Tom Dienhart's most underrated Big Ten non-conference games (2. Minnesota at Col St)

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I think it will be a tough game, but they lost their stud QB. The Gophers 28-17.
 

I'm sorry, I just can't see this game being a "danger" game. Bobo was good for Georgia with his pro-style huddle, but he's not only breaking new ground as CSU's new coach, he's breaking unfamiliar ground trying out the no huddle: strike one. And just like ruppert stated, they lost their stud QB: strike two. And finally, CSU offense is built for the pass - and their defense is not built to stop a power run game: strike three. Gophers have too much speed and experience on defense - I expect them wrecking havoc in turnovers this game. Add in the ground and pound, and I think this game is out of reach early in the third quarter.
 

kisarazu said:
I'm sorry, I just can't see this game being a "danger" game. Bobo was good for Georgia with his pro-style huddle, but he's not only breaking new ground as CSU's new coach, he's breaking unfamiliar ground trying out the no huddle: strike one. And just like ruppert stated, they lost their stud QB: strike two. And finally, CSU offense is built for the pass - and their defense is not built to stop a power run game: strike three. Gophers have too much speed and experience on defense - I expect them wrecking havoc in turnovers this game. Add in the ground and pound, and I think this game is out of reach early in the third quarter.

Additional: I'm not sure, so I'll have to investigate, but how many linemen did CSU lose from last season? I could be way off, but I seem to remember them having some big shoes to fill this year.
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Agree with most of your assessment. To me CSU is gong to be a lot like SJSU was when we played them the first time (just lost top QB and was not nearly the same team as the year before). The only factors that make this game scary to me at all are the fact that it is on the road and we are going to be coming off a very tough game with a great TCU team. If we beat TCU the players may be riding high and overlook Colorado State, on the flip side if we get physically dominated in week one it will be tough to know where everyones head will be at heading to CSU.

Regardless this is a game we should win but there are definitely some trap game factors to it.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Agree with most of your assessment. To me CSU is gong to be a lot like SJSU was when we played them the first time (just lost top QB and was not nearly the same team as the year before). The only factors that make this game scary to me at all are the fact that it is on the road and we are going to be coming off a very tough game with a great TCU team. If we beat TCU the players may be riding high and overlook Colorado State, on the flip side if we get physically dominated in week one it will be tough to know where everyones head will be at heading to CSU.

Regardless this is a game we should win but there are definitely some trap game factors to it.
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Heh, CSU's first game? Saturday, Sept 5th vs Savannah State - quite possibly the worst college football program in existence. Meanwhile, Minnesota plays TCU on Thursday, Sept 3rd.

Some lazy armchair observations: CSU's 2014 losses were to Utah (359 rush yards at 7.5 yp/a), Air Force (242 rush yards at 3.8 yp/a), and Boise State (324 rush yards at 5.8 yp/a). A decent rushing Boston College nearly beat them, but didn't have the secondary to overcome Garrett Grayson. Heck, even New Mexico ran on them! Of course, New Mexico hasn't played defense since 2007...
 


I remember reading threads like this in year's past and saying to myself "Yeah, NO PROBLEM. These gopher hole experts have it figured out". By now you probably think this will turn into some sort of "that's why they play the game" response. It isn't. In year's past the Gophers just weren't good enough to look past anyone. That may still be true to a degree (Illinois), but overall the program is so much stronger than it was in 2009-2013 that I am finally able to relax a little bit for games like this. I think the SJSU game is indeed a good comparison to this one.
 

It will be tough without Antonio Thompson in the secondary this year. So I totally see where Dienhart is coming from. :cool:
 

This game isn't dangerous because CSU is good. It is dangerous because the gophers could be coming off:
A huge win
A close loss to a great team
A blowout loss

All three are tough to recover from.


Also it is dangerous because it is on the road against a team who likely isn't horrible.
 

Some guy said:
This game isn't dangerous because CSU is good. It is dangerous because the gophers could be coming off:
A huge win
A close loss to a great team
A blowout loss

All three are tough to recover from.


Also it is dangerous because it is on the road against a team who likely isn't horrible.
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The good thing is we have a few extra days to recover from the TCU game. I don't really see that as a good excuse.
 



Not to mention the altitude. At 5000 feet, they better be ready to rotate people in and out.
 


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