Is this a mini trap game for the Gophers?

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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We are coming off an emotional Big Ten opening win, next week we have a test against a nationally ranked opponent with a Heisman candidate QB. I know Fleck preaches championship week seasons but college kids are college kids and even the most focused may look ahead a bit.

Then throw in this: “A MAC team has beaten a B1G opponent each year since 2006, including Bowling Green’s win at Minnesota in 2021. The Gophers will be tested.”

Just makes me a bit worried. Hopefully we come out and out these guys away early and leave no doubt.

Here’s to Eastern Michigan Championship Week! Let’s go 1-0.

Go Gophers!!
 


MonikerSchmoniker45 said:
Some are saying this is more of a "must win" than the Nebraska game.
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I'd disagree with those saying that. Most of the preseason threads focused on a division championship and trophy games as goals for this team, and a loss to EMU wouldn't impact either of those. That said, a loss would be embarrassing, and would make BGSU look more like a pattern than a blip. None of that matters though, because we won't lose to Eastern Michigan.
 

On PJ Fleck's show yesterday he said they return a lot of players from a really good team last year, a team that won on the road 5 times (at Arizona St., Ball St., Western Michigan, Akron, Kent St.). They also beat San Jose St by a couple of touchdowns in their bowl game.

This is no guaranteed win.
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
I'd disagree with those saying that. Most of the preseason threads focused on a division championship and trophy games as goals for this team, and a loss to EMU wouldn't impact either of those. That said, a loss would be embarrassing, and would make BGSU look more like a pattern than a blip. None of that matters though, because we won't lose to Eastern Michigan.
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Disagree
It would be the second non conference loss in 7 seasons
The loss to eastern Michigan wouldn’t really be like the loss to bowling green to me.
2021 bowling green was a bottom 20 team in college football.
2023 eastern Michigan is not close to that. And is more like the 60-80 range to me.

Eastern Michigan ImO is a better team than northwestern and Indiana this year
 


I hope this is not a Bowling Green redux. EMU will be gunning to upset the Gophers. They have a lot of returning experienced talent.
 







mngolf said:
I think the struggle of last week will keep everyone focused
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This is my take as well. Had we blown Nebraska out I could see the team being a little complacent in a game like this.....but given the struggle in game 1 I think the team will be very focused heading into this one.
 





balds said:
On PJ Fleck's show yesterday he said they return a lot of players from a really good team last year, a team that won on the road 5 times (at Arizona St., Ball St., Western Michigan, Akron, Kent St.). They also beat San Jose St by a couple of touchdowns in their bowl game.

This is no guaranteed win.
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Impressive last year.

However; They beat Howard at home by 10 with two kickoff returns. Kesich will boot them out of the end zone as the coaching staff won’t mess around with the high kicks This should be a route.
 

Every bit as much, apparently, as it was for Illinois vs Toledo!

EMU has outstanding coaching and they’ve been able to get some talent there in recent years.
 


MplsGopher said:
Every bit as much, apparently, as it was for Illinois vs Toledo!

EMU has outstanding coaching and they’ve been able to get some talent there in recent years.
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Toledo is better than EMU.
 


As a (one off) example, for those who watched Quarterback on Netflix, the guy on the Raiders who tormented Mahomes was drafted from Eastern Michigan.

So they do get some guys there.
 

IF the team struggles early somebody take the headset away if PJ starts mumbling about going for it on 4th and 1 from the Minnesota 29. The weight of expectations can lead to doubling down on a bad hand.
 

Some history says the Gophers can sometimes play down to their opponent, so this one is a little unnerving. Having said that, I hope PJ has learned enough over his tenure here, that doing just enough to get by so you don’t have to show anything, is a very dangerous strategy. I hope he’s determined to do what it takes to kick ass and take names later. We’ll see.
 

mngolf said:
I think the struggle of last week will keep everyone focused
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That goes for both teams. Howard made it interesting toward the end. Looks like we will see a fair amount of read option from EMU. Howard showed us that the passing game may be open for Kaliakmanis to exploit.
 

MplsGopher said:
As a (one off) example, for those who watched Quarterback on Netflix, the guy on the Raiders who tormented Mahomes was drafted from Eastern Michigan.

So they do get some guys there.
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Guys that are dying to let everyone know they should have been Wolverines, Spartans, or Buckeyes.
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
I'd disagree with those saying that. Most of the preseason threads focused on a division championship and trophy games as goals for this team, and a loss to EMU wouldn't impact either of those. That said, a loss would be embarrassing, and would make BGSU look more like a pattern than a blip. None of that matters though, because we won't lose to Eastern Michigan.
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Some guy said:
Disagree
It would be the second non conference loss in 7 seasons
The loss to eastern Michigan wouldn’t really be like the loss to bowling green to me.
2021 bowling green was a bottom 20 team in college football.
2023 eastern Michigan is not close to that. And is more like the 60-80 range to me.

Eastern Michigan ImO is a better team than northwestern and Indiana this year
Click to expand...

No, another loss to a MAC team at home would be embarrassing and you could bet that every Badger fan, Hawkeye fan, and StarTribune troll out there would never let us forget it. We should never lose to those teams. Ever.
 

MplsGopher said:
Every bit as much, apparently, as it was for Illinois vs Toledo!

EMU has outstanding coaching and they’ve been able to get some talent there in recent years.
Click to expand...
EMU is a MAC team....you would hope by this point all Big Ten teams would know you have to take MAC teams seriously because they do pull the upset from time to time.

Bottom line, if we play well we should win and fairly easily. If we play poorly, make a bunch of mistakes.....anything is possible and we could lose.
 

MNVCGUY said:
EMU is a MAC team....you would hope by this point all Big Ten teams would know you have to take MAC teams seriously because they do pull the upset from time to time.

Bottom line, if we play well we should win and fairly easily. If we play poorly, make a bunch of mistakes.....anything is possible and we could lose.
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I suspect every team "knows".

However, playing consistantly all season is hard for whatever reason. Only the very best teams go a full season without taking a loss that they "shouldn't" have taken.
 


We are far from a consistent team, never know what to expect based on eggs laid over the years. EMU defense is better than NC and our offense had obvious struggles last week. Hoping Rossi defense can keep them to 10 or less points again.
 


PJ seems to mirror his offensive risk to the suspected talent of the other team even if we can run the ball successfully against EMU we need to keep our foot on the passing throttle and blow this game open

The run does need work but the passing must continue

Imop
 

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