Boat Inspection: Minnesota Gophers football after Week 7
RELATED ARTICLES: W7 RECAP, G5 TOP 4, CFP TEAMS, W8 PREVIEW
STATUS: New captain aboard
LAST WEEK: L, 30-27 vs Michigan State
A three game losing streak is upon us. A wild comeback by the Gophers fell short on Saturday, but we might have figured out our direction offensively going forward. Last week I mentioned that it wasn't time to bench Conor Rhoda quite yet, but that time has come. Rhoda finished 5-for-12 for 53 yards, and was eventually replaced by Demry Croft. Croft led a near comeback and did so through the air, finishing 11-for-20 for 163 yards and three touchdowns.
Why is it time for Rhoda to be benched? With six games under our belt and three losses, we have already seen what he can do, and that isn't helping our offense. There's really not much that he can bring that we can't get with Croft anyways. As I said talking to a friend last night, we're going to win the games were supposed to and lose the ones were expected to regardless of if Croft or Rhoda is leading the offense. Might as well have a player who will be around next year lead the team. At least with Croft, his youth will be the reason for his mistakes, but that is something we can live with. His ability to run the ball also makes him more valuable than his predecessor, and could relieve some pressure off of the running backs.
Stopping the run was a big problem for Minnesota's defense, as the Spartans let LJ Scott and Madre London pound the ball on the ground. Scott was the star, finishing with 194 yards and two touchdowns. Losing to Michigan State isn't a bad loss, but with the late game comeback occurring, I think there were some who thought we could be in the game with a quarterback change happening earlier. Still, we now have seen what our offense needs to look like, and playing youth over seniority at quarterback is going to yield dividends next year.
UP NEXT: vs Illinois
Minnesota is favored by 14, and should be on their way to their first conference win of the season. This should be a game that the Gophers should win easily, but that hasn't been the case in the past. Last year, Minnesota won 40-17, but the Illini have proven to be a tough out for some reason.
This is the beginning of the final stretch of the Gophers season, and I'm interested to see where they end up. There are winnable games each week going forward, but the depth and inconsistency concerns will need to be addressed. Next week's trip to Iowa will be tough, but Minnesota has shown they can play the Hawkeyes tough on the road. A trip to Michigan follows and, while the Wolverines appeared to be unbeatable (for Minnesota) early in the season, they have since stumbled slightly. Nebraska has been tough to watch since the Oregon loss, and Northwestern has been wildly inconsistent (though a road trip there will be extremely difficult). Finally, Wisconsin is the finale, and the Badgers very well could be undefeated heading into that game. While they're unbeaten, they haven't looked dominant enough to win the Big Ten just yet. Running the ball a lot and playing stout defense could again be contributing to that perception though.
A bowl game is a big question mark at this point. Illinois and Nebraska should be wins, but those other four games are up in the air. Should Minnesota steal one of them, they'll go bowling, but that's not a guarantee. Anything under 5-7 will be an extreme disappointment.
