Gopher Football
Wisconsin led most of the first half, although by no more than seven points. The Gophers tied it twice in the first half and the teams went to the break knotted at 10.
Laurence Maroney had another monster day rushing with 258 yards on 43 carries. Russell wasn’t too shabby either with his 139 yards rushing. The Gophers needed all those 411 yards, as backup quarterback Tony Mortensen was not very effective. He was only 7-for-17 with a total of 99 yards passing and there were at least a couple tosses that missed wide-open receivers who would have had easy touchdowns.
Defensively, Trumaine Banks really stood out. He made some terrific tackles and led the defense with 11 stops. Anthony Montgomery also contributed a fumble recovery. The defense gave up some big plays but for most of the game was very stout. Wisconsin only had 18 first downs. The biggest knock against the defense was giving up that quick TD to get Wisconsin within three with a couple minutes left.
As far as special teams go, what can I say? I could blame freshman punter Justin Kucek for this loss but that would be too easy. Yes, he did totally botch that last punt. However, with an offense that rushed for over 400 yards, they should have taken care of business and run out the clock.
It would also be easy to blame the refs for this loss. Like last week, some critical calls went against the Gophers that cost them several points, certainly enough points to win the game. However, good teams avoid those kinds of mistakes.
The fact of the matter is that I’m not all that surprised about this loss. In the last two Big Ten wins the Gophers were playing with fire. Against Purdue and Michigan the Gophers dominated statistically. In the Purdue game Minnesota had 29 first downs to Purdue’s 15. Yet, the Gophers had to pull off a near miraculous finish to put the game into overtime where they narrowly escaped with a victory. Against Michigan, they were aided by two fairly short field goal misses, which ended up costing the Wolverines the game. Once again today the Gophers had the advantage statistically but could not put away the game. This time the Gophers played with fire one too many times and the unlikely finish went the other way.
The inescapable reality is that this season is shaping up as a typical pattern of Glen Mason teams. They tease Gopher fans with flashes of brilliance but quickly let that opportunity slip away with a loss like this. 65,083 fans showed up for this game, just 101 short of the all-time Metrodome record for a Gopher game. The next game against Ohio State could have energized the Gopher fan base enough to challenge that attendance record again. However, once again a game that could have been won in so many ways was squandered.
Do you blame the coaches or the players for this kind of thing? Well, there’s plenty of blame to go around. The bottom line is that this team, like so many Gopher teams in recent years, needs to learn how to manage success. The talent seems to be there. Just look at all those wonderful stats, like the 411 yards rushing in this game. However, this team has not found a way to deliver the knockout punch. Short of that, the Gophers are probably in for several more tossup finishes and no better than a 4-4 Big Ten season.