The Gophers shouldn't apologize for 7-2 record...

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GopherLady

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but it seems like there is so much negativity, you'd think the Gophers were 2-7. Former Gophers linebacker, Sean Hoffman and I talk about this, the awful targeting call, the beautiful day, and more. Take a listen - and please, comment with anything you'd like to hear more or less of, questions you have, or things we should talk about next week.

<a class="embedly-card" href="http://www.1500espn.com/gopherhole-2/2016/11/gophers-shouldnt-apologize-tied-big-10-west-lead-ep-5/">The Gophers shouldn't apologize for being tied for Big 10 West lead (ep. 5) - 1500 ESPN Twin Cities</a><script async src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>

With Hoff.jpgWith Hoff.jpg
 

respect gopherlady im with you 7-2 is dope - are you down to go 1-0 next week?
 


Been said before, absolutely is no reason to apologize for 7-2. The flip side is that nobody should be acting like it is some monumental accomplishment that we have gotten to 7-2 given who we have played so far this year. Similar to getting bowl eligible we have done the minimum that a middle of the pack team should do. We have proven we clearly are not bottom feeders in the conference and we have failed both our chances so far to prove we are more then just middle of the packers by losing to Penn State and Iowa. The potential is still there for this to be a very nice season but it will take at least one win and more than likely 2 over the final 3 weeks to really accomplish that.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Been said before, absolutely is no reason to apologize for 7-2. The flip side is that nobody should be acting like it is some monumental accomplishment that we have gotten to 7-2 given who we have played so far this year. Similar to getting bowl eligible we have done the minimum that a middle of the pack team should do. We have proven we clearly are not bottom feeders in the conference and we have failed both our chances so far to prove we are more then just middle of the packers by losing to Penn State and Iowa. The potential is still there for this to be a very nice season but it will take at least one win and more than likely 2 over the final 3 weeks to really accomplish that.
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I don't think anyone is...but taking the temperature, on this board, my Twitter, Facebook, the lack of people at the game...people are acting like we are the worst team in the Big 10. No need to over celebrate (let's do that if we beat the Badgers) - but let's enjoy having the possibility of winning 10 games.
 


After Penn St. and Iowa I was seriously concerned about a Michigan St. like collapse where the team just seems to give up emotionally. Rather they kept fighting and earned themselves a bowl game. They should be proud.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
After Penn St. and Iowa I was seriously concerned about a Michigan St. like collapse where the team just seems to give up emotionally. Rather they kept fighting and earned themselves a bowl game. They should be proud.
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A lot of that is Leidner. Guys respect the heck out of him and would run through a brick wall for him. Say what you want about his physical talent, the guy is a leader.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
After Penn St. and Iowa I was seriously concerned about a Michigan St. like collapse where the team just seems to give up emotionally. Rather they kept fighting and earned themselves a bowl game. They should be proud.
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That is a good point, and that's a team that's done so well under Dantonio. We talked about this on the podcast as well, but the fact that we finished the half so poorly, and they still came out and dominated the 2nd half, that was fight and persistence.
 

Do you believe in miracles? Oh wait. Do you believe in three miracles?
 



GopherLady said:
I don't think anyone is...but taking the temperature, on this board, my Twitter, Facebook, the lack of people at the game...people are acting like we are the worst team in the Big 10. No need to over celebrate (let's do that if we beat the Badgers) - but let's enjoy having the possibility of winning 10 games.
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See there again though I don't think anyone should be disappointed we are 7-2 at this point however I don't really understand how people can feel great about it either. 4 and 2 in the conference is great on paper but when you consider the 4 has come against bottom feeders and the 2 has come against teams we want to be viewed on the same level with, it makes for a very frustrating season.

At this point this is a really average season. No bad loses (in terms of losing to a team we shouldn't), no great wins. These last 3 Big Ten games will shape the story of the 2016 season. The potential is there for a great season the potential is there for a below average one, and the potential is there to fall somewhere in-between. All depends on what happens against Nebraska, Northwestern, and Wisconsin.
 

GopherLady said:
I don't think anyone is...but taking the temperature, on this board, my Twitter, Facebook, the lack of people at the game...people are acting like we are the worst team in the Big 10. No need to over celebrate (let's do that if we beat the Badgers) - but let's enjoy having the possibility of winning 10 games.
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Not acting, hoping. Not just trolls either. There are plenty of "Gopher fans" out there who may even be praying for a Gopher loss on a weekly basis. They are convinced that giving Claeys the job was a horrendous mistake and it would be compounded by signing him to an expensive contract extension.

Wait until this week's discussion. There will be plenty of people saying that Minnesota has no chance to beat Nebraska. Coupled by people telling us how incredibly over-rated the Cornhuskers are.

Meaning that while the Gophers are a much worse team than the Cornhuskers, if they beat them, it will be just another no credit victory.

:rolleyes:
 

Yeah, some Gopher fans are cynical. But who can blame them?The stadium won't be packed each week until the Gophs win a division title. That was the expectation when Kill took over the program and which Clays gladly inherited. The beauty of the schedule is we'll find out during the next 3 weeks just how good this team is. I'm happy for the players right now. They should feel good about themselves and optimistic about the remainder of the regular season. Go Gophers!
 

Anything over seven wins will exceed my expectation at this juncture in Claeys' first full year.

This team is not done yet. There are three games left to play.
 



GopherLady said:
but it seems like there is so much negativity, you'd think the Gophers were 2-7. Former Gophers linebacker, Sean Hoffman and I talk about this, the awful targeting call, the beautiful day, and more. Take a listen - and please, comment with anything you'd like to hear more or less of, questions you have, or things we should talk about next week.

<a class="embedly-card" href="http://www.1500espn.com/gopherhole-2/2016/11/gophers-shouldnt-apologize-tied-big-10-west-lead-ep-5/">The Gophers shouldn't apologize for being tied for Big 10 West lead (ep. 5) - 1500 ESPN Twin Cities</a><script async src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>

View attachment 4507View attachment 4507
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PREACH
 

Flip-flop the Iowa/PSU and Rutgers results and people would be feeling better. Crowds, media, coaches, and general public all have the perception that this team has simply taken advantage of an incredibly easy schedule, and struggled mightily at times just to get that far.

Beat Nebraska! I will be there with entire family to cheer Gophers on!
 

They shouldn't apologize for 7-2 but they also shouldn't congratulate themselves.
The record against FBS opponents of the teams they have beaten is 14-35.
 

Mick Turition said:
Flip-flop the Iowa/PSU and Rutgers results and people would be feeling better. Crowds, media, coaches, and general public all have seen that this team has simply taken advantage of an incredibly easy schedule, and struggled mightily at times just to get that far.

Beat Nebraska! I will be there with entire family to cheer Gophers on!
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Agree. But fixed it for you.

Nothing to apologize for being 7-2...also nothing to write home about.

If this team finishes 7-5 it means 100% it was due to an easy schedule. If this team gets to 8 wins, maybe they are pretty good (or maybe northwestern isn't any good either...they lost to Illinois state and their best win is against 5-4 Indiana or 5-4 Iowa (who also lost to an FCS team)).

If they get to 9 wins they'll have broken through the ceiling I had in my mind for the Kill/Claeys regimes. I'll gladly eat my crow.
 

0, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 4, 5, 2

Those are our number of conference wins in the previous 9 seasons. This is only the second time since 1972 we have won 4 consecutive conference games. You are only judged against your peers...big ten teams. The Gophers are better compared to the rest of the conference than they have usually been. No apologies. Enjoy the season people.
 


DarrenTheGreek said:
0, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 4, 5, 2

Those are our number of conference wins in the previous 9 seasons. This is only the second time since 1972 we have won 4 consecutive conference games. You are only judged against your peers...big ten teams. The Gophers are better compared to the rest of the conference than they have usually been. No apologies. Enjoy the season people.
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Exactly. Remember when the schedule was loaded?

Let's not forget Psu is a very good team and we still have to play neb and whisky.

Not such a weak schedule after all.

The bitching here is ridiculous.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
0, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 4, 5, 2

Those are our number of conference wins in the previous 9 seasons. This is only the second time since 1972 we have won 4 consecutive conference games. You are only judged against your peers...big ten teams. The Gophers are better compared to the rest of the conference than they have usually been. No apologies. Enjoy the season people.
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So very very true. I told my son that in my life time the Gophers havent won 7 games in a season very often. Maybe 4 times since 1980? Enjoy it! And maybe a fun bowl game in our future with at least 1 more win
 

The Iowa/Penn St. games were tough, but the path to the Big Ten West title would come down to winning at Nebraska and Wisconsin anyway. Wisconsin will mop up Illinois and Purdue and have 2 losses when we go to see them. The bummer being that if we win those two (Iowa/PSU), we could win at Nebraska, beat Northwestern and that Wisconsin game would have been irrelevant (for the West title).

It's November 7 and our team is in contention for the Big Ten West title. Enjoy.
 

No apology needed if Claeys wins a trophy this year. Wish that game wasn't always last on the schedule, however.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

saintpauljeff said:
No apology needed if Claeys wins a trophy this year. Wish that game wasn't always last on the schedule, however.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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lt November home game in TCF against Rutgers would have about 1,200 people in the stands.
 

Agreed we shouldn't apologize for our record. We put ourselves in a position where we can control our own destiny with three games to go. We can reevaluate at the end of the year, but if you are in a spot to win your conference with three games to play and not needing to count on help from any other teams in other games, you are doing alright.
 

They've reached my expectations . ( 7 ) wins. I see one more possible win against Northwestern if we can stop a premier WR in Carr and the RB Jackson. A reality check here. We aren't in the same class as Wisconsin. Maybe a shot at Nebraska if Armstrong is out. And finally , we need Mitch to ramp it up the last three games to get one win. 8 wins gets us a bow in California. I can't believe we wouldn't get a large group fans out in San Diego for the Holiday Bowl
 

A win is a win. Except in the eyes of Gopher fans, in which case many times a win is actually a loss.
 

Tackle4loss said:
lt November home game in TCF against Rutgers would have about 1,200 people in the stands.
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lots of empty seats for a Nov home game against Ohio State too a few years ago when I sold my lower bowl ticket for $20
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
0, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 4, 5, 2

Those are our number of conference wins in the previous 9 seasons. This is only the second time since 1972 we have won 4 consecutive conference games. You are only judged against your peers...big ten teams. The Gophers are better compared to the rest of the conference than they have usually been. No apologies. Enjoy the season people.
Click to expand...

Based on what? We have 4 Big Ten wins against teams with a combined record of 5-19 in the conference. Of those 5 wins, 3 came when they played each other and somebody had to win, the other 2 were against the dumpster fire that is Michigan State this season.

I guess it boils down to expectations, clearly there are a lot of fans that are content to do the minimum, beat bad teams and feel like that is an accomplishment because we got bowl eligible. If we weren't sitting here on November 7th with 7 wins it would have been really disappointing because it would have meant we lost to a bad team.

The good news is that the potential for a very good/great season is still sitting there, but based on what we have done so far all we have really proven is that we aren't a bad team, which counts for something but doesn't put us in the class of teams where most of us want to be.
 

Nothing wrong with being skeptical due to who we've played so far. But nothing wrong with being excited about the opportunity ahead either.
 

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