Coach Randy Walker said Monday he wasn’t taking Minnesota lightly.
The Golden Gophers (1-3, 0-2 Big Ten) began last season on a quiet note but got louder in their fifth game when they rolled over Illinois 44-10. The Gophers went on to beat Penn State, Ohio State and Iowa en route to a 6-5 season and a berth in the Micronpc.com Bowl.
If not for Northwestern’s turnaround, Minnesota might have been last year’s Big Ten Cinderella story — and Walker knows it. Sulking at Monday’s press conference, he described an opponent eerily similar to his own team.
On offense: “They’re very strong on offense — a lot of returners on a very productive offense from a year ago, so we’re going to have to play well on defense. … I don’t think we’ll be surprised by a lot of things.”
On defense: “They did lose a lot of starters on defense last year. … They have a lot of young players playing. But they’re playing better, week in and week out. If you watch them from the beginning of the season to the end, you see huge progress and huge strides in their football and in the way they’re playing defense.”
To be clear, Walker is talking about Glen Mason’s team, although his words could be read differently.
Walker didn’t mention that he and Mason rebuilt their respective programs by the end of their second seasons as head coaches.
And while NU running back Damien Anderson likely will have an easy time locating holes in the Minnesota line, Gophers wideout Ron Johnson could run circles around the Cats’ secondary.
The Gophers currently sit in the Big Ten basement after two weeks of conference play and losses to Purdue and Illinois.
However, both of those games were in doubt in the final minutes.
On Oct. 2, Big Ten administrators apologized for an critical call during the Gophers’ Sept. 29 overtime loss against Purdue. Minnesota wideout Antoine Henderson’s left foot was ruled out of out bounds when he caught a touchdown pass to the send the game into a second overtime. The game tape later revealed his left foot landed in the end zone.
Walker said Minnesota also had numerous chances against Illinois. Late in that game, the Gophers found themselves deep in Fighting Illini territory but were unable to convert.
“They’re a team that’s just a play or two away from being 2-0 in our conference against two of the better football teams in our conference,” Walker said. “They’ve lost two heartbreakers.”
