Link: Arkansas preview

From @E.J. Stevens

Also, Race Thompson and Daniel Oturu will be in attendance. Those are probably the two biggest 2018 targets.

onetime Gopher 2016 WR commit, would step in right away and be an immediate big playmaker for MN?

He flipped to UCF, and in 7 games as a freshman, has 15 catches for 130 yards and 2 td's. Not bad for a freshman, but not yet the big-time playmaker some expected, after seeing his impressive HS highlights and recruit rankings (Rivals 4*).

Those stats would put him 4th in receptions among MN receivers, one more than Tyler Johnson, and 2 more than Still. Five MN receivers have more yardage than Snelson. UCF has also thrown the ball about 80 times more than MN.

He may trend upward to a great career, but to date, Tyler J. has very similar production.

Enough with the coaching crap this week, time to focus all our hatred on Sconnie! We will be there to see the streak broken and I will jump on the field to celebrate

Link: Football Scholarship Grid

Also, here's the basketball scholarship grid.

Thinking he will have another good game, and glad I don't deliver Coca Cola!

Steven Richardson ‏@mteam_srich 6m6 minutes ago
To the freshman: DO NOT WEAR RED IN THE COMPLEX! You will get leveled if you do.

(Sorry to the Coca Cola man in advance)

Richard Pitino

• Nate asked about being confident and Pitino chimes in "you don't wear that (a designer shirt) and not be confident."
• Proud of the way we played.
• Hannahs is one of the better three point shooters in the country, and we defended him really well.
• Reggie Lynch sprained his ankle, but doesn't think it's anything serious.
• Defending the three has not been a strength of ours. From a scouting report standpoint, we did a really good job of that, they only shot 1/8 from three today.
• The team feels good about themselves. These early wins help them believes in each other. They should be confident; they've worked hard and deserve success.
• Amir Coffey was pretty dynamic and impressive. In the second half, he had a little Michael Jordan in him, changing hands on a layup.
• I'll say it a billion times, but this is a totally different teams. It's like the Wolves without KAT. All five new players are impactful players. Five new guys on a roster of 13 is going to make a significant difference.
• 8/8 free throws from Curry was great. Sky is the limit for him. Good defender, good hands, good athlete, can block shots. Being from Arkansas, this was probably exciting for him.
• Our personnel is built to have as good of ball movement as we've had. We have a lot of good passers. Nate Mason has kind of helped set the tone; he's getting a lot of assists. We work on ball movement daily, but I think it's a part of who they are too.
• Contagious energy in our locker room.

Nate Mason

• Our defense sparked the 25-4 run.

Akeem Springs

• When our defense gets going, our offense gets going.

From what I gather, the basketball game is on ESPN3? I had no idea there was an ESPN3...

His ego is sickening, plus the home town B0 Network guys all kiss up to him.

He acted like a jerk with the quick handshake and in the post game press conference.

Minnesota lead the Drunks in the series 59-58-8, but alltime wins has MN at 673 & the drunks with 672.

The time has come to end this mess.

Nick Rallis

• Focused on stopping the run. Nothing crazy with their two quarterback system. The focus in preparation is definitely to stop the run.
• Wisconsin and the downhill run game is the type of game that I like to play.
• Our run defense has improved since last season. Our defensive line is playing great and has made it easy for linebackers.
• The defensive line was key in keeping Justin Jackson in check.
• You have to double Steven Richardson and that allows a linebacker to run free. It helps the entire defense.
• Corey Clement's a good running back. You have to wrap up and we'll have to swarm tackle.
• We all like Cash (Blake Cashman) and he's been lights out recently.
• Cashman's nickname is 'Pretty Boy". Give him a hard time for putting on face cream and hair gel in the locker room but when he puts the pads on he's a different animal.
• I'm very proud of what our kickoff team does. They help out our defense.
• There's definitely extra significance in this game, but we have to focus on Tuesday's practice, Wednesday's practice, etc.
• Kamal, Carter, and Thomas are ahead of where he was as a freshman. They could be one of the best linebacking groups around here of all time.

Hank Ekpe

• Coach Sawvel was talking on Sunday about how much the defense has progressed and how much better the run defense has been. Having talent back and more depth definitely helps.
• The added depth is the biggest difference on the defensive line between this year and last year.
• It would be great for the state of Minnesota to bring back the Axe. The players want to do it for the state. You have to do it for the state first.
• Got to know Gaelin Elmore better this year. He's developed on and off the field. He's a leader with a lot of character. He's not afraid to step up in big moments. His pass rush has improved.

Mitch Leidner

• Camp Randall's probably the loudest environment we've played in.
• Feel very good about where we're at as a team.
• Love the Axe rivalry. "There's nothing like it, I'm excited."
• Important to establish a run game on Saturday.

Tracy Claeys

• Have to be aware of which QB is playing, but the challenge with Wisconsin is stopping the run.
• Wisconsin averages ten minutes more time of possession than their opponents. That's hard. Have to convert on third down so our defense isn't out there so long.
• I don't recall a lot from the last time we were there other than that we had the lead and we lost it, and that was my fault. I was the defensive coordinator.
• Any time I'm at an event, multiple tell me about having to get the Axe back. But that's the good thing about the Big Ten, all the rivalries.
• We have to play four quarters if we're going to win.
• The game means a lot to us and the people in this state.
• Have to keep it around 14 points in order to have a chance to win.
• We have the big guys up front healthy to compete. Last year played a walk-on DT we were so beat up. Last year Wisconsin was young on the offensive line and still did well. The defensive line will have to play really well this year.
• Not much changed with Wisconsin's defense under Wilcox. Still in a 3-4. They won't let you run and on third down, they're like us and get a lot of linebackers in there.
• Merrick Jackson has played well, but there's a lot of competition at DT
• KiAnte Hardin's fine
• Doesn't remember the timeout at the end of the first half against Northwestern. "Come Monday, I move on."

What happened on that day?

Are we in on any difference making QB's or WR's for this class? Haven't seen a whole lot of chatter, but admittedly haven't been paying too much attention.

The position chart was just posted online for the Wisconsin game Saturday. No changes at all really. Brandon Lingen is still listed as OUT with a foot injury.

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools...016-17/misc_non_event/112216positionchart.pdf

I noticed something about ML after he threw the TD to Woli this past Saturday.
He double pumped his fists like a huge weight had been lifted from his shouders. He then had a moment alone as he made his way to the sideline and let out a huge sigh. I got the impression in this one moment he excised all the negative stuff he has heard and read through the years and found some peace of mind.
I hope this is the case and he has two more great games in him to finish his career with the Axe and a 10 win season.
Go Mitch and go Gophers

Link: Big Ten Week 12 Review

Minnesota is the team of the week and Cashman is the defense "big man on campus".

ESPN reporting Strong will coach final game against TCU and then will be owed $10.7 million buyout for last two years

The more I think about it, its the perfect timing to hire a new coach. We normally hire a new coach after we sucked and need to rebuild. Need to gut the roster, start over with the culture, etc

In this case, we just decide not to extend the interim coach. We return the entire OL (sans Pirsig but we played quite a few games without him), two amazing JR running backs, all receivers other than Wolitarsky and all the TE's.

The new coach lands a JUCO QB and we are off an running...and a couple of stud receivers

The new facilities are already being built...

Its a perfect storm for a guy like PJ Fleck in my opinion. Fleck would inherit a roster that can compete right now and he would recruit to a MUCH higher level.

Again, this isn't firing Clayes...its not extending him after giving him the interim job

Would love to keep several staff members too.

One of the greatest centers in the college game ever... If it wasn't for injury, he was probably headed that way in pros.

But I just heard him do the color analysis of the Tennessee-Wisconsin game out in Hawaii. Brutal is being nice. BTW,Wisconsin won.. But ESPN has to do something to correct Bill or tell him maybe it is time to hang it up. The game is going on and he is talking about plants he saw on his bike ride on the island with Rick Barnes.. Repeated himself a few times.. Would not get back to the game when he would go on his diatribes of things in his life....He is very interesting but as a color analyst, it is not the right time to share his memoirs with the world on TV when the result of the game was still in doubt. Maybe too much Grateful Dead, mushrooms, time on the beach, whatever.... But I have not been that embarrassed for a color analyst in sports for a long time... GREAT GREAT GREAT PLAYER who is interesting but maybe color analyst in a game situation has passed him by... WOW.

Tired of seeing the FLECK thread never ending.

Rittenberg @ ESPN - "But Minnesota should never fire an eight-win coach. Claeys deserves to keep coaching with greater security."

Really? We should view 8 wins as our acceptable ceiling? Interesting. Thoughts?

lly extend your arm to pat yourself on the back if this is the effort we are going to see this winter.

That was a fun 2nd 10 minutes of the 1st half. Hope it continues.

Per the Pioneer Press.

He'll walk with the seniors today on Senior Night.

It will be interesting to hear what Claeys says at the postgame presser about this.

Demry Croft and especially Seth Green have looked good in practice, and if Green or Croft will be the guy next year, it makes sense.

If it has to do with the rumors about him not getting his scholarship renewed, that would seem like a fairly ridiculous move from the Gophers staff, so I'm assuming it's not related to that.

As much as enjoy the potential that this year's team shows, it was painfully obvious tonight that the key to success this year will be Akeem Springs.

Adding Lynch and Curry up front has given us great depth up front. If Murphy can discontinue his habit of getting in foul trouble so quickly, he, along with the two newcomers will make a nice trio in the paint. Coffey is solid at the 3, and McBrayer and Mason should also be competitive as a starting backcourt.

The biggest concern I would have, were I coaching it, would be that there is ZERO depth behind McBrayer and Mason. I had heard about an out of control Springs in scrimmages, exhibitions and non-TV games, and unfortunately, Springs lived up to that tonight.

I expected so much more from a grad year transfer. Silly me.

Springs reminds me of Morris in that he is skilled enough to look good in an undisciplined game, but either too immature or too selfish to understand how to play the game without just looking to hoist it every time he touches it.

Gilbert is a stop gal who can play limited minutes, and Coffey, despite looking like a really nice 3, should not be a primary ball handler, so not sure what we're going to do when we get to the Big Ten games if/when one or both of our guards get banged up or in foul trouble.

If I'm Pitino, I'm continuing to throw Springs out there during the non-conference (though with a very short chain when it comes to poor decision making). We need him to be a reliable cog in the backcourt rotation if we have any hope of post-season play.

Other thoughts?

Big Ten is best conference in college football with 3 teams in top 5; 4 in top 8, 5 in top 17.

Gophs rank pretty well in Big Ten:

#4 scoring offense
#6 scoring defense
#5 rush off
#3 rush def
#2 in turnover margin
#2 in sacks
#1 in sacks against
#1 in fg made
#1 in kick off coverage
#2 in fg pct
#3 in red zone TDs
#5 time of possession
Rodney #5 rusher: good to see a 1,000 yard guy again
Woli #3 WR receptions