The Minnesota Golden Gopher Football team began their 2018 campaign. This is year 2 under PJ Fleck, or technically year 1 since Fleck claimed that last year was “Year 0.” Expectations were high for the program as Fleck took over and he helped the Gophers “Row the Boat” to a 5-7 record last season.
However, Fleck is trying to build for the future. Fleck brought in the 38th best recruiting class in the country for 2018 and currently has the 30th best for the class of 2019 according to recruiting analysis done by 247Sports. If you have any friends that cheer for Wisconsin and you haven’t had anything to brag about in the last 14 years, at least you can say our 2019 class ranks one spot higher than their lowly Badgers.
With such a focus on recruiting, this will be a very inexperienced squad. The team consists of 53% freshman and they are starting Walk-On QB in Zack Annexstad (the 2nd in NCAA history). Depending on how they mature, things could be rough for the Gophers again. Let’s take a quick peek and see how they might finish.
August 30th vs New Mexico State: NMSU comes into this week 0-1, after losing to Wyoming 29-7 at home. They had 7 first downs and 135 total yards of offense last week. Thankfully, they took care of business winning 48-10. Ski-U-Mah! 1-0
September 8th vs Fresno State: After going 1-11, the Bulldogs finished 10-4 under first year coach Jeff Tedford last season. A slightly better debut for a new coach in a new program than we experienced. A tough battle for the Gophers and I think they lose a close one. 1-1
September 15th vs Miami Ohio: Finishing 6-7 last season, the Redhawks don’t pose a big threat. Another easy game for Annexstad to gain some confidence and a good start for Minnesota. 2-1
September 22nd @ Maryland: Maryland doesn’t belong in the Big10 for a myriad of reasons and their 10 conference wins in 4 years just one example. It’ll be close, but I like the Gophers’ chances. 3-1
October 6th vs Iowa: Minnesota hasn’t exactly been successful in their primary rivalries. They have lost 4 of the last 5 meetings with the Hawkeyes, but the last 3 by a total of only 19 points. However, I think the inexperience will show and the Gophers will lose another tight battle. 3-2
October 13th @ Ohio State: Hahaha no comment needed. 3-3
October 20th @ Nebraska, October 26th vs Indiana, November 3rd @ Illinois, November 10th vs Purdue, November 17th vs Northwestern: I think the Gophers will go 3-2 in this stretch. Indiana and Illinois are two of the worst teams in the conference and should be relatively easy wins. At Nebraska is probably a loss and I believe they will split the home games against Purdue and Northwestern. 6-5
November 24th @ Wisconsin: 21 of the last 23 years, the Axe has stayed in Madison. The last time the Gophers were able to chop down the goal post was 2003, when the Metrodome had yet to cave in. Can this be the year Minnesota FINALLY takes back the Axe?!
Nope. 6-6
The Gophers appear to be heading toward a .500 record and a sympathy bowl game. Hopefully their young players gain valuable experience and Fleck can have us rowing to a winning record in 2019.