Biggest Game in Years?

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OddStack

OddStack

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This, arguably, is the biggest game we've had in years. (read Mason era)

If we win, the excitement builds and things get even more fun and interesting. The dreaming and speculation gets even more out of hand (hard to believe when reading things rt. now).

If we lose, the fringe fans lose interest because it's another "typical Gopher Team." They point to the lack of ability we have to sustain success while losing to another historically bad team which they don't see as improved.

The fringe fans haven't been interested into November in how long? Hopefully, the team avoids the "hangover" and keeps things rolling!!!!
 

Agree that this weekend's game is huge - it would put us on the cusp of a national ranking, get the fans excited for a home game next week (a home game without 15,000 opposing fans and a name opponent, no less!) and really set the stage for something special. Granted, as we win, each subsequent game becomes the biggest game in years.

I sincerely hope the team is 100% focused on the task and comes out ready to play in all facets of the game come Saturday. We will be mightily tested but if we play smart, disciplined, mistake-free football it can be ours. And oh how I would love it.
 

It is a big game - for both teams. Hoosiers must win this one to get to a bowl. They have a refurbished stadium, homecoming (I think), and are coming off a bye. If the Gophers are not flat following the big high against Nebraska, this could be a terrific college football game, probably high-scoring.
 

Gopher07 said:
Agree that this weekend's game is huge - it would put us on the cusp of a national ranking, get the fans excited for a home game next week (a home game without 15,000 opposing fans and a name opponent, no less!) and really set the stage for something special. Granted, as we win, each subsequent game becomes the biggest game in years.

I sincerely hope the team is 100% focused on the task and comes out ready to play in all facets of the game come Saturday. We will be mightily tested but if we play smart, disciplined, mistake-free football it can be ours. And oh how I would love it.
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Bolded part is exactly spot on. Brick by Brick...One game at a time...Biggest game in years... all true.
 

This is NOT the biggest game, even of the Kill era. Last week was. Last week qualified us for a bowl game we were coming off of 2 crappy games and playing Nebraska. This week and each week following this as long as we continue to win will get bigger. Not looking ahead but if we keep winning the game against Wisky will be the biggest in a very long time. It would be for our 9th win with huge repercussions for recruiting, fund raising, season ticket sales and media relations.

But Indiana is the most important game this week and this week is a very important week!
 


Win two, and then we'd have pandemonium with Wisconsin.

Of course, by writing that sentence I've pretty much guaranteed that it doesn't happen.

My bad.
 

Lets hope we avoid what happened in 2000. Coming off a great 29-17 upset of Ohio State in Columbus only to go to Bloomington the next week and have Randle-El run wild and beat us 51-43. The toughest week of the season for any coach is right after a big upset. C'mon coaches!!!!
 

PupsMaroon said:
Lets hope we avoid what happened in 2000. Coming off a great 29-17 upset of Ohio State in Columbus only to go to Bloomington the next week and have Randle-El run wild and beat us 51-43. The toughest week of the season for any coach is right after a big upset. C'mon coaches!!!!
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Losing Middlebrooks early in the game to a broken leg didn't help. He stays healthy, we win that game.
 




I'd say this games about as big as Northwestern was the second year of the Brewster era. I think the program is on MUCH better ground than it was in 08, so a loss won't begin a long spiral that we saw in 2010, but a win for this team would mean as much as a win that day would have meant to our 2008 team.
 

I have had my eye on Indiana all year. I see them as a fellow challenged program, fighting its way to respect in the B1G. Since they changed coaches at close to the same time, I think our programs will always be linked in terms of measuring progress. Frankly, their offense scares the hell out of me. They look like they are capable of moving the ball and scoring on anyone. It has been well documented how crappy their defense is, but is our offense good enough to totally roll a bad defense? The game makes me nervous and seeing them favored makes me even more nervous. I do feel the Gophers have the advantage in intangibles. Indiana still seems farther behind in the ability to overcome adversity and press on to victory, so I think it is important to not let them start rolling down hill with a lead... they may just roll away with a victory as they did against Penn State.
 

I'd add that this game between two programs rising from nearly the same place in the standings is a very interesting study in the contrast between "brick by brick" where every part of the program is built from a solid foundation, as opposed to a team where one aspect (offense) has been pushed to an elite level while the rest is still floundering. Which resulting resume will turn out to be better on Saturday? Should be a fun game.
 





This game is the biggest game in years. We win, and not only have we met expectations, but met them with a month left in the season.

I wanted to see this Gopher team win 7 games. I will be happy with that, but whoever said it was right. If we keep winning, then the games get more and more important. 7 wins doesn't really improve our bowl game over 6 wins. 8 wins certainly will. If you win 9 regular season games then you've matched 2003.
 

It's big game no doubt, but not the biggest. I Wisconsin will end up being the biggest game of the year.
 

Looks like this question is relevant for another week :)
 

All 13 games are big, because there's only 13 games.
 

This one would be really nice because we haven't won 4 straight conference games since 1975.
 


Actually, would be the first 4-game B1G winning streak since 1973. We went 6-1 in conference that year under Cal Stoll (his 2nd year on the job), notching consecutive victories over Northwestern, Purdue, Illinois and Wisconsin.

Since that season, we've had a three-game conference winning streak 12 times: 1980 (Salem), 1985 (Holtz), 1986 (Gutekunst), 1990 (Gutekunst), 1993 (Wacker), 1999 (Mason), 2000 (Mason), 2002 (Mason), 2003 (Mason), 2006 (Mason), 2008 (Brewster), and now 2013 (Kill).
 

I'm kind of glad that the Gophers had to struggle a bit in the 4th quarter and really gut out a win. They will be hungrier on Saturday than if they had continued the 1st half steam roll.
 

Go Gophers Rah said:
I'm kind of glad that the Gophers had to struggle a bit in the 4th quarter and really gut out a win. They will be hungrier on Saturday than if they had continued the 1st half steam roll.
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And it was yet another reason why they shouldn't panic in the future. The offense could have really packed it in when they lost the lead, but instead Nelson hit Maxx Williams for a 50 yd td and one of the biggest plays of the year.
 

I think this next game is the highest risk game for us. If after winning 3 games as heavy underdogs, we come out at home and lose a game we are favored in against a pretty mediocre PSU squad, we become the "same old Gophers" unless we can find a way to steal a very improbable win in the last two games. Conversely, even if we win this one, no one expects us to win either of the last two, and short of getting embarrassingly blown out, the team can't really disappoint and we have locked up our first .500 conference season in quite a while.
 

As stated, each game becomes more important because we are rarified Gopher air!!! It compounds it is the Viking's lack of success. This has, certainly, been a fun few weeks!!!
 


The biggest MN football game since 2008 NFC Championship game (Sorry PA).
 

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