Quick thoughts on future opponents after week 1

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Pompous Elitist said:
The guys look really athletic. Whether that translates into winning is a question mark but outside of maybe WR this is best looking team I can recall. Hard to predict anything at this time as the guys looked pretty rough in say, 2019. Some of our opponents could turn out to be better than we think, eg Northwestern, Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue.
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Yeah, will be interesting to see how teams evolve over the season. Not sure there is much mystery with Wisconsin, they are going to be about the same as always but still a lot to be determined with teams like Northwestern, Illinois, and Purdue for sure. Even MSU and PSU are tough to get a real read on based on just one game.

To me, the important part is that nobody looks unbeatable on our schedule. And I doubt that is going to change as the weeks go on. If I was going to make a prediction I would bet we won't be heavy favorites or heavy underdogs in any conference games this year.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Sorry but, the 2019 South Dakota State, Georgia Southern, and Fresno State teams would wipe the floor with the 2022 New Mexico State, Western Illinois, and Colorado teams.

Sorry, not sorry. :cool:
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lol....not really sure why you would need to apologize for that take :). Not sure many would argue with you either.
 

HoustonTXGopher said:
I watched the first of Colorado/TCU and thought the Buffs were greatly improved, looked faster on defense to me. Woke up the next morning to learn that TCU throttled them in the 2nd half. Colorado is a much better than than last year, Gophs should win though.
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Had you seen the second half you might have a very different take on Colorado. They statistically dominated the first half yet managed just 2 field goals. In the second half TCU adjusted and kicked the crap out of them. And this is not a great TCU team like they have had in the past. This was a 5-7 team last year with a new coaching staff.

Colorado may be slightly improved over last year but we should be pretty heavy favorites against them in a couple of weeks.
 

MNVCGUY said:
lol....not really sure why you would need to apologize for that take :). Not sure many would argue with you either.
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Out of curiosity I checked and those 2019 non-conference teams turned out to have 8-5, 7-6, 4-8 records, respectively.

Are NMSU, Colorado, and Western Illinois pretty bad/worse? Yep, probably/almost definitely . But in retrospect knowing the 2019 non-con opponent final records those nailbiter wins look a little worse in retrospect. Obviously the Gophers turned it on down the stretch and had a great year.
 


Pompous Elitist said:
Out of curiosity I checked and those 2019 non-conference teams turned out to have 8-5, 7-6, 4-8 records, respectively.

Are NMSU, Colorado, and Western Illinois pretty bad/worse? Yep, probably/almost definitely . But in retrospect knowing the 2019 non-con opponent final records those nailbiter wins look a little worse in retrospect. Obviously the Gophers turned it on down the stretch and had a great year.
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There are definitely some parallels between our 2019 season and Michigan State's 2021 season. In both cases the teams had great years and won lots of games but neither team really came across as super dominant either.
 

MNVCGUY said:
There are definitely some parallels between our 2019 season and Michigan State's 2021 season. In both cases the teams had great years and won lots of games but neither team really came across as super dominant either.
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You make a great point. If anything though MN maybe underachieved a little.

This year I have super high expectations but my head tells me there could be more issues at WR than we’d like to think right now. I hope I’m wrong and the guys step up. Defense, run game, and special teams can take us a long way/Iowa Wisconsin etc etc.
 


MNVCGUY said:
Had you seen the second half you might have a very different take on Colorado. They statistically dominated the first half yet managed just 2 field goals. In the second half TCU adjusted and kicked the crap out of them. And this is not a great TCU team like they have had in the past. This was a 5-7 team last year with a new coaching staff.

Colorado may be slightly improved over last year but we should be pretty heavy favorites against them in a couple of weeks.
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Colorado hired a certain somebody as their new OC. Based on that hire alone, I would easily conclude that they will not be improved on offense.
 



I give Purdue a little more credit, bad choices on the coaches but players keeping it that close to Penn St is more than I expected.
 

cjbfbp said:
Yes, it's serious. What's the point of trying to say that we could be undefeated if that's unlikely to happen? If that does happen, let it be a wonderful surprise. Take it game by game as the cliche goes.
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Because we’re fans. We have to barring on the outcome. This is a message board.
 

Ferentz has PJs number and they have some great, not good but great, players on defense. Wisconsin will also be tough, obviously. Penn St. will be pick em and my buddies and I will be a maroon island in a sea of white. Any of those three games could go either way — if we struggle against any other teams on the schedule I will be disappointed. I predict two losses and it will come down to a tiebreaker on who goes to B10 championship game.
 

We’ll definitely be 3-0 going into MSU’s week.

After watching Tucker and his team, wasn’t wowed. We should be able to dominate the line on Offense and score on their D. I feel good beating MSU at East Lansing.

If we lose, then we beat ourselves. MSU is not all that. We’ll be 4-0 going into Homecoming.

I’m more confident beating MSU at MSU than us getting a W with Purdue for Homecoming. Purdue had some weapons. Their QB is also another 6th year solid player.

I’m booking for 4-0 for sure for now.
 



MNVCGUY said:
Michigan State - I am just not a believer in MSU. Felt they were overrated last year and think they are this year as well. Was not impressed with what I saw from them in week 1. Should learn a lot about both us and them when we meet in week 4.
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I was pretty impressed with the highlights from that game, but I didn't see the full thing.

MSU's defensive front seemed to have a lot of very explosive plays and logged 11 TFL. There were also some pretty impressive grabs by the receivers including a one-hander on a corner fade.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
You make a great point. If anything though MN maybe underachieved a little.

This year I have super high expectations but my head tells me there could be more issues at WR than we’d like to think right now. I hope I’m wrong and the guys step up. Defense, run game, and special teams can take us a long way/Iowa Wisconsin etc etc.
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WR is going to cause issues, imo.
 

I was total Jackrabbits fan yesterday. Iowa's defense did look really good again and had a dominant defensive tackle (Hageman sized). It's also funny to say this, but Iowa's punter is one of their most important players. SDSU was buried in their own end most of the game.
 

WorkingMyTailOff said:
I was total Jackrabbits fan yesterday. Iowa's defense did look really good again and had a dominant defensive tackle (Hageman sized). It's also funny to say this, but Iowa's punter is one of their most important players. SDSU was buried in their own end most of the game.
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The way that game played out the punter (Aussie or New Zealander ?) was the Hogg MVP.
 

Gophers-MSU a vital game for both squads. Both got a pretty tough draw with 2 of 3 cross-divisional games vs. strong programs: Gophers vs. MSU & Penn State, Spartans vs. Gophers & Wisconsin. Never want to lose that Big Ten opener and get behind the 8-ball.

The team that gets the better QB play will win because I don’t see either team consistently shoving the ball down the throat of the other.
 

Saw today that Jacoby Windmon the recent transfer MSU linebacker that MN recruited had 7 tackle, 4 sacks, and forced fumble game 😳
 

SelectionSunday said:
Gophers-MSU a vital game for both squads. Both got a pretty tough draw with 2 of 3 cross-divisional games vs. strong programs: Gophers vs. MSU & Penn State, Spartans vs. Gophers & Wisconsin. Never want to lose that Big Ten opener and get behind the 8-ball.

The team that gets the better QB play will win because I don’t see either team consistently shoving the ball down the throat of the other.
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Having watched MSU western michigan I think if Rossi stays true to form we win. MSU scored when it took the top off the defense. Force them to beat us with sustained drives and if not I think we win. Additionally Western had two red zone turnovers and was able to move the ball on them. Lastly they lost a star LB for the season, though according to their fans it's a position of relative depth.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
You make a great point. If anything though MN maybe underachieved a little.

This year I have super high expectations but my head tells me there could be more issues at WR than we’d like to think right now. I hope I’m wrong and the guys step up. Defense, run game, and special teams can take us a long way/Iowa Wisconsin etc etc.
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Issues at WR as we talk coming up on week 2? Or issues if we lose Bell and or Wright?
 

noamfromm said:
Issues at WR as we talk coming up on week 2? Or issues if we lose Bell and or Wright?
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We need more out of both of those guys. At some point it has to stop being all about their talent and potential - they need to translate that into productivity.
 

noamfromm said:
Issues at WR as we talk coming up on week 2? Or issues if we lose Bell and or Wright?
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Have to think could be a problem versus better defenses, is all. Wright still seems to be a #3 or #4 option right now which is disappointing. Will he have a “coming out” game this year or continue as a spot player.
 

noamfromm said:
Having watched MSU western michigan I think if Rossi stays true to form we win. MSU scored when it took the top off the defense. Force them to beat us with sustained drives and if not I think we win. Additionally Western had two red zone turnovers and was able to move the ball on them. Lastly they lost a star LB for the season, though according to their fans it's a position of relative depth.
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Yep, Mel Tucker confirmed today starting LB Darius Snow is out for the season. MSU’s best safety (Henderson) also was hurt vs. WMU, but don’t know long-term status yet.
 

Just speed watched the MSU game. They did not impress.
 
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Pompous Elitist said:
Out of curiosity I checked and those 2019 non-conference teams turned out to have 8-5, 7-6, 4-8 records, respectively.

Are NMSU, Colorado, and Western Illinois pretty bad/worse? Yep, probably/almost definitely . But in retrospect knowing the 2019 non-con opponent final records those nailbiter wins look a little worse in retrospect. Obviously the Gophers turned it on down the stretch and had a great year.
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The record is the record. Those were three wins. They are even going to count the Iowa win last week without benefit of a TD.

On a side note, Ferentz was so perturbed he called a scrimmage Sunday morning with first team offense running all the snaps. Defense won 4-3.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Gophers-MSU a vital game for both squads. Both got a pretty tough draw with 2 of 3 cross-divisional games vs. strong programs: Gophers vs. MSU & Penn State, Spartans vs. Gophers & Wisconsin. Never want to lose that Big Ten opener and get behind the 8-ball.

The team that gets the better QB play will win because I don’t see either team consistently shoving the ball down the throat of the other.
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I think wr may be the issue for Mn. Morgan appears capable, not much above average at all but capable.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Yep, Mel Tucker confirmed today starting LB Darius Snow is out for the season. MSU’s best safety (Henderson) also was hurt vs. WMU, but don’t know long-term status yet.
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Bottom line on ESPN says Henderson "out indefinitely". So a decent chance he won't be available by the time we play.
 

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