Minnesota will not be able to hang with us, although it might be interesting for a while.
Our offense actually might do better without a lead
Game 9: PSU @ Minnesota, TCF Stadium, Nov 9th, noon EST
- Thread starter Judge Smails
- Start date
Minnesota will not be able to hang with us, although it might be interesting for a while.
Our offense actually might do better without a lead
Admittedly know nothing about Minnesota so I looked up there depth chart.
I’ve heard of veteran teams but this defense is ridiculous: 8 senior starters, 5 or 6 of them 5th years
https://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/depth-chart/minnesota/91188
I’ve heard of veteran teams but this defense is ridiculous: 8 senior starters, 5 or 6 of them 5th years
https://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/depth-chart/minnesota/91188
DE DeLattiboudere -- he redshirted his true freshmen year
DT Renner -- he redshirted his true freshmen year
DT Dew-Treadway -- he redshirted due to a broken foot his soph season, and after graduating from Notre Dame, he's playing as a graduate student
DE Coughling -- he's a true senior
LB Barber -- he's a true senior
LB Martin -- he's a true senior
CB Williamson -- he played 2 years at Florida, transferred after his sophomore year, sat out his junior year due to NCAA transfer rules, played as a RS junior at Minny, and is a RS senior this year
Thanks Tom. Can add in CB St-Juste, a grad transfer from the fighting Jimmy’s
Actually, you can't include him if you go by your earlier criteria of seniors. While St-Juste is a grad transfer, here's his history:
2017 - played at Michigan
2018 - redshirted
2019 -- graduated from Michigan & transferred to Minny in the summer
As such, including this season, he has 3 years of eligibility remaining.
that’s interesting... I would have wagered that it happened in 1997 but that date was 1 win shy
On 11/8/97.
8-0 FSU vs 8-0 UNC
8-0 Michigan vs 7-0 PSU
Wow, kudos to him. I see now he was a grayshirt kid at UM, so presumably had some prep credits transfer. Impressive nonetheless.
Plus Antoine Winfield is a 4th year sophomore, Coney Durr is a 4th year junior as well as Kiondre Thomas who started the first 4.
So for our first 4 games, 10 of our 11 starters were 4th year guys with one second year.
Last edited:
It's certainly impressive. I don't know the specifics in St-Juste's case (academically). He did attend HS in Canada, and in some of the provinces (particularly Ontario) there was a tradition of attending HS an extra year. Ontario has taken efforts in recent years to try to change that tradition, but reportedly their efforts have not been nearly as effective as they had hoped or planned.
https://www.twincities.com/2019/10/...ng-road-from-montreal-to-michigan-to-gophers/
"In Quebec, high school ends in the 11th grade, so most students go on to a junior college-like system called CEGEP. St-Juste attended and played for Vieux Montreal Spartans, one of the best programs in the top tier."
Statistically, Minnesota is right there with Penn State. They have a better rushing offense, though the yards per carry is the same as PSU (4.4 ypc). Their QB Tanner Morgan, is 2nd in the Big Ten with a pass efficiency of 180. On defense, their rush defense is 7th in the Big Ten at 117 yards per game at 3.6 yards per carry allowed. Their pass defense efficiency is #2 in the Big Ten, right in front of Penn State, at 103.0. So they are a complete team, on both sides of the ball. One possible area to exploit? They are 2nd to last in net punting in the Big Ten. If they give Hamler low line drives with time to return it, he's going to house one that finally isn't called back via penalty. The one criticism you could make is that they haven't played a Top 50 offense or defense yet this season. But playing this game at their home, they are going to be a very tough out.
Big Ten Stats
Scoring Offense
#2 PSU 38.5
#3 Minn 38.4
Scoring Defense
#2 PSU 9.6
#6 Minn 20.0
Total Offense
#4 PSU 422.1
#3 Minn 429.5
Total Defense
#5 PSU 280.0
#6 Minn 283.8
Rush Offense
#7 PSU 170.1 4.4 ypc
#3 Minn 204.5 4.4 ypc
Rush Defense
#1 PSU 68.4 2.0 ypc
#7 Minn 117.4 3.6 ypc
Pass Offense
#3 PSU 252.0
#7 Minn 225.0
Pass Defense
#9 PSU 211.6
#4 Minn 166.4
Pass Efficiency
#3 PSU 159.3
#2 Minn 182.0
Pass Defense Efficiency
#4 PSU 104.0
#3 Minn 103.0
Sacks
#3 PSU 3.8 per game
#7 Minn 2.4 per game
Punting Net
#8 PSU 39.0
#13 Minn 36.7
3rd Down Conversions
#7 PSU 40%
#2 Minn 50%
Big Ten Stats
Scoring Offense
#2 PSU 38.5
#3 Minn 38.4
Scoring Defense
#2 PSU 9.6
#6 Minn 20.0
Total Offense
#4 PSU 422.1
#3 Minn 429.5
Total Defense
#5 PSU 280.0
#6 Minn 283.8
Rush Offense
#7 PSU 170.1 4.4 ypc
#3 Minn 204.5 4.4 ypc
Rush Defense
#1 PSU 68.4 2.0 ypc
#7 Minn 117.4 3.6 ypc
Pass Offense
#3 PSU 252.0
#7 Minn 225.0
Pass Defense
#9 PSU 211.6
#4 Minn 166.4
Pass Efficiency
#3 PSU 159.3
#2 Minn 182.0
Pass Defense Efficiency
#4 PSU 104.0
#3 Minn 103.0
Sacks
#3 PSU 3.8 per game
#7 Minn 2.4 per game
Punting Net
#8 PSU 39.0
#13 Minn 36.7
3rd Down Conversions
#7 PSU 40%
#2 Minn 50%
https://www.espn.com/college-footba...week-9?platform=amp&__twitter_impression=true
Are we realizing how big Minnesota-Penn State is going to be?
“The Big Ten is narrowly behind the SEC in terms of average SP+ rating. The usual suspects -- Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan -- are ranked pretty highly as always, but another fascinating (and run-heavy!) team has joined the party recently. After stumbling through the first month, barely beating South Dakota State, Fresno State and Georgia Southern and nearly blowing a huge lead against Purdue, Minnesota has caught fire.
P.J. Fleck's Gophers have yet to play anybody better than Nebraska -- go ahead and stock your "AIN'T PLAYED NOBODY" response cannons -- but I always say that how you've played is more important than who you've played, and Minnesota has been brilliant.
In the past four weeks, Minnesota has beaten Illinois, Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland by an average score of 42-10. I said in the preseason that the Gophers were the high-upside up-and-comer that we were pretending Nebraska was, and after a sloppy start, they have gone about proving that upside once more.
Now comes the hard part. After a bye, Minnesota plays host to Penn State in the biggest game in the 10-year history of TCF Bank Stadium. It's probably the biggest Minnesota home game in any stadium since ... 2004 (No. 18 Minnesota vs. Penn State)? 1985 (No. 20 Minnesota vs. No. 9 Ohio State)? 1968 (No. 16 Minnesota vs. No. 2 USC)? 1961 (No. 5 Minnesota vs. No. 7 Purdue)? A long time, no matter what.”
Are we realizing how big Minnesota-Penn State is going to be?
“The Big Ten is narrowly behind the SEC in terms of average SP+ rating. The usual suspects -- Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan -- are ranked pretty highly as always, but another fascinating (and run-heavy!) team has joined the party recently. After stumbling through the first month, barely beating South Dakota State, Fresno State and Georgia Southern and nearly blowing a huge lead against Purdue, Minnesota has caught fire.
P.J. Fleck's Gophers have yet to play anybody better than Nebraska -- go ahead and stock your "AIN'T PLAYED NOBODY" response cannons -- but I always say that how you've played is more important than who you've played, and Minnesota has been brilliant.
In the past four weeks, Minnesota has beaten Illinois, Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland by an average score of 42-10. I said in the preseason that the Gophers were the high-upside up-and-comer that we were pretending Nebraska was, and after a sloppy start, they have gone about proving that upside once more.
Now comes the hard part. After a bye, Minnesota plays host to Penn State in the biggest game in the 10-year history of TCF Bank Stadium. It's probably the biggest Minnesota home game in any stadium since ... 2004 (No. 18 Minnesota vs. Penn State)? 1985 (No. 20 Minnesota vs. No. 9 Ohio State)? 1968 (No. 16 Minnesota vs. No. 2 USC)? 1961 (No. 5 Minnesota vs. No. 7 Purdue)? A long time, no matter what.”
This is one time I put little credibility in a stat comparison because of the huge difference in quality of opponents. Let's flip schedules and say PSU plays MN's schedule to date and vice versa. Would PSU still be 8-0? Yes - undoubtedly and our stats would be even better than they are now both offensively and defensively.
On the other side, if MN played Pitt, Iowa, Michigan, and MSU - would they still be 8-0? HIGHLY DOUBTFUL and I believe their offensive stats would be significantly lower than they are currently ranked.
I know on any given Saturday in college football - anybody can win. I don't discount the possibility of MN beating us as I believe they are a "good" team. But, we are "very good" and as long as we don't make a lot of stupid mistakes (and we did make a lot of stupid mistakes this past Saturday), we should win - comfortably.
That’s actually a level headed and intelligent way of evaluating the above mentioned statistics. Sadly I really don’t see you having much of a future here.
My buddy mentioned to me that the BTN 60 minute version of the PSU/MSU game shortened the game by not showing our 2nd touchdown drive at all, yet showed many pointless drives that ended in a punt. WTF is the point of that? The BTN sucks.
Not to be too cynical, but it would seem to set up for Fleck having a very good year with a very experienced team, and then getting out of town for a high profile job, meanwhile leaving the next guy with an inexperienced team.
