Minnesota vs Fresno State: Media Predictions

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After reading through most of the predictions, the write-ups seem to come down to two things.
1. We had a close win vs an FCS team.
2. Fresno St. had a great 2018 campaign.

Both are points to consider, but I don't think tells the whole story. I don't think this one is as clear cut as some are making it out to be.
 

cjbfbp said:
They appear to be underrating our passing game. Their assumption seems to be that, because we like to run, we probably don't have a very good passing game.

Tanner threw for 214 yards against Nebraska in essentially only a half; threw for 302 yards against Indiana; and 258 against Illinois so he is capable of putting up yards and we have the receivers to rack up the yardage. He only started 6 games last year and the Gophers ran for over 200 yards in three of the last four. He threw only 18 passes last week but he completed over 70% of them.
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The biggest thing people miss is that he’s averaged well over 9 yards per attempt in 7 starts. Look around the Big Ten and find another QB who can say the same thing. There isn’t one.

But, I can’t blame these writers for calling him a game manager when his own head coach and O-coordinator both did this week. It almost as if they want the opposition to be lulled into thinking he’s not capable of making plays. Either that, or his own HC doesn’t think he can.


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Fresno should be favored by 7. Their game against USC compared to our game against SDSU; we lose.
 

Great Plains Gopher said:
Fresno should be favored by 7. Their game against USC compared to our game against SDSU; we lose.
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Fresno were down 31-13 heading into the fourth quarter and prior to getting injured, USC’s starting QB threw an INT in the end zone so that game really could have got out of hand. It wasn’t as close as the score indicates.
 

PitinoFan said:
The biggest thing people miss is that he’s averaged well over 9 yards per attempt in 7 starts. Look around the Big Ten and find another QB who can say the same thing. There isn’t one.

But, I can’t blame these writers for calling him a game manager when his own head coach and O-coordinator both did this week. It almost as if they want the opposition to be lulled into thinking he’s not capable of making plays. Either that, or his own HC doesn’t think he can.


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Could be a little of both I guess.
 


IceBoxGopher said:
After reading through most of the predictions, the write-ups seem to come down to two things.
1. We had a close win vs an FCS team.
2. Fresno St. had a great 2018 campaign.

Both are points to consider, but I don't think tells the whole story. I don't think this one is as clear cut as some are making it out to be.
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That's one of the arguments against playing FCS teams. No matter how good they are, all people see is that you played an FCS team. We could have scheduled an FBS team that wasn't nearly as good as South Dakota State (for example, UTEP, ranked 187 in Sagarin) and people would have assumed that they were a stronger opponent.
 

Whole lot of dinks making predictions in 2019. Whole lot of smart people too.
 

RodentRampage said:
That's one of the arguments against playing FCS teams. No matter how good they are, all people see is that you played an FCS team. We could have scheduled an FBS team that wasn't nearly as good as South Dakota State (for example, UTEP, ranked 187 in Sagarin) and people would have assumed that they were a stronger opponent.
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Exactly. Games with FCS do nothing to raise impressions. No good comes out of these games for the FBS team. Win by a lot? Yawn, of course. Win by a little? What's wrong? Lose? Season's over.
 

Schnauzer said:
Exactly. Games with FCS do nothing to raise impressions. No good comes out of these games for the FBS team. Win by a lot? Yawn, of course. Win by a little? What's wrong? Lose? Season's over.
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Yep, the team probably got a lot out of playing a tough opponent but from a fan and media perspective all the majority see is FCS and assume that means blowout or bust.

Said in another thread that SDSU was probably one of the best teams any Big Ten team squared off against in week one outside of a couple but if you asked the casual fan to rank the opponents I guarantee that the Jackrabbits would end up at or near the bottom of the list based solely on assumptions about the level they play at.
 



Schnauzer said:
Exactly. Games with FCS do nothing to raise impressions. No good comes out of these games for the FBS team. Win by a lot? Yawn, of course. Win by a little? What's wrong? Lose? Season's over.
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I'm just going to say it, No more games for teams in Dakota's. Nothing to gain from it, and a lot to lose
 

salzie said:
I'm just going to say it, No more games for teams in Dakota's. Nothing to gain from it, and a lot to lose
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I agree with you on one level but at the same time it is great to play those teams because the game is regional and it has to be a great thrill for the Minnesota kids playing at those schools to go up against the U.

Agree that there is little to gain from a perception standpoint but don't have a major issue with playing the games.
 

I wish the B1G would go back to it's no FCS rule, or that we would stop scheduling them. If we lose, perception is it was embarassing we lost to an FCS team. If we win by a narrow margin, perception is it was embarassing that we played a close game against an FCS team. If we win by a blowout, perception is it was embarassing that we scheduled an FCS team. No way to win.

Even setting perception aside, it is dangerous in terms of a tual schedule quality. The FCS teams play such a soft schedule, they are always one or two bad games in their FCS schedule away from being a really weak opponent.
 

salzie said:
I'm just going to say it, No more games for teams in Dakota's. Nothing to gain from it, and a lot to lose
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Before this game was played there was an upset alert already flagged for this game.
https://herosports.com/fcs/football-2019-fcs-vs-fbs-upsets-bzbz
I watched the game with SDSU and they are a good team period. SDSU would give several teams trouble playing them
as a Fresno fan I don't assume all FCS football teams are the same because they are not.
In California, currently the best FCS team is UC Davis and they beat MWC team San Jose State last year 44-38.
after the Minnesota game, Fresno will be playing an FCS team in Sacramento State, and Fresno will probably beat them fairly easily but they are not as good as SDSU. You just have to know what you are getting yourself into with these FCS match ups.
 



Great Plains Gopher said:
Fresno should be favored by 7. Their game against USC compared to our game against SDSU; we lose.
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If that were the only thing we had to based our prediction off then sure. But fact of the matter is that gophers beat them last year and are a top 10 team in the country in returning production and Fresno State is second to last in the FBS, at least according to Bill Connelly.
 

die hard gopher said:
If that were the only thing we had to based our prediction off then sure. But fact of the matter is that gophers beat them last year and are a top 10 team in the country in returning production and Fresno State is second to last in the FBS, at least according to Bill Connelly.
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Everything you said was true. And Fresno is also predicted to win their division again this year and play for another conference championship for the third consecutive year.
 

Great Plains Gopher said:
Fresno should be favored by 7. Their game against USC compared to our game against SDSU; we lose.
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If you feel strongly that Fresno should be favored by 7 points, you might want to consider placing a bet. Since Minnesota is favored by 3, that's a nice opportunity for you.

I'm not baiting you, but you do seem pretty certain.
 



MNVCGUY said:
Yep, the team probably got a lot out of playing a tough opponent but from a fan and media perspective all the majority see is FCS and assume that means blowout or bust.

Said in another thread that SDSU was probably one of the best teams any Big Ten team squared off against in week one outside of a couple but if you asked the casual fan to rank the opponents I guarantee that the Jackrabbits would end up at or near the bottom of the list based solely on assumptions about the level they play at.
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If they move up to FBS, I'd be all for playing them.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Yep, the team probably got a lot out of playing a tough opponent but from a fan and media perspective all the majority see is FCS and assume that means blowout or bust.

Said in another thread that SDSU was probably one of the best teams any Big Ten team squared off against in week one outside of a couple but if you asked the casual fan to rank the opponents I guarantee that the Jackrabbits would end up at or near the bottom of the list based solely on assumptions about the level they play at.
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That may be true...Gophs still beat them with some very sloppy play and a vanilla O and D game plan.
 


Athlon chimes in with a more in-depth prediction:

Final Analysis

Expect a slow start on the road for Minnesota offensively. The Gopher defense shouldn't have too many issues limiting the damage caused by Reyna and the Bulldog offense most of the night. That will allow P.J. Fleck's offensive unit to settle in after a quarter or so and take control of the game against a team that they should be able to dominate in the trenches. Look for a big game by Minnesota receiver Tyler Johnson after a fairly quiet outing a week ago.

Prediction: Minnesota 31, Fresno State 20

https://athlonsports.com/college-fo...s-fresno-state-bulldogs-prediction-picks-2019

Go Gophers!!
 



The Gophers better beat Fresno & GSU better beat Maine otherwise our game will mean nothing.
 

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