Minnesota @ Ohio State football preview

Gophers face #14 Buckeyes with eyes on 5-0 start

The mood after Minnesota’s impressive 37-3 victory over Florida Atlantic last Saturday was confidence but tempered with realism.

Yes, the Gophers came through a soft non-conference schedule at 4-0 and avenged 2007 losses to Bowling Green and FAU. Gopher fans have seen many Septembers look promising only to be followed by crash-and-burn Octobers and Novembers in the Big Ten.

But the Gophers Saturday trip to No. 14 Ohio State to open the conference season is the perfect way to see where this program really is under coach Tim Brewster.

“It’ll certainly be a barometer for our football team,’’ Brewster said. “It’s a tremendous challenge for our football team with the youth that we have to take our football team on the road into a hostile environment.’’

At least the tangible thing about the Gopher’s victory against FAU was that it was arguably their best performance under Brewster. They collected four interceptions and returned one for a touchdown. They were efficient on offense and sound in the kicking game.

Realistically, the Gophers don’t know what kind of team they are going to see in the Buckeyes. An early Top 5 ranking seemed hollow with victories over Youngstown State and Ohio.

A lifeless performance at USC that culminated in 35-3 was followed by the criticism that this program cannot perform in big games. Then, the Buckeyes continued to look flat last week against Troy.

So Ohio State coach Jim Tressel benched senior quarterback Todd Boeckman for freshman phenom Terelle Pryor and said earlier this week that pre-season all-conference running back Chris “Beanie” Wells should be ready to play. Wells missed the last three games with an ankle injury.

As for Pryor, his run-pass threat will give Gopher defensive coordinator Ted Roof many choices. If the Gophers decide to run a spy at Pryor, they do leave themselves vulnerable in other areas.

Clearly, the Gopher defense has improved because of better athleticism. It has forced 13 turnovers. However, it will have to make some plays.

“Our coaching staff has put together really good plans so far,’’ Brewster said. “But we’ve got a pretty good challenge this week, obviously.’’

As efficient as the Gopher offense has looked, it will need a superior effort Saturday. Of course, the Buckeyes have better secondary players than anyone the Gophers have faced and will likely use a safety to help against wide receiver Eric Decker. Quarterback Adam Weber will need to use his check downs for a second receiver.

Brewster will likely stick with his running back rotation between true freshmen DeLeon Eskridge and Shady Salamon. However, he will stay with the hot hand.

So it comes down to this for the Gophers. They have to be turnover free and get a couple of breaks. Offensively, they need to get into a lot of third and shorts and make enough stops on third down defensively.

If they do enough of that, then they can be in the game. If they don’t, it won’t even be close.

Minnesota has come a long way. Ohio State will reveal how much further they need to go.

Prediction: Ohio State 31, Minnesota 13

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Gopher Notables:

• Ohio State has won the last five meetings. The last Minnesota victory was a 29-17 decision on Oct. 14, 2000 in Columbus.
• Junior Eric Decker is on a pace to catch 96 passes which would easily pass his single-season record of 67 he set in 2007.
• This is the 125th season of Gopher football. The program’s all-time record is 631-450-44 (.580 winning percentage)

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