Gold Rush
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- Nov 20, 2008
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This one has me concerned and I will be happy and relieved if we come out of it with a win. The Gophers need to pay attention and play this team just as if they were playing the best team in the country. You never take a Big Ten team for granted especially on the road, with the possible exception of Rutgers anyways. We have taken Northwestern for granted before -- and lost. And not just once, either.
- The Gophers have been shut out the last two times in Evanston. I look for the Wildcats to try to make this a low scoring game.
- The Wildcats still have a tough defense and can run the ball. If they force the Gophers into being a one dimensional (running) team they can stay with this team and make it a game they can win.
- The Wildcats may have found their RB and offensive spark - Maple Grove's Evan Hull rushed for 4 TD's and 220 yards last week.
- Pat Fitzgerald really wants this one. He is a smart coach and reports from Evanston are that he is making this their bowl game and would like nothing more than knocking off the top ten Gophers. On his press conference, he praised the OC, the DC, and the QB. He did not mention PJ Fleck at all and I am hearing he can't stand him. Usually, he is tripping over himself praising the other team's head coach. Fitz is a very smart coach and his teams are usually very smart, too.
- You can expect Northwestern to stack the box against the Gophers if Morgan can't go and bring in a ton of pressure to force mistakes. They will try to win with their defense and running game,
- This is a great spot for the Wildcats. They are catching the Gophers in between their two biggest rivalry games, Iowa and Wisconsin and have it at home. The Gophers are reading about all the nice bowl games they can go to at the end of the year and already hearing about the tough Wisconsin game. Northwestern is only 2-8 - this should be an easy one, right??
- The line has moved from -7 to -14 in just a few days. This is without even having the status of QB Morgan revealed. The oddsmakers know all the info we do and probably a lot more. This initial -7 sure looks like a sucker play to me. With that, a ton of money has been coming in on the Gophers. Which way do you think the oddsmakers want this one to go?
Even with all these factors coming in, the Gophers SHOULD win this game. But they better bring it hard the entire game and expect the Wildcats to fight the entire way. If the Gophers come in taking this one for granted or take this one lightly, they can and probably will lose this game. I have seen this one play out like this way too many times over the years, ESPECIALLY against the Wildcats. PJ Fleck kind of got a free pass with the loss to Iowa last week and as one poster said, "This is the calmest I have seen the Gopher board after a loss." It was a case where every thing that could go wrong DID go wrong and these things happen over a long season. This will not be the case if Northwestern pulls out a win. There will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth and I think I will avoid this board for a few days. PJ Fleck will come under considerable fire and I think it would probably eliminate him from any coach of the year discussion. Losing this one would be REALLY tough for a long time because it's a game we SHOULD win as we have much more talent than they do, even with a backup QB. It won't eliminate them from winning the western division, but it will probably eliminate them from the Rose Bowl as I would expect Penn St. and possibly Michigan to vault past them even if they beat Wisconsin.
The bottom line -- be careful here and go down to Evanston playing it as hard as you can and really go after it. I don't see this as an easy game - as I have said, I have seen this one way too many times before. If QB Morgan can go, it would obviously be a huge boost, maybe one that Northwestern simply can not match up against.. Regardless of who plays QB, they need to go down there and show everyone this is a new Gopher football era and new culture. Things are different now!!
- The Gophers have been shut out the last two times in Evanston. I look for the Wildcats to try to make this a low scoring game.
- The Wildcats still have a tough defense and can run the ball. If they force the Gophers into being a one dimensional (running) team they can stay with this team and make it a game they can win.
- The Wildcats may have found their RB and offensive spark - Maple Grove's Evan Hull rushed for 4 TD's and 220 yards last week.
- Pat Fitzgerald really wants this one. He is a smart coach and reports from Evanston are that he is making this their bowl game and would like nothing more than knocking off the top ten Gophers. On his press conference, he praised the OC, the DC, and the QB. He did not mention PJ Fleck at all and I am hearing he can't stand him. Usually, he is tripping over himself praising the other team's head coach. Fitz is a very smart coach and his teams are usually very smart, too.
- You can expect Northwestern to stack the box against the Gophers if Morgan can't go and bring in a ton of pressure to force mistakes. They will try to win with their defense and running game,
- This is a great spot for the Wildcats. They are catching the Gophers in between their two biggest rivalry games, Iowa and Wisconsin and have it at home. The Gophers are reading about all the nice bowl games they can go to at the end of the year and already hearing about the tough Wisconsin game. Northwestern is only 2-8 - this should be an easy one, right??
- The line has moved from -7 to -14 in just a few days. This is without even having the status of QB Morgan revealed. The oddsmakers know all the info we do and probably a lot more. This initial -7 sure looks like a sucker play to me. With that, a ton of money has been coming in on the Gophers. Which way do you think the oddsmakers want this one to go?
Even with all these factors coming in, the Gophers SHOULD win this game. But they better bring it hard the entire game and expect the Wildcats to fight the entire way. If the Gophers come in taking this one for granted or take this one lightly, they can and probably will lose this game. I have seen this one play out like this way too many times over the years, ESPECIALLY against the Wildcats. PJ Fleck kind of got a free pass with the loss to Iowa last week and as one poster said, "This is the calmest I have seen the Gopher board after a loss." It was a case where every thing that could go wrong DID go wrong and these things happen over a long season. This will not be the case if Northwestern pulls out a win. There will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth and I think I will avoid this board for a few days. PJ Fleck will come under considerable fire and I think it would probably eliminate him from any coach of the year discussion. Losing this one would be REALLY tough for a long time because it's a game we SHOULD win as we have much more talent than they do, even with a backup QB. It won't eliminate them from winning the western division, but it will probably eliminate them from the Rose Bowl as I would expect Penn St. and possibly Michigan to vault past them even if they beat Wisconsin.
The bottom line -- be careful here and go down to Evanston playing it as hard as you can and really go after it. I don't see this as an easy game - as I have said, I have seen this one way too many times before. If QB Morgan can go, it would obviously be a huge boost, maybe one that Northwestern simply can not match up against.. Regardless of who plays QB, they need to go down there and show everyone this is a new Gopher football era and new culture. Things are different now!!
