College Football 2019: Which remaining undefeated teams are most underrated?
By Ryan Kay
2. Minnesota Golden Gophers
- 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)
The Gophers are starting to make some noise and turn some heads as they have quietly started the season 5-0. They have no true quality victories up to this point but they have definitely found ways to win close games especially on the road. They may remain undefeated if all goes well until November when they host Penn State.
Head coach P.J. Fleck is starting to build a strong foundation in Minnesota. However, Gopher fans thought the same thing from 2012-16 when Minnesota went to five straight bowl games and won eight or more games three times during that span. Fleck and his staff though want to not only be consistent in going to bowl games and winning eight or even nine games a season but seriously competing for Big Ten West titles. The Gophers may just shock many but just doing that this season.
Minnesota’s schedule is very favorable as they host Nebraska, travel to Rutgers and then host Maryland to close out the month of October. It’s feasible that they win those games and are 8-0 hosting Penn State after coming off of a bye week. They end the regular season hosting Wisconsin and if all goes to plan, they could have the tie-breaker for the Big Ten West title after defeating the Badgers.
A lot has to go right for the Gophers to have a remarkable and unforgettable magical season but the blue print and path is in front of them. Fleck turned Western Michigan into a team that was playing in a top-tier January bowl game and being ranked in the top 20 before he left to take the Minnesota job.
The future is bright for the Gophers and their fan base is expecting great things this season.