Each week, one of my weekly articles is asking beat writers who cover the Gophers’ opponents questions to give us perspective on who they are playing. With Minnesota on a bye week, I thought it would be a good idea if Gopherhole members asked me questions. A huge thanks to all who asked questions. Below are my answers.
Monikerschmoniker45: I enjoy your writeups. What’s your relationship to the team/university?
Thank you! I appreciate that! I have no official relationship with the team or university. College football is hands down my favorite sport, and I just love following the Gophers. I am very thankful for the opportunity that Gopherhole has given me!
Spaulding!No!: Will Zach Evans play this year?
The Gophers have a stud in Evans. The Texas native was ranked the 10th best back in the country in his senior year. He had a great spring game for the Gophers. While Fleck keeps injuries on the down low. Evans has been seen on the sidelines wearing a boot on his foot. Last week was the first time he wasn’t wearing one, but he still didn’t dress up.
I’m sure Fleck would love to get him some playing time as schools can still redshirt players if they don’t play in more than four games. But he still has to get in game shape as he hasn’t been running over the last few months. My hope is that we can see him in the last few games of the season.
The prez sez: Analyze the passing game. It’s clear to me that when we show the ability to pass the ball, it really opens up the run game, and we control the clock, etc. What happened in the pass game against Purdue? Do we have the weapons? Are teams doing things that confuse morgan? Something just seems off in this area, and can it be fixed.
What a question. I’ve now watched that Purdue game four times, and let me tell you, that was a weird game. The defense played excellently outside of the first and last five minutes of the game. They gave the offense plenty of chances, but they just could not get anything going on the ground. I’m not going to pin the outcome of a game on one or two plays, but that drop in the end zone by Michael Brown-Stephens and that missed field goal by Trickett really hurt the Gophers. Regarding the passing game, Minnesota is not an air raid team. That is not breaking news. The passing game of Minnesota is very much dependent on the running game. The whole point of RPO is counting on the fact that you can run the ball. So when Minnesota couldn’t run against Purdue, it took away what they were really comfortable with. The good news is that Minnesota did move the ball somewhat when the running game stalled. What a game Daniel Jackson had. The Gophers do have the weapons to have a good passing game. Am I worried about that? Right now, I am not. If Mo is out any longer, then I would have some concern.
#2Gopher: Do you agree with the 4th down call using Kramer?
Absolutely not. I may be in the minority, but I believe any part of the playbook with the wildcat on it should be thrown in the trash. First of all, it wasn’t 4th and inches. We actually needed to gain a good yard. The running game at that point wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders, so I’m not sure if the wildcat was suddenly going to work. Everybody in the stadium knew what the Gophers were going to do there. Minnesota got zero push and didn’t even come close to converting it. Great job by the defense to keep the Boilermakers to three points after the offense failed to convert.
Stan: What stands in the way of this program truly breaking through on a national level? And once it does, can it sustain it for a 3 out of 5 year period?
Iowa. Ha! But it’s a great question. If you are a Gopher fan, I think you have to be happy with the direction of the program. Especially if you look at the other teams in the Big Ten West.
But really though, to me, the one thing that stands in the way of the program has been the inability to get to Indianapolis. Fleck has to win over Iowa at some point and take care of the rest of the division. This year might be the year, but Illinois is going to get better. Who knows about Wisconsin and Nebraska as they look for new coaches? I think there is a great opportunity for Minnesota to rise on the national level in the next five years.
Spaulding!No!: Will Wisconsin hire PJ as the new football HC?
Only if they want to win back the Paul Bunyan Axe.
gopher_groupie: Did PJ really read a magazine article about himself to the team after practice one night, and did he make everyone clap?
I have heard rumors like that, but I myself can’t confirm if that is true or not. P.J. does read children’s books to the players the night before the game. While that has gotten unique responses, I remember Rashod Bateman being a huge fan of it.
Gophernut1: What are the 40 times of our running backs? Seems like without the “freshmen” from last year we don’t run outside with success the same. Is this do to the OL or the speed of the backs?
The only time you will see results like times from the 40 yard dash will be at the Minnesota pro day at the end of the season. Teams don’t really publicize that stuff.
With the outside and inside zone that Minnesota does, the vision of the running back is critical as the holes will be different on each play. While we don’t have a true speedster at the running back position, I have seen Mo and Bryce have success running outside. I’m excited to see Zach Evans take off too.
Hungan1: Will we see any of the Freshmen Wide Receivers play this year? How good is Kristen Hoskins? What is the situation with Mo Ibrahim’s injury?
We have already seen Quentin Redding so far on special teams. Redding has the ability to make some plays on kick and punt returns, which is exciting. I’m not sure if you will see Ike White and Hoskins play that much. You definitely won’t see them play more than four games.
To be honest, the one position that concerns me as far as depth is at wide receiver. The Gophers had eight wide receivers enter the transfer portal from last season.
From what I’ve heard, Hoskins is one of the fastest players on the team. The future is bright for him.
Mo Ibrahim rolled his ankle against Michigan State in the second half. At the time, he was at 82 yards and had only spent a few minutes in the medical tent. As soon as Mo got 100 yards, he never stepped on the field again. He had a noticeable limp but didn’t look that serious. With the bye week, I would be surprised if he didn’t play against Illinois next week, as Fleck said it was a game-time decision against Purdue.
Mr. 131: I’d love to read some insights on what gopher football was like at the Dome – especially in the early dome days – what was the general sentiment around the University as football left campus?
I’m really curious in general about the factors that led to our looooong downturn from the 70’s on. Was the dome ever well received? Did fans think it a toilet right away?
I’ll be honest, this is such a great question. But I’ll be honest and say I really don’t know much about the early days at the dome. The Gophers first played there in 1982 (before I was born).
What I do know is that the city of Minneapolis built the dome as a catch all. That the stadium could be the home for multiple teams and events. Situated downtown, the appeal of having a stadium that was the home for so many teams did have appeal. The thought of playing in an NFL stadium and atmosphere probably looked great for the university. We all know Minneapolis held on to the toilet way too long, and the fact that any university plays football off campus should be illegal.
MGGOPHER: Who are the next 2 or 3 recruits most likely to commit? We all know about Athan. How is Knuth developing? I assume he’s playing in the Sunday scrimmages. Ditto above about Evans. Heard he looked electric in camp. I would’ve loved to see him Saturday. What’s the likelihood of Rossi leaving for a HC gig after this season?
Right now, Minnesota has 18 players committed to the 2023 class. That’s good enough to be 39th in the recruiting rankings (24/7 sports).
Some players to keep an eye on is cornerback MarJayvious Moss out of Louisiana. According to 24/7 Sports, he is a four-star athlete and the 34th best corner in the country.24/7 Sports has him leaning towards committing to Oklahoma State.
Another one is Asa Newsom out of Iowa. He is a 3-star athlete who has also had offers from Iowa and Stanford.
But if Ryan Burns is right at 24/7 sports, no Gopher coach visited an uncommitted recruit this past week during the bye week. Coaches either visited players who are already committed to Minnesota or committed elsewhere. Personally, I think they are in a holding pattern a bit to see what the transfer portal looks like in a few months and/or they are trying to flip a recruit who is committed somewhere else.
No solid news on Knuth, as he hasn’t seen the field in 2022 yet. I haven’t heard anything negative about his development.As a first-year player, his focus has to be on learning, developing, and getting his body stronger.
The Rossi question is a great one. His stock is incredibly high right now as he has led some great defenses in the last few years and this year’s defense is trending to be the best one yet.
We all know that it’s not a matter of IF Rossi will leave Minnesota for a head coaching gig, it’s a matter of WHEN. For me, it’s all about the right fit. He isn’t going to jump at his first opportunity to become head coach. I think he is looking for a place that better suits him.
Wouldn’t it be great if he took over Colorado? Especially since Mike Sanford Jr. is currently the interim head coach.