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2009 Minnesota Football Predictions

Written by Jimmy Boyd

minnesota 7909 Minnesota got off to a 7-1 start in 2008, playing Ohio State pretty tough in Columbus in that one defeat. But then the bottom fell out. The Gophers lost each of their last four Big Ten games, including a terrible 0-55 performance at home against Iowa in their season finale. Minnesota took its struggles to the postseason as well, losing 21-42 to Kansas in the Insight Bowl. Get my take on the 2009 Golden Gophers in this college football betting preview. Minnesota is listed at +2500 to win the Big Ten.

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Offense – The Gophers return quarterback Adam Weber following a season in which he passed for 2,761 yards and 15 touchdowns. Experience is on his side as the junior has taken every snap for the Gophers the past two seasons. Weber has proven that he can make plays when given the time by his offensive line. He’s blasted the opposition for more than 200 yards in 16 of his 25 career starts and has connected on touchdown strikes in 21 of 25 games. He’ll be looking in the direction of All-Big Ten wide receiver Eric Decker, who caught 84 passes for 1,074 yards and seven touchdowns, often in 2009. Decker will try to break his own school record for catches in a season this year. With defenses likely to gear their game plan around limiting Decker’s touches, solid play from highly regarded junior college transfer Hayo Carpenter will be critical to the offense. Everyone keeps talking about his speed. The Gophers are excited about the return of Duane Bennett to the backfield. The Junior went down with a knee injury at the end of Minnesota’s week two win at Bowling Green. The offensive line became an issue during the Gopher’s late season slide. While four starters return up front, don’t be surprised if they send those guys to second string behind newcomers like Jeff Wills and Matt Stommes. Wills is a massive 375-pound juco transfer and the coaching staff likes what they see from Stommes, who makes the move to offense from the defensive side of the ball. If this group can jell, the Gophers could exceed expectations.

Defense – Considerable improvement was made on this side of the football in 2008. Defensive coordinator Ted Roof helped the Gophers improve from dead last in the nation in total defense in 2007 to 80th last season. The hope is that the improvement can continue under new defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove. The Gophers return seven starters, but the defense will fail them again if they can’t do a better job of defending the pass. And that starts up front as Minnesota hasn’t been able to generate much of a pass rush. It figures to be even tougher this season without Willie VanDeSteeg who set a team record for tackles for loss in 2008. The coaching staff is hoping that sophomore Anthony Jacobs or senior Cedric McKinley can get to the quarterback from the defensive end positions.

Prediction: 9th Big Ten – With five straight losses to end the 2008 season and with new coordinators on both offense and defense, momentum and chemistry will be early issues for the Gophers. Plus, they aren’t playing their normal non-conference pushovers to get off to a good start and they drop Michigan and Indiana for Michigan State and Penn State in this year’s Big Ten schedule.

Trust Jimmy Boyd’s expert football picks for guaranteed results this season.

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