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

[BleedGopher]

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.

RandBall: If Gophers are ‘really good,’ it's time to show it

Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck seems confident even after a lopsided loss at Ohio State. We’ll see whether he’s right, starting against Purdue.

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[#2Gopher]

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

 

[MaxyJR1]

He's not wrong

 

[BleedGopher]

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!!

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

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.

 

[PMWinSTP]

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?

 

[#2Gopher]

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.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

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.

 

[Married@SiebertField]

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.

 

[MNVCGUY]

3-1 over this next stretch is a reasonable goal. Won't be easy but 3 of the 4 are at home and none of the teams have looked unbeatable.

3-1 in next 4, 2-1 over final 3 would put us at 8-4, 6-3 which is a nice season.

All starts this weekend with Purdue. Hopefully we bounce back well from the Ohio State game and take care of business.

 

[imthewalrus]

Take the B1G games one game at a time. When and IF most B1G teams take a look at a 4 game stretch against Purdue, Nebraska, Iowa and Michigan State and say it should be expected to win at least 3 of the games and and quite possibly 4 of the 4 games that’s some pretty reckless and entitled thinking. I’ve been watching Gopher and Big Ten football results for over seventy years and each and every one of these teams has a long, proud history of battling Minnesota in football. This Gopher team wants to beat each of those teams and each of those teams want to beat this Gopher team.

But, it is just plain foolish for Minnesota fans to forget the history and rivalry and the unpredictability of the outcome of these conference games.

RandBall fired his cheap shot on the heels of the pounding the Gopher team took in the Horshoe at the hands of arguably the best team in college football.

One B1G game at a time people. In the next month, a sane person will look back to see how these 4 B1G games ended and we will KNOW just where this Gopher team is starting to fit in this B1G conference race with three games still remaining.

Beat the stinking Boiler team, Gopher!

 

[corcorangopher]

Another year of being the U of Meh. Virtually ever other real Big Ten school - I don’t count the newcomers and in particular Rutgers and Maryland - has had a standout season in the last 50 seasons. Define that as a major bowl or the playoff (Indiana barely included given last season). The best the U of Meh has is 2019 when they still lost to their two biggest rivals and played in a second tier bowl game.

If only there was an award for the most sustained meh-ness.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

I would worry about each week one at a time. Beat Purdue then worry about the next one, not look 4 games ahead, so much can change week to week.

No one knows how the season will play out. If Drake plays great all we will hear about is him leaving for a huge NIL deal somewhere else anyway...

I think this team is similar to all the teams he has had the past 7 years with the exception of 2019. A few plays either way in each game will most likely be the difference between 5-6 wins and 8-9 wins. After OSU, Michigan, Penn State, Indiana, USC, and Oregon I don't think that there is much difference between MN, Rutgers, Illinois, Maryland, MSU, Iowa, Wisconsin, etc...

Should be able to beat Purdue and NW and then need to find a way to win a couple more and it will be a typical season. Which is fine.

 

[Zeppelin Gopher]

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.

Sadly agreed...improvements can happen, but what we've seen so far from the OL, DL, and DB rooms means 9-3 is a pipe dream.

 

[Tech Machine]

The Gophers are 4-2 overall, remember the bye week victory.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Another year of being the U of Meh. Virtually ever other real Big Ten school - I don’t count the newcomers and in particular Rutgers and Maryland - has had a standout season in the last 50 seasons. Define that as a major bowl or the playoff (Indiana barely included given last season). The best the U of Meh has is 2019 when they still lost to their two biggest rivals and played in a second tier bowl game.

If only there was an award for the most sustained meh-ness.

Sorry but if 11-2 and beating an SEC team in the Outback bowl doesn't qualify for you as a standout season then you are wasting your time following Gopher football.