Tschmack posted:Taylor is an elite back. The trio of WRs are well above average and Ferguson is underrated at TE. The problem is the OL is mediocre and the QB is pretty ordinary.
That’s good enough to beat average to good teams but against really good programs (as we saw with Ohio State) they have no shot.
This is an 8 or 9 win team. Maybe good enough to get past a team like Iowa or even Minnesota but will get curb stomped by the decent teams.
I think the OL is better than mediocre. It's just that if your QB can't threaten a defense downfield it makes their job that much more difficult. Logan Brown (the top rated recruit in the history of the program will play OL next year after his redshirt) so they should be even better next year.
The Illinois loss was one of the worst in the history of the program (or at least in the Alvarez and after era) in terms of the difference in talent between the two teams. But even with that, if the Gophers lose at Iowa next week and the Badgers win out they are in the Big 10 Championship game. Like you said, that will allow them to be curb stomped by OSU again.