Doogie says "five wins maximum" for Gophs in 2010

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Hopefully he will be as accurate as his column saying the Gophers basketball team was headed to the NIT.
 

Well at least he didn't pick them to win 11 so he could rail on them when they fail. I think 5 is about right honestly, anything more and we should be in good shape. 5 wins or less and Brew is on the hot seat in 2011 to win big or he's gone.
 

As hard as it is to think we have to sit through another mediocore year I think that we are still a year away from having a breakout year. This years schedule is tough and that has to be considered.

I think that before we really think about canning Brew we have to give him 2 more years to prove his worth. I believe were on the verge of something great with Brewster he just needs to make it through this year.
 

Does the 2011 schedule really set up that much easier than 2010 though? We have to travel to USC, Michigan, Ohio State, and Iowa, and get PSU at home. That's five games that, at face value, we won't be favored to win. Of course, that's so far off that it's hard to make predictions, but it's not as if we'll be going from the #1 schedule to some chopped liver.
 


I wouldn't say 5 wins is our maximum, but 5 or 6 wins are probably our most likely totals. This is just another comment by Doogie to generate buzz and draw attention to his work. He's not really dumb enough to think it's impossible for this team to reach 6 or 7 wins, he's just smart enough to realize what he needs to say to get hits.
 

But Doogie respects Coach Brewster, so it's all cool.
 

5 wins maximum is an awfully strong statement. With a prediction like that, if we manage to win 6 games, that would have to be considered a great accomplishment.
 




Trying to fit in

Maybe he's trying to make friends with Jenny Souhan and Reusse.
 

Doogie just doesn't strike me as someone who understands the game of football at all. When I've read his comments in the past, he strikes me as someone who has never played or sincerely studied the game. He's like that guy at the bar. It's not that he's dumb (necessarily), it's just that he honestly has no idea what he's talking about.

Next season the Gophers win 6-8 games in the regular season plus a bowl victory. You can take that to the Bank.

(If you're curious as to my reasoning check out my comment on the scrimmage threads from Saturday.)
 

BleedGopher said:
"In looking at their schedule, they play nine bowl-eligible teams from this season. Even with three of their four toughest conference opponents at home, it seems like five wins maximum; therefore, no meaningless bowl invitation, less fans showing up at "The Bank," and an uproar for a coaching change."

http://1500espn.com/sportswire/Brews_crew_not_a_bruised_crew_at_Saturdays_scrimmage

Go Gophers!!
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I just don't get where Doogie comes off with these type of takes. He really seems like any joe shmo fan who really doesn't follow the program in any detail, and basically takes the viewpoint that if the offense isn't scoring a ton of points to keep his interest, then the program is doomed.

I'm simply encouraged enough by the short but solid track record of the defense and special teams the last 2 years to believe that a few bounces our way will lead us to a few big time wins this year.
If we can score with more consistency we increase our chances even more, but we were in alot of games even with our bad O last year. Penn State, Cal, OSU, Iowa, Wisky were all close games.

When you have solid(not even spectacular) defense and special teams, any game is winnable, regardless of offensive output. Keep the game close, don't give up big plays, and win the field position battle, you do that, you give yourself a chance against anyone.
I swear Doogie is reflecting the 98er viking fanbase's expectations or the mason lovers expectations; Newsflash, we don't need explosive offense to score 50 points in order to win games.
My 2 cents.
 

re: Penn State, Cal, OSU, Iowa, Wisky were all close games.

Ole said:
I just don't get where Doogie comes off with these type of takes. He really seems like any joe shmo fan who really doesn't follow the program in any detail, and basically takes the viewpoint that if the offense isn't scoring a ton of points to keep his interest, then the program is doomed.

I'm simply encouraged enough by the short but solid track record of the defense and special teams the last 2 years to believe that a few bounces our way will lead us to a few big time wins this year.
If we can score with more consistency we increase our chances even more, but we were in alot of games even with our bad O last year. Penn State, Cal, OSU, Iowa, Wisky were all close games.When you have solid(not even spectacular) defense and special teams, any game is winnable, regardless of offensive output. Keep the game close, don't give up big plays, and win the field position battle, you do that, you give yourself a chance against anyone.
I swear Doogie is reflecting the 98er viking fanbase's expectations or the mason lovers expectations; Newsflash, we don't need explosive offense to score 50 points in order to win games.
My 2 cents.
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"Penn State, Cal, OSU, Iowa, Wisky were all close games.?"
What games were you watching, man? Which ones did we cover the spread in?
 



AhliBobwa said:
Doogie just doesn't strike me as someone who understands the game of football at all. When I've read his comments in the past, he strikes me as someone who has never played or sincerely studied the game. He's like that guy at the bar. It's not that he's dumb (necessarily), it's just that he honestly has no idea what he's talking about.

Next season the Gophers win 6-8 games in the regular season plus a bowl victory. You can take that to the Bank.

(If you're curious as to my reasoning check out my comment on the scrimmage threads from Saturday.)
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I think you are on to something. I agree.
 

I preface this by saying that I primarily post on the basketball board. I don't care all that much about football. I'm not going to any scrimmages or the spring game.

But I have one question for the 'we kept it close' crowd. I get that there can be signs of improvement, even in losses. But the rub of last season was that the Gophers also kept it close against Air Force, Michigan State, Syracuse and South Dakota State. Just like how a couple of plays could have turned losses into wins, a couple of other plays could have turned wins into losses.

When I look at the schedule for next season, I struggle to believe how they are going to win more than six games at the most. The problem with this schedule for me is that most of the toss-up games are on the road. Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan State and Illinois are all games that the Gophers would have at least a chance in at home. On the road, however, is a totally different situation. Combine that with the possibility that the Gophers could be underdogs in each conference home game and gaining much traction will be a huge challenge.
 

MNGophers11 said:
"Penn State, Cal, OSU, Iowa, Wisky were all close games.?"
What games were you watching, man? Which ones did we cover the spread in?
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What games were YOU watching?

CAL: Tie game until an untimely penalty on third and long with 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter.
WISKY: 3 point loss
IOWA: Very tight game and several chances inside the Iowa redzone that we simply didn't capitalize on.
OSU: In Columbus, and completely in the game at half-time. (I'll give you the bad 3rd quarter)
PSU: In the game the entire way. Same situation as Iowa, absolutely no offense, but within a big play of turning the momentum.

By the way, covering the spread doesn't mean squat. The spread is not a prediction on how close a game should be but rather a reflection of the betters tendancies.
 

MNGophers11 said:
"Penn State, Cal, OSU, Iowa, Wisky were all close games.?"
What games were you watching, man? Which ones did we cover the spread in?
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They were close, just because gamblers didn't cover the spread doesn't mean the game was out of hand.

and yeah alot of the wins were close too, which makes my point, play solid defense(again, not even amazing defense), solid special teams and you will have a chance to win the game, any game regardless of opponent.
Anyway, we had a chance late to win all those games, which in mind gives me a much more rosy viewpoint of the upcoming season. Now if the D reverts, gives up huge plays early and often, and we miss 3 extra points against Middle Tennessee, lose against USC 63-45, etc I'll agree with Doogie. We'll win maybe 5 games.
 

MNGophers11 said:
"Penn State, Cal, OSU, Iowa, Wisky were all close games.?"
What games were you watching, man? Which ones did we cover the spread in?
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For gambling purposes, no - they weren't close.

But Wisconsin and Iowa were close, winnable games, if by score alone.

PSU, Cal, and OSU were all closer than the final score appeared, and basically we lost those games because the offense couldn't get first downs to allow the defense some rest in the second half.
 

JoeDirt said:
What games were YOU watching?

CAL: Tie game until an untimely penalty on third and long with 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter.
WISKY: 3 point loss
IOWA: Very tight game and several chances inside the Iowa redzone that we simply didn't capitalize on.
OSU: In Columbus, and completely in the game at half-time. (I'll give you the bad 3rd quarter)
PSU: In the game the entire way. Same situation as Iowa, absolutely no offense, but within a big play of turning the momentum.

By the way, covering the spread doesn't mean squat. The spread is not a prediction on how close a game should be but rather a reflection of the betters tendancies.
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And the other 5 teams played flawlessly for 4 quarters and had zero bad breaks? Take away Wisky's blocked FG and what? Take away IA's being without their QB & RB and what? Take out Cal's stud WR who went down when they were up 14-0 and what?
 

I don't think Doogie is far off, unfortunately with his total of 5. I just think he should have used the word "likely" instead of "maximum."

Maximum implies you would be absolutely shocked if the team won 6 or 7 games. I'll bet if you were to ask Vegas oddsmakers if they would be absolutely shocked if the team won 6 or 7 games I don't think you would get many to agree with that statement.
 

Gopher Bandanna Guy said:
For gambling purposes, no - they weren't close.

But Wisconsin and Iowa were close, winnable games, if by score alone.
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When you give up 232 yards rushing in the second half, while rushing for -24, it's not a close, winnable game. The Badgers were 12 yards away from going up 31-13 and blowing out the Gophers.
 


MNGophers11 said:
"Penn State, Cal, OSU, Iowa, Wisky were all close games.?"
What games were you watching, man? Which ones did we cover the spread in?
Click to expand...

It might help if you started analyzing games based on actual play rather than gambling results. One isn't necessarily the same as the other. You never saw a horse finish out of the running by a nose, but ran a great race to make it happen?

Last year during preseason, one of the "gurus" on B10 Network said it was likely Minnesota would field a significantly improved team from the year before but due to schedule finish out of the bowl picture. See, if you have any hope of an accurate analysis you must look further than covering the spread or raw wins and losses. I can see this team's depth increasing each season. As long as that continues a time will come, likely this year or next, when we break through and enjoy a landmark season. After that, our problems become how not to emulate Illinois.
 

What I would call "Pretty confident wins" (5): @ MTSU, South Dakota, Northern Ill, Northwestern, @ Illinois.

Toss-ups (IMO) (2): @ Purdue, @ MSU

Tough to win (5): USC, @Becky, PSU, OSU, Iowa.

Of course this is my opinion personally, but seriously, I would hardly call this a 5-win "maximum". Pretty sure that was just a headline to draw attention.

I say 5 minimum, likely 6 or 7, with potential for up to 9 if we can take one of the rivalry games and like PSU or something like that.

This is assuming hardly any improvement as well. I mean, just looking at our wins last year, I think the breakdown above is about where it would lie. Obviously we lost to Illinois at home this year, but they have some issues. I don't think NU will be better than they were last year and it's at home, so I feel pretty good about putting them in the "win" column. After that, it could be bad, or it could be good. Depends on improvements made to the offense probably. If the offense steps up, I think we'll be on the good side of those toss-ups, and maybe even a "tough to win" or two. If not, we're in trouble. It's that simple to me.
 

I think this could be their most talented team in 5-years. Was impressed on Saturday by Wilhite, Kirksey, and even Wills. The schedule frightens me though. Actually on record saying he can have 2011 in my mind if we see measurable progress without the wins. Win 5 games, but they find a RB, McKnight improves, Allen improves, the O-line improves, the penalties go way down, and the D-line plays like I think they're capable of playing, would have no issue with him returning.
 

I have to agree on Cooper. I think that he would be a MONSTER at SS. He is better than anyone on the team or recruited there. We have some size with good speed at LB along with some depth. They (coaches) seem oblivious to it though.
 

Maximus said:
When you give up 232 yards rushing in the second half, while rushing for -24, it's not a close, winnable game. The Badgers were 12 yards away from going up 31-13 and blowing out the Gophers.
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When you have the ball in the final minute and you're down 3, it's a winnable game. By your logic, the 2003 game against Michigan wasn't a "winnable" game for them because we were up 28-7 and blowing them out, and we had over 400 yds rushing to their no yards rushing. They did end up winning though, which is the key part in "winnable."
 

anonymous said:
I preface this by saying that I primarily post on the basketball board. I don't care all that much about football. I'm not going to any scrimmages or the spring game.

But I have one question for the 'we kept it close' crowd. I get that there can be signs of improvement, even in losses. But the rub of last season was that the Gophers also kept it close against Air Force, Michigan State, Syracuse and South Dakota State. Just like how a couple of plays could have turned losses into wins, a couple of other plays could have turned wins into losses.

When I look at the schedule for next season, I struggle to believe how they are going to win more than six games at the most. The problem with this schedule for me is that most of the toss-up games are on the road. Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan State and Illinois are all games that the Gophers would have at least a chance in at home. On the road, however, is a totally different situation. Combine that with the possibility that the Gophers could be underdogs in each conference home game and gaining much traction will be a huge challenge.
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MSU and Air Force were bowl teams. I know you are not a football guy and don't mean any harm, but don't come in and make completely uneducated statements like that.
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Payment protection insurance dicussion
 

3 wins Middle TN State, South Dakota, Northern Illinois
2 losses Ohio State, USC
3 games where they might win 1 of them (wisconsin, Iowa, Penn State)
4 that really could go either way.

so between 3-8 wins....I would bank on about 5
 

GopherFan,

I don't get your point. My point was that Syracuse, Air Force, Michigan State and South Dakota State were also close games -- much closer than Iowa, Wisconsin, etc. If one or two plays in those games go in a different direction, the Gophers might not even get six wins last season. It doesn't matter that Air Force and Michigan State were bowl teams.

That's not uneducated. That's the reality.
 

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