Minnesota 2006 Team Preview

The claim is made with great pride by seemingly anyone associated with the Minnesota football program: Six bowl games in seven years.

Sure, it’s a little hokey and a little watered down in this era of 25-plus bowl games. But there was a time in the not-too-distant past when Minnesota football was a joke, when the idea of a bowl game every five years sounded pretty good.

This might be a good year for Gophers fans to remember that. Because this season has the potential to show whether the Minnesota fan base has become a bit spoiled.

The reasons are simple. Too many All-Americans lost. Too many question marks. Too difficult of a Big Ten schedule.

The biggest question surrounds the running game — Minnesota’s staple under Glen Mason. All-America running back Laurence Maroney opted for the NFL Draft after his junior season. Gary Russell, who rushed for more than 1,100 yards as a sophomore, was expected to be the featured back this fall. But a lack of attention to academics led to Russell spending the second semester in a junior college, and his status for this season likely won’t be known until shortly before camp opens this summer.

Even if Russell is back, is he going to be effective behind an inexperienced line? All center Greg Eslinger did last season was win the Outland Trophy, and guard Mark Setterstrom was an All-American as well.

Add that to Minnesota’s constant struggles to stop opponents — the Gophers gave up 34.1 points per game in Big Ten games — and that bowl streak seems tenuous at best.

LOWDOWN

Coach: Glen Mason (10th season, 58-50)
2005 record: 7-5 (Lost to Virginia in Music City Bowl)
Big Ten finish: 4-4 (7th)
2005 I-A offensive rankings:
Rushing: 3rd (273.1 ypg)
Passing: 63rd (221.7 ypg)
2005 I-A defensive rankings:
Rushing: 69th (155.6 ypg)
Passing: 97th (257.1 ypg)

DEPTH CHART

Offense (6)

WR  84  *Logan Payne  Sr.  14  Eric Decker  Fr.
WR  82  *Ernie Wheelwright  Jr.  12  Mike Chambers  Fr.
LT  64  *Steve Shidell  Jr.  73  Jason Meinke  Fr.
LG  56  Tyson Swaggert  Sr.  77  Tony Brinkhaus  Jr.
C  77  *Tony Brinkhaus  Jr.  56  Tyson Swaggert  Sr.
RG  74  Ryan Ruckdashel  Fr.  66  Nedward Tavale  Fr.
RT  78  Joe Ainslie  Sr.  79  Matt DeGeest  So.
TE  89  *Matt Spaeth  Sr.  80  Jack Simmons  So.
QB  3  *Bryan Cupito  Sr.  17  Tony Mortensen  So.
FB  18  Justin Valentine  Jr.  34  Jeremy Faue  Jr.
TB  24  Gary Russell  Jr.  29  Amir Pinnix  Jr.

Defense (6)

DE  92  *Steve Davis  So.  65  William Brody  So.
DT  70  Todd Meisel  Jr.  -  Garrett Brown  Fr.
DT  98  Neel Allen  Jr.  90  Eric Clark  Sr.
DE  91  Willie VanDeSteeg  So.  96  Matt Stommes  Fr.
SLB  48  *Mario Reese  Sr.  -  Tommy Becker  Fr.
MLB  6  Alex Daniels  So.  58  Mike Sherels  Jr.
WLB  46  *John Shevlin  Jr.  44  Deon Hightower  So.
CB  9  Keith Massey  Fr.  -  Daron Love  Fr.
CB  15  *Jamal Harris  Jr.  11  Desi Steib  Jr.
SS  2  *Dominic Jones  So.  4  *Trumaine Banks  Sr.
FS  23  Dominique Barber  Jr.  -  Duran Cooley  Jr.

Special Teams

K  36  Joel Monroe  So.
P  41  Justin Kucek  So.
KR  2  Dominic Jones  So.
PR  2  Dominic Jones  So.

(#) Number of returning starters
* Indicates returning starters

2006 SCHEDULE

Aug. 31  #Kent State
Sept. 9  at California
Sept. 16  Temple
Sept. 23  at Purdue
Sept. 30  Michigan
Oct. 7  Penn State
Oct. 14  at Wisconsin
Oct. 21  North Dakota State
Oct. 28  at Ohio State
Nov. 4  Indiana
Nov. 11  at Michigan State
Nov. 18  Iowa
#Canton, OH

OFFENSE

Simply put, this Minnesota offense is filled with questions. That’s what happens when three All-Americans are lost, and the guy expected to be the team’s top running back spends the second semester at a junior college trying to get his academics in order.

The biggest question surrounds the running game — Minnesota’s staple under Glen Mason. All-America running back Laurence Maroney opted for the NFL Draft after his junior season. Gary Russell, who rushed for more than 1,100 yards as a sophomore, was expected to be the featured back this fall. But his status for this season likely won’t be known until shortly before camp opens this summer.

Even if Russell is back, is he going to be effective behind an inexperienced offensive line that no longer features Greg Eslinger (Outland Trophy winner) or Mark Setterstrom?

At quarterback, Bryan Cupito has started 23 of the past 24 games at quarterback and has shown improvement. Last season, he threw the ball with more authority, made better decisions and was more than just a guy who handed off to Maroney, as he averaged 230 passing yards per game.

This season, he’ll be expected to do more. He won’t just be a guy who has to make throws when they’re there. Instead, the Gophers’ offense will largely hinge on how the fifth-year senior performs.

DEFENSE

A year ago, Big Ten opponents scored more than 34 points per game against the Gophers. For the season, Minnesota ranked 90th nationally in total defense. And it’s difficult to imagine that this defensive unit is going to be significantly improved.

The Gophers are small on the defensive line. The linebacker corps — with the exception of John Shevlin — is just a bit better than ordinary, and the secondary is up in the air.

One thing to watch is just how much the Minnesota defense is overhauled between the start of camp and the opener at Kent State.

Junior college transfer Duran Cooley is expected to contend for a starting position in the secondary. It won’t be surprising if incoming freshman cornerback Daron Love does the same thing. True freshman linebacker Tommy Becker will play a lot if he doesn’t start, and incoming freshman lineman Garrett Brown has a chance to start as well.

SPECIALISTS

The kicking game, simply put, was a mess last season for the Gophers. Minnesota’s kickers missed six field goal attempts and eight extra points. In addition, punter Justin Kucek averaged less than 40 yards per punt.

At the end of the season, Joel Monroe unseated Jason Giannini as the team’s kicker and will likely win the job again.

FINAL ANALYSIS

Even with a 12th game on the schedule, the Gophers are going to have a difficult time finding six victories — and bowl eligibility in the process — in this schedule. Not with the number of question marks on this team.

Offensively, there seems no way the Gophers can make up for the losses of Maroney, Eslinger and Setterstrom. If Russell doesn’t get his academics in order, this Minnesota offense will struggle to move the ball. On the other side of the line of scrimmage, it seems unlikely that Minnesota will suddenly become stout — even with six starters back. History simply isn’t on Minnesota’s side. Consider: Mason has coached the Gophers in 72 Big Ten games. In 33 of those games — 45.8 percent — the opponent has scored 30 or more points.

This Minnesota team preview was pulled from our 2006 National College Football preview magazine. To order this or the 2006 Big Ten Regional preview magazine - with expanded team page coverage and conference features - click here