Here's why I think we can beat Penn St.

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I have a coworker who is a Penn State fan who is nervous about this game so there. We got this.
 

5pyker said:
I have no idea what you are talking about. How many decades ago was this?
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2004 Alabama came into the game with the number 2 overall defense. Bryan Cupito our quarterback hurt his arm and couldn't throw but we were able to run the ball on them and won 20-16.
 

gophernut79 said:
both teams are extremely close in almost every team stat except 1. Penalties.

MN is the least penalized team in B1G play while PSU is 13th. The difference is nearly 80 yards per game which is longer than an average scoring drive and, in my personal opinion, will be the difference in what should be a great game. If MN plays disciplined and is not overly amped up, they can play a clean game. If the crowd is as loud as it should be, PSU could gift us a false start or two and do their usual of giving up a drive extending penalty once or twice a game to get the ball in the gopher offense just a little bit longer.
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This was a huge stat difference I noticed as well, glad you mentioned it. I hope we out discipline them right out of our stadium with their heads held low. Also it seems to me that no one in their offense has huge rushing numbers, and besides Hamler no one stands out as having huge receiving numbers. I think they score on short drives that start from really solid field position (35 yard line or further). If the Gophers can make them start their drives from the 25 or shorter, I wonder how well they’ll be able to sustain a long drive on us. Special teams for us is what I’m worried about. Another stat that’s very different, but sides with PSU is their special teams is one of the best in the country and ours is at the bottom. Hoping Fleck and Co focused on that a bit more than usual.


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Face The Facts said:
I don't think PSU is better. They just played better teams so far, but that doesn't mean they are better.

Win the turnover battle.
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I agree. How would the Gophers look against Michigan in the same scenario? How would the Gophers look against Iowa? Pitt? Do you see the Gophers struggling to beat Pitt? Michigan State is not a good team, but somehow always seems to count as a “good win” when teams beat them. We did pretty much the same thing to Maryland that Penn State did, and they had their starters back. I think the Gophers are severely under credited for what they bring to the table both offensively and defensively. Oh yeah and sorry, Penn State crushed Idaho....really helps make their stats look better on paper.


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Franklin 1-6 on the road against ranked opponents. Never thought of him as a huge X's and O's guy.

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I think out running game is good enough to move the ball on them.
Our passing game is good enough to get large chunks of yards.

Our defense can stop a WR. They have done it before and they can do it again.

Minnesota will get out to an early lead with a quick start.
They will accelerate during the middle of the game.
And they will finish strong.

We can stop them.
They can not stop us.

Gophers by 17+.
 

mnhoopboy said:
Franklin 1-6 on the road against ranked opponents. Never thought of him as a huge X's and O's guy.

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With Franklins history, those are good odds. On those odds alone, statistically we should win


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To compare Penn St to last years Wisconsin team is ridiculous. Last years Wisconsin team had what, 5 losses? It was a very disappointing season for them. Penn St is 8-0 with everything to play for.

With that being said, I think the Gophers can pull it out, but anyone calling for a blowout doesn’t seem to understand how good Penn St is. It’s going to take everything and a full 60 minutes to beat them.


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Some Day...Maybe said:
To compare Penn St to last years Wisconsin team is ridiculous. Last years Wisconsin team had what, 5 losses? It was a very disappointing season for them. Penn St is 8-0 with everything to play for.

With that being said, I think the Gophers can pull it out, but anyone calling for a blowout doesn’t seem to understand how good Penn St is. It’s going to take everything and a full 60 minutes to beat them.
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Very good point on Sconnie. I'll note we had 6 losses going into that game and had history and the "numbers" against us to boot.

Still though a very big game from our side that weekend...a lot riding on it...not that dissimilar to Saturday's contest.
 



gophernut79 said:
both teams are extremely close in almost every team stat except 1. Penalties.

MN is the least penalized team in B1G play while PSU is 13th. The difference is nearly 80 yards per game which is longer than an average scoring drive and, in my personal opinion, will be the difference in what should be a great game. If MN plays disciplined and is not overly amped up, they can play a clean game. If the crowd is as loud as it should be, PSU could gift us a false start or two and do their usual of giving up a drive extending penalty once or twice a game to get the ball in the gopher offense just a little bit longer.
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You can not compare two teams stats and use it as a valid argument when the best team one has played was top 15 ranked Michigan, and the other teams’ best opponent was...... Illinois?
 

Face The Facts said:
I think out running game is good enough to move the ball on them.
Our passing game is good enough to get large chunks of yards.

Our defense can stop a WR. They have done it before and they can do it again.

Minnesota will get out to an early lead with a quick start.
They will accelerate during the middle of the game.
And they will finish strong.

We can stop them.
They can not stop us.

Gophers by 17+.
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Oh Geez.... someone should look into this guy and make sure his head is ok
 

mnhoopboy said:
Franklin 1-6 on the road against ranked opponents. Never thought of him as a huge X's and O's guy.

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3 of those losses were under Sanctions... that stat is extremely misleading. Look at this stat, Franklin has won 13 straight vs teams in the big ten west.
 
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PSU_Fan said:
You can not compare two teams stats and use it as a valid argument when the best team one has played was top 15 ranked Michigan, and the other teams’ best opponent was...... Illinois?
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Sounds like Penn State's got a discipline problem. Maybe that's why we beat them at football nearly half the time
 



PSU_Fan said:
3 of those losses were under Sanctions... that stat is extremely misleading. Look at this stat, Franklin has won 23 straight vs teams in the big ten west.
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Call down PSU Fan. Don't be a doosh. You come to a Gopher message board and expect everyone to predict a big Ped St. win? Get a life.
 

PSU_Fan said:
3 of those losses were under Sanctions... that stat is extremely misleading. Look at this stat, Franklin has won 23 straight vs teams in the big ten west.
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Damn that's really true? That's a hell of a stat, I had no idea.
 




corcorangopher said:
Ball control will be a huge factor in the outcome.

Looking at Penn State’s season to date, they are clearly good but only put up 17 against Pitt and Iowa. Michigan got behind early but in some ways out played them. They have a strong defense, but not sure limiting subpar offenses like Iowa and MSU tells us much.

And all this hubbub about Hamler. I think we have two (or more) Hamler equivalents.

Don’t beat ourselves and the Gophers can come out on top.
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I’m sorry but saying Minnesota has “2 or more” Hamler equivalents isn’t an intelligent statement. There have been few WR’s in the country that compare to KJ Hamler. He isn’t called “the human joystick” for nothing. Watch some of his highlights.
 

Com_Cool said:
Sounds like Penn State's got a discipline problem. Maybe that's why we beat them at football nearly half the time
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No discipline problem here. Not sure why you bring it up. Just a misleading stat.
 

PSU_Fan said:
I’m sorry but saying Minnesota has “2 or more” Hamler equivalents isn’t an intelligent statement. There have been few WR’s in the country that compare to KJ Hamler. He isn’t called “the human joystick” for nothing. Watch some of his highlights.
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We’ve played two WRs similar to Hamler....Wandale Robinson and Rondale Moore. Knocked both of them out of the game. Moore hasn’t played since.

Anyway, there’s no denying that Hamler is good, but the Gophers have had a lot of success limiting their opponents’ most dangerous players for about the last 12 games, going back to last year. I’m not saying that will happen Saturday, but it’s something to think about.
 

mjfelton15 said:
With Franklins history, those are good odds. On those odds alone, statistically we should win


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Those are not good odds as Franklin hasn’t lost to a Big Ten opponent not named “Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State” since 2015.
 

LesBolstad said:
Call down PSU Fan. Don't be a doosh. You come to a Gopher message board and expect everyone to predict a big Ped St. win? Get a life.
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Did you say “Doosh”? I’m not trying to be a “doosh”, I’m just correcting some fallacies.
 

PitinoFan said:
We’ve played two WRs similar to Hamler....Wandale Robinson and Rondale Moore. Knocked both of them out of the game. Moore hasn’t played since.

Anyway, there’s no denying that Hamler is good, but the Gophers have had a lot of success limiting their opponents’ most dangerous players for about the last 12 games, going back to last year. I’m not saying that will happen Saturday, but it’s something to think about.
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Ok, however I wasn’t debating that you guys haven’t played players similar to Hamler. I was simply saying him trying to diminish Hamler’s talents by stating Minnesota “has 2 or more players equivalent to him”, simply isn’t true.
 

PSU_Fan said:
No discipline problem here. Not sure why you bring it up. Just a misleading stat.
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It's a joke from The Simpsons. I wasn't being serious.
 
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PSU_Fan said:
Ok, however I wasn’t debating that you guys haven’t played players similar to Hamler. I was simply saying him trying to diminish Hamler’s talents by stating Minnesota “has 2 or more players equivalent to him”, simply isn’t true.
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Hamler is no doubt much more dynamic in the open field than either Bateman or Johnson with the ball in his hand and is a different style of receiver but just simply in terms of caliber of player, Johnson and Bateman are absolutely 100% equivalent if not better than Hamler. Both have more yards per game, total yards and total catches this year and that is despite each taking targets away from each other. Their production would be even better if one of them switched spots with Hamler. And going back to last year, Bateman and Hamler had similar numbers but Tyler's numbers were superior to either's.
 
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die hard gopher said:
Hamler is no doubt much more dynamic in the open field than either Bateman or Johnson with the ball in his hand and is a different style of receiver but just simply in terms of caliber of player, Johnson and Bateman are absolutely 100% equivalent if not better than Hamler. Both have more yards per game, total yards and total catches this year and that is despite each taking targets away from each other. Their production would be even better if one of them switched spots with Hamler. And going back to last year, Bateman and Hamler had similar numbers but Tyler's numbers were superior to either's.
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I’m sorry but that is complete bias. Minnesota hasn’t played anyone, Hamler has proven himself against great defenses torching Michigan and Iowa. Look at any top wide receiver lists and Hamler is there a lot sooner than either of them. Watch some highlights
 

Gold Rush said:
I agree with many on here who say they are tired of hearing, 'we haven't beaten anyone.' You can imagine the players and coaches are pretty tired of hearing that, too.
What I always tell people who say that is, "What about Wisconsin, then?" This is essentially the same team that went into Madison last year and beat the crap out of the Badgers. They shut down a high power offense and brutalized their defense. If anything, the team has improved as it has gained more experience all year long but it will take a complete team victory like they did in that game to win here.

- The Gophers have established themselves as being an excellent tough cold-weather team. The last couple years we have played in inclement conditions and the Gophers seem to really thrive in it. You can tell other teams really aren't having a whole lot of fun after they keep getting hit. QB Morgan in particular does well in these type of cold weather games. Penn St. won't quit - but they aren't going to like playing in 20 degrees nearly as much as 70 degrees, either. Hit them hard and keep hitting them, too.

- The Gophers are for real. After squeaking by their first 3 games, they have covered their last 5 Big Ten games in a row. This isn't easy to do as Las Vegas continues to adjust the line upward each time they are covering.

- The Gophers have been beating their opponents soundly and each time the opponents are talking about how hard they are getting hit and how tough the Gophers are. Nebraska coach Frost said he wished his team played like the Gophers. This might be the highest praise an opponent can give you.

- The Gophers have traditionally played Penn St. very close and they are 5-5 the last 10 games they have played. They went into Beaver Stadium and nearly won a few years ago and come into TCF Bank in front of what should be an extremely vocal partisan crowd in what will be near sellout.

- Despite being 8-0 the Gophers have continued to fly under the radar. They have not been respected by many (although a #13 ranking is a step in the right direction.)I have talked about how this team reminds me of the early 1990's Northwestern teams that everyone thought they would beat and took for granted. Then after they had that one penciled in for a win had to erase it and write it in as a loss. Same type of tenacity and poise - watch out for that kind of team.

- Do not underestimate the Gopher RB's - I will take that trio of fresh legs to run hard all game long. Smith in particular looks like he is running very well but Brooks and Ibrahim give the team a chance against anyone.

- LB Martin should be back and that helps immensely. Gophers are playing very hard and very well with serious momentum.

All in all, Penn St. is a very good team and have many talented players. They will be a serious test for sure and the Gophers will have to play their very best to even have a chance here. However, the Gophers should not be taken for granted against anyone. I would not want to play against them right now. They have a very legitimate chance to knock off Penn St. and I think coaches, players and true fans all know this. They are a very dangerous team.
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I have a feeling the Gophers will have to come from behind to win - in the fourth quarter.
 

The Gophers are very competitive with just about anyone at offensive skill positions and some defensive too. It will come down to the offensive line.
 

Stars are over-rated, except for Clemson and Alabama who seem stacked with 5-star guys every year. Some recruits are overlooked but can grow into 5 star status, and that's Fleck's strategy.
 

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