Minnesota Gophers football schedule tougher than last year

time to row the boat Minnesota what is PJ Flex upcoming football season look like and with a much tougher schedule you are locked on Big Ten your daily podcast on the Big Ten Conference part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day [Music] well welcome to lockdown Big Ten I'm Craig Shuman and thank you for making us your first listen each and every day today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook the official Sportsbook of locked on make every moment more visit fanduel.com locked on today and get yourself started here's what we're gonna do on the podcast today we're going to take a deep look at the Golden Gophers football team from top to bottom then I'm going to give you a game by game analysis of the schedule with honesty and let you know where I think the team is going to end up this year and then at the end of the podcast our big ten top ten and today we're gonna rank helmets now I didn't do this I took it from artificial intelligence that got me off the hook there's some I really disagree with on this list I think some should be ranked higher some should be ranked lower so I'll have that coming up that'll be a lot of fun later on in the program be sure to subscribe and follow lockdown Big 10 for free wherever you get your podcast that way you'll get the latest episode of this podcast as soon as it becomes available each and every day tell your friends about it all right PJ Fleck nine and four last year pretty good and pretty streaky uh along the way one the first four out of the box last year then lost three in a row and then won five out of their last six including the win over Syracuse in the pinstripe ball 28-20 defense was an interesting story because they gave up 20 or fewer points in all but two games had two shutouts and three games where they only gave up one score so we're gonna take a closer look at that as well and of course as I mentioned they capped off the season at the pinstriple I want to ask you guys did anybody go uh fans of Minnesota look I grew up in the midwest it was snowy and cold and miserable and I just I loved watching the warm weather bowl games and all the color and the pageantry Pasadena and the Rose Bowl for example and then uh the Pinstripe Bowl just it looks cold in December and the Yankee Stadium and I just I wonder what that was like if any of you went and some of you may be you know obviously from Minnesota going to New York in December for a bowl game or would you rather have gone somewhere warm I'd not be smirching uh the bowl game that was great it was a great way to end the season I'm just wondering if you'd like to the Pinstripe anyway hit me up at Twitter at talkbig10 I'd love to hear from you or maybe on YouTube I go on there and check comments at night and answer back I would love to hear from from you on that so let's talk about this team there's a lot to replace on offense it would make me a little nervous to be honest with you Muhammad Ibraham is gone after a great comeback year injured himself two years ago comes back and still is able to put out 1600 yards of offense and 19 touchdowns now he's uh trying to make the Detroit Lions roster in the NFL so a lot of production to replace at running back that jaw may fall on Western Michigan Sean Taylor Transfer portal comes in scored 16 touchdowns over two years and also a little bit of Versatility because he returned three kicks for touchdowns while there so Sean Taylor's gonna get the job to replace uh Ibraham there at running back also gone Tanner Morgan quarterback and he's trying to make the Steelers Squad right now so Ethan Cali akmanis is going to be the starting quarterback he started five of the 11 games he played in last year so that's good he's got a little bit of experience there in fact he went three and two as a starter not too bad and Cole Cramer will back him up in the quarterback's room receiver not as Barren couple of interesting stories here Chris Autumn Bell had a nice 2021 injured his leg at 22 and he's an academic all Big Ten player so smart guy coming back for his sixth season and he's climbing the school record books this will be something to watch as the season goes on he's uh 12th at Team history and catches ninth in receiving yards and 13th in touchdowns so he'll be able to uh climb all three of those as the season goes on Daniel Jackson led the team in receiving yards last year he's back 557 yards and five touchdowns so that that helps out and then a very interesting transfer again from Western Michigan Corey crooms gonna be the slot receiver this year 115 catches and 12 touchdowns in his career at Western Michigan last year 57 catches 814 yards and five touchdowns I I think he's going to be something exciting to watch also uh Charlotte wide receiver Elijah Spencer joins the team to add some depth depth at receiver tight end Brevin spawn Ford coming back for a sixth year led the team at catches last year solid player four-time academic all Big Ten smart guy up front speaking of up front Senator John Michael Schmitz is gone okay he got drafted by the Giants he's in the National Football League second round pick and uh first team All-American Center offensive lineman that is going to be difficult to replace ariante esre and Quinn Carroll come back on the offensive line they're going to have a lot asked of them as well now I'm still trying to figure out as I kind of alluded to at the top of the podcast that how this was the fourth best scoring defense in the country last year they really didn't have any pressure up front in fact nobody had more than three and a half sacks so um with without putting up a lot of pressure they just they just made stops on third down and they were able to cash in on that they also lose 300 pound defensive tackle Trill Carter he transferred to Texas so look they're just gonna have to rely on plugging things up and making tackles and you look at the linebacking core Cody lindenberg comes back gritty player 71 tackles last year also at linebacker another transfer Redshirt senior Ryan selig comes from Western Michigan you've seen a theme here I'll come back to that in a minute his last two years there he made 135 tackles 12 and a half for a loss so they're going to be relying on him in the defense as well back in the secondary the corners at left corner Justin Wally started all 13 games last year 39 tackles three interceptions and academic all Big Ten and again A continuing theme if you watch me time and time again I like the corners that make tackles he can do that also uh Richard senior transfer Trayvon Jones comes in from Elon probably get the other Corner Spot and Nickelback senior transfer Jack Henderson from Southeast Louisiana look it's a smaller school this is his chance to step up into the Big Ten 33 games though at Southeastern Louisiana 163 tackles and six interceptions so he is productive no doubt about it and at safety Tyler Newman got a nose for the football had four interceptions last year so he can play and he comes back now I asked you did you see a theme here three transfers on this football team from Western Michigan cheers out of Western Michigan do last year want a refresher course five and seven third in the Mac West but it is a program that has sent talent to the NFL and now sending some talent to Minnesota again running back Sean Tyler wide receiver Corey crooms and linebacker Ryan selig all part of the team this year all right this is also a uh the part of uh the podcast where I like to take a quick peek at the future and the recruiting class class of 2024 right now uh 24 7 has it ranked 15th not bad 23 commits already uh led by linebacker Nathan Roy a 6-5 linebacker from uh Wisconsin just signed on June 17th defensive lineman Riley sunrem from Kindred North uh North Dakota he comes in uh safety koi Parish from Minnesota he just uh signed in April a three-star tight end Jacob Simpson 6'5 big Target coming from Johnston Iowa he signed on June 11th and Adam cassai 6 8 230 pound Edge from Palm Bay Florida signed on June 18th and finally Jalen Hicks a defensive lineman from New Rochelle New York just signed on June 11th so that's a look at the team as it currently stands in a quick peek at how it will look in the future and now that we've looked all that we're going to take a peek at the schedule play the old win loss game if you will and see how the Gopher season is shaping up and uh plus I'm going to throw this in there um you Minnesota fans you die hards you know what row the boat means it's saying you're here all the time maybe a fringe listener a new listener uh or viewer of our podcast doesn't know what it means it's going to tell you what that means all in just a minute here on locked on Big Ten but first we are brought to you by FanDuel take your first swing at betting Major League Baseball on FanDuel and get 10 times your first bet amount in bonus bets up to 200 that's right if you just bet 20 bucks you'll land 200 in bonus bets win or lose that's 200 that you could spend betting everything from the money line to the over under to who you think's gonna hit the first home run in each game all on an app that's safe secure and super easy to use plus when you win you get paid instantly there's no better place to bet on MLB than FanDuel America's number one sports book so sign up today and visit fanduel.com lockdown and get up to 200 in bonus bets that's fanduel.com lockdown FanDuel official partner of Major League Baseball want to thank you for making lockdown Big Ten your first listen every day every day is our next show we'll take an early look at the Michigan State football program take a look at Sparty be sure to subscribe on YouTube Share follow and like locked on Big Ten and tell all your friends about it I will really really appreciate it all right quick note what does row the boat mean say it all the time if you're involved in Minnesota football uh it comes from actually a tragedy in PJ Flex life and it's kind of a never give up Mantra uh The Ore represents uh energy that you bring to every aspect of your life the boat represents sacrifice what you will give up for something that you've never had and accomplish the direction of where you're traveling and who you're traveling with Road about I've always liked it but that's the background on all of that all right this schedule the schedule starts uh against Nebraska the 8 P.M Fox game on the 31st on a Thursday night now that's a game that Minnesota won last year uh up there again some 20 to 13. let's say they do it again and win I don't know you know a lot of questions with Matt rule his new the new regime there with Nebraska and then the second week of the Season uh Eastern Michigan comes in uh for 7 30 night games so let's just say the start out 2-0 got off to a quick start last year as well the third week of the Season at North Carolina that could be a tough one it's a 3 30 game out there we'll set that one aside I like the ash I don't want to say flat out that the loser that's it I don't like that but uh we'll that's that's gonna be a tough game no doubt about it uh two games in a row on the road at Northwestern that's a game Minnesota won handily last year 31-3 and I think they'll win it again and then they close out September with a noon game against Louisiana again I think another win and then the first week of October uh it's against Michigan Michigan is a team they did not play last year and Michigan's loaded I mean it would take a lot to have Minnesota win that particular football game so um that probably a loss there but good news they follow that up with a buy and then at Iowa a team they lost to 13 to 10 last year I think it's going to be an equally tough game again this year but this one's at Iowa and kinnick stadium is just nuts that could be another tough game another loss then uh Minnesota comes home and takes on Michigan State a team that they beat handling again a team will be featuring on our next podcast 34-7 last year and then Illinois you know these last four games these last four are tough all in November uh Illinois at Purdue at Ohio State again that's another team they didn't play last year and then uh finally closing it out against Wisconsin and Luke ficklestein this team the Minnesota beat last year 23-16 this is that's rough those last four yikes I mean I never want to be negative that's that's going to be hard to do they could lose them so I I'm kind of looking right now at the upcoming schedule I'm I'm looking at maybe maybe five and seven six and six and honestly I mean I know last year was a nine win season but new quarterback new running back and you got both and Michigan and Ohio State on the schedule that you didn't have last year that's a lot to ask uh that's a lot to ask that's a lot to ask so if you disagree with that I'd love to hear from you on Twitter ad talk Big Ten or hit me up in the comments on YouTube as well all right I told you I would give you an honest assessment of the schedule and I could be a fanboy with anybody I'm just going to give you an honest assessment of how I think and it's it's going to be a tough schedule but look you got a good coach and PJ Fleck and we'll see what comes out of it here all right coming up our weekly feature uh we're going to do our Big Ten uh top ten and we're gonna rank the helmets who's got the coolest helmet in the league except I Didn't Do It AI did it artificial intelligence all that coming up as we continue on lockdown Big Ten foreign let's do this take a look at the helmets I used artificial intelligence okay AI did this it ranked them before I unveil them I'm just going to warn you and and it even said before it ranked them for me it said this is subjective and uh there could be some biases here personal preferences I'm gonna put up the list for those of you who are listening on audio only on the podcast I will describe what is here because I know some are listening on audio versus some watching on video on YouTube all right here we go the big unveiling here's how it looks number one the Michigan Wolverines the classic and iconic helmet with Maze and blue colors and the distinctive winged helmet design number two the Ohio State Buckeyes says sleek and bold Scarlet in great colors of course the Buckeye Leaf stickers number three the Penn State Nittany Lion Simple and Clean blue and white colors and then Nittany Lion logo you know what I I'm gonna say this right here while Penn State is a very good football team and great home field advantage and great crowd I don't know the helmets they're a little simple and they're you know the white helmets I I would not maybe rank them as high and number three the Nebraska Corn Huskers the Huskers uh traditional Timeless scarlet and cream colors and the Bold and Logo they have them at number four AI they the Wisconsin Badgers says intimidating and fierce with red and white colors and the fierce Badger logo I do like the Avengers helmets they they do pop a little bit and number six the Michigan State Spartans you know what the the green Sparty helmet I would rank that higher I think that uh I think that pops a little bit on TV next number seven the Iowa Hawkeyes it says eye-catching and unique with gold and black colors and the Hawkeye logo very distinctive very nice No Doubt the Minnesota Golden Gophers the team we just looked at here today bold and distinctive with the maroon and the gold colors and the M helmet design but I will tell you this when they bring out the Chrome helmet I would rank that way higher than eight I I love the Chrome one they bring out from time to time the Northwestern Wildcats at number nine the purple and white and the Wildcat logo seems about right my alma mater the Indiana Hoosiers just barely crack in the top ten they say striking and clean with crimson and cream colors and the interlocking IU logo I like it when it's just this singular eye the Maryland Terps at number 11 I know this is a top ten list but why leave anybody out the Maryland Terps uh you know it's it's red it's white it's black it's gold the change it up from time to time it's got the state stuff on you know and the turtle shell design it's too much it's too much Marilyn you got to simplify your helmets in my opinion the Scarlet uh Knights of Rutgers at number 12. and the night logo followed by number 13 Illinois the finding Illini you know what I think the fighting Illini helmet it's getting a little tired looking now here's the thing the orange and blue that still pops it works at Illinois works at Florida it works at Boise I it's a good color combo I think it's time for an update in Illinois and then number 14 the Purdue Boilermakers dead last I I got you know I'm gonna tell you this you know because I've told you before I'm an Indiana grad this is way too low for Purdue and in fact when Purdue has the the black matte helmet with the gold p on the side but has the train track running right up the top right through the center that's a cool helmet man I would put Purdue way higher than that absolutely so that's my opinion on that but that was done by artificial intelligence so don't blame me all right fun way to end it here today uh thank you for making lockdown Big Ten your first listen each and every day every day is our next show we'll take an early look at the Michigan State football team and uh we invite you as always be part of our club if you're watching regularly you already are tell your friends about we want as many of the cool kids in our cool Club the Big Ten Club if you will checking us out each and every day many ways for you to interact with me and uh one is Twitter at talkbig10 and of course uh comments on YouTube as well and check those out be sure to subscribe and follow this podcast right now on your favorite podcast app and you get the latest episode of lockdown Big Ten as soon as it becomes available each and every day also inviting you for a second listen to check out the lockdown Sports Today podcast for the latest on everything else going on in sports that'll do it for us here today I thank you so much for checking us out have yourself a great day we'll see you next time I'm Craig Shuman for a locked on Big Ten