Right now, I think Penn State and Wisconsin are CLEARLY the best teams in the Big Ten, based on how they are playing as much as the result.. I don't think Ohio State nor Michigan would beat either of those teams right now. Wisconsin has probably the most favorable schedule in the Big Ten, this year.. I would not be surprised if they were undefeated, going into the Big Ten championship game. They avoid Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan State in the regular season with most of their toughest games at home.
But things can change in a hurry.. Injuries and suspensions can change the complexion and outlook of a team in one play or one situation. A QB or significant player injury turns a championship level squad to an average team.. Those are negative impact issues.
POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUES are player development and players returning from injury or suspension. I am really impressed with Minnesota developing players at O-line, WR, and QB so far.. I realize that injuries can derail the Gophers this year as well as anyone else. But Fleck and staff are doing a great job with the talent they have on the roster.. This is not the same as Mason where he had all that offensive talent at his disposal that was way ahead in their development at o-line, at the time.. Plus Mason never had anything close to the defense we have now...Fleck and staff have done a lot of good stuff in a short time.
FOR INSTANCE, Ed Warinner is one of the elite o-line coaches in the nation.. The key here is LEAVE HIM AS THE O-LINE COACH. Ohio State made the mistake of trying to incorporate him as the offensive coordinator. Warinner has quite a history of developing linemen for the pros, if you let him EXCLUSIVELY stay at line coach...Obviously, with our good offensive coordinator, we can keep Warinner as coaching just the line.. Also, O-line coaches are big parts of game preparation on offense, anyways.
I love how Fleck talks about concentration on the PROCESS more than the result...If I had to say "Gosh, we are playing Wisconsin this week", there is a possibility or even tendency for the players to think about nothing but the result of the game... Then, you feel like you have to play perfect to beat them and any mistake becomes 'gloom and doom' on the sideline.. These guys are going to be different players by week 12. I have to admit that I am a little more leery of Maryland and Purdue but not as worried about Nebraska, Iowa, and Northwestern as I was earlier in the year.. But again, negative impact situations could exist for all those teams in terms of injury or suspension but a lot of positive impact situations in terms of development can happen for those teams as well.... I just think we have the coaches that are developing players at a better rate than many other teams in conference.
We should be nothing but happy for the start that we have had.
All games matter but Wren has a point about in conference games.. Players on all teams are roughly the same in talent except for the very top 3-4 teams. SO coaching is a big deal.. I am very confident after the first few games that we are headed the right way in PROCESS so it should be a fun year.. Probably will outplay what I thought their record would be at the beginning... Lets enjoy the process as fans.. This is going to be a fun ride with ups and downs but headed the right way.
But things can change in a hurry.. Injuries and suspensions can change the complexion and outlook of a team in one play or one situation. A QB or significant player injury turns a championship level squad to an average team.. Those are negative impact issues.
POSITIVE IMPACT ISSUES are player development and players returning from injury or suspension. I am really impressed with Minnesota developing players at O-line, WR, and QB so far.. I realize that injuries can derail the Gophers this year as well as anyone else. But Fleck and staff are doing a great job with the talent they have on the roster.. This is not the same as Mason where he had all that offensive talent at his disposal that was way ahead in their development at o-line, at the time.. Plus Mason never had anything close to the defense we have now...Fleck and staff have done a lot of good stuff in a short time.
FOR INSTANCE, Ed Warinner is one of the elite o-line coaches in the nation.. The key here is LEAVE HIM AS THE O-LINE COACH. Ohio State made the mistake of trying to incorporate him as the offensive coordinator. Warinner has quite a history of developing linemen for the pros, if you let him EXCLUSIVELY stay at line coach...Obviously, with our good offensive coordinator, we can keep Warinner as coaching just the line.. Also, O-line coaches are big parts of game preparation on offense, anyways.
I love how Fleck talks about concentration on the PROCESS more than the result...If I had to say "Gosh, we are playing Wisconsin this week", there is a possibility or even tendency for the players to think about nothing but the result of the game... Then, you feel like you have to play perfect to beat them and any mistake becomes 'gloom and doom' on the sideline.. These guys are going to be different players by week 12. I have to admit that I am a little more leery of Maryland and Purdue but not as worried about Nebraska, Iowa, and Northwestern as I was earlier in the year.. But again, negative impact situations could exist for all those teams in terms of injury or suspension but a lot of positive impact situations in terms of development can happen for those teams as well.... I just think we have the coaches that are developing players at a better rate than many other teams in conference.
We should be nothing but happy for the start that we have had.
All games matter but Wren has a point about in conference games.. Players on all teams are roughly the same in talent except for the very top 3-4 teams. SO coaching is a big deal.. I am very confident after the first few games that we are headed the right way in PROCESS so it should be a fun year.. Probably will outplay what I thought their record would be at the beginning... Lets enjoy the process as fans.. This is going to be a fun ride with ups and downs but headed the right way.
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