Gopher Transfers, 2015 Schedule and Prediction
The Gopher football team opened up spots for three, new scholarship players after saying goodbye to transfers Desmaris Peppers (SO, DT) Connor Krizanic (RS FR, WR) and Dimonic Mckinzy (RS FR, QB).
Sites that track this stuff state that these transfers had been brewing before the bowl game and were most likely as a result of players not getting playing time or being so low on the depth chart that future playing time looked bleak.
No worries for the Gophers. Mckinzy was probably the most gifted athlete. He arrived just last January after early graduation from high school and was a speed demon, option-type quarterback. Much faster than Leidner or Streveler, we were told.
The Gophers should be good at wideout with a bevy of recruits and at least four players who redshirted. Upgrading this position has to be No. 1 for offensive success. Losing Maxx Williams to the NFL means we need a couple of go-to recievers to balance our run-heavy read option offense.
Mitch Leidner did look the part of a major college quarterback in the bowl loss to Missouri, getting 22 completions in 31 attempts. Fans are looking for him to have a better year as a junior next season when the schedule gets really tough (it's really the same as 2014 except we add a good Colorado State team and dropped San Jose).
Now looking at the schedule and prognosticating.
We open on September 3 at The Bank against a potentially top-ranked TCU team that decimated the Gophers 30-7 on the road in 2014. That's not going to go so well, but chalk up a major game out of the gate as a plus, getting the Gophers ready for the Big Ten instead of playing cream puffs as is usually the case. After that, we travel to face a 10-3 Colorado State squad that was ranked in the Top 25 late in 2014.
We do catch a break after those two games and should be 1-1 before facing Kent State and Ohio, mid-level MAC teams that should help the offense get untracked in tuneups before the BIG season. So we're 3-1 entering the conference.
Another break arrives as we start off with Northwestern and Purdue -- albeit on the road -- to begin conference play. I'm predicting 5-1 going into a home tilt with Nebraska, which has fallen to the rodents in each of last two seasons. A big game! As a homer, I say we win a close one and the fan base is really jazzed going into a bye week and the likes of hungry Michigan coming to The Bank with the Anointed One as coach. Toss-up here, but I havent drank that much Kill Kool Aid as we lose one to the Wolverines. Now we are 5-2.
Then things get really tough as we head to the Horseshoe to play the national champs in what I project will be a blowout loss. OSU will be undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the nation. So we're 5-3 and November continues tough games as we travel to hated Iowa the following week. However, we will win at Iowa to go 6-3 and climb into the Top 25. Cries for Kirk Ferentz's firing reach a zenith.
Visiting Illinois makes it payback time for Minnesota, which dropped a key game to the Illini on the road in 2014. This one is all Minnesota, setting up the Border Battle showdown with the Badgers on the final Saturday of the season at The Bank. Kill and Company are 0-4 against the Badgers, which have won 12 straight in the series. Minnesota comes up huge defensively for ONCE in the fourth quarter against Bucky and gets the win to finish 8-3.
Lose one to either Iowa or Wisconsin and we are decent 7-4. Either way we go to a bowl in a warm climate (Tampa, San Diego?) and maybe find a way to win one for a change.
I'll be back to recap National Signing day after February 4th. It appears Minnesota is headed for its usual 50-something best recruiting class. No worries, Kill and Company get alot out of their players and truly develop them.
Sites that track this stuff state that these transfers had been brewing before the bowl game and were most likely as a result of players not getting playing time or being so low on the depth chart that future playing time looked bleak.
No worries for the Gophers. Mckinzy was probably the most gifted athlete. He arrived just last January after early graduation from high school and was a speed demon, option-type quarterback. Much faster than Leidner or Streveler, we were told.
The Gophers should be good at wideout with a bevy of recruits and at least four players who redshirted. Upgrading this position has to be No. 1 for offensive success. Losing Maxx Williams to the NFL means we need a couple of go-to recievers to balance our run-heavy read option offense.
Mitch Leidner did look the part of a major college quarterback in the bowl loss to Missouri, getting 22 completions in 31 attempts. Fans are looking for him to have a better year as a junior next season when the schedule gets really tough (it's really the same as 2014 except we add a good Colorado State team and dropped San Jose).
Now looking at the schedule and prognosticating.
We open on September 3 at The Bank against a potentially top-ranked TCU team that decimated the Gophers 30-7 on the road in 2014. That's not going to go so well, but chalk up a major game out of the gate as a plus, getting the Gophers ready for the Big Ten instead of playing cream puffs as is usually the case. After that, we travel to face a 10-3 Colorado State squad that was ranked in the Top 25 late in 2014.
We do catch a break after those two games and should be 1-1 before facing Kent State and Ohio, mid-level MAC teams that should help the offense get untracked in tuneups before the BIG season. So we're 3-1 entering the conference.
Another break arrives as we start off with Northwestern and Purdue -- albeit on the road -- to begin conference play. I'm predicting 5-1 going into a home tilt with Nebraska, which has fallen to the rodents in each of last two seasons. A big game! As a homer, I say we win a close one and the fan base is really jazzed going into a bye week and the likes of hungry Michigan coming to The Bank with the Anointed One as coach. Toss-up here, but I havent drank that much Kill Kool Aid as we lose one to the Wolverines. Now we are 5-2.
Then things get really tough as we head to the Horseshoe to play the national champs in what I project will be a blowout loss. OSU will be undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the nation. So we're 5-3 and November continues tough games as we travel to hated Iowa the following week. However, we will win at Iowa to go 6-3 and climb into the Top 25. Cries for Kirk Ferentz's firing reach a zenith.
Visiting Illinois makes it payback time for Minnesota, which dropped a key game to the Illini on the road in 2014. This one is all Minnesota, setting up the Border Battle showdown with the Badgers on the final Saturday of the season at The Bank. Kill and Company are 0-4 against the Badgers, which have won 12 straight in the series. Minnesota comes up huge defensively for ONCE in the fourth quarter against Bucky and gets the win to finish 8-3.
Lose one to either Iowa or Wisconsin and we are decent 7-4. Either way we go to a bowl in a warm climate (Tampa, San Diego?) and maybe find a way to win one for a change.
I'll be back to recap National Signing day after February 4th. It appears Minnesota is headed for its usual 50-something best recruiting class. No worries, Kill and Company get alot out of their players and truly develop them.
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