Rivals national recruiting director Clint Cosgrove along with Kyle Kelly of InsideNDSports.com, Sean Williams of TheGopherReport.com and Gabe DeArmond of PowerMizzou.com tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
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1. Jeremiyah Love will commit to Notre Dame.
Cosgrove's take: FICTION. I saw Notre Dame as the leader in this recruitment for a long time but a gut feeling tells me that things have recently changed. Jeremiyah Love has pretty much gone silent since his official visit to Texas A&M and that typically means a commitment is coming soon. I don't think Notre Dame is out of the picture here, but just from reading the tea leaves I see Love ending up an Aggie.
Kelly's take: FACT. For now, at least. Coming off his last Notre Dame visit, Inside ND Sports felt the Irish were in the best spot to land Love. He has connected well with running backs coach Deland McCullough and sees the opportunity to flourish under his tutelage. However, the longer his recruitment goes on, the less I like Notre Dame’s chances. Love recently visited Texas A&M, while Oregon has shown it won’t go down without a fight. If he had to pick right now, I think it would be the Irish.
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2. Minnesota is a serious contender to win the Big Ten Championship.
Cosgrove's take: FACT. I was already on the Minnesota bandwagon prior to their game in East Lansing, but the Gophers' performance against the Spartans far exceeded my expectations. This is a well-coached and talented veteran team that is hungry for a championship and I honestly believe they can compete with any team in the country when playing its best ball. The offense is rolling under the return of offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarocca and the defense has been lights out under defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, whose name should be up for a number of coaching vacancies at the end of the season. There seems to be something special brewing in Minneapolis and I would not be surprised to see the Gophers win the Big Ten West and bring home a victory versus whichever team they play in the Big Ten Championship game.
Williams' take: FACT. Sure, Minnesota's first three games were not against world beaters and Michigan State is not the shiny team it was a year ago. Regardless, the Gophers went into East Lansing over the weekend and treated the Spartans like a mid-level FCS team, scoring on their first three offensive possessions and never looking back. Kirk Ciarrocca is back as Minnesota's offensive coordinator and the passing attack under Tanner Morgan is thriving like it's 2019 again. Combine that with a potent running attack led by Mohamed Ibrahim and a defense that is ranked No. 1 in the country under defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, and it's clear Minnesota has all the ingredients necessary to come out of the Big Ten West and don't be surprised if the Gophers take home a conference championship in Indianapolis as well.
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3. Missouri would have beaten Auburn had Luther Burden been more involved.
Cosgrove's take: FICTION. While finding ways to get Luther Burden the ball could have definitely changed the outcome of this game, the fact that Mizzou had itself in position to win and lost due to a missed field goal is the biggest issue here. I was wondering if Burden was hurt due to his lack of touches, but they had him out there returning punts which tells me enough to know that he was capable of carrying the ball. The bottom line for me is the staff needs to find ways to get the freshman phenom the ball early and often moving forward. Should that not happen, the Tigers will likely find themselves in the same position they were in on Saturday.
DeArmond's take: FICTION. Don’t get me wrong, there’s no way Missouri should ever go an entire game with Burden not touching the ball on offense. And giving him some chances may have gotten them a win. But they should have won anyway. A shocking missed field goal and a goal line fumble prevented them from winning even with Burden being a bystander.
