2015 Opponent Previews: Minnesota

Saunders

Saunders

Heisman Trophy Winner
Athlon Sports: Minnesota

Few coaches get more out of their team than Jerry Kill at Minnesota. It's easy to forget that the Golden Gophers were one half away from winning the Big Ten West Division last fall. With just four starters back on offense, Kill knows his offense has some work to do this summer. Luckily, the defense brings back seven starters, so expect Minnesota to win low-scoring games early in the year while the offense gets up to speed.

http://athlonsports.com/college-football/top-25/minnesota-golden-gophers-2015-preview-and-prediction#sthash.2yqF3zlk.dpuf

Magazine says: 8-4 (5-3) 3rd in Big Ten West
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SBNation: Has Minnesota improved enough to win the Big Ten West?

The plaudits for Kill have been overstated -- Minnesota did finish 8-5 and 37th in F/+ last year, not 11-2 and 15th -- but he's still building. The next time he doesn't improve his team from one year to another will be the first time since 2011.

So how long can Kill keep the growth going? He recruits at a top-60 level and put a top-40 team on the field, but what's the ceiling? Can a decent-not-great offense survive the loss of its best running back and top receiving threat? Can an experienced defense pick up the slack?

Minnesota is being treated as a contender in the Big Ten West, and while that's because of the lack of an elite team (Wisconsin is the most highly projected but barely squeezes into the top 25), it's also because we're beginning to expect more of Minnesota. Will we be disappointed?

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2015/6/2/8688759/minnesota-gophers-football-2015-preview-schedule-roster
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Phil Steele: 2014 Minnesota Preview

They have just 12 ret st'rs TY but return the B10's Coach of the Yr. Jerry Kill is all about blue collar and hard work and I love that. It will be tough to top LY's 8 win total but I won't be surprised if they do.

PDF Link: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17881454/36_Minnesota.pdf
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More to come...

 
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saunders45 said:
True2tRA said:
1995 Redux said:
Calling it now, Wisconsin does NOT win the West this year.
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Minnesota will win the west.
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If that happens, we might as well go ahead and quit.
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When I saw the Huskers biggest upset win could come at Minnie, I puked, in my mouth, a little. They are and always will be friggin Minnie. How the hell we allowed schools like them and Iowa to even exist on the same playing field is complete and utter BS. Yes, I am a long time Husker fan. Some might call it spoiled, or quote parity etc..... I say we have developed an attitude of mediocrity. And that sucks.

I hope Riley can light the fire and get these kids to bleed red and get seem pride back. Watching us lose to Minnie, struggle with Iowa and get trucked by Wisky year in and year out has got to change. Get back to our rightful place as the school that the B1G conference goes through.....

 
They've got @Ohio St. on the schedule, but aside from that, their schedule sets up pretty well and all their games a very winnable. Including beating Nebraska, as they've demonstrated.

I know this is Huskerboard, but I'm becoming a big time fan of what Minnesota does on offense and defense. I wanted Nebraska to hire their O-Coordinator away from them. Matt Limegrover runs a great offense and he's a good play caller.

I hope Nebraska pulls it all together and ends up winning the West. If not, I hope it's Minnesota. They've really built that program up. I can't stand the Vadgers so I hope we body slam them.

 
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minnesota-ice-cream-football-game.jpg


What can you do to the maniac that eats ice cream in snow? Nothing.

Imagine you are a kid on his team, hey coach its really cold I cant focus. Wait what was that I was finishing my ice cream bar.

 
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True2tRA said:
They've got @Ohio St. on the schedule, but aside from that, their schedule sets up pretty well and all their games a very winnable. Including beating Nebraska, as they've demonstrated.

I know this is Huskerboard, but I'm becoming a big time fan of what Minnesota does on offense and defense. I wanted Nebraska to hire their O-Coordinator away from them. Matt Limegrover runs a great offense and he's a good play caller.

I hope Nebraska pulls it all together and ends up winning the West. If not, I hope it's Minnesota. They've really built that program up. I can't stand the Vadgers so I hope we body slam them.
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Minnesota has been a bit of an enigma. They got some decent breaks to beat us last year, and if DPE holds on to the ball, we're winning that game. This year, they lost (arguably) the 2 best players on their offense (if not team). It seems (and we'll see once all the previews are out) that they're expected to fall back a bit this year. If we hold serve, or improve at all, it's down to NU and UW for the West.

 
Losing Maxx Williams and David Cobb is gonna be a big hurdle for the Gophers to overcome. They have a couple guys that can fill in but will be different types of players at each position. Will help having a decent returning QB. That article has it pretty straight as I can see. Defense should be able to keep them in games until the offense comes around.

 
Minny B1G Schedule

@ Northwestern

@ Purdue

vs Nebraska

BYE

vs Michigan

@ Ohio St

@ Iowa

vs Illinois

vs Wisconsin

FYI - Minnesota hasn't won in Iowa City since 1999

 
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