Could Still be a Charmed Season

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Gophergrandpa

Gophergrandpa

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For all the angst and disappointment this season, the Gophers still stand at 4-3 in the B1G and could (maybe should) finish the season 6-3 in the B1G. How lucky have the Gophers been to date? Here are the scoring differentials of all the B1G teams with 4-3 records (points for; points against; point differential):

Iowa. 193--119 = +74
Washington 176--123 = +48
Nebraska 178--175 = +3
Illinois 187--217 = -30 (includes a 53 point loss to Indiana)
Gophers 124--199 = -75
Northwestern 139--152 = -13 (NW actually has 3-4 record in the B1G)

I threw in 3-4 Northwestern for reference because it is our next opponent. How are the teams with the worst records in then B1G faring (with the Gophers shown for reference)?

Wisconsin, 1-6, 47--184 = -137
Purdue, 0-8, 127--253 = -126
Michigan State, 0-7, 134--241 = -107
Rutgers, 2-5, 160--242 = -82
Gophers, 4-3, 124--199 = -75
Maryland, 1-6, 131--202 = -70
Penn State, 1-6, 178--188 = -10

The Gophers' B1G schedule was tough on the road, and the team played very poorly in each road game. Luckily, the Gophers had mostly the dregs of the B1G at home and eked out a bunch of close home wins (except we pounded Nebraska). Can the Gophers win a single road game this year? One is left: Northwestern, which plays very tough defense and on offense has actually outscored the Gophers. By rights the NW game should be a toss up, but it is on the road ...where this year's Gophs have folded like a cheap suit. Can the Gophers beat Wisconsin at home? Wisconsin has only scored 47 points in 7 B1G games this year (just under 7 point per game). Let me say that again: a total of 47 points in seven B1G games. If the Gophers somehow lose at home to this Wisconsin team--and anything is possible--I think PJ suddenly goes onto a very hot seat.

Go Gophers! Finish 6-3 in the B1G (8-4 overall) and get older, faster and better next year.
 
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As time has gone by the only good thing that came out of Northwestern State was the W. In terms of getting us ready for B1G+ play, it was an enhanced scrimmage with refs so no deal. 4th and 5th stringers actually got "game time" but we're challenged with our 1st and 2nd string guys so no value there.

I know that Bowling Green backed out and the AD had to find a replacement; so playing them was not on purpose in that sense. In economics this would be categorized as an opportunity cost. Losing the opportunity to play a team with more than a pulse took away a small amount of team development.

Do not do that again Mr. Coyle. Thank you.
 

holereader said:
PJ does seem to have the ability to pick these guys up off the mat. Hoping that will be the case next week. I think next week will define the season. Big game
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Probably. Team has played terrible on the road. Beat NW.....come home for the Axe game against a very beatable Wisconsin team. Finishing 8-4 would be a success....all things considered.
 

Yep, can potentially finish on a really high note at 8-4 by winning these next two. Earning another in the bowl for another 9 win season would certainly be a positive.
 



If DT can stay healthy for the next two I like our chances. Our offense works much better when he is out there and even with our struggles on D they should be able to hang with these opposing offenses that are not very good themselves.

Finishing 8-4, 9-4 with the bowl game would be pretty solid with a redshirt freshman QB and many of the other issues the team has struggled with this season.
 


A split with the Cats and Becky gives us a 7-5 season. Just what I expected and an outside shot at 8-4. However, I did not expect to be totally blown out against Iowa and to a lesser extent OSU and O. Then the disappointing loss at Cal.

Going 6-6 and then 6-7 by losing the bowl game will cause a lot of rumbling but warranted.
 



MNVCGUY said:
If DT can stay healthy for the next two I like our chances. Our offense works much better when he is out there and even with our struggles on D they should be able to hang with these opposing offenses that are not very good themselves.

Finishing 8-4, 9-4 with the bowl game would be pretty solid with a redshirt freshman QB and many of the other issues the team has struggled with this season.
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Agreed completely. I hate that our success hinges on a dynamic playmaker's health, but thats where we are at. If we can get 9 wins with a freshman, the expectations for next year ought to be higher, and we could expect some good players wanting to come here. Hopefully. As ass as they have played on the road (against some of the best teams, we've won when we should have for the most part. Drake needs more consistent protection for sure.
 

gopherphil said:
I might be in the minority but imo the gophers will be better in the final two regular season games because of the Oregon ass woopin. I expect nothing but close out the remainder 2-0.
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Having played those games at tOSU, Iowa City and in Oregon (when the ducks were coming off a monsoon game in Iowa City…when the weather dictated to Oregon what kind of offense they had to play which was pound the rock offense: the ducks unveiled their entire offensive package back home, in good weather last Friday night.

The Gopher defense won’t see ANYTHING like that the rest of the season. The young qb for this GopherTeam won’t see anything resembling the crowds, the defenses or the pressure of teams trying to score a high position in the play off selections again this season.

It will be his 11th start of his freshman year

And, maybe…just maybe our star RB/ pass catching back will stay on the field. It just might make a whole heck of a lot of difference.
 

imthewalrus said:
Having played those games at tOSU, Iowa City and in Oregon (when the ducks were coming off a monsoon game in Iowa City…when the weather dictated to Oregon what kind of offense they had to play which was pound the rock offense: the ducks unveiled their entire offensive package back home, in good weather last Friday night.

The Gopher defense won’t see ANYTHING like that the rest of the season. The young qb for this GopherTeam won’t see anything resembling the crowds, the defenses or the pressure of teams trying to score a high position in the play off selections again this season.

It will be his 11th start of his freshman year

And, maybe…just maybe our star RB/ pass catching back will stay on the field. It just might make a whole heck of a lot of difference.
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At OSU, ORE, and Iowa are 3 of the toughest road venues in the Big Ten. Add in a night game for both Oregon and Ohio State and that enhances the environment even more. Doesn't excuse the way the team has fallen flat in all 3 but when you play in tough environments like that things have to go right early and in all 3 cases they didn't and we dug big holes that we couldn't get out of.

Wrigley will be unique but nowhere near as intimidating as those other 3. And as far as opponents go.....Wisconsin and Northwestern are solid on D but have struggled on offense and are the type of teams that our D usually plays very well against because they don't feature the speed of teams like Ohio State and Oregon.

Neither game will be easy but both are very winnable. And yeah....if DT can stay on the field for these last two our chances of winning go way up because he brings another element to our offense with his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and make things happen.

And specifically in regards to Wisconsin, if we can't shut their offense down that would be incredibly disappointing. They are on like their 4th QB and the RB who had become their #1 guy the past few weeks suffered what looked like a really severe injury against Indiana.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
For all the angst and disappointment this season, the Gophers still stand at 4-3 in the B1G and could (maybe should) finish the season 6-3 in the B1G. How lucky have the Gophers been to date? Here are the scoring differentials of all the B1G teams with 4-3 records (points for; points against; point differential):

Iowa. 193--119 = +74
Washington 176--123 = +48
Nebraska 178--175 = +3
Illinois 187--217 = -30 (includes a 53 point loss to Indiana)
Gophers 124--199 = -75
Northwestern 139--152 = -13 (NW actually has 3-4 record in the B1G)

I threw in 3-4 Northwestern for reference because it is our next opponent. How are the teams with the worst records in then B1G faring (with the Gophers shown for reference)?

Wisconsin, 1-6, 47--184 = -137
Purdue, 0-8, 127--253 = -126
Michigan State, 0-7, 134--241 = -107
Rutgers, 2-5, 160--242 = -82
Gophers, 4-3, 124--199 = -75
Maryland, 1-6, 131--202 = -70
Penn State, 1-6, 178--188 = -10

The Gophers' B1G schedule was tough on the road, and the team played very poorly in each road game. Luckily, the Gophers had mostly the dregs of the B1G at home and eked out a bunch of close home wins (except we pounded Nebraska). Can the Gophers win a single road game this year? One is left: Northwestern, which plays very tough defense and on offense has actually outscored the Gophers. By rights the NW game should be a toss up, but it is on the road ...where this year's Gophs have folded like a cheap suit. Can the Gophers beat Wisconsin at home? Wisconsin has only scored 47 points in 7 B1G games this year (just under 7 point per game). Let me say that again: a total of 47 points in seven B1G games. If the Gophers somehow lose at home to this Wisconsin team--and anything is possible--I think PJ suddenly goes onto a very hot seat.

Go Gophers! Finish 6-3 in the B1G (8-4 overall) and get older, faster and better next year.
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Who is going to give Fleck a very hot seat for some hypothetical situation that some debby downer types are hoping for? At this point in time, I don’t believe hypothetical seat warming scenarios really carry any weight with any of the hypothetical people who make reliable seat warming situations at the University of Minnesota. I doubt very much there is even one “…hot shot…” on this board who can hire or fire a football coach at the U of M.

Probably a more likely hypothetical scenario might be that of the many D-1 football programs
with a current vacancy tries to make Coach Fleck the new coach of their program for a very nice raise!

Hypothetically, how much might it be worth to Coach Fleck to win both of the two remaining games and then win a bowl game on top of that?

Hypothetically that would be one heck of a hypothetical haul for a coach you are trying to put in a hypothetical double bind Gophergrandpa! ;0)
 



imthewalrus said:
Who is going to give Fleck a very hot seat for some hypothetical situation that some debby downer types are hoping for? At this point in time, I don’t believe hypothetical seat warming scenarios really carry any weight with any of the hypothetical people who make reliable seat warming situations at the University of Minnesota. I doubt very much there is even one “…hot shot…” on this board who can hire or fire a football coach at the U of M.

Probably a more likely hypothetical scenario might be that of the many D-1 football programs
with a current vacancy tries to make Coach Fleck the new coach of their program for a very nice raise!

Hypothetically, how much might it be worth to Coach Fleck to win both of the two remaining games and then win a bowl game on top of that?

Hypothetically that would be one heck of a hypothetical haul for a coach you are trying to put in a hypothetical double bind Gophergrandpa! ;0)
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If PJ finishes 9-4 with W's in the next two and the bowl game, he would be in a very good position. And it wouldn't surprise me to see him check out his options.

After nine seasons and a 6-7 record some folks will get a bit antsy.
 

Bayfield Gopher said:
If PJ finishes 9-4 with W's in the next two and the bowl game, he would be in a very good position. And it wouldn't surprise me to see him check out his options.

After nine seasons and a 6-7 record some folks will get a bit antsy.
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If folks want to get antsy they will get antsy. A 6-7 still would not overturn the body of work imho.
 
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My close to 70 years (starting at age 8) tell me that it is not often that the football gods let the sun shine down on the U of M.

But I sure as hell love being a Big Ten Golden Gopher fan. I’m pretty sure you know what I mean Bayfield Gopher!
 
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imthewalrus said:
My close to 70 years (starting at age 8) tell me that it is not often that the football gods let the sun shine down on the U of M.

But I sure as hell love being a Big Ten Golden Gopher fan. I’m pretty sure you know what I mean Bayfield Gopher!
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Yep! I've got your back!

I'll always cherish being able to take in a few games at the old Brickyard and then fast forward to the Bank.
 

Bayfield Gopher said:
If PJ finishes 9-4 with W's in the next two and the bowl game, he would be in a very good position. And it wouldn't surprise me to see him check out his options.

After nine seasons and a 6-7 record some folks will get a bit antsy.
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Not that it makes a bit of difference, but I've been a PJ Bobo since he got here. If they lose these last two I'll be more than a bit antsy.
 


imthewalrus said:
Having played those games at tOSU, Iowa City and in Oregon (when the ducks were coming off a monsoon game in Iowa City…when the weather dictated to Oregon what kind of offense they had to play which was pound the rock offense: the ducks unveiled their entire offensive package back home, in good weather last Friday night.

The Gopher defense won’t see ANYTHING like that the rest of the season. The young qb for this GopherTeam won’t see anything resembling the crowds, the defenses or the pressure of teams trying to score a high position in the play off selections again this season.

It will be his 11th start of his freshman year

And, maybe…just maybe our star RB/ pass catching back will stay on the field. It just might make a whole heck of a lot of difference.
Click to expand...
Come on man it wasn’t a monsoon. It was a light rain that lasted all game along, which was no big deal.
 

imthewalrus said:
Who is going to give Fleck a very hot seat for some hypothetical situation that some debby downer types are hoping for? At this point in time, I don’t believe hypothetical seat warming scenarios really carry any weight with any of the hypothetical people who make reliable seat warming situations at the University of Minnesota. I doubt very much there is even one “…hot shot…” on this board who can hire or fire a football coach at the U of M.

Probably a more likely hypothetical scenario might be that of the many D-1 football programs
with a current vacancy tries to make Coach Fleck the new coach of their program for a very nice raise!

Hypothetically, how much might it be worth to Coach Fleck to win both of the two remaining games and then win a bowl game on top of that?

Hypothetically that would be one heck of a hypothetical haul for a coach you are trying to put in a hypothetical double bind Gophergrandpa! ;0)
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I think I know your new favorite word …
 

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