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This was a bit of a surprise for all of us.  Bowling Green was favored to beat the Gophers and most of us were frightened that our defense was going to get shredded by Tyler Sheehan.  Best case scenario was going to be a tight game that we were fortunate to pull out.  After all Bowling Green was coming off a road win over a ranked BCS team.

A win isn't exactly surprising, I think we all knew the Gophers were capable of winning.  But dominating the second half and showing some killer instinct was something we have not seen from a Tim Brewster led team.

Despite being ecstatic about the win I can't help but think we are all back to school and enrolled in How to Lower Expectations and be Happy with Mediocrity 101 taught by Prof. Glen Mason. This was a nice win for the Gophers considering what we have watched over the previous 13 games.  But this was a MAC team that we should beat year in and year out.  It is still my hope to see more from this program.  Not in 2008, but down the road I hope this is not a game that we get giddy about.  I was tremendously pleased with the win but for those of us with aspirations of seeing the Gophers playing at another level this is part of the process but certainly not the destination. 

OFFENSE

There was a lot to be happy about on the offensive side of the ball and it all started with Adam Weber.  All summer we here hoping that he'd improve by reducing turnovers and increasing his completion percentage.  Well going 21/25 with zero interceptions is beyond what even I was hoping for.  There were a couple of ill advised passes but nobody is going be perfect and this was about as good of a game as we have seen from Weber. 

But it was more than just good numbers for Weber, it was his athletic ability to make big plays that made this a great game and not just a good one.  His huge third and nine pass to Kuznia in the fourth quarter was the play of the game.  Hats off to Kuznia for making a great sideline catch but Weber's ability to get a hold of the bad snap, avoid the rush and find Kuznia while throwing off balance was incredible.  The score at the time was 21-17 and five plays later we scored a touchdown to take a comfortable 28-17 lead and this was clearly the momentum play of the game. 

Weber was great, Decker was great, the run game was OK, but I have to say that the offensive line play leaves a lot to be desired yet.  There were guys in the backfield too often and Bennett did not have any real holes to run through.  I know this group is young and there is plenty of time for them to come together but if they don't get better they will really struggle in Big Ten play.  It is hard to call out individuals as grading linemen is difficult, but as a unit I'd really like to see them start creating some running lanes and dominating the line of scrimmage.

DEFENSE

First of all this was the fewest points allowed since the Gophers beat NDSU in 2006.  Further sign that this group is still getting better.  I really don't have any significant complaints about the defense.  They were aggressive, they hit, the forced turnovers and allowed only three plays of 15 yards or greater. 

They did very little to get pressure on the quarterback but in their defense they were often rushing three and Bowling Green was utilizing a quick three strep drop to get the ball out of Sheehan's hands. 

The 27 yard touchdown pass to Chris Wright is one we would like to have back.  It looked to me like we were on a zone defense.  As Wright caught the ball there were players to his right, left and someone in front of him but there was no safety over the top.  I never got a great look at the play but it looks like a breakdown in the coverage led to Wright being open and untouched to the endzone.

Outside of that big play the defense was solid and really dominated the second half forcing three fumbles and Tramaine Brock making an outstanding interception in one-on-one covereage down the sideline.

All in all this wasn't a perfect defensive game but nobody is expecting this unit to be one of the best in the country.  Create some turnovers, limit big plays and continue a decent third down coversion and the offense will have better opportunities to score.

Top 5 Observations

1. JUCOs on defense continue to be huge upgrades.  Brock, Simmons and Lawrence combined for 22 tackles, 1 INT, 0.5 sacks and 2 pass breakups.  Brock was defensive player of the game in my opinion and Simmons was so very close to pick on the goal line in the first half.  These guys have helped a ton.
2. Freshmen wide receivers?  I saw their names on the field but they have yet to contribute.  I can't tell you how excited I will be when I see a Brandon Green or Xavier Brandon touchdown.  I would guess that they'll see more snaps and some balls thrown their way this week at home versus Montana State.
3. Before the season is over you will see a Troy Stoudermire kick off returned for a touchdown.
   
4. I haven't yet mentioned the injuries to Bennett, Tow-Arnett (the center) and Net Tevale.  Rumors are swirling that Bennett may be lost for the season and that would be a major buzz kill.  When he has been given the ball in space he has really impressed, unfortunately there have been few holes for him in the run game.  It will be fun to see Shady get some reps but I'd feel much better heading into Big Ten play with #22 in the backfield. 
   
5. Anyone else notice how well prepared the offense is heading into games?  One could argue their best two drives of the season were ther first ones in both games.  Well, the game winning drive vs.NIU is probably the best.  But the next two are probably their game opening drives.  Next growth step I'd like to see touchdowns or points on the first two drives but now I'm just getting greedy.  Nice job of game prep, play scripting and execution to start the season.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I don't want to get carried away.  While Bowling Green is good this loss didn't exactly spoil their march to sneaking into the BCS picture.  This was a good road test and another solid win.  This win really raises the bar and we shouldn't be satisfied with anything less than a  4-0 record heading into Ohio State.  Be pleased with the win, Gopher fans, but let's not be satisfied with two wins.

This was fun even for those among us may have been delusional for picking the Gophers win this road game.  I'm not going to start talking about how many wins we'll need to get bowl eligible cause that is still a long ways off and lets just get to four wins heading into conference games.  What I hope this does more than anything else is help to pick up some recruiting.  Last year Brewster sold kids on playing time, a new stadium and the promise that things are turning around.  Well the stadium is right around the corner and he has demonstrated that things are turning back in the right direction.  Now bring those kids in and get them committed.

NEW - Animated Drive Charts (courtesy of Rocky Top Talk)

I won't likely post the animated drive chart each week, but you can generate your own by clicking on the appropriate widget on the right sidebar.

A month ago this looked like it could be a tough game, but most Gopher fans assumed if we were improved this would be a win.  Well, after a close win over Northern Illinois and Bowling Green's upset of #25 Pitt, we are now the underdog.

In a game that is being highly anticipated by the Falcons, the Gophers are going to get a good road test which should really help us gauge where this team is in comparison to last year.

General Bowling Green Thoughts

The Falcons used an eight win season, 2007 bowl appearance and an experienced roster to jump start the 2008 season with a significant road win over a ranked team.  They have their sights set on a MAC Championship.  I was able to exert my BCS blogging influence over BJ from Falcon Nation and required him to respond to some of my questions on the Bowling Green Falcons.  He was kind enough to respond as I was to him.

1.  What a win for the Falcons in week one.  What is going on here?  Is Bowling Green underrated or was Pittsburgh vastly overrate living off their West Virginia upset from 2007?

Well, a little of both.  I actually posted that I thought Pitt was making too much of the West Virginia upset, and a couple fans come onboard to dispute me.  I didn't remember it as some momentous victory and I had a moment of ironic satisfaction on my way back to the car when I saw a T-shirt for sale that had the score of the game.  Pitt has some players, but lots of problems, and we out-coached them big time.  Wannstedt is back on the hot seat there.  We also made plays on defense, and took care of the ball, both of which helped us win, despite a statistical inferority.  So, far, I think we were underrated to start the season, but that's still a work in progress.

No, Tyler did not have big numbers against Pitt.  He did get some plays when we needed it, and we were good on third down.  His accuracy was somewhat low.  He did have some drops, but there are always drops.  I think you can expect BG to throw the ball a lot more than we did against Pitt, (more along the lines of what you saw last year), and perhaps a little more upfield, too.

Yes, we will.  Willie Geter will be back for the game, and we must run the ball for our attack to succeed.  In fact, its amazing to us we won the game against Minnestoa last year with as little running as we did, and I don't think we'd be able to pull it off again.  A couple notes on running.  First, don't forget that we have two WRs (Anthony Turner and Freddie Barnes) who we direct snap to for some variety, and you can expect to see that again.  And second, when the passing game is wokring, it opens up big holes for the running backs, so we will run, even if its a change of pace run.

A couple things about this year's D.  First, we're very experienced.  We have lots back from last year, and we expect to be better than we were last season.  At least against Pitt, we tackled better, and we eventually started staying home on the weakside, and that kept their run game bottled up.  The defensive backfield is chock full of playmakers.  We were worried about the D-Line, but they seemed to rally against Pitt, but that's a week-to-week thing.  One other change is that we seemed to be much more aggressive against Pitt, but they were using a West Coast Offense, which I believe gives more blitzing opportunities than a quick-fire spread.

There is huge anticipation for this game.  Check here for proof.  While other BCS teams have played here, there has never been a Big 10 team play in our stadium.  As someone who has been attending games there for 35 years, its a day I often thought would never come.  We expect a very big or sell-out crowd, and I think Falcon fans will be really keyed up.  We play everyday in the shadow of the Big 10, and having a Big 10 team in our stadium is huge.

When Bowling Green has the ball... 

Despite what BJ says expect them to throw, then throw, then throw and then throw again.  Maybe they'll sprinkle in a draw or two.  But they were able to throw on the Gopher secondary all day in 2007 so I would expect more of the same. 

If you want some encouragement, in 2007 the Gopher defense made great second half adjustments and staged an impressive comeback.  After giving up 289 yards in the first half they limited the Falcons to just 148 in the second.  Overall the numbers were brutal but maybe we figured something out.

But that was 2007 and this is 2008.  Personally I think this will be a great test for the new Gopher defense.  We are on the road against a good team with a strong passing attack.  If they want to show us they are improved this would be the perfect opportunity of which to take advantage. Watch for a lot of formations, direct snaps to others in the backfield and an overall creative gameplan by the Falcons.  They should be fun to watch, especially if we can stop them!

When Minnesota has the ball...

The Falcon defense is pretty strong, but I am still confident that we'll be able to move the ball.  I'll dip into the 2007 well again and point out that we rushed for 265 yards in the double OT loss.  I don't think we'll approach that number again but I also think Weber will improve upon his 188 yards throwing the ball.  I liked how in game one Dunbar found different ways to get Decker the ball, used Bennett on pass plays and utilized the TE.  I'd like to see Spry get involved along with some of the young guys like Pittman or Green. 

I don't know many specifics of the Bowling Green defense but I think we should be able to move the ball and get into the endzone.

What to expect

Bowling Green is coming off a big win and they are pretty excited to host a Big Ten school.  They feel they have a great shot to win back to back games against a BCS opponent and put themselves on the map.  I expect they'll come out jacked up for what may be a sold out stadium. 

Predictions

The Gophers are underdogs and some think by a lot.  This will be a great test for the rebuilt defense and I think they do just enough to pull it out.  We shut down their running game and a late Tramaine Brock interception is the difference as we win a close one.

Minnesota - 35
Bowling Green - 34

I tend to drink the kool-aid during the week leading up to games.  PJS is not so optimistic and is often more accurate because of it.

Minnesota - 24
Bowling Green - 31

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Please come back to The Daily Gopher for a new LIVE CHAT during the game, it should be fun for all of us.