FSN: A look at final four games, bowl game prospects for Gophers

per FSN:

After a surprising loss to Illinois on Saturday, plenty of Gophers fans are now acting as if the sky is falling. While it was no doubt a game Minnesota probably should have won, there are still four big games remaining in the Gophers' season. A strong end to the regular season can help Minnesota redeem itself after Saturday's stumble. But the remainder of the schedule is the toughest stretch the Gophers will endure all year as they face two ranked opponents and two others with just one Big Ten loss. Since Minnesota has a bye week this week, let's take a look ahead at how the rest of the season could shake out for Jerry Kill's team.

http://www.foxsports.com/north/stor...-games-bowl-game-prospects-for-gophers-102814

Go Gophers!!

BleedGopher said:

per FSN:

After a surprising loss to Illinois on Saturday, plenty of Gophers fans are now acting as if the sky is falling. While it was no doubt a game Minnesota probably should have won, there are still four big games remaining in the Gophers' season. A strong end to the regular season can help Minnesota redeem itself after Saturday's stumble. But the remainder of the schedule is the toughest stretch the Gophers will endure all year as they face two ranked opponents and two others with just one Big Ten loss. Since Minnesota has a bye week this week, let's take a look ahead at how the rest of the season could shake out for Jerry Kill's team.

http://www.foxsports.com/north/stor...-games-bowl-game-prospects-for-gophers-102814

Go Gophers!!

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This guys references the rose bowl twice during his bowl projections? Is He paid to write? Unreal.

We need the Pig and Axe. Dropping an 11th and 3rd straight loss to our biggest rivals would be upsetting.

popeyoung5 said:

This guys references the rose bowl twice during his bowl projections? Is He paid to write? Unreal.

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I think the Rose Bowl is part of the playoffs this year too, so there was little chance of that happening.

Crazy things happen, but hard to see the Gophers winning any of these except Iowa - and that would take our game of the year and a balanced offense, with no turnovers.

Great Plains Gopher said:

Crazy things happen, but hard to see the Gophers winning any of these except Iowa - and that would take our game of the year and a balanced offense, with no turnovers.

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Iowa is not good. Blown out by Maryland, loss to ISU, down to the wire with a MAC team and UNI. A 3rd straight loss to them would be a major disappointment. It won't take the "game of the year" to beat them.

EG#9 said:

Iowa is not good. Blown out by Maryland, loss to ISU, down to the wire with a MAC team and UNI. A 3rd straight loss to them would be a major disappointment. It won't take the "game of the year" to beat them.

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After Illinois.....it just might take all that and more. Our team is getting worse with every passing week. We can't tackle, can't block, can't catch or throw.
Beat NW on a late KR, beat Purdont on a really long FG from a frosh. Yeah....were not exactly putting the 'lil sisters of the poor' away here. So, yes, were
gonna need that much to beat an Iowa team who's still playing for a lot, and playing a hated rival, us.

Gopher028 said:

After Illinois.....it just might take all that and more. Our team is getting worse with every passing week. We can't tackle, can't block, can't catch or throw.
Beat NW on a late KR, beat Purdont on a really long FG from a frosh. Yeah....were not exactly putting the 'lil sisters of the poor' away here. So, yes, were
gonna need that much to beat an Iowa team who's still playing for a lot, and playing a hated rival, us.

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I don't agree that the team was getting worse every game since the Michigan game. Michigan was terrible when we played them and they have been pretty bad through most of the year. Their offense makes ours look really good. I think the game with Northwestern was much closer because Northwestern was a much better team and probably about as good as Minnesota. Northwestern was coming off a dominating win at State College and a victory over Wisconsin. Their record isn't as good, but they've played a tougher schedule than either Minnesota or Iowa.

The defense has deteriorated in the last two games for sure although it did recover to its older form against Illinois after those first two drives. As far as Leidner, he had some real issues against Illinois but after 3 straight decent-to-good Big Ten games, he was probably due for a poor one. He also wasn't completely incompetent against Illinois.

Minnesota will need to play better against Iowa than it did against Purdue and Illinois, particularly on defense, but I just don't think there is a big difference in quality between Iowa, Minnesota, and Northwestern.

EG#9 said:

Iowa is not good. Blown out by Maryland, loss to ISU, down to the wire with a MAC team and UNI. A 3rd straight loss to them would be a major disappointment. It won't take the "game of the year" to beat them.

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Pretty much agree and their fans would be the first to tell you that they aren't very good. The trouble is, as we've discovered, we don't seem to be all that good either. I expect the game to be a tight one but one where we can prevail.

We have enough big-play potential on our defense that anything can happen even against Ohio State.