Minnesota Football: Friday night road trip to Maryland for Gopher Football - OPEN THREAD

Maryland was trounced last weekend to the tune of 43-3 at the hands of Northwestern. Makes losing to a good Michigan team feel slightly better, doesn’t it? Maybe not, but can the Gophers move to 1-1?

3 KEYS

• Fix the defense - OK, it isn’t going to be fixed, but getting better is a clear key to winning tonight. Fortunately the Terrapin offense was really bad last week,
• Run the ball. All night - You thought the 256 rushing yards that the Gopher defense was bad? Maryland gave up 325 on the ground to Northwestern. I want to see Mo and one of the freshmen hit 100 yards tonight.
• Turnovers - The defense forcing a turnover or two goes a long way towards winning on the road. Win the turnover battle by 2.

OPPOSING PLAYERS TO WATCH

• #3 QB - Tau Tagovailoa - The brother to Tua who is the new starting QB for the Miami Dolphins but we really only care about Tau. Struggled, throwing three picks, in the Northwestern game. But clearly a talented young man who will look to improve against the Gophers.
• #44 LB - Campbell Chance - Junior linebacker who racked up a ton of tackles last weekend (though he clearly had many opportunities).

PREDICTION

There is still a lot for this Gopher team to prove. Fortunately it appears as though this Maryland team has a lot more to prove. This Gopher team has to start to establish their 2020 identity and figure out who they are. Taking care of Maryland is going to be part of that process.

Minnesota - 34
Maryland - 17