STrib: Fascinating football schedule awaits Gophers

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Joe:

A prime-time national TV audience will be watching Sept. 3, when the Gophers open the college football season at home against No. 2 TCU. But with so much attention focused on that game, it’s easy to forget all the intrigue the rest of their schedule could bring.

Three coaches new to their teams will visit TCF Bank Stadium — Nebraska’s Mike Riley, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst. The Gophers face No. 1 Ohio State in Columbus, and none of their other road games is a gimme — at Colorado State, at Northwestern, at Purdue and at Iowa.

Purdue? Anyone who thinks that’s no contest should recall that the Gophers needed a 52-yard field goal from Ryan Santoso last year to beat the Boilermakers at home 39-38.

“With our schedule, we’re going to have to win some close games,” coach Jerry Kill said. “That’s why the kicker and the punter and all that stuff is important. We’ve got to stay healthy. Maybe the toughest game we have is at Colorado State.”

http://www.startribune.com/fascinating-football-schedule-awaits-gophers/322764161/

Go Gophers!!
 




has us listed as an underdog in the "projected line" against Colorado State? Hmmmmmmmm
 




t-docious said:
its a total trap game after the rush of TCU and being in elevation. Could be a pretty tough game.
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Yep I agree. With the schedule it's not necessarily who you play it's more when you play them. If we had Kent State at home after TCU and then went to Colorado State the following week I wouldn't be too worried.
 

Schnauzer said:
has us listed as an underdog in the "projected line" against Colorado State? Hmmmmmmmm
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Definitely think Joe C is off with that one. I'd be surprised if we're underdogs regardless of the outcome of the TCU game.
 



We won't learn too much from CSU's opener against Savannah State, but neither will they. They would get a better challenge from scrimmaging their second team. According to Sagarin, Savannah State is #248 of 253. Kent State is a comparative juggernaut at #138. It's early, of course, but according to Sagarin, CSU should be about 48 point favorites. If Kent State played Savannah State, they would be 36 point favorites.

I think it is an advantage that the Gophers will have been tested coming into the second game while CSU will essentially not be.

Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk
 

CSU could be a tough one for all the reasons mentioned. While our squad is spending all summer thinking about TCU, theirs is thinking about us as their first game is against Savannah St. If we lose a heart breaker against TCU or even get our doors blown off it may be hard to refocus. Then you go on the road against a team that is used to winning and it can get tough. Plus they have maybe the best WR in the country in Higgins which means that they can score at any point if MN falls asleep. We've all seen games where the offense isn't executing, a lesser team is hanging around and then there's a blown coverage or something and next thing you know the home team is up by 10 and full of confidence and the road team is looking around asking what happened.
 

I'm thrilled that the Strib actually is saying there are reasons to get excited about this season. Yes, I understand that is not their job, but it's nice when it happens.

Also, the average person who might be on the fence about whether or not to buy tickets to take his/her family to one game doesn't know jack-squat about Colorado State so I doubt they are offended. Heck, they might even get more excited when we pound them.
 




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