1. What is the state of the Minnesota football program?
It’s rare for college football coaches to be fired mid-season. But Minnesota bucked that trend earlier this month.
On Oct. 17, Minnesota fired coach Tim Brewster after the Golden Gophers’ 1-6 start. In a little more than three-and-a-half seasons as coach, Brewster went 15-30, including 6-21 in the Big Ten. Offensive coordinator Jeff Horton is now interim head coach.
2. Does Adam Weber pose problems for a banged-up Buckeye secondary?
Last week, Weber joined the company of former Big Ten greats in the 10,000 career-passing-yards club. In recent weeks, the Golden Gophers have been throwing the ball extensively. Weber has averaged 47 passing attempts in the last two games.
In three career games against Ohio State, Weber has averaged 177 passing yards a game while throwing two touchdowns and four interceptions.
Despite those average numbers, OSU coach Jim Tressel holds Weber in high regard.
“We had him in youth camp. I thought he was outstanding then, and 10,000 yards later I think he’s still outstanding,” Tressel said. “He’s a competitor.”
3. Has Ross Homan’s injury opened the door for the next star Buckeye linebacker?
Remember back in 2005 when senior standout linebacker Bobby Carpenter broke his leg against Michigan and true freshman James Laurinaitis stepped in for him and didn’t miss a beat?
Andrew Sweat is delivering a repeat performance in 2010 while Ross Homan is mending a foot injury.
In the last two games, Sweat had 16 tackles, two tackles for loss, an interception, a forced fumble and a pass break-up.
4. Is Terrelle Pryor out of the Heisman race?
The smart money says that with Auburn’s Cam Newton and Oregon’s LaMichael James putting up impressive numbers week after week, along with Boise State’s Kellen Moore’s sustained excellence throughout the season, Pryor’s Heisman campaign might be postponed until 2011.
Although he’s not completely out of the race yet (Pryor ranks in the top 12 in the nation in touchdown passes and quarterback rating), he will need monster efforts in each of the final four regular season games to put himself back into the discussion.
5. After struggling at Illinois and losing at Wisconsin, will OSU’s road struggles continue against Minnesota?
The Golden Gophers are hardly intimidating at 1-7 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten. They are 7-42 in program history against OSU, their worst record against any Big Ten opponent.
But consider this: No current Buckeye has played at TCF Bank Stadium, which opened Sept. 12, 2009. OSU always gets every Big Ten opponent’s best shot and the Golden Gophers will be amped to play under the lights Saturday night.
Tressel said he hasn’t been disappointed by his team’s play on the road so far, but agreed that his squad’s two previous performances away from Ohio Stadium have left room for improvement.
“I haven’t looked at our two trips and said, ‘I don’t think they were focused’ or ‘I don’t think they understood’ or ‘they let the crowd get to them,'” Tressel said. “But do we need to play better on the road? Absolutely.”
