Minnesota game preview

[Zeek 16,649]

What do you guys think? I haven’t paid much attention to them other than their success. Not sure what type of team they are or how we match up. 

[ToraGirl 5,498]

I'm real fond of their coach...elementary ed major, motivator and "Pearlesqueness", of course... ...team, should be interesting.

I know their schedule couldn't compare to ours.  I do believe that teams outside the SEC are making strides to catch up with our conference, best seen in bowl match-ups over the last few years.  We're traditionally strong, but we're not undefeatable.

 

[DAG 33,974]

[triangletiger 1,599]

1 minute ago, DAG said:

Short and sweet - I like it!

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

They're solid, but unspectacular.  Had some really close games against lesser competition early in the season.  We have them outmatched by a mile with regards to pure talent and speed, but their RPO heavy scheme could give us issues and negate the D line effectiveness somewhat.

Lost to two teams with run heavy schemes, good defenses, and big, bruising linemen (Iowa and Wisconsin).

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

Looks like a pretty even matchup to me 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,662]

Win the edges on both sides and it should be light work 

[AUFriction 1,179]

Should be a snooze fest. We either put the game away in the first half, or we play a game of uninspired football after being shafted out of a better bowl. Either way, not really looking forward to this game. If it is a “good game,” it’s because we don’t really show up. Still fuming that we didn’t get the Citrus or Cotton. 

[auburnphan 6,050]

We have the superior talent, this should be a thrashing.  

[murpjf88 506]

22 minutes ago, auburnphan said:

We have the superior talent, this should be a thrashing.  

People said the same of UCF. We shall see.

[AUght2win 6,832]

28 minutes ago, murpjf88 said:

People said the same of UCF. We shall see.

UCF had speed. You can play with anybody if you have speed. I doubt Minnesota has anything akin to that UCF team. Probably a better version of last season's Purdue. 

[murpjf88 506]

35 minutes ago, AUght2win said:

UCF had speed. You can play with anybody if you have speed. I doubt Minnesota has anything akin to that UCF team. Probably a better version of last season's Purdue. 

Ucf if I remember correctly, was a double digit underdog though. Auburn should have beaten them handily. Minnesota beat Penn State so they have to have some talent. These underdog teams that aren't given much of a chance are sometimes the most dangerous. 

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

56 minutes ago, murpjf88 said:

People said the same of UCF. We shall see.

Auburn also isn't walking back into the stadium it lost a championship in 2 weeks earlier. That UCF team was wanting to prove something on the same level as Boise St vs OU. Our own fans didn't even show up.... and in Atlanta.

Why I don't play games on paper though.

Plus this day an age, who knows who is going to make the business decision in anything outside of a playoff game.

[Gowebb11 9,314]

Our overall roster is significantly more talented, but his will be the Super Bowl for them and the ultimate chance for Fleck and his staff to elevate their program. We better come prepared and motivated. 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

6 hours ago, murpjf88 said:

Ucf if I remember correctly, was a double digit underdog though.  Minnesota beat Penn State so they have to have some talent. These underdog teams that aren't given much of a chance are sometimes the most dangerous. 

This is same logic people used last year with Purdue because they beat Ohio State without looking at the roster.  If you want a real idea of their talent level, look at the last five years of recruiting rankings.

2019 - 45th

2018 - 38th

2017 - 59th

2016 - 46th

2015 - 63rd

On average, they recruit about 25 spots lower than Mississippi State over that period. 

Also, the teams that Minnesota beat went a combined 51-70. 18 of those 51 wins were from Penn State and FCS SD State.  Essentially they beat one good team all year, just like Purdue did last year.

If Brown and Davidson play, we boat race the Gophers.  If those two sit out, we still probably win, but more like two touchdowns.  The Minnesota o-line is severely outmatched in this game.

[caleb1633 1,418]

6 hours ago, Texan4Auburn said:

Auburn also isn't walking back into the stadium it lost a championship in 2 weeks earlier. That UCF team was wanting to prove something on the same level as Boise St vs OU. Our own fans didn't even show up.... and in Atlanta.

Why I don't play games on paper though.

Plus this day an age, who knows who is going to make the business decision in anything outside of a playoff game.

Exactly. We were uninspired because we felt like it was a waste of time being there (it was a bad idea saying that to the UCF fans though haha). I think the team has a different attitude this year. 2017 was great team, but there were individuals on that team who cared more about their own ambition than that of the program. That's one thing I like better about Bo than Stidham; this isn't a stepping stone to the NFL for him. He seems to care more about his teammates and winning for Auburn because that's what you're supposed to do, whether playoffs are on the line or not.

[Sizzle 3,909]

7 hours ago, murpjf88 said:

People said the same of UCF. We shall see.

That UCF team had a lot of talent in it. Quite a few of those guys are in the NFL. The people who said we outmatched them didn’t know what they were talking about

[AUsince72 11,084]

I kept turning on their home games after mid-October hoping for a Snow Game.  I thought I could count on them but never got one.  They suck. 😠

[weagl1 1,782]

I just hope our guys show up well prepared and ready to roll.  We don’t need to take anything for granted aka the UCF debacle.  Just because your roster looks better does not mean you can roll your helmet out there and expect an easy win.  

[AUFriction 1,179]

30 minutes ago, caleb1633 said:

Exactly. We were uninspired because we felt like it was a waste of time being there (it was a bad idea saying that to the UCF fans though haha). I think the team has a different attitude this year. 2017 was great team, but there were individuals on that team who cared more about their own ambition than that of the program. That's one thing I like better about Bo than Stidham; this isn't a stepping stone to the NFL for him. He seems to care more about his teammates and winning for Auburn because that's what you're supposed to do, whether playoffs are on the line or not.

This was never more than an unsubstantiated internet rumor and thus shouldn’t be discussed on this forum. A rule reminder... It is okay to talk about player talent level, but it is against the rules to talk negatively about players in this way.

[McLoofus 35,182]

44 minutes ago, weagl1 said:

I just hope our guys show up well prepared and ready to roll.  We don’t need to take anything for granted aka the UCF debacle.  Just because your roster looks better does not mean you can roll your helmet out there and expect an easy win.  

Motivation really could be everything in this game. It's prime time for one team and the opposite for the other.

 

 

[AU64 10,122]

4 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Motivation really could be everything in this game. It's prime time for one team and the opposite for the other.

 

 

Agree....this is a really BIG DEAL for the gophers.....and looking at the post season awards their players have been nominated for, their guys seem to know how to play the game.  Hoping AU does not think that the game is in the bag because they wear the orange and blue....though a team with three losses should not be over-confident about anything 

Looking for a very good effort from AU and pre-lude to a good 2020 season.  

[McLoofus 35,182]

2 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Agree....this is a really BIG DEAL for the gophers.....and looking at the post season awards their players have been nominated for, their guys seem to know how to play the game.  Hoping AU does not think that the game is in the bag because they wear the orange and blue....though a team with three losses should not be over-confident about anything 

Looking for a very good effort from AU and pre-lude to a good 2020 season.  

Hopefully the offense still thinks they have something to prove as they did for the bowl game last year. Because it's true and they need to.

And Gus does specialize in beating up on less talented defenses.

[gravejd 3,270]

I did a little read on them last night. Their strength is their offense. They have a big offensive line and a very good QB. And as you would expect with a good offensive line and QB they have a couple of 1000 yard receivers on the team. The receivers certainly won't be on the level of what we saw against LSU and bama but make no mistake they can and will hurt you. They have some good stats on the defensive side as well but I think that has a lot to do with playing in the big 10 and not a lot of great offensive teams in that league. I watched their game against Penn State and it was a good one. They had a safety that stood out to me...ball hawk kind of guy. If Nix gets careless he could cause some problems. 

Their 2 losses are to Iowa and Wisconsin and those are 2 ground and pound teams. In case your new to watching Auburn this season Auburn is not a team that has been able to ground out yards consistently on the ground. If we are able get some consistent yardage on the ground then we should handle them fine. There is no denying we have much more talent and speed then the gophers but you can bet they will be fired up to show what they can do against an SEC team. If our guys don't come in ready for a fight then we are going to lose the game. 

[AU64 10,122]

2 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

And Gus does specialize in beating up on less talented defenses.

"less talented than what/who" ?  than bama or UGa ?  .....that's true I guess....but Minn is ranked higher than AU (and bama) in total defense this year so who knows?  

Gotta be careful making assumptions