The Gophers better watch out vs. the Cats

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The cause for alarm is that MN will be a one dimensional team-a running team. That does play into NWA's strength. That said, it will a good warm up for the MN OL for when they play WI. The OL did not do a good job against IA in getting a ground game going. WI did.
 

Gold Rush said:
I couldn't agree more! We have been Gopher fans for a long time and we have seen just about everything over the years. I am hoping there is something behind the "new culture" and new era talk that PJ Fleck is talking about. For those that think this one is in the bag and it will be an easy win, we have seen that one before and it usually doesn't end very well for the maroon and gold.
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Some teams are bad, but have some good players, and if they can get a little momentum and feeling good, can pull out a win. Illinois vs Wisconsin is a good example.
Some teams are bad, and have been devastated by injuries, and have no offense, and the defense is on the field all the time, and now the defense is not good because all their good players are hurt, and now they are playing a huge and ultra physical game, and have no chance.

And to the above, we aren't one dimensional with Cole or Clark. They can sling it.
 

Plato said:
The cause for alarm is that MN will be a one dimensional team-a running team. That does play into NWA's strength. That said, it will a good warm up for the MN OL for when they play WI. The OL did not do a good job against IA in getting a ground game going. WI did.
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I'm not sure we necessarily have to be one dimensional. Sure we will run more than usual but Clark or Kraemer will be throwing to the best receiving group in the Big Ten. Sometimes receivers make QB's better.
 

"Better watch out for Illinois...they crushed us last year!" = 40-17
"Nebraska was picked to win the West...and crushed us last year!" = 34-7
"Rutgers is the first B1G road game! Trap!" = 42-7
"Maryland...TALENT! And crushed us last year!" = 52-10

I get it. Minnesota football has let people down in the past...and losing to this NW team would just be the epitome of that. But what part of the Gophers play vs. mediocre B1G teams this year has you worried about this game? D will completely shut them down.

PS: Dude. UMASS DL and LBs. Holy cow. o_O
 

Gold Rush said:
I couldn't agree more! We have been Gopher fans for a long time and we have seen just about everything over the years. I am hoping there is something behind the "new culture" and new era talk that PJ Fleck is talking about. For those that think this one is in the bag and it will be an easy win, we have seen that one before and it usually doesn't end very well for the maroon and gold.
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The handful of you that are terrified of Northwestern can rest assured that as a fanbase we understand that nothing is ever a lock in college football. Any Gopher fan that doesn't get that hasn't been paying attention.

That said, the ONLY way we lose this game is if we play really poorly. Northwestern will be motivated, they will be well coached but they are just not very talented this season. Their defense is solid, their offense it really really bad. If we can't shut down their offense it will not bode well for our chances against Wisconsin next weekend. As long as we don't kill ourselves with mistakes this one should not be in doubt. I really don't care if we blow them out but if we are sweating this one out late in the 4th quarter that will be very disappointing. I would expect Rossi to dial up a lot of pressure early as their QB seems extremely mistake prone.

This isn't the typical case with Northwestern where they tend to get a little overlook in spite of how good they play. I have a ton of respect for the job Fitzgerald has been able to do at a tough place to win, he just doesn't have the players this year, it happens.
 


Section2 said:
Some teams are bad, but have some good players, and if they can get a little momentum and feeling good, can pull out a win. Illinois vs Wisconsin is a good example.
Some teams are bad, and have been devastated by injuries, and have no offense, and the defense is on the field all the time, and now the defense is not good because all their good players are hurt, and now they are playing a huge and ultra physical game, and have no chance.

And to the above, we aren't one dimensional with Cole or Clark. They can sling it.
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This is the Big Ten after all. Sh&t happens even to the best prepared teams on the road.
 

Jaykay said:
I'm not expecting the Gophers to win this game if Morgan doesn't play.
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hungan1 said:
This is the Big Ten after all. Sh&t happens even to the best prepared teams on the road.
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Yep they have only been outscored 127-35 at home in their 4 Big Ten home games so far. Ryan field is clearly one of the toughest places to play on the road, especially this year.

Their 4 Big Ten home games so far this year
MSU 31 - NU 10
OSU 52 - NU 3
Iowa 20 - NU 0
PUR 22 - NU 20
 




I think Minnesota is the more talented team and will win the game, I just think its going to be much tougher than people think. You need to look at the history of these two teams regardless of the year or the record.

Not sure what the field conditions will be but the grass is always long at Ryan Field and it usually seems like games played there are slow and sloppy which plays to Northwestern's strength, which is their defense.
 

Plato said:
The cause for alarm is that MN will be a one dimensional team-a running team. That does play into NWA's strength. That said, it will a good warm up for the MN OL for when they play WI. The OL did not do a good job against IA in getting a ground game going. WI did.
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Out of curiosity, why do you use NWA as an abbreviation for Northwestern?
 

2-3 turnovers or special teams miscues can level the playing field in a big, big way, especially on the road.

Ridiculous to overlook Northwestern at their place. It's their last home game of the season (maybe even a Sr day if they do that?), and knocking off MN would be a nice capper to their crappy season.

Lastly, I have no doubt that Fitz doesn't like Fleck and the last thing NU and Fitz want to see is a Minnesota team emerge as a threat to move past them in the B1G hierarchy.

Super Bowl for NU, plain and simple. A couple of Gopher turnovers and this could be the worst possible nightmare game for MN.
 






Sure, you have to take the same seriously, but this is a game the Gophers should win if they don't take a nap.

Rushing Offense: MN 43, Northwestern 62
Passing Offense: MN 50, Northwestern 126
Rushing Defense: MN 28, Northwestern 49
Passing Yards Allowed: MN 16, Northwestern 31
Total Offense: MN 44, Northwestern 124
Total Defense MN 15, Northwestern 33

And Northwestern is #112 in Net Punting, so with Northwestern's poor offense and poor punting, the Gophers ought to have their possessions starting in good field position. But again, of course, the Gophers need to take the game seriously.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
2-3 turnovers or special teams miscues can level the playing field in a big, big way, especially on the road.

Ridiculous to overlook Northwestern at their place. It's their last home game of the season (maybe even a Sr day if they do that?), and knocking off MN would be a nice capper to their crappy season.

Lastly, I have no doubt that Fitz doesn't like Fleck and the last thing NU and Fitz want to see is a Minnesota team emerge as a threat to move past them in the B1G hierarchy.

Super Bowl for NU, plain and simple. A couple of Gopher turnovers and this could be the worst possible nightmare game for MN.
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Have yet to see one person say that we win if we just show up. I know we haven't dealt with prosperity much over the years, but fans should be extremely confident in our teams ability to win this game.

Bad things can happen in any game, but we have the more talented team this year and absolutely should win this game if we play anywhere close to our capabilities. I have faith in the coaching staff's ability to make sure the players don't overlook Northwestern.

They are not a good team that has just been unlucky or lost to slightly better teams. They have been horrible on offense....Rutgers level horrible on offense...that doesn't just change overnight. If their offense is able to put up a bunch of points on our defense then we weren't the team we thought we were anyway. On the other side of the ball we have one of the best offenses in the conference, we should be able to put points on the board against a team that gave up 31 to Michigan State at home.
 

If I’m NW, I’m hoping that Morgan can’t go and I’m stacking the box as much as possible. Make a true freshman QB beat you in the air.
 

MnplsGopher said:
If I’m NW, I’m hoping that Morgan can’t go and I’m stacking the box as much as possible. Make a true freshman QB beat you in the air.
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Yeah their defense will be no mystery if Tanner doesn't play.

Sometimes things are all tactical and secret... sometimes not.
 

Obviously, when two teams take the field, there is always a possibility, however remote, that either team will win. The only way that Northwestern wins this game is if they play at or near their absolute best possible output while we simultaneously play at or near our worst possible output. The odds of either of those things occurring is very small, and the odds of both of them occurring at the same time is smaller still. I would put the odds of Northwestern winning somewhere in the range of 8-10%.
 

This may be another signpost of "Old Gophers" vs "New Gophers." for the Old Gophers, this is a game that they could and sometimes did lose. For the New Gophers - we shall see.

I certainly think the Gophers will win - but, if Morgan does not play, this could be a lot closer than we expect. And that all hinges on whether the coaches let Kramer or Clark run the full offense. if the coaches get overly protective of the QB's and don't let them throw, NW will be playing 9 in the box. If Kramer or Clark gets the start, the coaches IMHO have to let them throw the ball - at least enough to keep the defense honest.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Have yet to see one person say that we win if we just show up. I know we haven't dealt with prosperity much over the years, but fans should be extremely confident in our teams ability to win this game.

Bad things can happen in any game, but we have the more talented team this year and absolutely should win this game if we play anywhere close to our capabilities. I have faith in the coaching staff's ability to make sure the players don't overlook Northwestern.

They are not a good team that has just been unlucky or lost to slightly better teams. They have been horrible on offense....Rutgers level horrible on offense...that doesn't just change overnight. If their offense is able to put up a bunch of points on our defense then we weren't the team we thought we were anyway. On the other side of the ball we have one of the best offenses in the conference, we should be able to put points on the board against a team that gave up 31 to Michigan State at home.
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We win if we just show up.
 



Minnesota opened up as only 12-point favorites against this terrible team. Anyone thinking this game is some walk in the park doesn't know history and therefore could be doomed to repeat it. Never good to play a team like NW sandwiched between our two biggest rivals.
 

Gold Rush said:
This one has me concerned and I will be happy and relieved if we come out of it with a win. The Gophers need to pay attention and play this team just as if they were playing the best team in the country. You never take a Big Ten team for granted especially on the road, with the possible exception of Rutgers anyways. We have taken Northwestern for granted before -- and lost. And not just once, either.

- The Gophers have been shut out the last two times in Evanston. I look for the Wildcats to try to make this a low scoring game.
- The Wildcats still have a tough defense and can run the ball. If they force the Gophers into being a one dimensional (running) team they can stay with this team and make it a game they can win.
- The Wildcats may have found their RB and offensive spark - Maple Grove's Evan Hull rushed for 4 TD's and 220 yards last week.
- Pat Fitzgerald really wants this one. He is a smart coach and reports from Evanston are that he is making this their bowl game and would like nothing more than knocking off the top ten Gophers. On his press conference, he praised the OC, the DC, and the QB. He did not mention PJ Fleck at all and I am hearing he can't stand him. Usually, he is tripping over himself praising the other team's head coach. Fitz is a very smart coach and his teams are usually very smart, too.
- You can expect Northwestern to stack the box against the Gophers if Morgan can't go and bring in a ton of pressure to force mistakes. They will try to win with their defense and running game,
- This is a great spot for the Wildcats. They are catching the Gophers in between their two biggest rivalry games, Iowa and Wisconsin and have it at home. The Gophers are reading about all the nice bowl games they can go to at the end of the year and already hearing about the tough Wisconsin game. Northwestern is only 2-8 - this should be an easy one, right??
- The line has moved from -7 to -14 in just a few days. This is without even having the status of QB Morgan revealed. The oddsmakers know all the info we do and probably a lot more. This initial -7 sure looks like a sucker play to me. With that, a ton of money has been coming in on the Gophers. Which way do you think the oddsmakers want this one to go?

Even with all these factors coming in, the Gophers SHOULD win this game. But they better bring it hard the entire game and expect the Wildcats to fight the entire way. If the Gophers come in taking this one for granted or take this one lightly, they can and probably will lose this game. I have seen this one play out like this way too many times over the years, ESPECIALLY against the Wildcats. PJ Fleck kind of got a free pass with the loss to Iowa last week and as one poster said, "This is the calmest I have seen the Gopher board after a loss." It was a case where every thing that could go wrong DID go wrong and these things happen over a long season. This will not be the case if Northwestern pulls out a win. There will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth and I think I will avoid this board for a few days. PJ Fleck will come under considerable fire and I think it would probably eliminate him from any coach of the year discussion. Losing this one would be REALLY tough for a long time because it's a game we SHOULD win as we have much more talent than they do, even with a backup QB. It won't eliminate them from winning the western division, but it will probably eliminate them from the Rose Bowl as I would expect Penn St. and possibly Michigan to vault past them even if they beat Wisconsin.

The bottom line -- be careful here and go down to Evanston playing it as hard as you can and really go after it. I don't see this as an easy game - as I have said, I have seen this one way too many times before. If QB Morgan can go, it would obviously be a huge boost, maybe one that Northwestern simply can not match up against.. Regardless of who plays QB, they need to go down there and show everyone this is a new Gopher football era and new culture. Things are different now!!
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Your warnings are solid - NW has ambushed many Gopher teams over the decades and you are spot on if we try to win by running only. They will stack the box. Hopefully, Kramer or Clark will turn out to be an acceptable passer and we can loosen up the defense.
 

I agree with everyone who says this is a game that needs to be taken seriously as NW will be amped up for this one. However....

I'm not as worried about TM not starting as a lot of people seem to be. I understand that it's a ridiculously small sample size, but Jacob Clark looked extremely impressive when he came in vs Maryland and certainly passed the eye test. Hoping he gets the nod here in this one and that Tanner can just relax and get ready/healthy for the Wisconsin game. Both Clark and Kramer have been getting practice reps since ZA went down, and i think some folks might end up surprised at how solid our inexperienced backup QB play is this Saturday.
 

Jaykay said:
I'm not expecting the Gophers to win this game if Morgan doesn't play.
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This. How many times have Freshman QB come in and been over matched? Especially since they know that Minnesota will try to run more to take heat off the QB. I could see them blitzing almost every down to stop the run and to force a Freshman QB to run for his life/make bad decisions.
 

Respect all, fear no one, and never take any BIG Ten team lightly.
 

amk8930 said:
This. How many times have Freshman QB come in and been over matched? Especially since they know that Minnesota will try to run more to take heat off the QB. I could see them blitzing almost every down to stop the run and to force a Freshman QB to run for his life/make bad decisions.
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I have seen this theory about Northwestern putting 8-9 in the box. Fine, max protect and let our receivers go one on one with their DBs. I don't care who the QB is, get it in the area of Johnson or Bateman and I will pick them every time in a one on one battle for the football.
 

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