The Minnesota Gophers continued their absolute dominance in the early season schedule, adding PAC-12 Colorado Buffaloes to that list. PJ Fleck called the team's 49-7 victory "A surgical performance. Offense, defense, special teams... they just continue to go out there and execute the game plan." Birdman's Blog said in the preview: "I predict the Gophers to win 45-10, but wouldn't be surprised if the final is an even larger margin." I was wrong by a touchdown in the margin, but pretty darn close! Mo Ibrahim ran for 202 yards and 3 touchdowns and Tanner Morgan passed for 157 yards and 3 touchdowns, while defense continued to be dominant as ever. One big blow for the team was losing #1 WR Chris Autman-Bell for the season due to a knee injury. I don't think this will ultimately change the Gopher's season goals, but will definitely hurt losing a leader and player of his caliber.
A couple fun stats through the season so far:
149 points scored by the Gophers are the most through the first 3 games since 1916.
Minnesota is currently 2nd in both Total Offense and Total Defense, after 3 weeks.
Gophers are outscoring their opponents 135-3 in the first 3 quarters of each game (when the starters are playing).
Mo Ibrahim is the 2nd leading rusher in the NCAA, so far this season.
Mo Ibrahim is 1 rushing TD away from breaking the all-time school record.
Next up, the Gophers will travel to East Lansing to open their Big Ten schedule against the Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans are coming off a loss to another PAC-12 opponent, the Washington Huskies. Mo Ibrahim will be asked to carry the load yet again, rushing for 155 ypg while scoring 7 touchdowns, so far. Ibrahim has rushed for 100+ yards in 12 straight games, while Michigan State has not allowed a running back to rush for 100 yards in 16 straight games. Currently, the Gophers are 3-point favorites on the road. I would expect this game to be much closer than the first 3 games of the season and a much more even matchup than us Minnesota fans have seen thus far. I believe the Gophers will win by at least 7 points, so I will predict a 31-24 victory for the Gophers in East Lansing. Don't be surprised if the Gophers win by more, I just think Michigan State having a very good year last year had them a bit overrated to start this season. And like I have said in my earlier posts, this is going to be a special season for the Gophers...that includes beating Michigan State! Let's go, Gophers! Keep the good times rollin'!!!!
