GAME DAY, GAME DAY, GAME DAY, GAME DAY, GAME DAY, GAME DAY, GAME DAY, GAME DAY, GAME DAY, GAME DAY!!!!!

Oh man, I haven't been able to focus at work all week.  I almost forgot to put on underwear yesterday.  I'm eating only foods that are maroon or gold.

I realize that some came out about Big Ten division alignment, but I have to assume that you've read most of it, so I'll spare you the links.

• This is just silly.
• Some guy who goes by "Zultan" thinks the Gophers will lose tonight, and also thinks that UConn will hand the Wolverines a loss.
• Fuller posted a blog yesterday which you may feel inclined to check out.  There was a line buried in the middle of the post that struck me as odd.  
  

"Junior tailback Duane Bennett, who was officially named the starter today, will be the guy to rush for

 1,000 yards if it's going to happen. But it won't."

• HEEEEYYYYYY, would you look at that!  Somebody is actually predicting a Gopher win!
• Week 4 opponent, Northern Illinois, plays our last opponent, Iowa State, to open their season in Ames.  Northern Illinois blog Red and Black Attack has a preview interview.
• Lastly, I went to see these guys at the Minnesota State Fair last night, and I think you should take some time to enjoy "Wait So Long" by Trampled by Turtles... my current favorite song.
  
  

Just one more day till Gopher Football 2010!  I can hardly stand it.

Be sure to check out the first ever TDG Podcast! 

Jeff has been doing a podcast over at Gopher FB Blog for a while and Buck has been itching to do one here at TDG.  So the two of them got together last night for our inagural podcast. 

• MTSU assistant coaches will be familiar with the Gophers.  Offensive Coordinator, Mike Schultz was at Illinois just last year.  And a couple former Badger assistants are also on the MTSU staff.  Defensive Coordinator Randall McCray coached at Wisconsin from 2006-09. And defensive line coach John Palermo was also at Wisconsin.
• Another MTSU story, this one highlighting the size difference between our lines and the Blue Raider lines.
• 2011 verbal recruit, Sam Rohr had his first high school game of the season for Brookfield Central.  The TE finished the game with 2 caches and 21 yards.
• This is a couple days old but SBN Minnesota posted their 5 keys to success for the Golden Gophers.  I think I might come up with at least four different keys but they are close enough.
• There's nothing wrong with a fun little cyber-prank amongst friends.
• Lake the Posts was previewing Minnesota and asked me for some of my thoughts. 

Around SBN

• Off Tackle Empire scored an interview with Rich Rodriguez.
• Here is a really good comprehensive Pac-10 preview from the Pac-10 SBN blogs.
• There is a new Ohio State blog on SBN.  Along the Olentangy was put together with some excellent individuals and should be your first stop for Buckeye news.
• This is also a couple days old but Penn State has their depth chart out and BSD has their thoughts.
• Hail to the Orange wants to end the Mizz / Illini rivalry and then previews the game.
• We don't play them but here is Indiana's week1 depth chart.
• The Only Colors gives their take on the MSU depth chart.

The Star Tribune has several quality articles up about the Gophers today. 

First, an update on Dwight Dasher's replacement as the MTSU quarterback, Logan Kilgore.  Kilgore had 22 passing touchdowns last season in Junior College, and it sounds like he's a pocket passer.

Second, an article discussing the future of Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez.  Rodriguez has so far been a disappointment, and Michigan fans are growing inpatient.

Third, columnist Rachel Blount has a piece on the loyalty of Gopher fans.

Fourth, Phil Miller discusses the rise of Iowa and Wisconsin as top level powers in the Big Ten.

Not to be outdone at the Pioneer Press, Marcus Fuller discusses the size advantage that Minnesota has over Middle Tennessee State.

Fuller also discusses the new-look Gopher defensive line and their goals versus MTSU.

What better way to start your Friday than with some Nugz? Oh that's right- there IS no better way. So sit back and take them in. You're welcome.

Patrick Reusse has nothing but good things to say about Gopher football. Ok, ok, so as usual he has actually nothing good to say about Gopher football. Surprise, surprise. He goes over the same tired points about how the Gophers are nowhere near as popular as the Vikings and Twins because they're not any good, and haven't been since 1969. Thanks for the insight, Patrick. We already knew this. The diehard Gopher fans will always be there, but the Twin Cities' sports fans won't get on the bandwagon until Minnesota does some real winning- or at least goes to a New Year's Day bowl. And honestly, as a Gopher football fan, I'm fine with this. This isn't Iowa City or Lincoln or any other college town where there's no pro sports teams. While I would love to see a state wide passion for the Gophs like there is in Iowa or Nebraska or Wisconsin for their teams, there's just too much else going on here in the fall for people to follow the Gophers if they aren't winning and winning often. Again, this is all probably very obvious to all of you, but Reusse thought he'd point it out  just in case. For his next column he'll tell us that winters in Minnesota are cold, and that Brett Favre loves the spotlight.

The Strib's Dennis Brackin has a story about The U's offensive line bonding with bad hair cuts. No really. The guys decided really bad hair cuts would be a good bonding experience to help build chemistry and hopefully yield much better results than last year (you know what else might work to help your performance on the field, fellas? Blocking better). Who knows if this will help them play better or not, but all that matters is that they believe it. That and the much simpler scheme Jeff Horton will attempt to run this year can only help.

In other team bonding news, Shooter Now tells us that Adam Weber believes the team is as close as it's ever been in his five years here. Closer to what- the Rose Bowl? Winning a trophy game? Beating a 1-A team after October? Um no, just closer in the sense that, you know, they're all getting along. He also mentions he might want to go to law school. The entire blurb is 10 lines long. And you wonder why newspapers are struggling these days?

E!SPN.com Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg has a good post about MarQueis Gray pulling double duty as a wide receiver and backup QB. While I do hope that Brewster (or whomever is the head coach next year) gives him a fair shot at the starting quarterback job in 2011, I love the idea of getting him on the field in 2010 as a wideout. He's one of the best athletes on the team, and at 6'4 and 230 with some pretty good wheels, he's going to create some matchup problems. The more comfortable he gets running routes, the more playing time he'll see. With him, Da'Jon McKnight and Troy Stoudermire, that's a pretty athletic and versatile top three. Hopefully they can add "consistent" to that package this year.

Rittenberg also lists the Gophs' as the fourth best special teams unit in the Big Ten. Not quite total enlightenment on our deathbeds, but we do have that going for us, which is nice.

Hey you never know unless you ask, right? This one made me laugh out loud, but I'm guessing the folks in Boulder had the opposite reaction. So Colorado Buffaloes head coach Dan Hawkins is 16-33 in his four seasons in Boulder, including a 3-9 stinker in 2009 that would have gotten him canned had the school not been cash strapped. Anyone else would say he's lucky to have his job, but apparently Dano thinks otherwise. He was asked in a meeting of CU coaches what could be done to help his team win: his answer? Give him a contract extension. Seriously, he said that. As you might guess this did not go over well with the coaches, and even more so with CU fans once the story got out. Hey why live in reality when his little dream world is so much more fun?

"There's no such thing as soy milk.  It's soy juice." -- Lewis Black

We are officially within a week of game day!  This is really exciting stuff.  And this... is your Daily Nugz.

• Retired Stillwater head football coach George Thole prognosticates on the upcoming Gopher season.  I'll say this: I hope he's right.
  

  "In conclusion, SI and Lindy's Sports be damned.  I see the Gophers going 7-6 with the Insight Bowl
  
  victory."

• Blah, blah, blah Dwight Dasher.  Blah, blah, blah Oliver Donnell.  Blah, blah, blah Colin Boss.  Stolen checks this, gambling debts that... the MTSU QB is still in hot water.
• Hey everyone, Kent Youngblood wrote about the Gophers!  Nice.  Youngblood has a nice article about 1960 championship Gopher squad.  
• On Sunday Dave Revsine, of the BTN, tweeted this:
  

  On bus heading to UW - final stop! I leave MN thinking they have the clearest identity they have under Brew - they know who they want to be.4:17 PM Aug 22nd via webRetweeted by 6 people

  BTNDaveRevsine

He doesn't say what their identity is, just that he feels like they have one.  After seeing this I started to write an entire post on what Revsine was talking about, but I just ended up rambling on and on and I never could come to a conclusion of what their identity is, so I decided to spare you my bumbling.

• Fringe Bowl Team Blog has their fall camp breakdown of the offense.
• Lastly, Adam Rittenberg of ESPN's Big Ten Blog, was on ESPN1500 with Reusse & Mackey on Wednesday (go to August 25th, Hour 2). They talk Big Ten realignment, N'Western players being affectionate with each other, Adam Weber, the possibility that Wisconsin is overrated, and Reusse even says that he can't believe the Gophs are going to be as horrible this season as the national media thinks... which is about as close to a compliment as we can expect Pat to pay the Gophers.

The uncertainty continues for Middle Tennessee State regarding their quarterback Dwight Dasher.  Dasher is accused of theft from both a teammate and from an 80-year-old nursing home resident.  Apparently, MTSU has hired a consulting firm to give them feedback regarding the Dasher situation.  The 80-year old denies involvement:

Donnell said Dasher still owes him $1,500 for the loan for gambling. But Donnell said he never contacted police about the unpaid loan. "I'm no snitch," he said.

Also, the accused accuser claims to be a card shark himself:

Donnell said he loaned a total of $1,500 to Dasher, which he said Dasher lost in numerous poker games. Donnell said he also plays "big stakes poker."

Apparently Dasher tried to right the situation with checks from a teammate. 

The bottom line is that none of this news is good for the Gophers.  They'll have to prepare for an MTSU team with, or without, the star quarterback Dwight Dasher.  Dasher is a mobile quarterback who frequently runs the ball.  His backup is an immobile pocket passer.  If Dasher plays, Minnesota may have wasted time preparing for another quarterback.  If he doesn't, Minnesota might not know what to expect.  Also, the MTSU game will be much more enjoyable to watch with Dasher in the game.  I'd like to see if the Gopher defense can contain him.

Ohio State blog Eleven Warriors lists the top 11 opposing players that they are scheduled to play this season.  No Gophers made the list.  Adrian Clayborn tops the list, and that seems like a good choice to me.

There are six other Big Ten representatives that made another list, and once again Minnesota didn't have a shot.  Although, it would have taken several shots to make this list.

Before we get to the Monday AM Nugz we have an announcement to make.  TDG has added a couple new authors.  Jeff from Gopher Football Blog and Jeremy from the same blog and Off Tackle Empire (formerly known as RivalryEsq) are joining us here at TDG.  This is exciting for us as we now have five us who are going to be writing giving you varying perspectives to all things Gopher football (then we hopefully get PJS back on a semi-regular basis during basketball).  This is good timing as football is oh so close and you can expect a big increase in content starting today.

On to some Gopher Nugz!

Tom Powers has my favorite Gopher article of the year so far.  He writes a piece on Sunday that is equal parts optimism and reality.  He rightfully points out that Brewster's current freshmen is actually a pretty solid class in spite of not landing any monster recruits.  He reports how Brewster will evaluate Saturday's scrimmage.

He said his players would be graded on three fronts: smart play, technique and the ability to finish a play. The first one, he said, is most important, adding that his players appeared to be very heads-up on Saturday.

"If a guy makes mental mistakes, I can't play him," he noted.

I hope Brewster sticks to that.  And finally Powers wonders why everything is looking up wondering why the sky is falling?

After a disastrous 1-11 campaign in 2007, Brewster's teams have gone 13-13 the past two seasons. That may not be great, but I'm not sure why so many people are predicting the end of the world this season. The Gophers aren't even getting credit for being mediocre.

I don't know how good the Gophers will be, but that is my favorite line of the year so far.

• Marcus talks with John Butler about who is going to be starting at LB.
  

  Linebackers coach John Butler had an easy decision to make a year ago after training camp.

   

  He had three seniors who were locks at the top of the depth chart at linebacker. And they started every game for the University of Minnesota football team last season.

   

  Things aren't as clear this time for Butler. He expects sophomore Mike Rallis to start at strong-side linebacker. But middle linebacker and weak-side linebacker are still open.

  "There's a group of five kids battling for the next spots," Butler said about Gary Tinsley, Spencer Reeves, Keanon Cooper, Aaron Hill and Brent Singleton

  Should be interesting.

   

• Here is a good article on SBN and an interview with SBN's CEO, Jim Bankoff.  For those of you who may wonder about TDG's bosses, this gives you a little background.
  
• Here is a video interview of one of the Gopher's strength and conditioning coach Cal Dietz.  the interview is conducted by former Gopher Darrel Reid.
• Detroit News is also predicting the demise of the Golden Gophers.
• Now I can say, our own JDMill has the Closing Arguments for the Gophers over at Off Tackle Empire.
• Eric Decker had 5 catches and 66 yards on Saturday.  Garrett Brown had a tackle for loss.
  

ESPN's Rittenberg profiles Mike Rallis this afternoon.

After a very impressive performance in spring ball, Rallis is being viewed as the leader of a unit that loses all three starters from 2009.

Lee Campbell, Nate Triplett and Simoni Lawrence combined for 309 tackles, 24.5 tackles for loss, four interceptions, four fumble recoveries and 18 passes defended last fall. Their departures didn't serve as the primary motivation for Rallis' excitement about the switch, although he acknowledges the obvious.

"You can say there's an opportunity, but there’s also a void that's left," Rallis said. "Someone needs to step up and fill that void. That’s an exciting thing, to have people expecting you to do something. I step up to the challenge. I'm a guy who loves a challenge, and to live up to what those three guys did, we definitely have a challenge in front of us as a group of linebackers."

Rallis really was impressive in the spring game.  I remember watching Lee Campbell when he first transitioned to LB and commented that he was always around the ball and seemed to relish contact and getting to the ball.  Rallis is a different player than Campbell but he too seems to always be around the ball.  This guy is going to make a LOT of plays this fall and he'll be one of our best defenders.

• GI.com has some basketball recruiting updates.  Ryan James lists the top 11 targets for the Gophers' 2011 recruiting class.  The top three are Naadir Tharp (PG), Josh Oglesby (SG from Iowa) and Joe Coleman (SG from Hopkins).  As it stands we will have 2 scholarships with possibly a third if Oto Osenieks does not qualify.
• Scout has a Q&A with Gopher defenseman, Aaron Ness.  
• Roman has height and weight differences for the hockey team from last year to this.
• Rittenberg also ranks the Gopher secondary as the 5th best in the Big Ten.  While I may not agree with his logic, I'm not sure I can agree with this conclusions.  There just isn't enough evidence yet to support this.  Maybe just the starters are worthy of this ranking, but the depth is a question mark.
• I can't pass this up.  You stay classy, Chicago White Sox reporter guy!
• Dennis Brackin has a few good Gopher notes.  Brandon Kirksey isn't going to play in Saturday's scrimmage.  Ryan Wynn and RaShede Hageman are both being bothered by back and ankle issues respectively.  And Gary Tinsley has been cleared to play for the season opener against Middle Tennessee St.