Sporting News: Worst loss for each BT team in last 25 years (MN: 2005 vs UW)

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I say 2003 because I have always heard that the game has changed Minnesota football ever since. I think losing to Texas Tech in 06 could be argued too.
 

Probably isn't the worst, but considering its recency in my memory (I didn't start a the U until Fall 2006) and what it cost us (a west division title and a trip to the B1G championship), the blown 17-3 lead against Wisconsin last year looms large for me.
 

2003 Michigan, and there is no discussing others.

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Yeah, we can discuss numbers 2 through whatever. 03 Michigan game is head and shoulders above them all. I was a freshman in the band that year, didn't really understand the significance of the loss to the program at the time. Seeing how the rest of the season played out and subsequent seasons (and how fans reacted to what looked like good Gopher seasons early on), it's very clear how much that loss set us back. Still hurts.
 

SelectionSunday said:
One of the great myths perpetuated on GopherHole, that the Gophers definitely would have beaten Michigan State the next week after choking away the Michigan game. Perhaps, but there's no way of knowing. It's not like MSU was terrible that season (8-4, 5-3). In fact, Sparty was undefeated in the Big Ten (3-0) heading into the Gopher game, before fading (1-3 the rest of the way).

The 2003 Michigan game definitely gets my vote simply for what it would have meant to win that game. The whole state was ready to hop on the bandwagon, casual fans were starting to notice the Gophers, then the face plant. The program never really recovered.
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I know you're a Sparty football fan....but the Gophers ROLL that team if the Michigan collapse doesn't happen. As Gopher07 said, the Dome was an absolute morgue one week after having the best atmosphere I ever witnessed at a Gopher football game. The Gophers fumbled the opening kickoff, one of three first-half fumbles, and gave up a kickoff return for a TD. If that doesn't scream "hangover," I don't know what does.

When the Alamo Bowl made the idiotic decision to invite Michigan State that year to play Nebraska, I was so pleased they were rewarded with a 17-3 snoozefest. MSU only brought 5,000 fans to the game, about a third of what Minnesota would've delivered.
 


Yes, I follow MSU football, true, but that's a moot point. ... "The Gophers roll" is all conjecture.

What the 2003 season did prove is there really wasn't much difference between the teams (including the head-to-head, 44-38 MSU). Sparty and the Gophers were 4-2 vs. common opponents.

Sparty beat Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Penn State, losing to Michigan & Wisconsin.

The Gophers beat Illinois, Indiana, Penn State, and Wisconsin, losing to Michigan & Iowa.

It also proved that both teams were really good at beating up on (for the most part) the dregs of the Big Ten. The 5 teams the Gophers beat in conference play (the 4 mentioned above + Northwestern) combined to go 10-30 in the Big Ten. The 5 teams Sparty beat in conference play (the 4 mentioned above + the Gophers) combined to go 12-28 in the Big Ten.

I would argue, isn't part of a coach's job to prevent his team from having letdowns? I don't disagree with you that the Gophers were flat -- I was at the game -- but that doesn't mean the Gophers would have won had they come out with their hair on fire.
 



SelectionSunday said:
Yes, I follow MSU football, true, but that's a moot point. ... "The Gophers roll" is all conjecture.
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As most things on fan message boards are. But absolutely nothing - including all of your perfectly valid statistics that follow - will convince me that an undefeated Gophers team doesn't squash Michigan State that day.

SelectionSunday said:
I would argue, isn't part of a coach's job to prevent his team from having letdowns?
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It happens, no matter the coach. History repeated itself the next season -- last-second loss to Michigan, then got thumped by a bad MSU team. Five years later under Brewster, after the Gophers blew a chance to go 8-1 vs. Northwestern, they welcome the worst Michigan team ever to the Dome and laid a 29-6 egg. Under Kill, I'd say the Gophers were emotionally drained by the loss to Iowa in 2013 and it showed the following week at Michigan.

BTW, I am noticing a common thread in these hangover games. Hopefully the Wolverines suffer a letdown after an emotional game vs. MSU this season.
 



Jike Spingleton said:
As most things on fan message boards are. But absolutely nothing - including all of your perfectly valid statistics that follow - will convince me that an undefeated Gophers team doesn't squash Michigan State that day.



It happens, no matter the coach. History repeated itself the next season -- last-second loss to Michigan, then got thumped by a bad MSU team. Five years later under Brewster, after the Gophers blew a chance to go 8-1 vs. Northwestern, they welcome the worst Michigan team ever to the Dome and laid a 29-6 egg. Under Kill, I'd say the Gophers were emotionally drained by the loss to Iowa in 2013 and it showed the following week at Michigan.

BTW, I am noticing a common thread in these hangover games. Hopefully the Wolverines suffer a letdown after an emotional game vs. MSU this season.
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Fair enough, Jike. Hopefully Sparty squeezes some life out of Michigan next weekend, but I suspect that's going to be a tight one.
 

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