Buck Bravo

When looking back upon this season, defeating Bowling Green by a score of 42-17 will likely stand out as a big step in Tim Brewster’s rebuilding process.  Here are my thoughts from my post previewing the game:

The Gopher offense should have a strong showing.  Will the Gophers demonstrate defensive improvement versus last year with the addition of JUCO players and new defensive coordinator Ted Roof?  That question may determine the outcome of the game.

Adam Weber has come of age at quarterback.  His passes were crisp, timed well, and carefully placed to avoid turnovers.  Most importantly, his offense had 0 turnovers.  Eric Decker looked like an All American with athletic catches, explosive bursts of speed after the catch, and hard-nosed physical play.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching Weber make a perfect option pitch to Decker for a touchdown.  Weber went to Mounds View High School, where the quarterback option is a way of life.  He’s probably been running that play since junior high.  Ben Kuznia also impressed me with precise route running, clutch catches, and great downfield blocking.  Duane Bennett exhibited multi-dimensional talent with his receiving, rushing, and pass-blocking.  Shady Salamon was attacking the line of scrimmage, avoiding direct hits by the defense, and pushing forward after contact.  Even though he’s a true freshman, he looked like an experienced veteran.  I have no idea what a VO2MAX test is, but here’s a clip of Salamon’s:

The biggest issues that I have with the offense are related to injuries.  If the Gophers lose Duane Bennett, Ned Tavale, or Jeff Tow-Arnett to Saturday’s injuries the depth carts will be tested.  Bennett is having an MRI on his knee, which doesn’t sound good.

Ted Roof’s defense was vastly improved versus last year’s Bowling Green game.  I thought that Roof did a very good job of calling the right defensive formations to stop Bowling Green.  Most of Bowling Green’s big plays appeared to be due to mistakes by our players or the athleticism of Bowling Green.  The defense definitely has a swagger in that they thrive off of hard hits and physical play.  Tramaine Brock was all over the field.  Simoni Lawrence was hitting like a Mack truck.  The defensive line was tough and relentless.  Lee Campbell made some big hits and plugged up the middle of the field.  The defense is still young and inexperienced, which led to some breakdowns in coverage and gap assignments.  JUCOs Tramaine Brock, Traye Simmons, and Simoni Lawrence have given the defense a shot of adrenaline.  However, there were still too many successful Bowling Green plays that were due to lack of athleticism on the Gopher’s defense.  Bowling Green is a team with athletic players, but there’s definitely a need for the Gophers to bring in more defensive talent.  Overall, our defense is much better than last year and should be in the middle of the Big Ten pack come the end of non-conference play.

ESPNU displayed an interesting statistic during the game: The Gophers have the third fewest seniors on the roster of any Division I team.  The Gophers should continue to become a better football team as they mature and acclimate themselves to playing as a team.  ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg mentioned that the Gopher’s are “turning the corner” at this page.  I’m going to make a bold prediction after last night’s game:

We’ll be going to Detroit, a cornucopia of tourism and winter delight, for the Motor City Bowl come December.

The Golden Gopher Football Blog gives a good recap of the game, and The Daily Gopher also has several talking points on the game.  Both are great reads.

The Minnesota Golden Gopher’s matchup versus Bowling Green will be a litmus test for the Gopher’s improvement since last year.  Bowling Green knocked off #25 Pittsburgh in their season opener, and after having defeated the Gophers at the Metrodome last year by a score of 32-31 in overtime will now host the Gophers at home.  Bowling Green fans are confident that they should win this game, as written in this Bowling Green blog.

Pittsburgh held Bowling Green to 64 yards rushing, but racked up 190 yards and two touchdowns passing.  The Gophers will need to stop the Bowling Green passing game in order to win.  Last week, the Gopher secondary gave up two big touchdowns on passing plays by Northern Illinois.  In both instances, the third defensive back Ryan Collado was beat.  Hopefully replacing Collado with Troy Stoudermire or Tim Dandridge will make a difference while in the nickel package. 

If the Gopher offense scores between 28 and 40 points and the Gopher defense can prevent big plays, I think that the Gophers have a legitimate chance of winning.  If David Pittman’s hamstring is finally healed, expect him to add another dangerous option for Adam Weber in addition to Eric Decker and Jack Simmons.  However, if the Gopher offense commits too many turnovers or the defense fails to stop the pass, Bowling Green could hand Minnesota their first loss of the year.  Bowling Green had an interception and forced three fumbles against Pittsburgh, which likely determined the outcome of the game. 

Expect Bowling Green to play slightly better than they did against the Gophers last year.  The Gopher offense should have a strong showing.  Will the Gophers demonstrate defensive improvement versus last year with the addition of JUCO players and new defensive coordinator Ted Roof?  That question may determine the outcome of the game.  I conducted a survey at the ever-reliable Gopher Hole chat board asking what area of the defense is the Gophers’ greatest weakness:

It looks like most Gopher fans think that the defensive line is our greatest liability.  Let’s hope that they can put some pressure on the Bowling Green quarterback and give the defensive backs a chance to attack some forced passes.

If the Gophers can avoid turnovers and control the Bowling Green passing game, this game could be a telltale sign of good things to come for the Golden Gophers.