Post Game Thread: Gophers Look Abysmal in Home Loss to Badgers

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SouthSideGopher said:
My point is we don't have to accept the last 30 years as the norm. I think a Big Ten campus in a major city like Minneapolis has a lot to offer.

I think that serves as both a disadvantage and advantage. The ideal situation seems to be a city like Madison - big enough to be a decent sized city, but small enough where the Badgers are the only thing in town. The Gophers have to compete with so many other entertainment options. At the same time, when it comes to coaching and even player recruiting, the twin cities have a helluva lot more to offer than places like East Lansing, Bloomington and West Lafayette IN, and Champaign, just to name a few. I'm not saying that means we should expect to be better than those schools, but it's also unfair to act like Minnesota has nothing to offer to potential players and coaches

My point behind all of this is that with the right president and AD, we could be a really good program. This whole "woe is me" attitude is pathetic.
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Yeah I get that and that’s a solid response. I just think it takes a small miracle to turn this football team into a real big 10 contender. Especially after this year with some big boys coming in. But nothing wrong with taking a swing i guess.
 

The most shocking thing about the game today was the Gophers were dominated in every phase by a bad Wisconsin team. I expected our QB play to continue to be poor and to possibly struggle in the secondary, but our line play on both sides was putrid. This game looked and felt a lot like like the Minnesota vs Wisconsin games that occurred from the point we lost contact with the Badgers in the mid Mason years through the point where we finally beat them in Fleck's second season.

I am not sure which conclusion would be more damning for the program- did guys just check out after the disasterous finish to the Illinois game or is there a complete lack of talent beyond just a few guys on this roster?
 







Gophers need a seasoned OC who can also coach QB s - one with some imagination. They also need a recruiter who does mostly that. Both NIL and the open portal hurt UM (and most teams), but presidents and ADs and coaches have to realize that the whole thing is going sideways with these changes. The portal is easiest fix - just go back to the sensible rule we had before - sit out a year. NIL will require lawsuits to get the issue before SCOTUS again, this time from a different perspective (damage rather than opportunity). AK is still basically a freshman and would normally take a year or two before starting, playing behind the effective QB we never recruited. The best QBs are leaders, field generals who spark the team; they are reliably good as passers and don't have many turnovers. AK just isn't there yet. MN probably won the TOP again, proving what a dopey yardstick that is. The Gophers were trashed by Purdue! They were trounced by Michigan and Ohio State, soundly beaten by N. Carolina and Wisconsin, and the two last minute losses to Il and NW were demoralizing and embarrassing. They lost their last four straight and are probably out of bowl consideration with 5-7 for the year. Next year, they will just be a number hanging on a long line of numbers, from 1 to 18 (and that could get worse as the two super conferences, destroy more of the regional conferences, adding new members). PJ needs help, especially from himself. He need a more than capable QB. He has to rethink offensive football and make some good hires to help with that - and he needs a full-time recruiter, plus organized NIL efforts from the right people. Next year does not look good.
 





since Fleck was hired, College FB - especially at the P5 level - has gone through a fairly radical change.
NIL - Transfer Portal - and now for MN, an 18-team B1G with no divisions and a new scheduling model.

Like it or not, the landscape has changed. and coaches either have to adapt or fall behind (or further behind depending on their situation.)

on recruiting, I posted a list in another thread showing the 247 rankings for every one of Fleck's classes. the highest national ranking was 38th. the highest conference ranking was 7th.
but of special note:
2022 - 49th nationally, 14th in the B1G
2023 - 46th nationally, 9th in the B1G

that is why MN has no depth. two poor recruiting classes in a row.

the Gophers IMHO need to rebuilt the roster by going heavy in the portal and Juco ranks. I'm not pretending that NIL isn't an issue. The Gophers are not going to go out and land a bunch of stud transfers - but they need to go out and land the best players they can afford.
 

I generally avoid gh after a loss, this place becomes very toxic

I don't think PJ should be fired, but this season sucked and he needs to fix this. He's earned it to try, but but his seat needs to start warming up
 

I turned the game off when we went down 28-14. I knew we had no hope of coming back and I had no desire to see the axe hoisted by Yosemite Sam and his goons.
 



salzie said:
I generally avoid gh after a loss, this place becomes very toxic

I don't think PJ should be fired, but this season sucked and he needs to fix this. He's earned it to try, but but his seat needs to start warming up
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Spot on.
 


Ewert86PC said:
Our Campus is nice. Ummm.... ignore the gunfire and screams.
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Hmm, I guess I never thought your were a paranoid crazy person before. Did you go to school at the University of Minnnesota? Have you spent any time in the city lately?
 


WorkingMyTailOff said:
Hmm, I guess I never thought your were a paranoid crazy person before. Did you go to school at the University of Minnnesota? Have you spent any time in the city lately?
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A little over six years on Campus, a couple of which were working there after graduation, then three years in Uptown, and fifteen working in Downtown Minneapolis. It's not paranoia if you've seen the seedier side of things.
 

Ewert86PC said:
A little over six years on Campus, a couple of which were working there after graduation, then three years in Uptown, and fifteen working in Downtown Minneapolis. It's not paranoia if you've seen the seedier side of things.
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I have lived in Mpls since 1991 and I think it's one of the best cities in the country. Great parks system, really good housing stock, good public schools (not as good as maybe 5 years ago) for a good sized american city, and plenty to do. It absolutely should be selling point outside of Woodbury and Lakeville South.
 

WorkingMyTailOff said:
I have lived in Mpls since 1991 and I think it's one of the best cities in the country. Great parks system, really good housing stock, good public schools (not as good as maybe 5 years ago) for a good sized american city, and plenty to do. It absolutely should be selling point outside of Woodbury and Lakeville South.
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I'm a descendant of North Siders and come from the first ring of Northern Burbs. We do not share the same perspective.
 

Okay I get that. We live on the edge of the North Side and I agree that it is a challenging situation to turn around. There are generations of poverty in the North side and it's concentrated. Many kids don't get to see successful people in the hood that look like them. Two of my kids went to Anwatin which is a tough school so I am familiar with some of the issues.
I don't like that we have a neighborhood like this, but most cities do. Also, campus is not located there.
 


WorkingMyTailOff said:
Okay I get that. We live on the edge of the North Side and I agree that it is a challenging situation to turn around. There are generations of poverty in the North side and it's concentrated. Many kids don't get to see successful people in the hood that look like them. Two of my kids went to Anwatin which is a tough school so I am familiar with some of the issues.
I don't like that we have a neighborhood like this, but most cities do. Also, campus is not located there.
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Look, campus is an ivory tower, a cloister. They don't connect to the real world. The real world comes rolling through that cloister looking for marks and suckers. When they are exploited then their moral outrage is heard and addressed, even if it lip service.

A North Side narrative is one of being outraged and ignored. My own family's narrative includes my great grandfather dying/being murdered in his tailor shop and the MPD doing nothing about it. This was before the turn of the 20th century.

I bought into the idea of getting a better life through getting a college education, but the experiences I brought with me were ones that South Siders and the Academic Cloister couldn't handle. Those experiences didn't fit in to their cookie cutter socio-morality and process diagram mentality. It was stereotypic classism, something I didn't buy in to until I had been out of that area for three or four years.
 

Ewert86PC said:
Look, campus is an ivory tower, a cloister. They don't connect to the real world. The real world comes rolling through that cloister looking for marks and suckers. When they are exploited then their moral outrage is heard and addressed, even if it lip service.

A North Side narrative is one of being outraged and ignored. My own family's narrative includes my great grandfather dying/being murdered in his tailor shop and the MPD doing nothing about it. This was before the turn of the 20th century.

I bought into the idea of getting a better life through getting a college education, but the experiences I brought with me were ones that South Siders and the Academic Cloister couldn't handle. Those experiences didn't fit in to their cookie cutter socio-morality and process diagram mentality. It was stereotypic classism, something I didn't buy in to until I had been out of that area for three or four years.
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Well I am glad that you feel like you blossomed thanks in part to Mpls and U of M education. I don't understand the wanting to crap on the place that you came from. No reason kids from outstate MN or other areas wouldn't look to the U of M campus as great option and pretty unique for the BIG.
 

One positive is that Wisconsin does care about this game. That was very clear when they took possession of The Axe and spent the next 10 minutes on our field getting their 2023 version of the "Taking The Axe" Kodak moment. This is the heart of the rivalry and it is once again alive and well under the Fleck regime. Although losing sucks for this I am grateful.

One odd negative was the team members who went into the tunnel and did not line up for Hail Minnesota until called back. Literally 3/4 of the players had to be called back to line up for that post-game ceremony. Very unlike a Fleck team for sure.
 

Just listened to Flecks postgame interview.
He’s nothing but a used car salesman. Putting the blame on the players —what about the game plan and the coaches. It’s not just lack of execution—it’s game plan and adjustments during the game. He talks about all the guys hurt —what team in the Big 10 doesn’t have a ton of guys injured—every single team has guys out.
As fans we deserved better than this crap.
 

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