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** 2018 Opponent Previews: Minnesota (Game 8) **


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CollegeFootballNews: The Payoff Is Coming

 

Patience isn’t something necessarily associated with P.J. Fleck.  The 37-year-old has the energy of a kid a Fortnite binge after pounding a venti espresso and four bowls of Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs – it’s not in him to think about anything more than trying to win RIGHT NOW. But Minnesota needed to do something different to finally go for it.

 

https://collegefootballnews.com/2018/05/minnesota-golden-gophers-college-football-preview-2018

– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players, Key Game, Fun Stats
– What Will Happen & Win Total Prediction

 

 

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The Athletic: Minnesota 2018 Preview

Nebraska hire Scott Frost might be the new kid on the block — or at least the prodigal son — in the Big Ten West, but here’s a reminder that Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck is nearly six years younger than his coaching counterpart. Frost is a grizzled 43, while P.J. is a bouncy 37.

 

Like Frost, Fleck had a 13-win season at a Group of 5 program and immediately parlayed it into a job in commissioner Jim Delany’s league. Unlike Frost, he alighted upon a program that is not a mere generation removed from glory but closer to a lifetime. The Golden Gophers, who finished 5-7 in Fleck’s 2017 debut season, last won a share of the Big Ten in 1967 (their last Rose Bowl visit was six years before that).

 

The Golden Gophers opened a new indoor practice facility and a new training complex last winter. And, unlike Nebraska, they are not playing in front of season-ticket holders who recall when the program was a national power … which is both a blessing and a curse.

https://theathletic.com/330752/2018/05/06/minnesota-golden-gophers-football-season-preview-depth-chart-schedule/

 

 

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Athlon: 2018 Gophers Preview and Prediction

P.J. Fleck's last program (Western Michigan) improved its win total by seven games from his first year to the second season. A similar jump in Minneapolis is unlikely, but improvement should be noticeable. Minnesota's bowl hopes rest on QB play after this team threw just seven touchdown passes in league play last fall. Fleck is counting redshirt freshman Tanner Morgan to claim the job. Quarterback isn't the only question mark on offense. This unit needs more playmakers to emerge to complement wide receiver Tyler Johnson and running back Rodney Smith. Additionally, the line returns only one player who started every game last fall. The defense -- which allowed only 22.8 points per game in 2017 -- is solid, but it won't matter much in Big Ten play if the offense doesn't take a big step forward.

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/minnesota-football-2018-gophers-preview-and-prediction

 

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SBNation: Why we should have patience with P.J. Fleck in Year 2

You have to say this for Fleck: he’s not one for short-term solutions. Even if it means losses in the interim, and even if it means youth movements or trial and error, he’s going to take his time figuring out solutions.

At his last job, short-term pain meant long-term domination. He won just three of his first 17 games at Western Michigan, then went 27-8. His recruiting was too strong for the rest of the MAC, and the freshmen who were overmatched in 2013 began 2016 13-0.

Through one year at Minnesota, then, you could say that things are going according to plan. Fleck, the most energetic, boat-rowingest coachin the conference, went with youth in certain units — freshmen and sophomores accounted for the top four WR targets, 20 of 60 offensive line starts, and three of the top four linebackers, and three freshmen saw rotation in the defensive backfield. And his Gophers fared quite a bit better than his Broncos did in 2013.

https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2018/6/25/17473696/minnesota-gophers-football-2018-preview-schedule-roster

 

 

 

More to come...

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Just now, Redux said:

 

It's incredibly top heavy over there

Agreed...and it is more a comment on how bad Bo and more so Riley were that somehow NW, Minny, Iowa, Purdue and Illinois are now these "toss up" games

Just now, Nebfanatic said:

The 3 crappy teams?

I guess right now, to me, it looks like Wisconsin it the only "good" team in the east.  

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2 minutes ago, teachercd said:

Agreed...and it is more a comment on how bad Bo and more so Riley were that somehow NW, Minny, Iowa, Purdue and Illinois are now these "toss up" games

I guess right now, to me, it looks like Wisconsin it the only "good" team in the east.  

? Wisconsin is in the west division

 

East

 

OSU

MSU

PSU

Michigan

Indiana

Rutgers

Maryland

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Just now, teachercd said:

Ha...sorry!  I meant the west!  

 

One of those days!

:thumbs i feel ya. And I also feel ya on the West! Frost has to be thinking of division dominance once he gets this thing rolling. No reason we can't be in Indy 4 out of 5 years once things are in place.

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Just now, Nebfanatic said:

:thumbs i feel ya. And I also feel ya on the West! Frost has to be thinking of division dominance once he gets this thing rolling. No reason we can't be in Indy 4 out of 5 years once things are in place.

No kidding, I totally agree.  So much of it depends on the cross over games.

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1 minute ago, teachercd said:

No kidding, I totally agree.  So much of it depends on the cross over games.

Definitely. Iowa has a pretty favorable cross over schedule this year and ours is about as tough as you can get. It would suck to beat Iowa head to head and watch them go to Indy.

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