Big Ten: Minnesota
Let’s use the same philosophy that put Northwestern in this spot last season.
It’s hard to get the same breaks twice.
Give 2019 Minnesota credit for coming through against a strong Penn State team, and there wasn’t anything fluky in the win over Auburn. However, it got to start the season against South Dakota State, Fresno State and Georgia Southern.
This year, the non-conference games are against Florida Atlantic, Tennessee Tech, and BYU. They should be able to win all three of those, but lose one, and the dynamic of the year changes.
And @Bryce_Witham stamps his name on history!! #OutbackBowlReplay pic.twitter.com/oCc6wevL2Y
— Minnesota Football (@GopherFootball) March 22, 2020
Last season, the Gophers got to fatten up on Purdue, Illinois, Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland in a slew of scrimmages to get ready for the big moment against Penn State. This time around, they have Iowa in Week 3, four road games in five weeks in October, and worst of all, the road games are rough.
They have to go to Wisconsin after playing at Maryland, and they get Illinois and Michigan State on the road in back-to-back weeks. Throw in the date at Nebraska, and the home game against Michigan, and forget about another 11-2 run.
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Don’t expect the team to totally fall off the map – the fundamentals of PJ Fleck’s program are strong – but losing S Antoine Winfield and linebackers Carter Coughlin and Kamal Martin really, really hurts.
The offense as whole, though, should be terrific, and the defense gets back enough to be okay, but no one will overlook Minnesota anyone, and again, that schedule …
The boat won’t sink, but it’ll have to row upstream.