Gold Rush
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Winning at Iowa will not be easy. I don't have to tell Gopher fans how tough it is to win down there or how many times we have gone there and lost over the last 30 years. This year we are 3 point dogs for a reason - the oddsmakers know this will be a tough game.
The Gophers are coming off an historic win vs. Penn St. a euphoric victory that found the team caught up in the national spotlight and they are the toast of the country after the big win. Having been a Gopher fan for a very long time I know traditionally we have not fared well after a big upset win over the years. The team has to come down from cloud 9 and play a team that is coming off a tough loss - at their place - and will give this team everything they have. They are very well coached and Coach Ferentz has my respect at doing an excellent job at finding other teams weaknesses and exploiting them. You can count on him utilizing his TE's just as Penn St. did to attack the Gopher defense and PJ Fleck had better be taking steps to correct these flaws.
The biggest challenge is coming down to Earth - this goes for any coach. Herb Brooks gets credit for one of the greatest coaching jobs of all time when his US Hockey team beat the Russians 4-3 at Lake Placid, but I always thought his coaching vs. Finland a couple days later for the gold medal win should get nearly equal acclaim. He had to take a team that had done what thought was impossible and knocked off a team that had drilled the NHL All-Stars with the entire country going absolutely crazy and go get his team back down to Earth vs. a talented Finnish team. The Gopher victory over Penn St. isn't nearly on the same scale as the US hockey team, but it is similar. Fleck has done a remarkable job of getting the team ready each week going into the game as 0-0 in the fill in the blank championship week and I like that. He gets how important it is to not let up and have a letdown. But this will be one of his biggest challenges as this was his biggest win and Gopher euphoria is at its height in possibly the last 50 years.
Iowa would like nothing more than to knock off unbeaten Minnesota at home and keep Floyd in Iowa. They will bring their very best and they are good enough to give the Gophers everything they want and maybe a little more. I like the Minnesota offense a lot more than Iowa's offense. Iowa lost to Michigan 10-3 and they lost to Penn St. 17-12 at home. I am not sure they can keep up with the Gophers offense which has shown to be much more explosive. I would not trade our WR's and QB combination for theirs and the running backs give a good balance if someone wants to cheat to defend the pass. We have done well both rushing or passing depending on the situation. In all these games the Gophers have had to really fight and PJ Fleck will have to keep the team grounded and ready to play. The day this team thinks they have got it made and don't need to outwork their opponent is the day they will lose. They are due for a letdown at some point but Fleck has had them ready each time.
I have made several predictions this year on the Gophers and I have been right most of the time. I said after the Georgia Southern game I thought the Gophers were poised to make a run if they could learn from their mistakes. I picked them each week (not that hard!) and one of the ones I thought was an easy one in that I thought the Gopher-Penn St. game TV ratings would be off the charts I got lit up for on another board. Strange. I am going to stick with the Gophers over Iowa here.
The Gophers have covered 6 straight Big Ten games which is amazing as the oddsmakers continually adjust their lines as teams continue to cover. There is no way I would bet against the Gophers as they have been on a major roll and are in uncharted waters. PJ Fleck has done a tremendous job of coaching this team and deserves the accolades and consideration for Big Ten and possibly National Coach of the Year. We shall see. This will be a tough game that should go down to the wire. I am taking the Gophers yet again.
Final score: Gophers: 27 Iowa : 24
The Gophers are coming off an historic win vs. Penn St. a euphoric victory that found the team caught up in the national spotlight and they are the toast of the country after the big win. Having been a Gopher fan for a very long time I know traditionally we have not fared well after a big upset win over the years. The team has to come down from cloud 9 and play a team that is coming off a tough loss - at their place - and will give this team everything they have. They are very well coached and Coach Ferentz has my respect at doing an excellent job at finding other teams weaknesses and exploiting them. You can count on him utilizing his TE's just as Penn St. did to attack the Gopher defense and PJ Fleck had better be taking steps to correct these flaws.
The biggest challenge is coming down to Earth - this goes for any coach. Herb Brooks gets credit for one of the greatest coaching jobs of all time when his US Hockey team beat the Russians 4-3 at Lake Placid, but I always thought his coaching vs. Finland a couple days later for the gold medal win should get nearly equal acclaim. He had to take a team that had done what thought was impossible and knocked off a team that had drilled the NHL All-Stars with the entire country going absolutely crazy and go get his team back down to Earth vs. a talented Finnish team. The Gopher victory over Penn St. isn't nearly on the same scale as the US hockey team, but it is similar. Fleck has done a remarkable job of getting the team ready each week going into the game as 0-0 in the fill in the blank championship week and I like that. He gets how important it is to not let up and have a letdown. But this will be one of his biggest challenges as this was his biggest win and Gopher euphoria is at its height in possibly the last 50 years.
Iowa would like nothing more than to knock off unbeaten Minnesota at home and keep Floyd in Iowa. They will bring their very best and they are good enough to give the Gophers everything they want and maybe a little more. I like the Minnesota offense a lot more than Iowa's offense. Iowa lost to Michigan 10-3 and they lost to Penn St. 17-12 at home. I am not sure they can keep up with the Gophers offense which has shown to be much more explosive. I would not trade our WR's and QB combination for theirs and the running backs give a good balance if someone wants to cheat to defend the pass. We have done well both rushing or passing depending on the situation. In all these games the Gophers have had to really fight and PJ Fleck will have to keep the team grounded and ready to play. The day this team thinks they have got it made and don't need to outwork their opponent is the day they will lose. They are due for a letdown at some point but Fleck has had them ready each time.
I have made several predictions this year on the Gophers and I have been right most of the time. I said after the Georgia Southern game I thought the Gophers were poised to make a run if they could learn from their mistakes. I picked them each week (not that hard!) and one of the ones I thought was an easy one in that I thought the Gopher-Penn St. game TV ratings would be off the charts I got lit up for on another board. Strange. I am going to stick with the Gophers over Iowa here.
The Gophers have covered 6 straight Big Ten games which is amazing as the oddsmakers continually adjust their lines as teams continue to cover. There is no way I would bet against the Gophers as they have been on a major roll and are in uncharted waters. PJ Fleck has done a tremendous job of coaching this team and deserves the accolades and consideration for Big Ten and possibly National Coach of the Year. We shall see. This will be a tough game that should go down to the wire. I am taking the Gophers yet again.
Final score: Gophers: 27 Iowa : 24
