Minnesota 34, Rutgers 32

The Gophers knocked off Rutgers 34-32 today in Minneapolis.  Minnesota improves to 5-2 on the season with this win.  It certainly wasn't an impressive win considering the opponent though.  Even though they are 5-2 there are some red flags developing in the Claeys era.  They blew a 21-3 lead and only won on a late FG.  They just seemed flat today, the offense was very predictable and inconsistent once again and the defense gave up way too many big plays.  Color me less than impressed with their performance today.  The Gophers are a very frustrating team to watch.

Observations:

• The Minnesota offense have been much better early in games this season. 
• Today was not the Gophers defense's finest performance of the season. 
• It was nice to see Mitch Leidner back on the field.  Most of the time anyways. 
• The Gophers defense needs to get better in the red zone. 
• Jonathan Celestin gets my vote for most improved Gopher this season. 
• As per usual, Tracy Claeys wants the football when Minnesota wins the coin toss. 
• This new targeting rule has not been friendly to the Gophers. 
• I have to imagine that there is a short leash on Tracey Claeys at this point. 
• The Gophers were 0-2 on fourth downs. 
• Turnovers:  Rutgers 3, Minnesota 2
• The Gophers offense really needs a home run threat at WR.  
• Brandon Lingen just cannot stay healthy this season. 
• Thank heaven for Rodney Smith.  He had a very nice all around game. 
• It was nice to see Hank Ekpe have a nice game. 
• Red zone penalties on offense are never a good thing. 
• Was the Rutgers QB sacked by his own offensive lineman in the 2nd quarter? 
• I've never heard of players missing a game due to a restraining order before. 
• It's hard to believe that this was the very first Minnesota vs Rutgers matchup. 
• Giovanni Rescigno looks like a very serviceable QB for Rutgers. 
• Up next?  @ Illinois next Saturday.