Minnesota

So, the Gophers, eh? Paging Carl Spackler.

When I think of the long and storied history of Ohio State and Minnesota in football, the game I most frequently recall is  . . . 

Actually, I don't recall any.  I mean we had one or two nice comebacks against them up in the Metrodome many years ago, but there is not a lot of rich tradition between these two.  Ok, so former Buckeye assistant and current Big Ten Network commentator Glen Mason upset us in the Shoe in 2000 when Cooper's team started 5-0.  Oh, and J.T. Barrett ran 86 yards in the snow up in Minneapolis, so I guess that is something.

The Gophers are now coached by the caffeinated and nautically-minded PJ Fleck.  He's going to do great things at Minnesota, but just not this year.  The team has the most Freshman on any Division I roster.  Not surprisingly, they rank 116th out of 130 teams in experience. They start true Freshman at QB named Zack Annexstad, and backing him up are, wait for it, three Redshirt Freshman.  They also play 2 Freshmen RBs, but that is partly due to injury.

Despite that inexperience, the Gophers started out 3-0 with wins over New Mexico State, Fresno State, and Miami (Ohio), giving up a total of 27 points in those first 3 matches. However, the team's fortunes have changed with the start of the B1G season. Minnesota has lost their last two, and in doing so they gave up 41 points to Maryland and 48 to Iowa. Not only has their defense vanished, but their running game has gone from 295 yards in game 1 to 86 last week, decreasing each and every week.

Meanwhile, Ohio State was admittedly tired and practiced with lower energy last week.  You can bet Meyer won't let that happen again. Also, I have to believe that there will be an emphasis on tightening up the defensive play and certain people (players and coaches) will be highly motivated to perform well.  And this is just the type of opponent to boost your confidence:  Minnesota is 114th in total offense, which is worse by far than Tulane (89th) and almost as bad as Rutgers (126th), the two teams we held to under 10 points.

So, given our defense's up and down performance, who wants to try and predict this one?  While Minnesota's defense is statistically pretty good, I believe those stats are heavily weighted on the first three games, not the last two B1G results (I mean, Maryland is now 101st in total offense that is AFTER putting up over 420 yards v. the Gophers.  So how bad were the Terrapins before?).  And Iowa is not an offensive juggernaut (the game against us in 2017 notwithstanding).  I think the Hoosiers D is better and we torched them for 49.  I think put up similar points or more on Minnesota. On the other side of the ball, I think we are due for a return of the Silver Bullets that we've seen in years past.  I think the Gophers will not have much success running or throwing.

Vegas has the line at 29.5, which is to be expected.  The over/under, however, is only 59.5.   Yeah.  I think the Buckeyes score enough to get you really close and the Gophers manage something because . . . well, our defense.  Give the points, bet the over.

Schaef Says:  Ohio State 56, Minnesota 10.

Bonus 1:  Did you know? The Honeycrisp apple was developed at the Horticulture Research Center at the University of Minnesota in 1974.  It was made available to the public in 1991 and now is one of the most popular varieties of apple.

Bonus 2:  J.T. Barrett's run.

Bonus 3:  More Carl Spackler.