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From Collegefootballnews.com
It's pretty long, and goes into some depth, but I figure I'd paste it all, for those who don't want to click. For those who do, here's the link:
https://collegefootballnews.com/2018/05/minnesota-golden-gophers-college-football-preview-2018
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Patience isn’t something necessarily associated with P.J. Fleck.
The 37-year-old has the energy of a kid a Fortnite binge after pounding a venti espresso and four bowls of Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs – it’s not in him to think about anything more than trying to win RIGHT NOW.
But Minnesota needed to do something different to finally go for it.
Oh sure, the Jerry Kill era was solid. The teams were sound, they went to bowl games, and the 2016 version was in the mix for the Big Ten West crown up until the final weekend.
But now Nebraska is about to be a thing again under Scott Frost. Iowa and Northwestern are always good, Purdue has found something in Jeff Brohm, and Wisconsin is coming into the season as a legitimate top five team. The Gophers needed to find more pizzazz, and most of all, talent.
It’s not like Fleck is beating Ohio State and Penn State for players, but he came up with a nice recruiting class to set the tone, and the youth is going to have to play a big role this season.
But Western Michigan wasn’t built in a day, and Minnesota will take a little while, too. Remember, it took four years for him to go from a 1-11 first year to 13-1, but he went 8-5 in his second season at the helm.
And now, Minnesota has to be at least a win better and it has to go bowling.
It has to be able to score more than ten points again – after failing to push past that in four of the last five games – and has to be better than 1-3 in games decided by seven points or fewer.
The defense will be solid. The depth is way too thin – a rash of injuries, especially at safety and defensive tackle, would be devastating – but it should get better and better as the season goes on. The pass rush needs to show up, and the interceptions have to come, but again, the D will be okay.
The ground game will be great with Rodney Smith leading the way behind an improve O line, and the passing game can’t be any worse. Once the quarterback situation is settled, and a No. 2 receiver emerges to help out Tyler Johnson, this will all start to take shape.
Fleck is going to make this fun.
There are themes. There’s energy. There’s a whole lot of fire.
But none of it matters unless the wins come. And they will – in a little bit of time.
What You Need To Know About The Minnesota Offense
– The Gopher offense needs a passing game. Minnesota finished 121st in the nation averaging just 126 yards per game, there weren’t enough key plays made on third downs, and there was next to nothing happening down the field for long stretches.
Offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca knows how to get a passing attack going – he did just fine as P.J. Fleck’s guy at Western Michigan – but he needs the parts. First, he needs to find his quarterback.
– It’s going to be a fight for the starting quarterback gig right up until the opener. With Demry Croft leaving the program, and no veteran options in the hunt, the hope was for JUCO transfer Vic Viramontes to rise up and be ready to be the main man.
But he struggled too much this offseason, allowing freshman Zack Annexstad to rise up and occasionally look the part. But redshirt freshman Tanner Morgan should be the steadiest passer, and would be the safest choice if the season starts now. One has to emerge, and a second receiver has to rise up.
Tyler Johnson turned into one of the Big Ten’s better receivers, but he was it. He caught 35 passes for 677 yards and seven scores before getting hurt, but the No. 2 wideout only made 11 grabs.
– The running game will carry the offense – again. Rodney Smith has been an underappreciated steady force for an offense that hasn’t had a whole lot else over the last few years. And now he might have his best line yet to run behind.
Donnell Greene is a rock at left tackle, and there’s enough versatility to play around with the interior. If JUCO transfer Jason Dickson can look the part at right tackle when he hits campus and Sam Schlueter can be tried out at other spots, all of a sudden, the Gopher line that returns three starters should be a force.
Biggest Key To The Minnesota Offense
Complete a forward pass. Again, Demry Croft is gone, Conor Rhoda has graduated, and Seth Green is moving to tight end. Those three new quarterback options are still battling it out for the job, with the main task to simply be to start hitting a few passes.
The Gopher offense will still rely on the running game, but there has to be something happening on a consistent basis through the air. Minnesota was dead last in the Big Ten and 124th in the nation in completion percentage, connecting on just 47% of its passes with nine touchdowns and 11 picks. That can’t – and won’t – happen again.
What You Need To Know About The Minnesota Defense
– The Gopher defense wasn’t great, but it was good enough. No one was asking for the Minnesota D to be Alabama’s, but it managed to do an okay job against the run and kept games alive – the offense didn’t help. This year, there’s hope for a far stronger defense to help carry even more of the weight.
The back seven has the potential to be terrific, with the linebacking combination of Thomas Barber and Kamal Martin about to rise up and be among the Big Ten’s best. Jonathan Celestin is gone after putting together a solid career, but Blake Cashman is about to be a stat-sheet filler on the outside.
– The expected healthy return of safety Antoine Winfield will be a big, big help. The secondary wasn’t awful, but it failed to come up with enough big plays, with no interceptions over the final four games and just eight on the season. Jacob Huff and Winfield combine for a whale of a 1-2 safety punch, but other options have to emerge in a big hurry – the depth is lacking.
Florida transfer Chris Williamson will boost up an already decent corner situation, with Antonio Shenault returning on one side, and with a few nice young options ready to rotate in on the other.
– The defensive tackle situation is the biggest question mark after losing Steven Richardson and Merrick Jackson – the Gophers are going to need another year or so to build up the position. There’s just enough of a pass rush coming from the other spots to get by – helped by the emergence hybrid outside linebacker/end Carter Coughlin – but the run D has to hold up in the interior with a good rotation.
Biggest Key To The Minnesota Defense
Don’t get pounded on. This isn’t the biggest of defensive front sevens, and again, the tackles are going to be a massive early concern until the right rotation is found. With an offense that’s not going to put up points in bunches, that front wall has to avoid giving up long drives and lots of rushing yards – Minnesota has to control the clock.
The Gophers allowed 200 rushing yards or more in five games last season – and went 0-5. As a program, Minnesota is 0-13 in its last 13 games when allowing two bills or more, going back to the shootout win over Purdue in the middle of 2014.
Best Minnesota Offensive Player
RB Rodney Smith, Sr.
There hasn’t been a whole lot of spectacular moments in Smith’s career, but he’s grown into a very, very nice back over the last three seasons. He only has a career average of 4.5 yards per carry, but he ran for 16 scores two years ago – three last year – and has been a steadying force for an offense that hasn’t had a passing game to take the heat off.
At 5-11 and 210 pounds, he’s built to be a workhorse, has excellent hands – with 56 career catches – and is ultra-reliable when he gets the work. Minnesota is 9-1 – 3-0 last year – when he runs for 100 yards.
2. WR Tyler Johnson, Jr.
3. OT Donnell Greene, Sr.
4. RB Shannon Brooks, Sr.
5. PK Emmit Carpenter, Sr.
Best Minnesota Defensive Player
LB Thomas Barber, Jr.
Carter Coughlin is the team’s leading all-around playmaker – doing a great job of getting behind the line as a hybrid end and linebacker – but it’s Barber who’s the tone-setter for the defense. The 6-1, 233-pounder led the way with 115 stops with 1.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss and a pick.
The son of former Gopher star running back Marion Barber – and brother of former back Marion Barber III – he moves well, is always around the ball, and he hits everything with the toughness to bring the big pop.
2. DE Carter Coughlin, Jr.
3. S Jacob Huff, Sr.
4. S Antoine Winfield, Jr.
5. LB Kamal Martin, Jr.
Key Player To A Successful Season
QB Tanner Morgan, RFr.
Or Vic Viramontes, or Zack Annexstad. It’s been a long, long time since Minnesota had a dangerous passing game, with Mitch Leidner coming with a few good seasons, and Adam Weber having his moments. The program needs a quarterback it can rely on, but after last year, mere consistent competence would be nice.
More defensive tackle help is a must, a second wide receiver is needed, and the depth has to continue to grow everywhere. But unless Morgan, or Viramontes, or Annexstad can rise up and be a true Big Ten starting quarterback to work around, it’ll be another mediocre season.
Key Game To The Minnesota Season
at Maryland, Sept. 22
These are two programs in roughly the same spot. They each have dynamic, rising-star head coaches. They’re both trying to break through after years of mediocrity, and they’re both looking at 2018 as a potentially big season when everything starts to click.
The Gophers lost at home to the Terps in a fun 31-24 battle last season – the running game didn’t work – and now they need to return the favor to get out to a hot start.
Beating Fresno State won’t be easy, but Minnesota should be 3-0 to start the season, and has a week off to prepare for the home date with Iowa. Beat Maryland, start 4-0, and with Illinois still on the slate along with winnable home games against the Hawkeyes, Indiana, Purdue and Northwestern, an eight-win season is more than possible.
2017 Minnesota Fun Stats
– 4th Down Conversions: Minnesota 10-of-13 (77%) – Opponents 7-of-17 (38%)
– Penalties: Opponents 64 for 640 yards – Minnesota 39 for 340 yards
– Minnesota 3rd Quarter Scoring: 41 – Minnesota 2nd Quarter Scoring: 96
Minnesota Prediction: What’s Going To Happen
The Gophers will be better.
Last year’s team should’ve been good enough to go bowling, but the lack of a consistent passing game, and a power outage late in the year led to a rough first season under P.J. Fleck.
The passing attack can’t and won’t be worse, the running game will be solid enough, and while pushing for the Big Ten West is a bit much for a team with so many holes and so many concerns, this is when the turn starts to happen.
Other than road trips to Ohio State and Wisconsin, there aren’t any Forget About It games the Gophers can’t/shouldn’t win. There will be a few too many 50/50 games that will go the other way, but there’s no reason not to go bowling.
Guessing The Preseason Regular Season Win Total Will Be Set At … 6.5
There will be a few too many concerns about getting by Maryland and Nebraska on the road – along with the dates in Columbus and Madison. At best, figure the Gophers top out at eight wins – with an upset somewhere along the way, for good and bad.
Seven is the more realistic goal to shoot for, but this is still a stepping-stone season. As long as the Gophers go bowling, it’ll be a good year.
It's pretty long, and goes into some depth, but I figure I'd paste it all, for those who don't want to click. For those who do, here's the link:
https://collegefootballnews.com/2018/05/minnesota-golden-gophers-college-football-preview-2018
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Patience isn’t something necessarily associated with P.J. Fleck.
The 37-year-old has the energy of a kid a Fortnite binge after pounding a venti espresso and four bowls of Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs – it’s not in him to think about anything more than trying to win RIGHT NOW.
But Minnesota needed to do something different to finally go for it.
Oh sure, the Jerry Kill era was solid. The teams were sound, they went to bowl games, and the 2016 version was in the mix for the Big Ten West crown up until the final weekend.
But now Nebraska is about to be a thing again under Scott Frost. Iowa and Northwestern are always good, Purdue has found something in Jeff Brohm, and Wisconsin is coming into the season as a legitimate top five team. The Gophers needed to find more pizzazz, and most of all, talent.
It’s not like Fleck is beating Ohio State and Penn State for players, but he came up with a nice recruiting class to set the tone, and the youth is going to have to play a big role this season.
But Western Michigan wasn’t built in a day, and Minnesota will take a little while, too. Remember, it took four years for him to go from a 1-11 first year to 13-1, but he went 8-5 in his second season at the helm.
And now, Minnesota has to be at least a win better and it has to go bowling.
It has to be able to score more than ten points again – after failing to push past that in four of the last five games – and has to be better than 1-3 in games decided by seven points or fewer.
The defense will be solid. The depth is way too thin – a rash of injuries, especially at safety and defensive tackle, would be devastating – but it should get better and better as the season goes on. The pass rush needs to show up, and the interceptions have to come, but again, the D will be okay.
The ground game will be great with Rodney Smith leading the way behind an improve O line, and the passing game can’t be any worse. Once the quarterback situation is settled, and a No. 2 receiver emerges to help out Tyler Johnson, this will all start to take shape.
Fleck is going to make this fun.
There are themes. There’s energy. There’s a whole lot of fire.
But none of it matters unless the wins come. And they will – in a little bit of time.
What You Need To Know About The Minnesota Offense
– The Gopher offense needs a passing game. Minnesota finished 121st in the nation averaging just 126 yards per game, there weren’t enough key plays made on third downs, and there was next to nothing happening down the field for long stretches.
Offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca knows how to get a passing attack going – he did just fine as P.J. Fleck’s guy at Western Michigan – but he needs the parts. First, he needs to find his quarterback.
– It’s going to be a fight for the starting quarterback gig right up until the opener. With Demry Croft leaving the program, and no veteran options in the hunt, the hope was for JUCO transfer Vic Viramontes to rise up and be ready to be the main man.
But he struggled too much this offseason, allowing freshman Zack Annexstad to rise up and occasionally look the part. But redshirt freshman Tanner Morgan should be the steadiest passer, and would be the safest choice if the season starts now. One has to emerge, and a second receiver has to rise up.
Tyler Johnson turned into one of the Big Ten’s better receivers, but he was it. He caught 35 passes for 677 yards and seven scores before getting hurt, but the No. 2 wideout only made 11 grabs.
– The running game will carry the offense – again. Rodney Smith has been an underappreciated steady force for an offense that hasn’t had a whole lot else over the last few years. And now he might have his best line yet to run behind.
Donnell Greene is a rock at left tackle, and there’s enough versatility to play around with the interior. If JUCO transfer Jason Dickson can look the part at right tackle when he hits campus and Sam Schlueter can be tried out at other spots, all of a sudden, the Gopher line that returns three starters should be a force.
Biggest Key To The Minnesota Offense
Complete a forward pass. Again, Demry Croft is gone, Conor Rhoda has graduated, and Seth Green is moving to tight end. Those three new quarterback options are still battling it out for the job, with the main task to simply be to start hitting a few passes.
The Gopher offense will still rely on the running game, but there has to be something happening on a consistent basis through the air. Minnesota was dead last in the Big Ten and 124th in the nation in completion percentage, connecting on just 47% of its passes with nine touchdowns and 11 picks. That can’t – and won’t – happen again.
What You Need To Know About The Minnesota Defense
– The Gopher defense wasn’t great, but it was good enough. No one was asking for the Minnesota D to be Alabama’s, but it managed to do an okay job against the run and kept games alive – the offense didn’t help. This year, there’s hope for a far stronger defense to help carry even more of the weight.
The back seven has the potential to be terrific, with the linebacking combination of Thomas Barber and Kamal Martin about to rise up and be among the Big Ten’s best. Jonathan Celestin is gone after putting together a solid career, but Blake Cashman is about to be a stat-sheet filler on the outside.
– The expected healthy return of safety Antoine Winfield will be a big, big help. The secondary wasn’t awful, but it failed to come up with enough big plays, with no interceptions over the final four games and just eight on the season. Jacob Huff and Winfield combine for a whale of a 1-2 safety punch, but other options have to emerge in a big hurry – the depth is lacking.
Florida transfer Chris Williamson will boost up an already decent corner situation, with Antonio Shenault returning on one side, and with a few nice young options ready to rotate in on the other.
– The defensive tackle situation is the biggest question mark after losing Steven Richardson and Merrick Jackson – the Gophers are going to need another year or so to build up the position. There’s just enough of a pass rush coming from the other spots to get by – helped by the emergence hybrid outside linebacker/end Carter Coughlin – but the run D has to hold up in the interior with a good rotation.
Biggest Key To The Minnesota Defense
Don’t get pounded on. This isn’t the biggest of defensive front sevens, and again, the tackles are going to be a massive early concern until the right rotation is found. With an offense that’s not going to put up points in bunches, that front wall has to avoid giving up long drives and lots of rushing yards – Minnesota has to control the clock.
The Gophers allowed 200 rushing yards or more in five games last season – and went 0-5. As a program, Minnesota is 0-13 in its last 13 games when allowing two bills or more, going back to the shootout win over Purdue in the middle of 2014.
Best Minnesota Offensive Player
RB Rodney Smith, Sr.
There hasn’t been a whole lot of spectacular moments in Smith’s career, but he’s grown into a very, very nice back over the last three seasons. He only has a career average of 4.5 yards per carry, but he ran for 16 scores two years ago – three last year – and has been a steadying force for an offense that hasn’t had a passing game to take the heat off.
At 5-11 and 210 pounds, he’s built to be a workhorse, has excellent hands – with 56 career catches – and is ultra-reliable when he gets the work. Minnesota is 9-1 – 3-0 last year – when he runs for 100 yards.
2. WR Tyler Johnson, Jr.
3. OT Donnell Greene, Sr.
4. RB Shannon Brooks, Sr.
5. PK Emmit Carpenter, Sr.
Best Minnesota Defensive Player
LB Thomas Barber, Jr.
Carter Coughlin is the team’s leading all-around playmaker – doing a great job of getting behind the line as a hybrid end and linebacker – but it’s Barber who’s the tone-setter for the defense. The 6-1, 233-pounder led the way with 115 stops with 1.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss and a pick.
The son of former Gopher star running back Marion Barber – and brother of former back Marion Barber III – he moves well, is always around the ball, and he hits everything with the toughness to bring the big pop.
2. DE Carter Coughlin, Jr.
3. S Jacob Huff, Sr.
4. S Antoine Winfield, Jr.
5. LB Kamal Martin, Jr.
Key Player To A Successful Season
QB Tanner Morgan, RFr.
Or Vic Viramontes, or Zack Annexstad. It’s been a long, long time since Minnesota had a dangerous passing game, with Mitch Leidner coming with a few good seasons, and Adam Weber having his moments. The program needs a quarterback it can rely on, but after last year, mere consistent competence would be nice.
More defensive tackle help is a must, a second wide receiver is needed, and the depth has to continue to grow everywhere. But unless Morgan, or Viramontes, or Annexstad can rise up and be a true Big Ten starting quarterback to work around, it’ll be another mediocre season.
Key Game To The Minnesota Season
at Maryland, Sept. 22
These are two programs in roughly the same spot. They each have dynamic, rising-star head coaches. They’re both trying to break through after years of mediocrity, and they’re both looking at 2018 as a potentially big season when everything starts to click.
The Gophers lost at home to the Terps in a fun 31-24 battle last season – the running game didn’t work – and now they need to return the favor to get out to a hot start.
Beating Fresno State won’t be easy, but Minnesota should be 3-0 to start the season, and has a week off to prepare for the home date with Iowa. Beat Maryland, start 4-0, and with Illinois still on the slate along with winnable home games against the Hawkeyes, Indiana, Purdue and Northwestern, an eight-win season is more than possible.
2017 Minnesota Fun Stats
– 4th Down Conversions: Minnesota 10-of-13 (77%) – Opponents 7-of-17 (38%)
– Penalties: Opponents 64 for 640 yards – Minnesota 39 for 340 yards
– Minnesota 3rd Quarter Scoring: 41 – Minnesota 2nd Quarter Scoring: 96
Minnesota Prediction: What’s Going To Happen
The Gophers will be better.
Last year’s team should’ve been good enough to go bowling, but the lack of a consistent passing game, and a power outage late in the year led to a rough first season under P.J. Fleck.
The passing attack can’t and won’t be worse, the running game will be solid enough, and while pushing for the Big Ten West is a bit much for a team with so many holes and so many concerns, this is when the turn starts to happen.
Other than road trips to Ohio State and Wisconsin, there aren’t any Forget About It games the Gophers can’t/shouldn’t win. There will be a few too many 50/50 games that will go the other way, but there’s no reason not to go bowling.
Guessing The Preseason Regular Season Win Total Will Be Set At … 6.5
There will be a few too many concerns about getting by Maryland and Nebraska on the road – along with the dates in Columbus and Madison. At best, figure the Gophers top out at eight wins – with an upset somewhere along the way, for good and bad.
Seven is the more realistic goal to shoot for, but this is still a stepping-stone season. As long as the Gophers go bowling, it’ll be a good year.
