I was going to start my own thread similar to this topic and since it is so similar, I'll just put my thoughts here.
Ever since 1995 I have been asking myself "When are we going to have that magical season that Northwestern had when they went to the Rose Bowl?"
I was such a fan of Northwestern that year. They seemed to bolt out of nowhere to take the college football world by storm. Since that naturally became my blue print, I have since figured this kind of magical season will require some or all of the following:
1. Good luck on the injury front. It seems like every year the Gophers have critical injury issues. Not so this year, knock on wood.
2. Good luck on the schedule. 1995 Northwestern avoided Ohio State. 2019 Minnesota avoids Ohio State.
3. Good luck in general. 2019 Minnesota may look back on the first four games as a launching pad to something special. In fact, the Northwestern "model" even had the leeway of their second game loss to Miami OH, while the Gophers got scares but managed to beat lowly Georgia Southern and FCS South Dakota State early.
4. Signature wins. 2005 Northwestern got one right out of the gate with #9 Notre Dame and went into #7 Michigan and took home a victory. 2019 MN has a shot with Penn State, at Iowa, and Wisconsin
5. Notable stars on offense and defense. Northwestern had Fitz and Darnell Autrey. MN has an uninjured Winfield, Coughlan, Bateman, Johnson, and a potential to have Morgan be a huge national story if he remains in the top 5 in QB ranking and yards per attempt.
Of course all this is still a long shot but I start with the '95 Northwestern dream every season and I typically get to file it away pretty early in the season. I at least get to keep dreaming, for now.
Northwestern kept it up all year and finished 8-0 in the B1G, 10-1 overall. The Gophers are only one third the way into the season so this remains a dream, and even with the success so far, still very much an unlikely one. Plus, 1995 Northwestern avoided Ohio State completely but 2019 MN would have them waiting in the conference championship game if the dream continued through 12 games. I have the luxury of being able to dream like this as a fan, but of course all that can really be attempted to be controlled this week is in the hands of the Gophers and it is Illinois. The odds are still against all of this and the chances of pulling up this thread in the future and saying "what were we thinking?" are very high.