Week 1 Media Predictions: TCU at Minnesota

BleedGopher

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 11, 2008
Messages
60,588
Reaction score
15,671
Points
113
I saw Unregistered User put this Dallas Morning News prediction in a different thread, but I figured we'd have it as the first of the weekly "media predictions" threads we do each game throughout the season, and add more as the game approaches and more predictions come out.

Per the Dallas Morning News:

TCU at Minnesota

Kickoff: 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3

Location: TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn.

Last meeting: TCU 30, Minnesota 7 on Sept. 13, 2014 in Fort Worth

Breakdown: Last year's matchup was never really a fair contest as the Horned Frogs unleashed some of their new offense's potential against the Golden Gophers. This time around, Minnesota will have a much better idea of what to expect from the Frogs with a full year of film to study instead of one week against an FCS school. A layer of intrigue comes with this battle as the head coaches, Gary Paterson and Jerry Kill, have been friends for decades. Minnesota lost its best offensive player from last year in David Cobb, but quarterback Mitch Leidner showed improvement by the end of the season.

Key player: TCU WR Deante' Gray (pictured above). Against Minnesota, TCU faces what may be the best pair of cornerbacks in the Big Ten in Briean Boddy-Calhoun and Eric Murray. Most of their attention should be focused on top receivers Josh Doctson and Kolby Listenbee, likely giving Gray a speed advantage no matter who he matches with. Gray may be able to use his jets to put on a show on opening night.

Prediction: A night game in a hostile environment can be a tough way to start the season, but Gary Patterson will have his defense prepared while the offense picks up where it left off against Ole Miss. TCU 41, Minnesota 13.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/co...-irish-aggies-or-sun-devils-an-early-look.ece

Go Gophers!!
 

so his logic is that it was unfair last year due to the TCU offensive explosion of 31 points and this year with more time to prepare for said new offense we play better and give up 41?
 

per Frogs O War:

Different Year, Same Result?

With the questions Minnesota has on offense, it wouldn't be surprising to see TCU beat Minnesota in similar fashion to 2014. However, TCU struggled on the road in 2014, scoring fewer points than at home (45.4 ppg vs. 47.8), and allowing more points to opposing teams on the road (26.2 ppg vs. 16.1). With a defense that will be breaking in six new starters, if Minnesota can take advantage early things could get interesting.

I personally don't see it being a large margin of victory for TCU, but I do see TCU winning.

http://www.frogsowar.com/2015/6/30/8868445/previewing-tcu-2015-opponents-minnesota-golden-gophers

Go Gophers!!
 

ESPN Big 12 Blog: Predicting the 2015 season: Week 1

TCU 41, Minnesota 21: The Gophers no longer have David Cobb or Maxx Williams, but do have enough talent to give the Horned Frogs a challenge. Unfortunately, we never find out because Trevone Boykin gets rolling with a rapid 21-0 start. Boykin surpasses 400 total yards to properly kick off his Heisman campaign.

http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id/100680/predicting-the-2015-season-week-1
 

so little faith in the Gophers can only help get these guys ready

The same as last year means we will turn the ball over 5 times? not going to happen again this year

Having Boinkins on a roll might be two Pick six's before the first Q is done

this has all the making to a break out game for the gophers lets hope Kill has them ready without too many injuries in the Fall
 


Dallas Morning News = homer = lack of respect = about to learn about Minnesota.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

I love it. Let them disrespect us.
 

It's not going to be much of an upset if everybody picks us to keep it close. We were really good last year and still got whupped, what else could we expect?
 




This is why I LOVE predictions and always being the underdog...I see a close game and the outcome WILL be determined by turnovers (whoever turns over less wins)....you heard it here first folks!
 

I think TCU takes this but narrowly. We are a different team this year and I thought we played with them last year if not for turnovers and a very, very poor special teams effort.
 

Turn the ball over similar to last year, those score predictions will probably be right on.

Don't turn the ball over.....the Gophers have a chance.
 

This tweet was posted in another thread, but figured this published book is "media" so thought I'd throw it in the prediction thread as well:

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Go Gophers!!
 



Honest question for all of you that think we are going to win this game or lose a really close one....do you honestly see us as a National Title Contender? Because if you truly believe we are just as good as TCU then that is what we are because they absolutely are given what they are bringing back from that squad last year.

I'm all for being a homer and believing in your team but we are not on the same level as these guys at this point. For us to win the game, everything would have to break right for us...turnovers, penalties....My hope for this game is that we can at least look competitive against them and not get blown out of the stadium. If we do that in my book there is no shame in losing to a top 3 team at this point.

When the National media predicts TCU to win this game they are not disrespecting us, on the contrary most of the comments show a lot of respect for us but they also point to the reality that while we are trending in the right direction we are not on the same level as TCU right now, we just aren't.
 

Honest question for all of you that think we are going to win this game or lose a really close one....do you honestly see us as a National Title Contender? Because if you truly believe we are just as good as TCU then that is what we are because they absolutely are given what they are bringing back from that squad last year.

I'm all for being a homer and believing in your team but we are not on the same level as these guys at this point. For us to win the game, everything would have to break right for us...turnovers, penalties....My hope for this game is that we can at least look competitive against them and not get blown out of the stadium. If we do that in my book there is no shame in losing to a top 3 team at this point.

When the National media predicts TCU to win this game they are not disrespecting us, on the contrary most of the comments show a lot of respect for us but they also point to the reality that while we are trending in the right direction we are not on the same level as TCU right now, we just aren't.

I agree, though do think there's a greater-than-zero chance we keep it closer than the experts think, given some of the unknowns every team has heading into the first game of the season. We kept it close to the national champs last season - helped by weather of course, and I will concede that at one point in the game it really wasn't all that close - but the final score was still 31-24.

Keep it close and there's always a chance we pull it off. A small chance IMO but a chance nonetheless.
 

Lots of new starters at offensive skill positions. Not turning the ball over against TCUs defense with a bunch of new guys playing is not a slam dunk. We also can not just play super conservative football and move the ball on these guys, so ball security will be a challenge.
 

My biggest priblem with the predictions is that, TCU can plug in eight new starters on defense with the same result, yet we're going to have problems on offense due to who we lost? To a degree we got bushwacked last year because TCU had an FCS team and then a week off. That will not happen this year, they are largely the same on offense and we have a year of video to analyse, we got surprised by their speed on defense, but handled OSU's speed later in the year.
 

Honest question for all of you that think we are going to win this game or lose a really close one....do you honestly see us as a National Title Contender? Because if you truly believe we are just as good as TCU then that is what we are because they absolutely are given what they are bringing back from that squad last year.

I'm all for being a homer and believing in your team but we are not on the same level as these guys at this point. For us to win the game, everything would have to break right for us...turnovers, penalties....My hope for this game is that we can at least look competitive against them and not get blown out of the stadium. If we do that in my book there is no shame in losing to a top 3 team at this point.

When the National media predicts TCU to win this game they are not disrespecting us, on the contrary most of the comments show a lot of respect for us but they also point to the reality that while we are trending in the right direction we are not on the same level as TCU right now, we just aren't.

I certainly don't take predictions that seriously, especially preseason ones. They are often wrong for so many reasons. If you don't believe me just check out the top 50 predictions last year before the start of the season and then see where they actually finished at the end of the season. Who knows, they could be as wrong about TCU this year as they were last year. So I wouldn't write-off the Gophers quite yet. Football is an emotional game and the balls take funny bounces. That is why it is such a great game!
 

My biggest priblem with the predictions is that, TCU can plug in eight new starters on defense with the same result, yet we're going to have problems on offense due to who we lost? To a degree we got bushwacked last year because TCU had an FCS team and then a week off. That will not happen this year, they are largely the same on offense and we have a year of video to analyse, we got surprised by their speed on defense, but handled OSU's speed later in the year.

Let's be honest. TCU was a lot better than us last year. The entire year of work showed that. I think the score was closer because it was the first game. Had we played TCU the last game of the year with a final four shot on the line, it wouldn't have been as close. That's my opinion anyway. And it doesn't change our chances to win this year. We're at home, we have an extremely experienced defense and an offense that TCU will have a hard time preparing for. Do we go big with Nugget or speedy with Berkley? Do we throw more than 25 passes in the game to wide receivers and watch Mitch hit 300 yards for the first time in his career? TCU wouldn't expect that. Do we need a 55 yarder from Santoso as time expires to send it to OT? So many possibilities that will make it a great game to watch.
 

Honest question for all of you that think we are going to win this game or lose a really close one....do you honestly see us as a National Title Contender? Because if you truly believe we are just as good as TCU then that is what we are because they absolutely are given what they are bringing back from that squad last year.

I'm all for being a homer and believing in your team but we are not on the same level as these guys at this point. For us to win the game, everything would have to break right for us...turnovers, penalties....My hope for this game is that we can at least look competitive against them and not get blown out of the stadium. If we do that in my book there is no shame in losing to a top 3 team at this point.

When the National media predicts TCU to win this game they are not disrespecting us, on the contrary most of the comments show a lot of respect for us but they also point to the reality that while we are trending in the right direction we are not on the same level as TCU right now, we just aren't.

Title contenders are known to lay eggs. Ask last national champ. Raucous crowd (hopefully), first game jitters, and a break or two or TCU being off is all it takes. They might run the table after that and get into the title discussion. Just beating a TCU or OSU doesn't mean you have to be on their level every game for the season, just on the night you play them
 

Title contenders are known to lay eggs. Ask last national champ. Raucous crowd (hopefully), first game jitters, and a break or two or TCU being off is all it takes. They might run the table after that and get into the title discussion. Just beating a TCU or OSU doesn't mean you have to be on their level every game for the season, just on the night you play them

I totally agree with this sort of take on a scenario where we could come out on top. My issue is with those that almost seem offended that the National Pundits aren't viewing us as an equal to TCU and are picking them to win the game. The OSU game last year is a prime example of what you are talking about.

We absolutely could win this game but it will take everything working in our favor to get it done. They look like a legit contender with a heisman trophy candidate running their offense. Someone above posted that TCU may have a tough time preparing for our offense, that made me chuckle a little....they may have a little trouble being totally prepared for specific matchups and personnel but in terms of preparing for our offense I have no doubt in my mind that they will stack the box and dare Mitch to beat them through the air. Based on everything they have seen on us they would be foolish not to.
 

Honest question for all of you that think we are going to win this game or lose a really close one....do you honestly see us as a National Title Contender? Because if you truly believe we are just as good as TCU then that is what we are because they absolutely are given what they are bringing back from that squad last year.

I'm all for being a homer and believing in your team but we are not on the same level as these guys at this point. For us to win the game, everything would have to break right for us...turnovers, penalties....My hope for this game is that we can at least look competitive against them and not get blown out of the stadium. If we do that in my book there is no shame in losing to a top 3 team at this point.

When the National media predicts TCU to win this game they are not disrespecting us, on the contrary most of the comments show a lot of respect for us but they also point to the reality that while we are trending in the right direction we are not on the same level as TCU right now, we just aren't.

The strange thing is how teams never beat other teams that are better than them.
 

My biggest priblem with the predictions is that, TCU can plug in eight new starters on defense with the same result, yet we're going to have problems on offense due to who we lost? To a degree we got bushwacked last year because TCU had an FCS team and then a week off. That will not happen this year, they are largely the same on offense and we have a year of video to analyse, we got surprised by their speed on defense, but handled OSU's speed later in the year.
And inspite of our turnovers and the bye week TCU had the element of surprise as they had a new offense and were pretty vanilla in their first contest they had their lowest scoring output of the year vs us
 

One advantage we've got is that we're practicing in August weather in Minnesota -- they're practicing in August weather in Texas. You can't go as hard or as long in that kind of heat.
 

Living in Texas amongst the Horned Toad fans, I would get as much satisfaction from a Gopher victory as anyone. TCU is tough to read, they can put 3 touchdowns on anyone in any given quarter of football, but they also had a few tough games last year to certainly lesser opponents. We are all thinking upset here, but we might need to consider and be ready for a blowout of the Gophers where TCU wins 49-10. I sure as hell hope not, but there is the off chance we have a long night on the 3rd.
 

41 points given up by this defense?!? Earth to Dallas...this ain't no BIG 12 defense. TCU was gift wrapped 21 points in last years turnover debacle. When TCU started in Gophers territory our D more than held its own.
I'm seeing this game much closer than last year. Our defense will be better, Oline, Qb will be better. Running game won't miss a beat. We will miss Maxx but will have a more diverse weaponry at the skill positions.

Way too early prediction: TCU 24 MN 17
 

Honest question for all of you that think we are going to win this game or lose a really close one....do you honestly see us as a National Title Contender? Because if you truly believe we are just as good as TCU then that is what we are because they absolutely are given what they are bringing back from that squad last year.

I'm all for being a homer and believing in your team but we are not on the same level as these guys at this point. For us to win the game, everything would have to break right for us...turnovers, penalties....My hope for this game is that we can at least look competitive against them and not get blown out of the stadium. If we do that in my book there is no shame in losing to a top 3 team at this point.

When the National media predicts TCU to win this game they are not disrespecting us, on the contrary most of the comments show a lot of respect for us but they also point to the reality that while we are trending in the right direction we are not on the same level as TCU right now, we just aren't.

Playing a team in the opener at night at home, when we've now seen their offense for a year, and they haven't seen our newish offense gives us an advantage we didn't have last time. we were excellent at home last season except Purdue. We could conceivably win this game and drop games against say northwestern and ohio state (we're beating the badgers) and not be a national title contender. There are lots of 2 and 3 loss teams capable of beating a top 5 team in a night game at home, and for an opener? Did you forget last year's national champion? Remind me who they lost to and if that team was a national title contender?
We aren't good enough to win every game, but we're good enough to win any game.
 

One advantage we've got is that we're practicing in August weather in Minnesota -- they're practicing in August weather in Texas. You can't go as hard or as long in that kind of heat.

Yes, but what of the humidity?
 

The schedule is going to have us at 0-1 this year...just don't get embarrassed and we'll be poised for a great year. This game never should have been scheduled.
 

Let's just assume Minnesota loses to both TCU and Ohio State (I know it's a stretch), which team defeats us by more points?
 




Top Bottom