Each Wednesday, up through August, I’ll cover a different Big Ten team or Michigan non-conference opponent. This week, I’m covering the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who Michigan will battle for the 93^rd meeting of the Little Brown Jug.

To see all of our football previews, click here.

2012 Minnesota Golden Gophers Football Preview

2011 Record: 3-9 (2-6 Big Ten)

Head Coach: Jerry Kill, second season (3-9 at Minnesota) (130-82 overall)

Projected Returning Starters: 13

Spring Game: April 21^st (Maroon 3 Gold 0)

Notes: The Gophers haven’t been to the post-season since 2009, and haven’t been a consistent team since the Glen Mason era, which ended at the conclusion of the 2006 season. Minnesota has only finished above fifth, once, in the 2000s. Jerry Kill enters his second season at Minnesota, but Kill has a large amount of coaching experience, most of which is outside of the FBS level. The most important thing for Kill, right now, is to make sure he has his health under control, as he missed a few games last season.

BVTSB Take: Entering the 2011 season, Minnesota was largely considered to be tone of the worst Big Ten team, if not the worst. And that statement would be tough to argue with, especially after Minnesota’s drubbing at the hands of Michigan, to the tune of a 58-0 beatdown. Two more blowouts ensued, in losses to Purdue and Nebraska, but Minnesota was competitive in their final five games, with wins over Iowa and Illinois and a close loss to Michigan State. Minnesota was 2-3 in games decided by seven points or less in 2011. Starting quarterback MarQueis Gray, a wide receiver convert, returns this season, as does backup Max Shortell, who saw significant time last season. The Gophers return third leading rusher Donnell Kirkwood, but lose Duane Bennett to graduation. Receivers Brandon Green and Malcolm Moulton will need to step up this season, with the loss of Da’Jon McKnight to graduation. Minnesota struggled a lot on defense last season. Experience in the secondary will help, as the Gophers secondary was riddled with inexperience and injuries last season. The non-conference schedule is more forgiving, too. The Gophers open with games against UNLV, New Hampshire, Western Michigan, and Syracuse; the Gophers could very well win 3-4 of their non-conference games. If the Gophers win their first four, they could be looking at a post-season berth. For now, though, I’ll be conservative and say the Gophers improve on their 2011 win total in 2012.

2012 Early Projection: 4-8

To see the 2012 Big Ten composite schedule, click here.

What are your thoughts on Minnesota football? Tweet to us @BVTSB.

This week we stop by The Daily Gopher, SBN's Minnesota blogging outpost, for a chat with two of the site's writers, Jeff and Tom, about the plight of the Gophers these past few years and what the future holds.

--

Minnesota started the 2011 season so badly that halfway through most of the college football world was ready to proclaim this the worst major conference team of all time. I watched when Minnesota played Michigan, and I caught part of both the Nebraska and Purdue games. I didn't imagine that team would score twice the rest of the season, much less win twice down the stretch. What changed over the last month of the season?

Jeff - I'd say it changed after halftime of the Nebraska game, except that the Huskers were using the second half as a live scrimmage. I mean, Taylor Martinez was actually attempting passes -- and not the Nebraska shovel pass or lateral, an actual, really, really ugly over-hand sling-shot type thing past the line of scrimmage that only Martinez can throw. Wait, how'd this turn into a Taylor Martinez bashing-fest? But yeah, after that Nebraska game it's like all the things Coach Kill and staff had been telling them finally started to click. I can't say why it finally started clicking because when you're essentially un-coached by Brewster and his band of revolving door coordinators, it's probably a shock to the system when you're suddenly faced with coaches who not only know what they're doing, but expect you to do it. Apparently it took the Minnesota players about 7 games into the season for it to start sinking in.

Tom - I think the season turned when everything started to click for many of the regulars, most notably MarQueis Gray. I believe that Coach Kill and his staff had been spending months trying to teach these athletes how to be football players on top of learning a new playbook and schemes. Midway through the season the playbook was reduced, guys started to see what they were supposed to be doing and they could finally play football without thinking. Once they started to figure out where they needed to be and once they started to see how good things can happen when you are in the right place, then it all started to come together. Not only did it lead to a couple of wins but we also played Michigan State to within a touchdown, a game we were very much in. This team was markedly better the last five games of the year.

The rushing offense seemed to work fairly well with MarQueis Gray and Duane Bennett doing most of the work, but it was a similar situation to Michigan in 2010 when Denard Robinson was tasked with the lion's share of the rushing load. With Bennett gone do you think Minnesota will have to rely even more on Gray to move the chains on the ground? What running backs are you looking at to step up and fill the void?

Jeff - Since Mason left the running game has been a disaster. Last season was the first since 2007 where the team averaged at least 4 yards per carry, and most of that was thanks to Gray, as Bennett only averaged 3.8. I don't know how you guys feel about Shoelace carrying the ball a lot (Ed note: Um, terrible. I wince with every hit), but I get really nervous about Q being the team's only real running threat because it's only a matter of time before he gets hurt. Sure, at 6'4 and 240 he's bigger than most B1G linebackers, but he not only runs hard every time, but the coaching staff seems intent on running him right up the middle into the teeth of the defense. Coach Kill wants a run-oriented offense to set up the pass, and for that to happen we need a running back or 3 to step up. We're crossing our fingers and our toes and our...nevermind, we're just really hoping JUCO-transfer James Gillum is the guy, and so far so good. He looked solid in the spring, and hopefully he continues to improve into the fall. David Cobb, Donell Kirkwood and Devon Wright all have potential, but also a lot of question marks.

Tom - I expect Gray will run the ball less this year and the bulk of the running back carries will go to James Gillum. He is a JUCO early enrollee who participated in spring practice. He seems to have the more complete skill set with some speed and elusiveness. But I am sure we will see a lot of Donnell Kirkwood who likes to run guys over. I expect that rushing will improve over last year but I don't know if any one guy will be taking the Big Ten by storm. Improvement will come from a few guys and it will come because of increased commitment to balance out the offense by getting the ball out of Gray's hands every once in a while.

Speaking of Gray, while he struggled in the early season passing the ball, it seemed like he got into something of a rhythm toward the end of the year including very promising outings against Michigan State and Iowa. Do you think Gray's year spent at receiver in 2010 hurt his early season production, or is it more a matter of him just needing starting experience to get comfortable like any other quarterback? I have heard some practice reports that are high on his potential to improve this season, and coupled with his physical skillset he seems like a prime candidate to have a breakout year. What are your expectations for Gray's senior year?

Jeff - Of all the things Brewster did wrong, #1 on the list was not redshirting Q his freshman season. He burned his shirt so that 3 or 4 times per game they could bring him in to run up the gut, and his sophomore year was spent entirely at receiver. So not only did Brew do his best to ruin him but he barely played the two seasons before coming to Minnesota, as he was hurt almost his entire senior year, then missed the next because he didn't qualify academically. The ability and athleticism that made him a 4 star prospect out of Indy and one of the top dual-threat recruits in 2008 is still there, he's just not going to have enough time to ever maximize his potential here. Had he been shirted and allowed 3 years under Kill I think he's all-conference in 2013. As it stands, 2012 will be his last season, and while I think he shows improvement, I don't predict a breakout season. It won't be for lack of effort, as Q has been a workaholic in the weight room and film room, and he looked much more confident throwing the ball this spring, but he still has a ways to go as a passer, and the talent around him is either young, inexperienced, or just not very good.

Tom - I do expect Gray to have a breakout year. The kid is just a physical freak who is capable of beating teams with his arm and his legs. I do not believe that playing wide receiver for a year really hurt his development, he wasn't able to take the starting job away from Adam Weber so getting him time on the field to at least get accustom to the speed of the game was probably a good thing. If any decision should be analyzed and ripped it should be the decision to play him as a true freshman. With a young offensive line and a young crew of receivers it would be awfully nice to have this year and next for Gray. Instead his freshman year was wasted as being a wildcat guy and attempting just 15 passes. Thank you Tim Brewster.

Continue reading this post »

The big meetings between conference commissioners are over and it is time for each conference to sort out what it wants from the new postseason model, including the Big Ten. This, of course, has positive and negative ramifications.

- On one hand it seems that the Big Ten has backed down from two of its positions, namely on-campus semi-final games and a conference championship qualification for playoff participants. Now, depending on your feelings about who deserves to be in, that second one might not be such a sticking point, but as Big Ten fans (and let's be honest, college football fans in general) it would be nice to see teams like Ohio State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Michigan earn a chance to play for a title on the cold tundra of the north in December. Not to mention the fact that on site games are less likely to fleece schools out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

With home site games off the table it appears that existing BCS bowls will be worked into the four team playoff, and there will be some ridiculous set of circumstances to make the Rose Bowl "meaningful" in years that a Big Ten and Pac 12 team qualify.

- On the other, all this talk of postseason reform has the Big Ten actually thinking about reworking some of the lesser parts of the bowl system: the line-up itself, the 6-6 cutoff, and the outrageous ticket guarantees. Delany has gotten support from most of the conference to raise the cut-off for Big Ten bowl teams to 7-5, thereby eliminating some of the lesser bowl affiliations and improving the quality of the overall bowl experience. This, in turn, should change the overall bowl lineup, and hopefully provide some more favorable matchups. While the Big Ten has struggled in bowls recently, part of it is due to an inflated bowl lineup matching Big Ten teams up with better SEC and Big XII teams.

Most importantly, however:

"I don't think it's necessary we take huge blocks of tickets in advance," he said. "It may be important for us to take a different payout, and have the upside be based on how that games sells.

"We want our fans to have access to good tickets, to reasonably priced tickets, and to use technology to make sure the demand and supply curve works well. I don't think it's healthy to have so many tickets floating around.

If this happens, it could ultimately be the first step in truly positive bowl reform. Right now schools are getting absolutely taken to the cleaners by bowls that demand huge payouts for tickets and hotels. If the Big Ten strikes the first meaningful blow against A) lower tier bowls that cater to 6-6 teams and B) ticket guarantees that keep mediocre bowl games afloat, we could see a real change in the structure of the college football postseason outside of the fancy new four-team playoff.

Now that is change I can believe in.

Let's run down the links:

Running Back Recruiting - TTB takes a look at running back recruiting now that Ty Isaac is off the table. Magnus isn't enamored with the backs still left on Michigan's radar, and I tend to agree that Hoke and co. should stand pat with Smith and Shallman. Look for a feature back in next year's class.

Maurice Hurst Jr. Update - Tremendous breaks news that Michigan could be getting its 19th commit to the 2013 class soon. Maurice Hurst Jr. isn't highly rated, but does have some impressive offers. More as this develops.

Ranking the Big Ten/ACC Challenge games from most to least watchable

2. NC State at Michigan (Nov. 27): What better opportunity for these two preseason top 10 teams to establish themselves as legitimate Final Four contenders than to play each other in November? Michigan blends a vaunted freshman class with returning stars Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. NC State returns the core of a surprise Sweet 16 team and adds top recruits Rodney Purvis, T.J. Warren and Tyler Lewis.

Number one is, of course, UNC vs. Indiana. Not much argument there.

Notre Dame salaries: Notre Dame payout to Charlie Weis keeps piling up - Charlie Weis is the gift that keeps on giving. Unless you run Notre Dame's athletic department. Then he is the gift that keeps cashing giant paychecks and making you regret that ridiculous contract.

Relegate This: Where Indiana And Illinois Spend Half the Aughts In The MAC - BHGP looks at what relegation/promotion would mean to the Big Ten over the last decade. Hint, Michigan gets relegated, but not in the year you initially would think.

Presenting The College Football Relegation System, From BCS To NAIA - And from the mothership, if we are talking about instituting a tiered system of relegation/promotion, why not go all the way?

The hyphen will not hold

There is, of course, a much larger tension between the words on either end of that hyphen: You can't have tens of millions of dollars hanging on the right side of the hyphen with the weight of the amateur ideal perched on the left, without the construction breaking in half at some point. The fifth-year transfer issue is a relatively small piece of the puzzle--which is why I would leave the rule as is. If a coach can effectively walk away from his contract to pursue a better opportunity at any time, I can't get too worked up about a kid who finishes his degree earning the right to do the same.

The Only Colors on the growing transfer problem that isn't growing and isn't a problem.

A Miracle Squared: Celebrating The Greatness Of Bo Jackson

Here's the thing about the 4.12 or anything else -- it only matters to those who didn't see him. The only believable reading a stopwatch could have for Bo would have been "get the f*** outta here." Because, quite honestly, that's all you could say half the time when he played. But having numbers like "4.12" help people our age, because there's no way we can come up with the words to explain how mind-blowing he was.

Listen to two grown men gush about Bo Jackson, then watch youtube clips of Bo Jackson and realize that they might not be gushing enough.

LeBron In The Last Minute

Here is today’s question: Do some people start to believe the narrative that others create for them? I ask this because we hear an awful lot in sports about "proving everybody wrong" and "playing for respect" and such things. I believe there are some athletes who do feed off this kind of negative energy. Tom Brady seems to be one of those guys who needs the doubters; he seemed to use that low draft pick thing to spark his fury and brilliance. Albert Pujols seems to one o those guys too; he has had nothing but success in the major leagues (at least until the start this year) and yet has never stopped pointing to those who doubted him along the way.

Joe Posnanski on being the bad guy, feeding off doubters, and believing the narrative. As always, great stuff.

Minnesota, like Indiana, suffered through another season that could generously be described as painful. Unlike Indiana, however, there isn't the eternal claim of youth to mitigate the humiliation, or provide a stipend of hope for the future. Although true freshman Max Shortell was able to crack the lineup in place of Marqueis Gray at quarterback, the depth chart was otherwise dominated by upperclassmen. As a result, there are lots of holes for the 2012 class to fill. Despite their poor on-field performance, Jerry Kill and his staff did an excellent job of grabbing sleepers and underrated talents through every position.

Just like Indiana, Minnesota is dangerously thin at the quarterback position. Gray and Shortell are the only two capable of leading a Big Ten offense, so the emphasis was more on numbers for signing day. Phillip Nelson is another underrated quarterback with a live arm and the potential to grow into a solid starting quarterback. MN QB Mitch Leidner is a big kid with good athleticism, but his arm does not look like it's of a BCS caliber. He may end up as more of a role player than a full time starter. AL KJ Maye is an electric athlete, but also lacks the arm and size (5'10) of a Big Ten caliber player. However, I really like his athleticism. He isn't quite as speedy, but he reminds me a bit of Pittsburgh's Ray Graham with the ball in his hands. If he can find his position fit with the Gophers, he could be a productive player in college.

Although he likes to run the ball, Jerry Kill did a pretty inadequate job of addressing the RB position in this class. MS RB James Gillum comes from a highly scouted CC in Mississippi Gulf Coast, yet only nabbed offers from the Gophers and Louisiana Tech. His counterpart, Rodrick Williams, is a power back from Texas that also held offers from Utah and Iowa. He doesn't have exceptional speed and has trouble bursting out of cuts, but he's a tank when he gets going.

Kill made a concerted effort to land an array of options to build around Shortell, for the future. He ended up signing five of the position, including two with impressive offer lists. NC WR Jamel Harrison claimed offers from Clemson, NC State, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia, among others. Playing across from 2013 WR (and Michigan offer recipient) Marquez North, I'm not too high on Harrison, but obviously coaches saw something I didn't. Even more remarkable than Harrison is the landing of Andre McDonald, a hometown kid sporting offers from Ohio State, UCLA, Michigan State, and Iowa, among others. McDonald is a big kid with athleticism to boot. The standard 'he plays in Minnesota so his competition is weak' label applies, but he'll be a challenge in the years to come. A BONUS warning from renowned scout shipit1000 on McDonald's youtube video.

I put him over Michael Floyd coming out of high school. I just compared the highlights of the two. He will be an all American at MN and will be a 1st rounder in the 2015 NFL draft. He's physical, powerful, instinctual and just as talented as anyone. Look out, big ten.

You heard it here first, Big Ten. Look out. Minnesota grabbed a trio of additional options in MN WR Duke Anyanwu, MN WR Isaac Fruechte, and WI WR Eric Murray. Murray may end up a CB in college. Anwanyu is a good athlete, but he played QB in high school, and will need some time to adjust to the college game. Fruechte is a JUCO kid that looks like an average, at best, wide receiver.

Continue reading this post »

After spending the last week and a half doing an in depth study on two of the Big Ten's most hapless programs then watching a crazy final weekend in the English Premier League it is hard not to think about how different college football would be under a system of relegation and promotion. Spencer Hall, in all his demented glory, says, why not? Would we have spent all of last week breaking down yet another Indiana rebuilding project, or would the week be better spent talking about the newly promoted Toledo Rockets chances at hanging around for a couple years in the Midwest's top division?

Save me the lecture that instituting relegation/promotion in modern college football would be voted down almost immediately. I know it. The blue-bloods wouldn't have much to worry about (although it is hard to see Michigan avoiding relegation after 2008 -- and you thought people wanted Rodriguez run out of town before, hooo-boy), but it is the other 75% of the BCS conference membership that would object -- and with good reason, a few years spent in the MAC or Sun Belt would be fiscal hell.

But wouldn't it be cool? Think about how much more interesting the final few weeks of the season would be just in the Big Ten. Now, instead of quickly changing the channel every time a Purdue vs. Illinois or Indiana vs. Minnesota game comes on, you would hang around and watch a little bit. These aren't just bad teams struggling, but bad teams playing for their very existence as major college football programs. When was the last time anyone outside Indiana -- or let's be honest, inside Indiana -- cared about the Indiana vs. Purdue rivalry game?

It may not be a perfect system, some fine programs would no doubt be forever ruined, and you could bet it would be messy as hell, but for all the talk of college football having the greatest regular season in sports we could still up the ante.

Let 'em fight for their very existence. Would you not be entertained?

Time to post the links:

Fiscal study: Michigan athletics are self-reliant

U-M ranks second in the Big Ten and seventh nationally in terms of self-sufficiency with its operating budget -- $10,621,815 more revenue than expenses minus subsidies. U-M received $272,684 in subsidies.

Speaking of the money involved in college football, USA Today released its annual study of athletic department revenue and expenses. Michigan is once again near the top in both, and one of a handful of programs that is wholly self sufficient.

Recruiting: Father says Michigan doesn't pressure for commitments - Store this one in your memory bank for the next time one of your friends who is an MSU or OSU fan tries to tell you that Michigan's recruiting success comes from Brady Hoke pressuring kids into commitments before they are ready.

The Curious Case of Notre Dame's title odds

Ironically, we’ve reached a point where both Notre Dame and Vegas are trying to protect themselves from the wackos who not only take this bet, but believe strongly in its chances of winning. This is the never-ending problem with Notre Dame football. People love traditional powers and underdog stories. The media loves popular programs that drive ratings. Unrealistic expectations are the predictable offspring.

Ty Hildebrandt of The Solid Verbal podcast talks about his beloved Irish and how absolutely ridiculous it is that people still bet on Notre Dame to win the title.

Conference Realignment: The Big 12 Should Swing For The Fences

As crazy as it may have sounded a few months ago, former Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby inherited a similar situation when he took the reins of the Big 12 a couple of weeks ago. Not only has the Big 12 survived two tumultuous rounds of conference realignment, but they have begun to emerge into a position of power. Instead of falling apart following the departures of two more teams (Texas A&M and Missouri left last fall, making it one full third of the conference's original membership heading for the exits in 18 months), the conference asserted its dominance of the Big East, snagging West Virginia and TCU to move back to 10 programs. Now, rumors of further developments have been friendly to the conference as well. In other words, if Bowlsby were in the mood to take a home run swing of his own, the move could be both well-received and somewhat successful.

While the ACC has put up the front of being one of the relative powers in conference realignment, it is hard to argue the fact that the conference is at a serious disadvantage next to the big three leagues (Big Ten, SEC, Pac 12) and a small shift in favor of the Big XII could leave the ACC all alone, just above the Big East but otherwise irrelevant nationally.

*The Essential Smart Football* - Chris Brown of Smart Football wrote a book. If you are interested in football strategy and the evolution of the game I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Can Urban Meyer Meet An Almost Impossibly High Standard? - If that standard is "beat Michigan nine of out ten times in The Game" then I'll put my money on "no". However, Ted Glover brings up an interesting point -- a great deal of Jim Tressel's postseason success was set up by Michigan's down years in the rivalry. Without that final hurdle to trip over, OSU was fortunate to be able to stroll into the postseason much easier.

While I think Ohio State fans are a bit foolish for adjusting their sights from "9-1 over ten years" to "six or seven wins over ten years" I do like the idea of getting a chance to beat Ohio State in back to back weeks. That would be the quickest way to build up a rather impressive streak of our own.

Finally, Black Heart Gold Pants has its Pro Combat Mock Up for Minnesota finished, and behold it in all its glory.

via assets.sbnation.com

This will be hard to top.

Week two in our look around the Big Ten, and for the next few days we will be taking a look at the Minnesota Golden Gophers, a team that surprised many last year by, well, um, not being the worst BCS conference team in history. Be sure to check out our SBN partner, The Daily Gopher, for news about Minnesota sports. On with the show.

Last week we focused on an Indiana team that has been pretty much irrelevant on a conference wide scale for basically its entire existence. The Hoosiers have been to one Rose Bowl -- a loss -- and have won two conference titles, neither of them (1945, 1967) were recent enough for anyone shy of 50 years old to remember. The rest of Indiana football history has landed on the spectrum somewhere between mediocre and downright awful.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers, however, spent stretches of the developmental stage of college football as a relative powerhouse. The program has six claimed national titles (the latest, 1967 came on the heels of a shared Big Ten title) and can not only lay claim to a pair of back-to-back titles (1940, 1941), but is the last school in college football history to win three in a row (1934-36). There were few teams that had accomplished more than Minnesota up until the late 60s.

From that point on things began to spiral out of control. Between the tenure of Murray Warmath -- the last national title winning coach who retired in 1971 -- and the hiring of Glen Mason in 1997 Minnesota didn't employ a coach that would post a winning percentage over .500, and Minnesota made just three bowl games. It was a painful departure from the early success that the program had built, and those 25 years -- encompassing most of the modern era of college football -- would redefine the Minnesota program as something much less imposing than what had come before.

Today the Gophers are the unquestioned bottom of the Legends division. Michigan has recovered from the Rodriguez years, Michigan State has built a solid foundation of success that should help perpetuate the winning of the past couple years, Nebraska -- one of the biggest brands in college football -- is rebounding from its own time spent lost in the woods, Iowa has proven itself capable of mounting a challenge for the conference title, and even Northwestern has built a reliable model for success with hyper-accurate spread quarterbacks surrounded by athletes in space. Meanwhile, Minnesota is fighting to rebuild a collapsed defense while recovering from the after-effects of Tim Brewster.

Minnesota, once desperate to regain its place among the college football elite, is just clawing to catch up to the rest of the pack.

Continue reading this post »