First Look '09: Minnesota Golden Gophers

Penn State has an interesting history with Minnesota. In 1993, the Gophers were the Lions' very first Big Ten win. Penn State went on to win four straight. But the tables would turn in dramatic fashion in 1999, when Minnesota toppled No. 2 Penn State at home. The Gophers went on a four-game streak of their own.

The battle for the Governor's Bell was tied going into the 2005 matchup in Happy Valley. Penn State pummelled the Gophers on their way to the Orange Bowl, followed by a 2006 overtime win in the Metrodome. Minnesota fans will cry foul about a controversial interference call that kept the Lions alive to win; Lions fans will turn around and say any bad call against the Gophers is retribution for the 1999 upset.

This is a very fun series, and it renews this season after a two-year break. But what do we really know about the 2009 Gophers? Let's find out, in today's First Look.

Brew' Master - Tim Brewster came in as a "no name" to many fans, but was far from it. He was widely respected as a master recruiter and developer of talent. Brewster got Vince Young to come to Texas, and made an unsigned free agent named Antonio Gates into a Pro-Bowl tight end. The Minnesota athletic department did their homework, and looks to have gained a really good head coach.

Brewster is popularly known for his high-excitement way of doing things, particularly spewing regularly entertaining Tweets on Twitter. But on the field, he was able to guide the Gophers to one of the most oustanding turnarounds we've seen, going from 1-11 in '07 to 7-6 in '08, with a bowl bid!

Better, on paper - Minnesota will return a Big Ten-leading 17 starters from the '08 bowl team. Yet, that might not be enough to manage a return to the post season (more on that in a sec). All but two offensive starters return this season, and projected starter LT Matt Stommes got the nod once last year at RT. QB Adam Weber should continue to be an oustanding leader, throwing for more than 2,700 yards in each of the last two seasons. Of course, when All-Big Ten WR Eric Decker is on the receiving end of those passes, life is a little easier.

Along the line of scrimmage, the Gophers have to replace the steady DE Willie VanDeSteeg. But with eight overall defensive starters returning, this unit should be able to hold up well enough. In a clear departure from recent seasons, the pass defense might be the strongest part of the Gopher defense. With the entire secondary coming back, it won't take much to continue improving the numbers.

Tough road ahead - Minnesota could be the fourth or fifth best Big Ten team going into the season, but could finish much lower due to their schedule. The '08 non-conference schedule did not include a single BCS team, and the rest of the slate was set up for a big early run. Jumping out to 7-1, Minnesota was ranked No. 20 before losing the last four. The problem with last season was that the Gophers benefited from an outstanding turnover ratio (+12), which were either converted into points directly, or by the offense.

In '09, the Gophers open with a trip to Syracuse, then host a good Air Force team and an excellent California team. To come out of that 2-1 should be a big win for Minnesota. The conference slate opens at Northwestern, home vs. Wisconsin and Purdue, then consecutive trips to Penn State and Ohio State. Ending the season against Michigan State, Illinois, South Dakota St. (FCS/I-AA) then at Iowa is no peach either. With the strength of the conference piled into many of those opponents, and a much tougher non-con test, it'll be a tough road for this year's Gophers.

From enemy territory: This week, Tom from The Daily Gopher was kind enough to talk a bit about the '09 Gophers. It looks like Tom is drinking some of Tim Brewster's maroon and gold Kool-Aid.

What's one positive about this year's Gophers.

TDG: We have many positives heading into the season (the new stadium, a lot of returning starters, some very talented underclassmen, some key transfers at key positions)! I'll pick one though and go with Eric Decker. He's potentially an All-American and when healthy he makes our offense really click. It is no coincidence that when he went down with an injury we lost the final four games of the regular season.

What's one negative about this year's Gophers.

TDG: The Gophers change defensive coordinators every year and this year they are changing the offensive coordinator as well. On the offensive side this could be a positive, but with so many returning weapons I'm nervous that there will be some adjustment time for them to learn the third different system on their career. Defensively, we showed significant improvement from 2007 to 2008 with Ted Roof as D-Coord, but he is gone and we bring in a new head of the defense.

Name something most casual fans might not know about this year's Gophers.

TDG: Adam Weber. Most casual fans have probably heard of him but most probably don't realize how good this kid is. I firmly believe he is the most underrated QB in the Big Ten (Juice Williams = most overrated). Weber lead the league with 62.2 completion percentage, 2nd in yards passing (2,761) and had the second fewest INTs among the QBs with more than 320 attempts. And he was sacked far more than other B10 QBs, the kid was running for his life on nearly every play. Juice, Pryor and Clark are the sexier QBs in the Big Ten, but Weber is in their class as far as productivity and value to their team.

For more on Minnesota:

Minnesota's NEW STADIUM
Minnesota 2009 Schedule
Complete Spring Game Coverage

More from First Look '09:

Eastern Illinois Panthers
Illinois Fighting Illini
Iowa Hawkeyes
Temple Owls
Syracuse Orange
Akron Zips