This should be the attitude for the rest of the season....

[metrolax]

Lots of people are kinda glum about this season, and are looking at the remaining schedule
with a good share of foreboding. Our Gophs are no longer on the predicted bowl matchups
anywhere, and it seems the season may be a wash. However, we're missing a golden opportunity,
no pun intended.

There is nothing to lose. Nothing. At this point, having already dropped a couple games in the BIG
with that number probably to grow, this squad should just take a "devil-may-care" attitude into the
rest of the games, knock some people around, and see what happens. I have seen enough of this
team this season to know that under the right circumstances, they can play with anybody. No team
is at the top of their game each and every week. Its impossible with 18-22 year old kids. The days
of 1975 are over. The strong teams cannot Sharpie in 34-7 each week. They're up, they're down.

Take the whole idea of "winning the west" off the table for this young team. Don't even think about
it. Think about each game as an opportunity to achieve something great. Don't worry about the big picture.
There is a sort of freedom to that.

It is said that in rivalry games you can throw out the records, and its true. How many times in
rivalry games has the underdog won? Lots. If Iowa is unbeaten when we play them, how sweet would
that be if we knocked them off? Wisky coming to TCF Bank......how nice would that be?

Michigan? I honestly cannot say what will happen there. Yes, they should be in a fired-up mindset,
but that's the conventional wisdom. Illinois? We have a score to settle there. Ohio State? I remember
a 6-6 Gopher team counting a win at the Horseshoe over a previously unbeaten Buckeye team in 2000.

Nobody is saying the slate is easy. Actually, its brutal. However, going into those games tight, fixating
on what could have been rather than the game at hand, will ensure a horrible finish.

Better to go into them with a fun and reckless attitude, knock some heads around, and see what
happens. Remember Coach Horton and what he did with THAT Gopher team when he took over from Brew?
That was fun. He scored a couple of wins that nobody was expecting.

If this team goes into the remaining games tight about the race, we will finish 4-8, MAYBE 5-7 if we're
lucky. However, if the staff uses the bye week wisely and gets these kids into the proper frame of mind,
they WILL surprise some people.

With all the injuries and with the rough schedule, this is one season where IF they get to even 6-6
and go to the Ft Worth Bowl, or something like that, I WILL be celebrating because they will have earned it.

A win over ANY team left on the schedule will be fun. Why not a couple of them?

 

[CentralGopher]

I'm just Hoping for 6 wins and a bowl game win.

 

[metrolax]

It can be done!

 

[cjbfbp]

There is nothing to lose. Nothing. At this point, having already dropped a couple games in the BIG
with that number probably to grow, this squad should just take a "devil-may-care" attitude into the
rest of the games, knock some people around, and see what happens.

I agree with you but our head coach has never struck me as a "devil-may-care" type. I wouldn't be surprised if he approached the next game with the same sense of predictability and caution he would have if we were 6-1 and finishing the season with a weaker schedule.

 

[cjbfbp]

With all the injuries and with the rough schedule, this is one season where IF they get to even 6-6
and go to the Ft Worth Bowl, or something like that, I WILL be celebrating because they will have earned it.

I might even go to that bowl (Armed Forces) if that happens. I like Ft. Worth and a season ending victory over New Mexico or someone like that would make the trip a happy one.

 

[Jike Spingleton]

With all the injuries and with the rough schedule, this is one season where IF they get to even 6-6
and go to the Ft Worth Bowl, or something like that, I WILL be celebrating because they will have earned it.

Mason's final team in 2006 started 3-6 (0-5) but rallied to win its final three games to reach a bowl game. Of course, we all know what happened after that. But I was proud of that team for hanging in there just to get to that point. They never quit, even during a 44-0 beatdown in Columbus at the end of October. Keep playing hard, good things can happen.

 

[metrolax]

Exactly. I've always thought that that was Mason's best coaching performance here. That season looked highly dismal, and
we even only beat NDSU 10-9 on a deflected FG at the end to save the game. It was THAT bleak. Boy, did they roll towards the
end.

Keep fighting....good things can happen, like you said.

 

[Spoofin]

To be honest, I found waiting all December for the Gophers to play their bowl game annoying. I'll be glad if they play earlier in December to lessen the wait.

 

[The Lorax]

The goal should 100% be to get bowl eligible, and then win the bowl game. I don't care if it's a bottom barrel bowl, just win it and build some momentum for the program

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

I think so much of the season has been frustrating for guys who are hurt and etc.

I'm not sure you can turn that around and suddenly be that scrappy team with an attitude or such. A lot of the guys playing aren't starters, are working hard but are outmatched.... hard to have an attitude in that situation.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

With this coaching staff - I just do not see a "caution to the winds" approach coming up. It might be fun to watch, but I get the sense Kill would rather go into a shell the rest of the year if he felt it might keep the outcome of the games a little closer.

Going gonzo might catch teams off guard early, but if it doesn't work, it could turn a 20-point loss into a 30-point loss in a hurry, and I don't see Kill as the kind of coach who would take that level of risk.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

With this coaching staff - I just do not see a "caution to the winds" approach coming up. It might be fun to watch, but I get the sense Kill would rather go into a shell the rest of the year if he felt it might keep the outcome of the games a little closer.

Going gonzo might catch teams off guard early, but if it doesn't work, it could turn a 20-point loss into a 30-point loss in a hurry, and I don't see Kill as the kind of coach who would take that level of risk.

I think Jerry & Co. might have been more willing to do so in the early days, now he feels it is his team and has gone more conservative ... maybe that is a problem when your bonuses come on a per win basis and etc.

 

[metrolax]

well...if Horton can pull off a couple wins with what he had to work with, I think these guys can, too.

Like has been said, just get to a bowl game, have fun, there's nothing to lose, win the bowl game, and build.

 

[cjbfbp]

I think Jerry & Co. might have been more willing to do so in the early days, now he feels it is his team and has gone more conservative ... maybe that is a problem when your bonuses come on a per win basis and etc.

Ohio State has been held to less than 34 points only once this season (oddly, by Northern Illinois). Michigan hasn't scored as much (although they have scored 28 or more in 5 of 7 games) but they've allowed more than 7 points in only two games. Iowa has scored 27 or more in all but one game.

If he's trying to pick up a win in any of these three games, I don't think he's going to manage it with a cautious and conservative approach. You can't go into any of these games with an expectation that the defense is going to hold them to 20 points and create enough turnovers to give the offense a number of short fields.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Ohio State has been held to less than 34 points only once this season (oddly, by Northern Illinois). Michigan hasn't scored as much (although they have scored 28 or more in 5 of 7 games) but they've allowed more than 7 points in only two games. Iowa has scored 27 or more in all but one game.

If he's trying to pick up a win in any of these three games, I don't think he's going to manage it with a cautious and conservative approach. You can't go into any of these games with an expectation that the defense is going to hold them to 20 points and create enough turnovers to give the offense a number of short fields.

I agree, I just haven't seen Jerry & Co. show many signs they'd choose "devil may care".

I'd be even more concerned about Ohio St. considering they finally picked a QB.

 

[Igor95]

Mason's final team in 2006 started 3-6 (0-5) but rallied to win its final three games to reach a bowl game. Of course, we all know what happened after that. But I was proud of that team for hanging in there just to get to that point. They never quit, even during a 44-0 beatdown in Columbus at the end of October. Keep playing hard, good things can happen.

Exactly. I've always thought that that was Mason's best coaching performance here. That season looked highly dismal, and
we even only beat NDSU 10-9 on a deflected FG at the end to save the game. It was THAT bleak. Boy, did they roll towards the
end.

Keep fighting....good things can happen, like you said.

+1 I thought that was Mason's best coaching job too. That Iowa win to end the regular season was great!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Pretty frustrating that a year where some national prognosticators (not just the homers on this board) thought we should be a serious contender for the division, and we have pretty much lost all hope three games in. I just want them to get out there and start winning. We've got three trophies still on the table, let's go get them.

 

[Factchecker]

Looks like Vegas knows better than some national prognosticators.

 

[Ewert86PC]

Winning all three trophy games would be a plus. I would love to feel like we are going to keep the jug and the pig and then add the axe.

Pretty frustrating that a year where some national prognosticators (not just the homers on this board) thought we should be a serious contender for the division, and we have pretty much lost all hope three games in. I just want them to get out there and start winning. We've got three trophies still on the table, let's go get them.