Will the Gophers be ranked again at any point during the 2020 season?

Will the Gophers be ranked again at any point in the season after this week?

  • Yes

    Votes: 27 43.5%

  • No

    Votes: 35 56.5%
  • Total voters
    62
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WhoFellDownTheGopherHole?

WhoFellDownTheGopherHole?

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Exactly as the question sounds. In opening with a loss and probable drop, do you think Gophers will end up ranked again at any point during this season after this week?
 




Probably not going to play another ranked team until Wisky so that’s likely the next shot.
 



We drop out after this one but losing to a team ranked ahead of us shouldn't crush us a ton and leave us within striking distance of the top 25.

Wins over Maryland and Illinois probably puts us just outside top 25. I would then say wins over Iowa and Purdue are probably enough to get into the back of the top 25 with a big chance to move up against Wisconsin.

This game was disappointing and there are some obvious things the team will need to improve on but some are being way to quick to throw in the towel after one game against a ranked team after one of the strangest off seasons ever.
 

MNVCGUY said:
We drop out after this one but losing to a team ranked ahead of us shouldn't crush us a ton and leave us within striking distance of the top 25.

Wins over Maryland and Illinois probably puts us just outside top 25. I would then say wins over Iowa and Purdue are probably enough to get into the back of the top 25 with a big chance to move up against Wisconsin.

This game was disappointing and there are some obvious things the team will need to improve on but some are being way to quick to throw in the towel after one game against a ranked team after one of the strangest off seasons ever.
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You do see a lack of talent on the defense right?
 




GopherGangsta said:
You do see a lack of talent on the defense right?
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Not going to try and pretend the D played great but 21 of the 35 points Michigan scored in the first half were not really on them. One TD was scored on our offense, 1 was setup by a long kickoff return, and 1 was setup by a really short field after the fake punt.

There were some breakdowns on the long runs, and you could clearly see the hole left by Winfield not being out there. Not ready to give up on the D just yet though, give the young guys some time to make adjustments and hopefully the O takes a lot of the pressure off in the next few weeks as well.
 

Bateman is great, but I think we really miss Tyler Johnson (as well as Winfield). TJ had a way off getting open quickly on slants over the middle. Changed the game for the offense; unsettled aggressive defenses. I thought CAB might take that role, and maybe he still might, but didn’t happen tonight.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
Bateman is great, but I think we really miss Tyler Johnson (as well as Winfield). TJ had a way off getting open quickly on slants over the middle. Changed the game for the offense; unsettled aggressive defenses. I thought CAB might take that role, and maybe he still might, but didn’t happen tonight.
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Well....it looked like Bateman was lining up as the slot for quite a bit of the game. He was basically always on the outside last season as a big play threat. Allowed Johnson to wreak havoc on the middle of the field. So yeah....we definitely miss him.

Obviously (along with the entire defense) the coaches need to figure out what to do with the line. Hopefully we are getting a guy or two back and we won't be playing with the swapped line moving forward. I can imagine it would be difficult playing your first game at a different position against Michigan with their talent blitzing you. Even if this is going to be the look we get at the line....they'll get more comfortable with a game or two.

I'd expect Morgan to have some more time in the next few games. Hopefully that will help build some confidence in our passing attack.
 

And yeah....I think the Gophers will figure it out. Win the next two (that we should win)....and then we have Iowa at home? That's a very winnable game. 3-1 with a win over Iowa and the only loss to a Michigan team that will very likely be a top-15 team? We'd be back in the top 25.
 



1. It will be interesting to see how good Michigan is. Did we make them “look” impressive? There wasn’t a lot of wow there to me. Dominated us but will they get steam rolled by Ohio State?
2. I was leery of the new offensive coordinator and he didn’t ease my concerns. We did run the ball very well with Mo....that was good but we need some balance and innovation to the attack.
3. Was there anybody on offense we hadn’t seen before who stood out?
4. Defense appears it could be a struggle...what if Michigan is average?
 

stocker08 said:
And yeah....I think the Gophers will figure it out. Win the next two (that we should win)....and then we have Iowa at home? That's a very winnable game. 3-1 with a win over Iowa and the only loss to a Michigan team that will very likely be a top-15 team? We'd be back in the top 25.
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60's Guy said:
1. It will be interesting to see how good Michigan is. Did we make them “look” impressive? There wasn’t a lot of wow there to me. Dominated us but will they get steam rolled by Ohio State?
2. I was leery of the new offensive coordinator and he didn’t ease my concerns. We did run the ball very well with Mo....that was good but we need some balance and innovation to the attack.
3. Was there anybody on offense we hadn’t seen before who stood out?
4. Defense appears it could be a struggle...what if Michigan is average?
Click to expand...

Joe Milton looks like he might develop into a poor man's Justin Fields before he's done - impressive athlete.

Can Michigan beat OSU? Who knows, but they'll be a tough beat for any other B10 team IMO. Nothing like having a D-Line that can rush the passer!
 

I'll say yes. We win the next 4 and get ranked going into Madison. After that loss we drop back out.
 

howeda7 said:
I'll say yes. We win the next 4 and get ranked going into Madison. After that loss we drop back out.
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Four? Nonsense. There are currently a number of 3-1, 2-1 teams in the top 25 with far worse losses than to a top 25 team like Michigan.
 

stocker08 said:
Four? Nonsense. There are currently a number of 3-1, 2-1 teams in the top 25 with far worse losses than to a top 25 team like Michigan.
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Still, we got blown out. We're going to drop out most likely and beating Illinois and Maryland won't move the needle much. We probably get back in if we beat Iowa in week 4.
 

Glad we're not playing Indiana. They played toe-to-toe with tPSU.

With a kicking game back...and maybe some defensive improvement...Floyd may come home. Beat I-O-W-A and Purdue...with Ws for Illinois and Maryland...we're 4-1 and worthy of squeaking into the Top 25.
 


32 right now in AP

if they win the next one game they might be ranked during week 3 if things fall right
 

MNVCGUY said:
Not going to try and pretend the D played great but 21 of the 35 points Michigan scored in the first half were not really on them. One TD was scored on our offense, 1 was setup by a long kickoff return, and 1 was setup by a really short field after the fake punt.

There were some breakdowns on the long runs, and you could clearly see the hole left by Winfield not being out there. Not ready to give up on the D just yet though, give the young guys some time to make adjustments and hopefully the O takes a lot of the pressure off in the next few weeks as well.
Click to expand...

What scares me is that there were a few plays there that brought back ghosts of Robb Smith, where players were severely out of position. The 70-yard TD run was a direct reflection of those old problems. I sure hope we're not heading back to that, but I suspect that is more youth/inexperience than scheme in this case, as under Rossi we haven't seen those same kinds of breakdowns prior to last night.

Winfield didn't play every down of D when we showed success over the past 1 1/2 seasons. Our D cannot (is not) reliant on one star player just to be decent.

Certainly being thrown to the talented dogs of Michigan in game 1 after a massive turnover was far from ideal. There is no doubt that we needed the preseason games far more than Harbaugh's talent-loaded squad. The Gophers were beat mainly by Michigan having far better players on the field last night, and our players not yet being prime-time ready for Fleck et al.'s schemes.
 

cncmin said:
What scares me is that there were a few plays there that brought back ghosts of Robb Smith, where players were severely out of position. The 70-yard TD run was a direct reflection of those old problems. I sure hope we're not heading back to that, but I suspect that is more youth/inexperience than scheme in this case, as under Rossi we haven't seen those same kinds of breakdowns prior to last night.

Winfield didn't play every down of D when we showed success over the past 1 1/2 seasons. Our D cannot (is not) reliant on one star player just to be decent.

Certainly being thrown to the talented dogs of Michigan in game 1 after a massive turnover was far from ideal. There is no doubt that we needed the preseason games far more than Harbaugh's talent-loaded squad. The Gophers were beat mainly by Michigan having far better players on the field last night, and our players not yet being prime-time ready for Fleck et al.'s schemes.
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Getting lined up late, taking bad angles, it looked exactly like the post Winfield injury Robb smith defense.
Rossi got that one figured out and I bet he does again.

I also bet there are some younger guys in the back 8 that might work there way onto the field more if the Guys last night don’t improve
 

howeda7 said:
Still, we got blown out. We're going to drop out most likely and beating Illinois and Maryland won't move the needle much. We probably get back in if we beat Iowa in week 4.
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I certainly would not take either of those teams lightly. Given last night's performance compared to their performances, the Gophers appeared to be significantly better right now, but well within the margin of error.
 

We will play better than we did last night, but I don't see how we are a top 25 team in 2020.
 

I think our offense will be top 25-ish when healthy.

I don't know if our defense will get there.
Nubin will really have to step up as a safety.
We lost a couple guys who are playing in the NFL, so we don't just have the next 4-5 ready to go with a years worth of experience playing together.

Defense could be good after 3-4 games together. We'll see.
 

60's Guy said:
1. It will be interesting to see how good Michigan is. Did we make them “look” impressive? There wasn’t a lot of wow there to me. Dominated us but will they get steam rolled by Ohio State?
2. I was leery of the new offensive coordinator and he didn’t ease my concerns. We did run the ball very well with Mo....that was good but we need some balance and innovation to the attack.
3. Was there anybody on offense we hadn’t seen before who stood out?
4. Defense appears it could be a struggle...what if Michigan is average?
Click to expand...
Week 2 answers my suspicions.
Michigan loses and we play worse.
 



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