RandBall: If the Gophers are a ‘really good football team,’ it’s time to show it

BleedGopher

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Per RandBall:

There is a certain amount of audacity in declaring you have “a really good football team,” as Gophers coach P.J. Fleck did shortly after a 39-point defeat.

But if we take him at his word and buy into the not-wrong idea that Ohio State is just a different class of program than Minnesota (and perhaps the rest of the Big Ten ... and perhaps the rest of college football), we can view Fleck’s declaration for what it is.

OK, you’re not going to compete with the Buckeyes. At least not this season and not in most.

But if the Gophers (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) are a really good football team, they need to show it in the win column starting Saturday night against Purdue (2-3, 0-2).

Three of the next four games are at home, including the homecoming tilt against the Boilermakers in which Minnesota is favored by more than a touchdown.

A really good team would win at least three of these next four: home against Purdue, home against Nebraska, at Iowa, home against Michigan State.


Go Gophers!!
 



Slow news day for RandBall apparently. They will show it RandBall.

Why the shot at RandBall? He's spot on. Enough of the hyperbole from Fleck. Go win 3 of next 4, heck, go win all 4. What are we afraid of? This isn't a crazy 4 game stretch. It's OK to win a few games on the road, it's OK to beat Iowa. Go win 6 of last 7 (I'll concede the game at Oregon). If we are as good as we hoped, we can win 6 of last 7.

Go Gophers!!
 

Why the shot at RandBall? He's spot on. Enough of the hyperbole from Fleck. Go win 3 of next 4, heck, go win all 4. What are we afraid of? This isn't a crazy 4 game stretch. It's OK to win a few games on the road, it's OK to beat Iowa. Go win 6 of last 7 (I'll concede the game at Oregon). If we are as good as we hoped, we can win 6 of last 7.

Go Gophers!!

I agree with you but the evidence so far tells me that we aren't as good as we hoped and we are not "a very good team." For this team, I would say that a 5-2 finish would be fantastic and a 4-3 finish would be good.
 


I agree with you but the evidence so far tells me that we aren't as good as we hoped and we are not "a very good team." For this team, I would say that a 5-2 finish would be fantastic and a 4-3 finish would be good.
So Fleck is wrong?
 

Why the shot at RandBall? He's spot on. Enough of the hyperbole from Fleck. Go win 3 of next 4, heck, go win all 4. What are we afraid of? This isn't a crazy 4 game stretch. It's OK to win a few games on the road, it's OK to beat Iowa. Go win 6 of last 7 (I'll concede the game at Oregon). If we are as good as we hoped, we can win 6 of last 7.

Go Gophers!!
I don't believe anyone is afraid. The Gophers simply got out played, out manned by Ohio State. Now people like RandBall apparently thinks that the sky is falling in regard to the Gopher players. One game by the number 1 team in the nation isn't going to define a season.
 

So Fleck is wrong?

He could be. He's not God you know.

I don't know. I just know what I've seen so far and it's not that encouraging. We are 1-2 against power conference teams. I know we never had a chance to beat Ohio State but we weren't even competitive. They beat us worse than they beat Ohio University. We lost by two scores to Cal and scored only 14 points. The highlight of our season was a 3-point victory at home against Rutgers.

Do you have a lot of confidence in this team? If so, why? I think Fleck is a good coach but it's not like he hasn't had losing teams before. He had one just two seasons ago.
 

Fleck must look at the home schedule and see a chance to win every game with Nebraska as the toughest opponent. Unfortunately, he has a team with little margin for error barring considerable improvement as the season progresses. There’s a good chance every home game is a one score game. Team has got to believe in itself in crunch time. That’s what Fleck is trying to accomplish.
 






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