Thoughts on last two games

[cfb120]

1. This is an interesting situation with Horton. With those last two wins, the powers at be have to be tempted to give Horton a chance to be the next coach. However, with all of this talk of a "big name" coach, this might be career suicide if he doesn't win next year.

2. I am guessing with those last two wins combined with all of the returning players, we see a lot of 8-9 win predictions for next season come July and August. It doesn't seem to take much for allusions of grandeur to sink into this fanbase.

 

[re3886]

Clarification please

2. I am guessing with those last two wins combined with all of the returning players, we see a lot of 8-9 win predictions for next season come July and August. It doesn't seem to take much for allusions of grandeur to sink into this fanbase.

Since when would a decent mid-tier, or low Jan 1 bowl game be "allusions of grandeur"?
Just curious.

 

[Iceland12]

1. This is an interesting situation with Horton. With those last two wins, the powers at be have to be tempted to give Horton a chance to be the next coach. However, with all of this talk of a "big name" coach, this might be career suicide if he doesn't win next year.

2. I am guessing with those last two wins combined with all of the returning players, we see a lot of 8-9 win predictions for next season come July and August. It doesn't seem to take much for allusions of grandeur to sink into this fanbase.

When was the last time there were a "lot of 8-9 win predictions" by Gopher fans? 2005 maybe?

As a guy who "has been to almost every game at Camp Randall the last 12 years" maybe you should just go on home or stick to something you know at least something about.

Oh yeah, I hope the Badgers win the Rose Bowl.

 

[jovs]

Easier schedule, 6-6 with 7-5 a possibility. They need to beat Purdue or Michigan away next year, Wisconisn or Nebraska win at home would be big.

at USC Sat. 09/10/11
New Mexico State Sat. 09/17/11
Miami (OH) 09/24/11
North Dakota State Sat. 10/01/11
at Michigan Sat. 10/08/11
at Purdue 10/15/11
Open Date Sat. 10/22/11
Nebraska 10/29/11
at Iowa 11/05/11
at Michigan State Sat. 11/12/11
Wisconsin Sat. 11/19/11
Northwestern Sat. 11/26/11
Illinois Sat. 12/03/11

 

[cfb120]

Since when would a decent mid-tier, or low Jan 1 bowl game be "allusions of grandeur"?
Just curious.

I think most people would agree that grandeur is relative. Considering the program was returning almost no defensive starters and no running game, I would consider a mid-tier game grandeur. I think the same could be said for 2011 (the mid-tier bowl that is) Wait and see, there will be a lot of Jan.1 Bowl game predictions at the start of the season.

 

[cfb120]

When was the last time there were a "lot of 8-9 win predictions" by Gopher fans? 2005 maybe?

As a guy who "has been to almost every game at Camp Randall the last 12 years" maybe you should just go on home or stick to something you know at least something about.

Oh yeah, I hope the Badgers win the Rose Bowl.

OK, I was wrong. There may not have been a LOT of 8-9 win predictions for this season, but there were a considerable number of 6-7 win predictions on this board. The rest of the college football nation had them pegged at 1-3 wins, and more than a few members of this board deemed everyone outside of Minnesota ignorant. I realize it wasn't all of the fans picking the Gophers to go to a bowl. I also know that there are fans of every team that are overconfident in the preseason.

Maybe your right, maybe I should just close my eyes to everything that takes place outside of Madsion, I have always preferred to try and learn as much about other programs (including having conversations with fans from other fanbases) as I can because I enjoy college football in general.

I am happy to hear that you will be cheering for the Badgers, I always cheer for all Big Ten teams in Bowl games.

 

[cncmin]

When was the last time there were a "lot of 8-9 win predictions" by Gopher fans? 2005 maybe?

As a guy who "has been to almost every game at Camp Randall the last 12 years" maybe you should just go on home or stick to something you know at least something about.

Oh yeah, I hope the Badgers win the Rose Bowl.

Sorry to tell ya, but there were "a lot" of 8-9 win predictions by Gopher fans on this forum prior to the start of the 2010 season (that would be this season). I, personally, predicted 4. Others that predicted near the level of 4 were a minority around here.

 

[Gopherocious]

Easier schedule, 6-6 with 7-5 a possibility. They need to beat Purdue or Michigan away next year, Wisconisn or Nebraska win at home would be big.

at USC Sat. 09/10/11
New Mexico State Sat. 09/17/11
Miami (OH) 09/24/11
North Dakota State Sat. 10/01/11
at Michigan Sat. 10/08/11
at Purdue 10/15/11
Open Date Sat. 10/22/11
Nebraska 10/29/11
at Iowa 11/05/11
at Michigan State Sat. 11/12/11
Wisconsin Sat. 11/19/11
Northwestern Sat. 11/26/11
Illinois Sat. 12/03/11

This is the schedule according to Gophersports.com
Date Opponent Location Time (CST) Results Media
Sat, Sep 03 Southern California at Los Angeles, Calif. TBA

Sat, Sep 10 New Mexico State TCF Bank Stadium TBA

Sat, Sep 17 Miami (Ohio) TCF Bank Stadium TBA

Sat, Sep 24 North Dakota State TCF Bank Stadium TBA

Sat, Oct 01 Michigan * at Ann Arbor, Mich. TBA

Sat, Oct 08 Purdue * at West Lafayette, Ind. TBA

Sat, Oct 22 Nebraska * TCF Bank Stadium TBA

Sat, Oct 29 Iowa * TCF Bank Stadium TBA

Sat, Nov 05 Michigan State * at East Lansing, Mich. TBA

Sat, Nov 12 Wisconsin * TCF Bank Stadium TBA

Sat, Nov 19 Northwestern * at Evanston, Ill. TBA

Sat, Nov 26 Illinois * TCF Bank Stadium TBA

 

[Gophers09]

I think most people would agree that grandeur is relative. Considering the program was returning almost no defensive starters and no running game, I would consider a mid-tier game grandeur. I think the same could be said for 2011 (the mid-tier bowl that is) Wait and see, there will be a lot of Jan.1 Bowl game predictions at the start of the season.

I would hope that the team would show enough promise that its own fans would anticipate a top 6 conference finish. That doesn't seem like that absurd of an idea to me. (And I am counting 2 big ten teams for bcs bowls).

 

[Maximus]

Sorry to tell ya, but there were "a lot" of 8-9 win predictions by Gopher fans on this forum prior to the start of the 2010 season (that would be this season). I, personally, predicted 4. Others that predicted near the level of 4 were a minority around here.

What an outrage! Have those fans been banned yet?

 

[ruralgopher]

I love it when people try to come down on fans of a program on a fricken message board for being optimistic. In the words of Del Griffith, "I could be a cold hearted cinic like you".

 

[year of the gopher]

I believe I predicted 8 wins this year. And you know what, I'm not sorry I did it.

If this team had played with the looseness it has the last two games all year, we'd be figuring out which bowl was going to F us over by picking Iowa ahead of us even though we had a better record and beat them. This team underperformed primarily due to poor coaching...end of story. The coaching part will hopefully be fixed going forward.

My moniker is a reflection of my personality. I'm an optimistic person and I'd rather not live life any other way.

Now as for next season? I would be pleasantly surprised if we get to a bowl game but I wouldn't predict it. The first year of a new regime is always an adjustment.

 

[year of the gopher]

I believe I predicted 8 wins this year. And you know what, I'm not sorry I did it.

If this team had played with the looseness it has the last two games all year, we'd be figuring out which bowl was going to F us over by picking Iowa ahead of us even though we had a better record and beat them. This team underperformed primarily due to poor coaching...end of story. The coaching part will hopefully be fixed going forward.

My moniker is a reflection of my personality. I'm an optimistic person and I'd rather not live life any other way.

Now as for next season? I would be pleasantly surprised if we get to a bowl game but I wouldn't predict it. The first year of a new regime is always an adjustment.

To follow up, here are the 5 games we could have easily won had we played closer to our potential all year:

-vs. USD (L, 41-38)
-NIU (L, 34-23)
-Northwestern (L, 29-28)
-Purdue (L, 28-17)
-Penn State (33-21)

 

[scher215]

I believe I predicted 8 wins this year. And you know what, I'm not sorry I did it.

If this team had played with the looseness it has the last two games all year, we'd be figuring out which bowl was going to F us over by picking Iowa ahead of us even though we had a better record and beat them. This team underperformed primarily due to poor coaching...end of story. The coaching part will hopefully be fixed going forward.

My moniker is a reflection of my personality. I'm an optimistic person and I'd rather not live life any other way.

Now as for next season? I would be pleasantly surprised if we get to a bowl game but I wouldn't predict it. The first year of a new regime is always an adjustment.

The gophers should have beaten Northern Illinois and South Dakota for sure, probably should have beaten Purdue and Penn State. That is 7 wins total right there based on the games they actually won. So I agree, if whatever happened these last two weeks (idk if it was coaching, experience, or what) had happened since the beginning of the year. We might be looking at a better season right now.

I predicted (I think) 7 wins coming in based on looking at the schedule game by game, and was I wrong? Absolutely. But I also won't apologize for picking the Gophers to win games against South Dakota and Northern Illinois. I am much more optimistic about next year right now after the team showed maybe they do have some talent. Especially with a new head coach to help them along.

 

[nsmike]

The returning team has the personnel to go 6-6 or 7-5. The addition of a couple of instant impact players could push it up a bit better. If we get a good coach a lower tier bowl is very possible. As it stands Nebraska, Michigan State and Wisconsin will be the toughest. USC, Michigan, Northwestern, Iowa and Illinois should be even match ups. New Mexico St, North Dakota St, Miami of Ohio and Purdue should be wins. If we win the games we should and go 2-3 in the even games thats 6-6