This was our big chance for a big season - and it's gone.

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Gold Rush

Gold Rush

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Everyone is angry, stunned and probably STILL cold after last night. Interestingly, this is the first time I have heard people say we need to fire Fleck. He won't be fired, but I think he will be held under scrutiny a little more. It might be the beginning of the end, but I think this will be the game that people started thinking about it anyways.

Here's the deal - next year Ibrahim will be gone and you also lose some of those top offensive linemen and defensive players. I think QB is going to be mediocre at best and I do not think you replace a RB like Ibrahim so easily. Gopher fans better be prepared next year to see a step back and that step back might be a little bigger than some would like. THEN what do they say about Fleck?? We shall see.

THIS was our chance to win the west -- it was there for the taking. The loss to Purdue STILL stings, the loss to Illinois was surprising, the blowout loss to Penn St. was expected but the Iowa loss was just really tough to take. The better team lost but the smarter team won -- again.

Next week the Gophers face a fairly weak Wisconsin team which is also there for the taking but I do not know if the Gophers are smart enough to pull it out. Game planning, adjustments and mistakes at the worst possible time especially on offense have really plagued us. I am not saying we should fire Fleck, but it just might be time to think about the offensive coordinator Ciarocca who really has not impressed me this year. The magic of a few years ago just wasn't there, even when Morgan was healthy.

Sorry fellow Gopher fans, but I am really ticked off after this one. I imagine the true fans are too.
 

I agree with the part about KC. Wish they would have rolled with Simon or made an outside hire. The team actually had interesting wrinkles in the final few weeks of the season last year. I was of the opinion that it was kind of OC by the committee the last month of the season last year. This year I figured we'd go back to the same basic offense that KC ran so effectively in 2019. We basically did, except RPO slant defensives have got better so we run the ball way more. KC and/or PJ need go realize that it's never going to be 2019 again and evolve in their game planning.

That said that has nothing to do with why they lost yesterday. Can't miss a chip shot and turn the ball over twice and expect to beat Iowa.
 

Gold Rush said:
Everyone is angry, stunned and probably STILL cold after last night. Interestingly, this is the first time I have heard people say we need to fire Fleck. He won't be fired, but I think he will be held under scrutiny a little more. It might be the beginning of the end, but I think this will be the game that people started thinking about it anyways.

Here's the deal - next year Ibrahim will be gone and you also lose some of those top offensive linemen and defensive players. I think QB is going to be mediocre at best and I do not think you replace a RB like Ibrahim so easily. Gopher fans better be prepared next year to see a step back and that step back might be a little bigger than some would like. THEN what do they say about Fleck?? We shall see.

THIS was our chance to win the west -- it was there for the taking. The loss to Purdue STILL stings, the loss to Illinois was surprising, the blowout loss to Penn St. was expected but the Iowa loss was just really tough to take. The better team lost but the smarter team won -- again.

Next week the Gophers face a fairly weak Wisconsin team which is also there for the taking but I do not know if the Gophers are smart enough to pull it out. Game planning, adjustments and mistakes at the worst possible time especially on offense have really plagued us. I am not saying we should fire Fleck, but it just might be time to think about the offensive coordinator Ciarocca who really has not impressed me this year. The magic of a few years ago just wasn't there, even when Morgan was healthy.

Sorry fellow Gopher fans, but I am really ticked off after this one. I imagine the true fans are too.
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Well written post. I share the sentiments. I think the frustration peaked yesterday not only because it was freaking Iowa, again, but also because it was just another very familiar loss to a halfway decent team, and at home. It's the same thing over and over (I'll spare the Albert Einstein quote). The coaching staff needs to look inward and review their core strategies going into next year.

We'll see how the team reacts next Saturday.
 


Johnnyboy18 said:
Wish they would have rolled with Simon
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What does this guy have to do to get Fleck to hire him as the OC??

I just don't get it.

Calls a great game in the Auburn bowl win. Nope. Fleck hires Sanford. Awful decision.


Take it to the bank that, at a minimum, Simon is much more involved (if not outright calling the plays) during the offense's turnaround late last season.

Nope. Fleck convinced KC to come run it back. Whoops, didn't work out so well this time.


Fleck has said he wants his OC to be the QB coach. Which is fine. A lot of major football is like that.
 



Johnnyboy18 said:
I agree with the part about KC. Wish they would have rolled with Simon or made an outside hire. The team actually had interesting wrinkles in the final few weeks of the season last year. I was of the opinion that it was kind of OC by the committee the last month of the season last year. This year I figured we'd go back to the same basic offense that KC ran so effectively in 2019. We basically did, except RPO slant defensives have got better so we run the ball way more. KC and/or PJ need go realize that it's never going to be 2019 again and evolve in their game planning.

That said that has nothing to do with why they lost yesterday. Can't miss a chip shot and turn the ball over twice and expect to beat Iowa.
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If KC makes it to next season, he will be canned by the end of it.
 
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The Purdue loss I blame on the coaches and players more than I blame yesterday, even though they felt very similar.

Despite all the poor decision making, yesterday can be summed up like this: the football gods took a giant s__t on us. Again. A-GAIN.

- Tricket's FG is going in ..... then curves out right at the last second
- Mo had lost 3 fumbles in over 800 carries. THREE. ..... then we drive the entire length of the field (almost) literally on his back, he has another nice carry ..... and the ball magically squirts out
- we get the ball back, are driving again, then decide to throw a slant, their CB reads it perfectly, gets his hand in to deflect the ball ...... and it pops up perfectly into their LB's hands ...... and he RAN IT BACK FOR A PICK SIX. HE DID NOT STEP OUT. But they call it out.

^^ last one is actually bad for us. Instead of being down 10-17 with TO left and some time left to try a miracle drive to tie it up ... we burn TO, and you knew they were going to kick it in.


Everything that could've gone their way, pretty much did. Classic Gophers football losing to Iowa.
 






Gophers_4life said:
The Purdue loss I blame on the coaches and players more than I blame yesterday, even though they felt very similar.

Despite all the poor decision making, yesterday can be summed up like this: the football gods took a giant s__t on us. Again. A-GAIN.

- Tricket's FG is going in ..... then curves out right at the last second
- Mo had lost 3 fumbles in over 800 carries. THREE. ..... then we drive the entire length of the field (almost) literally on his back, he has another nice carry ..... and the ball magically squirts out
- we get the ball back, are driving again, then decide to throw a slant, their CB reads it perfectly, gets his hand in to deflect the ball ...... and it pops up perfectly into their LB's hands ...... and he RAN IT BACK FOR A PICK SIX. HE DID NOT STEP OUT. But they call it out.

^^ last one is actually bad for us. Instead of being down 10-17 with TO left and some time left to try a miracle drive to tie it up ... we burn TO, and you knew they were going to kick it in.


Everything that could've gone their way, pretty much did. Classic Gophers football losing to Iowa.
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Here's some food for thought. If you took the Gopher coaches and put them on Iowa's sideline, and the Iowa coaches coach the Gophers what do you think the score is?? I say the Gophers handle them easily by at last 10 points. We had a better team but we did not play a smart game at all.
 

Gold Rush said:
There was no pass rush which was badly needed because when he gets one, Petras is terrible. I think Rossi was spooked by the first play of the game - a huge gain on a screen pass.
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To the TE!

#84 and #85 for Iowa were MVP's. I guess we forgot to game plan for them.
 



Imagine being mad at a defense that only gave up 13 points and 59 total rush yards VS Iowa. They did their job yesterday!!! Obviously Minnesotas gameplan was to let Petras beat them with his arm
 

Imagine only citing rush yards, when their biggest plays of the game were through the air.
 


Back to the title of the thread and OP.


Look how perfectly the 2022 Big Ten West was set up for Minnesota to win the division.

- Nebraska is historically bad
- Iowa and Wisconsin started the year out, and still largely are, as bad as they've been since the West was formed
- we had owned Purdue and Brohm going into this year
- NW could end up with 1 win, for the first time in a very long time/ever?
- Illinois is in year 2 of a new coach
- @ Penn St is tough, but @ MSU ended up being easy and Rutgers was easy. 2 out of 3 from the East is usually as good as it gets.

It was never going to get better set up for us to win the division, than this.


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We weren't going to win the Illinois and Penn State games. Just wasn't going to happen.


But we easily could've won the Purdue and Iowa games. With momentum from a nice win yesterday, we roll into Madison. 10-2 is an awesome regular season and easily wins the division.



Nope. We're looking at 7-5 or if we somehow turn it around and keep the axe 8-4.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


We'll never have this opportunity again. Divisions are going away, so we'll have to compete directly with USC, Ohio St, Michigan, Penn St, and all the rest to win the conference.


Tough to see Minnesota ever getting a trophy from the Big Ten, again.

College football doesn't distribute talent in any kind of way that even comes close to resembling "fair". The talent you need to win the Big Ten, is almost never going to choose to come to Minneapolis, Minnesota. No matter who the coach is or what "culture" is installed.


And the few blue-chips that do grow up in the Cities, want out.
 
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A lot of people were saying last year was our last chance. 🤷‍♂️
 

You guys act like there’s three or four teams in the west that are ready to dominate for years and years.
 


btowngopher said:
You guys act like there’s three or four teams in the west that are ready to dominate for years and years.
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kpkY26x.png


2022 - Iowa
 



Gophers_4life said:
If a play doesn't score points, it can't be considered a big play. :unsure:
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Who cares if a team gets big plays, If you stop them from scoring it doesnt matter BEND DONT BREAK. You can't stop everything their gameplan was to take the run away which worked we should have won. Its not like Petras tore it up he threw for 221 with no touchdowns
 


BigGopher69 said:
Who cares if a team gets big plays
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You're right, that big play to #85 to set up the game winning kick was absolutely meaningless.

Good god man, stop acting like a clown.


Rossi and the defense did a fine job ... except on a few critical plays where they absolutely failed.

Don't get me wrong, the loss is 75% on the offense, 10% on the kicker, or something around there.
 

Gophers_4life said:
- we get the ball back, are driving again, then decide to throw a slant, their CB reads it perfectly, gets his hand in to deflect the ball ...... and it pops up perfectly into their LB's hands ...... and he RAN IT BACK FOR A PICK SIX. HE DID NOT STEP OUT. But they call it out.
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Would have been much better if he scored. Needed more time to score with terrible QB and WR play.
 


Gold Rush said:
Over/under for wins next year?? Probably around 4.5
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Just think, Iowa will be winning the West this year on a schedule similar to the Gophers schedule next year. It's not like it's impossible. Iowa played OSU, Michigan and Rutgers (granted, MSU was 1 touchdown better than Rutgers this year).

PJ needs to figure out how to beat the West opponents more than anything. Iowa has been the huge roadblock. Bielema's Illinois is now a roadblock. PJ has found success against the rest, but not when it mattered, which is the issue.

2019 - loses to Iowa and Wisconsin
2020 - nevermind
2021- loses to Illinois and Iowa
2022 - loses to Purdue, Illinois and Iowa

Effing Iowa.
 

I see a documentary on the season called "How the West was Lost"
 

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