gophmeister
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After reading the rather speciously reasoned article on bleacherreport, which I am left to assume was written by a 12-year-old, I gave some thought to what next season might hold for our gophers. Here's my non-scientific and superficial assessment of our oppenents and our gophers.
MTSU: They are Dasher and not much else. From what I've read online they had a number of significant injuries during spring practice and their defense was horrible in the spring game. Also, they're breaking in new coordinators on both sides of the ball. Unless Horton is a gigantic idiot, which I don't think he is btw, and our defense takes a huge step back we should come home victorious. We're giving them too much credit, because we've been burned in the past.
USD: We will crush them. Absolute woodshedding. They are going to bear the brunt of our frustrations over the SDSU game. I expect to see the Coyotes turn the ball over a lot. Their lack of opposable thumbs will be their undoing.
USC: Can't see us winning this game, but whats-his-chops wasn't all that successful at Tenn either and was a bust with the Raiders. USC should arrive 2-0 and hopefully over confident. If we play well and get some breaks it could go our way. The reality is, they have a roster full of blue chips who can make up for whatever mistakes they may make. Another angle is Kiffin might be viewing this game as sort of a homecoming, so he could trip over his own ego. I am certain it will be a mcuh talked about game. Not because of the gophers, but because of Kiffin, and his ties the area. Expect a lot of media attention, especially if USC is 2-0.
N Ill: I don't know much about them, but Brew is 1-0 against UNI and it's at home. UNI won only once on the road last year and that was a against 1-11 Miami (OH). They do have their top passer, rusher and receiver back, so who knows. The key to this game is extinguishing their hope for victory early. Stumble out of the gate and we're in trouble.
NW: No Kafka. Fitzgerald is a heck of a coach and he's figured out how to beat us in the past, but Kafka was their game changer. Wooten is gone too. We should win this game.
WI: They'll be good, but not great and if the past two years are any indicator it will be a close game. They feast on 4 cupcakes prior to their trip to East Lansing. If we can put points on the board early and contain Clay, Brewster might answer his critics.
Purdue: Too much hype for these guys IMHO. They had some spectacular upsets, but that just means no one will take them lightly this fall. Couple that with the injury to Bolden and graduation of Elliott and I see a solid candidate for a disappointing season. We could be the guys who crush their hopes!
OSU: We're going to see a confident T. Pryor in TCF this fall (see Rose Bowl). They'll probably beat us by a couple of touchdowns. If we're playing well at this point, I believe we can at least give them a game.
PSU: They lost a lot guys of whom the most important is Daryll Clark. Word out of spring practice is not good as far as finding a decent replacement. We're at home and if we're 5-2 or 4-3 I think the team should be confident enough to take them on. The weather really played a factor in last year's game. If we had had a running game, we could have put a scare into them.
MSU: A disappointing 2009 and a mountain of off-season turmoil could tip MSU into oblivion in 2010. They do have Cousins back, which is good for them, but so so many times in the last decade we've done well against MSU. I'm not willing to pencil it in as a win, but it's tempting to at this juncture.
Illinois: Not often do complete overhauls in staff reap immediate benefits. Especially after such a dismal season. Still, Zook has recruited well and we play them late and on the road. We're either going to run into a team that is starting to gel or one that is coming a part at the seams (same goes for us). They're the most unknown of unknown quantities in the conference. Brewster obviously has a grudge against his alma mater, which hopefully will translate into an outstanding week of preparation followed by tremendous game day coaching.
Iowa: They will be tough, but we have them at home. I don't believe in Stanzi. Lucky is the first word that comes to mind and eventually it ran out. Our defense proved they can stop Iowa's offense and I think that will hold true this fall.
As I see it, these are three keys for next fall in order.
1. Run offense,
2. Adam Weber
3. Run defense.
We get these three in order and we'll do fine. Numbers 1 and 2 really go hand in hand. If we can run the ball, really run the ball this fall, Adam can take advantage of play action for big gains. He has a lot of experience and at times has been brilliant, which should not be discounted. Granted he has stunk it up a lot too, and past performance is typically a good indicator of future success, but not all the blame can be laid at his feet. What gives me hope is the marked improvement we saw on the o line this spring. That could be just enough to tip the balance in our favor offensively. Also, DaJon McKnight and Bryant Allen should do well enough to improve our fortunes at receiver. If, and this is a big if, one of our freshman turns out to be the real deal, we could become a formidable offense.
Number 3 might be the overall key to our success or lack there of this fall. There really weren't any great passing teams in the conference last year and I'm guessing that will stay true this fall. Pardon me for saying it, but Scott Tolzien and Ricky Stanzi are not going to beat us with their arms. We will face some exceptional rushing offenses though and if we can hinder their ability to move the ball on the ground, I am willing to wager they won't be able to consistently pass enough to compensate. "Stop the rock" should be our slogan! As an aside "Pound the Rock" was kind of Brewster's "Mission Accomplished" last fall (ha, ha). I don't see a Rose Bowl trip but I definitly don't see us going winless in the conference. We have enough guys on defense with game experience to counteract the loss of all the starters. Kirksey, Edwards, Cooper, Tinsley, Carter, Collado, Rallis, Jacobs and Wilhite have all seen significant playing time. It's really the second string that worries me, but if half the JC reenforcements turn out to be players we're set. We might even be better. I honestly don't think it's far from reasonable to expect Weber to play better this fall. I know many complain that Fisch screwed up his throwing motion, but I really believe he did worse to his head. Weber just needs to stay calm and the other 10 guys need to know what going on. Like I said, if one of the freshman backs turns out to be the real deal, I think that solve a lot of our problems. However, I'm not holding my breath. Anyway, this is all just speculation on my part, so take it for what it's worth.
MTSU: They are Dasher and not much else. From what I've read online they had a number of significant injuries during spring practice and their defense was horrible in the spring game. Also, they're breaking in new coordinators on both sides of the ball. Unless Horton is a gigantic idiot, which I don't think he is btw, and our defense takes a huge step back we should come home victorious. We're giving them too much credit, because we've been burned in the past.
USD: We will crush them. Absolute woodshedding. They are going to bear the brunt of our frustrations over the SDSU game. I expect to see the Coyotes turn the ball over a lot. Their lack of opposable thumbs will be their undoing.
USC: Can't see us winning this game, but whats-his-chops wasn't all that successful at Tenn either and was a bust with the Raiders. USC should arrive 2-0 and hopefully over confident. If we play well and get some breaks it could go our way. The reality is, they have a roster full of blue chips who can make up for whatever mistakes they may make. Another angle is Kiffin might be viewing this game as sort of a homecoming, so he could trip over his own ego. I am certain it will be a mcuh talked about game. Not because of the gophers, but because of Kiffin, and his ties the area. Expect a lot of media attention, especially if USC is 2-0.
N Ill: I don't know much about them, but Brew is 1-0 against UNI and it's at home. UNI won only once on the road last year and that was a against 1-11 Miami (OH). They do have their top passer, rusher and receiver back, so who knows. The key to this game is extinguishing their hope for victory early. Stumble out of the gate and we're in trouble.
NW: No Kafka. Fitzgerald is a heck of a coach and he's figured out how to beat us in the past, but Kafka was their game changer. Wooten is gone too. We should win this game.
WI: They'll be good, but not great and if the past two years are any indicator it will be a close game. They feast on 4 cupcakes prior to their trip to East Lansing. If we can put points on the board early and contain Clay, Brewster might answer his critics.
Purdue: Too much hype for these guys IMHO. They had some spectacular upsets, but that just means no one will take them lightly this fall. Couple that with the injury to Bolden and graduation of Elliott and I see a solid candidate for a disappointing season. We could be the guys who crush their hopes!
OSU: We're going to see a confident T. Pryor in TCF this fall (see Rose Bowl). They'll probably beat us by a couple of touchdowns. If we're playing well at this point, I believe we can at least give them a game.
PSU: They lost a lot guys of whom the most important is Daryll Clark. Word out of spring practice is not good as far as finding a decent replacement. We're at home and if we're 5-2 or 4-3 I think the team should be confident enough to take them on. The weather really played a factor in last year's game. If we had had a running game, we could have put a scare into them.
MSU: A disappointing 2009 and a mountain of off-season turmoil could tip MSU into oblivion in 2010. They do have Cousins back, which is good for them, but so so many times in the last decade we've done well against MSU. I'm not willing to pencil it in as a win, but it's tempting to at this juncture.
Illinois: Not often do complete overhauls in staff reap immediate benefits. Especially after such a dismal season. Still, Zook has recruited well and we play them late and on the road. We're either going to run into a team that is starting to gel or one that is coming a part at the seams (same goes for us). They're the most unknown of unknown quantities in the conference. Brewster obviously has a grudge against his alma mater, which hopefully will translate into an outstanding week of preparation followed by tremendous game day coaching.
Iowa: They will be tough, but we have them at home. I don't believe in Stanzi. Lucky is the first word that comes to mind and eventually it ran out. Our defense proved they can stop Iowa's offense and I think that will hold true this fall.
As I see it, these are three keys for next fall in order.
1. Run offense,
2. Adam Weber
3. Run defense.
We get these three in order and we'll do fine. Numbers 1 and 2 really go hand in hand. If we can run the ball, really run the ball this fall, Adam can take advantage of play action for big gains. He has a lot of experience and at times has been brilliant, which should not be discounted. Granted he has stunk it up a lot too, and past performance is typically a good indicator of future success, but not all the blame can be laid at his feet. What gives me hope is the marked improvement we saw on the o line this spring. That could be just enough to tip the balance in our favor offensively. Also, DaJon McKnight and Bryant Allen should do well enough to improve our fortunes at receiver. If, and this is a big if, one of our freshman turns out to be the real deal, we could become a formidable offense.
Number 3 might be the overall key to our success or lack there of this fall. There really weren't any great passing teams in the conference last year and I'm guessing that will stay true this fall. Pardon me for saying it, but Scott Tolzien and Ricky Stanzi are not going to beat us with their arms. We will face some exceptional rushing offenses though and if we can hinder their ability to move the ball on the ground, I am willing to wager they won't be able to consistently pass enough to compensate. "Stop the rock" should be our slogan! As an aside "Pound the Rock" was kind of Brewster's "Mission Accomplished" last fall (ha, ha). I don't see a Rose Bowl trip but I definitly don't see us going winless in the conference. We have enough guys on defense with game experience to counteract the loss of all the starters. Kirksey, Edwards, Cooper, Tinsley, Carter, Collado, Rallis, Jacobs and Wilhite have all seen significant playing time. It's really the second string that worries me, but if half the JC reenforcements turn out to be players we're set. We might even be better. I honestly don't think it's far from reasonable to expect Weber to play better this fall. I know many complain that Fisch screwed up his throwing motion, but I really believe he did worse to his head. Weber just needs to stay calm and the other 10 guys need to know what going on. Like I said, if one of the freshman backs turns out to be the real deal, I think that solve a lot of our problems. However, I'm not holding my breath. Anyway, this is all just speculation on my part, so take it for what it's worth.
