Minnesota
Golden Gophers
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October 28th, 2006
Ohio Stadium - Columbus, Ohio
It’s homecoming weekend at Ohio State. There is nothing like a sunny weekend on a crisp autumn day for a college football game. Unfortunately we are not going to be that lucky as per what the weather folks say. The best we can hope for is dry! But the one thing that tops off a homecoming weekend, regardless of the weather, is a big victory over a Big Ten opponent. Ohio State will get that opportunity as the Minnesota Golden Gophers come into Columbus.
In recent years, it seemed there was a familiar pattern to Minnesota’s season. First they would rack up big numbers against weak opponents in September (Louisiana-Lafayette, Texas State, Tulsa, Murray State, Florida Atlantic to name a few). Since 2001, they are 16-1 against those non-conference powerhouses (only loss was to Toledo in 2001) and they outscored the opposition 613-253. Then they would take some of that steam into the Big Ten schedule and start with a win or two. That is of course until they hit one of the big boys like Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State. In that same span they are 7-13 in their last four games of the season, limping into a December Bowl game. This year is a little different. They have started limping a bit earlier this time around. After the standard non-conference drubbing of Temple 62-0, the Gophers opened the conference with a loss to Purdue. But maybe they were looking ahead to Michigan. But the Wolverines avenged the late game lose to the Gophers in 2005 by beating them 28-14. They tried to bring it back together the next week against Penn State but the Lions won in overtime as the Gophers missed an extra point after their OT touchdown. Two weeks ago against Wisconsin, they lost 48-12 and really wasn’t as close as the score sounds. Certainly they would get healthy last week against North Dakota State but managed to win only because they blocked a last second field goal.
So now they find themselves 3-5 for the season and 0-4 in the Big Ten. With games at Ohio State and Michigan State, as well as home contests against Indiana and Iowa, it is going to be a tough climb for the Gophers to get into the bowl picture.
Last season the final score was OSU 45 Minnesota 31, so the Buckeyes can not take this team lightly in spite of their record. Minnesota racked up the second most yardage ever yielded by an Ohio State defense. But for the most part, the Buckeyes kept the Gopher ground game in check forcing Cupito to pass. This year OSU is probably more ready to defend the pass and I do not expect Minnesota to have as much success as in 2005. And if the winds end up being as bad as predicted for the game, no one will do too much passing. If OSU can get and early lead look for more defensive interceptions for the
If you go back to the 2000 season, the Buckeyes were starting to roll mid season. After a huge road win in Wisconsin, the Buckeyes had rose to a #5 ranking and they had Gophers coming into the ‘shoe’ where they had not won since the invention of electricity. But Minnesota left with a 29-17 win and the Buckeyes struggled the rest of the year, only covering the spread one time the rest of the season. As everyone knows now, there was internal strife in the OSU program which ultimately lead to the firing of Coach Cooper after the loss in the Outback Bowl. Meanwhile, Coach Mason had lead the Gophers to a 24-7 lead in the Micron PC bowl and was looking strong at half time. Right then I made the comment “If he goes on and wins this game big, he just might take that momentum as his calling card for the OSU job, should it ever come open” Fortunately they went on lose that game 38-30 in typical Mason fashion. Pile up a ton of yards but give up a ton as well. The rest is history now, the Buckeyes chose a Division II coach over Mason, he continues to pile up points and Tressel continues to pile up wins. To Coach Mason’s credit, he has taken the Golden Gophers to 7 bowl games in his 9 years. Previous to that, Minnesota have been to two bowl games since the 60’s. And he also remembers the quality of football in Ohio from his days on the OSU coaching staff. There are 17 Gopher players who hail from the Buckeye state. That is the most of any state on their roster with the exception of Minnesota.
For the past seven years, Minnesota has been one of the strongest offensive teams in the Big Ten and the nation. For the past three seasons they have had two running backs rush for over 1,000 yards. No other team in NCAA history has ever done that. But Laurence Maroney decided to forgo his senior season which left a big void. So far this year it has been Amir Pinnix leading the way, currently average 93 yds/game. Their string of dual 1,000 yard rushers will end this year but Pinnix should challenge that plateau this season as he presently has 747 yards to his credit. Minnesota is also the only team to have 2,000 rushing and 2,000 yards passing over the past seven years. Bryan Cupito is having a solid season and will break the 2,000 yards to at least hold up his part of the equation. His 134.12 passing rating is one of the best in the Big Ten, and most Buckeye fans will recall that he threw for just under 400 yards against the Buckeyes in 2005. Cupito has 4 interceptions in this campaign to go along with 11 TD’s. He is currently ranked fourth in the nation in career total offensive yards per play among all Division I players. Cupito is averaging 7.33 yards per play for his career which is fourth in the nation and second among Big Ten players behind only Ohio State’s Troy Smith.
Defensively the Gophers continue to give up a lot of points and yards. Their opponents are averaging 22 points a game and 390 yards. Mike Sherels is leading the team with 64 tackles and Willie Van Desteeg has the most tackles for a loss with 8 1/2. Jamal Harris leads them with 3 of the 77 interceptions the team has been able to get. Minnesota's opponents have had 18 fumbles but the Gophers have only managed to land on 8 of them. Still they are in the top ten in the Nation in turnover margin. If the wind does invade the stadium this Saturday, OSU will likely keep the ball on the ground or run a lot of crossing patterns, both of which should prove successful against the Gophers.
EXTRA POINT –
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Under Coach Mason the past seven years, the Gophers have averaged 239 yards rushing a game.
Under Coach Mason the past seven years, the Gophers have averaged 239 yards rushing a game.•The Gophers have three current members of the 1,000-yard career receiving club as last week Logan Payne joined Ernie Wheelwright and Matt Spaeth, who had already surpassed 1,000 yards for their career. Wheelwright ranks 10th all-time in yardage (1,397), Spaeth ranks 15th (1,168) and Payne is 19th at 1,008 career receiving yards.
The Gophers have three current members of the 1,000-yard career receiving club as last week Logan Payne joined Ernie Wheelwright and Matt Spaeth, who had already surpassed 1,000 yards for their career. Wheelwright ranks 10th all-time in yardage (1,397), Spaeth ranks 15th (1,168) and Payne is 19th at 1,008 career receiving yards.BOTTOM LINE – There is a reason why Ohio State chose Jim Tressel over Glen Mason. There is a reason why OSU has played in 3 BCS bowls (winning all) in the last four years while the Gophers have been to the Sun Bowl once and the Music City Bowl three times. The simple fact is Tressel is a better coach, and Ohio State is a better program, Andy Gieger made the right choice with this higher and we will get to enjoy Coach Tressel and his sweater vest on the sidelines for years to come. Pay no attention to all the rumors of him going to the Browns next season.
Prediction: OSU 41 Minnesota 6
