In some respects 2009 was a very good year

[Go Gophers Rah]

Okay, I'm starting to come out of my Insight Bowl funk and am taking an objective look at 2009.

One thing I noted is that we beat three Big Ten foes with a .500 or better conference record (Northwestern, Purdue and Michigan State). This was the first time since 1973 that we beat 3 Big Ten teams with a .500 record or better. In Glen Mason's 10 years, his teams beat 10 .500 or better Big Ten teams 10 times - or an average ove one per year; which is now the same average that Brewster's teams have.

Here are the .500 or better BT teams (conference record only) that we've beaten in the past ten years:

2009: 3 (Northwestern, Purdue, Michigan State)
2008: 0
2007: 0
2006: 0
2005: 1 (Michigan)
2004: 1 (Northwestern)
2003: 2 (Northwestern, Wisconsin)
2001: 1 (Illinois)
2000: 1 (Ohio State)

We also beat two 8-win FBS opponents this year. The last time we beat an 8-win opponent was against Tulsa in September 2005. Here are our victories against 8-win teams in the past 10 years:

2009: 2 (Air Force & Northwestern)
2006: 0
2007: 0
2006: 0
2005: 1 (Tulsa)
2004: 1 (Toledo)
2003: 2 (Tulsa & Oregon)
2002: 2 (Toledo & Arkansas)
2001: 0
2000: 1 (Ohio State)

We all knew that 2009 was (and 2010 will be) very difficult schedules. We played 2 BCS conference teams in our OOC schedule for the first time in nearly 20 years (yeah, I know one of them was Syracuse) and we didn't have the two worst teams in the conference on our schedule. I can't explain away the Iowa State loss, but otherwise, I think this team would have gone 8-4 with a typical Mason schedule or with Penn State's 2009 schedule.

I am not a big fan of Brewster's, but looking at some of the data instead of having an emotional knee-jerk reaction, tells me that we are a slightly above average Big Ten team that played a very difficult schedule and had some offensive difficulties down the stretch. Certainly nothing too catasrophic. Brewster deserves at least 1 more year to show that he has us going in the right direction.

 

[Gopher07]

Good post. I was thinking about these stats the other day but didn't have time to look them up and put it together. We need to have focus for all the games and win the ones we should (Illinois...). If this happens, things will start to come together nicely.

 

[Saskatchewan Gopher]

tOSU wasn't above .500 in 2000? I think you have a typo, correct? With that being said, nice post and analysis. I too think we are heading in the right direction.

 

[SelectionSunday]

Half full or half empty

I didn't think about this one until someone pointed it out to me the other day. The Gophers are 3-9 in Big Ten home games the last three seasons.

0-4
1-3
2-2

I guess this falls into the category of whether a person is a "half full" or "half empty" kind of guy. The "half full" notices the improving record each season. The "half empty" would point out 3-9 is a really bad record on your home field.

 

[Go Gophers Rah]

tOSU wasn't above .500 in 2000? I think you have a typo, correct? With that being said, nice post and analysis. I too think we are heading in the right direction.

Ohio State was 8-4 (5-3) in 2000.

edit: oops, I get it - I fixed the original.

 

[Gold Vision]

That is a pretty telling stat about how truly predictable this program was under Mason. It is also telling how brutal of a draw it is anytime you don't get to play Indiana!

 

[Monty519]

That's part of the disappointment I think with this team, is the missed opportunities. We showed at times how good this team could have been, by doing something no Gopher team had done in 36 years. But it's frustrating to know just how close we came to a very special year with just an ounce of consistency on offense and a couple more good bounces. Cal was winnable (probably should have won that game considering our position early in the 4th), Wisconsin was winnable (1st half mistakes allowed them to stay in the game way too closely and it killed us in the end), Illinois was winnable (Didn't show up early and still had a shot). Even Iowa was a winnable game with a little bit of offense and not turning it over at poor times. That's four games right there that with just a few less mistakes could have turned around. Suddenly you see 10-2 and say, wow this was a great team. Yes, I realize just as easily you could say Syracuse was close to an L, Air Force was close to an L, etc., but the point is, when you're opportunities are there, you have to take them. The Gophers didn't take advantage of numerous opportunities for a W. Good/great teams take advantage of a lot of their opportunities when they're presented to them. Average teams take advantage of some, and blow many, which is where the Gophers are right now.

Now the burning question for 2010 for me is, can they grow and learn to take advantage of more of their opportunities? Or will they continue to come up short in that regard and find themselves lamenting what could have, or should have been?