Post Game Thread: Gophers Blow Horrendous Game to a HORRIBLE Northwestern Team

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Whenever we appear to have a W locked up:

 


Minnesota sports. Next up, the Twins maybe win one playoff game and people get excited about that but they go out in the first round
 

howeda7 said:
Even granting some of that, he just signed a contract extension and has a massive buyout. Further they are likely buying out the basketball coach come March. Unless there is a scandal, there is zero chance PJ is fired after this season. Zero.
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I didn't say he should be fired, yet. His seat should be hotter now, though.
 

I quit watching when up 31-10 and it wasn't I listened to the Andy Staples pod and I said "you can't be serious".
 



Are 15 first downs vs NW good? How about 3/13 on 3rd down? Is that good against a vaunted defense like NW? This offense is back to being one of the worst in college football, exactly like the last time Fleck lost Ciarocca. No confidence at all when watching this offense. No hope.
 

60's Guy said:
Potential seems to be big deal to NFL evaluators.
But dang, he cannot catch the ball...I guess I don't know if he has dropped a perfect pass because I can't recall any but he drops a ton of catchable balls. Every time I watch his blocks-he whiffs.
Certainly has the frame to excel but golly.
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That ball was thrown two seconds late, high and way too hard.
 




We lost to a program that prides themselves on getting naked and dry humping each other.... would call it a new low, but it's not. Maybe we need a scandal to light a fire under some of these guys?
 


We will never win with our current D3 quarterback.
Our TE is big and tall and looks the part of an elite talent but he has butter fingers.
Fleck is a pussy. scared to make a big call and plays not to lose. Blowhard. But let’s give him an extension and pay him 5 million next year. Barf.
 

EG#9 said:
There has been at least one horrible loss every year now for 4 years. The type of loss that should happen once every 5 years at most...and in the case of Bowling Green something that many programs have never experienced in my lifetime (one of the 30 biggest point spread losses in 40 years). The inconsistent thing is Fleck beating Penn State at home (I believe 5.5 point underdogs) the consistent thing is Fleck losing as a double digit favorite.

I am not sure anyone has mentioned it, but Williams and company really screwed up on Northwestern's final drive. After Jones horrible attempt at a tackle the play before, Northwestern had a first down at like the 22 or so. The QB is is forced to check it down to a RB who is EIGHT yards away from the first down in the middle of the field. Pause your TV and you will see 3 Gophers and one Wildcat between him and the sticks. Only one Gopher (Williams) gets to him and Devon fails to make a rather routine tackle solidly enough to prevent the first down. The game might end there if anyone makes a tackle. At best, Northwestern would have had one more play in a hurry up situation.

I don't really blame Harbaugh for this game, and would point my fingers at Fleck, Rossi, Wenger, and an OLine that couldn't dominate one single short yardage situation in crunch time. Also, BSF has to catch that ball in OT.
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That play epitomized the horrible defensive effort. If he’s short agree they at most get one more play and instead there’s no hunger or urgency and he gets it comfortably. Such a comedy of errors from this team top to bottom yesterday
 



the vultures are descending to pick the remaining flesh off the bones.

Dan Barreiro just declared this the worst blown lead in Gopher history - more so than the Michigan game, the Mason Bowl game, or a game I had forgotten where the Gophers blew a big lead and lost to Ohio State in 1989. (Gophers led 31-0 in the 2nd quarter and lost 41-37).
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Bring in some offense consultants, PJ. You seat IS getting warmer.
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This is absolutely what he needs to do. Saben did it Alabama. Smart has done it Georgia. Both of them, especially Saben, because he’s had a longer tenure, have adapted to the game. Bama was run heavy in Saben’s earlier years, but he realized that to stay on top, and to recruit and compete at the top, he had to open up offensively. Georgia took off when Smart brought in Monken to be the OC. Both of them, for the most part, get out of the OC’s way, but that’s certainly not PJ’s philosophy. And he appears to be stubborn to a fault in this area.
 

U2Gopher said:
This is absolutely what he needs to do. Saben did it Alabama. Smart has done it Georgia. Both of them, especially Saben, because he’s had a longer tenure, have adapted to the game. Bama was run heavy in Saben’s earlier years, but he realized that to stay on top, and to recruit and compete at the top, he had to open up offensively. Georgia took off when Smart brought in Monken to be the OC. Both of them, for the most part, get out of the OC’s way, but that’s certainly not PJ’s philosophy. And he appears to be stubborn to a fault in this area.
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That's probably the problem.

Because Athan Kaliakmanis is new and needs some time to develop, we don't know if the scheme is limited because of the QB.
 

U2Gopher said:
This is absolutely what he needs to do. Saben did it Alabama. Smart has done it Georgia. Both of them, especially Saben, because he’s had a longer tenure, have adapted to the game. Bama was run heavy in Saben’s earlier years, but he realized that to stay on top, and to recruit and compete at the top, he had to open up offensively. Georgia took off when Smart brought in Monken to be the OC. Both of them, for the most part, get out of the OC’s way, but that’s certainly not PJ’s philosophy. And he appears to be stubborn to a fault in this area.
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LOL. This is not Alabama or Georgia….

You might be able to upgrade, but it ain’t gonna be no hemi ….
 

It was a bad loss.

Fleck isn’t getting fired.

Fleck isn’t on the hot seat. In fact the seat isn’t and won’t be getting warm.

As expected the meltdowns on this board are epic. 😛
 
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It's the next day and I'm trying to be rational. It was a road game against a Big Ten opponent likely hungry and desperate for a win like this. But still, to blow a 31-10 lead like that, especially how it happened, was just awful.

To not be able to move the ball at all on offense, and having mistakes happen like downing the punt in the endzone, just showed total disarray. I don't want to be all doom and gloom, there's a lot of football left to be played, but this was a big opportunity for a win in a season with a lot of tough games, and the Gophers blew it.

I don't think Fleck needs to be fired. In the grand scheme of things he gets results and can still have a good season. I do think that firings need to happen, there needs to be a change at offensive coordinator. Make a move the same way the team did in 2018 on defense.

On another note, I have to say Kaliakmanis' play has left a lot to be desired. I realize he's a younger QB, but he started plenty last year and he still looks like he's being thrown in to start for the first time. I've seen some statistical comparisons to Mitch Leidner, but at least Leidner could do some work on the ground. It's a major concern for the offense.

Finally, on how many carries Taylor had last night, it is a bit worrying. I get that the team doesn't have the benefit of a trio like Smith/Brooks/Ibrahim. However, I feel like there has to be some way to have more rotation so Taylor isn't carrying the whole load. It's understandable that the main running back will get the most carries, but even Fleck said it's best to have a "pair and a spare."

Even in 2013 and 2014 when David Cobb was doing most of the running, he was able to rotate some carries with Donnell Kirkwood and Rodrick Williams Jr.

Anyways, beat Louisiana, get back on track at 3-2. There's still plenty of games up for grabs.
 


formerlybis said:
LOL. This is not Alabama or Georgia….

You might be able to upgrade, but it ain’t gonna be no hemi ….
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That is fine, but you absolutely can hire someone who can scheme guys open on crossers and levels plays drastically better than we do. There are numerous guys at the MAC level who would jump at the chance to come on board here and we have the money for it. I just don’t think PJ is willing to give up that control
 

gopherphil said:
That ball was thrown two seconds late, high and way too hard.
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All true. And still very catchable if you are a first round draft choice who makes winning plays.
The catch would not have been very high on the spectacular scale.
At this point, it's not like too hard, late and off target is unexpected if you are a receiver.
Look at the Crooms one handed catch for 53 yards, the touchdown catch to beat Nebraska with the toe drag. Both spectacular catches on off target throws....it's how it gets done with our QB.
 

upnorthkid said:
That is fine, but you absolutely can hire someone who can scheme guys open on crossers and levels plays drastically better than we do. There are numerous guys at the MAC level who would jump at the chance to come on board here and we have the money for it. I just don’t think PJ is willing to give up that control
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Yup, plenty of creative offensive under studies looking for a break. But I agree....PJ either dictates the offense or has a very heavy hand in approval and in dismissing what he doesn't like. Also, he's the guy deciding who plays QB, who the running back is. And in both cases we live and die with one guy forever because PJ says so. So, OC is a tough gig under PJ who is over bearing and ultra conservative and randomly what the heck are we doing in his supposed daring ventures to prove he isn't conservative.
 

60's Guy said:
Yup, plenty of creative offensive under studies looking for a break.
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Not disagreeing with this point, but that wasn't the suggestion - it was that a "name" should be brought in as OC. If Alabama and Georgia can do it ...
 

formerlybis said:
Not disagreeing with this point, but that wasn't the suggestion - it was that a "name" should be brought in as OC. If Alabama and Georgia can do it ...
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ya, sorry. I'm quite sure a name OC isn't going to be interested for a slew of reasons.
 

It was great to read this forum this week and see all the negatives stand out and stand proud to point out this last weekends game was not a success.

Without you speaking up on this forum, on other forums, and in facebook comments, none of what we got this week would have been possible.

When the call arose, rather than put your money behind a cause that could help improve the situation, you became keyboard warriors at the time of need, and wrote angry comments and drew comparisons to other failed coaches of the past.

Rather than take tangible action, you brought the rare use of negativity to the Minnesota sports market. A commodity so rare in this market, that if was only due to your courage that it could be discovered this week.

Good work everyone who took action this week to be a tougher fan base on the University of Minnesota football team. Without you, we never would have recognized the multiple failures of the University of Minnesota football team over the last 100 years and some of us may have accidentally believed we were a CFP contender.

Well done. Thanks for reaching so deeply to find this courage to speak against the masses and do nothing else.
 


Dano564 said:
It was great to read this forum this week and see all the negatives stand out and stand proud to point out this last weekends game was not a success.

Without you speaking up on this forum, on other forums, and in facebook comments, none of what we got this week would have been possible.

When the call arose, rather than put your money behind a cause that could help improve the situation, you became keyboard warriors at the time of need, and wrote angry comments and drew comparisons to other failed coaches of the past.

Rather than take tangible action, you brought the rare use of negativity to the Minnesota sports market. A commodity so rare in this market, that if was only due to your courage that it could be discovered this week.

Good work everyone who took action this week to be a tougher fan base on the University of Minnesota football team. Without you, we never would have recognized the multiple failures of the University of Minnesota football team over the last 100 years and some of us may have accidentally believed we were a CFP contender.

Well done. Thanks for reaching so deeply to find this courage to speak against the masses and do nothing else.
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This kind of guy exists.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
This kind of guy exists.
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Thought it was a good week for self-reflection.

After watching decades of Gophers football, it was really good for us to have this loss to help reset the expectations of those optimistic Gopher fans all over social media just constantly over-selling how good the Gophers are along with the other Minnesota sports teams.

So tired of all of these fans arrogantly bragging how we'll win the next Super Bowl. Win the next World Series, dominate in the NHL playoffs, and how Minnesota football is going to win a Big Ten Championship again. How tired are all of you of this fandom where it's spread nationally, where anytime our team is even half-way decent, we are voted in the AP poll because of the voters being concerned of overlooking the Gophers and upsetting those optimistic Gopher fans.

I'm glad everyone here spoke up and found things to criticize this week. It's just what the Minnesota sports landscape needed with the Twins entering the playoffs this week.

The over-abundance of potential joy is something we need to make sure we keep in check, and Gopherhole members really did their share this week.

Bravo. Pat yourselves on the back.
Impressive. Didn't think our fanbase had it in us, be we did in the most crucial time.
 

Here is your Gopherhole reaction guide for both games and recruiting.

Win: ridiculous optimism
Loss: denial & excuses
Horrific loss: negative hyperbole (fire the coach, cancel season tickets, & blow up the program)
 

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