Since I moved back in 2017 I go to all the home games and make it to at least one road game a year.
What’s weird is that I wasn’t nervous last night. Usually I’m wound up before games. But I just had a feeling we were gonna play great last night. Maybe it’s because it seems like the worse the weather is the better Minnesota plays compared to the opposing team.
I love that we are that team. I’ll never forget in 2014 after surviving a November scare in Dinkytown, Urban Meyer was asked ‘what happened out there?’
And Meyer said, ‘That’s the most physical football team we’ve played all year. And I challenge any team in America to come in here at this time of year and try to play these guys. Let’s see how you do.’
I love P.J. Fleck. I was advocating for him to come here 3 months before Claeys was let go.
But rebuilds are always hard. And while I was excited about what we could become talent wise and scheme wise offensively during the Fleck era, at times the rebuild was a struggle in 2017 and the first 2/3rds of 2018.
Kill teams were offensively challenged but there’s no question they played with a physical edge. In fact they played so physically that Pat Fitzgerald all but called us a dirty program more than once during those years.
I loved that edge even as I hated the fact we had a primitive passing attack.
Under Fleck we lost that edge for 2017 and most of 2018.
But late last year that started to change.
I was there when we gutted out that Indiana game in rain far worse than what we saw last night. That 60 yard game winner from Morgan to Bateman was the beginning of the turn.
After that we bludgeoned Purdue, lost a tough turnover filled game to northwestern before getting the 800 pound monkey off our back in taking Wisconsin to the woodshed. The bowl game was a triumph.
And we haven’t lost since. This team showed incredible resilience in those close calls out of conference. We didn’t play great but we played tough and we’ve built on that toughness.
After 3 close calls out of conference many on this board thought we were overrated. A couple posters questioned whether Minnesota would even make a bowl game (which shows how alarmist Minnesota culture truly is).
But others, myself included, were impressed with our gritty nature. We pointed to all the new and/or young guys we had playing up front and said we would develop.
And develop we have.
Think about this—other than the last 7 min of the Purdue game Minnesota has been ahead 2-4 scores throughout most of ALL THREE conference games thus far.
And each game the Golden Gophers have played better than the one before.
Purdue and Illinois we dominated but both games were marred by some enormous mistakes in special teams, turnovers, blown coverages, etc.
Last night Minnesota cut down on those mistakes.
Last night Minnesota dominated the vaunted Cornhuskers for 4 quarters.
Minnesota owned both sides of the line of scrimmage.
Our skill players made plays. And as with all great teams there have been unsung heroes too.
Sam Renner is starting to look like the second coming of Cameron Botticelli and that is high praise indeed. Micah Dew Treadway is playing far better now than he did earlier in the year. JMS has electrified the OLine. Paulson struggles to catch the ball but he and Kieft have blocked great the past couple weeks. Coney Durr and St. Juste have been very near that Eric Murray/BBC level of late.
My Dad and I had so much fun at the game. I’ve rarely felt so joyful. My voice is totally gone today because even after the game was out of reach I was still screaming like a crazy person on each defensive 2nd and 3rd down.
At one point in the 4th quarter a couple of drunk Husker fans started demanding I quiet down. They tried to play it off as good nature and I took it as such.
But did I quit yelling? Absolutely not.
As the music says before each Gopher kickoff ‘ain’t no mercy, ain’t, ain’t no mercy’
I have waited my entire life to root for a still undefeated Gopher team in mid-late October.
But more importantly, my Dad was a teenager the last time the Gophers played in the Rose Bowl. When he and my Mom got married nearly 50 years ago, my dad told my Mom that when the Gophers returned to the Rose Bowl they would go.
Last night as we walked to the Oak St. ramp, my Dad brought up the Rose Bowl and said he thinks there’s a chance.
And he’s not wrong. If Minnesota can best Rutgers and Maryland and then find a way to go 2-2 in November—-as long as one of those wins is against Wisconsin— we would almost certainly make the Big 10 title game and likely the Rose Bowl.
Now maybe that won’t happen. But it’s mid October, the Gophers are 6-0, crushed Nebraska last night and right now anything seems possible.
SKI-U-MAH let’s Row the Damn Boat!
What’s weird is that I wasn’t nervous last night. Usually I’m wound up before games. But I just had a feeling we were gonna play great last night. Maybe it’s because it seems like the worse the weather is the better Minnesota plays compared to the opposing team.
I love that we are that team. I’ll never forget in 2014 after surviving a November scare in Dinkytown, Urban Meyer was asked ‘what happened out there?’
And Meyer said, ‘That’s the most physical football team we’ve played all year. And I challenge any team in America to come in here at this time of year and try to play these guys. Let’s see how you do.’
I love P.J. Fleck. I was advocating for him to come here 3 months before Claeys was let go.
But rebuilds are always hard. And while I was excited about what we could become talent wise and scheme wise offensively during the Fleck era, at times the rebuild was a struggle in 2017 and the first 2/3rds of 2018.
Kill teams were offensively challenged but there’s no question they played with a physical edge. In fact they played so physically that Pat Fitzgerald all but called us a dirty program more than once during those years.
I loved that edge even as I hated the fact we had a primitive passing attack.
Under Fleck we lost that edge for 2017 and most of 2018.
But late last year that started to change.
I was there when we gutted out that Indiana game in rain far worse than what we saw last night. That 60 yard game winner from Morgan to Bateman was the beginning of the turn.
After that we bludgeoned Purdue, lost a tough turnover filled game to northwestern before getting the 800 pound monkey off our back in taking Wisconsin to the woodshed. The bowl game was a triumph.
And we haven’t lost since. This team showed incredible resilience in those close calls out of conference. We didn’t play great but we played tough and we’ve built on that toughness.
After 3 close calls out of conference many on this board thought we were overrated. A couple posters questioned whether Minnesota would even make a bowl game (which shows how alarmist Minnesota culture truly is).
But others, myself included, were impressed with our gritty nature. We pointed to all the new and/or young guys we had playing up front and said we would develop.
And develop we have.
Think about this—other than the last 7 min of the Purdue game Minnesota has been ahead 2-4 scores throughout most of ALL THREE conference games thus far.
And each game the Golden Gophers have played better than the one before.
Purdue and Illinois we dominated but both games were marred by some enormous mistakes in special teams, turnovers, blown coverages, etc.
Last night Minnesota cut down on those mistakes.
Last night Minnesota dominated the vaunted Cornhuskers for 4 quarters.
Minnesota owned both sides of the line of scrimmage.
Our skill players made plays. And as with all great teams there have been unsung heroes too.
Sam Renner is starting to look like the second coming of Cameron Botticelli and that is high praise indeed. Micah Dew Treadway is playing far better now than he did earlier in the year. JMS has electrified the OLine. Paulson struggles to catch the ball but he and Kieft have blocked great the past couple weeks. Coney Durr and St. Juste have been very near that Eric Murray/BBC level of late.
My Dad and I had so much fun at the game. I’ve rarely felt so joyful. My voice is totally gone today because even after the game was out of reach I was still screaming like a crazy person on each defensive 2nd and 3rd down.
At one point in the 4th quarter a couple of drunk Husker fans started demanding I quiet down. They tried to play it off as good nature and I took it as such.
But did I quit yelling? Absolutely not.
As the music says before each Gopher kickoff ‘ain’t no mercy, ain’t, ain’t no mercy’
I have waited my entire life to root for a still undefeated Gopher team in mid-late October.
But more importantly, my Dad was a teenager the last time the Gophers played in the Rose Bowl. When he and my Mom got married nearly 50 years ago, my dad told my Mom that when the Gophers returned to the Rose Bowl they would go.
Last night as we walked to the Oak St. ramp, my Dad brought up the Rose Bowl and said he thinks there’s a chance.
And he’s not wrong. If Minnesota can best Rutgers and Maryland and then find a way to go 2-2 in November—-as long as one of those wins is against Wisconsin— we would almost certainly make the Big 10 title game and likely the Rose Bowl.
Now maybe that won’t happen. But it’s mid October, the Gophers are 6-0, crushed Nebraska last night and right now anything seems possible.
SKI-U-MAH let’s Row the Damn Boat!
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