. We won't underestimate our opponent like we did last year (we do seem to play up or down to our opponents ability at times…which explains the Purdue, Illinois and last year's bowl game). Hopefully they will underestimate us…Kill's teams love being the underdogs.
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Actually it was 34-0 :mad: (You must be thinking about the Indiana score) Double :mad:
 


Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
All I know is I'm thankful Mizz doesn't have Dorial Green on their team.
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Along with LaDamian Washington and Marcus Lucas. Our receivers last year were pretty vaunted. Sasser and Hunt are ok, but we definitely took a big hit on offense from last year.

M-I-Z-Z-O-U
 

This is a great bowl for the Gophers. In my lifetime this is by far the best bowl game they've been in.

I thought Kill would bring the program back to being respectable but wasn't sure we'd get a bowl like this as early as he's done it.

I'm not used to being pleasantly surprised, so not sure what else to say.
 

ZouFan08 said:
I'll have to agree and disagree, respectfully. The two best teams we played did smoke us (That Georgia beatdown was unexplainable-The Tide game was a little more like I figured it would go). Anyway, in my opinion the best team we beat at the time we played them was Arkansas. Arkansas, despite being 6-6 had some close losses to quality opponents, but more importantly had just shut out two quality teams (LSU and Ole Miss) the two weeks prior to facing Mizzou. They were rolling when we played them. aTm was kind of on a downslide in my opinion. Also, I can't stand these cliches, but I have never watched a Mizzou team that really depended on what team shows up. This year's Mizzou team has never been a world beater, even when they were playing well. But they sure can be shoddy. When we're rolling, we're pretty solid though.

M-I-Z-Z-O-U
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Thanks for the insight and welcome to the board. I'll take your opinion under advisement. However, you should know that I will never give Bret Bielema credit for anything positive, so I can't give credit for beating Arkansas.
 

I watched most of Missouri's last 3 games. I'd say Missouri probably has slightly better talent than us, probably similar to our advantage over Syracuse last year. But as our loss last year showed, the great equalizer during bowl season is the excitement (or lack thereof) at the bowl you're in and your desire to win the game.

Winning the bowl game this year is an extremely important stepping stone and Kill knows it. We've lost too many bowl games lately, and need to win one for the program. Even before we knew our opponent, Kill talked repeatedly about the importance of winning this year's bowl game. We need the win more than Missouri, we are absolutely stoked to have this opportunity in a great bowl, and I think it will show on the field.
 

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