QB advantage gives Gophers an edge
Avoid a shootout: Every team has dealt with turbulence in this coronavirus-affected 2020 season, but few have had to account for a total rebuild of its passing game the way Michigan has. The Wolverines knew they would have to replace two-year starting quarterback Shea Patterson, but they could not have known that the cupboard would be so bare among the receiving corps before the ’ 20 opener.
Michigan figured to have one of the deepest group of receivers in the country – at least before the departures of Donovan PeoplesJones (left early for the NFL), Nico Collins (sitting out 2020 to prepare for the NFL draft) and Tarik Black (transferred to Texas).
Sustain defensive effort: Michigan in recent years has posted knockout regular-season defensive statistics under coordinator Don Brown, then has gotten steamrolled against top teams. Last season, perennial nemesis Ohio State piled up 577 yards and 56 points in a romp in the regularseason finale, and Alabama followed with 327 yards passing and 480 total in a Citrus Bowl victory.
Talented, quick-strike offenses can give the Wolverines trouble, and Minnesota has the look.
Keys for Minnesota
Come to pass: In the Big Ten, there may be no better passinggame combination than Minnesota’s duo of quarterback Tanner Morgan and receiver Rashod Bateman. It seemed that Morgan wouldn’t have his top threat when Bateman decided in August to opt out and prepare for the NFL, but he changed his mind in September and then received clearance to return despite signing with an agent.
Just like that, Minnesota’s fortunes got a lift. Bateman was the Big Ten’s receiver of the year in 2019 after averaging 20.3 yards on 60 catches, with 11 touchdowns. Morgan, a junior, passed for 3,253 yards and 30 TDs to obliterate single-season school records in both categories.
Pick up where you left off: No Big Ten team was as big a surprise last season as Minnesota, which had gone 12-13 in P.J. Fleck’s first two seasons before jetting to a 9-0 start in 2019 against a soft schedule – until a gutty week 9 win against Penn State. The Gophers dropped two of their next three games, but showed mettle in an Outback Bowl victory over Auburn.
A victory over Michigan in the battle for the Little Brown Jug would give Minnesota early-season confidence, but the Wolverines have won 32 of the past 35 games in the series.
Prediction
Minnesota 42, Michigan 38: The Wolverines’ dominance in this series is hard to ignore, but so is the fact that college football these days is a game dictated by quarterback play. And in that category, the Golden Gophers with Tanner Morgan have a decided advantage in talent and experience.