Northwestern State worst Gophers' opponent since... ?

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Ski-U-Ham said:
We should be at least 40 point favorites against Northwestern St. Maybe 50
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I agree it would be close to 40 but never know with the way Pj plays. Probably won’t be a line for this one if it’s not out already. In fact many B1G games against lower FCS opponents don’t have one this week except Kennesaw St was 35.5 against Indiana. Think Stanford was like a 40 point under dog with Harbaugh and won at USC.
 

This might be one of the worst for sure. Here's a list of teams the Gophers have played over the last 20 years that won just three games or less.
  • 2024 Nevada, 3-10 (0-7), Won 27-0
  • 2022 Western Illinois, 0-11 (0-8), Won 62-10
  • 2022 Colorado, 1-11 (1-8), Won 49-7
  • 2021 Northwestern, 3-9 (1-8), Won 41-14
  • 2021 Indiana, 2-10 (0-9), Won 35-14
  • 2019 Rutgers, 2-10 (0-9), Won 42-7
  • 2019 Maryland, 3-9 (1-8), Won 52-10
  • 2019 Northwestern, 3-9 (1-8), Won 38-22
  • 2018 New Mexico State, 3-9, Won 48-10
  • 2017 Oregon State, 1-11, 0-9, Won 48-14
  • 2017 Illinois, 2-10 (0-9), Won 24-17
  • 2016 Rutgers, 2-10 (0-9), Won 34-32
  • 2016 Illinois, 3-9 (2-7), Won 40-17
  • 2016 Purdue, 3-9 (1-8), Won 44-31
  • 2015 Kent State, 3-9 (2-6), Won 10-7
  • 2015 Purdue, 2-10 (1-7), Won 41-13
  • 2014 San Jose State, 3-9 (2-6), Won 24-7
  • 2014 Purdue, 3-9 (1-7), Won 39-38
  • 2013 New Mexico State, 2-10, Won 51-23
  • 2012 Nevada-Las Vegas, 2-11 (2-6), Won 30-27, 3OT
  • 2012 Illinois, 2-10 (0-8), Won 17-3
  • 2009 Illinois, 3-9 (2-6), Lost 35-32
  • 2008 Indiana, 3-9 (1-7), Won 16-7
  • 2008 Michigan, 3-9 (2-6), Lost 29-6
  • 2006 Temple, 1-11, Won 62-0
  • 2005 Florida Atlantic, 2-9 (2-5), Won 46-7
Looking over the list, it has to be either 2022 Western Illinois or 2006 Temple.
 
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10:44 was not a great moment for Alcorn St.

Northwestern State's offense mustered 14 points, 85 passing yards, and 185 rushing yards.

My opinion, this Saturday Northwestern State is going to struggle to get 100 yards. This could be a record-breaking defensive game. We'll see how the defensive backups do in the second half.
 
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IceBoxGopher said:
This might be one of the worst for sure. Here's a list of teams the Gophers have played over the last 20 years that won just three games or less. Power 4/Power 5/AQ teams in bold.
  • 2024 Nevada, 3-10 (0-7), Won 27-0
  • 2022 Western Illinois, 0-11 (0-8), Won 62-10
  • 2021 Northwestern, 3-9 (1-8), Won 41-14
  • 2021 Indiana, 2-10 (0-9), Won 35-14
  • 2019 Rutgers, 2-10 (0-9), Won 42-7
  • 2019 Maryland, 3-9 (1-8), Won 52-10
  • 2019 Northwestern, 3-9 (1-8), Won 38-22
  • 2018 New Mexico State, 3-9, Won 48-10
  • 2017 Oregon State, 1-11, 0-9, Won 48-14
  • 2017 Illinois, 2-10 (0-9), Won 24-17
  • 2016 Rutgers, 2-10 (0-9), Won 34-32
  • 2016 Illinois, 3-9 (2-7), Won 40-17
  • 2016 Purdue, 3-9 (1-8), Won 44-31
  • 2015 Kent State, 3-9 (2-6), Won 10-7
  • 2015 Purdue, 2-10 (1-7), Won 41-13
  • 2014 San Jose State, 3-9 (2-6), Won 24-7
  • 2014 Purdue, 3-9 (1-7), Won 39-38
  • 2013 New Mexico State, 2-10, Won 51-23
  • 2012 Nevada-Las Vegas, 2-11 (2-6), Won 30-27, 3OT
  • 2012 Illinois, 2-10 (0-8), Won 17-3
  • 2009 Illinois, 3-9 (2-6), Lost 35-32
  • 2008 Indiana, 3-9 (1-7), Won 16-7
  • 2008 Michigan, 3-9 (2-6), Lost 29-6
  • 2006 Temple, 1-11, Won 62-0
  • 2005 Florida Atlantic, 2-9 (2-5), Won 46-7
Looking over the list, it has to be either 2022 Western Illinois or 2006 Temple.
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You forgot Colorado in 2022. One of the worst teams ever.
 


So, did a bit of digging. Northwestern State's last victory over an FBS team was in 2014, when they defeated Louisiana Tech 30-27. That's also only one of two times in the last 15 years they held an FBS opponent under 40 points.

Here's their results Vs. Non-AQ/G5/G6 teams since 2010
  • 2010, Air Force, Lost 65-21
  • 2011, SMU, Lost 40-7
  • 2012, Nevada, Lost 45-3
  • 2013, UAB, Lost 52-28
  • 2015, Louisiana, Lost 44-17
  • 2017, Louisiana Tech, Lost 52-24
  • 2021, North Texas, Lost 44-14
  • 2022, Southern Miss, Lost 64-10
  • 2023, Louisiana Tech, Lost 51-21
  • 2023, Louisiana, Lost 38-13
  • 2024, Tulsa, Lost 62-28
Also results against AQ/P5/P4
  • 2011, LSU, lost 49-3
  • 2012, Texas Tech, lost 44-6
  • 2013, Cincinnati, Lost 66-9
  • 2014, Baylor, Lost 70-6
  • 2015, Mississippi State, Lost 62-13
  • 2016, Baylor, Lost 55-7
  • 2018, Texas A&M, Lost 59-7
  • 2019, LSU, Lost 65-14
 


Has to be one of the worst I can remember in my 40 years of watching Gophers football. If things go as they should, we should get some of our young fellas some live football experience that may not get on the field much this year.
 


Eastside Forever said:
I was at that game. Bowling Green was a legitimate squad and played really well. Very physical.
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Yeah, looking back Scot Loeffler was getting that program on better footing at the time. After 2021 they went to three consecutive bowl games. Obviously the loss was still terrible, but they weren't the worst G5/MAC team in hindsight, relatively speaking.
 



Northwestern St started the season ranked 260/265 in the Sagarin FBS/FCS rankings, Gophers 31st, NDSU 56th, St Thomas 221 for reference. Pretty safe to say this is about the weakest opponent we could possibly have.
 

gophernut1 said:
Bowling Green in 2021- we were 30.5 point favorites - can't get much worse than that.
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The question wasn't "Who was the worst opponent to defeat us?" BG clearly is the answer to that question.

I would say Northwestern State, based on performance over a decade or more, is the worst opponent we've had in memory. NW State hasn't had a winning season since 2008 and they had two winless seasons before this one. That won't happen this year since they won their first game against Alcorn State.
 

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