Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Need to check your sarcasm meter.

Badge, that's a strange way to say that your Badgers stink.

I have no expectations for this game. I'm fully expecting PJ ordering his team to turn turtle, just like the last time they went to the Shoe.

35-3 Bucks sounds right.

After all these years you expect something different from me?

I had some Gopher hate for a few weeks while I was in college, after Glen Mason spoiled a 5-0 OSU start. But then the losses began to pile up, and all of a sudden the Gophers didn't seem so bad anymore. 

Mason nearly beat out Tressel in the offseason HC search, because of the upset.

Minnesota runs a lot more man coverage- cover 1 than most teams.  It’s part of why they are so good against the run.  

Will they dare OSU to beat them through the air?   My bet is yes.  Play a lot of man coverage- especially on early downs, move to 2 safeties or cover 2 on 3rd downs.   Dare Sayin to beat man coverage early, prevent deep throws on 3rd downs. Sayin is VERY accurate- but as you can imagine, he doesn’t see much man coverage with those receivers and so like most quarterbacks, his accuracy is greater against a zone than man.

Interesting chess match.   

Minnesota runs a lot more man coverage- cover 1 than most teams.  It’s part of why they are so good against the run. 

Will they dare OSU to beat them through the air?  My bet is yes.  Play a lot of man coverage- especially on early downs, move to 2 safeties or cover 2 on 3rd downs.  Dare Sayin to beat man coverage early, prevent deep throws on 3rd downs. Sayin is VERY accurate- but as you can imagine, he doesn’t see much man coverage with those receivers and so like most quarterbacks, his accuracy is greater against a zone than man.

Interesting chess match.

not really.

there are a lot of NFL corners that couldn't cover Jeremiah Smith in man right now. Minnesota's corners have zero shot of taming that beast in man coverage.

If they double team him, Tate will get targeted

double team the top 5 NFL draft pick WR so the other 1st rd WR will be singled up. sounds like a great game plan for the Minnesota defense. not.

Well, they generally don’t double team receivers anymore. They play three over two or some kind of a bracket.    Michigan does it all the time.  Sometimes to one side of the field and sometimes to both sides.  It’s a way to keep the long passing game from happening and keep everything in front of you.

Agreed. 

But honestly if Minnesota is playing cover 1 man, I feel like the game plan for OSU should be simple. Line up Smith and Tate on opposite sides, and send both vertical to the boundary. Whichever way the safety helps, throw to the opposite side and just expect your guy to win. 

I'm not a coach, obviously, but it seems simple. 

If I'm the Minnesota coach, I throw out the cover 1 man idea entirely and force OSU to sustain drives, not give them big chunks. If you're married to man defense, at least make it cover 2 to give your safeties a fighting chance. I'd be more likely to go cover 3 zone. 

Ultimately, they're $^#*@% either way. But if you can at least limit the big plays, you can hope for drives to get stalled out on holding penalties or other miscues. Or if nothing else, force OSU to score using up a lot of TOP to limit how badly you lose.