ESPN's Brian Bennett: Let's all marvel at Minnesota

Donate To GopherHole
BleedGopher

BleedGopher

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 11, 2008
Messages
61,974
Reaction score
18,168
Points
113
per Bennett:

Let's all marvel at Minnesota, which is winning in a way that's different than just about anybody else.

The Gophers had only 274 yards on Saturday yet turned away a solid, confident Northwestern team at home. Even with a rushing attack that by their standards was held in check (just 3.1 yards per carry), they continued to maximize every opportunity, KO'ing the 'Cats on a 100-yard KO return by Jalen Myrick.

Jerry Kill's team knows its identity, is too well-coached to beat itself with mistakes and will make you fight every down. That style might not always work against high-scoring, hyper-athletic opponents (see: TCU), but nobody in the Big Ten is looking forward to playing Minnesota in the second half. The Gophers showed resolve on Saturday.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/109010/big-ten-morning-links-47

Go Gophers!!
 


<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

These "compliments" always read like they are petting a mutt and tossing them a little left over morsel off their plate. Oh well... I am going to enjoy this season regardless of where it leads. Most "experts" predicted a 6-6 season. I am more optimistic than most and when I looked at the schedule, I hoped for 7-5. It feels good to actually be getting a bit annoyed at the "little engine that could" writings that are now appearing.
 

I'm as hypersensitive to any Gopher football negativity, but I had no problem with what he wrote. TCU speed did hurt, but we didn't take care of the football and reverted to the bad gophers who didn't hit the available big plays. I still think TCU having a bye also was key.
 



killme said:
I'm as hypersensitive to any Gopher football negativity, but I had no problem with what he wrote. TCU speed did hurt, but we didn't take care of the football and reverted to the bad gophers who didn't hit the available big plays. I still think TCU having a bye also was key.
Click to expand...

So did those who thought that the Ghers having a bye prior to NW was a disadvantage. Can't figure it out either way.
 

turn overs were the killers. that and the speed. we did not match up well against them but we are still building.
 

There's a win predictions thread around here somewhere. I know they're only 5-1 right now with a long way to go, but I'm pretty sure I predicted eight or more wins, and I feel very optimistic about that right now.
 



everybody knows my name said:
There's a win predictions thread around here somewhere. I know they're only 5-1 right now with a long way to go, but I'm pretty sure I predicted eight or more wins, and I feel very optimistic about that right now.
Click to expand...

8 is still pretty much a best case scenario. Purdue and Illinois are pretty secure...but after that it's anybody's guess. I think we have a chance to beat Iowa at home, but the last 3 are still pretty much for sure losses with Wisconsin probably being the most winnable. I predicted 7 wins for the year and the only deviation so far from my prediction was us winning at Michigan.
 

Right now Massey Ratings has those last 3 games at 33%, 29%, and 33% probability of winning respectively. That would give us ~68% of winning at least one. Massey ratings are far from perfect, so this is just for fun.
 

GopherHomer said:
8 is still pretty much a best case scenario. Purdue and Illinois are pretty secure...but after that it's anybody's guess. I think we have a chance to beat Iowa at home, but the last 3 are still pretty much for sure losses with Wisconsin probably being the most winnable. I predicted 7 wins for the year and the only deviation so far from my prediction was us winning at Michigan.
Click to expand...

Actually, I expect 8 to be the minimum win total and I think this team is good enough to win 3 of the last 4 for 10 wins going into bowl time.
 

GopherHomer said:
8 is still pretty much a best case scenario. Purdue and Illinois are pretty secure...but after that it's anybody's guess. I think we have a chance to beat Iowa at home, but the last 3 are still pretty much for sure losses with Wisconsin probably being the most winnable. I predicted 7 wins for the year and the only deviation so far from my prediction was us winning at Michigan.
Click to expand...

8 to me is expected. Anything less is a disappointment right now.
 



GopherHomer said:
8 is still pretty much a best case scenario. Purdue and Illinois are pretty secure...but after that it's anybody's guess. I think we have a chance to beat Iowa at home, but the last 3 are still pretty much for sure losses with Wisconsin probably being the most winnable. I predicted 7 wins for the year and the only deviation so far from my prediction was us winning at Michigan.
Click to expand...

8 is the best case? You need to do a better job of living up to your name.
 

If folks are truly p*ssed about what Bennett wrote, they need to grow some skin. Kill has built a solid, well-coached foundation that showed it can beat a quality opponent without playing its best game. I think that is what Bennett pretty much said. If you would have told me prior to the game that Cobb was going to be held in check the way he was, I don't think I would have predicted a victory.
 

The game that is curious to me is Nebraska at Northwestern. I am still not sure how good Nebraska is.
 

maroonfive said:
The game that is curious to me is Nebraska at Northwestern. I am still not sure how good Nebraska is.
Click to expand...

No one knows until the games are played. This is why I get such a kick out of predictions.

The only prediction I make is on Predict the Score Thread. And that is SWAG method at best.
 

Dr.Don said:
So did those who thought that the Ghers having a bye prior to NW was a disadvantage. Can't figure it out either way.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but it's just a really naive statement to insinuate that the Gophers winning showed that having the bye week was not a disadvantage. There is no proof one way or the other. All we know is they won. Perhaps they'd have lost w/o the bye week, perhaps they'd have won big w/o it.

Past results in college football suggest having a bye week is pretty neutral, possibly a slight disadvantage. It's nearly impossible to predict an outcome by relying on bye week data. You stating things in a mocking tone doesn't change that fact.
 

cncmin said:
Sorry, but it's just a really naive statement to insinuate that the Gophers winning showed that having the bye week was not a disadvantage. There is no proof one way or the other. All we know is they won. Perhaps they'd have lost w/o the bye week, perhaps they'd have won big w/o it.

Past results in college football suggest having a bye week is pretty neutral, possibly a slight disadvantage. Those are the facts, no matter how ignorant you would like to be about it.
Click to expand...

So now I am ignorant?
 


cncmin said:
Sorry, but it's just a really naive statement to insinuate that the Gophers winning showed that having the bye week was not a disadvantage. There is no proof one way or the other. All we know is they won. Perhaps they'd have lost w/o the bye week, perhaps they'd have won big w/o it.

Past results in college football suggest having a bye week is pretty neutral, possibly a slight disadvantage. It's nearly impossible to predict an outcome by relying on bye week data. You stating things in a mocking tone doesn't change that fact.
Click to expand...

Making a prediction based completely upon a bye week would be silly. Ignoring the circumstances here would be juvenile, though wouldn't it?

Wanting the bye week to be a "slight disadvantage" doesn't change the fact that a whole lot of Gopher players got healthy during that bye week, no matter how much you hide behind that "data". Data which doesn't take into account who teams are playing, just whether they won or lost by the way.

Kill said he kept 12-13 players out of practice during the bye week. Leidner, Williams, Epping, Cobb and even Wells would have been doubtful or played while being very hurt, if they played the week before. They all played Saturday correct?

Now if you don't think any of those guys were important in beating Northwestern, that's another discussion. A silly or even "naive" one? Probably but for some people admitting that they were wrong, even once, is something to be avoided at all costs.

<img id="ums_img_tooltip" class="UMSRatingIcon">
 

From the same blog and writer Austin Ward.

​4. Gophers Golden? Speaking of the West race, the next two weeks certainly look manageable for Minnesota after already jumping out to a 2-0 start in the league. And handling its business starting Saturday against Purdue at home and then with a visit to Illinois would put it in great shape heading into November. But there are still plenty of improvements for the Gophers to make if they're going to parlay that fast start into something meaningful down the stretch, and finding a bit more offensive balance and developing the passing attack should be at the top of their priority list. Quarterback Mitch Leidner's various injuries early in the season have played a part in the lackluster numbers through the air, and running back David Cobb's willingness and ability to handle a heavy rushing load with success hasn't provided much incentive to tinker with the formula. But after these next two weeks, there are no more tune-ups on the schedule for the Gophers, so the clock is ticking to make sure everything is in working order.
 

jaymil said:
8 is the best case? You need to do a better job of living up to your name.
Click to expand...

Really? I love you, jaymil...I really do. But, assuming the Gophers beat Purdue and Illinois, are we really expecting them to win more than one game from the Iowa, Nebraska, OSU, and Wisconsin stretch? If we do, it will be the best Gopher season in my lifetime (34 years)...I hope it happens, but will it?
 

GopherHomer said:
Really? I love you, jaymil...I really do. But, assuming the Gophers beat Purdue and Illinois, are we really expecting them to win more than one game from the Iowa, Nebraska, OSU, and Wisconsin stretch? If we do, it will be the best Gopher season in my lifetime (34 years)...I hope it happens, but will it?
Click to expand...

I'm not necessarily expecting it, but we're talking about the best-case scenario here. I absolutely think that involves winning two of those games. Iowa and Wisconsin have their issues.
 

GopherHomer said:
Really? I love you, jaymil...I really do. But, assuming the Gophers beat Purdue and Illinois, are we really expecting them to win more than one game from the Iowa, Nebraska, OSU, and Wisconsin stretch? If we do, it will be the best Gopher season in my lifetime (34 years)...I hope it happens, but will it?
Click to expand...

Will it? Who the hell knows.
 

I don't think it is far fetched to think we could go at least 2-2 in the last four games.
 




Looks like 50 pounder and I hit the main answer. Well done 50PoundHead.

(Actually a pretty stupid question from Rodents.)
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom