This is a massive game, toward getting to that point, as a program. Fans are still holding their collective breaths, as we wait to see more out of a team that barely made it out of non-conference play unscathed. A convincing win would change the entire narrative on the season, with Illinois coming to TCF Bank Stadium next week, into another home game vs the most overrated Nebraska team in program history.

The key to beating Purdue comes in the trenches on both sides of the ball. 

Shannon Brooks will make his return this week and that easily makes the Gopher backfield the most talented in all of college football but I’d argue they were near the top, even before his return. The key to the running game doesn’t lie within Brooks’ return. It lies within this offensive line, which has looked vastly overrated, early on.

Sure, they are young, they are MASSIVE, and they are likely to keep improving. That’s definitely the bright side. But, we need to see some noticeable improvement right now, out of this O-line, because their size hasn’t equated to results yet this season, vs NON-Big Ten defensive adversaries. It’s been ugly.

The Gophers are currently sitting at 90th in the nation, with 119.5 Rush YPG. Last year, we averaged 171.2 per game, with a lot of the same guys. Hopefully that’s some hope we can grasp onto because their 2019 Yards/Carry isn’t… they rank even worse there (124th in nation) with 2.2 YPC…. Only 5 teams in FBS rank lower. But just like with YPG, they were way better last year (4.3 YPC)…. so… hope?

At this point, we know what we have at RB, WR, and QB. Our skill positions are stacked and Tanner Morgan is more than equipped to handle an offense as loaded as this one. In fact, the more room the offensive line can give this running game, the better Tanner Morgan will be, because when we need Tanner Morgan to come through in clutch time, he’ll be there. But, the less you have to put on his shoulders throughout the course of the game, the better he will be as the game unfolds. He’s an elite game manager with a twinkle in his eye for big time moments. In other words, the Vikings should call him up for Sunday……….

via GIPHY

Defensively, the focus is on the Boilermakers’ now healthy (they hope — he’s questionable but expected to play) QB, Elijah Sindelar, and their standout Sophomore WR, Rondale Moore.

Sindelar was injured last week but put up over 900 YDS, 9 TD’s, and just 3 INT’s in weeks 1 and 2. Moore is looking like one of the WR greats in Purdue history with just 1.3 seasons in the books. He went for 114 REC, 1258 YDS, and 14 TD’s in his Freshman season and has 369 YDS and 2 TD’s in 2019.

But, we have what should be a smothering secondary, led by Antoine Winfield Jr. and they get to face WR’s, as good as Rondale Moore, everyday in practice with Tyler Johnson, Rashod Bateman, and others. I’d be shocked if Moore has a monster game. But if he does, it will likely be on the front-7, rather than the back-4.

PJ Fleck has touted Jim Panagos as a major hire at defensive line. He glowed aboout him at Big Ten Media Day and he raved about him at early media gatherings, before putting Jim at the podium to hit us with his enthusiasm. He’s a great guy and coaches with the type of fire that PJ loves. The results so far though, have been mixed.

We’ve faced 3 new QB’s, that play for underwhelming opponents. The sack percentage looks really good, ranking 17th in the nation but we’re also near the bottom of the NCAA in opponent passer-rating (90th). They’ve allowed offenses to march down the field at times, but have also stepped up and gotten big stops, in big moments. You also can’t discount the triple-option offense they went up against vs Georgia Southern, since they never really threw the ball, period. So far vs the run, they’ve been dominant, ranking in the top-25 in both YPG and YPC.

In other words, there is a lot we still need to find out about this defensive line vs the pass game. If the Minnesota front-4 can keep Sindelar uncomfortable without needing to blitz a ton, it’ll be hard for him to find Moore, with our secondary/linebacker group.

I think we will see a different Gophers team than what we have so far. I want to see some wrinkles on offense and defense, that we haven’t seen in non-conference play. Hopefully, that will lead to some running backs breaking free. If we can get that part of the offense rolling, I think the defense will handle itself, and the Gophers will walk away with this one handily, 31-20.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The music was loud. In fact, you could hear it as soon as the car was parked and turned off. I parked a couple of blocks away because it was nice out… and I don’t think I have passes for the media parking lot… I wasn’t surprised by the music because I’ve been to Gophers practice before and I know Fleck likes to jam but it still caught me slightly off-guard, given that practice music wasn’t at the top of my mind driving into Minneapolis.

I got more excited as I neared Athletes Village because that’s what the music does… that’s why it’s there. After a week+ of dance camps and dance auditions for my daughter, I was finally able to make it to a Gopher Football practice on Monday evening AND on top of that, my kids were going to be in bed by the time I got home. I was about to start a perfect night.

A few things stuck out (beyond the loud music) as practice went on, and I will have more as the days go on this week. It wasn’t until practice was over however, that I was smacked in the face by two big new personalities. When we met up with some of the coaches and players after practice, I heard the new Defensive Line Coach, Jim Panagos, and the graduate transfer DT, Micah Dew-Treadway, both talk for the first time. That’s all it took for me to be sure that both guys will make a major impact on the Gophers DL, defense, and entire 2019 team.

Jim Panagos – Defensive Line Coach

Coaching Experience (via GopherSports.com)
2019-present: Minnesota – Defensive Line
2019: Georgia Tech – Defensive Line
2018: Temple – Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Line
2017: Temple – Defensive Line
2016: Pittsburgh – Defensive Consultant
2012-15: Rutgers – Defensive Line
2007-11: UCF – Defensive Line
2005: Minnesota Vikings – Defensive Line Assistant
2002-04: Minnesota Vikings – Quality Control Assistant
1994-97: C.R. James Alternative School (Tampa, Fla.) – Assistant Coach
1993: Maryland – Defensive Line Assistant

Hometown: East Islip, N.Y. (You can tell)

PJ Fleck has warned us about Coach Panagos multiple times (especially the fact that he’s difficult to understand). He and Fleck are tight and it’s easy to see why they get along so well. He is a tall block of energy. And I can confirm that he is difficult to understand. He’s a classic New York fast-talker… but it sounds like someone might be grabbing at the tip of his tongue while he talks. I love it.

I’ve also realized that I can’t embed instagram live videos into a blog. So, I’m going to use Megan Ryan’s (Star Tribune) 30-second video from Twitter, to show you a snapshot of Coach Panagos and then you have about 8 hours to watch the whole thing in our Instagram stories before it’s gone from our live feed forever…

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#Gophers D-line coach Jim Panagos on why he wanted to come work at Minnesota pic.twitter.com/vJ7NFgaJoy

— Megan Ryan (@theothermegryan) August 12, 2019

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Jim is an interesting dude. He’s obviously very high energy and has some different philosophies. That includes using MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) in his coaching. He said that he’s been using it for nearly 15 years, since around 2003-04. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of that, but it makes sense in a lot of different ways. Coach Panagos went on to explain:

“I’ve studied it. I’ve gone and researched a lot of stuff and it’s brought me success, and it’s different and exciting , and you learn how to use your hands, how to create force, how to create space, how to create knock-back. So, I think we are doing a really good job so far. We’re not where we need to be at right now but it’s still just August.. what.. 10th-11th.. I don’t know what day it is today. Today is just football.. I just love football. So, everyday is like Saturday for me so it’s cool.. it’s a great experience.”

Again, you have to see all of Jim Panagos yourself.

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Micah Dew-Treadway – Defensive Tackle

OVERVIEW (via GopherSports.com): Transferred to Minnesota after graduating from Notre Dame and will have two seasons of eligibility with the Gophers (2019-20 and 2020-21) • enrolled at Minnesota in January 2019. 

PREVIOUS COLLEGE (via GopherSports.com): Spent four years at Notre Dame and made two tackles in 21 games • played in 12 games in 2018 and made two tackles after playing in nine games in 2017 • missed the 2016 season with a broken foot and was a member of the scout team in 2015.

You need to see both Jim Panagos and PJ Fleck talk about Micah Dew-Treadway (again, click here and go to our “stories” for all of the media availability interviews from yesterday). He transfers here as a grown man from Notre Dame where he stayed for 4 years and things just didn’t work out. He came with one year of eligibility and after a waiver request was granted by the NCAA, he now has 2 seasons of graduate eligibility remaining.

He hasn’t been here long but he’s already a leader and PJ Fleck said that’s what he expected from Dew-Treadway before he ever stepped on campus as a U of M student.

“I made it very clear when we recruited him and brought him here. You are going to help LEAD the defensive line. You’re not coming here just to enjoy this experienced group, who has played all of this football, and is well-known around the country. You’re coming here to set the tone for the whole thing… and Micah Dew-Treadway has made our entire Defensive Line level rise.. in everything.

Dew-Treadway is going to start at defensive tackle and he is going to be sticking out a lot. Fleck is hyping him up too, which means we should be excited about him. The hype will have to be real if MDT (I’m going to have to ask if I can call him that) is going to help the middle of a run defense that gave up WAY too many big plays last year.

Seriously, the Gophers have a noticeable hole at DT so if MDT (I fucking love that nickname) can jump up and look like a big time Big Ten DT right away… it could mean everything for this defense

Hopefully he can understand Panagos well enough to soak up his MMA training in time for game 1 vs South Dakota State later this month…

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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