Saturday Blitz Big Ten Power Rankings Week 7
It’s time to give a lot of credit to this team. Jerry Kill’s Minnesota Golden Gophers have found an identity, they’ve stuck to it, and people can’t beat them with it. So far their only loss is to a TCU team that should be undefeated right now and could easily be a Top 5 team in the country. Minnesota, meanwhile, hasn’t beaten anybody incredibly noteworthy, but Northwestern is a nice win after it beat Wisconsin the week before.
The Minnesota rushing attack is simply incredible, with David Cobb putting up more than 800 yards already. But what’s remarkable about this team that averages more than 200 yards on the ground and asks hardly anything from its quarterbacks is that unlike Indiana, the Golden Gophers play defense as well. That’s what has gotten this team to 5-1 on the year so far, and it’s what could carry them further as well.
Purdue, Illinois, and Iowa are all up next, and they all should be wins. So Minnesota could easily be 8-1 on the year heading into a clash with the Ohio State Buckeyes in November. With Ohio State, Nebraska, and Wisconsin to close out the season, will be able to find out then if this team is a legitimate Top 4 Big Ten team.
We’re going to give them the credit for it right now.