Now 3-0 for second straight year, Minnesota looks for different ending to season

BleedGopher

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 11, 2008
Messages
60,588
Reaction score
15,675
Points
113
per Baltimore Sun:

A year ago, Minnesota’s 3-0 start seemed to be a sign that the magic first-year coach P.J. Fleck had performed in turning Western Michigan from Mid-American Conference doormat into a national story would continue immediately with the Gophers.

The team’s unbeaten season ended with a 31-24 defeat to Maryland, which upset Minnesota in Minneapolis behind third-string quarterback Max Bortenschlager. The Gophers quietly returned to the norm — mediocrity — in finishing Fleck’s first season 5-7.

Minnesota gets a chance to rewrite that script Saturday, when the Gophers visit Maryland Stadium. With three straight victories to start the 2018 season, Fleck and his players know what happened last fall doesn't matter.

Still, the rebuilding of Minnesota under Fleck has parallels to what he did at Western Michigan, where he took a team that won a single game his first season in 2013 to 8-5 records his second and third years, before starting 13-0 in 2016 and losing to Wisconsin in the Cotton Bowl in what turned out to be Fleck’s final game.

“A long time ago, I was told comparisons steal your joy, because there are so many expectations when you compare yourself to somebody,” Fleck said on Tuesday’s Big Ten coaches’ teleconference. “The one similarity we do have from our second year at Western Michigan is we played an enormous amount of freshmen.

"I think we’ve played 30 freshmen at this point. The 60 out of the 110 that are on our team are freshmen. We’re very, very young and very inexperienced at key positions. … I think the big difference is, in the Big Ten, being young and being 18 years old is a little different than being 18 years old in the Mid-American Conference in terms of the physicality up front.”

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/terps/tracking-the-terps/bs-sp-minnesota-maryland-0920-story.html

Go Gophers!!
 

I read it has been more than 120 years since a new gopher football coach had started 3-0, 3-0. Why aren't we celebrating progress more than we are? 120 years? What has there been, 20 coaches with that chance that failed at two 3-0 seasons to start their tenure here?
 

3-0 is great.

4-0 and I'm on the verge of becoming a believer.

5-0 and I'll be attempting cartwheels.

JTG
 

I read it has been more than 120 years since a new gopher football coach had started 3-0, 3-0. Why aren't we celebrating progress more than we are? 120 years? What has there been, 20 coaches with that chance that failed at two 3-0 seasons to start their tenure here?

Because how they finish is a little more important? He went 2-7 after and closed out with two terrible shutout losses.
 

You can't turn around 50 years of history in a few weeks.

If you want people to truly believe in the Gophers - especially casual fans, and media from other sections of the country - a 3-0 start is not going to do it. I honestly don't think a 4-0 or 5-0 start will do it. To truly turn around public opinion on the Gophers THIS YEAR, it's going to take something monumental - on the level of beating Ohio State - or beating Wisconsin to win the Division.

Now, I really don't see that happening this year. There are signs of growth and progress in the program, but it's probably going to take a few years to truly change opinions. Let's say the Gophers win 8 games this year - and win, say 9 or 10 games in 2019. then, 2020 becomes the season that could really tip the scales. Maybe a B1G title, or a berth in the NCAA playoffs - and then, people will be forced to re-evaluate the program.

Anything short of that, though, and the old perceptions of the Gophers program will persist.
 


You can't turn around 50 years of history in a few weeks.

If you want people to truly believe in the Gophers - especially casual fans, and media from other sections of the country - a 3-0 start is not going to do it. I honestly don't think a 4-0 or 5-0 start will do it. To truly turn around public opinion on the Gophers THIS YEAR, it's going to take something monumental - on the level of beating Ohio State - or beating Wisconsin to win the Division.

Now, I really don't see that happening this year. There are signs of growth and progress in the program, but it's probably going to take a few years to truly change opinions. Let's say the Gophers win 8 games this year - and win, say 9 or 10 games in 2019. then, 2020 becomes the season that could really tip the scales. Maybe a B1G title, or a berth in the NCAA playoffs - and then, people will be forced to re-evaluate the program.

Anything short of that, though, and the old perceptions of the Gophers program will persist.

Agree. Eight in the regular season this year gets people to notice. A nice bowl win over a good SEC team to get 9 wins grabs their attention. 9-10 in regular season in 2019 and a nice bowl win to get to 10 or 11 wins means sellouts in 2020.
 

You can't turn around 50 years of history in a few weeks.

If you want people to truly believe in the Gophers - especially casual fans, and media from other sections of the country - a 3-0 start is not going to do it. I honestly don't think a 4-0 or 5-0 start will do it. To truly turn around public opinion on the Gophers THIS YEAR, it's going to take something monumental - on the level of beating Ohio State - or beating Wisconsin to win the Division.

Now, I really don't see that happening this year. There are signs of growth and progress in the program, but it's probably going to take a few years to truly change opinions. Let's say the Gophers win 8 games this year - and win, say 9 or 10 games in 2019. then, 2020 becomes the season that could really tip the scales. Maybe a B1G title, or a berth in the NCAA playoffs - and then, people will be forced to re-evaluate the program.

Anything short of that, though, and the old perceptions of the Gophers program will persist.

Spot on.

On thing for certain is that skepticism is alive and well in regards to Gopher football. And there are many reasons to justify it.

Incremental improvements is what I hope for and I do expect a bowl this year and with a veteran team returning, 2019 should be a much better season.

As far as filling TCF, it will take a BIG West title and a top tier bowl appearance. Who knows when and if that will happen.
 




Top Bottom