The malaise of the Gophers

Submitted by snarling wolverine on

Astonishing tidbit I found on this Gopher forum:

"Starting with the year 2000, the Gophers have exactly SEVEN wins over teams that finished the season above .500 in conference play.

Mason (3): Ohio State, Northwestern, Michigan
Brewster (1): Northwestern
Kill (2): Nebraska, Nebraska  
Claeys(1): Northwestern 

None of those teams finished better than 5-3 in conference play, none of those teams finished in the top 3 in the conference. It is truly amazing how consistent Gopher football is: If a team is really good, Minnesota ALWAYS loses, If a team is slightly above average in conference play, Minnesota almost ALWAYS loses."

Ouch.

Minnesota fans' postgame thoughts are here.

 

 

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Couzen Rick's

November 5th, 2017 at 7:55 PM ^

If you ask Gopher fans, their loss to us in 2003 (Friday night game where Navarre engineered a massive comeback) pretty much destroyed all momentum Mason had built with that program. Remember Minny was top 15 and undefeated at the time, a win there significantly alters the trajectory of their program - alas they lost the game and momentum. They fired Mason a few years later only to have Tim Brewster (currently tweeting at FSU) drive the program straight down.

Joined: 12/22/2014

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OwenGoBlue

November 5th, 2017 at 7:59 PM ^

Also, don't feed us the line "Greatest fans in college football." Great fans don't leave garbage scattered all over the place when they go home. I noticed this in 2014 on the golf course and wondered if it was because the fans were mad from their team getting whooped. Not so. I kind of get leaving dead beer cans on the ground, there were enough bums, neer-do-wells, and Cub Scouts sweeping the property for the can deposits to take care of that. But the rest of the trash, lots of it, was disgusting and it rankled me.

Joined: 04/03/2016

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rob f

November 6th, 2017 at 3:09 AM ^

several hours, as I was just reading through before pasting this: "I'm impressed that as many people waited out the rain delay as they did. On top of that, how many of them stayed to the end. However, don't feed us the cow dung that was 111K and tell us it's roast beef. Not with the upper third of the student section empty all night. Also, don't feed us the line "Greatest fans in college football." Great fans don't leave garbage scattered all over the place when they go home. I noticed this in 2014 on the golf course and wondered if it was because the fans were mad from their team getting whooped. Not so. I kind of get leaving dead beer cans on the ground, there were enough bums, neer-do-wells, and Cub Scouts sweeping the property for the can deposits to take care of that. But the rest of the trash, lots of it, was disgusting and it rankled me." As you see, though, what makes it even more "Minnesota" is that the writer "Gopher rock" congratulated us for having such a good turnout---other than the student section---and for fans staying until the end of the game despite the weather. Then he rips us, and rightfully so, for the way we trash the golf courses in particular. I can't disagree at all with what he posted in regards to the trash. That was heavily discussed several weeks ago at our tailgate for the Air Force game, when we correctly predicted among ourselves that if the State game was a night game, we'd see the place trashed worse than ever. AAGO looked more like a Landfill than a golf course that night. We have parked on AAGO nearly every game for about the last decade and have clearly seen the place get trashed worse over time, but seldom if ever worse than the state game, and as much as the spartie jabronis were part of the problem, our own fanbase is far from absolved of guilt in trashing the place. At this point we're hoping that golf course management permanantly makes the place season pass and members only, in an effort to better limit damage to the course. Assign parking, allow for a guest vehicle or two for each group, and allot additional space for those who want to be able to park there. Then spell out clearly the expectations for course "stewardship" and revoke season passes for worst offenders. We're afraid that the alternative is them waiting until some "perfect storm" of an all-day party/late game/monsoonal storm that turns the place into a virtual quagmire which then forces course management to completely shut it down from all but members like they did for just one weekend for the Minnesota game.

Joined: 11/11/2010

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Rhino77

November 5th, 2017 at 8:02 PM ^

They have invested a lot in the last few years. Minneapolis is a nice town as well with the Super Bowl being played there in February.

At the end of the day though Minnesota and Wisconsin do not produce enough athletes to sustain dominate programs. Wisconsin does a better job recruiting outside of that area and will always beat Minnesota for recruits.

Also it’s bloody cold there.

Joined: 05/27/2011

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PeteM

November 5th, 2017 at 8:29 PM ^

Interesting history. I knew Crisler brought the winged helmet from Princeton, but had no idea Crisler coached Gophers before then 

Joined: 09/15/2008

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PeteM

November 5th, 2017 at 8:17 PM ^

This was said below, but I think Mason's firing was one of the most inexplicable in the Big 10 in recent decades.  As I recall, they collapsed in the 2nd half of a bowl game & he was out.  Someone forgot to tell the AD that they were in a bowl game. Given the history of Gopher football prior to Mason, while producing players like Barber, Mahoney etc., I think keeping him should have been a no brainer.

Joined: 09/15/2008

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jmblue

November 5th, 2017 at 10:14 PM ^

BTW, visiting that Minnesota forum, I'm surprised how negative their fans are on Fleck.  I'm not totally sold on him, but he was a big catch for their program - there were a lot fanbases that wanted him.  The honeymoon's already over?  Or is it just post-loss venting?

Joined: 11/07/2008

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Jeep

November 5th, 2017 at 10:18 PM ^

They are the Golden Goofers. 

Hiring coaches is a crapshoot.  You know Bo interviewed for the Illinois job and they hired someone else.  Shortly after that, he was hired at Michigan.  Can you imagine if Illinois hired him and Michigan hires a so, so or bad coach?  What was Penn State before Joe Ped Paterno?   

Joined: 11/05/2017

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Lampuki22

November 6th, 2017 at 7:36 AM ^

Fleck is probably a great recruiter. He brought some NFL talent to the Mac snd won. Now that he has to coach he will struggle and his clown act will get old.

Career will trend like his wife choices. Hot to ... not so much. Good luck Minny.

Didn’t Minny have enough coach drama with Jerry Kill and Dilly Bar Claes? Bad move.

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GoBlueMAGNUS

November 6th, 2017 at 7:37 AM ^

I don’t disagree with digging our tailgaters with absolutely trashing the golf courses. Sometimes the walk back from the stadium is like walking through a landfill

Joined: 08/17/2009

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Perkis-Size Me

November 6th, 2017 at 12:25 PM ^

The college football landscape has changed considerably since the last time the Gophers were a college football force, which I believe was somewhere from the 1940s-1960s. 

Minnesota was never a real blueblood to begin with. Even back in the early days of the game, so it doesn't have the tradition, fan support and resources of a Michigan, OSU or ND to fall back on. Minneapolis is a great city, but it's hard to attract players to go play football there there. It is still pretty "away" from everything, even if you're in the Midwest. Cold as hell during the winter, the program has never really had a period of dominance that anyone other than our grandparents would remember, and while Minnesota is a pretty good school, it's not a Michigan or a ND that recruits would sit there and say "well at least I'm getting a top-flight education if nothing else." There's also far more schools to choose from now. Minnesota sadly has a lot of built-in disadvantages that you really just can't get around. Or it's just very difficult to get around them.

Of course, I'm a firm believer in the idea that the right coach can make any school a winner, regardless of what kind of resources the school has at its disposal. A program like IU or Minnesota can contend on a national stage with the right guy. How else do you explain Boise State under Chris Petersen? He routinely whipped the crap out of schools with FAR superior talent and far more resources at their disposal. PJ Fleck could create something similar at Minnesota if he stays long enough. 

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