8-4 two years in a row (regular season). We appear to be back to Mason-like success

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Sparlimb

Sparlimb

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Occasional wins over rivals, 4 to 5 Big Ten wins per year, 7 to 8 wins on the season. Feels much like the early 2000's did to me. I'm not sure we should realistically expect any more than that next year as the non-conference schedule ramps up in strength again. What do you think will happen first, folks get tired of 4 to 5 Big Ten wins a season once again or Kill breaks through with a special season (6+ BT wins)?
 

People will get tried of Mason like success.

If Kill can break through the two things that are always talked about need to improve facilities and recruiting.
 


Go Gophers Rah said:
Things are improving Debbie Downer.
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After the Brewster train wreck, there was no place to go but up. The OP's point is, have we reached the ceiling? I think it is a legitimate question. However, I think we can be better if we can recruit a qb that can actually pass the ball. I believe they still pass the ball in H.S. fb, but apparently the qb's we recruit have never done this before coming to MN or it at least appears that way. Recruit a g-d qb. ML will not lead us to the promised land...he has proven that quite clearly today.
 

8-4 two years in a row (regular season). We appear to be back to Mason-like ...

What do you think will happen first, folks get tired of 4 to 5 Big Ten wins a season once again or Kill breaks through with a special season (6+ BT wins)?
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I think the latter...as soon as next year, but probably the year after. This team and program appear to be headed in the right direction. Would really love better facilities sooner than later...and an NFL caliber QB wouldn't hurt either, lol!
 


Sparlimb said:
Occasional wins over rivals, 4 to 5 Big Ten wins per year, 7 to 8 wins on the season. Feels much like the early 2000's did to me. I'm not sure we should realistically expect any more than that next year as the non-conference schedule ramps up in strength again. What do you think will happen first, folks get tired of 4 to 5 Big Ten wins a season once again or Kill breaks through with a special season (6+ BT wins)?
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Get back to me with this when Kill has been here 10 years. Bad post.
 

Imo, a clueless, but not surprising post. Sorry but in a 12 month span Mason never thumped Michigan in Ann Arbor, thumped Iowa, thumped Penn State, thumped and then beat again a historically successful program like Nebraska (twice and one of them in Lincoln), gave the #5/6 team in the country in tOSU all they could handle for 4 qtrs, or have the opportunity to win a game and win the B1G championship/go to the B1G championship game.

Overruled and your point is not well taken. :rolleyes:

Just have to say that the attempts by some to continuously and in a rather self-serving manner "move the marker" on this team and staff on the question of what constitutes whether or not they are improving each season in comparison to the "Mason era" is ridiculous and often wrong. Our Gophers are in fact improving greatly and expect them to continue to do so moving forward.

If some of you have a personal agenda that is fine, but at least be honest about it. smh.

Go Gophers! Ski-U-Mah!
 

I think the ceiling is MSU and Wisconsin type success. Top 15 to 20 rankings and 5 or 6 B 10 wins in many years and a run to the B 10 championship game every few years. 9 and 10 win seasons then 6 or 7 during any rebuilding years.
 

Sparlimb said:
Occasional wins over rivals, 4 to 5 Big Ten wins per year, 7 to 8 wins on the season. Feels much like the early 2000's did to me. I'm not sure we should realistically expect any more than that next year as the non-conference schedule ramps up in strength again. What do you think will happen first, folks get tired of 4 to 5 Big Ten wins a season once again or Kill breaks through with a special season (6+ BT wins)?
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Tool.
 



Sparlim What do you think will happen first said:
No one got tired of 4 or 5 big ten wins per season, because 4 or 5 big ten wins was never the norm.
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When did Mason's teams - and I am somewhat of a Mason apologist too - post back-to-back 8-4 regular seasons with the Gophers? I'll answer that for you, NEVER. That was the problem. Too many rebuilding trips because GM was not that committed to the program.
 

GoForGold said:
When did Mason's teams - and I am somewhat of a Mason apologist too - post back-to-back 8-4 regular seasons with the Gophers? I'll answer that for you, NEVER. That was the problem. To many rebuilding trips because GM was not that committed to the program.
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You beat me to the punch. Mason's two best successive years were an 8-5 and 10-3 in 2002 and 2003 respectively. Both of those teams won a bowl game to reach their final win total. Mason had a grand total of three 8-win or better seasons out of the ten he was head coach. I don't post this to dis Mason, but people need to get a bit of perspective. Kill's done a good job getting us to where we are. We just need a few more athletes.
 



My god, if the loss wasn't bad enough...now we're back to describing Mason like "success"

Mason averaged 3-5 in the B1G. During his TEN years at the helm, only TWO teams in the entire conference failed to finish in the top 3 of the conference Indiana and...Minnesota. The Gophers also NEVER defeated a B1G opponent who would end up finishing in the top 3 of the conference. 4-6 against Iowa, 2-8 against Wisconsin...if any of this is or will be acceptable to the fan base that's just pathetic.

If Jerry Kill has Mason like "success", I hope we don't stick with it for ten years again.
 

50PoundHead said:
You beat me to the punch. Mason's two best successive years were an 8-5 and 10-3 in 2002 and 2003 respectively. Both of those teams won a bowl game to reach their final win total. Mason had a grand total of three 8-win or better seasons out of the ten he was head coach. I don't post this to dis Mason, but people need to get a bit of perspective. Kill's done a good job getting us to where we are. We just need a few more athletes.
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Yep, and considering the schedule this year, an 8-4 season is remarkable. TCU was no cupcake in the non-conference, unlike Mason's non-conference schedules, and we had Ohio State and Michigan on the schedule too. Even this year I'd take most Big Ten teams on the road over Michigan in the Big House.
 

I believe that Kill is the right guy for the program, but none of us know for sure if he is until the games are played. This year I thought 6-6 would be the limit. Now I'm disappointed that we didn't win today, but at the beginning of the season, I would have been giddy with 8-4. Now, I know expectations change as the season goes on, but I never felt like we were dominating in any of our conference wins outside of Iowa. They made plays on both sides of the ball when needed. How many Mason teams could you say that about? But I did love Mason's running game.

Now that we have the stadium. Better facilities would help us take another step. I think Kill's recruiting is going well. He may not get the 4-5 star guys, but he's getting the guys that fit his system, and he "seems" to be coaching them up and improving them season to season. The only 2 positions that I will withhold that judgment on are QB and WR. Unfortunately in today's college football, those are probably the two positions that you need playmakers at.
 

This thread is a couple seasons too soon. This is kills 4th year and we have a chance at 9 wins yet. We can all see there is room for improvement and he will be the first to tell you that we have not "arrived" yet. If we keep winning 7-8 games for the next 3-4 years then we can talk about being stuck at our ceiling. We had a tougher schedule this year and I still view it as a success. It sucks to lose to Wisconsin, especially when we feel like we can beat them, but let's step away from the ledge here.
 


GO4INLALALAND said:
After the Brewster train wreck, there was no place to go but up. The OP's point is, have we reached the ceiling? I think it is a legitimate question. However, I think we can be better if we can recruit a qb that can actually pass the ball. I believe they still pass the ball in H.S. fb, but apparently the qb's we recruit have never done this before coming to MN or it at least appears that way. Recruit a g-d qb. ML will not lead us to the promised land...he has proven that quite clearly today.
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Very glib, but devoid of substantive thought. Well done.
 


Of the top seasons in the last 30 years, I'd put this 3rd:

2003
1999
2014

In that sense, it is 'Mason-like'. But don't have full results yet. If we go 6-6 and to the Music City Bowls the next two years, we'll have our answer. If we go 9-3 and 10-2 with a couple Outbacks, we'll have reached the next level.
 

MGGopher said:
I think the latter...as soon as next year, but probably the year after. This team and program appear to be headed in the right direction. Would really love better facilities sooner than later...and an NFL caliber QB wouldn't hurt either, lol!
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Definitely headed in the right direction. Need to continue to improve.
 


This baby's definitely going in the right direction. This team is better than last year's. This team belonged right where they were: playing for the right to go to the conference championship. Repeat that to yourself a couple times. That's rare air for Minnesota. They have steps yet to take, but there's reason to be happy, optimistic and excited. But not satisfied. That's where I part ways with many on the board who are trying to browbeat us into being satisfied. I think one of the keys to life is to be able to be happy without being completely satisfied. Coach Kill won't be satisfied until we're in the next game and winning it, so why should any of the rest of us be?
 

One positive I would take is that you would expect them to be better next year. Cobb is gone but besides that the talent level should be better.
 

8-4 two years in a row (regular season). We appear to be back to Mason-like ...

gopherbadgerman said:
One positive I would take is that you would expect them to be better next year. Cobb is gone but besides that the talent level should be better.
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That's the hope. That needs to be the trend if we want to become a player in the Big Ten.

It gets harder and harder to keep improving when the win total reaches 8-9 games. Making that jump to 10-11 wins is the hardest thing to do.

If Kill can get there before taking a step back (there is always an inevitable step back), he will have changed the program. He'll have something to sell recruits and donors. If he can't get to 10-11 before that step back, then he may never get there. We have to win a big ten title or get to a major bowl game in the next two or 3 years if we want to get to where we want to go. These next couple years are crucial.

Next year is a prime opportunity with how the schedule breaks down. 10-2 needs to be the team's goal.
 

I don't mind an 8-4 season, because our schedule was a bit more difficult than last year.
 

8-4 with losses to two top five teams in the country in OSU and TCU and a loss to WI on the road. The Illinois loss was frustrating and was the low point for the gophers. The only game that we were really never in was TCU. We are a much better team than last year and I anticipate we will be even better next season.

When the season started I wasn't aware that Michigan would be so down, but looking at our big ten schedule, I would have rather played wisconsin's opponents from the east in Maryland and Rutgers than the two we got in Miichigan and OSU. People have to look at the big picture. Many improvements need to be made, and we need better QB play but this team is moving in the right direction.
 

Bad Gopher said:
This baby's definitely going in the right direction. This team is better than last year's. This team belonged right where they were: playing for the right to go to the conference championship. Repeat that to yourself a couple times. That's rare air for Minnesota. They have steps yet to take, but there's reason to be happy, optimistic and excited. But not satisfied. That's where I part ways with many on the board who are trying to browbeat us into being satisfied. I think one of the keys to life is to be able to be happy without being completely satisfied. Coach Kill won't be satisfied until we're in the next game and winning it, so why should any of the rest of us be?
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Believe it or not, 99% of us feel the same way. Don't confuse recognizing and offering up a degree of praise for good, solid work as settling or being "satisfied" just because some are not reacting in an over-the-top, hyperbolic and somewhat childish way of complete and utter disgust towards the team and staff following today's very disappointing result.
 

If we go 4-4 or better in the conference next year, we will have the most total wins in a three year stretch since the Big Ten went to eight games in 1971.

My hope is that Kill will bring stability to the program. Mason had some good years but also had some pretty bad ones. We went 4-7 in his 5th year.
 

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