11W Sneak Peek: Minnesota
Eric passed up baseball for a chance at TCF.We’re counting down the weeks until kickoff by profiling a different Big Ten team each week. We decided to switch up the order to reflect 11W’s predicted finish for the upcoming season, which can be found here and we’ll also reach out to fellow bloggers for their inside opinion on important matters.
This week we take a look at Tight End Tim’s crew, as they enter a critical 3rd season with him at the helm.
For starters, they move into an open air park in TCF Bank Stadium and second, they have 17 starters and 54 lettermen back from a team that won 6 of their first 7, but lost their last 5.
COACHING: The pressure is on Brewster to keep up the momentum he built from last season, making him our pre-season choice for most likely to John L. Smith it. Even though he has a veteran team, he lost his DC to Auburn and fired his OC in an effort to move away from the spread. New defensive co-coordinators Ronnie Lee and Kevin Cosgrave have Wisconsin roots from the Alavarez era, while OC Jedd Fisch comes from the Broncos.
OFFENSE: With the opening of a non-dome in Minnesota, it was a good move to switch away from the spread attack. With the weather patterns in Minnesota, such an offense could have been disastrous in October and November.
Luckily for the Gophers, they have 9 starters coming back, including Adam Weber and Eric Decker, who form one of the best QB/WR tandems in the league. Weber lead the B10 in pass attempts last year with 410, completing 62 percent, while also scampering for 518 yards. Decker lead the conference in catches (84), yards (1074) and receiving TD’s (7) in 2008, even though he had just 3 for 30 in their last 3 regular season games, but he might not have as many balls come his way with the change in philosophy.
The Gophers will have some depth in the backfield and at the receiver position. Redshirt sophomore Duane Bennett, who tore his ACL in game 2 last year, will battle true sophomore’s DeLeon Eskridge and Shady Salamon for the starting position. Eskridge lead the team with 714 rushing yards and 7 rushing touchdowns, while Salamon contributed another 193. If 100% healthy, Bennett should have the slight edge, but a three-headed monster could help the Gophers control the clock in those late season games, which would be a welcomed change in Minneapolis.
As mentioned, Weber will have a few more consistent weapons to choose from on the outside and freshman QB MarQueis Gray could see some action to spice things up. Hayo Carpenter is a JUCO recruit that will come in right away and challenge for a starting gig, while sophomore Brandon Greene showed some flashes in Decker’s absence. Senior Ben Kuzina, who was third on the team in catches last season, also returns.
The Gophers had to use 10 different starting linemen in 2008 and 9 of those guys return this year. The starting spots may not be solidified until closer to week 1, as coaches figure out what the best combination is for the new power running scheme. But Brewster should be able to run a couple of different lines in there throughout the campaign.
DEFENSE:
For as long as I can remember, defense has always been a question mark for Minnesota, but that could change this season. The 2009 version returns 8 starters, 17 of their top 21 tacklers and should feature 9 seniors in the starting lineup.
Even though the D-Line may have 4 seniors in the starting group, those 4 accounted for just 8 sacks last year and could be the weak link. DT’s Eric Small and Garrett Brown each weigh close to 300 lbs. and could demand a few double teams. DE’s Cedric McKinley and Derrick Onwuachi still have to prove they are worthy of beating out the younger talent.
The Gophers will have a solid back 7, including top tacklers from last year; MLB Lee Campbell, S Kyle Theret and S Tramaine Brock. Campbell will be flanked by senior Simoni Lawrence, who lead the team in TFL’s (6.5) and tied for the lead in sacks with 4. The other backer spot is up for grabs and could be manned by redshirt freshman Keanon Cooper or true frosh Spencer Reeves.
Senior corner, Traye Simmons lead the B10 in passes defended last year with 18, while his fellow senior Marcus Sherels chipped in with 13 of his own. Both are back, looking to improve upon the 240 yards per game passing the Gophers gave up in 2008.
KEY GAME: It’s a tricky schedule for the Gophers, starting the season at Syracuse and home against Air Force, both winnable games, but then California comes in Sept. 19th and if the Gophers happen to slip in the first 2, this becomes even more crucial. The Bears are getting some early top 10 consideration and an upset win in the new stadium could catapult the Gophers into another fast start.
BEST-CASE: If the Gophers can pull off the first 3, they then play at Northwestern and host Whisky and Purdue, so a 6-0 or 5-1 start could happen. But then there are consecutive road games in Happy Valley and Columbus, followed by home tilts at home with MSU and Illinois. We think Minnesota has the best chance of breaking into the top tier of the conference, which is going to take at least an 8-4 record.
WORST-CASE: Luckily there is finally some depth for Brewster, if they are hit by injuries again. However, I don’t think this schedule sets up very well, especially breaking in new coordinators on both sides of the ball. The Gophers don’t have a pushover until the 11th game of the season when South Dakota St. comes to town and Brewster has yet to prove he can close out a season. A 4-3 start heading into the PSU game could lead to another missed bowl game and a 5-7 finish.
Minnesota is going to be one of the more interesting story lines of the upcoming season, simply because you really don’t know which way they will go. Their coach is still unproven, loves him some Twitter and is most likely to blow up, but there is some talent and if they can pull off a couple of November wins, they can continue the momentum started last year.
“could catapult the Gophers into another fast start. ”
Meh, I misread this as another false start. Freudian slip? I won’t place too much faith in the Gophers finishing a season strong until I actually see it happen. Should be an interesting and fun season though, the Big10 is pretty fluid these days outside the top. Seems like the only sure thing is PSU/OSU in the top 3. But even those teams have potential issues that they have to overcome first.
I am glad to see the Gophers have their own stadium now. Quick history lesson, Minnie was a powerhouse until the Vickings came along and everyone forgot about them. I went to a summer camp in Duluth back in ‘87 and thought the area was great. I hope they do well. What happened to that RB Whaley?
Just checked their official site, he’s still there. Kid might be a Beast like Garrett Wolfe/ Darren Sproles where.
Minnesota took a huge hit when they lost Marquis Gray, watching him play in the Army AA game kinda gave me the shivers, good thing he’s gone. You recruiting buffs may remember the Buckeyes keeping him close as a contingency plan for LIC.
Minny should go bowling, but I dont think they will be better than MSU.
Im not losing any sleep over the Weber/Decker combo either.
iball- Are you talking about last season or did I miss something where he is off the team again? I know he was the star of the spring game and is still listed on their official roster.
http://www.twincities.com/gophersfootball/ci_12227557
Apparently Im talking about life on planet Iball, sorry about that. I’ll go away now.
Gray is back on the team, he played in their spring game this year and apparently lit everyone up. he’s gonna be a tough one to play.
Aside from tackle breaking ability, I think he’s every bit as good as Pryor. I don’t see any reason Brewster would hesitate to put him in if Weber struggles.
This team could be on the serious up and up, new stadium, good young players, now they have the nations number 1 recruit in-state.
i dunno if he’s the same level of athlete pryor is, but i do think he’s probably a better passer and more of a natural QB. and i totally agree that brewster won’t think twice before putting him in if weber starts to look bad.
I’m not sure why, but I always kind of like Minnesota. The only think that drives me nuts about them is their schedule but even this year it looks pretty good. It seems like every year their first 4 or 5 games were against D-I AA schools or subpar D-IA schools. I’m glad to see them toughen up the schedule. It’d be a big win to knock of Cal right out of the gate. If the bucks can knock off the Trojans too it’ll help the conference image a bit.
I have been trying all day to see what Buckeye tickets I got from the Alumni – finally called the number for the Alumni – I got the Iowa game. Not bad – at least its a big ten game.
a friend of mine got the USC game, truly there exists no demon more hated than her.
Iowa game is a pretty good one. A friend of mine has family from Iowa and we went to the game in Iowa a few years back. It was a terrible game and Iowa killed the buckeyes, but I had a great time before the game, they have some good fans out there. I like to see them do well too.
Not being a student or Alumnus, it’s really hard for me to land a ticket other than on stub hub and I’m not paying those kind of tickets, but last year I lucked into some. I am hoping to get to one game this year in Columbus, but I’ll think I’m definitely going to hit the Indiana game.
I still think the best way to get tickets is coming down to the ‘Shoe. There are always people selling tickets and even though they may be over face value, it is still cheaper than StubHub and you have bargaining power.
Then again, you can do what I did…meet a girl who has season tickets and marry her.
Never tried the scalper approach, but how easy is it to do? And what’s the avg. price you’d expect to pay?
I considered stub-hub, but that shit is crazy. Especially since a buddy of mine met a lady who sold us her season tix two years for $20 over face per ticket. Best year of life, ever.
It is more than just scalpers down there, there are usually common fans looking to sell some as well. Of course your big games are under different rules, but I think you could get a ticket for $75-100 for most games. To me, there are 105,000 seats in that stadium and if someone needs to find a ticket or even two, there are some available.
Very easy to get tix for the lesser-games. Two years ago I took my 10-year-old daughter to the Akron game. I had alum tix at the very top of the show — she would have hated it. On the way in, someone sold me 50-yard line, row 10 for 40 each. Perfect for her and less than the price I paid for the alum tix. Unfortunately, I couldn’t give mine away. Honest. I ate them.
Last year I got the seat I wanted for michigan — exactly where i wanted to sit. For 150. Coulda got in for 80, but 150 for what I consider best in the house is pretty good.
My roomate and I got USC tickets in the student lottery. The man upstairs favors seniors, apparently.
Minny really is a tricky one to figure out. I think if ever there was a year to get back in to any discussion of a Big10 title, this would be it. They seem to finally have all the pieces, but they will have to get more production out of their run game. Don’t forget, this is much of the same team that started the season 7-1 last year beating PUR and ILL on the road and also played us pretty tough. I honestly don’t think they will finish 9th in the league and I’m picking them to finish higher than Michigan this year. Who knows though. This team could go 9-3 (best case scenario), but may just as well go 3-9. I’m betting it will be somewhere in the middle, but closer to the best case scenario with another bowl game in the end. We can only hope they have a solid season, make it to a bowl game and win.
My old roomie got two to Iowa. You can also check Craig’s list for tickets. I agree about going to the shoe for tickets. Also check local alumni clubs for deal. Should be easy to get tickets for Navy, New Mexico State.
I know every year, there seems to be a game or 2 on the website too for single game tickets. Last year I could’ve gotten Ohio U but I already had tickets to that game. This year I’d like to come up a couple of games, but I live on the KY side of Cincinnati, and wasn’t sure if driving 2 hours w/out a ticket was a great idea. Of course I could always tailgate and hang out.
hmm, 11 points, 3 boards, no assists in 21 minutes. yes, that certainly sounds like a bj mullens stat line
That kid’s in it for the paycheck.
I believe the the gophers are going to have a great season this year. The fans maybe struggling during the colder months with the new stadium since they decided to not allow beer to be sold. GO GOPHERS.