Brian Bennett: If MN fans aren't going bonkers for TCU game, not sure they ever will

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per ESPN's Q&A:

@BennettESPN what chances are you giving the Gophers of pulling off upset vs TCU?

Brian Bennett: Just 13 short weeks from tomorrow, Minnesota will host probable No. 2 TCU on a Thursday night. Does that get your blood pumping? An upset would be a monumental win for Jerry Kill's program, and I like that the Gophers have all offseason to come up with things to throw at the Horned Frogs. The game will be at TCF Bank Stadium, and if Minnesota faithful aren't going bonkers for this one, I'm not sure they ever will. But (and you knew there was a but coming, didn't you?) what scares me is that this isn't a great matchup for Kill's team. The Gophers struggled last year against teams with speed who could spread them out -- see the losses to Missouri and Ohio State, which were perfectly excusable, and also the upset loss to Illinois and the near disaster at home against Purdue. TCU led Minnesota 30-0 after three quarters last year in Fort Worth before going on to win 30-7. The Gophers have been much better suited to win a brawl in close quarters than a sprint out in space. And the Horned Frogs figure to have one of the best and fastest offenses in the country again. I'd favor TCU by about 10 points right now but can't wait to see what kind of game plan Kill and his staff devise as a counter punch this summer.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/119714/big-ten-mailbag-gophers-chances-vs-tcu

Go Gophers!!
 

Night time game vs. the #2 team in the nation. If we don't sell out it's embarrassing
 


You're never going to get a higher-rated non-conference team in here. However, there's a pile of tailor-made excuses for why people won't go: Game's too late. Have to work next day. Cabin for the weekend. Kids want to go to State Fair. And on and on.
 

Back to school shopping. Do the Vikings have a preseason game? I really hope it sells out but am not sure it will.
 


Breakin' The Plane said:
You're never going to get a higher-rated non-conference team in here. However, there's a pile of tailor-made excuses for why people won't go: Game's too late. Have to work next day. Cabin for the weekend. Kids want to go to State Fair. And on and on.
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Valid excuses that are not on the fans, but on the scheduling folks at the Universities. Scheduling a Thursday night game during the state fair in the twilight of Minnesota summer when people are trying to soak up the last few minutes at the cabins before winterizing are facts of August in MN. If the U gets upset about fans not showing up for those reasons they don't know their audience very well.
 

That is a huge weekend for rummage sales too. People need to be up early on Friday.

And who knows if the twins will still be in first place (please let this happen). People may be too wrapped up with them to get into football.
 

I am pretty confident TCF will have a healthy crowd for the game, and will probably be a sell out. Given the momentum from last season, I don't see a crowd of only 30,000 showing up.

I also don't buy into the doom and gloom line of thinking that Bennett throws out there. Yes, we struggled last year against TCU. But we showed we could hang with OSU and Missouri. Some coaching blunders and unfortunate turnovers turned the tide of the last two games. The TCU game was early in the season, so our players didn't have that level of experience against that type of talent.

Wacky things happen in the first game of the season. Maybe TCU comes out flat. Maybe Limegrover actually puts together a decent offensive gameplan. Maybe Mitch settles down and has a great game. We will find out in 13 weeks. It should be a fun night regardless of outcome.
 

Kinda pathetic that Gopher fans are already getting embarrassed and making excuses for something that hasn't happened and probably won't.
 



I have a hard time believing there is a single Gopher fan out there that absolutely needs to go to the fair on that Thursday night.
 

Actually, the cabin excuse works in favor of the U. I would much rather have the game Thursday night so I can still go up to the cabin for the weekend. Sure beats people having to decide which one to choose if it were on a Saturday
 

DLguy said:
Actually, the cabin excuse works in favor of the U. I would much rather have the game Thursday night so I can still go up to the cabin for the weekend. Sure beats people having to decide which one to choose if it were on a Saturday
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DLguy is on point.
 

I would bet on a sellout. TCU fans will mop up the leftover tickets. Some of the same reasons we are giving for making it tough on us (last of the great weather, state fair) make it a great road trip for them.
 



DLguy said:
Actually, the cabin excuse works in favor of the U. I would much rather have the game Thursday night so I can still go up to the cabin for the weekend. Sure beats people having to decide which one to choose if it were on a Saturday
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Yep.

For all the public statements about thursday night openers the past few years, the U absolutely has done nothing to help feature these games or make an effort to emphasize them as an event.
It's pretty obvious to me that the U as an entity doesn't want the home opener to be week 1, but they are obliging coach Kill.
No tailgating until what time? 4?
No special events/gatherings during the day.
A continued surrender to the state fair(I know there are politics at work, I just think it's dumb)

Campus should be buzzing from 7 AM to kickoff. That's what the goal should be.

It's going to be close to a sellout simply because it's an opponent that people recognize, but it's still not going to be close to the type of event it should be.
 

This should absolutely be a sell out, but OSU last year also should have been.

Does anyone still believe the myth that the MPLS pro sports community doesn't negatively impact the Gophers?
 

Ole said:
Yep.

For all the public statements about thursday night openers the past few years, the U absolutely has done nothing to help feature these games or make an effort to emphasize them as an event.
It's pretty obvious to me that the U as an entity doesn't want the home opener to be week 1, but they are obliging coach Kill.
No tailgating until what time? 4?
No special events/gatherings during the day.
A continued surrender to the state fair(I know there are politics at work, I just think it's dumb)

Campus should be buzzing from 7 AM to kickoff. That's what the goal should be.

It's going to be close to a sellout simply because it's an opponent that people recognize, but it's still not going to be close to the type of event it should be.
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In the past I have been very critical of the Marketing Department in regards to Gopher Football. Each year they step it up a little and they've gone from terrible to mediocre. I have hope this year! I just renewed my Season Tickets (upgraded) and the experience was excellent.

If Maturi were here, it would be a disaster - with Teague in, I'm very hopeful. Knowing that all eyes will be on the U of M, I think we'll all be impressed (except for GW that is)
 

LakerFan said:
I would bet on a sellout. TCU fans will mop up the leftover tickets. Some of the same reasons we are giving for making it tough on us (last of the great weather, state fair) make it a great road trip for them.
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Last year at the TCU road-game we met some great folks down there. And now this year, they are planning on making the trip up here. From what I'm hearing from our TCU friends...they are bringing a big crowd up to TCF. It will be a great college football day!
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
You're never going to get a higher-rated non-conference team in here. However, there's a pile of tailor-made excuses for why people won't go: Game's too late. Have to work next day. Cabin for the weekend. Kids want to go to State Fair. And on and on.
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Two years ago I missed the entire 1st quarter of the Thurs night opener because the U likes to charge for parking and then not have that space available... If I was still a season ticket holder I would have sold the TCU game for cheap as it was the one game I def didn't want to go to


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Students will be in full force, freshmen and new transfers get in free, it's syllabus week so nobody will have homework, parties, fraternity row will be bumping. It's going to be fun.
 

Ski U Master said:
Valid excuses that are not on the fans, but on the scheduling folks at the Universities. Scheduling a Thursday night game during the state fair in the twilight of Minnesota summer when people are trying to soak up the last few minutes at the cabins before winterizing are facts of August in MN. If the U gets upset about fans not showing up for those reasons they don't know their audience very well.
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So the U should force its football team to open on the road every season?
 

John Galt said:
This should absolutely be a sell out, but OSU last year also should have been.

Does anyone still believe the myth that the MPLS pro sports community doesn't negatively impact the Gophers?
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As a general concept, there may be some impact from pro sports on Gopher ticket sales - but for the TCU game - the Twins are out of town, and the Vikes do not have a game that night.

I think Gopher attendance may be slightly impacted by pro sports (in the sense that fans decide to buy vikes tix instead of Gopher tix), but the major impact on Gopher attendance still comes down to perception. Casual fans who don't follow the program closely - which unfortunately includes a sizable % of the student body - still are working under the perception that Gopher FB isn't worth watching. We have not just one, but two generations of fans who have grown up with fan apathy and media hostility toward Gopher FB. Two good (but not great) seasons back-to-back are not enough to counteract 40 years of "The Gophers Stink!" It will take several more years of solid play to begin the task of re-building the fan base from the ground up. Kids in elementary and junior high today are the season-ticket holders of tomorrow. Get them hooked on Gopher FB, and start creating the demand for tickets. (kids will bug dad to take them to games....)
 


Northrop said:
Def Leppard with Styx and Tesla at the Grandstand that evening.
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Gopher fans could come on down to Sioux Falls on watch the same lineup on Aug. 8th. NO EXCUSE for not showing up to the game!
 


Zero chance this is a sellout.
 

Maximus said:
So the U should force its football team to open on the road every season?
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No, but they should understand the local entertainment climate that may impact attendance and adjust their expectations accordingly.
 



Spoofin said:
Zero chance this is a sellout.
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Over 44,000 for last year's opener vs Eastern Illinois, you don't think there's a chance of 8,000 more when you combine TCU fans coming up, a top 2 opponent, and more excitement about the program?
 

Ole said:
Me too, but there are too few of us.
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Should be a decent student following as this game is included as part of Freshman orientation week. My son will be a Freshman at the U this fall and he is already stoked for this game.

Also, FWIW: I have a couple of sets of friends who dropped their season tickets a few years back due to family situations. They do still attend two or three games a year and the TCU game is a must see game for them.
 

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