History vs. Michigan:
Michigan leads all-time series 75-25-3
Last meeting: 2017 at Michigan - 33-10 Michigan
Last Season:
vs South Dakota State - W 28-21
at Fresno State - W 38-35 2OT
vs Georgia Southern - W 35-32
at Purdue - W 38-31
vs Illinois - W 40-17
vs Nebraska - W 34-7
at Rutgers - W 42-7
vs Maryland - W 52-10
vs #4 Penn State - W 31-26
at #20 Iowa - L 19-23
at Northwestern - W 38-22
vs #12 Wisconsin - L 17-38
vs #12 Auburn (Outback Bowl) - W 31-24
Morgan was 210/318 (66%) with 3,253 yards, 30 TDs and 7 INTs last year. He also had one rushing TD.
Running Backs: Mohamed Ibrahim 5'10" 210 lbs (RS Jr.) & Treyson Potts 5'11" 200 lbs (RS Fr.)
In 2019 Ibrahim had 114 rushes for 604 yards (5.3ypc) and 7 TDs with a long of 36. He also had 3 catches for 13 yards despite his longest being 15 yards. Potts had just 7 attempts in 2 games a s true Freshman with 51 yards (7.3ypc) and 1 TD with a long of 24.
Wide Receivers: Rashod Bateman 6'2" 210 lbs (Jr.) & Chris Autman-Bell 6'1" 215 lbs (RS Jr.)
Bateman recorded 60 receptions for 1,219 yards with 11 TDs and a long of 66 yards. Autman-Bell had 28 catches for 371 yards and 5 TDs with a long of 70. The remaining five wide receivers listed on the depth chart have combined for 4 catches in their entire careers.
Tight End: Jake Paulson 6'5" 270 lbs (RS Jr.)
Paulson had 4 catches for 51 yards with a long of 24.
Left Tackle: Sam Schlueter 6'6" 325 lbs (RS Sr.)
26 career starts.
Left Guard: Blaise Andries 6'6" 335 lbs (RS Jr.)
26 career starts.
Center: Conner Olson 6'5" 310 lbs (RS Sr.)
38 career starts.
Right Guard: Curtis Dunlap Jr. 6'6" 320 lbs (RS So.)
13 career starts.
Right Tackle: Daniel Faalele 6'9" 400 lbs (Jr.)
19 career starts.
Defensive Tackles: Keonte Schad 6'3" 295 lbs (RS Sr.) & Micah Dew-Treadway 6'4" 315 lbs (RS Sr.)
Schad had 21 tackles with 2.5 for a loss in 2019. Dew-Treadway totaled 13 tackles with 2.5 for a loss, a half sack and a pass knock down last season.
Defensive Ends: Esezi Otomewo 6'6" 285 lbs (RS Jr.) & Boye Mafe 6'4" 265 lbs (RS Jr.)
Otomewo's tackle total last year was 22. 5 were for a loss, with 2.5 sacks. In 2019 Mafe had 14 tackles with 3.5 for a loss and 3 sacks.
Linebackers: Mariano Sori-Marin 6'3" 245 lbs (Jr.) & Thomas Rush 6'3" 245 lbs (Jr.)
Sori-Marin totaled 42 tackles on the season last fall with 2 for a loss. Rush had a total of 3 tackles including a pass deflection.
Cornerbacks: Coney Durr 5'10" 200 lbs (RS Sr.) & Benjamin St-Juste 6'3" 205 lbs (RS Jr.) & Justus Harris 5'10 195 lbs (Sr.)
Last year Durr had 33 tackles with 1 for a loss, 11 pass breakups and an INT which he returned 72 yards for a TD. St-Juste finished with 45 tackles with 1.5 for a loss and 10 pass breakups. Minnesota plays a 4-2-5 defense a lot with Harris listed as the extra DB this season. He had 6 tackles with a forced fumble last year.
Safeties: Tyler Nubin 6'2" 205 lbs (So.) & Jordan Howden 6'0" 210 lbs (Jr.)
Nubin totaled 6 tackles with 2 pass breakups. Howden concluded 2019 with 57 tackles with 0.5 for a loss, 1 INT and 7 pass breakups.
Punter and Kicker: Mark Crawford 6'5" 220 lbs (Fr.) & Michael Lantz 5'11" 185 lbs (So.)
Crawford is a true Freshman punter out of Australia. Lantz is 8/11 on field goals with a long of 40 with 1 blocked.
Returners: Cam Wiley 6'2" 210 lbs (RS Fr.)
Wiley returned 4 kicks for an average of 19.0 with a long of 30. Everyone who returned a punt for the Gophers last year is gone.
Players to watch:
Tanner Morgan - QB
Rashod Bateman - WR
Mohamed Ibrahim - RB
Prediction:Tanner Morgan - QB
Rashod Bateman - WR
Mohamed Ibrahim - RB
What a difference on each side of the ball for this team. For everything to fear offensively, the defense seems to quell. Tanner Morgan is a good quarterback, however his favorite target, Tyler Johnson who had 86 catches last season is gone. While Bateman is very good, he is now the lone receiving threat as of now for the Gophers. As noted above, outside of his opposite tomorrow, the entire Gophers WR group has 4 catches in their career combined. If the Wolverines can keep Bateman in check, Morgan will have to depend on targets he has yet to in his career.
The rushing attack was solid for the Gophers in 2019 but against the best teams on their schedule it was pathetic. They averaged 2.1, 2.5 and 3.0 yards per carry against Iowa, Wisconsin and Penn State respectively. Their offensive line is of good size and has a lot of experience however they are solid, not great. Despite the excess experience, only one of their linemen have made an All-Big Ten first, second or third team. That was Andries making the All-Big Ten third team last season, though to be fair his 4 fellow linemen have all been honorable mentions at some point in their career. They allowed 5 sacks against Wisconsin last year, even in Wisconsin's slaughter of us last year, we allowed 2 for reference.
Defensively, who knows.. Very few starters return and even the most experienced among their starters have had little to go off of. While Penn State was their biggest win last year, Penn State killed itself with turnovers. Penn State had an average rush of 6.1 yards against the Gophers. Even Iowa who couldn't do anything against our rush defense last year, had 3.8 yards per carry against the Gophers and no surprise Jonathan Taylor and the Badgers had a big rushing game as well with 4.9 yards per carry. Their secondary last season was also nothing special and losing Antonie Winfield Jr. is a big set back.
If we want to go off last year, I think the best sign is both of their losses (Iowa and Wisconsin) are teams that are most comparable to Michigan from their opponents last year. Penn State threw 3 INTs and still should have won that game. Auburn I am not convinced was all that good, let alone interested in the Outback Bowl but statistically that is Minnesota's most impressive win last year.
I won't be convinced Minnesota can stop the run until I see it. I also won't be convinced the Gophers can run the ball on us until I see it. If we can successfully take out Bateman and don't turn the ball over, I believe we win big. Though I do not believe we will be entirely successful in that task, the game will ultimately come down to the lines which I think Michigan will win on both sides. Minnesota will make some plays over the top but overall Michigan should be able to grind them down and not put too much pressure on Joe Milton to perform.
Michigan wins 34-17
