Smoke & Mirrors 2022 edition

Their Dfense seems to pretty solid. Should keep them in most games.

big_g wrote:

They do it too, they just got burned by lesser teams.

Yes, that’s correct. Iowa has an in-state non-conference game with Iowa State every season so that isn’t anything new.

I don’t know much about Michigan State, but the level of competition is about to increase ten fold in a week.

Western Michigan Akron 2-0 Power 5 Washington. Ranked 41st in the country.
TBD.

Being that after this week most teams will begin conference play for the rest of the year, if there are still any folks out there who believe the Gophers are the only team with cupcakes on their schedule I encourage you to go look at scores from today.

Michigan State lost 38-29 at Washington last night.

gimruis wrote:

Michigan State lost 38-29 at Washington last night.

State Ranked #11…. way off !!! The Huskies are a good team, especially at Home. Penix is impressive.

Dan wrote:

Being that after this week most teams will begin conference play for the rest of the year, if there are still any folks out there who believe the Gophers are the only team with cupcakes on their schedule I encourage you to go look at scores from today.

I heard a discussion about this on the radio and the trend started in the 1990s. The idea for a college football program was to get the best possible bowl game they could. This translates into a better record as 6 wins are needed to be bowl eligible. I’m assuming the programs believe they are better off playing a better team in a bowl game vs the non-conference schedule. Even now an 11-1 record for the elite programs could bump you out of the national picture and 10-2 would certainly bump you out. Expanding the playoffs would likely a good thing and possibly open the door for a few more higher profile matchups during the season. It wasn’t that long ago when only 2 teams made the playoffs.

Bad news on Autman-Bell who got injured and out for the year, Gophers will ask for a 7th year of eligibility. Good luck on recovery to the soon to be Doctor…

Yeah that is a real bummer about Bell. He was poised to have a big year. Now we need Wright to step up who has shown glimpses. You just cannot stop Ibrahim however. That kid is a beast but we have a very good O-line.

It just seems like when we got a chance to be good, somebody goes down. Hopefully they can have some of there other receivers, pick up the slack. This weeks game against Michigan St. is a big one.

17-0 early in the 2nd quarter. Didn’t see this coming. Either Sparty just isn’t very good or Goldy is a lot better than we thought.

gimruis wrote:

17-0 early in the 2nd quarter. Didn’t see this coming. Either Sparty just isn’t very good or Goldy is a lot better than we thought.

A bit of both I’m guessing, regardless, this is pretty impressive…

Some team will be coming for Fleck at the end of the year..pretty much guaranteed at this point.

stout93 wrote:

Some team will be coming for Fleck at the end of the year..pretty much guaranteed at this point.

I’m hoping his ego keeps him here to build something entirely his own rather than the next guy at a traditional power. Plus he has a big buyout and I believe a stipulation In his divorce with his kids mom that he has to stay in the Midwest. I don’t think Notre Dame or Michigan are opening up…

Absolutely dominating today, fun to watch!

Impressive game today.

Not a criticism but a question—- it seems like the gophers have a LOT of guys playing in their 5th or 6th year and then I saw the comment about autman-bell maybe coming back for a 7th. Is this common in college football? As a 23-25yo man it’s strange to be playing college football in my opinion.

dirtywater wrote:

Not a criticism but a question—- it seems like the gophers have a LOT of guys playing in their 5th or 6th year and then I saw the comment about autman-bell maybe coming back for a 7th. Is this common in college football? As a 23-25yo man it’s strange to be playing college football in my opinion.

I am pretty sure all ncaa athletes were granted an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic. It’s possible to red shirt at least once too, either because of injury or lack of playing time. Not sure how Autumn-Bell is eligible for perhaps a 7th season. That seems especially unusual.

dirtywater wrote:

Impressive game today.

Not a criticism but a question—- it seems like the gophers have a LOT of guys playing in their 5th or 6th year and then I saw the comment about autman-bell maybe coming back for a 7th. Is this common in college football? As a 23-25yo man it’s strange to be playing college football in my opinion.

Very common and it used to be dueto freshmen redshirting and medical redshirting. Now guys were given an extra Covid year as well, so that’s how it got to 7 or even 8 is possible (freshmen, 2 medical and a Covid).

Gophers should win the west pretty easily. Chip chair and a chance against Ohio state that they played tough last year and we’re looking at a Natty boys. 😜

I agree, they should win the west and at least play in the big ten championship this season. I’m guessing the opponent will be Ohio State or Michigan and should they beat one of them, they would place a berth in the Rose Bowl. I don’t think they would end up high enough in the college football rankings to qualify for the 4 team playoff though. They just don’t play enough quality teams to move high enough.

Lots of season left, Penn state, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Don’t sleep on Illinois, but this is the most complete team I have seen.

Regarding Autman-Bell, my guess is he had a freshman redshirt, then the extra year of eligibility from COVID, now a likely medical redshirt, and there’s your 7 years.

But if he’s really that good why would he not look at going pro??

Today’s game was awesome. Too bad MSU backups scored on Gopher backups because a shutout would’ve been nice, but that defense is really solid.

Tons of positives from the game. My hope is there were some Big 10 coaches who had been thinking “MN will be easy, we’ll stack the box and contain Mo, especially with Autman-Bell out, and we’ll make Morgan throw” and then after watching today’s film they say “f&*k.”

I know he’s been around for awhile but this is one of the better games I’ve seen from MOrgan. Especially considering he’s had NFL pros like Bateman and Tyler Johnson before. Looks like a blowout but early on when they were going with their initial game script and plan he made some very key throws.

Penn State ranked 14 going into today and they’ve got 2 weeks to move up a little. I see a top-10 PSU going up against a ranked 6-0 Gophers on a Saturday night in a huge game. I don’t see the Gophers winning but this is a fun season to watch.

glenn57 wrote:

But if he’s really that good why would he not look at going pro??

You talking Autman-Bell?

It’s hard to say, but the Gophers are well ahead of anyone else in the West.

The Badgers offense is led by a stud 18 year old RB (no lie he is 18) and absolutely nothing else.

Iowa’s offense is garbage and is out there trying to not lose them games.

I’ll take Ohio State over the Gophers in the Big 10 Title Game 37-14. PJ will be back rowing the canoe next year…not because he isn’t interested in moving up, but rather because fewer big jobs are predicted to be open than average years.

Dan wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>glenn57 wrote:</div>
But if he’s really that good why would he not look at going pro??

You talking Autman-Bell?

yes!!

Just my opinion, guess, but after last year I thought that with a good 2022 season he’d be possibly a mid-to-late-round pick, but again that was after a decent career AND having a similar/decent 2022. So being kind of on the fringe and then losing this year to injury I don’t really think he’d be drafted, so I think it makes sense from his perspective to come back.

glenn57 wrote:

But if he’s really that good why would he not look at going pro??

He wants to get his degree.

This is a good looking football team, really fun to watch. Not sure what the rest of the season holds, but PJ has this squad playing at a high level.

Nice butt kicking of Mi State. Gophers are now a ranked team, best they’ve looked in a long time. Smoke and mirrors is working!!