What grade would you give the 2018 Gophers football season?

What grade would you give the 2018 Gophers football season?

  • A

    Votes: 9 6.2%

  • B

    Votes: 104 71.7%

  • C

    Votes: 32 22.1%

  • D

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • F

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    145
Donate To GopherHole
7-6 would normally be a C+ season for me, but bonus points for winning the most important trophy. Also, before we fired Robb Smith (he has looked worse and worse every game since he left), we were on track for an unmitigated F.

B-
 

MennoSota said:
The overall data says C+, but if the last two games were weighted higher, then the grade would move up to a B. Those butt-kickings we got from Maryland, Nebraska and Illinois cannot be dismissed, however.
Click to expand...

I think it makes perfect sense to weight the latter games higher because those games are more representative of where the team is now. One could say the same thing about Nebraska. Early in the season, they were hapless. In the latter half of the season, they were a pretty decent team.

The Wisconsin win was historic. The bowl win wasn't just contrary to consensus expectations; the team's performance completely nuked those expectations (like the Wisconsin game). To a lesser degree, the same thing could be said about the Purdue game at the time. After Smith's departure, the team won 3 of their last 4 games and all of those wins were blowouts. Every one of those last four games featured a good-to-outstanding defensive performance (averages of 300 yards and 14.75 points per game over that stretch). What really hurt us in the NW game was losing the turnover battle 0-3.
 

Gotta go with a B+. The win over the Red team really pushed the needle. Progression of team really shows many positives for the future. Young developing team with some solid recruits coming in.


"We're going to win the Big Ten championship and we're going to take the Gopher Nation to Pasadena. That's my dream, that's my goal and that's my belief. It will happen here sooner rather than later." -- Tim Brewster
 

All in all, 7-6 is about what I expected, which would normally rate a C.

BUT ... the way the season ended -- winning 2 of the last 3 conference games (including the Wisconsin whooping) and the bowl blowout -- pushes it into B territory. I don't remember EVER feeling this positive heading into the off-season.

JTG
 

Non-conference - 30% of grade - A-
NM State (Current #131 RPI) - A-
Fresno State (#21)- A
Miami OH (#68) - B+

Conference - 60% of grade - C-
@Maryland (#72) - F
Iowa (#29) - D
@Ohio State (#6) - B+
@Nebraska (#76) - F
Indiana (#64) - C+
@Illinois (#120) - F
Purdue (#53) - A
Northwestern (#30) - C+
@Wisconsin (#40) - A

Bowl game final - 10% of grade - A
Georgia Tech (#57) - A

C+ grade until...
Extra Credit - Road Axe!
Boosts final grade to B-
 


I do find it interesting that 75% GHers polled thought Gophs should have at least eight wins in the regular season, yet almost the same percentage give them a B or better.
 

PMWinSTP said:
I do find it interesting that 75% GHers polled thought Gophs should have at least eight wins in the regular season, yet almost the same percentage give them a B or better.
Click to expand...

Optimism comes from the improvement of defense and significant wins at the end of the season. Before the DC change I would bet that most GHers would have given a D.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

mraveling said:
Non-conference - 30% of grade - A-
NM State (Current #131 RPI) - A-
Fresno State (#21)- A
Miami OH (#68) - B+

Conference - 60% of grade - C-
@Maryland (#72) - F
Iowa (#29) - D
@Ohio State (#6) - B+
@Nebraska (#76) - F
Indiana (#64) - C+
@Illinois (#120) - F
Purdue (#53) - A
Northwestern (#30) - C+
@Wisconsin (#40) - A

Bowl game final - 10% of grade - A
Georgia Tech (#57) - A

C+ grade until...
Extra Credit - Road Axe!
Boosts final grade to B-
Click to expand...

6-6 and a bowl win does not get an above average mark....Anything higher than a C+ is just being a homer.
 

HoustonTXGopher said:
6-6 and a bowl win does not get an above average mark....Anything higher than a C+ is just being a homer.
Click to expand...

B from this homer. Fleck turned it around just when it looked like the boat was sinking. I dislike the Badgers so much the Axe by itself is worth a whole letter grade.
 



Mulligan said:
B from this homer. Fleck turned it around just when it looked like the boat was sinking. I dislike the Badgers so much the Axe by itself is worth a whole letter grade.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more!!
 

When earning a grade the entire body of work has to be accounted for. Obviously defeating the Badgers earns an A+ for week 12. However...the team looked really bad for a multii-game stretch in the early going on through Illinois. This is one of the most bipolar seasons I've ever witnessed as a football fan.

Overall, with a 6 win regular season, 3 in the Big Ten, 7 overall, and a smattering of horrific, nightmare-inducing defensive performances and grading vs other programs and where we want to be I can award only an average grade of C. However, the team was well on it's way to a D and possibly F several weeks ago so there's that.

If we're grading the last quarter of the season obviously that's a B and maybe even an A considering Wisconsin.
 

Is there any way to set up the poll so there could be + and - grades?

I went with a B, but if I could, it would have been a B-. As nice as the finish of the season was, it cannot erase the middle portion of the season which featured some truly inept performances. If you're taking a class, you could try to ask the teacher to ignore those tests you bombed on, but I suspect they will still be factored into the overall grade.

Of course, if we were using standards-based grading, it would be a different situation. (a little joke for anyone that follows educational issues)
 

HoustonTXGopher said:
6-6 and a bowl win does not get an above average mark....Anything higher than a C+ is just being a homer.
Click to expand...

Guilty as charged, however winning the Axe for the first time since I first bought season tickets in 2008 (last Metrodome season) means something more to me. Also the strong finish and the newfound defensive confidence were factors. There is no denying some moments of complete failure.
 



Based on preseason expectations I said A. Beat the win/loss over/under, beat a significant rival on the road, course corrected a major issue/flaw, made and won the bowl game.

It won’t be an A next year if same results.
 

Probably should also factor in that as the youngest team in America that we were boys against men over the season...which coupled with the loss to injuries to some of the arguably most important players we'd be fielding...that should count too for some degree of grade inflation.
 

PMWinSTP said:
I do find it interesting that 75% GHers polled thought Gophs should have at least eight wins in the regular season, yet almost the same percentage give them a B or better.
Click to expand...

If you had asked 'holers "How many wins will we get without either of our top two RBs and Winfield?" not many would have said "6 or 7."

JTG
 

PMWinSTP said:
I do find it interesting that 75% GHers polled thought Gophs should have at least eight wins in the regular season, yet almost the same percentage give them a B or better.
Click to expand...

Maybe they realized they were wrong.
 

alchemy2u said:
Optimism comes from the improvement of defense and significant wins at the end of the season. Before the DC change I would bet that most GHers would have given a D.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Agree there is more optimism following the firing of Smith. That said, the season, on the whole, was a C. Some really good, some inexcusably bad. We should have won 8 games regular season and had a shot at 9 wins with the bowl. Tough to say if we would have won the bowl, as no doubt if we'd had 8 wins going in, we would have played a better team in the bowl game.
 

C. Year 1 was an F, regardless of culture shift. No reason to not make a bowl with the talent there. Year 2, PJ about let blind loyalty influence another year of no bowl, before doing the right thing in firing Smith, and keeping fan support. He was about in F mode before the Bowl victory. People dont want to hear about youth anymore - they want to hear about wins.
 

akgo4 said:
C. Year 1 was an F, regardless of culture shift. No reason to not make a bowl with the talent there. Year 2, PJ about let blind loyalty influence another year of no bowl, before doing the right thing in firing Smith, and keeping fan support. He was about in F mode before the Bowl victory. People dont want to hear about youth anymore - they want to hear about wins.
Click to expand...

So true. Wish he had pulled the trigger on replacing smith earlier. We have all seen the stats - once the conference season started (in the first six games) we gave up 43 points a game and we were 1-5. Smith gone, teams adjusts and gives up only 15 points a game and goes 3-1 over the final four games (including the bowl game). That is four td’s less a game. 3-6 is a pretty bad conference record so it is hard to give the season anything more than a c or c- (although the strong finish really helped). If we pull the coaching change earlier perhaps we would have been two wins better.
 

rockford said:
If you had asked 'holers "How many wins will we get without either of our top two RBs and Winfield?" not many would have said "6 or 7."

JTG
Click to expand...

The poll was after the Purdue game.
 

XMan said:
So true. Wish he had pulled the trigger on replacing smith earlier. We have all seen the stats - once the conference season started (in the first six games) we gave up 43 points a game and we were 1-5. Smith gone, teams adjusts and gives up only 15 points a game and goes 3-1 over the final four games (including the bowl game). That is four td’s less a game. 3-6 is a pretty bad conference record so it is hard to give the season anything more than a c or c- (although the strong finish really helped). If we pull the coaching change earlier perhaps we would have been two wins better.
Click to expand...
I am OK with year 2. Solid progress. Next year should be another step forward.

Sent from my LG-H820 using Tapatalk
 


XMan said:
So true. Wish he had pulled the trigger on replacing smith earlier. We have all seen the stats - once the conference season started (in the first six games) we gave up 43 points a game and we were 1-5. Smith gone, teams adjusts and gives up only 15 points a game and goes 3-1 over the final four games (including the bowl game). That is four td’s less a game. 3-6 is a pretty bad conference record so it is hard to give the season anything more than a c or c- (although the strong finish really helped). If we pull the coaching change earlier perhaps we would have been two wins better.
Click to expand...


I still think how we closed out we bumped it up. Had we started say 6-0 and limped to 6-6, the feeling would've been different
 

I give them a "C" for average. They did beat Fresno State, Purdue, Wisconsin and Georgia Tech but the losses to Maryland, Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois were disappointing.

So if you give them an A for beating Purdue, Wisconsin and Georgia Tech, they get an F for losing to Maryland, Nebraska and Illinois which would mean an overall grade of a C.

I have to say 2019 is setting up to be one of the most anticipated Gophers football seasons in many years. A lot of young talent returning in addition to hopefully getting some key veterans back healthy. Much more favorable schedule as well in 2019 with home games against Maryland, Penn State, Nebraska and Wisconsin. We also get a 2nd bye week on November 2 which should help this team heading into the final 4 games.
 

Gave it a B

Had an A the first quarter, 2nd and 3rd were D/F, and the 4th quarter he pulled out an A+
 

JZsportswhiz said:
Gave it a B

Had an A the first quarter, 2nd and 3rd were D/F, and the 4th quarter he pulled out an A+
Click to expand...

The grade went from a D- to a B in hurry, and this started with the decisive decision by Fleck to get rid of Robb Smith.

The win at Wisconsin might have been enough for some to rate this season a success if it were one of two or three wins..

Winning big on the road in Madison and destroying a solid Ga. Tech team count for a lot and a B does not even seem to be enough, but I'll stick with it. Sure Fleck did create the mess by hiring Robb Smith, but at least he fixed it.
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom