Minnesota Gophers Facing the FCS Rhode Island Rams - Could Max Brosmer Dominate the Familiar Foe?

it's time to turn the page and look towards week two a familiar Foe for quarterback One Max brosmer can he dominate in similar fashion with even better Talent we're diving in today you are locked on Golden Gophers your daily podcast on the Minnesota Golden Gophers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what's up gopher fans you're listening to lock on Golden Gophers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day my name is Kane Rob host of the podcast former Collegiate football video coordinator and recruiting assistant here to talk Golden Gophers with you each and every day of the week Monday through Friday and today we're breaking down what we know about the Rhode Island Rams we're going to dive into the transfers that are coming in what we saw from their first game and then we're going to move into max Bros who has played this team not once not twice but three times and how he has fared against this Rhode Island team that has had the same coach throughout each one of those matchups then finally we're going to talk about the Gophers basketball team men's basketball team bringing in their first commit of 2025 what to know about him and what he brings to the team all of that today on lockdown Golden Gophers so if you want to be sure to catch your daily Gophers content be sure to hit subscribe over on YouTube be sure to drop comments down below I love to look at them I love to chat back back I love to get the conversations going I love when y'all get chatting too cuz Gophers fans are the greatest I love interacting with you all let's continue to build the fan base build the morale around this team even in the times of struggle but hopefully these next couple weeks and maybe even week four when we get to take on our rival the Iowa Hawkeyes we will get to have that momentum built up to that game and hopefully make it three wins in a row but it's going to take some major improvements in week two and week three until I can feel more confident in that matchup but regardless we're going to break it down rain or shine good or bad we've got you covered here at lock on Golden Gophers so let's do it let's dive in now we're gonna talk about the Rhode Island Rams we did a breakdown show for them in August breaking down every single one of our opponents heading into the season so you can always go back and check that show out where we talked about every position group on the team we talked about the coaching experience we talked about the transfers coming in and then the keys for what the Gophers are going to have to do in order to not only set themselves up for this game but also down the longterm line and what they need to look at in this matchup in order to be successful on the season now today we're going to talk about what we do know with Rhode Island Rams the last three years since covid this team has been on its best uh winning streak or winning season streak in quite some time they went six and five seven and4 and seven and four in the last three years now it feels like they're starting to figure things out as of late they're starting to figure out what it takes to get wins especially at that FCS level but overall their coach has been getting it done he started out with some losing records some very bad losing records but as of late he has gotten them on track their recruiting has been getting better and now they're pulling names from the transfer portal that are coming from bigger schools youve got Greg Gaines coming from Iowa State a wide receiver he is a starter for them in Rhode Island you've got Hunter Helms a quarterback coming from Clemson now he is the quarterback too surprisingly but that just shows you that they have depth in that quarterback room in case anything work were to happen they have Jordan Cooper who was a solid offensive lineman for North Northwestern State and then they have three Sacred Heart players that were all NEC conference players and Malik Grant the running back from Sacred Heart Carson Primrose the defensive line from sacred heartt and aren Giles a quarterback from Sacred Heart all three of those guys like I said all conference players that are coming over to Rhode Island but when you're looking at this team what we saw in week one was that quarterback one is actually Devin frell who went 20 of 33 with 287 yards and one touchdown in week one against Holy Cross now holy cross lost their big quarterback from last year they're definitely having some some rebuilding to do from last season successes but overall this Rhode Island team held its own they got their first dub on the season the quarterback looked pretty capable and on top of being able to throw the ball he also was mobile he led the team in rush yards with 66 rushing yards but it also shows that their running back room didn't show very very well or show very much talent even with their former all NEC linebacker or linebacker running back in Malik Grant now when you think about that their quarterback led the way with 66 rush yards they won that game I believe 24-1 so it was a multiple score game and you would think later in the later stages of that game you're going to want to use the four minute or uh yeah use your 4minute drill essentially and run clock and get things going and keep the drives long so that way hopefully you can run the clock out and keep the ball out of your opponent's hands trying to come back in a game of that situation but they didn't find much success on the running G in the running game they didn't find much success on the ground and that was against an FCS opponent not against a big 10 defense that looked pretty strong now they didn't look the strongest against the running game so we'll see if the Gophers can prove that the running game was the running game struggles was more Omarian Hampton an allamerican type running back as opposed to the gopher's defense as a whole but I imagine the Gophers are going to shut down this running game and then some which could cause problems for Rhode Island because it could lead for them to be more one-dimensional now when you're looking at Rhode Island's offense you have two wide receivers that led the charge in week one the former Iowa State uh wide receiver Greg Gaines who I had just mentioned he had 70 receiving yards on four or five catches and then mares Buchanan had uh 80 some receiving yards on like four or five catches so those two led the way by a lot now those two plus the wide receiver of three each had four or five receptions in this game but overall they kind of spread the ball around 21 receptions total for this Rhode Island team and that was spread among seven different players and 14 of the receptions came to the top three wide receivers in that room so overall it's hard to get a real read on the defense for the Road Island Rams because again the level of talent and the level of play across the board between Big 10 and uh FC FCF school is drastically different especially when it comes to consistency across the board so I honestly don't think that their defense is going to be able to hold up for four quarters against Minnesota now could they keep it close in quarter one maybe even in the first half maybe maybe if the Gophers offense is struggling and being lackluster once again then they can keep this thing closer but I think as it continues to go the Gophers are going to find a way to wear that team down defensively and then it could get ugly after that so with the way Minnesota's defense played outside of the Miss tackles last week I think Rhode Island could really struggle here I think especially because the Gophers had the number 18 pass defense after week one and again that was against the power conference opponent whereas a lot of power conference opponents were playing g5s fcss and whatnot that I think this gopher's defense could show even stronger in the past defense against this Rhode Island team it could be a tough day a long day for the Rhode Island Rams but this is their Super Bowl matchup this is the game that they have circled on the schedule ready to try and shock the world and show that they can be a highquality team and hopefully the Gophers do not let that happen because Rhode Island has struggled in their power five FBS Com or games that they have had in the the the tenure of their head coach so if the Gophers end up dropping this game it could be absolutely abysmal for this entire team it could be detrimental for this coaching staff and that would put a lot on the line I don't think that's going to happen this rad Island team offensively feels very one-dimensional like I said with them favoring the pass game and their quarterback especially their quarterback being a leading rusher for them in week one when they were leading in a lot of the game so if Minnesota can take away the pass game and put this quarterback in pressure and put him in the pressure cooker and add chaos and add physical hits and whatnot I think that this Rhode Island team could be feeling the Pains of an FBS School rather quickly and have a very very long day now the last FCS team that Minnesota played was in 2022 versus Western Illinois where Minnesota won 62-10 that Western Illinois team had a really good receiver in Naim Brantley uh they also had a mobile quarterback and I expect this gopher team to similarly dominate this game but this game is a familiar Foe for gopher's quarterback one coming up next I'm going to tell you you about how Max brosmer has played against this Rhode Island team over the course of his matchups and not one not two but three different times against the Rhode Island Rams and it's definitely pleasing information so you're going to want to stick around for that that's what's coming up next first I want to talk to you about our friends over at eBay Motors because if you are trying to soup up your vehicle you're trying to keep it tiptop shape and pristine then you're definitely going 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at the prices you want it's easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home the dub so keep your Rider die alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusions apply and the eBay guaranteed fit is for us customers only all right go fins let's talk about how Max brosmer has fared against this Rhode Island team that he has played three times but before I do that I do want to mention that you should follow locked on Minnesota sports where we will be doing a live post game reaction after every single game they did it last week without me because your boy forgot his headphones while he was in the pr press conf or not press conference but in the Press Box and so I was like I'm not not going to be able to hear my computer I won't hear what Ron Johnson and Luke Inman are saying I literally will be useless in this scenario so your boy had to Tab out and leave it to them but I will be back with them on Saturday after the Rhode Island matchup with some headphones in toe ready to break down what we saw in the matchup live postgame reactions so be sure to follow locked on Minnesota sports so you do not miss that going forward and hopefully we will see you in the comments tapping in there but like I said we're going to talk about how Max brosmer has fared in his last three match match ups against Rhode Island now in 2023 which was last season where Max brosmer ended up being a Walter Payton award finalist he bowled out against North uh against Rhode Island with New Hampshire now overall New Hampshire lost this game in overtime 34-28 which was unfortunate but Max brosmer did everything for that team he had 41 completions on 60 attempts for 68% completion percentage with 493 pass yards and two touchdowns along with zero interception so he took care of the ball he had two passing scores he almost had 500 yards passing and he led his team in rushing with 31 rush yards and a touchdown on six attempts so literally Max brosmer was the everything for New Hampshire against Rhode Island he put the team on his back and he almost took them the whole way ending up losing in overtime but if you go to the year prior another close match up New Hampshire won the game 31- 28 and Max brosmer bowled out once again 31- 43 72% completion rate with 316 pass yards two touchdowns and zero interceptions now he did have negative one Rush yard on 11 attempts so couldn't get it done on the ground probably had some sack yardage in there but overall very successful as a passer 72% completion with 300 plus yards you're going to take that all day any day and then finally 2019 his freshman season in his first year as a starter with New Hampshire he won the game 27-24 another close one a nailbiter so all three of these games coming down to the wire but Max brosmer as a freshman went 12 of 23 for 52% completion 184 yards two touchdowns in one interception along with 11 rush yards so over the course of three games versus this Rhode Island Rams team that has had the same head coach in every single one of those games from 2019 through 2023 he's been there for 11 years he's been there for over a decade but Max brosmer has given this team headaches and he can do it once again with the Gophers but if you look at what Max brosmer did with lesser star Talent around him across the board with a lesser offensive line that didn't hold up as well with uh I can't even say the Lesser running back because Dylan lby got drafted to the NFL to the Oakland or uh Las Vegas Raiders so I'm not going to say lesser running back but DT is a dog if he's playing in this one so overall a really good running back and then receivers that just weren't comparable to someone like Daniel Jackson Gophers have a lot more Talent than that New Hampshire team and we've seen Max brosmer Ballout if you look at his combined stats across those three games you're talking about a guy who had 993 pass yards 1,34 total yards and seven total touchdowns to one interception over the course of three games so a th allpurpose yards and seven touchdowns with one turnover yeah he has destroyed this Rams team and he is going to be playing with Daniel Jackson with arante urser with uh Tyler Cooper with hopefully Darius Taylor otherwise Marcus major has held his own already in week one this should be a game that the Gophers Dominate and you're surrounding him with big 10 Talent there is zero excuses for this gopher's team to not execute and dominate and there is zero excuses for this Go's coaching staff to not get the pass game going you've seen this quarterback Thrive against this team and if you can't find a way to get it done now I'm going to stop looking at the personnel and oh they don't have a quarterback oh they don't have this oh they don't have that and I'm turning all of my eyes on you coach Harbo coach Fleck so it's time to get it done it's time to put the past game together because Max brosmer has shown he can pick this team apart three times not once not twice but three times so overall especially when two of the last three outings has been a Rhode Island Rams team that has been on their positive upswing on their winning streaks on their three above 500 win SE seasons and he had his best outings a 493 yard game a 316 yard game four total touchdowns or five total touchdowns in those two games yeah you have to absolutely get the pass game going dominate this game and have zero excuses this needs to be a Get Right game for the Minnesota golfers but also a game to help get this offense in the passing game to start clicking there is no play it safe in this matchup if you're just going to run the ball all game long it is going to come back to bite you in the butt so get the pass going everywhere all over to multiple guys and get the chemistry and the confidence going in this offense if Minnesota doesn't do that I promise you I promise you pinky swear whatever your thing is I promise you the golfers will regret it in the long run if they don't get The Passing game going in this week two matchup that should be a dominant one so the final thing I want to talk about we're going to turn our eyes away from football we have talked football football football all through August and then into the beginning of this September member month but we have to look at Men's Basketball because they got their first 2025 commit and we're going to talk about who that is what other schools were interested in him and why he decided to commit all of that coming up [Music] next first let's talk about our friends over at FanDuel because you have heard us talk about FanDuel they're America's number one Sportsbook and that is for a reason but they also have a little different something different going for you right now through September 22nd so that is less than 20 days all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get 3- week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV and now is the time to do it the NFL season kicks off this weekend so if you bet $5 you will get three-week 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suuma Grove a Frankie uh those three guys are kind of the main oh Kaden Betts those four guys are kind of the main guys coming back that have multiple years of Eligibility so the Gophers have a lot of turnover heading into the end of this season so they need some guys in this 2025 class to build it up and keep some sustainability some Foundation to this gopher's team moving forward so it's not just seniors turning and burning every single year and the Gophers finally get their first commit of that 2025 class that they are pushing hard after and Minnesota lands their first 25 commit which is a Phil Philadelphia guard in Kai shinholster now Kai shinholster is a three- star player from William Penn Charter School he officially visited last week during that North Carolina game and through the weekend he was here along with another official visit of Amari Allen who the Gophers have been very high and very much highly prioritized and targeting in the recent months um now with Kai shinholster the Gophers got into this really late in the game they joined the pack in Late July and now he has made his way to committing almost just just a little bit over a month later so overall the Gopher showed love in that quick amount of time and he is a guy who is on the verge of a fourstar his ranking on 247 for 247 is an 88 now typically if you get to the high 89s or into the 90s you become a fourstar player now he's a combo guard he's rated the 25th combo guard in the country and he is 6 foot5 170 pounds but he is also ranked 220th nationally and that could increase as we go into senior year for him and that's something you've noticed with a lot of the guys Ben Johnson has been finding in this in the recruiting rankings and what have you is he finds a lot of guys that are lower in the rankings and ball out in their senior years and find themselves seeing huge jumps over the course of their senior year in the recruiting rankings and this could be another one that fits that mold now he had offers from Mississippi State Florida G Coast St Louis which St Lewis has the head coach from Indiana State last year who knocked out the Gophers in the NIT along with Robbie Aila transferring to St Louis so that is a quality school that has proven coach and proven players on the roster and then finally also Rhode Island who we just talked about their football program those are some of the main offers that he had heading into his recruiting and his highlights show that he can hit the three ball which you love to see as a gopher fan with some regularity but also he has a nice slashing guards skill set so that could pair really nice with Isaac assuma who could be an impact true freshman point guard this upcoming season so overall I'm really liking the promise of Ken holster uh I I I'm hopeful that kaien holster and the other two gopher potential gopher commits uh who visited this last weekend hopefully can all head this way Amari Allen was the other guy on an official visit we've talked about him on the show a few times and then also Tommy anaman who was not on an official visit he will be on an official visit in October but he did unofficially visit uh along with those two other players on their official visit so hopefully those three could all land with gos and that would be quite a recruiting class for Ben Johnson here in the late stages of the 2025 class now one thing I did want to mention is from Ryan James over at goer Illustrated if you don't follow them if you don't subscribe to them you are missing out but he had talked with kaien holster and he had asked what intrigued Kai what what uh positive aspects did he like about the Minnesota golfers and one thing that I thought was pretty telling but also says a lot about maybe Ben and their recruiting pitches is that this team has seven seniors so he said this team has seven seniors and when I get there next season they'll be starting over a little bit they'll only have one returning guard so it kind of opens up the opportunities to work get that spot and play at the highest level now it doesn't say oh it opens up the opportunities for me to start right away but it says I can grind I can work I can put in the effort and I can earn the spot and play at the highest level in the Big 10 conference so he is ready to get to work he is ready to push himself he is ready to put his name into the conversation early and he likes the Intrigue of having multiple guys leaving so he can try and compete as a true freshman so that is something that Ben could be pitching to some of these guys especially Amari Allen who we've already talked about on the show who took notice of how the Gophers used cam Christie and how cam Christie got drafted to the NBA and he could see himself in a similar role as a cam Christie Amari Allen that is and so that shows two players now that have seen they could maybe get some early playing time on the floor find some success and find the trajectory that we just saw cam Christie take from the Minnesota Golden Gophers so like I said those other priority targets are Amari Allen and Tommy anaman along with the current and only commit of the 2025 class right now in Kai shinholster will'll keep you posted as we hear more about these gopher's recruiting classes recruits as they finish their visits here and elsewhere and hopefully the Gophers have a couple more headed to the barn and Williams Arena here in dinky Town ready to play each and every home game but that's going to do it for us here at lockon Golden gos now tomorrow we're going to talk about the keys and the make or break against this Rhode Island team and then finally on Friday we will have predictions with your boy Tristan spford so until then I will see you next time R the bullet skyo Gophers as always and please don't forget to hit subscribe [Music]