Minnesota 13, Wisconsin 38

The Philip Nelson era at Minnesota started with a thud today in Madison as the Gophers lost to the Badgers 38-13.  The Gophers drop to 4-3 on the season, they are still 2 wins from bowl eligibility, it's going to be close.  Nelson was solid in his debut, not spectacular, but considering it was his first collegiate game action and it was on the road against a quality B1G opponent he did okay, there's certainly hope for the future.  He reminds me a bit of Chandler Harnish, he seems to be a much better fit at QB in the Minnesota offense than MarQueis Gray or Max Shortell.  Now that he has started and burned his redshirt year, I hope they stick with him the rest of the way, he's definitely the QB of the future for this program and any game action he get's will only benefit him and the program moving forward.  Given that MarQueis Gray's only hope to play at the next level is WR/TE, I would think he'd be fine with a permanent move to WR (and backup QB) where he can better showcase his talents for the scouts. 

Observations:

• Minnesota was 1-10 on 3rd down, that's not going to cut it.  
• Roderick Williams is a load.  I like the way he runs the ball.  
• Nice to see a pass rush from the Gophers today.  They couldn't stop the run though. 
• Was that a Brandon Green sighting? 
• James White & Montee Ball are quite the tandem for Wisconsin. 
• The QB to center exchanges are getting embarrassing.  Brian Bobek will be a welcome addition.
• Please give Chris Hawthorne another chance at the Kicker's job
• The Badgers keep the Paul Bunyon Axe for the 9th straight year.
• James Manuel wore Gary Tinsley's rotating number 51 today. 
• Up next?  @ home next Saturday against Purdue.