Minnesota Football: Big Ten West News and Notes

Time for a Wednesday afternoon Nugz and we’ll include some Gopher related news but also a quick look at what’s going on with our Big Ten West foes.

Purdue

Ticket sales matter.

Illinois

Champaign Room takes a look at what to expect from the Illini offense in 2017.

Last season, Illinois used its pace to control time of possession. Even if the Illini went 3-and-out, the coaches wanted to give their defense a chance to catch its breath. Illinois should have a more potent offense in 2017 and be able to control the ball by stringing together long drives with the running game.

Basically, Illinois hypothetically should be able to move at a faster pace in 2017 without sacrificing time of possession if the Illini are able to run the ball effectively.

Northwestern

Bill Connelly was very complimentary of the Cats in his preview.

I’m not going to say this is the “everything pointed in the right direction” year — we rarely realize it ahead of time. But it’s not hard to imagine it.

and

The Wildcats will likely start conference play 0-2, but every game from Maryland on is either a tossup or a likely win, and winning them all could mean the Wildcats’ first Big Ten West title.

And Northwestern will sell out their stadium in 2018 when they host Notre Dame for the first time in 40 years.

Nebraska

Corn Nation has a fun video that talks about whey most national pundits are predicting a mediocre season for the Huskers. And by mediocre they mean around .500, which will possibly induce Armageddon in Nebraska.

Wisconsin

Redshirt freshman, Jake Hescock is transferring. He is a defensive end, but the Badgers look to have a deep defensive line in 2017.

Also note that the Badger basketball team is taking an overseas trip this summer.

Iowa

Lots of recruiting coverage over at Black Heart Gold Pants. I’ll point you there and let you peruse the site.

Gopher Nugz

• The Omaha paper does a cool profile on Phil Steele and what he does to prepare for his annual magazine.
• Blake Cashman gets some love as a player who will surprise this year in the Big Ten West (this article is maybe 12 months too late).
• From last week but here’s a link to the Pioneer Press article on the recruitment of Edina’s Quinn Carroll.

I’ll end with this...