Minnesota Football: Halftime thoughts of Gophers and Michigan battle for Little Brown Jug

A fantastic opening weekend game in prime time. The Gophers hosting Michigan, a long-time rival with the Little Brown Jug on the line. But the first half has been all Michigan.

17-35 at half time, here are my prevailing thoughts.

• That was the longest 1st quarter ever.
• Sloppy start for both teams in multiple phases. Missed tackles, penalties (mostly Michigan), blocked punt, badly missed blocks, strip sack touchdown, missed field goal and overall a sloppy start for both teams.
• Michigan was less sloppy.
• Special teams has been brutal today. An early blocked punt was an early bright spot. But from there a huge kick off return and a poorly executed fake FG gave Michigan the ball in Minnesota territory 4 of their 7 drives.
• So much man coverage by the Wolverines. Big plays in the passing game are coming, if there is protection.
• Yes, the defense has given up 35 points. Yes, the front-seven has been beaten soundly. But don’t forget that they’ve been put on very short fields (and 1 touchdown was a strip sack).