Minnesota 24, MTSU 17

The Gophers pulled one out on the road yesterday, beating Middle Tennessee St 24-17 in their 2010 season opener.  At first glance that probably doesn't sound too impressive but I'm going to give them some credit.  Middle Tennessee St is actually a quality opponent, they are favored to win their conference, they went to a bowl game last year, they beat Maryland last year, I've even read where some considered them to be a BCS buster this season (ala Boise St).  It was also a road game played in some pretty excessive heat.  All that being said, it is still Middle Tennessee St and it is a game they need to win.  On to the game itself, you had to be impressed with the Gophers running game, they moved the ball at will against the smaller out manned MTSU defense, finishing with an impressive 281 rushing yards. Duane Bennett finished with 187 yards, Jon Hoese had 3 rushing TD's.  That's quite an improvement for one of last seasons worst rushing offenses  (when they finished 106 out of 120 NCAA teams in rushing).  The Gophers passing game still needs some work, I again wasn't overly impressed with Adam Weber, I was hoping for a little more improvement out of him.  They also had an impressive 45 to 15 minute Time of Possession edge, that is just unreal, how the game was so close is a bit of a mystery, most of the credit would have to go to MTSU's quick strike no huddle offense which did give the Gophers some trouble in the second quarter.  It's kind of hard to rate the play of the defense when they were only out there for 15 minutes.  They are young and inexperienced so this was probably a good way to start the season for them, I did see plenty of missed tackles though, they will need to do a better job of wrapping up.  I'd also like to see a better pass rush out of them.  Overall, a win is a win, I'm happy with it, although you can definitely see plenty of room for improvement.