Worst Gopher football memory

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IceBoxGopher said:
2003 Vs Michigan, without a doubt. It's been summed up well here.





Very likely win a share of the Big Ten title, if not having a shot for it outright. In that case, a trip to the Rose Bowl. The worst part is how well we were playing, too. If the Gophers had played that well through the end of the game, the team would definitely be in the top 10 and would impress a lot of people nationally. The Dome would probably be rocking the rest of the year, too.
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I believe strongly they would have won the following week against MSU. They had a hangover if I ever saw one and were down 14-0 like 8 minutes into the game IIRC. They still almost came back and won. They likely would have slipped up somewhere along the way, @ Iowa if nothing else, so I don't pretend they would have played for the National Title, but a Rose Bowl would have been massive.
 

Northwestern (2000?) They won on a Hail Mary as the game clock struck zero.

Honorable mentions:

Micron PC Bowl. Tellis runs for 246 yards, but Phillip Rivers and the receiver K. Robinson? Beat us.
2006 bowl game vs Texas Tech...
 

Hates Monikers said:
To that list I would add 1989 Gutey loss to Ohio State. Up 31-0 in the second half at the Dome and lost 41-37 on ABC in front of a rabid crowd of 34,000.
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Yeah. This gets over-looked. I was only a kid but I still remember that one. We had to leave at half-time to go to a HS play-off game and could not believe it when people said they lost.
 

LesBolstad said:
Sneeky horrible was the Purdue game, forget what year, but they go like 70 yards in 10 seconds for game winning field goal. Even tho we're at home, refs let 's Purdue field goal squad come on to the field without letting a second tick off and get the kick off. Just a gut punch.
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I remember this one as well. The Wisconsin collapse was also a difficult one to swallow. Funny thing is, if we are playing those games with today's rules, we win them both. I remember Mortensen was knocked out of bounds with about four minutes left in the game. Back then, the clock stopped. Today, the clock runs.
 

2003 Friday night Michigan game

GopherWeatherGuy said:
2003 vs Michigan
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Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Physically dominated Michigan the whole game, then melted down after that weird pick to the linebacker that Asad threw. Sold out rocking "Metro Dome" with the most electric Gopher home game Atmosphere I had ever experienced until that fourth quarter collapse. The inability to suddenly cover a screen pass got really out of control in a quick hurry.

That was a Big 10 Champion Rose bowl winning season in an Alternate universe without the collapse and loss in that Game. We would have smoked Michigan State the following week and went on with that momentum to win the conference. The 2003 Michigan loss was a program changing loss that set us back a lot.
 
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One more point, the 2003 game was a close chance for a Big Ten title, but we were closer in 1999.

We lose in OT against Sconnie.
That year sconnie finished 7-1 big Ten. With a loss, they'd be 6-2.
We finished 5-3 that year. if we had won, we would have been 6-2 as well with Michigan and Michigan St for a 4 way tie.

Not sure if tie-breaker then was still "whoever hadn't won it most recently" but that was as close as we've been to a Rose Bowl I believe.
 

everybody knows my name said:
October 15, 2005. #23 Minnesota -vs- #22 Wisconsin.

Gophers are leading 34-31 and have the ball. Fourth down in the fourth quarter - 30 seconds left in the game.

Lawrence Maroney has run 43 times for 258 yards and Gary Russell has run 19 times for 139 yards. As the Gophers send the punt team out on the field I'm yelling "Run the ball! Run the ball! Don't punt, run the ball!" I don't know why I felt this way; punting was obviously the smart move. But my heart sank when they lined up to punt.

Punt is blocked at the 5, recovered in the end zone by Wisconsin. Final score 38-34 Wisconsin.

I didn't watch the Gophers again until halfway through the 2006 season.
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Kicker flat out dropped the snap on that punt. All he had to do was run out out the end zone, or bat it out of the end zone there too. Gophers would still have had the lead, perhaps they would have still lost by taking the safety but I would have rather the punter have been coached to take the safety there than try to punt it after he dropped the snap. This is one scenario where the coaches should review with the punter if it ever occurs in the end zone again and the team is leading take the safety always.
 
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UpAndUnder43 said:
I forget about this game. Definitely old enough to remember it but for some reason that blocked punt vs wisconsin epitomizes being a Gopher fan for me...in the worst possible way
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The 2005 Wisconsin game was the worst 3 minutes, Michigan was more like watching a car crash in slow motion. But the ramifications of the two games were not close. The 2005 team would maybe have upgraded from the Music City Bowl to the Holiday Bowl.
 

GopherVotary said:
2003 Michigan and 2005 Wisky are 1.a and 1.b.

An under-remembered one is 1999 OT loss to Wisky. Win that game and we would have been Pasadena-bound, considering how the rest of the season played out. We had Dayne shut down all game, save for a series Tyrone missed with a minor injury.
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Yes, 1999 and 2003. Turn the right two heartbreaking losses into wins and they'd be Rose Bowls. Nobody really thought of it that way then because the losses happened early enough that we weren't in the conversation at the end of the year.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 



Face The Facts said:
One more point, the 2003 game was a close chance for a Big Ten title, but we were closer in 1999.

We lose in OT against Sconnie.
That year sconnie finished 7-1 big Ten. With a loss, they'd be 6-2.
We finished 5-3 that year. if we had won, we would have been 6-2 as well with Michigan and Michigan St for a 4 way tie.

Not sure if tie-breaker then was still "whoever hadn't won it most recently" but that was as close as we've been to a Rose Bowl I believe.
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2003 requires more assumptions, but it's very likely IMO that we'd have been 11-0 going into the Iowa game.
 

howeda7 said:
I believe strongly they would have won the following week against MSU. They had a hangover if I ever saw one and were down 14-0 like 8 minutes into the game IIRC. They still almost came back and won. They likely would have slipped up somewhere along the way, @ Iowa if nothing else, so I don't pretend they would have played for the National Title, but a Rose Bowl would have been massive.
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There was maybe 35,000 at that Michigan State game. There was no excuse for that. The other myth is that the Michigan game was a sellout which is was not. There were lots of empty seats.

Go Gophers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Not a worst memory but the biggest travesty in Gopher history was moving into the Metrodome.

Go Gophers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

LesBolstad said:
Sneeky horrible was the Purdue game, forget what year, but they go like 70 yards in 10 seconds for game winning field goal. Even tho we're at home, refs let 's Purdue field goal squad come on to the field without letting a second tick off and get the kick off. Just a gut punch.
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That was the 2001 season I think. Drawing a blank but I think in 2001 we had a number of gut wrenching losses where the team was actually quite talented but could not get the finish or the win in overtime against both Purdue and Northwestern in driving rain had so many chances to score against them but kept turning the ball over. If I remember correctly the Purdue game was the first Big 10 game that season, Gophers had them basically beat, and the Refs with one second left after a completion after they set the football, inexplicably instead of starting the clock, after setting the football, the official waited until the entire Purdue kick team had run out on to the field and were in position to snap the football. Purdue started from there own 17 yard line and got down the field. Big 10 officials allowed Purdue to kick the tying field goal with only 1 second on the clock and no timeouts. For some reason they did not set the football and start the play clock like they normally would. Worst part about that game to was the Gophers threw a game tying touchdown, WR #7 for the Gophers caught a Game tying touchdown in overtime, only got 1 foot down and it was on the green between the green line spot between the yellow and the white out of bounds endzone line towards home plate end zone. The side judge mistakenly ruled the Gophers WR stepped out of bounds on the game tying catch. Not sure what the replay rules were on that play but don't think there was automatic reviews back then. That was way worse than the bad spot against Ohio State this weekend. The Gophers have gotten a number of the short straws over the years on bad calls dating back to the 1960 penalty on Bobby Bell personal Foul penalty against Wisconsin, but that touchdown reversal, where one signaled inbound touchdown, and then the side judge who was further away comes running in and over rules the touchdown call was one of the most Egregious calls in Gopher Football history.

If the Gophers win that game against Purdue who knows how good that Gopher football team could have been. This was a talented team the 2001 Gophers that were an enigma on defense at times but they could score with just about any team they played. They played their butts off against a great Ohio State team in 2001 that season, got a bogus holding penalty on a potential scoring drive, and then an overturned fumble recovery that went against the Gophers in the pile too, where our guy linebacker recovered the fumble and they let Ohio State take it away at the bottom of the pile because they waited so long to see who had recovered it. That fumble recovery change of possession would have given our offense a chance to win in the end against OSU but of course the Big 10 officials botched the call.
 
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Doc Gopher said:
One for the old timers: Wisconsin 1962. Bobby Bell gets called for roughing the passer( a terrible call) and the Gophers lose the Big Ten Championship to
the Badgers.
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This is a curse that has been on our Program from Big 10 officiating ever since. One of the absolute worst calls in the history of college football that changed the outcome of a football game.
 

Studwell55 said:
There's only one answer to this question.
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Not for our Gophers, there are oh, oh so many!

Not mentioned was the comeback that Texas Tech put on us that lead to the demise of Glen Mason and produced Tim "Punky" Brewster as our next head coach. Hell, this game doesnt even make our top ten worst memories and would most likely be number one for most programs.
 

Forgot to add the 1985 game against #2 Oklahoma. We were behind 13-8, IIRC, driving for a TD, the dome was so loud I couldn't hear my Dad next to me, and were stopped at the 8 yard line
 

Add the Penn St. OT game where we had the game won after a great/clean 4th down pass breakup by our DB near the PSU sidelines. Then JoPa and the rest of the bench screamed for a PI call, and sure enough out comes a late hanky and Penn St. goes on to win.
 

Rated this thread as terrible because of the sadness of the whole thing
 

Just read the last couple posts. Not going to look at this past with all this. Why stir it up in your head?
 

2003 Michigan, and it's a long way back to everything else.

Had the Gophers been undefeated going to Mordor for that season finale, they would already have the Big Ten won and would have been playing for a shot at the MNC.
 

gopherdudepart2 said:
That was the 2001 season I think. Drawing a blank but I think in 2001 we had a number of gut wrenching losses where the team was actually quite talented but could not get the finish or the win in overtime against both Purdue and Northwestern in driving rain had so many chances to score against them but kept turning the ball over. If I remember correctly the Purdue game was the first Big 10 game that season, Gophers had them basically beat, and the Refs with one second left after a completion after they set the football, inexplicably instead of starting the clock, after setting the football, the official waited until the entire Purdue kick team had run out on to the field and were in position to snap the football. Purdue started from there own 17 yard line and got down the field. Big 10 officials allowed Purdue to kick the tying field goal with only 1 second on the clock and no timeouts. For some reason they did not set the football and start the play clock like they normally would. Worst part about that game to was the Gophers threw a game tying touchdown, WR #7 for the Gophers caught a Game tying touchdown in overtime, only got 1 foot down and it was on the green between the green line spot between the yellow and the white out of bounds endzone line towards home plate end zone. The side judge mistakenly ruled the Gophers WR stepped out of bounds on the game tying catch. Not sure what the replay rules were on that play but don't think there was automatic reviews back then. That was way worse than the bad spot against Ohio State this weekend. The Gophers have gotten a number of the short straws over the years on bad calls dating back to the 1960 penalty on Bobby Bell personal Foul penalty against Wisconsin, but that touchdown reversal, where one signaled inbound touchdown, and then the side judge who was further away comes running in and over rules the touchdown call was one of the most Egregious calls in Gopher Football history.

If the Gophers win that game against Purdue who knows how good that Gopher football team could have been. This was a talented team the 2001 Gophers that were an enigma on defense at times but they could score with just about any team they played. They played their butts off against a great Ohio State team in 2001 that season, got a bogus holding penalty on a potential scoring drive, and then an overturned fumble recovery that went against the Gophers in the pile too, where our guy linebacker recovered the fumble and they let Ohio State take it away at the bottom of the pile because they waited so long to see who had recovered it. That fumble recovery change of possession would have given our offense a chance to win in the end against OSU but of course the Big 10 officials botched the call.
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Video of that game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQl1YNb3dUw
 

The 1993 game against the Badgers was my worst Gopher football memory. It was very long ago and the season ended very well regardless, so it doesn't really bug me anymore. Almost everything since then has been great, thanks for asking.
 

I was there for all the following and rank them thus:
1. Michigan meltdown
2. Wisconsin blocked punt
3. Purdue time-suspending field goal
4. South Dakota

It is hard to believe the Gophers will ever have bigger disasters than #1 and #2
 

First, I apologize for this thread. I think its good to rehash what we’ve been through as a fan base to put all future losses into perspective.

Second, I appreciate all the participation. Nice to learn from others. I have very few diehard gopher fan friends. Nice to have people to relate to.

Finally, I want to change my OP. 2003 Michigan was terrible for the program. 2005 Wisconsin carries deeper meaning for me, and was awful, and I hate Wisconsin.
 

2003 Michigan
2005 Wisconsin
2015 Michigan
2006 Insight Bowl
Jerry Kill's retirement
2001 Purdue
Northwestern Hail Mary
2008 Northwestern pick 6
Penn State Phantom PI
1989 Ohio State
South Dakota
2002 Iowa and the goalposts
2008 Iowa, 55-donut
2014 Wisconsin, where we absolutely dominated much of that game and would have won the West
 

I know it is in vogue to pick the close heartbreakers, but at least we are in those games. Getting blown out, shut out, or both by a rival are the worst memories for me. Iowa in 2008, Michigan in Kills first year, Wisconsin last year, those are just pathetically miserable performances that leave a lingering taste in my mouth.
 


DarrenTheGreek said:
2003 Michigan
2005 Wisconsin
2015 Michigan
2006 Insight Bowl
Jerry Kill's retirement
2001 Purdue
Northwestern Hail Mary
2008 Northwestern pick 6
Penn State Phantom PI
1989 Ohio State
South Dakota
2002 Iowa and the goalposts
2008 Iowa, 55-donut
2014 Wisconsin, where we absolutely dominated much of that game and would have won the West
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That's a good list.
 


1982 vs Illinois
Gophers were 3-0 coming in, first year in the Metrodome. Kicked Ohio U around, beat Washington State bad, won at Purdue. I don't remember the score, but things were going well at the start. Illinois hit a slant pass that went the distance. You could feel the momentum die. Illinois went on to win and the Gophers never won a game the rest of the season. The next year was Smokey Joe's last, only beating Rice. Just kind of felt like the program took a major nose dive on that one slant pass. With the exception of a few years, has not recovered.
 

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