I was wrong. I think my future wife just drove off the road reading those words on her BlackBerry. I was convinced that Gophers football coach Tim Brewster spent too much time last week obsessing over a so-called "miscommunication" with a radio station, even calling a certain veteran reporter on Wednesday to discuss said issue, the most important prep day. For the record, it's unfortunate that a sports information authority was thrown under the bus when it wasn't his fault.
However, offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch, co-defensive coordinators Kevin Cosgrove and Ronnie Lee, and Brewster deserve to be lauded for their game plan efforts against top-10 California. They thought out-of-the-box. Cosgrove used the 3-4 with LB Keanon Cooper and did a nice job mixing in the blitz. While proving to be a disaster at Nebraska, he's showing that Brewster did a fine job replacing Ted Roof, who left for more money at Auburn. It also helps that Cosgrove has nine senior starters to work with. That is one reason why I've never bought into the idea that this is a young team. Eric Decker and Jeff and Nick Tow-Arnett, offensive starters, also depart after the year.
Fisch has to realize by now that he doesn't have the neccessary talent to have a top-five Big Ten running game, both along the O-line and in the backfield, so he has to get creative. Reverses, mixing up whether QB Adam Weber was in the shotgun, and the Decker to MarQueis Gray TD play call against the Golden Bears show that Fisch is starting to figure things out. It's too bad that the staff, shockingly, failed in its bid to get RB Hasan Lipscomb into school. He would the No. 1 back because of his speed. Duane Bennett and DeLeon Eskridge aren't getting enough holes to run through and neither has enough shiftiness and the ability to break away from tacklers to be effective. Some semblance of a running game will have to occur though if five conference wins are to take place, a very realistic goal. LT Dom Alford is getting better, but in my mind, Matt Stommes is one of their five best O-linemen. They should find a way to play both, maybe that would help matters. Having Northwestern (gave up 471 total yards to Syracuse), Wisconsin, Purdue, and Illinois, all teams with questionable defenses, also doesn't hurt.
A common take following the Gophers' loss Saturday: they played hard and it appears that they're building up to something. I agree on the former and don't know yet on the latter. I do know this much: if head coach Tim Brewster wants that contract extension, he needs to win the next three games vs. Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Purdue. They are better than all three, now let's see it. Don't be fooled by Saturday's point spread that favors Northwestern by a point.
MLB Lee Campbell, at last Tuesday's media gathering, said about his unit facing the vaunted Golden Bears: "this weekend we'll find out what we're made of." Well Lee, seeing that you held Cal. to only 20-yards rushing in the second half and forced six 3-and-outs, your defense is darn good. Good enough in fact to ensure that you win at least five games in the conference. The circuitous route to my overriding point is this: Brewster is facing the most important three game stretch of his head coaching career. Wisconsin, sandwiched in the middle, is the biggest game. It's time to win a rivalry game, especially considering that the Badgers' defense, which finished 9th in the Big Ten last year in points allowed, looks worse so far this year. Northwestern, coming off a loss to Syracuse, is eminently beatable. That's in spite of the two fluky losses Brewster has suffered against the Wildcats.
This is a season, because the Big Ten appears to be so weak, where a decent bowl game -- the Insight Bowl doesn't count -- is an attainable goal. Not having Michigan on the schedule should help. Every conference home game is very winnable, as is this Saturday's game in Evanston and possibly the Iowa game (how soon I forget 55-donut). With the 2nd best WR in the country (Dez Bryant, Okla. St. is No. 1) in Decker and a defense full of playmakers, let's see this talent win those five Big Ten games.
Brewster during spring practice: "We will continue our rise." Because of the Cal. game, realistically expecting a 4-0 non-conference record would've been ludicrous. Expecting wins @ Penn State and Ohio State is over-the-top as well, but go 5-3, hopefully land a nice bowl bid, then win that game. That's the only way Brewster's preseason vision can come to fruition.