Jerry Kill looks to improve on his 3 win debut season in Minneapolis with senior quarterback MarQueis Gray hoping to lead a Gopher uprising.
The good news on Gray is that he rushed for nearly 1000 yards last season. The bad news is that the converted WR threw for only 1400 and only 8 touchdowns. Gray has been a project since day one and the rodents are counting on this being the year the light comes on. Outside of Gray, very little talent or experience returns on the offensive side of the ball.
Senior linebacker Keanon Cooper leads a defense that will struggle to slow opposing offenses. Kill is counting on JUCO tranfers Briean Boddy and Martez Shabazz to lock up the cornerback positions. The defensive line is young and undersized.
Minnesota opens the season at UNLV which should be an easy win however strange things happen when Big Ten teams head out west. The rest of the non-conference schedule looks very managable with only a home test standing between Minnesota and a 4-0 start. At home versus Northwestern and at Illinois figure to be the two shots at a conference win for the Gophers.
PREDICTION: 5-7 OVERALL, 1-7 CONFERENCE
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