Let's break down Minnesota, what do we know?

[SmilinBob]

Do they have a mobile QB? What kind of offense do they run? I know their defense is good, what do they do and how do they attack?

I thought they were faster than I thought they were going to be last year. This is going to be a tough game for SU.

 

[RF2044]

Very solid defensively, good running game, slightly below average passing game.

Not really familiar with their personnel, but have caught parts of several games [live in Minnneapolis] this year. They had a very solid conference season, making the top 25 before collapsing the last two games. Handled Nebraska and Penn State. Put a whipping on Northwestern at their place. Lost a pair late to Wisconsin in a rivalry game and Michigan State.

 

[SmilinBob]

Thanks RF. SU has struggled with teams that can easily shut down their WR's along with having a qb that can run. Their corners were good last year and that worries me a bit but I don't know if they moved on or not. They ran on us pretty well last year too.

 

[ImperialOrange]

They have a funny accent

 

[rrlbees]

I broke it down some in another thread. Good run game. Worse pass game than us. Defense is ok vs run and real good vs pass. But we don't rely on passing. I give the advantage to SU. Take the points. The perception of them is inflated by the record which is helped by a horrible OOC schedule.

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[SmilinBob]

They have a funny accent

You betcha.

 

[sutomcat]

Do they have a mobile QB? What kind of offense do they run? I know their defense is good, what do they do and how do they attack?

I thought they were faster than I thought they were going to be last year. This is going to be a tough game for SU.

They use 2 QBs. One is primarily a passer, one primarily a runner. The runner ran for over 1000 yards this season.

Look for them to try and implement some elements of the G Tech option attack (their staff is going to salivate when they see how awful we were attempting to defend it).

Look for the SU staff to try and defend it better. Personally, I think this is a great matchup for our defense, which is really good against a run based attack. Their defense is legitimately good against the run.

I expect a low scoring game where both team struggle to run the game well. The team that passes better has a good chance to win. Based on Hunt's play late in the season, we have the advantage here.

Special teams are going to be important. It would really help us if Norton and Riley have good games.

 

[Millhouse]

Their offense sucks. 107th in the country. We're 20 spots higher which is hard to believe. Although we just run a lot more plays, they're actually 5 spots better with their terrible yards per play. They had a couple big games in november against Neb and Ind but were shut down down the stretch. (MSU and Wisc would've shut us down too though)

They've had some real stinkers. 2 games below 200 yards. 5 below 300

Our defense is 39th, their's is 41st.

This is an even matchup that will be very hard for casual observers to sit through

 

[Upstate]

We've shown well in Bowls, at least. New regime, though, let's see how well they work with nearly 3 weeks to prep for an opponent.

 

[ImperialOrange]

Minnesota = BC

Minnesota Offense 141 yards passing 200 yards rushing per game
BC Offense 150 yards passing 218 yards rushing per game

Minnesota Defense gave up 22.3 ppg, BC 27.8 BUT the top offenses Minne played were Michigan and Indiana who put up 42 and 39 against them. BC had FSU and Clemson who put up 48 and 24 respectively. ACC offenses > B1G offenses

Common opponent New Mexico State. Minnesota won 44-21, BC won 48-34

 

[SmilinBob]

I broke it down some in another thread. Good run game. Worse pass game than us. Defense is ok vs run and real good vs pass. But we don't rely on passing. I give the advantage to SU. Take the points. The perception of them is inflated by the record which is helped by a horrible OOC schedule.

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Sorry Bees by starting another thread...I saw a bunch of them and they seemed to turn into something else. I'm hoping this remains a breakdown of the Gophers.

 

[jr4750]

They use 2 QBs. One is primarily a passer, one primarily a runner. The runner ran for over 1000 yards this season.

Look for them to try and implement some elements of the G Tech option attack (their staff is going to salivate when they see how awful we were attempting to defend it).

Look for the SU staff to try and defend it better. Personally, I think this is a great matchup for our defense, which is really good against a run based attack. Their defense is legitimately good against the run.

I expect a low scoring game where both team struggle to run the game well. The team that passes better has a good chance to win. Based on Hunt's play late in the season, we have the advantage here.

Special teams are going to be important. It would really help us if Norton and Riley have good games.

Hopefully playing in a dome will yield itself to familiar surroundings and good games by both!

 

[SmilinBob]

Their offense sucks. 107th in the country. We're 20 spots higher which is hard to believe. Although we just run a lot more plays, they're actually 5 spots better with their terrible yards per play. They had a couple big games in november against Neb and Ind but were shut down down the stretch. (MSU and Wisc would've shut us down too though)

They've had some real stinkers. 2 games below 200 yards. 5 below 300

Our defense is 39th, their's is 41st.

This is an even matchup that will be very hard for casual observers to sit through

I fully expect the pundits to say "8-4 Big 10 team vs 6-6 ACC...really, this is an easy win for Minnesota". And then quickly move on to anther game to talk about. They will not parse into the information what so ever.

 

[RF2044]

I broke it down some in another thread. Good run game. Worse pass game than us. Defense is ok vs run and real good vs pass. But we don't rely on passing. I give the advantage to SU. Take the points. The perception of them is inflated by the record which is helped by a horrible OOC schedule.Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

I just want to say something about the highlighted text above. These guys looked really good against Penn State and Northwestern--two teams that we lost to.

I actually agree with a lot of data in this thread that suggests this is a pretty good matchup. And as a Minneapolis denizen, nothing would please me more than to put a second thumping on this annoying fanbase in a span of less than a month. But I wouldn't dismiss their accomplishments this season so quickly. They're pretty solid, and this will be a tough game.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

They have a funny accent

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I'll be honest, I just don't care. I don't care about their coaches, or their players. There were times this season when it looked like we had no chance to make a bowl, and they found a way. I'm just happy we made it, happy for the players and coaches, happy for us fans that will get to watch one more game, and happy about what making another bowl hopefully means for perception and what the 15 practices hopefully mean for player development.

Barring getting blown out, we've already won.

 

[RF2044]

I'll be honest, I just don't care. I don't care about their coaches, or their players. There were times this season when it looked like we had no chance to make a bowl, and they found a way. I'm just happy we made it, happy for the players and coaches, happy for us fans that will get to watch one more game, and happy about what making another bowl hopefully means for perception and what the 15 practices hopefully mean for player development.

Barring getting blown out, we've already won.

Great post.

 

[rrlbees]

Sorry Bees by starting another thread...I saw a bunch of them and they seemed to turn into something else. I'm hoping this remains a breakdown of the Gophers.

No problem. It's buried in a multi page thread

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[OttoinGrotto]

Great post.

It's a weird place to be, I'll admit, and obviously I'd like to see us win it but I just don't feel the need to be heavily invested. This is an achievement that can simply be enjoyed.

 

[RF2044]

It's a weird place to be, I'll admit, and obviously I'd like to see us win it but I'm just don't feel the need to be heavily invested. This is an achievement that can simply be enjoyed.

Was talking about this very topic with my dad this morning--we completely agree with your perspective on this. Sure, it would be nice to win, but merely getting to a bowl was so much more important on multiple levels.

Very successful first season for the new HC and coaching staff.

 

[rrlbees]

I just want to say something about the highlighted text above. These guys looked really good against Penn State and Northwestern--two teams that we lost to. I actually agree with a lot of data in this thread that suggests this is a pretty good matchup. And as a Minneapolis denizen, nothing would please me more than to put a second thumping on this annoying fanbase in a span of less than a month. But I wouldn't dismiss their accomplishments this season so quickly. They're pretty solid, and this will be a tough game.

My other post says it is a pretty even matchup. They did beat 2 teams we lost to but we were playing like dog crap then and NW ended up being a bad team not making a bowl. Also their OOC was horrible. They also avoided OSU while we were playing FSU. Close game but I give us the advantage.

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[JoeSU]

My other post says it is a pretty even matchup. They did beat 2 teams we lost to but we were playing like dog crap then and NW ended up being a bad team not making a bowl. Also their OOC was horrible. They also avoided OSU while we were playing FSU. Close game but I give us the advantage.

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All season we have been saying we would have beaten PSU with Hunt at QB and a more seasoned coaching staff. Well, we don't get to play the Nittany Lions again, but we do get a chance to play a B1G team that beat them pretty soundly. This bowl game presents an opportunity to show how much we've improved.

 

[SmilinBob]

Was talking about this very topic with my dad this morning--we completely agree with your perspective on this. Sure, it would be nice to win, but merely getting to a bowl was so much more important on multiple levels.

Very successful first season for the new HC and coaching staff.

I agree with what you guys wrote until I realized I'm too competitive to not want to kick some Gopher butt. Plus, it's fun to see the thoughts of other SU fans and how they break this down, I get a lot more from this site than any of the TV or radio outlets as well.

 

[NashvilleOrange]

Minnesota -3.5 not too bad.

 

[OrangePA]

We don't lose bowl games!!!

Beat the Gophers!