Why is 2022 a "tough rebuild year"?

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A wildcard is the randomness of the B1G West, every team this year had some fatal flaws.

If that continues, door is open.
 

The schedule next year seems substantially more daunting. 5 of last seven on the road, including games at Illinois, Neb, MSU, PSU, and WI.

Would be thrilled to see the Gophs maintain strong trajectory but given the program’s patterns over the past few decades, I would expect a strong start with a choppy finish.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
@ Penn State

@ Michigan State (who apparently is suddenly really good)

Schedule isn't easy either IMO.

But hey PJ's teams have suprised me plenty of times, I'm hopeful.
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Michigan state is going to be average next year: stop gapped with transfers. Hard to do that every year (or they have a new model no one’s ever used before)

penn state has now been average two years in a row
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
This year's Michigan St is last year's Indiana. They will win more than 2 games next year, but I expect them to regress quite a bit.
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Hopefully they do, but I don’t see how next years schedule is more difficult than this years. Maryland and Indiana were expected to be better than they were. I don’t think Rutgers is expected to be that great. MSU was good this year, but who knows if they sustain after one year. PSU isn’t OSU, we beat PSU 6 of the last 11 meetings and 2 of the last 3, the loss coming in OT.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
This year's Michigan St is last year's Indiana. They will win more than 2 games next year, but I expect them to regress quite a bit.
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MSU will be an interesting one to watch. Was a pretty mediocre program until Dantonio arrived in 2007 (even under Saban they only had one really good year and then he bolted). Dantonio had a great run of success up until the last couple of years where they finished right around .500.

Their 2021 schedule was exceptionally soft, they should have lost to Nebraska but Nebraska Nebrasked it up in typical Nebraska fashion. They struggled with Indiana, lost to Purdue, and got destroyed by Ohio State. On the flip side they managed to beat Michigan, which was their only truly impressive win.

They deserve props for going 10-2 and to Tucker for parlaying that into a massive contract. As to whether or not they can sustain that level of success....that remains to be seen. Given what they are paying Tucker the expectations for maintaining a really high level of success are going to be high. If they falter at all that could be bad news for him.
 


The 2022 crossover schedule appears to be comparable, if not slightly favorable, for the Gophs compared to IA and WI, but finishing the season with 4 of 5 games on the road including MSU, PSU and WI will be brutal. On the bright side, PJs teams have been decent on the road.

Side note (could be different thread): how in the hell does Iowa get Rutgers as a crossover every year for the next four years? Similarly, the Fadgers get OSU each year for the next four. I'm guessing Cheeseland is upset about that.

https://bigten.org/documents/2018/8/29//FUTURE_FOOTBALL_SCHEDULES_2022_25.pdf?id=6057
 

SamSquatch said:
The schedule next year seems substantially more daunting. 5 of last seven on the road, including games at Illinois, Neb, MSU, PSU, and WI.

Would be thrilled to see the Gophs maintain strong trajectory but given the program’s patterns over the past few decades, I would expect a strong start with a choppy finish.
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Yes, next year's schedule is harder than this year's but the schedule the year after appears significantly worse. For 2023, the crossover eastern division teams are Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State and we have North Carolina on the road. We also have a tough Group of Five team at home in Louisiana (Lafayette) which has a record of 32-5 over the last three seasons.
 

SamSquatch said:
The schedule next year seems substantially more daunting. 5 of last seven on the road, including games at Illinois, Neb, MSU, PSU, and WI.

Would be thrilled to see the Gophs maintain strong trajectory but given the program’s patterns over the past few decades, I would expect a strong start with a choppy finish.
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Not sure if you have noticed....but we have become a really good road team in recent years. Finishing with a lot of road games honestly doesn't scare me that much.
 

We will contend for the west again next year.

Mich St will regress with the loss of Walker and their defense wasn't great this year. PSU loses Dotson and Clifford plus many upper classmen on defense. Rutgers is rutgers. I think we'll be fine there.

In the West, NW still has no QB. Nebby unloads a bunch of their defensive stars plus their TE and I expect Martinez may look elsewhere for his final season if he wants to play. Illinois also has no QB but will likely be tougher next year. I'd imagine Bell is gone for Purdue, but they should be solid. IA and WI also have no QB and WI will unload some very solid defenders again.

In short, there's no reason at all this team cannot contend. All teams lose guys each year and I think the perception of how much we have to "replace" is a little bit overexaggerated. I fully expect next Thanksgiving weekend we're playing with the title on the line in Madison (just a matter of who it's against; WI gets OSU, Mich St, and MD, IA gets OSU, Mich, and Rutgers, Purdue gets PSU, MD, and Indy, Nebby gets MI, Rutgers, and Indy)
 



FormerFatOL said:
Side note (could be different thread): how in the hell does Iowa get Rutgers as a crossover every year for the next four years?
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That's lovely. The league sure takes care of Ferentz.
 

MNVCGUY said:
MSU will be an interesting one to watch. Was a pretty mediocre program until Dantonio arrived in 2007 (even under Saban they only had one really good year and then he bolted). Dantonio had a great run of success up until the last couple of years where they finished right around .500.
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They had some nice years in the 50's and 60's, three Rose Bowls. Also a Rose Bowl in 1987.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Michigan_State_Spartans_football_seasons


Like I said in an earlier post: there are reasons they have an 80k stadium, fill it up, and can pay $9.5M/year to a football coach.
 

Some guy said:
Michigan state is going to be average next year: stop gapped with transfers. Hard to do that every year (or they have a new model no one’s ever used before)

penn state has now been average two years in a row
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Spot on. Franklin and Tucker both got big contract extensions. If the media in Happy Valley and East Lansing are anything like the media here, there are long, long knives being sharpened even as we discuss this.
 

MplsGopher said:
Wish this was true.

But there's a reason Mich St has an 80k stadium and fills it more often than not.

And can pay a coach $9.5M/year.
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We should totally expand the bank so we get a couple more wins then too.
 




That’s four consecutive away games at stadiums that are among the 20 largest in college football (75,000+).

I would be surprised if this isn’t the first time that a team will have down this.
 

Cross over opponents for 2022 based on their 2021 east finish. Bold is Home
Iowa- Michigan, tOSU, Rutgers
MN- MSU, PSU, Rutgers
WI- tOSU, MSU, Maryland
Pur- PSU, Maryland, Indiana
Ill.- Michigan, MSU, PSU
NE- Michigan, Rutgers, Indiana
NW- tOSU, Maryland, Indiana

2 Road Games against East
 



MNVCGUY said:
Not sure if you have noticed....but we have become a really good road team in recent years. Finishing with a lot of road games honestly doesn't scare me that much.
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I hope that finishing with a series of tough games on the road ends up as a non-event, but as a fan of this team over the last several decades, there is no way I can feel comfortable assuming Gopher road wins over the likes of MSU, PSU, WI, etc.

But agree the team has the talent to be as competitive as they were this year.
 

upnorthkid said:
We will contend for the west again next year.

Mich St will regress with the loss of Walker and their defense wasn't great this year. PSU loses Dotson and Clifford plus many upper classmen on defense. Rutgers is rutgers. I think we'll be fine there.

In the West, NW still has no QB. Nebby unloads a bunch of their defensive stars plus their TE and I expect Martinez may look elsewhere for his final season if he wants to play. Illinois also has no QB but will likely be tougher next year. I'd imagine Bell is gone for Purdue, but they should be solid. IA and WI also have no QB and WI will unload some very solid defenders again.

In short, there's no reason at all this team cannot contend. All teams lose guys each year and I think the perception of how much we have to "replace" is a little bit overexaggerated. I fully expect next Thanksgiving weekend we're playing with the title on the line in Madison (just a matter of who it's against; WI gets OSU, Mich St, and MD, IA gets OSU, Mich, and Rutgers, Purdue gets PSU, MD, and Indy, Nebby gets MI, Rutgers, and Indy)
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Just a note: I think Allen (the TE from NEB) announced he will be back for one more year. Who is throwing to him will be interesting though
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Cross over opponents for 2022 based on their 2021 east finish. Bold is Home
Iowa- Michigan, tOSU, Rutgers
MN- MSU, PSU, Rutgers
WI- tOSU, MSU, Maryland
Pur- PSU, Maryland, Indiana
Ill.- Michigan, MSU, PSU
NE- Michigan, Rutgers, Indiana
NW- tOSU, Maryland, Indiana

2 Road Games against East
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That's for two of the three games.

The third one is a locked in game against a cross-division rival for multiple years in a row. We just played Maryland for six straight years. Now it's switching to MSU. Don't know how they determine that one. Possible an average record over the previous period?

Figures, catch MSU on the upswing.
 


btowngopher said:
Hopefully they do, but I don’t see how next years schedule is more difficult than this years. Maryland and Indiana were expected to be better than they were. I don’t think Rutgers is expected to be that great. MSU was good this year, but who knows if they sustain after one year. PSU isn’t OSU, we beat PSU 6 of the last 11 meetings and 2 of the last 3, the loss coming in OT.
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Michigan state only beat two team with a winning record this year.
But that’s infinitely more than 2020 Indiana
 


Some guy said:
Michigan state only beat two team with a winning record this year.
But that’s infinitely more than 2020 Indiana
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Yeah I never bought that Indiana had ascended and was going to stay. Not really buying that MSU has either.
 

Some guy said:
Michigan state only beat two team with a winning record this year.
But that’s infinitely more than 2020 Indiana
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similarly, PSU only beat one team with a winning record this year
 

Could be an O line of:

Andries-Ruschmeyer-JMS-Shaw-Ersery

Which I'd be very comfortable with.
 

MplsGopher said:
They had some nice years in the 50's and 60's, three Rose Bowls. Also a Rose Bowl in 1987.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Michigan_State_Spartans_football_seasons


Like I said in an earlier post: there are reasons they have an 80k stadium, fill it up, and can pay $9.5M/year to a football coach.
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We had some nice years in the 50s and 60s too, not sure what that has to do with anything.

I think MSU will be decent I just don't know that the 10-2 this year is an accurate reflection of where that program is really at. Tucker brought in a ton of transfers, hit a grand slam with Walker, and had a really soft schedule to rack up wins against.

I won't be shocked if they come back to the pack some next year. Their fans and admin however are going to expect 10 win seasons based on what they are paying Tucker, so for his sake he better keep winning at a really high level or they are going to want to run him out of town pretty quick.
 

We should be getting to a point where we aren't afraid to play anybody. The OMG's should stay in the past where they belong.
 

MNVCGUY said:
We had some nice years in the 50s and 60s too, not sure what that has to do with anything.
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Merely that your general statement "a pretty mediocre program until Dantonio arrived in 2007" is not fully accurate, unless you restrict the years more specifically.

MNVCGUY said:
I think MSU will be decent I just don't know that the 10-2 this year is an accurate reflection of where that program is really at. Tucker brought in a ton of transfers, hit a grand slam with Walker, and had a really soft schedule to rack up wins against.

I won't be shocked if they come back to the pack some next year. Their fans and admin however are going to expect 10 win seasons based on what they are paying Tucker, so for his sake he better keep winning at a really high level or they are going to want to run him out of town pretty quick.
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Agree with all this
 

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