My impression as I watched the game was that Gordon gets most of his success running to the edges. Whenever he tried to run between the tackles, his efforts were not as successful. This was the only game I have watched for both teams, so maybe NW had a great game plan this week. That said, I think we showed more creativity in our offense winning the Jug than UW had against NW. If we keep up the misdirection and click on the short passes, we can still gash NW.
I was also not impressed by NW offense. Their O-Line didn't seem to get a ton of push, but just enough against a shaky defense. I think we should be able to bring pressure and swarm to the ball better the UW was. NW QB is good, but I think our secondary is up to the challenge of taking away the deep ball and keeping their passing game in check.
I think we beat Wisconsin as much by UW calling a poor game as our having a good game plan. UW could have won the game by just relying on their running game but they tried to get cute and balanced with their passing game. Stupid pass plays on 1st and goal from the 3, and series consisting of three incomplete passes, cost them the game. Our plan was to try to corral Gordon while taking away their play action and passing. NU struggled with Gordon but held him to one TD. NU has a very good back seven against the pass and enough of a pass rush with Odenigbo and Lowry to hamper any passing attack. Why Wisconsin resorted to passing in certain situations was a mystery and cost them the game. Leidner needs to be careful with his throws or he will be harassed and picked off.
Our offense got off to a real poor start this year but is improving. Our OL has improved to provide decent pass protection and is beginning to open up holes for the running game. I'd grade them a B- right now after starting out a D. PSU has a good defense and we easily could have scored 40+ on them (we blew a fake FG for a TD, missed another FG, and missed 2 extra points. Jackson is not fast, but is "slippery", can cut in any direction and has good vision. He was a legit 4-star RB who put up huge numbers in high school for a good program. Siemian (QB) got off to a disappointing start but has improved in the last 2 games. I suspect that has been because of injuries to his best receivers in fall camp which has necessitated developing new receivers (including a former RB and freshmen) and developing some chemistry with these guys. When he's on, he can be very accurate, complete a half dozen passes or so in a row, and march down the field. We haven't seen that level of play yet this year except for glimpses in the PSU game (first quarter). Last year, he played against Minnesota with a badly bruised heal that affected his play. WR's Tony Jones, Solomon Vault, and Miles Shuler are sub 10.7s guys who will stretch the field, while the rest are possession receivers with average speed. Vitale at superback has good size (235 lbs), hands, and speed...sort of like a compact Maxx Williams. We will play four different superbacks and two at once.
IMO, Minnesota has a decided advantage in the running game with a good OL and backs against an average run-stopping front seven. Our pass defense has become pretty effective with a defensive backfield that is deep and talented, and three decent pass-rushing DE's (Lowry, Washington, Odenigbo). Odenigbo is very quick and disruptive. We tore up PSU's horrible OL and made Hackenburg look ordinary, if not black and blue. We haven't been fooled by play action in the last two games. Maxx Williams will pose a serious threat, though.
On offense, the key will be how well our OL can block your DL and LBs. We're getting better and put up about 200 rushing yards against UW. Siemian will have to be on his toes throwing the ball against a very good Minnesota pass defense. We also have to eliminate the drive-killing penalties that were a problem at the start of the year. Before the season, I think many NU fans thought now that Hagemann is gone and that Siemian is over his heal problem, that he will have no trouble carving up the Gophers. They're unaware of just how good Minnesota's defensive backfield is this year. They're also concerned about Siemian's poor start and lack of throwing consistency, but are breathing better after the last two games.
Coach Kill has done an excellent job rebuilding the Gophers like I figured he would. It has been interesting following this board and seeing how the fan base has responded to Kill's coaching and the turn-around. In short, we have to match UM's physicality and play a clean game (no penalties, drops, or turnovers) to have a chance to win.
I worry a bit about NU coming off of a big win against UW while UM has had a week to rest up for this game. Otherwise, NU is normally not phased by playing away and actually has a better record in Big Ten away games than in home games over the past 5-10 years. At one point, we beat Iowa in Kinnick Stadium three times in a row. It drove Hawkeye fans nuts!
