Football is a really simple game that requires a few things to be successful at the college level. I don’t just mean successful in regards to winning championships or eight or nine games, I mean, you need a few things just to win five or six games to get to coveted bowl eligibility and feel good about yourself moving forward. I don’t think that Minnesota has those things. The offense was abysmal. However, the defense ranked ninth in Big Ten scoring, but that was good enough for 36th nationally, which is pretty damn good for a 5-7 team.
NCAA ’19 Prestige Ranking
Two stars out of six. Minnesota has done nothing of note since their time as a dominant force a million years ago. They haven’t won the Big Ten since 1967. They haven’t done anything impressive in the last, what? Fifty years?
I don’t think PJ Fleck can get them competitive in the Big Ten West either.
Projected Returning Starters
Offense: 6
RB Rodney Smith, WR Tyler Johnson, LT Donnell Greene, C Jared Weyler, RG Conner Olson, RT Sam Schlueter
The offense was awful in 2017. RB Shannon Brooks will miss the season with an injury that could alter the course of Minnesota’s season. Rodney Smith is a tank and should have a solid senior season. Most of his offensive line comes back and should support a rushing attack that put up just over 180 yards per game.
Minnesota has one scholarship QB on the roster after Vic Viramontes decided to leave. Viramontes had an unspectacular spring and decided to transfer out of the Gopher program. The QB position is a disaster. Tanner Morgan had a good spring, walk-on Zack Annexstad had good spring practices. Does that give you any confidence in the QB position?
Minnesota is an injury away from running the single-wing on offense.
Defense: 6
DE Carter Coughlin, LB Thomas Barber, Kamal Martin, CB Kiondre Thomas, Antonio Shenault, S Jacob Huff
The Gophers actually fielded a pretty solid defense last season. Minnesota gave up more than thirty points five times. That isn’t good. The most they gave up in any one game was 39, a shutout loss to Northwestern. The defense had to put up with a multitude of offensive struggles. If the offense were better, it would help the defense. However, I don’t see the offense improving enough to help this unit. The numbers should be pretty similar to what last year was.
Special Teams: 2
Emmit Carpenter is back. He made 14-20 field goals last year. Needs to return to the form he was in when he won the Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the Year Award for the Big Ten’s best kicker. Jacob Herber, the punter, is a two sport athlete as a baseball player. He can punt both rugby-style and traditionally. Hopefully for the Gophers he’ll be fine. Rodney Smith could handle return duties again. Given the injury to Shannon Brooks, they might need to find someone else to shoulder the returns.
Key Losses: Shannon Brooks
Brooks is a stud. I’ve long been a fan of his style and Minnesota will certainly miss him. This offense would benefit a ton from having two great running backs, but without Brooks, the offensive situation looks that much more dire. His injury could not have come at a worse time.
Five Year Recruiting Rank (Bill Connelly): 48
PJ Fleck can flat-out recruit. He signed one of the best classes in school history after only one full year. Recruiting to Minnesota might be tough but Fleck can certainly sell his program. He will still need a QB if he ever wants to be competitive in the Big Ten.
Alcohol Prediction:
Keystone Light. It is awful. It’s not expensive but you get what you pay for. I have no idea if they’ll be bad or decent. Go into this season with no expectations and you won’t be disappointed.
Outlook:
Road Games against Maryland, Ohio State, Nebraska, Illinois and Wisconsin are all more than likely losses. Their best chance to win on the road is Illinois, but I think Illinois is the better football team. Home tilts against Fresno State and Miami University (Love & Honor) are tough non-conference matchups. Fresno State is good and Miami should contend for the MAC title with a healthy Gus Ragland. Minnesota also gets Iowa, Indiana, Purdue and Northwestern. I have a really hard time seeing them winning more than three games. If there’s no improvement or hope at QB, this season could be ugly. If they could find a way to beat Wisconsin on the road to finish the season, I would be absolutely ecstatic.
Look forward to hockey season.