Prediction: Gophers enter B1G play with #1 DEFENSE in nation

[Otis]

The Gophers held NMSU TO 90+ total yards and nil on the score board.

Now they face Western Illinois and are likely to dominate again.

Then they play Colorado and their former OC.

Gophers could be leading the nation in rushing, passing and scoring defense headed to MSU.

I’m betting a Martini & ROSSI they get it done!

And they won’t stop there!

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

I don't want to take away anything from what the coaches and team has done here ... but early season history wise:

I remember Mason teams entering conference play with some stats that were very impressive, and you knew couldn't hold up.

Having said that I'll take this defense over most of Mason's any day...

 

[jonnyganas]

I don't want to take away anything from what the coaches and team has done here ... but early season history wise:

I remember Mason teams entering conference play with some stats that were very impressive, and you knew couldn't hold up.

Having said that I'll take this defense over most of Mason's any day...

I was going to say...Mason never had a defense like this.
The only similarity would be blowing out non-con opponents.

Conference record was another story:
Mason's highest B1G win total was 5, in 2 out of his 10 seasons with the Gophers
Fleck has had over 5 B1G wins twice in his 5 seasons (2019 - 7, 2021 - 6).

 

[Some guy]

I’ll do you one better

The gophers will not give up a defensive touchdown when conference plays starts

I would predict shutout but I don’t trust the offense enough

 

[noamfromm]

I was going to say...Mason never had a defense like this.
The only similarity would be blowing out non-con opponents.

Conference record was another story:
Mason's highest B1G win total was 5, in 2 out of his 10 seasons with the Gophers
Fleck has had over 5 B1G wins twice in his 5 seasons (2019 - 7, 2021 - 6).

To be fair the 99 team had the 9th ranked scoring defense in the nation and Fleck gets 1 more B1G game than Mason

 

[WriterGoph]

To be fair the 99 team had the 9th ranked scoring defense in the nation and Fleck gets 1 more B1G game than Mason

To be fair, if you want to get technical about it and do it by conference winning percentage, PJ already has two seasons with a higher Big Ten winning percentage (.778 in 2019 and .667 in 2021) than Mason ever had (.625 twice). 2019 and 2021 were the most successful conference seasons the Gophers have had since 1967 and 1968.

 

[jonnyganas]

To be fair, if you want to get technical about it and do it by conference winning percentage, PJ already has two seasons with a higher Big Ten winning percentage (.778 in 2019 and .667 in 2021) than Mason ever had (.625 twice). 2019 and 2021 were the most successful conference seasons the Gophers have had since 1967 and 1968.

Thanks for saying it much better than I could

 

[fmlizard]

There's a real good chance of this.

A lot of it will come down to the 2nd and 3rd string D and their 4th quarter performance. Our backups let NMST more than double their yardage and get close to scoring in the 4th.

Much like blowing teams out by 28 or 58, it comes down to style and how a team substitutes.

 

[gophernut1]

Mason got the program where it could have 1 in 4 years it could shine (top 25 team), 2 in 4 years it was solid and 1 year of blah.

Brewster - no need to go there.

Kill got the program where its was kind of like Purdue is now but without the flash. Hard to see them compete with top of division, but they weren't the bottom either. A solid win a few, lose a few every year.

Fleck = Solid team, solid program where year in and year out we should be at the top of the division and hopefully will see us winning ever other year (based on current configuration).

 

[Gophergrandpa]

Fleck has got us to a point at which, year in and year out, one can reasonably expect that we could deservedly win the western division. A lot of things can happen to derail such an expectation—like key injuries, a random stinker game, a monster season by some foe, or some plain old bad luck—but the expectation is realistic not pie in the sky.

 

[STPGopher]

The Gophers held NMSU TO 90+ total yards and nil on the score board.

Now they face Western Illinois and are likely to dominate again.

Then they play Colorado and their former OC.

Gophers could be leading the nation in rushing, passing and scoring defense headed to MSU.

I’m betting a Martini & ROSSI they get it done!

And they won’t stop there!

Here's to hoping you are correct!

 

[UpAndUnder43]

I’ve said it before: this team won’t get scored on.

 

[hungan1]

I wouldn't rest my laurels on the stats against cupcakes going into Big Ten play wholeheartedly, but they do matter to the team as a whole.

They serve the starters who are gelling together as units and the two and three deeps for game experience.

I feel really good about this Gopher team. MSU is 0-0. Let the real season begin!

Go Gophers!