Denver Post calls Minnesota/Colorado game "a massive “swing” game for both programs."

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SamSquatch said:
I don't know why Kill/Claeys are in discussion but, despite 8-9 wins, the teams they coached never seemed dangerous (and often seemed incompetent), and that played out by never beating our rivals and by never beating a team that finished the season ranked. Their tenure was not successful.
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Actually, I believe Claeys 2016 team may have made an appearance at #25 on the ending coaches' poll (not the AP). Kill/Claeys never beat Wisconsin but they did beat Iowa twice (one time was a total rout) and we haven't beaten Iowa since their second time.

Since Murray Warmath's long tenure that stretched from the fifties to the early seventies, Minnesota's most successful coaches have been:

Fleck: .574
Mason: .529
Kill/Claeys: 519

Of course, Fleck's much better record in a small sample size can be attributed to one great season (.846 winning percentage). Outside of that season, he is 13-14. By the way, despite Murray Warmath's great accomplishments, his overall winning percentage in his long tenure was .526, virtually identical to Mason's.

Fan aspirations are fine but fan aspirations don't amount to a hill of beans when it comes to the success of a given team in a season. All fans can do is show up and give money.

We may get to where you want to be someday but we're not there yet. In the meantime, I'm going to set my expectations to who we are, not who I would like us to be. I would call the Kill/Claeys tenure relatively successful under a realistic appraisal.
 
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Some guy said:
I don’t think the team has the talent to win the west. Particularly on defense. That’s why I picked them 3rd.
I could see them realistically finishing anywhere 1st-4th. I think 4th is more likely than 1st.

I think they win 8-9 games. My opinion hasn’t changed much since the beginning of the season other than at the beginning I was thinking 8-9 but maybe if the defense showed something 10-11. I no longer think 11 is even a remote possibility of happening.
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I'm where you are. Before the season, I said anything less than 8 wins definitely would be a disappointment and that was with Mo. I compared this team to the 2014 team: veteran teams with relatively tough schedules. That team went 8-4 so I think that's where this one should finish at least.
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
We went 8-4 in the regular season in three out of four years immediately preceding Fleck. It sounds like the consensus on the board was that the Kill/Claeys era was not very successful , so yes, reverting to that kind of season would be a disappointment.
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You shouldn't judge "consensus" by the sounds from the squeakiest wheels.
 


The Gophers have won 19 straight non-conference games in a row - that is absolutely phenomenal. They are also 4-0 vs. Colorado so they have some good trends going their way. I still love the Gophers offensive line - we simply will never get that type of experience ever again. I think this is the game they need to pick it up and dominate the game. This is an excellent road test for the Gophers and they will not be able to run the entire game. Morgan will need to throw to keep them from stacking the box (and they will!!) so I expect to see some RPO which he is very good at running. The defense will need to play better. If the Gophers win, it will be a quality victory over a team that stayed right with the #5 team in the country last week. If they lose, it won't be the end of the world, but it will be very disappointing as we all hope we are good enough to challenge for the Big Ten West this year.

Should be a fun game!!!
 


Gold Rush said:
The Gophers have won 19 straight non-conference games in a row - that is absolutely phenomenal. They are also 4-0 vs. Colorado so they have some good trends going their way.
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I agree with most of your thoughts, but the Gophers have played CU three times and are 0-3. (They are 4-0 vs. Colorado St, maybe that's what you saw?)
 

2nd Degree Gopher said:
I agree with most of your thoughts, but the Gophers have played CU three times and are 0-3. (They are 4-0 vs. Colorado St, maybe that's what you saw?)
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Good correction! I hate misinformation. I like our odds a little better this time than at the times of those three meetings (1972, 1991, and 1992). The 91 and 92 Gopher teams had back-to-back 2-9 records and the 72 team was 4-7. All three Colorado teams appear to have been ranked. This time neither team is ranked and both have 1-1 records. We appear to be a more veteran team as well (of course, that's no guarantee of anything).
 





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