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Schnoodler

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Udefeated aspirations

A little article I pulled off of Yahoo. We appear to be a very important game for them.

This really is a great way to start off the year, both teams with so much to prove. It really should be a great game.
 

I will be VERY disappointed if we lose this game. To me, that would be an indication that we have not progressed much from the 2007 season when we lost to eventual Sun Belt champion FAU. I know that MTSU won 10 games last year, but we would've won eleven or twelve with the schedule they played.

I guess we could lose and still end up with a respectable season - but it would be an uphill battle for sure.

My bold prediction is that we will win in a manner that we can all be proud of.
 

It's really not a great situation for us. They are a very good team, and we are bringing alot of things together and adding many new starters. If this were about six games in it'd be an easy win. The first game??
 

I actually think facing Dash in the first game is better than later in the year. In prefall camp you have a lot of #1 Defense vs #2 Offense in other words Gray. Later in the season you would have difficulty simulating Dash. We also have the advantage that with Dash as the trigger man their offense will be very similar to last year so preparation should be easier for us than them.
 

we...

will win this game.
 


There are a number of MTSU fans who think that we will be unable to handle the heat and humidity, and that we will just wilt. We do have summer here too, I suppose they think we are shovelling snow the first week in September. :D The Minnesota cold is greatly exaggerated! The heat may have played a factor in 2007 against FAU, but although we lost that game, they were the ones who wore out, not us. We just got in too deep of a hole to pull ourselves out of, we had a big comeback, but it wasn't quite enough.
 

The heat didn't play a factor in the FAU game - the 7 turnovers did.

That said, this MTSU team is FAR superior to the FAU teams we played in '07 and '08. Dasher is a legit next-level player, and their wins over Maryland with him as an underclassman QB is much more than FAU ever did those years.

Whether or not the Gophers can be dominant in the ground game both ways will be the key. The one thing the coaches should be working on leading up to the game is having MG play the part of Dasher in practice - the guy is quick and loves to move around and make plays. Gray is just as good of an athlete so I sincerely hope the defense is ready for Dasher and his athleticism, because the coaches have the time and the players to prepare them.

MTSU will be favored - and we will be fortunate to come out of there with a win.
 

Forgive me for not quaking in my boots. MTSU 10 may be a better team than 07 FAU, but I don't know about "far better". And we aren't the 07 team either. A loss wouldn't be a man bites dog story, but I don't think the situation is that dire either.
 

There's a level of disrespect on the MTSU forum that makes me all warm and fuzzy. Predicting that MTSU will score in the high 30's or 40's or even the 50's. I just hope their team has the same attitude.
 



RodentRampage said:
There's a level of disrespect on the MTSU forum that makes me all warm and fuzzy. Predicting that MTSU will score in the high 30's or 40's or even the 50's. I just hope their team has the same attitude.
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I know. They seem to be buying the hype that the Gophers are the quote unquote worst team in the Big Ten. I perused their fan board, and they seem to think that they will roll over us, although paradoxically, almost half of their fans list us as the most important game on the schedule for them.

Oh, and they also quoted Gopher hole posters such as myself claiming the Big Ten is the best or 2nd best conference derisively. They are taking the good drugs, and have a wildly inflated view of the perpetually anemic ACC (and of course SEC). Apparently Southern boys stick together.

2 things.

One, they are major conference level athletic but very, very small. At times when I watched them play last year I had a hard time discerning between their LBs and D-linemen. They were all roughly the same size. The O-line is tiny also.

If we have improved at all we will dominate the trenches, and that is where games are won and lost. Two, their O is very prolific but struggled mightily against the Ds they played with a pulse.

This FBT article is great and should be read in its entirety http://fringebowlteamblog.com/?p=1324#more-1324

My take? If we are any good at all the game is close during the 1st half but they eventually wear down and we win by 10+ points.
 

I personally don't see this being a game.

Yes, I know SportingNews has UMN at #98 and MTSU at #43 (as well as NIU at #49), but that is only one opinion.

Lindy's has MN at #73 and MTSU at #80 and NIU at #93, much more realistic in my view. MN will dominate this game.

As mentioned earlier, MTSU is small, their OL from LT over runs 260, 305, 285, 281, 272. Their DL runs 231, 248, 272, 226 and LB runs 218, 229, 216. I think MN will run over them. As Lindy's points out, their front seven on defense are vulnerable.

Yes, I know size isn't everything, but don't try and tell my wife that:pig:
 

Sumtimegophs said:
LB runs 218, 229, 216.
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Cooper - 210
Tinsley - 220
Rallis - 210

And most people on this board have a pretty positive outlook for them.

Don't know how dated those are, they are from Gophersports.com

The line comparison is more apt.
 




Now, I admit that I know nothing of MTSU (why should I, they are from a no-count conference) but the lead up to this game reminds me a lot of when Toledo came to town a handful of years ago. If I remember correctly, it was the first game of the year and Toledo was everyone's little darling. Cupito and the Gophs thoroughly embarrassed them. Granted, that Gophers' team turned out to be very good, but I'm just saying I see similarities between the two season openers.
 

I should note that while I think te MTSU fans are rather off base with their predictions of rolling over us, they aren't being asses. I'm not going to object to someone's off base predictions, I'm just going to sit back and let them underestimate us.
 

Last July it was similar worries about Paulus and then the AF Wing back T. U of M 2-0.
 

But paulus was unproven, and AF was not at the level of MTSU. And I don't recall either being an easy win.
 

I'm neither worried nor kicked back about this game. I'm excited about the game. We could lose this game, but they are not exactly some juggernaut, the likes of which we have never seen before.

To paraphrase the Emperor from the Return of the Jedi:

Goldy Gopher: Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design. Your friends, over there at Middle Tennessee State, are walking into a trap, as is your Blue Raider team. It was *I* who allowed MTSU to schedule the Golden Gophers. It is quite safe from your pitiful little team. An entire legion of my best players awaits them. Oh, I'm afraid the Minnesota Gophers will be quite operational when your teammates arrive.

Or something like that. If we should not be too complacement, let's not quake in our boots either. Paulus was untested, yes. But the media treated him like he was a football demi-god. He turned out to be human after all. Air Force had just scored 70+ against a I-AA team. They wound up scoring just 13 on us. Yes, the Syracuse game was a squeaker, and the AF game was very close. We could have lost those games, but giving in to the opponents hype doesn't help.
 

Unregistered User said:
Cooper - 210
Tinsley - 220
Rallis - 210

And most people on this board have a pretty positive outlook for them.

Don't know how dated those are, they are from Gophersports.com

The line comparison is more apt.
Click to expand...

I don't know what Tinsley is at but Cooper is at 221 and Rallis is over 230. I believe Reeves is at 227.
 

Schnoodler said:
But paulus was unproven, and AF was not at the level of MTSU. And I don't recall either being an easy win.
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Exactly. Plus, had the AF game been on the road, we probably would have lost.
 

People are overlooking the road factor a lot. If this game was at TCF, I think the Gophers would have a very good chance of winning. Being on the road is totally different. You have to go back to 2006 to find the last truly easy road win for the Gophers. Simply put, Brewster's teams have never won easily on the road in his 3 years.

People are also using the Bowling Green game as a measuring stick. BG committed 5 turnovers, and yet if Weber had not somehow picked up that bad snap early in the fourth and somehow found Kuznia with his shoelace in bounds on 3rd and 11, BG would have had the ball with a chance for the lead down just 21-17 in the 4th quarter. People forget how close that game was until BG gift-wrapped us 2 TDs in the final few minutes.

The Gophers may beat MTSU, but if people think its going to be/should be some sort of dominating performance - given this team's road history combined with the recent play of MTSU - I think they are in for a big surprise.
 

And I think people are quaking in their boots way too much over this game.
 

josh087 said:
People are overlooking the road factor a lot. If this game was at TCF, I think the Gophers would have a very good chance of winning. Being on the road is totally different. You have to go back to 2006 to find the last truly easy road win for the Gophers. Simply put, Brewster's teams have never won easily on the road in his 3 years.

People are also using the Bowling Green game as a measuring stick. BG committed 5 turnovers, and yet if Weber had not somehow picked up that bad snap early in the fourth and somehow found Kuznia with his shoelace in bounds on 3rd and 11, BG would have had the ball with a chance for the lead down just 21-17 in the 4th quarter. People forget how close that game was until BG gift-wrapped us 2 TDs in the final few minutes.

The Gophers may beat MTSU, but if people think its going to be/should be some sort of dominating performance - given this team's road history combined with the recent play of MTSU - I think they are in for a big surprise.
Click to expand...

If the players and coaches go into this game expecting a serious dogfight against a very good team, they'll be ok.

All the negative hype HAS to be getting back to the players. I'm sure they hear the bad vibed conversations on campus and some listen to the news etc. The chip on the team's collective shoulder is growing, the best way to shut up all the BS media types and naysayers is an all out old fashioned A whoopin in week 1.
I expect an emotional team to come out firing and misfiring wildly, and a coaching staff to settle the players down in the second half on their way to a win.
Bottom line: We are a more talented team, and regardless of the southern speed myth being perpetrated, we match up well on D against their fast skill offensive players.
 

Difference

dpodoll68 said:
Exactly. Plus, had the AF game been on the road, we probably would have lost.
Click to expand...

The big difference between those games and THIS game is that the Syracuse and AF games were the Rodents FIRST games trying to implement an ENTIRELY new offense, going from the spread to Jedd Fisch's MIT, Rhodes Scholar mindf'k offensive scheme. I bet the under for points in both of those games and won convincingly. It was a no-brainer.

I don't know what's going to happen but I'll say this much (again); while I have some level of respect for MTSU on offense, MTSU's defense gave up points against EVERYBODY last year, even the cellar dweller's in their conference. The Gophers will move the ball and will score points, not a doubt in my mind.

I also like that it will be the first game, preparation shouldn't be a MAJOR issue for the things they'll see from MTSU. I'm FULLY expecting MTSU to throw out at least 2-3 trick plays in this one and the success of those plays will likely play a significant role in determining the outcome. In short, I don't see MTSU just lining up, head to head, expecting to beat the Gophers without some trickery.
 

Funny I hear a lot about their offense but little about their defense. Last year they had a pretty good defense but this year they have to replace both corners and a defensive end that was co-defensive player of the year for their conference. I see us pounding the rock until they are forced to put their safeties in the box. Will the replacement corners be capable of being on an island in their first game? I don't think so.
 

nsmike said:
Funny I hear a lot about their offense but little about their defense. Last year they had a pretty good defense but this year they have to replace both corners and a defensive end that was co-defensive player of the year for their conference. I see us pounding the rock until they are forced to put their safeties in the box. Will the replacement corners be capable of being on an island in their first game? I don't think so.
Click to expand...

+1

On their fan boards they are particularly worried about the Defensive Line. They anticipate a significant drop off in the level of play of that unit.
 

Don't bring up Toledo. Most of us remember what happened when the Gophers went on the road to the Glass Bowl to open the season. Worst beat-down by a nonBCS team the Gophers have probably ever had.
 

And MTSU will be probably be (Bowling Green) the best Non-BCS team we've faced on the road since Toledo in 2001.
 


Getting back to talk about the actual football season, there isn't too much talk about the game, except for the daily weather reports, comparing the weather between here and Middle Tennessee. They seem to really be hanging their hats on the heat and humidity being unbearable for us. They just can't imagine that we just might be able to handle the heat, and completely disregard that we have an indoor practice facility that can be set to be a lot hotter and a lot more humid than anything they will ever have down there.

We played FAU in the heat and humidity in 2007, and although we lost, they were the ones who wore out, not us. We roared back, but we had dug too deep a hole to climb out of. They are talking about going undefeated, going to the BCS, looking down their noses at the WAC and MWC. Well, we'll see, won't we?
 

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