ESPN: Minnesota midseason review: Tracy Claeys keeps program moving forward

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"Everyone expected to compete for the west championship including Clayes."

BETA MALE TRIGGER WARNING (just for you westcoastgopher11): This post consists of more than 4 sentences and is not full of sunshine. Please go to your safe space and avoid reading.

I really don't understand what is so hard for people to understand about this. It is almost like they set their expectations week to week and completely forget about what they set for their goal at the beginning of the year. Finishing 4th in the West is a disappointment. Next year does not look any easier with the schedule harder and no experienced QB on the roster. With no ability to anchor on goals, I can see how they are always happy with how the season plays out regardless of the W/L record.
 

csom_1991 said:
"Everyone expected to compete for the west championship including Clayes."

BETA MALE TRIGGER WARNING (just for you westcoastgopher11): This post consists of more than 4 sentences and is not full of sunshine. Please go to your safe space and avoid reading.

I really don't understand what is so hard for people to understand about this. It is almost like they set their expectations week to week and completely forget about what they set for their goal at the beginning of the year. Finishing 4th in the West is a disappointment. Next year does not look any easier with the schedule harder and no experienced QB on the roster. With no ability to anchor on goals, I can see how they are always happy with how the season plays out regardless of the W/L record.
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Who says "beta" outside the typical group of teens who are sad that girls don't like them?
 

dpodoll68 said:
I shared this in a different thread, but the Gophers have won 9 or more games 7 times, and have won 10 or more games 4 times.
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http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/yearly-records.html

Regular season wins is typically what we talk about when we talk season wins. I was mistaken.
1900 Dr. Henry L. Williams 10-0-2
1901 Dr. Henry L. Williams 9-1-1
1902 Dr. Henry L. Williams 9-2-1
1903 Dr. Henry L. Williams 14-0-1
1904 Dr. Henry L. Williams 13-0
1905 Dr. Henry L. Williams 10-1
2003 Glen Mason 10-3

There are caveats, since there were seasons where they didn't play enough games to get 9 wins.

But the fact remains, holding a program and a first year HC to a standard that has been done once in a century is setting yourself up for disappointment.
 

"Who says "beta" outside the typical group of teens who are sad that girls don't like them?"

Umm....scientists for starters.
 




jonnyganas said:
http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/yearly-records.html

Regular season wins is typically what we talk about when we talk season wins. I was mistaken, as we've done it only TWICE.
1900 Dr. Henry L. Williams 10-0-2
2003 Glen Mason 10-3

There are caveats, since there were seasons where they didn't play enough games to get 9 wins.
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Sorry, but you're not reading your own attached link very well. Who only talks about "regular season wins"? I've never heard that qualifier. Moreover, the regular season is all that existed in 1905 and before, when we did it six times:

1900 10-0-2
1901 9-1-1
1902 9-2-1
1903 14-0-1
1904 13-0-0
1905 10-1-0
2003 10-3
 

jonnyganas said:
But the fact remains, holding a program and a first year HC to a standard that has been done once in a century is setting yourself up for disappointment.
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Oh for sure, I absolutely agree - I was just pointing out the inaccuracies in your statement.
 



"1905 10-1-0
2003 10-3"

Well if the trend holds, we can look forward to another 10 win season in 2101....can't wait!
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Everyone expected to compete for the west championship including Clayes. Finishing 3rd or 4th in the west is not competing for a championship. The last three games of the year will tell the story.
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Depends on the situation. Things could play out to where going into the last game of the regular season we could finish anywhere from 1st to 4th. If we get to the Wisconsin game with a chance to win the west, then I would say we competed for a championship.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Depends on the situation. Things could play out to where going into the last game of the regular season we could finish anywhere from 1st to 4th. If we get to the Wisconsin game with a chance to win the west, then I would say we competed for a championship.
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Right, which is why I said the last 3 games will tell the story. :)
 




csom_1991 said:
"If we go 9-4 or even 10-3 when was the last time a first year coach had a winning record let alone a winning conference record here."

I think you are counting chickens before they hatch by throwing out 9-4. If there is anything that Gopher football has taught me, we will drop easily winnable games. So, while I do think we lose to WI and Nebraska - I think there is at least 1 more loss in there and most likely 2. However, even at 9-4, we would finish 4th in our conference in a year when we had our best chance of winning the West given a seasoned QB. That seasoned QB regressed in the Iowa game so my hopes of beating WI or Nebraska are gone - I just hope we can win the winnable games and not get blow out vs. Nebraska and WI. If we get blown out and drop 1 or 2 of the winnable games, the wheels will come off the program. I should also add that the Vikes playing well could not have come at a worse time as far as football mindshare goes.
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Clearly you don't know the difference between will and if
 

MNVCGUY said:
Not sure either of those things apply in the Penn State game and Iowa game, we just didn't play well in either of them and ended up with loses in very winnable games. The winning record thing is a little misleading as well because Claeys is not in the typical first year coach situation. Most first year head coaches inherit a rough situation and have to rebuild from the ground up. That was not the case for Claeys, he has had to change things (primarily on offense) but the overall vision is still the same as is most of the staff. They aren't trying to overhaul the roster or bring in their guys the way most new staffs have to, this was very much a continuation of what Kill was doing here.

So would I be happy to see us finish 9-4....of course but it would also be extremely frustrating to know that record could have been so much better if we had not blown those first 2 very winnable Big Ten games. On top of that there is more to it than just the record. There is a definite element of who you beat as well, we have 7 potential wins on our schedule against average to below average to extremely below average teams. You still have to go out and win those games but beating the likes of Oregon State, Colorado State, Indiana State, Maryland, Rutgers, Illinois, and Purdue should not be seen as a major accomplishment for this program right now given where things are at. We need some quality wins in there and so far we are 0-2 in that department this year.
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I'll agree that dumbluck didn't play a factor in the losses, but lets face say we won both of those games at some point we would've needed it. I.E it was dumbluck in Iowa's favor that Wisconsin fumbles three times near the goaline against them in that barnburner of a game. That was the win that put them in the driver seat. We had the misfortune of the suspended Dbacks who weren't on the field vs Penn State, a healthy Hardin would've helped along with Ray Buford for depth. We also just got Lingren and Still back who we were counting on, they have been out pretty much all year, although I think til came back vs Iowa. I am not ready to quit on this group, lot of football left.
 

I'm a big boy - I can make up my own mind. Please don't tell me what I have to think, or expect.

On Expectations: football is a game where a season can change from week to week, depending on injuries/etc. The day after Teddy Bridgewater tore up his knee, how many people expected the Vikings to start the season 5-0?

And, football is a game where no matter how much we think we know, we still get surprised every season. Some teams play better than expected - some teams play worse than expected. So, for anyone to say categorically that "next year's season is tougher," or "we should beat Team X" - odds are that you will be wrong at some point.

I will let the season play out before I form my own conclusions about what kind of season it was for the Gophers, and how to evaluate the job done by Kill and his coaches.
 

bemidjigopher said:
I'll agree that dumbluck didn't play a factor in the losses, but lets face say we won both of those games at some point we would've needed it. I.E it was dumbluck in Iowa's favor that Wisconsin fumbles three times near the goaline against them in that barnburner of a game. That was the win that put them in the driver seat. We had the misfortune of the suspended Dbacks who weren't on the field vs Penn State, a healthy Hardin would've helped along with Ray Buford for depth. We also just got Lingren and Still back who we were counting on, they have been out pretty much all year, although I think til came back vs Iowa. I am not ready to quit on this group, lot of football left.
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We absolutely would not have needed dumb luck to win either of those games. Every team faces some sort of adversity in every game, the good ones find a way to overcome it and get the W anyway. Against Penn State we had the lead with 54 seconds left on the clock. Against Iowa it was just a matter of someone making a play in that slugfest of inept offenses, in the end their guys got it done but that game was there for the taking.

Plenty of season left and the possibility for a good/great year is there but the margin for error is razor thin now. No matter how you slice it those two games were major missed opportunities, not season killers or embarrassing loses, but also not games that we should feel good about either.
 

I'll tell you how I appreciate the Gophers this year. I'm going to homecoming on Saturday. I'll be there from 8:00am until 5:00ish. I'll be tailgating in the corporate section as a guest. I'm bringing my "A" game as a fan. The wife is looking forward to it and I am sure TC and the Gophers will entertain! Don't care what the record will be after Saturday. I just know the Rutgers team should beware the mighty Gopher. That is all. Not quite a dissertation.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
@Oregon St, @Iowa, @Michigan, Michigan St at home. No Rutgers. Michigan St will not be as bad as they are this year.
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Why is Michigan St. a lock to better? They have a lot of seniors on offense that they have replace -- starting quarterback, #1 and #3 leading receivers, top two tight ends (one of which is #4 in receiving yards), top fullback, and three starting offensive lineman. On defense they might have to replace three starters on the defensive line if Malik McDowell enters the draft.

Michigan figures to lose all eleven starters on defense if Jabrill Peppers goes pro and almost their entire starting offense as well. Can Harbaugh reload as swiftly as Urban Meyer?
 

Those two losses hurt, and I was as ticked as anybody after those. I know the "power rankings" media outlets do are meaningless, but seeing Penn State and Northwestern (lost to Illinois State?) ahead of us is painful.

We have no margin for error, and even winning the next three won't get anybody's attention. But if we do that, we can still earn a great season in November.
 

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