Minnesota Gophers Football: 2016 Season Preview
By Ryan Palmer
The Minnesota Gophers football team is about to embark on their quest of acquiring the Big Ten Conference title. Here is Sporting Sota’s Minnesota Gophers Football 2016 preview.
Although the Minnesota Vikings are grabbing the majority of the headlines, there is another football team getting ready to start their season, cue’ Goldy!
Welcome to the Tracy Claeys’ era of Gopher football.
The Minnesota Gophers are preparing for another tough Big Ten season. At a recent conference media day new coach Tracy Claeys said the Minnesota Gophers have two goals-
- Graduate every member of the football team
- Win the Big Ten
Having a high number of scholar athletes helped the team get into the Quick Lane Bowl last year in Detroit. Although both the players and coaches are thankful for the experience, their 2016 expectations are set much higher.
So just how far will the Minnesota Gophers tunnel in 2016?
Coaching changes
There will be some new faces, as well as some familiar ones, roaming the TCF Bank Stadium sidelines. Minnesota’s new head coach Tracy Claeys would fall into the latter. Claeys, a longtime Jerry Kill assistant, will get his chance to lead the Maroon and Gold in the fall.
With coach Claeys hiring, someone had to fill his role of defensive coordinator. Coach promoted the defensive backs and special teams coordinator Jay Sawvel to fill the position. Sawvel has been with the University of Minnesota since 2011, initially joining Claeys back in 2001 at Southern Illinois.
Former Ragin’ Cajun assistant coach Jay Johnson will take over the offensive reins in 2016. Johnson will have his hands full this fall trying to figure out what he has to work with on offense. Leading receiver K.J. Maye is now attempting to make the New York Giants roster, leaving some big shoes to fill on the outside.
Key questions
How healthy will Mitch Leidner be heading into the season? All eyes will be on the big fella hoping he has fully recovered from an injury plagued 2015.
What magic can new offensive line coach Bart Miller perform in the trenches? With a couple of junior college transfers coach Miller is hoping to improve a 2015 weak spot.
Does Minnesota have enough depth to replace NFL hopefuls Eric Murray, Briean Boddy-Calhoun and De’Vondre Campbell? The Gophers bread and butter has been a solid defense, especially the defensive backfield.
Can first year coach Tracy Claeys make another bowl game? Tracy will look to improve his bowl record to 2-0.
Experience
13 returning starters
7 on offense, 6 on defense
2015 record 6-7 (2-6 in Big Ten)
Won the 2015 Quick Lane Bowl (21-14) over Central Michigan
The Gopher’s do not have to play titans like Michigan or Ohio State this year. In total there will be 7 home games and 5 on the road.
Offensive preview
Mitch Leidner will lead the Gopher offense for the third straight year at QB. The 2015 Minnesota Gophers ran a pretty vanilla system, it will be interesting to see Jay Johnson’s impact on play-calling and his impact on Mitch Leidner’s overall game. The senior QB struggled to find his target through the air at times, hence a completion percentage of 59.5, which should improve. Coach Claeys expressed that the new coordinator needs to figure out Leidner’s strengths prior to the start of the regular season, to avoid having to “experiment” on the field. Claeys also stressed the importance of cutting the amount of negative rushes down, especially on first down.
The Gophers are stacked at running back Super sophomores Shannon Brooks and Rodney Smith will look to improve on their 1,379 combined yards as freshman. More good news for these backs is Tracy Claeys’ focus on rebuilding the O-Line.
K.J. Maye’ departure means someone has to step up. Senior receiver Drew Wolitarsky and sophomore Rashad Still will look to play a bigger role. Redshirt freshman Hunter Register will also be looking to make some big plays.
Defensive preview
Unfortunately the Gophers lost a ton a talent coming into 2016. It will be difficult to repeat the success of last years group, especially on the backside. Senior Jalen Myrick will have to step up and lead the way for this young group.
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Probably the Gophers biggest strength on D is the linebacking corps. Jack Lynn and Cody Poock lead the way for this talented group. Minnesota is hoping junior college transfer Jerrick Jackson can help plug the holes on the defensive line. Getting pressure on opposing QB’s may be the Gophers biggest weakness on this side of the ball.
Special teams
Ryan Santoso may take over punting duties for departed Peter Mortell. That would leave the Gophers in need of a new place kicker, unless Claeys lets him play double duty. Keep an eye on early games to see who’s handling kicking duties.
Projections
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Although coach Claeys is more optimistic about wins (predicting 8-10), the Gophers will more likely fall in the 5-7 win total. Having too many question marks on offense and a defense that lost some key cogs, is hard to overcome. The defense is young and needs time to grow. It will be a solid start for Tracy Claeys and company to build upon, perhaps next year Gopher fans.