Post Game Reaction Thread: Illini Beat Gophers



I came home from the game disgusted but sadly that is not a new feeling for a Gopher fan. I did also have a mild sunburn which was amazing for a November game. Too bad the team did not perform as well as the weather.
 

Fleck isn't a good coach, but he's probably the best we'll do as long as we can avoid any big scandals, his job is safe.

But hey.... he's a flashy dresser, and he's got that cute slogan.
 

Bad loss, but life goes on.
Could be worse. We could be Nebraska.

Iowa game should still be fun.
Fleck needs to show another "response".

What will the Gophers "response" be?

Still a fun season and other top 25 teams are losing today as well. It's what makes college football great.
I'd love to be Nebraska. They've been to a Rose Bowl in my lifetime.
 


Fleck on KFAN post game: moved the ball at times, but didn’t finish. Mentioned the missed field goal about 5 times. Everything is ahead of us.
He should have mentioned before the missed field goal it was 1st and 10 from the Illinois 19. Then 2 plays later is was 3rd and 21 from the Illinois 30. If he was surprised this terrible kicker missed a 45 yard field goal he was the only one in the stadium. The kinds 62% on field goals in 2021 including the miss today.
 


Hot take: Illinois isn't that bad and might finish with a winning Big Ten record. Beat Penn State, Nebraska, Minnesota, lost super close @ Purdue and only has one Big Ten loss by more than a TD. That UTSA loss looks a lot better when the Roadrunners are undefeated.

Their defense is especially not bad. Purdue got 13 against them. Penn State took 9 overtimes to get 18.

This was a rough loss, but if there was a 5th quarter the Gophers would have eventually won. There's still hope for the last 4 (or 5) games. Gophers still control their own destiny in the West.
 

You have to hand it to Bert Bielema. His coaching staff studied the BGSU tapes in great detail on how to aggressively attack the Gopher's weaknesses. Whatever game plan Sanford Jr put in is crap. Bring Kirk Ciarrocca back. Offer him whatever he wants event access to a private jet to go see his family.
Ciarrocca is literally just an offensive analyst at WVU…. Give him whatever he wants and bring him back for the love of god we need to try something that fucking worked
 



Fleck loves talking about culture, to me there are two very distinct cultures between Fleck's coaching style and Bielema's coaching style. Say what you want about BB, but the guy is a coach and he is going to coach this team to some good wins. He has won 2 Big Ten road games against ranked opponents in his first season. That's some good coaching, I don't care who the opponent was. I'd kill to have had that our first year with Fleck.

Meanwhile, Fleck is not a coach. He is a rah rah guy and if his assistants can't do it, there is no way Fleck can coach his way out. BB made some stinging comments about his team this season and it appears that his team responded by playing hard. Illinois really seemed to have a hard edge to i today.

Ill is no longer going to be a walkover program like it was under Lovie. Ill could very likely be a Loss more than a win.

I don't like BB, but I like his coaching style and the toughness his B10 teams have had.
I don’t get how he didn’t win at Arkansas?. I don’t care for the guy but he can coach. His smash mouth style with great D is tough to get a W against. Totally reminded me of playing Becky today.
 

Fleck isn't a good coach, but he's probably the best we'll do as long as we can avoid any big scandals, his job is safe.

But hey.... he's a flashy dresser, and he's got that cute slogan.
He's popping out a lot of nfl-caliber players at a program that has never been known for its talent. He has a consistently good (if not great) team at a program that was anything but a sure thing. He won 20 (?) straight non-conference games. He has better record than any MN coach that's been around in my lifetime. He's absolutely a good coach.

A lot of the things he does annoy the fanbase but he has Minnesota in a position to compete which is what matters. Still TBD if he can take the next step but he has already come pretty far.
 


He's popping out a lot of nfl-caliber players at a program that has never been known for its talent. He has a consistently good (if not great) team at a program that was anything but a sure thing. He won 20 (?) straight non-conference games. He has better record than any MN coach that's been around in my lifetime. He's absolutely a good coach.

A lot of the things he does annoy the fanbase but he has Minnesota in a position to compete which is what matters. Still TBD if he can take the next step but he has already come pretty far.
I keep going back to Fleck's comments last summer that this was going to be his best team since his arrival here.

No one believes that today. He is a used car salesman that is fooling gullible fans.

But given our up and down season, we probably will win in IC.
 




I keep going back to Fleck's comments last summer that this was going to be his best team since his arrival here.

No one believes that today. He is a used car salesman that is fooling gullible fans.

But given our up and down season, we probably will win in IC.
I believe he has a great team. Probably top 30-40 in the country. From a pure experience and talent standpoint, this might be the best Gopher roster ever. It's right up there with 2019 Minnesota. He wasn't wrong.

He's dropping stupid games because of bad playcalling and horrid planning. Could very well pull out a win against Wisconsin or Iowa this year and he's still very much alive to make it to the B1G championship game.
 

You were just born too late. The Gophers played in two Rose Bowls in my lifetime (61 and 62).
I'm 45 years old. Clock keeps ticking and this extra hour tonight isn't getting me any closer to Pasadena. But hey, Outback Bowl with a dude/gal dressed as a bloomin' onion or coconut shrimp is just as good.
 

I'm 45 years old. Clock keeps ticking and this extra hour tonight isn't getting me any closer to Pasadena. But hey, Outback Bowl with a dude/gal dressed as a bloomin' onion or coconut shrimp is just as good.
How about a game in Detroit dressed like an icicle?
 

Fleck on KFAN post game: moved the ball at times, but didn’t finish. Mentioned the missed field goal about 5 times. Everything is ahead of us.
Sometimes he talks about 40+ yard FGs in college like they're gimmies. It's honestly a mental block with him and it was part of his horrendous decision before half against Maryland.

It's infuriating.
 

Why is this all on Sanford? Isn’t he running the offense PJ wants. Does anyone think that with games like this PJ will change his offensive philosophy?
We’re not doing the same things on offense we did two years ago. Some has to do with not having Johnson and Bateman but it’s not all of it.
 

And apparently we get our plays from the original Tecmo Bowl where you only had 4 different options.

 

They just won 4 conference games in a row
That is the definition of atypical -- you said a typical gopher team gets rolling and then shits the bed. If a typical team gets rolling and shits the bed you must have meant something else.
 

IIRC, he blamed the defensive showing on himself the day before he fired Robb Smith.
It was on Fleck for hiring Smith. He took responsibility and canned him.
 




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