Week 1 Big Ten Power Rankings Thread

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BleedGopher

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Wolverines Wire first out of the gate:

10. Minnesota

So, Minnesota got the win. That’s the good news. But the days of Tanner Morgan at quarterback and Mo Ibrahim at running back are clearly over.

Now, Nebraska has long played teams tough, and that it did. And the Gophers wrested victory away from defeat with a walk-off field goal, but the offense with Athan Kaliakmanis leading the charge was mediocre, and it didn’t appear as if the run game is a strength. The defense was solid but got gashed in the quarterback keep, though Tyler Nubin flashed as the best player on the field.

This still looks like a team that took a step back but it will have time to grow.

wolverineswire.usatoday.com

Big Ten power rankings after Week 1: A (mostly) lackluster start to the season

FOOTBALL IS BACK!
wolverineswire.usatoday.com wolverineswire.usatoday.com

Go Gophers!!
 


Buckeyes Wire chimes in:

8. Minnesota

Last Week​

Won vs. Nebraska, 13-10

PreseasonChange
6⇓ 2
It wasn’t a great look with an offense that struggled mightily in Game 1. Do the Golden Gophers have enough weapons to simply be a good coached team in 2023? We’ll look for the improvement.

Next Up​

vs. Eastern Michigan

buckeyeswire.usatoday.com

Big Ten football power rankings after Week 1: Sifting through opening week.

After one week of play, we now have some game film to come up with our first Big Ten football power rankings of the 2023 season. What would be your top three? #GoBucks
buckeyeswire.usatoday.com buckeyeswire.usatoday.com

Go Gophers!!
 

NBC Sports Chicago chimes in:

7 Minnesota Golden Gophers​

All credit to Minnesota to overcoming a scare from Nebraska to win, but there are plenty of questions about their offense after Athan Kaliakmanis threw for 196 yards on 44 attempts. Their run game also struggled, with 55 yards on 25 carries.

There was some good news with how well Daniel Jackson and Corey Crooms played, with 16 combined catches for 131 yards, and their defense really thwarted Jeff Sims while also forcing four turnovers.

www.nbcsportschicago.com

Big Ten Power Rankings: Michigan, Penn State thrive as Ohio State struggles

Week 1 of the Big Ten football season extended out over the course of four days, and while many of the conference’s power schools had good openers, there are plenty of questions remaining moving forward.
www.nbcsportschicago.com www.nbcsportschicago.com

Go Gophers!!
 

Spartans Wire chimes in:

Record: 1-0 (1-0 in Big Ten)

This week’s result: Win vs. Nebraska

Next Game: Eastern Michigan on September 9

Minnesota picked up a conference win so they deserve credit for that. But that wasn’t an impressive performance by any means and I personally left that game more concerned than excited about the Golden Gophers. Especially on the offensive side of the ball.

spartanswire.usatoday.com

Big Ten Power Rankings: Where does MSU Football land after earning a season-opening win over CMU?

See where the Spartans land in our first edition of Big Ten Power Rankings for the 2023 football season
spartanswire.usatoday.com spartanswire.usatoday.com

Go Gophers!!
 


Saturday Tradition chimes in:

7. Minnesota (1-0)​

Last week: vs. Nebraska, W 13-10

It wasn’t pretty, but a wins a win, especially when it comes in a season-opening league game. Athan Kaliakmanis has all the tools for the Gophers to build around at QB and an opportunistic secondary on defense. The ceiling for PJ Fleck’s squad is debatable, but 1-0 is way better than 0-1.

saturdaytradition.com

Big Ten Power Rankings following Week 1

Big Ten Power Rankings are getting updated as we move into Week 2 of the season.
saturdaytradition.com saturdaytradition.com

Go Gophers!!
 


7 seems right right now.
 

BleedGopher said:
NBC Sports Chicago chimes in:

7 Minnesota Golden Gophers​

All credit to Minnesota to overcoming a scare from Nebraska to win, but there are plenty of questions about their offense after Athan Kaliakmanis threw for 196 yards on 44 attempts. Their run game also struggled, with 55 yards on 25 carries.

There was some good news with how well Daniel Jackson and Corey Crooms played, with 16 combined catches for 131 yards, and their defense really thwarted Jeff Sims while also forcing four turnovers.

www.nbcsportschicago.com

Big Ten Power Rankings: Michigan, Penn State thrive as Ohio State struggles

Week 1 of the Big Ten football season extended out over the course of four days, and while many of the conference’s power schools had good openers, there are plenty of questions remaining moving forward.
www.nbcsportschicago.com www.nbcsportschicago.com

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...
I'll say struggled. This may be way off but here's my observation about the running game. One of Fleck's many mantras is, "the ball is the program," or something to that effect. I think that some of the young running backs are so afraid of fumbling they would rather go to the turf than give some extra effort and cough up the ball. My hope is that they become more confident with their ball security and concentrate a bit more on yards after contact. Its just a guess, but I hope to see more YAC in the coming weeks. Go Gophers!
 





denguegopher said:
I'll say struggled. This may be way off but here's my observation about the running game. One of Fleck's many mantras is, "the ball is the program," or something to that effect. I think that some of the young running backs are so afraid of fumbling they would rather go to the turf than give some extra effort and cough up the ball. My hope is that they become more confident with their ball security and concentrate a bit more on yards after contact. Its just a guess, but I hope to see more YAC in the coming weeks. Go Gophers!
Click to expand...
What young running backs had any carries? Tyler and Williams are 5th year guys with lots of experience. The problem was that the offensive line provided little if any room to run. Fleck alluded to making changes there this week at least at one position.
 





Yeah. Rankings after Week 1 are barely worth more than preseason rankings. Fodder for clicks.

Play some games, then we can talk about rankings.
 

bamor5229 said:
What young running backs had any carries? Tyler and Williams are 5th year guys with lots of experience. The problem was that the offensive line provided little if any room to run. Fleck alluded to making changes there this week at least at one position.
Click to expand...
I stand corrected.
 

MplsGopher said:
Yeah. Rankings after Week 1 are barely worth more than preseason rankings. Fodder for clicks.

Play some games, then we can talk about rankings.
Click to expand...

Lighten up Francis. These aren’t scientific or binding.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
Nebraska is better than Northwestern, for Pete’s sake. And it is probably better than Indiana and Rutgers. And possibly better than Purdue.
Click to expand...
Half the MIAC would give Northwestern a game. I kid, of course, but I really couldn't believe how bad Northwestern looked.
 

gopherhole.com

Big Ten Power Rankings - GopherHole.com

Every week, our own Noel Thompson will give us his Big Ten Power Rankings. Where do things stand after Week One? 1. Michigan No Harbaugh, no problem. Michigan starts the season with its highest preseason ranking since it was also No. 2 in 1991. 2. Penn State The Drew Allar era has begun in...
gopherhole.com gopherhole.com
 

50PoundHead said:
Half the MIAC would give Northwestern a game. I kid, of course, but I really couldn't believe how bad Northwestern looked.
Click to expand...
I think the season will show that Nebraska has a very good defense. And on offense, Nebraska will end up resorting the the running game more and more as Jeff Sims' deficiencies as a passer become increasingly evident. He simply can't be relied upon to pass against most B1G defenses. But he certainly can be part of the running game with selected QB option runs. Sounds weird, but I still think Nebraska can beat Colorado ... so long as Sims isn't chucking up interceptions all game. Stay mostly on the ground; long, time-consuming drives; keep the ball away from Colorado's explosive offense.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
Nebraska is better than Northwestern, for Pete’s sake. And it is probably better than Indiana and Rutgers. And possibly better than Purdue.
Click to expand...
I agree. Not sure how northwestern wasnt 14. Doesnt say much about Big Ten if we are 4. We struggled and probably should have lost.
 

bamor5229 said:
What young running backs had any carries? Tyler and Williams are 5th year guys with lots of experience. The problem was that the offensive line provided little if any room to run. Fleck alluded to making changes there this week at least at one position.
Click to expand...
Our OL has to improve. It will. The problem was the Nebraska defense. Rhule has improved the Huskers much faster than anyone could have expected. I thought we would blow them out. I was wrong. Now that we have beat them I’m pulling for them to knock off most of the West teams, but who knows.
 


Gophergrandpa said:
I think the season will show that Nebraska has a very good defense. And on offense, Nebraska will end up resorting the the running game more and more as Jeff Sims' deficiencies as a passer become increasingly evident. He simply can't be relied upon to pass against most B1G defenses. But he certainly can be part of the running game with selected QB option runs. Sounds weird, but I still think Nebraska can beat Colorado ... so long as Sims isn't chucking up interceptions all game. Stay mostly on the ground; long, time-consuming drives; keep the ball away from Colorado's explosive offense.
Click to expand...

I think they'll be able to throw on some teams. Minnesota makes it tougher to move the ball than other teams do.
 

gophereric30 said:
I agree. Not sure how northwestern wasnt 14. Doesnt say much about Big Ten if we are 4. We struggled and probably should have lost.
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Nebraska definitely should not be at 14 in any of these rankings, that spot is reserved for Northwestern. Outside of that it is all pretty pointless until we get a few weeks into the season and really get a feel for where teams are at.
 

Randy chimes in:

6. Gophers (1-0, 1-0): Is your glass half-full or half-empty? Only three points for Gophers through 57:28 and 55 rushing yards total, but two forced turnovers, a catch for the ages and a walk-off 47-yard field goal produce a 13-10 win over Nebraska.

m.startribune.com

Big Ten power rankings: Here's how Randy Johnson sees the conference

Big Ten football's first weekend featured a couple of overpowering performances, a few teams with concerns and others that will need more of a challenge to best judge them.
m.startribune.com m.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
 


BleedGopher said:
Spartans Wire chimes in:

Record: 1-0 (1-0 in Big Ten)

This week’s result: Win vs. Nebraska

Next Game: Eastern Michigan on September 9

Minnesota picked up a conference win so they deserve credit for that. But that wasn’t an impressive performance by any means and I personally left that game more concerned than excited about the Golden Gophers. Especially on the offensive side of the ball.

spartanswire.usatoday.com

Big Ten Power Rankings: Where does MSU Football land after earning a season-opening win over CMU?

See where the Spartans land in our first edition of Big Ten Power Rankings for the 2023 football season
spartanswire.usatoday.com spartanswire.usatoday.com

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...
All roads go through the Offensive Line play and AK's decision-making. The new Nebraska 3-3-5 Defense exposed the Gophers' offense needs. Things will improve from week to week.

This is on-the-job training while navigating one of the toughest schedules.
 

BleedGopher said:
Wolverines Wire first out of the gate:

10. Minnesota

So, Minnesota got the win. That’s the good news. But the days of Tanner Morgan at quarterback and Mo Ibrahim at running back are clearly over....

wolverineswire.usatoday.com

Big Ten power rankings after Week 1: A (mostly) lackluster start to the season

FOOTBALL IS BACK!
wolverineswire.usatoday.com wolverineswire.usatoday.com
Click to expand...

Yea, I don't know about that article. It stated:

Wisconsin #3: "Luke Fickell’s official debut (he did coach in the bowl game) went swimmingly... Tanner Mordecai was an improvement on his predecessor, Graham Mertz, and the defense was mostly solid... It was the perfect start for the Badgers who face Washington State next."

Wisconsin ahead of Ohio State? Yea right. And, no, it was not "the perfect start for the Badgers," especially at QB not even mentioned in the piece.

The description of Minnesota seemed accurate except Kaliakmanis is a 4-star prospect in his first season as the starter, just at the start of his run. He gets to improve, and he will. The run blocking is a concern.

I'll stick with the oddsmakers that have it Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin (perhaps overrated), Iowa and Minnesota in that order. The last game of the year is Wisconsin at Minnesota. At that time Minnesota may have the efficiency up.

Remember that Minnesota has an excellent defense.
 

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