Bornhoft: PJ Fleck Etches Himself Into Minnesota Sports Lore

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dpodoll68 said:
I'm as big of a Tracy Claeys backer as you'll find here, and this was absolutely a MUCH more important win than WSU. It's not even close. To even compare the two is silly.

Some may disagree, but there's at least a strong argument to be made that this was the biggest win since PSU in 1999. That would be 19 years, roughly equivalent to a generation, ergo it's easily defensible to advance the position that this is the biggest Gopher football win in a generation.
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Agreed. That Washington St team may have been better than WI by a little bit but the WI win means a lot more.
 


John Galt said:
This win is far bigger than Wazzu, it isn’t even close. Fleck did something in year 2 that Kill and Claeys couldn’t accomplish in 6.

I’d also argue that Rossi had 2 defensive performances as good or better than anything we saw from Claeys...
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Its so close it surpasses it. This win which was fun and due but is not even on the radar for "ranking" as a huge win. The Holiday bowl victory was a win at 14 point underdogs and the program imploding. Rossi is no Claeys so relax on that. Kill did not play 1 average Wisconsin team and was a half away from the Big ten championship against a Wisconsin team that was 10-2.

Everyone needs to settle down and just enjoy it instead of treating it like we beat a playoff bound Badger team which was a pre season prediction from the experts.
 

That was a great bowl win against Washington State but where did it get the program? It's not like that bowl win propelled the program into the upper echelon of the Big Ten.

Nothing beats going into your rival's house and taking the axe from them. It's moments like this why people enjoy college football and the students and fans get excited. You now get to keep the axe home for the next year and can use that to help promote your program and recruit. Recruiting has changed so much since the Gophers last owned the axe in 2003-2004. Not everyone had cell phones yet in 2003, iphones did not exist, Facebook and Twitter did not exist. When recruits come to visit and see the new facilities and hold the axe and take their picture with the axe and can share it on social media, you don't think that will get them excited??? One of the most prestigious trophies in all of college football.

So this was a very big win for PJ Fleck and the Minnesota program. We can compare him all we want to previous coaches but the fact of the matter is he did what no Gophers coach has done since 2003 and that is beat Wisconsin. And also was the first time since 1994 they have won in Madison.

Mason (2-8) only beat Wisconsin 2 times in his 10 years.
Brewster 0-4
Kill 0-4
Claeys 0-2.

So for PJ Fleck to take his team into Madison and get a win in just his 2nd meeting is more than impressive. It doesn't matter if Wisconsin was in a down year, we got the win and get to enjoy the axe for the next year.
 

everybody knows my name said:
Listen up, I didn't say it wasn't fun, or rewarding, or a great experience for a Gophers fan. But the Axe game is not my Super Bowl. It rubs me the wrong way to have Gopher fans suggesting that this is one of the most significant moments in recent Gophers history. Winning the Jug (a far more lopsided rivalry) on the road in 2014 was more significant. Beating Penn State when they were #2 in the country was bigger. The unlikely victory over WSU in the Tracy Claeys bowl was bigger. Beating Nebraska for the first time in about fifty years (2013) was bigger, as was going to Nebraska the next year and beating a ranked Huskers team. Beating #1 Michigan in 1977 was bigger, though many of us don't remember that one. Beating Michigan in 2005 and 1986 was also bigger than this Wisconsin win. And I will remember the Citrus Bowl more vividly than I'll ever remember Wiscy 2018.

This was just a nice win (very nice, if you like) by a mediocre Minnesota team against a mediocre Wisconsin rival. I enjoyed it on Saturday and I was still glowing on Sunday, but it isn't a program changer and it's far from a "top-5 Minnesota sports memory."
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As others have replied it is one of the most significant wins in RECENT Gopher football history. For me this ranks up there as one of the biggest because of the way we won and the length of the losing streak that proceeded the victory.

You missed a few in your list, @ Ohio State 2000, Wisconsin 2003, Iowa 2010, would put all of those up ahead of some of the others you mentioned especially the WSU win which was a nice victory but pales in comparison to some of the conference wins on the road or over rivals.

For me, nothing will top the 1999 win over Penn State at Happy Valley. Was in the stadium for that one and it was one of the coolest sports moments I have ever been a part of. It would take something amazing to unseat that one.

As for the line about remembering the Citrus Bowl more than 2018 Wisconsin....yeah ummm no....I had to look up who we played in that game to remember we got beat by Missouri in that one. Was cool that we made a bowl game that was played on Jan 1st but all-time that one isn't even close to the top of the list.
 


gopherjay said:
Its so close it surpasses it. This win which was fun and due but is not even on the radar for "ranking" as a huge win. The Holiday bowl victory was a win at 14 point underdogs and the program imploding. Rossi is no Claeys so relax on that. Kill did not play 1 average Wisconsin team and was a half away from the Big ten championship against a Wisconsin team that was 10-2.
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Absolutely ridiculous. Even more ridiculous insinuating Kill get beating by Wisconsin is somehow more impressive.




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everybody knows my name said:
It was a nice win, but it's being all blown out of proportion. We beat a mediocre Wisconsin at the end of a .500 campaign. Let's not pretend it's more than that.
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Nope. You’re just a sore winner, like most Minnesota “fans”.
 

Let’s just hope all if this pales in comparison to what we accomplish next season
 

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