Why can’t we win the “important games?”

[Scoops5]

Full Disclosure: I am born and raised in Minnesota but my parents hail from Iowa and moved to MN at 18 and 19. Since then, they have been Minnesotan when it comes to sports fandom. That said, I have extended family who love Iowa football. Sadly, I can say one of my cousins was a scholarship football player at Iowa. But with that all in mind, and a couple vivid memories of Iowa football fans from my youth that I could go into detail, I absolutely loathe the Iowa Hawkeyes. Just note the t-shirt I am wearing in my profile pic.

During the fourth quarter of tonight’s abomination, my wife saw Coach Ferentz on the TV and said “he is still coaching the Hawkeyes?” My simple response was “Yes, because he always finds a way to win the ”important” games.” With my closeness to Iowa, I‘ve heard of plenty of times where Iowa fans have called for Ferentz’ head over the years and he has been damn close. But every year, he finds a way to beat Iowa State and finds a way to be us. And as long as he does that, he buys himself another year of employment.

But therein lies our problem. Even in the beautiful year of 2019, it still felt hollow after losing to both Iowa and Wisconsin while being a Top 15 ranked team by those games. And I’m sure so many of you can rattle off countless “important games” that we managed to bumble or just be outclassed. I know I can think of too many from my earlier years of fandom during the Mason years.

In 2018, I was encouraged when we toppled Wisconsin in Madison in what most of us knew was a building year. I thought maybe this Fleck is something different, and coupled with the birth of my twin daughters that July, I was feeling that life was looking pretty damn good.

But here we are, still losing to our rivals year after year. I don’t know of any other college football teams that play for four rivalry trophies (Floyd, the Axe, Little Brown Jug, & Governor’s Bell) because of our long, and at one time successful, history. But it is almost like that when the Vikings moved to town, they brought a cursed pro franchise that would also take a college program down with it.

And let’s be honest, most of us could handle a 6-win season if it mean beating WISC and/or IOWA each season. Hell, we can’t get more casual MN sports fans to hop on the wagon because all they care about is beating IOWA and WISC. But we can’t find a way to kick WISC and IOWA when they are down and when we appear up.

So how do we break this unbelievably long slide? Even though I don’t like him, we need a coach like Ferentz who always finds a way to win the “important games.” Until then, we will continue to buy and sell hope, as Coach Mason eloquently says, as we see coaching staff after coaching staff funnel through the university.

God, I hate this. But as it is so, WHO HATES IOWA?! I HATE IOWA!

 

[gopherbadgerman]

Gophers just need better players to be able to beat Iowa and Wisconsin, simple.

 

[saintpauljeff]

They are just destined for mediocre status in college football. I guess the cost of that is whatever Fleck is being paid.

 

[EG#9]

Full Disclosure: I am born and raised in Minnesota but my parents hail from Iowa and moved to MN at 18 and 19. Since then, they have been Minnesotan when it comes to sports fandom. That said, I have extended family who love Iowa football. Sadly, I can say one of my cousins was a scholarship football player at Iowa. But with that all in mind, and a couple vivid memories of Iowa football fans from my youth that I could go into detail, I absolutely loathe the Iowa Hawkeyes. Just note the t-shirt I am wearing in my profile pic.

During the fourth quarter of tonight’s abomination, my wife saw Coach Ferentz on the TV and said “he is still coaching the Hawkeyes?” My simple response was “Yes, because he always finds a way to win the ”important” games.” With my closeness to Iowa, I‘ve heard of plenty of times where Iowa fans have called for Ferentz’ head over the years and he has been damn close. But every year, he finds a way to beat Iowa State and finds a way to be us. And as long as he does that, he buys himself another year of employment.

But therein lies our problem. Even in the beautiful year of 2019, it still felt hollow after losing to both Iowa and Wisconsin while being a Top 15 ranked team by those games. And I’m sure so many of you can rattle off countless “important games” that we managed to bumble or just be outclassed. I know I can think of too many from my earlier years of fandom during the Mason years.

In 2018, I was encouraged when we toppled Wisconsin in Madison in what most of us knew was a building year. I thought maybe this Fleck is something different, and coupled with the birth of my twin daughters that July, I was feeling that life was looking pretty damn good.

But here we are, still losing to our rivals year after year. I don’t know of any other college football teams that play for four rivalry trophies (Floyd, the Axe, Little Brown Jug, & Governor’s Bell) because of our long, and at one time successful, history. But it is almost like that when the Vikings moved to town, they brought a cursed pro franchise that would also take a college program down with it.

And let’s be honest, most of us could handle a 6-win season if it mean beating WISC and/or IOWA each season. Hell, we can’t get more casual MN sports fans to hop on the wagon because all they care about is beating IOWA and WISC. But we can’t find a way to kick WISC and IOWA when they are down and when we appear up.

So how do we break this unbelievably long slide? Even though I don’t like him, we need a coach like Ferentz who always finds a way to win the “important games.” Until then, we will continue to buy and sell hope, as Coach Mason eloquently says, as we see coaching staff after coaching staff funnel through the university.

God, I hate this. But as it is so, WHO HATES IOWA?! I HATE IOWA!

I wasn't going post anymore tonight, but this post was so good I had to respond. I am the opposite of you in that I was born in Iowa and have lived here most of my life, but my parents are Minnesotans.

I am not sure Ferentz has ever been close to being fired. He's had an amazing run at Iowa. The fact that a large portion of the fan base complains about him is one reason they win the important games and Minnesota does not...they have an expectation of success. There are so many people here with Hawkeye license plates, that fly Iowa flags outside their homes, you will see at least one adult dressed head to toe in Iowa Hawkeye gear in even some of the nicer restaurants in Des Moines on a random Wednesday. There's this behavior I find completely aggravating of so many of these people feeling like they accomplished something when the team wins...and when Iowa loses (notice not they) it's time to pile on Ferentz or Petras or Drew Tate. If you saw the Iowa fan doing the "my shoulder" thing against Penn State...that's classic Iowa fan you will see 10 of them at any sports bar in the state. Glen Mason certainly wouldn't be doing regular radio hits in Iowa City if he went 32-48 in the Big Ten at Iowa. It's just a totally different atmosphere that I think promotes a more aggressive "must win" environment. These people live to rub it in Iowa State fans faces and it's a year round thing and now they get to do it to Nebraska as well. Honestly in this part of the state the Minnesota thing is a 1 week deal. Largely because it's an extremely rare occasion where I see anyone else in Gopher gear....there just isn't a presence here at all. In Minnesota I feel like winning isn't that important and people have a better life balance. There is also this odd cultural thing where some (native Minnesotans) fans like to laugh at or make fun of the team when they lose instead of get angry which I haven't experienced with any other fan base I've been in contact with. I also think there is something to the fact that regardless of what happens on Saturday, there is a Vikings game to focus on the next day so the "sting" of a loss doesn't linger where as in Iowa the Saturday game is the entire weekend focus and the topic of conversation at work on Monday. It's also huge that the losing in Minnesota has gone on for so long that so many fans have sworn off the Gophers and simply moved on creating a smaller fan base to create any pressure for success. My dad's generation (as an example) was really pissed when we stopped competing with Michigan for the Jug. Some of this is "chicken or the egg?" type stuff. I was only around for the end of the Fry era and all of the Ferentz era so I don't know what it was like here when they were regularly getting their ass kicked. I do know that they've struggled to sell seats at times both early in the Ferentz tenure and then again when they had their dip after he started winning. Getting people to drive from Des Moines regularly simply would not happen if there wasn't a whole lot to feel good about.

On the flip side it's tough to take pride in being a Minnesota fan. If you are competitive person it's really hard to understand how you could possibly lose 17 of 21 to anyone much less a school like Iowa. I am a fan because I am loyal, but there's no real defense of the product that gets put on the field in either football or basketball or the decisions made by the administration. It doesn't seem like there is a demand from anyone to win these games from the administration down to much of the fan base and the exact opposite is true in Iowa. I don't know how long you have posted here, but for a long time an excuse was made by many about the Metrodome. Well since we moved out of the dome our record in these rivalry games is actually worse and we still have yet to record a single win at the Bank against Wisconsin. On the basketball side the excuse being made was about the facilities. Well the basketball program has been at the lowest point I've seen both on the court and in recruiting since the massive facility upgrade was made. I am really tired of finger pointing at something Minnesota allegedly doesn't have from that standpoint. As I pointed out when Fleck got extended...this is the type of thing Minnesota does that keeps Minnesota...Minnesota. If the bar is only better than Jim Wacker or the bar is best record *at Minnesota* since X, then there isn't much urgency to change...and it's kind of unspoken that actually winning championships isn't something we expect to do here.

 

[fmlizard]

Gophers just need better players to be able to beat Iowa and Wisconsin, simple.

24, 26
20, 31, 29

Those the length of field goals in the last two Iowa road games. They are your Gopher losing lottery numbers against Iowa. In 2019 and 2021 the Gophers outplayed Iowa at Kinnick and lost largely because they settled for a bunch of short field goals instead of TDs. The 2020 game was very close until a 4th quarter meltdown.

In 2018 the Gophers won handily in Madison. In 2019 the Gophers flopped some, but the 2020 game was right back to OT and close as could be.

We're closer than we think to the turning point. But it's going to take one more dimension for that breakthrough - and it's probably slightly more talent for explosive plays and finishing drives.

 

[Some guy]

Gophers just need better players to be able to beat Iowa and Wisconsin, simple.

Yup.
had Iowa up front today for the first time since maybe 2003
Didn’t have good enough skill guys make plays

freshmen corner doesn’t make a couple of plays but I like him anyways. Drops. Miss a couple of throws. Thought our coaches out coached them.

Should’ve punted instead of getting field goal blocked

 

[NotAFanOfBecky]

Gophers just need better players to be able to beat Iowa and Wisconsin, simple.

I think they are close. I think they need better coaching as talent wise I think this years team was superior to Iowa. Just lousy decisions, poor QB play, and not aggressive enough cost the win. I think PJ is smart enough to figure that out, but is he too stubborn to change? That’s a great question.

 

[FanSinceTheFifties]

Full Disclosure: I am born and raised in Minnesota but my parents hail from Iowa and moved to MN at 18 and 19. Since then, they have been Minnesotan when it comes to sports fandom. That said, I have extended family who love Iowa football. Sadly, I can say one of my cousins was a scholarship football player at Iowa. But with that all in mind, and a couple vivid memories of Iowa football fans from my youth that I could go into detail, I absolutely loathe the Iowa Hawkeyes. Just note the t-shirt I am wearing in my profile pic.

During the fourth quarter of tonight’s abomination, my wife saw Coach Ferentz on the TV and said “he is still coaching the Hawkeyes?” My simple response was “Yes, because he always finds a way to win the ”important” games.” With my closeness to Iowa, I‘ve heard of plenty of times where Iowa fans have called for Ferentz’ head over the years and he has been damn close. But every year, he finds a way to beat Iowa State and finds a way to be us. And as long as he does that, he buys himself another year of employment.

But therein lies our problem. Even in the beautiful year of 2019, it still felt hollow after losing to both Iowa and Wisconsin while being a Top 15 ranked team by those games. And I’m sure so many of you can rattle off countless “important games” that we managed to bumble or just be outclassed. I know I can think of too many from my earlier years of fandom during the Mason years.

In 2018, I was encouraged when we toppled Wisconsin in Madison in what most of us knew was a building year. I thought maybe this Fleck is something different, and coupled with the birth of my twin daughters that July, I was feeling that life was looking pretty damn good.

But here we are, still losing to our rivals year after year. I don’t know of any other college football teams that play for four rivalry trophies (Floyd, the Axe, Little Brown Jug, & Governor’s Bell) because of our long, and at one time successful, history. But it is almost like that when the Vikings moved to town, they brought a cursed pro franchise that would also take a college program down with it.

And let’s be honest, most of us could handle a 6-win season if it mean beating WISC and/or IOWA each season. Hell, we can’t get more casual MN sports fans to hop on the wagon because all they care about is beating IOWA and WISC. But we can’t find a way to kick WISC and IOWA when they are down and when we appear up.

So how do we break this unbelievably long slide? Even though I don’t like him, we need a coach like Ferentz who always finds a way to win the “important games.” Until then, we will continue to buy and sell hope, as Coach Mason eloquently says, as we see coaching staff after coaching staff funnel through the university.

God, I hate this. But as it is so, WHO HATES IOWA?! I HATE IOWA!

"But it is almost like that when the Vikings moved to town, they brought a cursed pro franchise that would also take a college program down with it."

No, it's not almost like that, but you're close. When the Vikings came to Mpls, fans and media turned their attention to the pro teams. Top recruits saw the Gophers on page two. Iowa has no pro sports. Madison has no pro sports They have an easier time to recruit the chippers.

 

[CentralGopher]

We’ve been far behind for the better part of 20-30 years. A new coach and a dream season has suddenly raised expectations past the progression of this team. Gonna have to be a little patient. Don’t get me wrong, I am disappointed in yesterday as well because a win was within our grasp. It sucks but we’ll get there.

 

[icepirate13]

Full Disclosure: I am born and raised in Minnesota but my parents hail from Iowa and moved to MN at 18 and 19. Since then, they have been Minnesotan when it comes to sports fandom. That said, I have extended family who love Iowa football. Sadly, I can say one of my cousins was a scholarship football player at Iowa. But with that all in mind, and a couple vivid memories of Iowa football fans from my youth that I could go into detail, I absolutely loathe the Iowa Hawkeyes. Just note the t-shirt I am wearing in my profile pic.

During the fourth quarter of tonight’s abomination, my wife saw Coach Ferentz on the TV and said “he is still coaching the Hawkeyes?” My simple response was “Yes, because he always finds a way to win the ”important” games.” With my closeness to Iowa, I‘ve heard of plenty of times where Iowa fans have called for Ferentz’ head over the years and he has been damn close. But every year, he finds a way to beat Iowa State and finds a way to be us. And as long as he does that, he buys himself another year of employment.

But therein lies our problem. Even in the beautiful year of 2019, it still felt hollow after losing to both Iowa and Wisconsin while being a Top 15 ranked team by those games. And I’m sure so many of you can rattle off countless “important games” that we managed to bumble or just be outclassed. I know I can think of too many from my earlier years of fandom during the Mason years.

In 2018, I was encouraged when we toppled Wisconsin in Madison in what most of us knew was a building year. I thought maybe this Fleck is something different, and coupled with the birth of my twin daughters that July, I was feeling that life was looking pretty damn good.

But here we are, still losing to our rivals year after year. I don’t know of any other college football teams that play for four rivalry trophies (Floyd, the Axe, Little Brown Jug, & Governor’s Bell) because of our long, and at one time successful, history. But it is almost like that when the Vikings moved to town, they brought a cursed pro franchise that would also take a college program down with it.

And let’s be honest, most of us could handle a 6-win season if it mean beating WISC and/or IOWA each season. Hell, we can’t get more casual MN sports fans to hop on the wagon because all they care about is beating IOWA and WISC. But we can’t find a way to kick WISC and IOWA when they are down and when we appear up.

So how do we break this unbelievably long slide? Even though I don’t like him, we need a coach like Ferentz who always finds a way to win the “important games.” Until then, we will continue to buy and sell hope, as Coach Mason eloquently says, as we see coaching staff after coaching staff funnel through the university.

God, I hate this. But as it is so, WHO HATES IOWA?! I HATE IOWA!

MN sports fans can never have anything good!

 

[Ewert86PC]

The athletic department does not have support from the university's academics, and subsequently administration.

I can't tell you how many times instructors pepper their speech with "Remember they are student-athletes" in a backhanded condemnation of athletics. They don't refer to I.T. students as "student-engineers" or Ag students as "student-agronimists". The academics at UMN see athletes and athletics as an inferior field. If it was another field of pursuit there would be more outrage.

 

[Gophergrandpa]

I think they are close. I think they need better coaching as talent wise I think this years team was superior to Iowa. Just lousy decisions, poor QB play, and not aggressive enough cost the win. I think PJ is smart enough to figure that out, but is he too stubborn to change? That’s a great question.

We have plenty enough talent to beat Iowa. We beat ourselves by relentlessly conservative play calling on offense. If you get into the red zone and refuse to attack the end zone (fade route to Dylan Wright?), you are playing not to lose rather than playing to win. And you probably will lose.

We also beat ourselves by, throughout the season, shelving our passing game, which makes it very difficult to switch it back on when suddenly needed. A good passing game requires a lot of close timing and coordination. You can’t just summon that up if the mechanism is rusty, the WRs having been used principally as blockers or decoys.

 

[BAJJERFAN]

Full Disclosure: I am born and raised in Minnesota but my parents hail from Iowa and moved to MN at 18 and 19. Since then, they have been Minnesotan when it comes to sports fandom. That said, I have extended family who love Iowa football. Sadly, I can say one of my cousins was a scholarship football player at Iowa. But with that all in mind, and a couple vivid memories of Iowa football fans from my youth that I could go into detail, I absolutely loathe the Iowa Hawkeyes. Just note the t-shirt I am wearing in my profile pic.

During the fourth quarter of tonight’s abomination, my wife saw Coach Ferentz on the TV and said “he is still coaching the Hawkeyes?” My simple response was “Yes, because he always finds a way to win the ”important” games.” With my closeness to Iowa, I‘ve heard of plenty of times where Iowa fans have called for Ferentz’ head over the years and he has been damn close. But every year, he finds a way to beat Iowa State and finds a way to be us. And as long as he does that, he buys himself another year of employment.

But therein lies our problem. Even in the beautiful year of 2019, it still felt hollow after losing to both Iowa and Wisconsin while being a Top 15 ranked team by those games. And I’m sure so many of you can rattle off countless “important games” that we managed to bumble or just be outclassed. I know I can think of too many from my earlier years of fandom during the Mason years.

In 2018, I was encouraged when we toppled Wisconsin in Madison in what most of us knew was a building year. I thought maybe this Fleck is something different, and coupled with the birth of my twin daughters that July, I was feeling that life was looking pretty damn good.

But here we are, still losing to our rivals year after year. I don’t know of any other college football teams that play for four rivalry trophies (Floyd, the Axe, Little Brown Jug, & Governor’s Bell) because of our long, and at one time successful, history. But it is almost like that when the Vikings moved to town, they brought a cursed pro franchise that would also take a college program down with it.

And let’s be honest, most of us could handle a 6-win season if it mean beating WISC and/or IOWA each season. Hell, we can’t get more casual MN sports fans to hop on the wagon because all they care about is beating IOWA and WISC. But we can’t find a way to kick WISC and IOWA when they are down and when we appear up.

So how do we break this unbelievably long slide? Even though I don’t like him, we need a coach like Ferentz who always finds a way to win the “important games.” Until then, we will continue to buy and sell hope, as Coach Mason eloquently says, as we see coaching staff after coaching staff funnel through the university.

God, I hate this. But as it is so, WHO HATES IOWA?! I HATE IOWA!

I root for Pedo State over Iowa. If you could beat Iowa and Wisconsin every year you'd be way better than a 6-6 program. They have Ferentz because Gary Sharta doesn't have the stones to can him.

 

[GringaGopher]

"But it is almost like that when the Vikings moved to town, they brought a cursed pro franchise that would also take a college program down with it."

No, it's not almost like that, but you're close. When the Vikings came to Mpls, fans and media turned their attention to the pro teams. Top recruits saw the Gophers on page two. Iowa has no pro sports. Madison has no pro sports They have an easier time to recruit the chippers.

Agreed. Easier to have this higher level of loyalty when you are literally the only game in town. That does not take away the fact that MN sports teams have performed down to lower levels of expectations yearly.