Two Games Down: How Do You Project the Season?

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hyaluronic

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My short answer: 6-6

Long Answer: San Jose St is, like many have already stated, going to show where we really stand. This team can beat lesser opponents. They also have upset potential. If we beat San Jose St, I think we will go 3-5 in the BIG, even given our brutal schedule. We finish 7-5. If we lose to San Jose St, I think we go 2-6 in BIG play, and end up 5-7.
 

Still looking like somewhere between 5-7 and 7-5 (plus a possible bowl game). I still don't see anyone who can put us on their back and steal a game from teams better than us. So that leaves us 4 non conference wins and 50/50 games against Iowa and Indiana.
 

The team that took the field the past two weeks will not win a conference game.

Let's get better!
 

Studwell55 said:
The team that took the field the past two weeks will not win a conference game.

Let's get better!
Click to expand...

Could not agree more. The offense has a long way to go before it will be ready to face a Big Ten Caliber Defense. Thankfully there is one more layup on the schedule before San Jose State to work out more of the kinks.
 

Defense has gotten the job done.

Running game showed promise tonight.

Passing game has not shown sh!t.
 



Michigan State 0 Golden Gophers 0. Game called after 20 overtimes.
 

Still see a 5-7 or 6-6 season. San Jose State will throw a ton of passes and if we get past them we have a good shot at 6-6. At this point, Iowa seems the best bet for a conference win, with Indiana and maybe Penn State also possibilities. Hard to see wins over Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan State, Wisconsin (appears they have their third winning coach in a row), or Northwestern on the road.
 

Great Plains Gopher said:
Still see a 5-7 or 6-6 season. San Jose State will throw a ton of passes and if we get past them we have a good shot at 6-6. At this point, Iowa seems the best bet for a conference win, with Indiana and maybe Penn State also possibilities. Hard to see wins over Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan State, Wisconsin (appears they have their third winning coach in a row), or Northwestern on the road.
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Have you seen what Michigan state has done?
 




Studwell55 said:
The team that took the field the past two weeks will not win a conference game.

Let's get better!
Click to expand...

So you're saying that, as of now, Iowa has shown you enough to make you believe they can pick up a road win at TCF to open conference play? Indiana just lost to Navy at home today and whipped an FCS team last week. Neither of those two teams have beaten an FBS team this season. We've beaten two, though admittedly not very good ones. This view seems to come from a perception that even the worst Big Ten team is better than the best team that we play out of conference, and that the 11 other Big Ten teams are currently bringing their A game, or will without a doubt be playing their best football when they play us.

Basically I don't think you should go with the blanketing view of "all conference games will be incredibly hard fought and each win is a major accomplishment," and instead look at the teams individually. Unless you genuinely believe that the Hawkeyes and Hoosiers have looked better in their last two games than we have, then I don't think it's right to say that, playing the way we have, we will not win a conference game.

As for my opinion, I think we win our next three games because I think we are a better team than each of Western Illinois, San Jose State, and Iowa and they are all at home. I would expect us to be favored in all three.

I would then expect us to lose the next three @Michigan, @Northwestern, and vs Nebraska at home because I think all three are better teams than we are, and two of them are on the road. Northwestern's good, and while they've beaten us five out of the last six times or something like that, only one of those was by more than one possession, so I wouldn't be shocked with a victory there, but I'm certainly not expecting it. Nebraska seemed less than dominating last week against Wyoming, didn't watch them this week, but they seem to have won by quite a comfortable margin.

I'm an optimist, so I'll predict a win at Indiana even though we haven't done well there in the recent past. They don't seem to have a great defense, so it might be a good opportunity to get the run game going, and maybe another defensive/special teams touchdown or two would be enough to beat them. :)

And I'll predict 0-3 in the last three because I don't think we are better than any of Penn State, Wisconsin, or Michigan State, though Michigan State hasn't been too impressive to start the season, primarily on offense, so maybe a win there is possible.

I predict 6-6, 2-6 in conference, though I think are a couple of good chances for upsets, so 3-5 wouldn't surprise me, assuming we win all the games we "should," and don't lose any we shouldn't.
 

5-7

western ill -win
sjsu - lose
iowa -win
michigan - lose
n'western - lose
nebr - lose
indiana - lose
penn st - lose
wisc - lose
michigan st. - win
 

Coolew01 said:
Have you seen what Michigan state has done?
Click to expand...

We play Mich. State on the road, which is why I think we'll lose that game; but we have Penn State here. What I'd really like to see is an upset of Wisconsin - maybe everything will come together for that one, the way Weber & Co. beat Mich. State here a few years ago. You never know.
 



Our running game did great because our Offensive line over powered theirs. But once we hit the B10 games, that won't be the case, I assure you. In fact, our O-line will be over powered. We need to work more on our passing/receiving.
 

need to go 4-0 in non-conference play to have any hope at a bowl IMO. That is all I am concerned about right now, then in the conference, need to find a way to win 2 in conference. Iowa, Indiana, Penn State, and Wisconsin are the conference games I am circling hoping for wins...Indiana being the only team out of the 4 we play on the road. My feeling for Wisconsin is that the Gophers will be amped up for the game, being that it is Wisconsin, and we also may be fighting for bowl eligibility.

4-0 is my main hope right now though.
 

We're 2-0 and that's good. We played 2 truly bad teams and did not pass the ball worth a lick, and that's a really big concern. The defense has not fared real well against the pass, but has been better against the run. We saw good development from game 1 to 2, but it's difficult to know the relative strength of the 2 teams we've faced. Our special teams have looked to be the strength of the entire team.

This is a very young team and will need to improve considerably if we expect to make a bowl game. The next 2 weeks will be a real test because if we lose either game the likelihood of a bowl game diminishes significantly.

I am very concerned about the passing game. We do not have a threat beyond about 10 yards with either a receiver or in Nelson. Nelson seems frankly to be a reincarnation of Marquis Gray. He can run but at times seems unable to hit a cow in the arse with a hand full of rice. It's too early to panic, we're 2-0. I would not be surprised, however to see Mitch get some real playing time.
 

Wisconsin looks like the best team in the B1G. The likelihood we an stop their running game as of now is very slight. However, we're very young, and have 2 more NC games to continue our development. San Jose State keeps me awake at night. They are not a bad team and get next week off to get healthy and prepare for us.

Thank goodness the next 3 are at home.
 

My opinion hasn't changed much on the season, the Iowa game will tell us whether this team is really improved or not. Win that game convincingly, and the Gophers should go 3-5 in the conference with an outside shot at 4-4. I still have my doubts about how this team stacks up physically to even a team like Iowa.

I know history suggests the Gophers struggle in Bloomington, but I don't see how some can shout IMPROVEMENT! and then expect the Gophers to lose to an Indiana team that just got beat at home by Navy.
 

I said 7-5 before the season started, and I am going to stick with that. However, to achieve that the team is going to have to improve. 6-6 or worse wouldn't be a shock.

That being said, people seem to overreact and assume B1G teams are flawless. There are several teams in conference that have as much or more to worry about.
 

I don't get the pessimism. We have two blowout wins. I know the team did not look perfect. Every team has growing pains this early in the year. Did anyone else see Gardner's adventure into his own endzone last night before he threw my favorite touchdown pass of the season (possibly the only interception return TD I have ever seen without there being any return yards)?

Granted, we were playing weak competition. However, one of these teams beat us two years ago, the other one tied us at the end of regulation, and this year we mopped the floor with them.

Everyone remembers 2011, right? That's the year we lost to New Mexico State, lost by two scores to NDSU, and slipped by the second best Miami University in the country in our out of conference schedule. Even that team managed to go 2-6 in B1G. This team has to be able to go 3-5.
 

2-0...with two blowouts and people's expectations seem to have gone down from the preseason. Wow! I'm not sure what people expected this year. Last year, we squeaked by against the bottom feeders and got blown out by most of the Big10. This year, we are blowing out the bottom feeders, and I assume will be more competitive in the conference...it's a natural progression. It's like people thought we could challenge for the division title and BCS game...it's slow process. Chill out and at least wait until we start losing before making this board unreadable.
 

We will beat Iowa. Should beat Indiana....or should play them well and have a good. Shot. Perhaps MSU if we play well. Too bad we don't have Illinois or Purdue on the schedule this year.
 

Beating San Jose St. Would be key to a possible bowl bid. Unfortunately they don't play anyone next week so they have two weeks to prepare for the Gophers.
 

GopherHomer said:
2-0...with two blowouts and people's expectations seem to have gone down from the preseason. Wow! I'm not sure what people expected this year. Last year, we squeaked by against the bottom feeders and got blown out by most of the Big10. This year, we are blowing out the bottom feeders, and I assume will be more competitive in the conference...it's a natural progression. It's like people thought we could challenge for the division title and BCS game...it's slow process. Chill out and at least wait until we start losing before making this board unreadable.
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People are not thrilled because despite the final score we have not looked good against really really bad teams (UNLV was routed by Arizona last night at home). If you just look at the final score it paints one picture, however if you watch the game you see an offense struggling to get into any sort of rhythm at all and these bottom feeder opponents being allowed to stay in the game far longer then they should.

2-0 is awesome, but based on who we have played anything less then 2-0 would have been a massive disappointment. Looking ahead this is how I would project the rest of the season.

Western Illinois - Win, and it shouldn't be close
San Jose State - Win but it is going to be a battle and the offense is going to have to play well because they will score on us.
Iowa - Win because it is here but like SJSU going to be a battle and we will need significantly more from the offense
at Michigan - Loss, they look pretty strong including a fairly convincing win over Notre Dame last night
at Northwestern - Loss, May be the best team on our half of the conference
Nebraska - Loss, however if our offense figures things out their defense has shown it has some holes in it.
at Indiana - Tossup, keeping with the same theme they will score on us so we have to keep pace and just don't see us being able to do that right now.
Penn State - Tossup, however like Indiana these two games are probably our best shots at Big Ten wins outside of Iowa, probably need to win one of them to get to a bowl
Wisconsin - Loss, They haven't played anyone either but you have to be impressed back to back shutouts no matter who the competition is.
at Michigan State - Tossup - Their defense looks really good but their offense is a mess right now (even worse than ours). Assuming they don't right the ship I could see us winning out there at the end of the year.

So I have 5 wins, 4 losses, and 3 tossups. Would like to think we will win at least one of the tossup games. The scary part is I feel pretty confident on the 4 games I put in the loss column going that way. Of the 3 wins, 2 of them are very close to falling in the tossup category with only one of them really feeling like a lock at this point.

Like a lot of others I see this team finishing between 5-7 and 7-5 based on how they have looked to this point and how the opposition has looked.
 

ncgo4 said:
Wisconsin looks like the best team in the B1G.
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Really? The teams they have played make UNLV & NMSU look like powerhouses. They may turn out to be, buy Nothing they have shown proves that yet, IMO. Northwestern on the other hand......

I see the Gophs finishing 8-4.
W's against: W.I'll, SJSU, Iowa, Ind, PSU, & either Wi or MSU.
 

RolGnav said:
Our running game did great because our Offensive line over powered theirs. But once we hit the B10 games, that won't be the case, I assure you. In fact, our O-line will be over powered. We need to work more on our passing/receiving.
Click to expand...

Stay the course: run the ball and stop the run. Indiana didn't force Navy to punt, even one time in their loss to the Midshipmen. They did NOT stop the run. Minnesota managed to stop at least 3 4th down plays in the 2nd half, alone, in their last win. In other years, the other team probably would have picked up 2 or 3 first downs when going for it on fourth down.

Have the two teams the Gophers have beaten been great teams? Of course not. However, how many teams of the two remaining ooc games are great teams? How many of them have no areas of weakness?
And then, the Conference games will begin. How many of the Gopher's Conference foes are great teams? Probably zero. Possibly Michigan. Do they have any areas of weakness? How many are pretty solid teams? PSU, Northwestern, wisky, Nebraska AND MSU. (MSU makes my list beause of their very strong and physical defense.) Nebraska should have a very strong offense. Northwestern and wisky appear to be pretty well-rounded on offense and defense. And PSU is just plain a pretty physical and gutsy team playing with their backs against the wall and a recollection of their will to win. That leaves iowa and Indiana. Do these two teams have a number of suspect areas of their total packages?

Keep playing the quarterback read offense. RUN the ball and STOP the run. Make iowa and Indiana dedicate their defenses to taking away the dive...the trailing pitch-man...the qb option to run...pitch or pass. Get first downs...control the clock...keep our defense off the field. Teams like iowa and Indiana have some strengths...but...they WILL beat themselves if they try to live by the pass. Take away the run from them.

RUN the ball and STOP the run Golden Gophers! Win the NEXT game. It doesn't NEED to be pretty. Just WIN...

; 0 )
 

Wisconsin looks good, but they essentially beat two FCS teams at home as UMass was FCS up til a year or two ago. San Jose State was thoroughly controlled by Stanford. Stanford is very good, but Fales thru for only 215 yds as they only managed 13 pts. I believe they can definitely be run on, and this will also limit Fales effectiveness if we control the ball. The same formula would work for Indiana and Michigan State. Navy had 440 yds on the ground against Indiana, and you can beat Michigan State by scoring 17 pts. Iowa is a team we should beat at home. But ya, anything can happen.
 

MNVCGUY said:
People are not thrilled because despite the final score we have not looked good against really really bad teams (UNLV was routed by Arizona last night at home). If you just look at the final score it paints one picture, however if you watch the game you see an offense struggling to get into any sort of rhythm at all and these bottom feeder opponents being allowed to stay in the game far longer then they should.

I did watch the games. How long was New Mexico State "allowed to stay in the game?" We blew the doors off of them to the tune of a 27-7 halftime lead. The yardage difference in the first half was ridiculous (and apparently this is how Gopherholers judge football games). Then, with the game in hand, we coasted to a victory all the while extending the lead in the 2nd half. Oh, and we put up the most rushing yards in the Kill era.

By all accounts, last night the Gophers showed exactly what the negatives were asking for. They physically dominated an inferior opponent and ran the ball down their throats.
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I said 6-6 at the beginning of the year and nothing has really changed my mind.

I do think we're better than last year, but I thought that would be the case but with a much more difficult conference schedule.

-I think Michigan and Northwestern look better than they did last year, and I just don't see us going on the road and beating either.

-People are going to look at Michigan State as a potential win, and it is, but that same team with a *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#ty offense beat us pretty soundly last year, so we'll see.

-Iowa looks like total weak sauce, but they did last year too.

-Indiana's inability to stop the run is really promising for us.

I'm not sure if we win all three of SJSU/Iowa/Indiana but I think 2 out of 3 is very realistic. That would leave us with 5-6 wins and I think we have a real puncher's chance in our three home games (Nebraska, Penn State, Wisconsin) and on the road against Michigan State. I don't know that we'll do better than 1-3 in those games, but 6-7 wins on the season looks promising at the moment.
 

Studwell55 said:
The team that took the field the past two weeks will not win a conference game.

Let's get better!
Click to expand...

Several teams in our conference and around the country have had worse struggles than us so far. Iowa beat Missouri St. by 14 at home. Missouri St. won 3 games last year. Indiana lost to Navy. Michigan St. only scored 21 points and had 265 yards of offense against South Florida. McNeese St. scored 53 on S. Florida last week. Heck, even our favorite coach's new team, Arkansas, was down to Samford in the 4th quarter.

I agree we need to get better but a bunch of other teams have a lot to work on as well. It's not like everyone else is playing great. We blew out two teams we were supposed to and that is progress.
 

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