This will be a good team.

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holereader said:
Losing mo + poor defense = long season. Sorry but what I saw last night should not be sugarcoated by claiming we were playing Ohio State. This defense concerns me against all other big ten opponents
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Two years ago about this time we were pretty concerned with the team overall after squeaking out a home opener win against South Dakota State, 28-21. There were a lot of concerns about defense and the offensive line.

Two weeks later there was still a lot of pessimism after winning in OT at Fresno State and sneaking past mighty Georgia Southern at home by three points. Thank the great Omar Douglas' son for that win.

Three weeks into the season very few would have predicted an historic 11-2 campaign featuring wins over Penn St. and Auburn (plus a nasty blown opportunity when we didn't show up in Iowa City until the second quarter.

We didn't look like much those first three non-con games and none of the opponents came from Columbus, Ohio. Yet, the O line got steadily better and the defense improved. Morgan went from sophomore game manager to All-Big Ten level performances.

Our defense is better now than it looked against Ohio St. And, it will improve. Nothing last night says we can't win the West.

Losing Mo hurts most from the standpoint of imagining how he feels today knowing he won't be on the field with his guys. But Fleck has recruited well and there is a lot behind Mo. And remember in 2018 both Rodney and Shannon went down and we gave the ball to an unheralded freshman named Mo Ibrahim.

A lot of good things will happen this year that were not anticipated.
 

2019...

11-2. Most wins for the program since the early 1900s. Big, fun wins over Penn State and over Auburn in a New Year's bowl game. Finished the season ranked #10 in the country.

But the 2019 Gophers fell short of a championship win, so I guess some people view it as just another failed season, in a long line of Minnesota losing seasons.

That just baffles me. I can't understand that mindset at all.
 

RememberMurray said:
Well, hey... if it is making you unhappy maybe you need a new hobby.

I prefer to see the future as a bright one; I can't see any advantage in allowing myself to wallow in all that "years and years of Minnesota losing" stuff. It seems like a pathetic worldview and a miserable way to spend my time as a fan.

When I think back on my years as a Minnesota sports fan, I remember a lot of bright moments. And, yes, I'm aware it has been a long time since we won a real championship around here. But if you're only going to be happy when your team actually wins the title then you're going to be an unhappy person most years, no matter who you root for.

Did you find any joy in the Gophers 2019 season? After all, they did not win a title that year.
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Tell that to Boston, Tampa Bay, LA, etc sports fans who have won a ridiculous amount of championships recently....All I ask for is one.
 

As I predicted our secondary would struggle.I couldn’t find Durr last night. Did he play? If he was out on the field he must have been hiding as his name was never mentioned. People wanting quicker linebackers,already to late for this year. I am sure we played our best, quickest linebackers. It seemed to me we had LBs moving across the formation as the ball was being snapped. Never sure of their alignment - that folks is coaching or the lack there of.
 

GopherGangsta said:
Tell that to Boston, Tampa Bay, LA, etc sports fans who have won a ridiculous amount of championships recently....All I ask for is one.
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Why not simply choose to root for Tampa or Boston or LA? There's no law that says you have to hang around here with the rest of us Minnesota losers. Cheer for a champion! Follow the hardware.
 


Pete smith said:
As I predicted our secondary would struggle.I couldn’t find Durr last night. Did he play? If he was out on the field he must have been hiding as his name was never mentioned. People wanting quicker linebackers,already to late for this year. I am sure we played our best, quickest linebackers. It seemed to me we had LBs moving across the formation as the ball was being snapped. Never sure of their alignment - that folks is coaching or the lack there of.
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They didn't throw at Durr, which will be the case for most teams we play this season. He had a nice tackle for loss too.
 


Pete smith said:
As I predicted our secondary would struggle.I couldn’t find Durr last night. Did he play? If he was out on the field he must have been hiding as his name was never mentioned. People wanting quicker linebackers,already to late for this year. I am sure we played our best, quickest linebackers. It seemed to me we had LBs moving across the formation as the ball was being snapped. Never sure of their alignment - that folks is coaching or the lack there of.
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Durr played well. tOHSU targeted other people to pick on, mainly howdens replacement
 

touchdownvikings said:
With or without Mo, the running game will succeed. It'll be better if Mo is available, but it'll be more than solid if we have to use other options.

And Wright. Well, we see what we've got there. CrAB + Wright (+ Spann-Ford) = a very effective passing game. But Wright is the key. He's a monster, and he'll only get better as the year goes along.

This defense will show itself to be solid. Especially when we are able to tip the game situation in our favor.

I think it's possible we run the table from here. Wright was really the key. With Wright, we have a balanced offense, meaning we will be able to take whatever the defense gives us.

Don't be raking leaves on Saturdays, gentlemen. This is going to be a good season. You'll see.
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It’s going to be CAB, Wright, Jackson snd BSF. And by the end of the year Boyd and Geers might be in the mix. We look good at receiver.
 



Gophergrandpa said:
It’s going to be CAB, Wright, Jackson snd BSF. And by the end of the year Boyd and Geers might be in the mix. We look good at receiver.
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We look good as a whole team. Last night isn't what we wanted as an outcome. But this will be a very winning season! Chin up! No raking.
 

Dakota2 said:
Two years ago about this time we were pretty concerned with the team overall after squeaking out a home opener win against South Dakota State, 28-21. There were a lot of concerns about defense and the offensive line.

Two weeks later there was still a lot of pessimism after winning in OT at Fresno State and sneaking past mighty Georgia Southern at home by three points. Thank the great Omar Douglas' son for that win.

Three weeks into the season very few would have predicted an historic 11-2 campaign featuring wins over Penn St. and Auburn (plus a nasty blown opportunity when we didn't show up in Iowa City until the second quarter.

We didn't look like much those first three non-con games and none of the opponents came from Columbus, Ohio. Yet, the O line got steadily better and the defense improved. Morgan went from sophomore game manager to All-Big Ten level performances.

Our defense is better now than it looked against Ohio St. And, it will improve. Nothing last night says we can't win the West.

Losing Mo hurts most from the standpoint of imagining how he feels today knowing he won't be on the field with his guys. But Fleck has recruited well and there is a lot behind Mo. And remember in 2018 both Rodney and Shannon went down and we gave the ball to an unheralded freshman named Mo Ibrahim.

A lot of good things will happen this year that were not anticipated.
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Great points. I feel a lot better after one game than I did about this team in 2019 or 2020.

Gophers may be favored in their next 8 games.
 

GopherGangsta said:
They lost by 7 on the road to a better Ohio State team than this year.
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If the obvious, blatant targeting call was made on OSU, leaving possession with the Gophers and assessing another fifteen years, we might well have scored and lost by seven points … if we didn’t recover the onsides kick. By the way, going by 247 recruiting rankings, this is the most talented team Ohio State has ever fielded. Ever. There are 15 five stars and 51 four stars on the team. We have no five stars (never have had one) and only 9 four stars. The depth on this year’s Ohio State is unheard of outside of Alabama.
 
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Gophergrandpa said:
If the obvious, blatant targeting call was made on OSU, leaving possession with the Gophers and assessing another fifteen years, we might well have scored and lost by seven points … if we didn’t recover the onsides kick. By the way, going by 247 recruiting rankings, this is the most talented team Ohio State has ever fielded. There are 15 five stars and 51 four stars on the team. We have no five stars (never have had one) and 9 four stars. The depth on this year’s Ohio State is unheard of outside of Alabama.
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Freshman playing QB in his first game .....Fields was a top 10 NFL draft pick.....Trey Sermon is better than either back that played last night.
 




GopherGangsta said:
Freshman playing QB in his first game .....Fields was a top 10 NFL draft pick.....Trey Sermon is better than either back that played last night.
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Football is a game of 22 players. Trey Sermon is not better than at least two of the four backs that OSU rolled through play last night.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
Football is a game of 22 players. Trey Sermon is not better than at least two of the four backs that OSU rolled through play last night.
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Sermon had 330 yards in the B10 championship game and 200 in the semifinal against Clemson....Wake me up when any of those guys do that.
 


GopherGangsta said:
Sermon had 330 yards in the B10 championship game and 200 in the semifinal against Clemson....Wake me up when any of those guys do that.
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Those are just two games. He only had one other game over 100 yards last season, and none the season before that.

TreyVeyon Henderson is faster and more talented than Sermon, but he's only 18.
 


GopherWeatherGuy said:
Those are just two games. He only had one other game over 100 yards last season, and none the season before that.

TreyVeyon Henderson is faster and more talented than Sermon, but he's only 18.
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He split time at OSU and Oklahoma with other backs.....If you watched him in those games he was unstoppable....Let's wait and see if Henderson gets drafted before the 3rd round in the NFL.
 


If we beat Colorado, I feel good about the rest of the season. Should win many and have a chance in all. If Mo is out for the season, and CAB is still sidelined for Colorado, I think our offense (which we will have to rely heavily upon again this year) will be quite diminished, and might be overmatched a Colorado.
 



GopherWeatherGuy said:
Those are just two games. He only had one other game over 100 yards last season, and none the season before that.

TreyVeyon Henderson is faster and more talented than Sermon, but he's only 18.
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And Miyan Williams is another Mo. The OSU RB rotation, with a guy like Master Teague at the 3 spot (and perhaps even the 4), is a monster.
 


Gophergrandpa said:
If we beat Colorado, I feel good about the rest of the season. Should win many and have a chance in all. If Mo is out for the season, and CAB is still sidelined for Colorado, I think our offense (which we will have to rely heavily upon again this year) will be quite diminished, and might be overmatched a Colorado.
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What exactly makes you think Colorado is a good team outside of a talented rb?
 

btowngopher said:
How do you know that? If we roll next week and they don’t look good in their games, we will certainly be favored.
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At home.....Pac 12 team....Both teams will likely have the same record.....Game will likely be -3
 

btowngopher said:
What exactly makes you think Colorado is a good team outside of a talented rb?
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Last year, playing only six games, they beat UCLA, Stanford and Arizona (and San Diego State). If you want to marginalize Colorado, fine, but I believe it is a real opponent. I also believe that pride goeth before the fall, so I consider Colorado a real opponent until proven otherwise.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
Last year, playing only six games, they beat UCLA, Stanford and Arizona (and San Diego State). If you want to marginalize Colorado, fine, but I believe it is a real opponent. I also believe that pride goeth before the fall, so I consider Colorado a real opponent until proven otherwise.
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They are a real opponent, but people act like they are one of the tougher teams we will face. I think they are definitely on the easier half if you rank our games by difficulty. The only gimmie really is Bowling Green and maybe Miami OH.
 

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