3-0.  At the end of the season, that will be the only relevant statistic from this week.  After an emotional win on the road versus Bowling Green, the youth and inexperience of the Gopher Football team was apparent versus the Montana State Bobcats.  Despite numerous mistakes, Minnesota was still able to walk away with a win.  Perhaps a disappointing win versus Montana State will build character for the Gopher squad.  Here’s a few observations from Saturday:

Youth and Inexperience - The Gophers are one of the youngest teams in Division IA football.  In fact, they have the third fewest seniors of any Division IA team.  I can count ten true freshmen who have seen the field.  Most notable is that the offensive line has started and played a few redshirt freshmen.  Of any position in football besides quarterback, the offensive line benefits most from age and experience.

Defensive Chemistry - I’m able to count eight players who have seen the field on defense who were not wearing maroon and gold last year.  There is undoubtedly an upgrade in talent on the field with the addition of Tramaine Brock, Traye Simmons, Simoni Lawrence, Marcus Sherels and Cedric McKinley among others.  On several of the successful Montana State passing plays, including the first quarter touchdown, there were breakdowns in zone coverage.  The good news is that our defensive players were not beat by better athletes.  They made mistakes in coverage assignments.  It’s important to remember that many of these players have only been working together since August.  As the season progresses and players acclimate themselves to the system and to each other, expect fewer breakdowns in coverage.

Wide Receivers - Eric Decker is having an All American season.  Additional wide receivers need to step up and become threats before entering Big Ten play.  I’m still optimistic that the true freshmen quartet of Brandon Green, Xzavian Brandon, Brodrick Smith and Da’Jon McKnight are learning the complex Gopher spread offense and fine tuning their skills.  Adam Weber will need more options than Eric Decker and Jack Simmons to be successful in the Big Ten.

Deleon Eskridge - Deleon Eskridge had a great game with 114 yards rushing and three touchdowns.  When he was hit, he would continue to move forward.  He made great cuts and has Division I speed.  My previous post analyzed the options for replacing Duane Bennett, and it appears that the answer is Deleon Eskridge.

After last week’s victory at Bowling Green, it was easy to overlook that the Gophers are a young and inexperienced team.  Expect the Gophers to improve as the year progresses, but expect growing pains along the way.  The Golden Gopher Football blog gives a nice gameday recap including a statistical analysis.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.  Here’s a great video recap of the game: