Buck Bravo

The 2009 Insight Bowl was a great football game…for the first quarter. The game initially appeared to be a Wild West gunslinger showdown with two touchdowns scored in the first two minutes of the game. By the second quarter, Kansas began to pull away as their seasoned veterans overpowered a young Gopher team. Rather than a play-by-play analysis, let’s look at what was to dislike and like about the game:

Dislikes

1. Officiating - While fair officiating probably wouldn’t have made a difference in the outcome of the game, it definitely would have resulted in a closer matchup. In particular, the pass interference call against Steve Davis on third down in the second quarter was a morale-buster. On the replay, he did not hold or impede the receiver from catching the pass. To add insult to injury, the pass was also uncatchable. That bad call resulted in a Kansas touchdown and the beginning of the end for the Gophers. Kansas was not called for a single penalty in the first half despite chop-blocking or grabbing fist-fulls of Gopher jerseys on nearly every offensive play. Also, Minnesota was called for an illegal formation when Kansas had previously gotten away with the exact same violation.

2. Lack of a hurry-up offense - With 10:56 left in the game and down by fourteen points, the Gophers had the ball and were within striking distance of tying the game with two possessions. Minnesota ran almost five minutes off of the clock without scoring. They haven’t run a hurry-up offense all year, and extended huddles with the clock running during this drive was frustrating to watch. Hopefully Minnesota will develop a hurry-up offense for next year as players gain experience and maturity.

3. Todd Reesing’s accuracy - Kansas fans must have been ecstatic, but it was excruciatingly frustrating to watch him throw every pass right on the numbers.

Likes

1. Gophers’ offensive adjustments - Minnesota added some new formations to their offense that should compliment the core spread offense in years to come. Having a power running option for goal line and short yardage situations balances out some of the inherent shortcomings of the spread offense.

2. David Pittman - Pittman was injured for the majority of the 2008 season, but was finally let loose against Kansas. His first quarter bomb to Eric Decker was long overdue. Hopefully 2009 will have a healthy David Pittman more involved in the offense.

3. Da’Jon McKnight - He was only in the game for the final drive but he has the size, speed, and agility to justify predicting a bright future for the freshman wide receiver.

4. The Gophers’ offensive line - While not dominant, the Gophers’ offensive line exhibited improvements in footwork, balance, and positioning versus the Kansas defense. Adam Weber actually had time to pass the football.

All in all, the 2009 Insight Bowl was a disappointment for Minnesota. Nobody expected Minnesota to win, but a victory would have been a great capstone for the 2008 season. Gopher fans can take consolation in knowing that while the game ended in a loss, the 2008 season wasn’t even supposed to end with a bowl game.

The Insight Bowl on New Year’s Eve offers an interesting matchup between Kansas and Minnesota. Both teams enter the game with a record of 7-5, but Kansas is the consensus favorite to win. According to Vegas.com, Kansas is favored by 9-9.5 points and the game should be an offensive showdown with 58 total points expected in the game. While both teams had a record of 7-5, Kansas had a much more difficult schedule. In the following table, team rankings are from the CBSSports.com top 120 poll:

Kansas lost to 50th ranked South Florida by three points, and defeated every team ranked lower than 50th. Kansas lost to every team ranked higher than South Florida except 25th ranked Missouri, who they defeated by three points.

Minnesota’s win versus 69th ranked Illinois ended up being their strongest victory. Close games included a 3 point loss to 41st ranked Wisconsin and a last-play loss to 22nd ranked Northwestern. Minnesota also lost to 91st ranked Michigan by 23 points.

So how will Kansas and Minnesota match up?

The two factors that will likely determine the outcome of the game are 1) Success of the Kansas passing game, and 2) Minnesota’s ability to score. Here’s a table comparing rankings of the Kansas offense versus the Minnesota defense:

The Minnesota run defense has a slight advantage versus the Kansas rushing game. However, Kansas has a decisive advantage with their high octane passing attack. Kansas is 9th in the nation for receiving yards and 15th in the nation for receiving touchdowns. If the Kansas offense has success passing that these rankings would indicate, the Gophers won’t have a chance. The wild card in the above chart is Minnesota’s advantage in forcing turnovers versus Kansas’ offensive ranking in giving away the football. Let’s compare the Minnesota offense to the Kansas defense:

Minnesota has a slight advantage passing the ball versus the Kansas defense, but Kansas should be able to limit Minnesota’s rushing game. Minnesota had some key injuries to Eric Decker and the offensive line late in the season that likely account for poor offensive performance versus Michigan and Iowa. If the last month has allowed Minnesota to recover from injuries and show up at full strength, they should be able to score against Kansas.

The strong passing game of Kansas versus the Minnesota defense justifies Kansas’ status as the favorite for the game. In order for Minnesota to win, they will have to accomplish the following tasks: 1) Shut down the Kansas running game, forcing them to pass. 2) Make a few key interceptions and/or fumble recoveries on defense. 3) Field an offense that can perform similar to earlier in the season.

The Insight Bowl is not a meaningless game for Minnesota. Finishing the season with a win versus five straight losses would contribute to a positive start to the 2009 season. For a team that finished 1-11 last year, an 8-5 record with a win versus a Big 12 team would look good in the record books.