Where will Minnesota be ranked?

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Would definitely think top 25 now that we played a "somebody", though they too ended up turning out more like Colorado than I was hoping.

Obviously will take the dominate performance!
 


MGGopher said:
I honestly think this is where MN belongs. The 2019 team finished ranked 10 or 11, I believe...and this team is just as good IMO. Who wants to play this team right now?
  • TWO Heisman contenders (ESPN ranks Mo #4 and PFF noted Tanner is the higest rated QB in the country and will get Heisman hype is this continues)
  • Starting defense that's surrendered only 3 points in 4 games
  • Top 3 in the country in both total O and D
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It's only 4 games into the season but right now I think this team is better than the 2019 team. I say that for the following reasons:

1) The defense is better on this team. The Gophers were a Top 10 defense last season and this year the defense has continued on that path. The defense was good in 2019 but not at this level.

2) The offense is more balanced on this team than it was at this point in 2019. It took awhile for the running game to get going in 2019. Tanner is not throwing for the same raw yardage totals that he did at this point in 2019 (Who could forget Tanner's 21 of 22 for 396 yards performance in the 4th game against Purdue that season?) but that's because the running game has been very good from the get-go. Tanner's passing efficiency so far this season is among the highest in FBS.

3) I think the offensive line on this team is better than 2019. Fleck was right when he told the fans about summer practices "Don't worry. You haven't seen what I'm seeing."

4) Tanner has become a runner (at least in key spots)! As good as Tanner was in 2019, the additional composure, focus, and confidence that comes with maturity really is showing this season.

5) We have a more reliable kicker this season than in 2019. I know Trickett had his struggles last season but he has an established history of success overall. Hard to tell about punting so far because we don't do it very often!

The Gophers still don't do much when it comes to kick/punt returns and the defense still could use a little more pressure against opposing QBs but you rarely can get everything!
 

cjbfbp said:
What that the Dean Wormer face when he said "Blutarski - 0.0 average" or when he said "Kent Dorfmann, .44 average - fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life son" or when he said "Double Secret Probation, a little known codicil?"
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I still LMAO at that scene and I’m scene it dozens of tine
 


It's not only who you beat but when you beat them. Washington beats a ranked MSU and jumps to 18. We beat an overrated MSU and maybe get to 20, maybe.
Purdue poor performance against Florida Atlantic will hurt us in the rankings when we beat them. I don't think we will get any respect until we beat Illinois
Is the fair/correct. No, but life is not fair
 




State of Football said:
Aurbach at the Athletic at 10.
theathletic.com

Auerbach's Top 10: Clemson, USC hang on; Minnesota, Vols move up

A day of close calls and ugly wins made setting a new Top 10 challenging as ever.
theathletic.com theathletic.com
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10. Minnesota (4-0)​

I’ll go out on a limb — is it a limb at this point? — and say the Gophers are the favorites to win the Big Ten West. I felt the division was more wide-open than many thought heading into the season, because I wasn’t sold on Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz’s development and because of the way the schedule set up for Minnesota (and for Purdue, but the Boilermakers no longer look like contenders). The Gophers avoid both Ohio State and Michigan as crossover opponents.

Minnesota looked fantastic against a soft nonconference schedule, so it wasn’t really until we saw the Gophers demolish Michigan State 34-7 on the road that their path to Indianapolis really crystalized. I’m well aware that the Spartans are depleted by injuries and deeply flawed on defense, but that was a statement win.

Kirk Ciarrocca and Joe Rossi might be the hottest coordinator pairing in the country, which leads to a balanced team. Quarterback Tanner Morgan has been terrific this season, reunited with Ciarrocca, who helped him set all sorts of records as OC in 2019. Morgan didn’t skip a beat in his first game without injured top receiver Chris Autman-Bell, throwing for 268 yards and three touchdowns. Rossi’s defense held the Spartans to just 240 total yards of offense while forcing three turnovers.

Minnesota has been consistently solid during a month when the rest of the West has been in flux. I’ll ride with the Gophers for as long as they’ll have me.
 


cjbfbp said:
I liked when they faced the camera and yelled at the poll voters - "You better rank this team! This is a very good football team!"
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The Gophers being a legit contender is good for the talking heads. Gives them something to talk about outside of OSU and Michigan. Not to mention that if the Gophers lose Saturday.....the West is an absolute cesspool of despair....which isn't fun for anyone.
 




Some guy said:
Yeah. Low to me and you but I think it’ll be like that for quite a few. So I think anything better ranked than 21 will surprise me when the poll comes out
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I think so too. I’d personally love to still be under ranked when we go to PSU.

But also if we’re both undefeated I think the white out game might get college Gameday. Even if PSU has 1 loss to Michigan it still might. The other marquee game is Texas-OK St, and Texas has 2 losses already.
 

RogueGopher said:
The box score should speak for itself, and since AP voters don't watch the games, it'll help. Or they just declare MSU another cupcake.
View attachment 20700
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70 of those yards and their only score was in garbage time. The demolition with starters paired vs. starters was essentially the same as the demolition in the first three games. This suggests the results were far more MN than MSU.

MSU had one drive into scoring position yesterday against the Gophers‘ starting D. Through four games, the starting D has only allowed the opposing team to drive into scoring position once, while the starting O has punted 3 or fewer times. The O as a whole was only stopped on two 3rd downs yesterday, both resulting in short FGs.

I have never seen this level of multi-game sustained dominance by the Gophers in my lifetime. To date they are better than the 2019, 2003, and 1999 teams, who all ended the season top 15 (I think). The data would suggest this is definitely a top 15 team, and perhaps top-10. The BTN crew has it right (3rd in B1G) and Auerbach has it right as about 10th.

That said, nothing I’ve seen from the voting media suggests they will be higher than about 20. I stick with my original guess of 22.
 
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WorkingMyTailOff said:
Why not flip Michigan and Minnesota. Both teams played 3 soft non conference games and the Gophers dominated a team that just beat Michigan last year while Michigan struggled to beat Maryland at home
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Furthermore, two teams that MN and MI played earlier in the year and crushed respectively played each other yesterday: NMSU beat HI soundly 45-26. Gophers slight edge on nonconference SOS? /s
 

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