With the non-conference complete, the Gophers are?…

With the non-conference complete, the Gophers are?…

  • Better than I expected.

    Votes: 97 68.3%
  • Worse than I expected.

    Votes: 2 1.4%
  • About what I expected.

    Votes: 43 30.3%

  • Total voters
    142
They played these 3 games as I expected them too! They looked keyed in, focused playing with confidence and discipline! This is what I now expect from the Gophers against lesser teams. My hope is that they continue to play like this against better teams. My expectations will be exceeded if they beat MSU even more soundly then Washington just did!!!
SKI U MAH RTB GO GOPHERS!
Washington beat MSU more soundly than the final score might indicate. WU was solid all around but not great.
 

For some GopherHolers, the conventional wisdom coming into this season said that the Gophers under Fleck often struggle and play down to the opposition against lesser teams. They were certain, for example, that the point spread vs. New Mexico State was way, way, waaaaay too high.

Well, the Gophers out-scored their three non-conference opponents 149-17. Average score: roughly 50-6.

If those same people are now saying that the non-conference games went exactly as they expected them to go, and they aren't surprised by how dominant the Gophers were in these three games, they're not being truthful.
The points allowed total might be a little misleading. Has anyone scored yet on the frontline D?
 

Don’t know how good they are but they did everything they could in the non conference schedule. I still have some doubts about the passing game, but if they can beat MSU and throw the ball on them I’ll be convinced this could be a B10 west winning club.
We will need to throw more than 70-30 against MSU to keep the defense from loading up the box. I am confident we will do that successfully. Good to see Jackson back looking 100%.
 


Show me another instance of a RB not regressing after a torn Achilles. I'll wait.
He has regressed. When he got injured last year he was on pace for 2800 yards and 35 touchdowns.

Whereas now he is on pace for 2000 yards and 30 touchdowns
 


Nonconference went as I expected, big wins against inferior teams. I liked the fact that they did not play down to their opponent’s level as has happened so much in the past.

What I liked
  • Ibrahim and Potts return from season ending injuries
  • OL performance after losing so many guys from last season
  • Bryce Williams as back up RB. Nice to have that good a 3rd option
  • Defense looks good
Concerns
Run/Pass ratio – 70/30 Same as last year. Would like to have seem more passes in nonconference.
When you blow teams out like we did you are going to be very run heavy wouldnt read a ton into run/pass ratio until we have some tougher games.
 

Really good start. I worry about Morgan and our receivers, but am optimistic Spann Ford is going to break out. Worry a bit about our run D against say Wisconsin but in Rossi we trust. I’m not sure our DL is quite as stout as last year.
 

Nonconference went as I expected, big wins against inferior teams. I liked the fact that they did not play down to their opponent’s level as has happened so much in the past.

What I liked
  • Ibrahim and Potts return from season ending injuries
  • OL performance after losing so many guys from last season
  • Bryce Williams as back up RB. Nice to have that good a 3rd option
  • Defense looks good
Concerns
Run/Pass ratio – 70/30 Same as last year. Would like to have seem more passes in nonconference.

Your comment on the 70/30 ratio makes me chuckle given that other posters are complaining the starters were still in and throwing the ball in the 1st half yesterday.

There's no magic formula. PJ is doing what he believes is best to get them ready and we'll see when they lace em up Saturday for B1G play!
 

Washington beat MSU more soundly than the final score might indicate. WU was solid all around but not great.
I only saw about one quarter, Washington was very dominating and made MSU look disorganized!
 



Remain concerned about our edge on defense...ends can't seem to hold it against run and our passing game even more now that CAB is gone for season.
The Gophers' Edge Defense is a concern.

The Washington Huskies exploited MSU's defense with their RB speed by running sweeps on the outside.

Chris Autman-Bell is a critical loss in keeping the edge defenders honest. The Gophers will make adjustments.

Next man up, please!
 

Your comment on the 70/30 ratio makes me chuckle given that other posters are complaining the starters were still in and throwing the ball in the 1st half yesterday.

There's no magic formula. PJ is doing what he believes is best to get them ready and we'll see when they lace em up Saturday for B1G play!
Just ice the game but don’t run
 

I think the Gophers are good. You don’t dominate teams like they have if you are average.

Would not shock me at all if they beat MSU by 2 TD’s.
 

You know something about Bell that the rest don't because as far as I know nothing has been officially announced.

Will be interesting to see our D against a good team but I'm not too concerned at all about that side of the ball, think we are going to be very good again on D this year.
Who is "Bell"? Did you mean Autman-Bell?
 




They are what i exactly expected.

With KC back the offense is right where i thought they would be. The CRAB injury could really hurt. Hopefully, Wright is up to the challenge and Jackson is back soon. But the offense looks fairly unstoppable.

The defense looks better than expected but they have not been tested at all. MSU has had trouble running the ball and our defense is pretty loaded for pass defense. So we should be fine to start off against Sparty and Purdue. Just need some pressure out of the front.

Exactly where i thought they could be. A little surprised PJ let them run it up so much.
 





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