My thoughts on the upcoming season

[Go Gophers Rah]

I spent last week at the cabin looking at the media guide and other Gopher football related info as well as a couple of the college football magazines and I have formulated a few thoughts.

This is more-or-less a brain dump; I don't claim to be any more knowledgable or connected tyhan any other Gopher fan and my opinion may not mean much to anyone, but here it is anyway:

1) Several offensive players really regressed in 2009 - chiefly Adam Weber, Duane Bennett and DeLeon Eskridge. The common denominator of these 3 players is the O Line. I know that the O Line was young and inexperienced last year, but I don't think that gives the O-Line/Rinning Game Coach Tim Davis a free pass. I really like the assistant coaching staff that Brewster has pieced together over time (now that the Wunderkind is gone), except for Tim Davis. I hope that I am wrong and that he is a great coach who had an inexperienced line to deal with, but if the running game is not drastically improved this year, then he should move on.

2) Our offense last year was as bad as our defense was in 2007. At the beginning of the 2008 season, my feeling was that the defense couldn't possibly get any worse and that a small improvement in play could yield big overall results. I feel the same way about this year's offense. They simply must improve.

3) Duane Bennett doesn't get the credit he deserves; especially for catching the ball out of the backfield. To date, he has 464 receiving yards - which would put him at the #5 receiving RB in school history. Another year like 2009 and he should gain another 175-225 yards; which would put him at #3 on the list. I don't expect Bennett to be a flashy player, but I do expect him to be a very solid/consistent contributor to our team and the difference maker in a couple of close games.

4) I am very excited about our defense. I never thought I'd say such a thing about a unit only returning 2 starters. Our DB's are VERY experienced (Royston, Therret, Collado) or VERY talented (Carter, Jimmy Johnson). Our D Line seems very talented. And anyone who said they expected the likes of Nate Tripplett to be a big-time LB at this time last year is a svengali or a liar. I think we could have another good+ LB trio on the team.

5) I will admit it - I was a "Masonite." My biggest dislike of Mason, though, was that he would set low expectations so he would be assured of "success." This year's low expectaions, however, are all external to the program and I think this team could really thrive as underdogs.

6) Having shared a lot of optimism, I will say that a loss to MTSU would really, really, really disappoint me. Even if they are a great Sun Belt team, THEY ARE STILL A SUN BELT TEAM! We lost to eventual SB champs FAU in 2007. If we lose to MTSU next week, my conclusion is that we haven't progressed since 2007.

7) A bit of a digresion here, but..Looking at past records, it still astounds me how close the 2003 team came to being a truly great team. One defensive stand against Michigan (or Mason not implementing his conservative offense in the 2nd half) and we'd have been in the Rose Bowl. Add to that a touchdown difference in next week's MSU game and we'd have been a top-10 team. Aaargh! But it goes to show how minute the difference is between being a good team and a great one.

Anyway, those are just a few of my random thoughts for the season which is about to begin.

Random thoughts from others?

 

[Unregistered User]

Random thoughts from others?

I like pie.

 

[GoAUpher]

1) Not sure what to think of Davis. But if the running game doesn't improve improve he'll likely move on b/c Brew will have moved on.

2) Agreed, there is a lot of room to surprise people if the O improves. A major theme of the comments after the recent Gopher post at Off Tackle Empire revolve around “who will Weber throw to without Decker?”. I think we all know the answers to that, and even modest improvement in the O could pay big dividends in the win column (assuming the D doesn’t regress horribly of course).

3) +1 to this. Hopefully he or Kirkwood can bring that extra something as a runner too, but DB should still be an effective threat b/c of his pass catching skills.

4) I’m excited too, but mostly I’m just hopeful that the new players are able to step in without too much of an adjustment factor.

5) I also like the underdog status. This is a weird year. Its not like expectations were huge last season, but no one had written the team off before their first game either. Hopefully the team rises to the challenge. I have Badger fan friends/co-workers that need shutting up.

6) A loss to MTSU would suck what little wind exists out of the collective Gopher sails. I actually don’t think that a loss automatically portends the beginning of a guaranteed stinker of a season, but I also know that the TC media, national media, and generic fan perspectives will be the exact opposite of mine. For me, a loss would mean extra annoyance as the Hole descends into Fire Brew mode as all the trollish posters who are not see right now make their way out of the woodwork. That’s what I don’t want to put up with.

7) That season will forever annoy the crap out of me. I was going to take my brother to the Rose Bowl as a joint early graduation gift (he from HS and me from college), cost be damned. And even though the Gophs would have gotten blown out by USC, I don’t think it could possibly have ruined the fun of that weekend. Sigh…

My own random thoughts…
- The optimistic side of me can see B10 wins coming from Illinois, Purdue, Northwestern, or MSU (pick 3) and from Wisconsin, Iowa or PSU (pick 1). Frankly, a 7-5 season would make me pretty happy assuming that A) one of those wins came with a pig or axe and B) there were no true blowout or soul-crushing losses.
- My biggest fear is that while the D may be equal to or better than last years overall, that it might take a game or 3 to get things gelling and that this could mean a loss to MTSU or a blowout to USC (both of which would get the negative nellies dancing).
- I think the thing I’m looking forward to least is the fact that I can’t make either of the night games at TCF this season. I love the atmosphere of those games.

 

[tikited]

- My biggest fear is that while the D may be equal to or better than last years overall, that it might take a game or 3 to get things gelling and that this could mean a loss to MTSU or a blowout to USC (both of which would get the negative nellies dancing)

I would think the negative nellies wouldn't like dancing to begin with...

I worry about a loss to MTSU making the dire predictions by most publications seem likely. With that said, I expect the defense to win that game for us and a few others. The offense isn't likely to all of a sudden become great, so it is up to the defense to really make the season imo. A better than average offense and a solid defense will get us back to a bowl game.

 

[Firejumper]

I like pie.

Throttle back on the random just a skosh.