Well, here we are, moving towards the final stretch of the regular season where the air gets chilly and there is likely snow falling at some point during a game. The Gophers will have three huge tests to determine if this team can hang with the top dogs in the BIG10 or if this team will settle with finishing right around bowl-eligible. So far through this series, I have the Gophers sitting at 7-2 going into the final 3 weeks. If they were optimistically sitting in this situation in November, these last three weeks would all be extremely important games to prove that they belong with the bigger names in the BIG10. Let’s take a look at what these teams look like in the preseason and what my 2-month early score prediction looks like.
WEEK 11 (Nov. 9)
Week 11 brings a visit to New Jersey for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, as well as a number of awkward handshakes after the game concludes. These two teams have about as much trading of coaches and players as they possibly could, and all of the crossover will get covered throughout. With this crossover, a number of media analysts are naming Rutgers as a possible dark horse for the playoff this season. All of this considered, this Rutgers matchup will definitely be circled on the calendar and will be very different from past matchups with the Scarlet Knights.
- Rutgers Offensive Outlook
Every Gopher football fan is aware of the starting QB for Rutgers, as it will be a chance at revenge for the Minnesota transfer Athan Kaliakmanis. Athan will join former OC Kirk Ciarrocca on the offensive side of the ball. Athan had his fair share of struggles a season ago heading the Gopher offense, mostly dealing with the inability to be consistent game to game or even throughout a single game. Despite these struggles, he still showed a number of uncoachable traits that any team would love to have, mostly his running ability and cannon arm. Ciarrocca obviously believes that he can be molded into a high-level BIG10 QB, and I believe it as well. Working through progressions and checking down was a big problem, but a fixable solution. Therefore having a back that is as talented as Kyle Monangai will be huge for him to rely on in the running game as well as the passing game. As for the receivers, this 2024 group will be one of the more talented groups in the Greg Schiano era. They return their leading pass catcher from last year Christian Dremel, as well as adding a few solid transfers on the outside. This offense is likely to look extremely similar to Minnesota’s 2023 offense. They will look to rely on the run game as much as possible while utilizing the RPO to catch defenses breaking on the run too much. If the Gopher defense is able to stuff up the run and not allow Athan to have time to throw, they should be able to force him into making mistakes. New Gophers DC Corey Hetherman comes to Minnesota after serving as linebackers coach for Rutgers. With all of this, there should definitely be some familiarity with what Rutgers is going to do on offense, so it will be key to adjust to wrinkles that they may put in for this week.
- Rutgers Defensive Outlook
The Rutgers defense is also led by one of their opponent’s former coaches, that being Joe Harasymiak. He led the Scarlet Knights to being 16th in overall defense in 2023 and looks to repeat this success this season. The D-Line returns two edge rushers who are stout against the run, but struggle to generate much pressure on the QB, as they had one of the worst pass rushes in the BIG10. The linebackers, likely the weakest of the three levels, will be without their leading tackler this season. They will likely be led by Mohamed Toure and Tyreem Powell, and should still be able to stuff the run well with the D-Line. It will be up to the Gopher’s offensive line to work to get a good push and get to the second level if they want to have any success on the ground in this game. As for the secondary, there will be one familiar face in transfer Flip Dixon, who will be a starter at safety for the Scarlet Knights again this season. The secondary does a great job of forcing incompletions and not allowing explosive plays. They rely more on shutting down offenses than generating turnovers. I would expect the Gophers to take more shots this game than others, as well as looking to establish a passing game that can force linebackers out of the box to open the run game. If they are able to spread the field and get chunk plays once in a while, they could break through against a strong defense.
Score Prediction
- Minnesota 20 – Rutgers 10
WEEK 13 (Nov. 23)
- Vs. Penn State University
In week 12, Minnesota will invite back the Penn State Nittany Lions to Huntington Bank Stadium for the first time since their historic win in 2019. If players stay healthy for Penn State, they will likely be favored in every matchup, except Ohio State, during their 2024 season. Which means this matchup is likely one that Minnesota could play playoff spoiler again, regardless of their own record. Minnesota has previously faired pretty well against Penn State, but with an electric offense and power defense, this Nittany Lion squad will take a great performance to take down.
- Penn State Offensive Outlook
Penn State is able to say something that very few other BIG10 teams can say, that being that they have a returning QB from a season ago. Drew Allar will be one of the top QBs in the BIG10 and possibly the country if he takes a few steps forward. The receiver room took a hit losing KeAndre Lambert-Smith to the portal, but gained a new top receiver in Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming and retained Tyler Warren at TE. With Allar the his receivers posing a strong passing threat, the running back room is where the strength will come, as the balance they will be able to possess will be what makes them very dangerous. The duo of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen will be very effective, even behind an O-Line that is being rebuilt after losing some studs. As long as the Nittany Lions are more aggressive with their downfield passing attack, they have two strong dimensions to their offense that will be very tough to stop. The Gophers will need to keep Penn State players in front of them as much as possible while having sound tackling to keep this team from driving down the field. They will need to attempt to shut down at least one of Penn State’s two-dimensional offense and not allow 3rd down conversions often if they want to have success.
- Penn State Defensive Outlook
This Penn State team is only going to go as far as their defense takes them. The offense has enough talent to score multiples times a game, but they will need stops when facing other elite offenses. The bad news for Penn State is they will have to replace their pair of now-NFL edge rushers, Chop Robinson and Adisa Issac. The good news is they have Abdul Carter sitting in the wings to step into a Micah Parsons-esque role of linebacker turned edge rusher, where he will likely be the next Nittany Lion to hear his name called at the Draft. As for the linebackers, Kobe King will be the leader of this group after carving out a solid role and having a breakout season in 2023. In the secondary, Georgia transfer A.J. Harris has the athletic ability to have a breakout season. With him, Kevin Winston Jr. and Jaylen Reed round out the starting secondary that are just as good at filling run fits as they are in coverage. The main strength of this defense is that they have a ton of depth, especially for the new era of college football players leaving for starting opportunities so often. The front 7 has many seniors with a lot of game experience in backup/rotational roles, who could step in at any time and not miss a beat. This is huge for teams contending for national championships, as so often one or two injuries can derail an entire season for a college football team. This defense, along with Michigan, will be the two hardest tests for the Gopher offense this upcoming season. They will need to replicate what they did in 2019 and get the ground game in a strong rhythm. If they can do this, safeties could cheat down and there could be opportunities for explosive plays. At the end of the day, the Gophers get a late-November chance to play spoiler at home against a rival, which is always a win.
Score Prediction
- Minnesota 20 – Penn State 38
WEEK 14 (Nov. 29)
- @ University of Wisconsin
The conclusion of the regular season for the Gophers sets up their annual battle for Paul Bunyon’s Axe. Minnesota will travel to Camp Randall Stadium in 2024 to take on Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin Badgers. They are going into year 2 of the Fickell era, where they are still trying to find who they are. Old Wisconsin is the stout defense and power offensive line to pound the rock on the ground, but the other side is the air raid attack that their OC Phil Longo is known for. Last year saw them ride the line in between the two, but expect them to let the ball fly around while still finding ways to get stops on the defensive side.
- Wisconsin Offensive Outlook
The Badgers brought in transfer Tyler Van Dyke from Miami to be their starting QB, Further proving that they really want to get the ball moving through the air, as Van Dyke is a pure pocket passer who can hit the deep ball consistently. They will return Will Pauling and Bryson Green at receiver, both of which have the speed to create big plays and can also create a lot of yards after catch. TE Tucker Ashcraft had a fairly disappointing 2023, at least to Wisconsin standards, so getting him more involved will only make the passing attack more dangerous at different levels. Braelon Allen is, thankfully, off to the NFL, leaving the majority of the backfield work to Chez Mellusi and transfer Tawee Walker. The backfield lacks the star-power it usually has, but it does not really matter as nearly any back in the nation would find a way to have some success behind their offensive line. The Wisconsin offensive line factory will likely be sending out new shipments next April as; Riley Mahlman, Jack Nelson, Jack Renfro and others are all some dudes along their O-Line. This offense has the talent to be one of the more successful in the BIG10, but will only go as far as Van Dyke or one of their other QBs is able to take them. Minnesota will need to have sound coverage in this matchup and hopefully the 11 games before this has the Gopher safety room ready to limit big plays in the passing game.
- Wisconsin Defensive Outlook
Last season’s Badger defense was not quite as stout as they usually carry, but that is a high bar to live up to. They have a strong defense against the run, with a lot of size along their defensive line and linebackers. The duo of Jake Chaney and transfer Jaheim Thomas will fill nicely for them. On the outside transfer John Pius has hit-or-miss potential of being great, as he had a lot of success at William & Mary, but can that be replicated in the BIG10? As for the secondary, safety Hunter Wohler is likely their best overall player and a difference-maker on defense. Joining him on the outside is Ricardo Hallman, who recorded 7 interceptions a season ago. Although the run defense should remain solid going into 2024, there are still some holes that can be found along this D. Getting a quick passing attack and having enough success on the ground to effectively use play action will be critical for the Gophers if they would like to move the ball. Their offensive line has the talent and capability of still generating enough success on the ground, especially if there is a healthy Darius Taylor behind them. If they cannot get the running game going and the play action is not able to get safeties and linebackers breaking down, then they could struggle to move the ball.
Score Prediction
- Minnesota 20 – Wisconsin 24
Well, that settles my preseason outlook for each Gopher opponent for the 2024 season, as well as an ambitious score prediction for games that are not happening anytime soon. My final record has the Gophers at an optimistic 8-4, but realistically there are numerous games that I can easily see going either way, especially with injuries playing out during the football season. If you made it this far through this series, I appreciate it and be on the lookout for more in-season content soon!
