Minnesota is licking their wounds after a 49-24 loss to Michigan in Saturday's season opener and are hoping to rebound as they hit the road to play the Maryland Terrapins.
The Gopher Report staff gives their take on what's at stake for Minnesota in their upcoming Friday night showdown with the Terps.
MORE: COACH ANALYSIS - JACOB SCHUSTER | PODCAST - MICHIGAN AFTERMAN | PFF - OFFENSE VS. MICHIGAN | PFF - DEFENSE VS. MICHIGAN | FILM RE-WATCH: DEFENSE | FILM RE-WATCH: OFFENSE | LATEST ON JAYDON HOOD
Sean Williams - Confidence, plain and simple. Especially on defense. Michigan gashed the Gophers for 256 rushing yards while averaging over 8.3 yards per rush. Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi will have his hands full molding Minnesota's defense into a respectable unit the rest of the season. Luckily, they have Maryland on deck, a team that could only muster three points against Northwestern and tally just 207 total yards of offense. This is a week where confident should be restored defensively, even if it is just for one week.
Connor Stevens - A chance to prove Minnesota is still a contender in the west. Not only to outsiders, but to themselves. A lot of the shaky performance on defense seemed to be about positioning, scheme, and hesitancy from inexperienced linebackers and safeties. The offense has a chance to take the next step as well, and get Chris Autman-Bell and another pass catcher into the offense along with Rashod Bateman and Mo Ibrahim. Maryland really, really struggled against Northwestern last week and Minnesota should be able to do much of the same while getting much needed snaps for their young linebackers, defensive lineman, and safeties.
Alex Carlson - Calming the outside noise. Minnesota played a sloppy game in week one versus Michigan who is the best front seven they will face all season. The offense played ok, but the defense was gashed and physically outmatched. As young as the Gophers defense is, I didn't expect them to play that poorly. A matchup against a struggling Maryland team will hopefully provide a confidence boost and spark that Minnesota needs as it enters Big Ten West play.
Jared Halus - This week provides a great opportunity for Minnesota to prove that they are much better than the team that showed up in week one. There will be doubters after the team's performance against Michigan, but there is an opportunity to reset the tone against a discouraged Maryland team that looked very subpar against Northwestern. A double digit win here is important and would do wonders for the teams morale moving forward.
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