The Tracy Claeys era kicks off in Minnesota with this matchup. Look for the Gophers to be more spread out offensively - and be more daring - with the coaching change from Jerry Kill to Claeys.

This is good news for Gophers quarterback Mitch Leidner. The Gophers certainly are going to run the ball, too, with Shannon Brooks and Rodney Smith. They combined for nearly 1,400 yards rushing last season.

Claeys probably wouldn't be opposed to piling up points for the home crowd in his head coaching debut. The Gophers can do that against a Beavers defense that was one of the worst in the country last season finishing 113th in scoring and 115th in total defense. Oregon State remains young on defense, very much a continued work-in-progress.

However, Oregon State has the offense to hang with Minnesota. Second-year Oregon State head coach Gary Andersen is a sharp offensive coach. It looks like the Beavers have found themselves a good quarterback, too, in Darrell Garretson. He was a recruit of Andersen back from when he was coaching Utah State. Garretson has played in 14 games throwing for 2,576 yards with a 63 percent completion rate and 137.9 passer rating. He looked sharp in the spring.

The Gophers probably are going to slip defensively having lost three of their five leading tacklers.

Factor it all out and the two teams should combine to easily break the 50-point barrier.