We’re back for week two of Big Ten Spring Football games and that means we’ve got your previews as well. Figured we’d rip the band-aid off and talk about the Goophs of the top, so here goes our best efforts to be neutral with the rodents.
Year one under Jerry Kill wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been and that’s because this team actually became somewhat competitive later on in the season and that could bode well for their efforts in 2012. They did manage to pull off 2 Big Ten wins, so at least they weren’t as bad as Indiana, right? Add in the fact that the Gophers did take Floyd of Rosedale for the second straight season over Iowa and the fan base has at least a glimmer of hope. However, this was a team that still found a way to lose to an FCS school (24-37 vs. North Dakota State), granted the National Championship FCS school, but ya.
We can’t go any further in this discussion without mentioning that our thoughts and prayers do go out to the family of former player Gary Tinsley who passed away earlier this month due to unknown circumstances. He was a key cog in the defense last year, ranking 2nd on the team with 87 tackles and had 4 sacks. Anytime you lose someone who was that young it’s a shame and we hope that his family and the football family find peace with his death.
Moving forward though, this Spring is all about taking and building off of last year and getting Kill’s stamp firmly planted on this program. So, how has that been going? Let’s dive into what’s going on around “The Bank” ahead of tomorrow’s Spring football game.
2011 Record: 3-9 (2-6) – 6th, Legends Division
Postseason: NONE
Head Coach: Jerry Kill 3-9, 1 year at Minnesota (130-82, 18 years overall)
Returning Players: 16 (7 offense, 6 defense, 3 special teams)
Spring Game Info: April 21st @ 11am Central
Spring Outlook: This should be a fun Spring game to watch as they call it the “Pork & Beans Game” where the teams are divided by captains picks, the coaches are divided and the winner gets a great dinner whlie the loser is stuck eating Beans for dinner. Hey, at least it’s going to be competitive and thus interesting to watch, I guess….
The biggest question facing Minnesota this year is if they have a true QB on their hands in MarQueis Gray. Last year he completed only 50% of his passes for just 1,495 yards and had
8TD’s/8INT’s and at times looked worse than backup Max Shortell. According to Kill Gray has become a lot better at letting the game come to him and not forcing the play, something that cost him quite a bit last year.
Shortell has also been having a very good Spring according to Kill and is easily in line for the starting job once Gray graduates after this season. (Lord knows it seems like Gray has been there forever) Along with throwing the ball there’s a lot of question about who’s going to step up to actually catch the ball after the top two receivers from a year ago Da’Jon McKnight (51 rec, 760yds, 4TD’s) and Collin McGarry (16 rec, 120yds, 2TD’s), but only McKnight was really productive for them.
The top returning wide receiver is Brandon Green who only had 15 receptions last year, but flashed some big play ability with a 12.7 yards per catch average. However, according to reports out of Minneapolis there are a group of talented receivers building a report with Gray. That group is highlighted by Devin Crawford-Tufts and Malcolm Mouton and both could be deep threats for this team in 2012 and beyond.
Running the ball last year was a bit of mixed bag due to injuries and a lack of consistency from the offensive line, but with Gray settling in at QB and with Duane Bennett gone as a starter at running back this is going to be a major need of the Gophers. Watch for JUCO transfer James Gillum to be the guy as long as he can show something in the spring and the spring game. So this should be offensive priority number two on the watch list.
The guys blocking for them should be improved if for nothing else than experience and the fact that Jerry Kill can flat out coach an offensive line. Minnesota returns four players that started at least one game on the offensive line and may be the deepest position on the offensive side of the ball.
Defensively Badger fans finally won’t have to see Kim Royston on the other side of the field since the guy FINALLY graduated, leaving on top of the tackling heap last year with 123 tackles. His graduation and that of his starting safety mate Christyan Lewis leaves a big hole in the back of the defense. However, they will still have a great CB duo that features star Troy Stoudermire and Brock Vereen (5th on team in tackles w/ 67 last year). So watching this spring game to see the matchup between Gray/Shortell and the secondary should be the focus of any attention you may pay to this game.
Linebacker is pretty loaded with good returning starters in Mike Rallis and Keanon Cooper, but they need to fill the hole outside of them, however Rallis may not see action in this spring game because of a small hamstring injury, so watching for how the backups play at this spot could be a place to put a bit of attention on.
However, us Wisconsin folks know that it all starts up front on both sides of the ball and that’s where this Minnesota defense has struggled for a number of years. They return starters at both end positions, so watching if they can step up in pass rushing terms and if they have been able to really get the most out of what’s already there at the DT position will be huge to watch on the defensive side of the ball and should be second on your list of positions to watch on the defensive side of the ball. Jerry Kill has always had good lines so you’d think sooner or later he’ll be building a good defensive line and hopefully it’s sooner for a better competitive rivalry for Paul Bunyan’s Axe.
As much as I love kicking the crap out of the Gophers like we have recently, I much more enjoy it when we are both competitve teams and the game has implications conference wide, so I’ll be taping the spring game replay and perhaps have a though or two for you on next weeks Badgers Power Hour (8:30pm CT on BlogTalkRadio).
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