My prediction in August - Correct thus far

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Here is the prediction I made in August. It wasn't really that far of a reach, but it has been accurate thus far. You'll note, though, that I had predicted a sound bowl victory.

2009 Gopher Football Prediction (6-6)
2 of 2 Against: South Dakota State University (home), Syracuse (road)
3 of 4 Against: Purdue (home), Air Force (home), Northwestern (road), Wisconsin (home)
1 of 4 Against: Illinois (home), Cal (home), Michigan State (home), Iowa (road)
0 of 2 Against: Penn State (road), Ohio State (road)
6-6 Overall. We then beat our Motor City or Insight Bowl opponent by a wide margin.
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Shhh, most of the nation thought we'd be right where we are. It's a secret around here. Let's not try and bring realistic expectations into the discussion. We'll have none of that.
 

Schnoodler said:
Shhh, most of the nation thought we'd be right where we are. It's a secret around here. Let's not try and bring realistic expectations into the discussion. We'll have none of that.
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Yes, I realistically expected our offense to be 113th in the nation. I realistically expected we'd average 2.94 yards per carry. I realistically expected our 2nd team All-Big Ten QB would rank 99 out of 100 in the nation in passing efficiency. I realistically expected this veteran team would be among the country's most penalized teams. I realistically expected this year's offense would average more than 100 yards less than the 2007 offense which went 1-11.
 

I also had us 6-6 (3-5)

I got the Northwestern and Wisconsin results backwards, but otherwise predicted every other game correctly.

To paraphrase Dennis Green, "We were who I thought we were."
 

Ugly has to look like something. If it's not crooked teeth than it's a crooked nose. If not that than bad hair. To lose six games requires either bad luck or a deficiency somewhere. If we didn't have an inept offense to talk about it would be something else. With Mason's teams it was defense. If we couldn't spot the deficiency it's probably because the team is in a new years day bowl and has arrived.

We're on the journey still.

The program is in it's adolesence, a building phase. I'm not sure that being able to spot the blemishes means it will never grow up. It only means we are still on the journey. Which is as expected.
 


Schnoodler said:
Shhh, most of the nation thought we'd be right where we are. It's a secret around here. Let's not try and bring realistic expectations into the discussion. We'll have none of that.
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Sounds like you're happy not scoring a TD against SDSU and having Montana racked up over 60 points. Yeah, this team is right where we expected
 

Yeah, that makes me really happy. Brilliant analysis.
 

Maximus said:
Yes, I realistically expected our offense to be 113th in the nation. I realistically expected we'd average 2.94 yards per carry. I realistically expected our 2nd team All-Big Ten QB would rank 99 out of 100 in the nation in passing efficiency. I realistically expected this veteran team would be among the country's most penalized teams. I realistically expected this year's offense would average more than 100 yards less than the 2007 offense which went 1-11.
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Good post. That pretty much sums it up from my side, too. I get frustrated by some of the fans that think there is absolutely nothing wrong with this football team and we are right where we are supposed to be. When Scout ranked the coaches last year, Brewster ranked in at #91 out of #119 teams coaches, which I believe was dead last in the Big Ten. I have a feeling that number didn't go up after this season either. I think some people think Brewster is doing this fantastic job and I just don't get it. He does bring some good things to the table, but from an actual coaching standpoint I'm not buying it and I think his job is on the line next year.
 

You can take a look at ESPN's bowl projections week by week. Before the season, they had the Gophers in either the Pizza Bowl or the Humanitarian Bowl. Not a good season, not a complete failure either.
 



Gold Rush said:
Good post. That pretty much sums it up from my side, too. I get frustrated by some of the fans that think there is absolutely nothing wrong with this football team and we are right where we are supposed to be. When Scout ranked the coaches last year, Brewster ranked in at #91 out of #119 teams coaches, which I believe was dead last in the Big Ten. I have a feeling that number didn't go up after this season either. I think some people think Brewster is doing this fantastic job and I just don't get it. He does bring some good things to the table, but from an actual coaching standpoint I'm not buying it and I think his job is on the line next year.
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Find me one fan who thinks there is absolutely nothing wrong with this program.
 

PlayHosea said:
You can take a look at ESPN's bowl projections week by week. Before the season, they had the Gophers in either the Pizza Bowl or the Humanitarian Bowl. Not a good season, not a complete failure either.
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I will buy that low key approach that you are taking, PlayHosea. That is fair enough. I think the most discouraging thing about the season is how the season ended that last couple games. If the season had ended after the MSU game, we would all be talking about how great our offense was, now we are all talking about trying to fix it.
 


Gold Rush said:
I will buy that low key approach that you are taking, PlayHosea. That is fair enough. I think the most discouraging thing about the season is how the season ended that last couple games. If the season had ended after the MSU game, we would all be talking about how great our offense was, now we are all talking about trying to fix it.
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I'm not going to disagree, the last 3 games were epic disasters. It was a Masonic end to the season. The stars were aligned for the program to take a step up and it took a step back instead.
 



You see it's this kind of overstatments that is useless. We all see the problems. OSU has problems. Every team has problems. Perfection is only an ideal. There is alot of ugly in 6-6. Just because you can see it, does not mean a thing. It only means you watch the games. Every other 6-6 team has their own version of ugly. It says little about the program, except we are 6-6.
 

Gold Rush said:
...If the season had ended after the MSU game, we would all be talking about how great our offense was, now we are all talking about trying to fix it.
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In fairness, the season is not over for another 4 weeks or so. I'm curious to see if the coaching staff can put together a good game plan for the bowl.
 

I thought the Vikings were going to be good this year. So far, I have been right.
 

Gold Rush said:
I don't need to find them. For some reason, they find this message board!!
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I don't get how you can so completely misunderstand what you've evidently read hundreds of times, but you appear to be managing it.

These countless arguments aren't between people who think 6-6 is great and Brewster is an awesome field coach, and those who think the sky is falling. It's between people who think there are good and bad points about the program now (and think it could still play out well for us) and those who think the sky is falling (and we need to clean house right now) because we're an uglier 6-6 than we usually are.
 

RedPoo said:
I don't get how you can so completely misunderstand what you've evidently read hundreds of times, but you appear to be managing it.

These countless arguments aren't between people who think 6-6 is great and Brewster is an awesome field coach, and those who think the sky is falling. It's between people who think there are good and bad points about the program now (and think it could still play out well for us) and those who think the sky is falling (and we need to clean house right now) because we're an uglier 6-6 than we usually are.
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Oh no, there are still some people who think Brewster is an awesome coach, but they are getting fewer and slowly coming around to my line of thinking.
 

I don't think so, but you know enjoy your delusions. The more you have the more right you become, at least to yourself.
 


God I wish I were, then you'd make more sense.

Just because we have more patience, and understand it's a process, does not mean we do not see the areas in need of improvement. And if it weren't for all you black and white thinkers, we might actually be able to have discussions about some of these things instead of having to continually point out that because we're not great doesn't mean we suck, and why because we didn't win the Big Ten doesn't mean we never will.
 

Complacency...Again...

Gold Rush trying to make your point to the masses of mediocrity apologists here is useless...They are enternal homers who when given solid analysis to the contrary continue to claim that this program is moving in the right direction. Brewster has not shown that he has what it takes; no big wins that really mean anything, questionable coaching skills etc. etc. Schnoods will claim we have to wait one more season and then we'll finally see how great this team is. Funny thing is we've been waiting over 45 years. Firing Brewster now is not really an option, so we let him work the plan and he gets canned in roughly 12 months. After waiting for this long what's 12 months? Really, we should wonder why Brewster in the first place?
 

Schnoodler said:
God I wish I were, then you'd make more sense.

Just because we have more patience, and understand it's a process, does not mean we do not see the areas in need of improvement. And if it weren't for all you black and white thinkers, we might actually be able to have discussions about some of these things instead of having to continually point out that because we're not great doesn't mean we suck, and why because we didn't win the Big Ten doesn't mean we never will.
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I know it's a process, Schnoodler and I know you have to give the coaching staff some time. I have stated repeatedly on here that you have to give Brewster another year to see if he can turn it around. I am not caught up in the number of wins and losses. I AM caught up in the overall program and there are a number of red flags that would state that we are going backwards and not forwards. They have been stated repeatedly on here. We are on the same side here, we both want Brewster to coach this team to a Big Ten Championship, but I have a funny feeling we will be looking for a new coach after next season.
 

Yes but there are good things too. There's a bigger picture. And if we're going to limit or view to the offensive performance we're going to miss the good things. There's alot of data that supports this program too. It's not all pretty, and it's not all ugly. As far as blinders go I don't thing the supporters of Brewsters efforts are the ones most guilty of wearing them. There's alot to suggest the team is better. And little to suggest it isn't. And absolutely neither side has sufficient information to know what the end result will be. My beef is with those who pretend they know, when they don't.
 

BadBrew said:
Gold Rush trying to make your point to the masses of mediocrity apologists here is useless...They are enternal homers who when given solid analysis to the contrary continue to claim that this program is moving in the right direction. Brewster has not shown that he has what it takes; no big wins that really mean anything, questionable coaching skills etc. etc. Schnoods will claim we have to wait one more season and then we'll finally see how great this team is. Funny thing is we've been waiting over 45 years. Firing Brewster now is not really an option, so we let him work the plan and he gets canned in roughly 12 months. After waiting for this long what's 12 months? Really, we should wonder why Brewster in the first place?
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Well, like I said to Schnoodler, we are all on the same side here. Until Brewster is gone, we have to do our best to support him as well as the rest of the football team. I hope he can get this offense turned around, but I honestly don't know if he really knows what to do. He is probably hoping Fisch can think of something clever. And here is something to think about. What if the Gophers go to a bowl game and get completely blown out? Maturi has replaced one football coach after a bowl game already, does he replace Brewster if they get blasted or is he committed to one or two more years? I am not sure -- my guess is Brewster is safe for one more year but at that point all bets are off. If we show up with another #110 team offense next year, I think Brewster is in big trouble.
 

Schnoodler said:
Yes but there are good things too. There's a bigger picture. And if we're going to limit or view to the offensive performance we're going to miss the good things. There's alot of data that supports this program too. It's not all pretty, and it's not all ugly. As far as blinders go I don't thing the supporters of Brewsters efforts are the ones most guilty of wearing them. There's alot to suggest the team is better. And little to suggest it isn't. And absolutely neither side has sufficient information to know what the end result will be. My beef is with those who pretend they know, when they don't.
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Well said, Schnoodler. I agree with you completely.
 

Coach Brewster is all in on Fisch, whether he's happy about that or not. His leash isn't long enough to make it through another big change. It's the reality of the gig, you only get so long. It's a five year opportunity, that's it. Either show something or ... next!
 

Schnoods about 10 days ago I gave a brief rundown of the progress of this team. You claim that "there's alot to suggest the team is better. And little to suggest it isn't." Rhetoric aside, what specifically are you referring to? You claim that anyone who makes a contrary analysis is wearing blinders; yet I have identified the issues that I see with this program and could claim that it is the apologists who are bridled to the Brewster buggy. Are there good things in this program? Yes. Are there enough good things? No. 6-6 three years in is not enough, and the method with which we reached 6-6 is even worse. I am a realist and do believe that we have to give Brew one more year, due to the fact that if we canned him now we would seriously hamstring any future ability to get a proven coach.
 

BadBrew said:
Schnoods about 10 days ago I gave a brief rundown of the progress of this team. You claim that "there's alot to suggest the team is better. And little to suggest it isn't." Rhetoric aside, what specifically are you referring to? You claim that anyone who makes a contrary analysis is wearing blinders; yet I have identified the issues that I see with this program and could claim that it is the apologists who are bridled to the Brewster buggy. Are there good things in this program? Yes. Are there enough good things? No. 6-6 three years in is not enough, and the method with which we reached 6-6 is even worse. I am a realist and do believe that we have to give Brew one more year, due to the fact that if we canned him now we would seriously hamstring any future ability to get a proven coach.
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I don't think 6-6 gets Brewster fired next season, but I do think #110 in offense will. Don't get too caught up in the wins and losses - I think you have to look at the big picture and see where the program is at that point. Next season we have to replace the entire front seven on defense and although we have some good recruits to step in, that's a lot of experience that we lose. The offense has a lot of experience coming back and they should be more familiar with the schemes. I think we should move up significantly in our offense. I am not talking about top 10 or even top 20, but we definitely should not see what we have the last few games, either. It should be a fairly interesting season next year.
 

Every gopher football forum (or group of fans) I talked to had the Gopher finishing anywhere from 5-7 to 7-5 (Some Brew haters, i remember were picking 4-8).

What does it matter that Weber regressed or that our offense was terrible like the year before. If that was such an epic failure and we still finished exactly where you thought, then the other areas of the team must have been much better than you expected.

We went 6-6 with a terrible offense and a decent defense. I think most of us thought we'd go 6-6 with a bad offense and an ok defense. Is their a slight difference between our reality and our expectations? Always is...
 

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