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Big 10 Preview: Minnesota Golden Gophers
By Louis Papa | August 17, 2008
Again, entertaining thoughts that your school’s athletic department knows anything about athletics is LAUGHABLE. First we have the 1997 men’s hoops team getting disqualified from the school’s only final 4 appearance due to then coach Clem Haskins and the administration writing papers, taking exams and the like for the players. This was followed by the removal of a tenured winning coach, Glen Mason (who lent pride, name recognition, excellence and a couple of little brown jug wins), for an embarrassing 1-11 (0-8 Big 10) campaign. I LOVE IT!! But hey, according to Rivals.com, Tim Brewster’s first full recruiting class was rated 17th best, nationally. This may mean something to the alumni, the online readers and fantasy footballers in 2011. I promise to stay on top of this situation for all of you. For now the team has 14 returning starters, 3 worth mentioning.
At quarterback, Adam Weber was amazing given the horrid team assembled around him. USA today makes a mention of him playing 878 of a possible 887 snaps. He set single-season school records in almost every category that matters: Completions (258), Attempts (449), Yards (2,859) and Touchdowns (24). This is an excellent accomplishment for Adam, but it is also a direct result of being behind in every game you play. I expect this trend to continue in 2008. If Coach Brewster recruited some top 20 talent at WR, your fantasy team would do well by having Adam Weber on it.
It should be noted that finding players at each position for every D1 football team is a chore. Minnesota, by far, has been my most challenging research project for the readers of the Big 10. Dare I say Adam Weber (I know, again!!) was the leading rusher for the Gopher squad last season. He carried 146 times for 617 yards and 5 scores. (Again, he is a must have as a backup QB). Behind Weber, Senior Amir Pinnix is the leading candidate to carry the load for RB’s. Amir carried 106 times for 563 yards and 5 scores in 2007. For his career he has over 2,300 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns.
The teams top wide receiver will be junior Eric Decker who had 67 catches for 909 yards and 9 touchdowns. I expect him to benefit again with Weber and the team needing to throw the ball. He is worth a look in the middle rounds. I assure you no one else is paying much attention to this team. Thank goodness the Minnesota Twins are playing well and the Vikings should be more than competitive.
The Defense allowed 518.7 yards per game, 108.2 more yards than the next worse team. As you can expect, there isn’t much to speak about here.
The theme is much more of the same in 2008 for the Gophers. Please pray for Adam Weber to make it through the season in one piece…if he does, your fantasy team won’t miss a beat at the QB spot if you need to start him.
Topics: Big 10, College Football, Louis Papa, Preview |
August 21st, 2008 at 1:55 pm
[...] News » News Big 10 Preview: Minnesota Golden Gophers2008-08-21 12:55:08Most (I know, again!!) was the leading rusher for the Big 10. Dare I say Adam [...]
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:55 am
[...] News » News Big 10 Preview: Minnesota Golden Gophers2008-08-22 00:55:48Most (I know, again!!) was the leading rusher for the Big 10. Dare I say Adam [...]