Gopher Football
To add to the misery for Minnesota was the way the game ended. The Gophers had driven the ball past midfield with :45 left. Unbelievably, Bryan Cupito threw a Hail Mary pass into the end zone on first down. Three Virginia defenders were there, and as is usually the case, the ball was intercepted. It was the Gophers’ only turnover and ruined what was shaping up to be a very good day for Cupito who had four touchdown throws. Ernie Wheelwright did the most damage receiving with seven catches for 120 yards.
Much will be said about who called that final pass play. Did that play come in from the sideline or did Cupito make the call? No matter, Mason coaches his team to take high stakes gambles. It would have looked like a brilliant call if the lanky Wheelwright had out-jumped the defensive backs for the ball on that end zone pass, like the play was probably drawn up.
Adjustments after the half worked for the Cavs, while Minnesota seemed to have nothing to counter. Virginia quarterback Marques Hagans figured out that the Gopher pass defense was weak up the middle and his tight ends had a field day. Tom Santi had 129 yards receiving and most were for big gains, including a 55-yarder. Their other tight end Jonathan Stupor piled on another 39 yards.
Meanwhile, the Virginia defense was figuring out how to stop the run. Laurence Maroney had 90 yards in the first half but only 110 for the game. After dominating the offensive stats in the first half, Minnesota ended up losing the battle for total offensive yards, though by a small 5-yard margin.
With all this chaos for the Gophers in the second half they still had a good chance of pulling the game out. Virginia had two turnovers late in the game to give Minnesota an opening. A fumbled punt ultimately resulted in a TD for Minnesota to get them up 31-24. An interception near midfield gave the Gophers a chance to take the lead again but the drive stalled and the Gophers punted. Still, the Gophers were in a good position with Virginia pinned at the 3-yard line. Hagans escaped a near safety on the first play and came back throwing. The end result was a long drive for the winning field goal.
No doubt this was a tough loss to take, which is the case anytime a team leads the whole game only to have it slip away. Of course Gopher fans have seen this before with a defense that has been known more for its weaknesses.
Glen Mason reminded us recently with a comment about his old formula for turning around a perennial loser: Develop a strong running game and a solid defense. Yes, Mason has certainly succeeded with the first half of the equation with the Gophers having the No. 2 rushing game in the nation. However, the second half isn’t there. Minnesota had the 87th ranked defense going into this game and there was no indication going out of this game that they improved that ranking. Mason only has to look at his own formula to find out why games like these slip away and why the Gophers seem to be perpetually stuck around the .500 mark.
Now the burning question is whether Mason and his staff will be back literally to fight another day for Minnesota. When the clock strikes midnight tomorrow it will not only be a new year. It might also be the end of an era for Gopher football.
All I can say is that I hope this one game doesn’t sway any decisions about the coarse of the football program for years to come. If the U of M administration really wants to be done with Coach Mason, I hope they have already done some checking around and determined they have some solid candidates who are interested in the job. This is very late in the recruiting season to be looking for a new coach. Otherwise, the football program could be looking at a bigger train wreck than the way this game ended.