Where does the USC win rank in the Gophers' P.J. Fleck era?

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Per Schad:

5. Minnesota 24, USC 17 – Oct. 5, 2024​

Well, you didn't have to wait long. Yes, it was an emotional night and USC was the second-highest ranked opponent the Gophers have defeated since Fleck was hired. But the win has an incomplete grade based on where the Gophers are going this season.

Minnesota has had a tough start, dropping a winnable opener against North Carolina and making too many mistakes in a loss at Michigan. With four unranked opponents in the final six games, perhaps Saturday's win can be a turning point and bring the win over the Trojans higher on the list.

4. Minnesota 31, Auburn 24 – 2020 Outback Bowl​

The finishing touch on the peak of the Fleck Era, the Gophers defeated the Tigers to complete their first 11-win season since Minnesota went 13-0 in 1904.

This game was also filled with big performances from several Gopher legends. Wide receiver Tyler Johnson caught 12 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns, running back Mohamed Ibrahim had 140 yards and a touchdown on the ground and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. manned the Gophers secondary.

The win over the Tigers also raised expectations for the program, although they haven't reached the same heights since New Year's Day 2020.

3. Minnesota 12, Iowa 10 – Oct. 21, 2023​

Only the hardiest of fans will watch this entire game as the Gophers and Hawkeyes engaged in a defensive battle in Iowa City. But Gophers fans will gladly watch the final minutes that decided the game.

Iowa defensive back Cooper DeJean waved his arms to signal teammates away from a Mark Crawford punt but DeJean picked the ball up and returned it for what appeared to be a 54-yard touchdown.

The officials ruled that DeJean made an "invalid fair catch" signal, however, and the ball was placed back at the Iowa 46-yard line before Danny Striggow intercepted Deacon Hill to give Fleck his first win over Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeyes.

2. Minnesota 37, Wisconsin 15 – Nov. 24, 2018​

The 2018 Gophers scuffled and dropped four of six games after a 3-0 start to sit with a 5-6 record. With the bowl eligibility on the line, so was Paul Bunyan's Axe as the Gophers headed to Camp Randall to battle the Badgers.

Sitting in the shadow of a 14-game losing streak, the Gophers jumped out to a 17-0 lead highlighted by a 10-yard touchdown run by Ibrahim and a 69-yard punt return by Demetrius Douglas.

The Gophers dominated as Bryce Williams ran for a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter and Fleck finally brought the Axe back to Minneapolis.

1. Minnesota 31, Penn State 26 – Nov. 9, 2019​

This isn't just the biggest game of the Fleck era. This is the biggest win of the modern era of Gopher football.

The Gophers marched in with an 8-0 record and set the tone with a five-play, 95-yard drive capped off by a 66-yard touchdown pass from Morgan to Rashod Bateman. Minnesota built a 14-point lead on Brock Walker's 26-yard field goal but Penn State closed the gap to 24-19 on a 10-yard pass from Sean Clifford to Nick Bowers with 4:05 left in the third quarter.

But Seth Green's one-yard touchdown run put the game out of reach and Jordan Howden's interception sent Gopher fans into a frenzy.

The win brought Gopher football back to relevance. ESPN brought College Gameday to Minneapolis for the first time when they hosted Wisconsin a few weeks later and Minnesota went on to defeat Auburn in the Outback Bowl featured earlier on this list.


Go Gophers!!
 

At what time are these wins an expectation of the program ? the more we ask ourselves these questions and comparisons as well as the more we storm the field and listen to PJs presser ramblings about these types of wins the more we reinforce the harsh reality that we are a low to mid tier program - after 8 years PJ i’d like to think the bar has been raised but apparently not
 



rivergopher said:
Outback bowl is easily number 2. Probably my most proud moment as a gopher fan. The auburn fans were so cocky and we took it to a sec team.
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I agree. Outback bowl should be ranked second here.
 


Yep, I'd switch #2 and #4, but I can somewhat understand the reasoning, getting the Skunk schneid off our backs.
 

mggoph said:
Yep, I'd switch #2 and #4, but I can somewhat understand the reasoning, getting the Skunk schneid off our backs.
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Ill never forget that 2018 game. I can understand Penn State being number 1 because that was a home game so I saw it in person, but 2018 is easily the most fun I've had watching a gopher road game on TV. My group drove to campus for the impromptu pep rally meeting the team at the practice field.
 

holereader said:
At what time are these wins an expectation of the program ? the more we ask ourselves these questions and comparisons as well as the more we storm the field and listen to PJs presser ramblings about these types of wins the more we reinforce the harsh reality that we are a low to mid tier program - after 8 years PJ i’d like to think the bar has been raised but apparently not
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The same time as the other 55 teams in our boat at the P4 level.
 

Very fortunate to have attended #1, #2, #4.

#1: The Penn State game atmosphere was the best I have ever been apart of.

#2: Almost got beat up by multiple drunk skunk fans. I wasn’t being obnoxious, simply just cheering. In their defense, there was a lot of cheer for that day.

#4 The arrogance of the Auburn fans was something else. They had zero respect for our squad. At least a Badger or Hawkeye fan will talk ****. Auburn fans gave you a little pat on the head pre-game and said, “It’s so cute you’re even trying.” Thankfully I ran back into a lot of those people post-game on the concourse!

I had the perfect vantage point of TJs long TD reception unfolding. I don't think a gopher WR has gotten behind the defense like that since 😂.
 



Spoofin said:
#2 was the most fun game I’ve ever attended. Wisky fans evacuated the stadium after the 3Q and the Gopher fans took it over.
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I was very close to going but ended up at a restaurant (not a sports place) by my place, watching as the only person sitting at the bar. When DD took off on that return, I found myself five feet from my stool jumping up and down yelling at the TV. Bartender probably thought I was crazy but gave me a high five.
 


holereader said:
At what time are these wins an expectation of the program ? the more we ask ourselves these questions and comparisons as well as the more we storm the field and listen to PJs presser ramblings about these types of wins the more we reinforce the harsh reality that we are a low to mid tier program - after 8 years PJ i’d like to think the bar has been raised but apparently not
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You've had a string of recent posts that haven't aged well.
 

Penn State

Auburn

The others.

Not to knock the usc win, very good win.
 



topos said:
#4 The arrogance of the Auburn fans was something else. They had zero respect for our squad. At least a Badger or Hawkeye fan will talk ****. Auburn fans gave you a little pat on the head pre-game and said, “It’s so cute you’re even trying.” Thankfully I ran back into a lot of those people post-game on the concourse!

I had the perfect vantage point of TJs long TD reception unfolding. I don't think a gopher WR has gotten behind the defense like that since 😂.
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We engaged a number of Auburn fans and it was "Oh how cute the Gopher fans are" and downhill from there. All polite but certainly did not think we belonged on the same field as them on New Year's Day.

We did engage two mountains of men Auburn fans who parked behind us in the grass lots at the stadium. Pretty sure they were past football players, and if not, they should have been. Anyway, they joined us for a beverage and snacks at our impromptu tailgate, and although they never said it before the game, they didn't think we had a chance.

Really fun to get back to our rental car when they got back to their pick-up. They looked at us like we were from Mars as we said "good game" and see you next time. Priceless.

That game will always rank high for us, as will this one against the Trojenz. Ski U Mah!
 

I reserve judgment until the end of the season. If this happened week 10, it would feel more real. As it is now, USC could very easily finish 7-5 and not ranked in the top 35. In terms of importance to a season, I see this as a huge win because this season had the high probably of circling the drain and driving away half the fan base.

In terms of the others - I still think PSU was program defining. While beating Auburn was huge, the reality is that bowl season for a team coming into the bowl disappointed (like Auburn with opt-outs) really is not like winning a bowl 20 years ago. You see this even with OSU having huge opt outs for the Cotton Bowl despite being ranked #7 in the nation.

For PSU - that was a game with everything on the line - we came out looking to actual win - and did so. That was probably the best win since PSU in 1999. What could have been the biggest win in between was 2003 vs. Michigan with our collapse. Had we won that game, 2003 would have really been a magical season despite UM only being ranked #20 - UM went on to finish #6 in the nation (I only really care about the ranking at the end of the season unless it at least comes very late in the season).
 

In terms of how impressive it was, I'd put it 3rd behind Penn State and Auburn. Behind Wisconsin 2018 too if you consider the margin of the win and not just the end result.

In terms of excitement to be at, it's probably second or third behind Penn State and possibly Auburn. The Auburn game is hard to compare to with it being a bowl game and such a different atmosphere. I missed the 2021 Wisconsin game so I can't judge that either but I'm sure it's up there.

In terms of impact to the season/program, it depends on how the year goes. Penn State is #1 by far but this could potentially be #2 if this is the start of a big turnaround. The 2018 and 2023 wins don't count for much here because they were both bad seasons overall and the 2019 win didn't matter that much either because it would have still have been a great season either way.
 


Technically Michigan 2015 should be on this list somewhere and would be if we won.

When we thought we scored at the end matched all of the above. Then we lost. That is all.
 

BilldGopher said:
Technically Michigan 2015 should be on this list somewhere and would be if we won.

When we thought we scored at the end matched all of the above. Then we lost. That is all.
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I still don't think that would be on a list of best wins in the PJ era, but that's just my opinion.
 


I think this is a very subjective thing. For me, beating Wisconsin the first time in PJ’s tenure was the biggest because it was the first time they had beaten Wisconsin in my fandom—I.e., after starting at the U in the late 2000s.
 

#1 PSU. It's clear why.
#2 WI 2018. MN ended the drought. Positive vibes for the future.
#3 USC. Highly ranked blue blood conference program.
#4 Auburn. The Gophs can hang with a top half SEC team! The PSU win was not a fluke.
#5 Iowa 2023. Broke PJ's drought but that team was decimated with injuries and going no where.
 

Lou Brown said:
Penn State was WILD
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It did not stop being loud.

That crowd was RAVENOUS, whole other level compared to the other games.

I recall on reddit the local sub-reddits had folks posting about "What is all that noise?" on there. :D
 

Solid list and tough to argue with that order.
 


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