Silver lining to the embarrassing losses to Maryland, Nebraska, and Illinois this yea

Gophers_4life

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Minnesota 6-6 -- bowl eligible

Maryland 5-7

Nebraska 4-8
Illinois 4-8
 

You're a "glass is half full" kinda person, aren't you? :D

Should we feel better because we ended up with a better record than three teams that beat us? Or bang our head against the wall because we lost to three inferior teams?

Open to interpretation.

JTG
 

Yeah, I was more bemoaning the fact that we played so badly in those three games and it cost us a decent bowl game and some national credibility.
 

On second thought, I don't think it's open to interpretation. No silver lining here ... other than the fact we got a new DC out of the deal.

JTG
 

Of course the thought experiment would be flipping the Gophers and Badgers performance yesterday while holding everything else up to 2:30 PM constant.

Very easy to predict what would have happened...and would still be happening...on GH, the TC Media, and the general fanbase.

The Apocalypse would be a more pleasant place to be than if that had happened.

Fortunately that didn't transpire.

If that's a silver lining for the entire season I'll take it. However, this win and becoming bowl eligible seems much greater than that to me.
 



The last game you played always stays in the memory. Walking off the field with a victory leaves a good memory. walking off the field with a loss leaves a bad memory. So, the carry-over from the Wisconsin game will linger.

But - there is always a but - the Gophers need to follow up with a good performance in the bowl game. If they lay an egg in the bowl, the good feeling from the WI game will dissipate. The hard-core fans will not forget, but the on-the-fence fans will lose some interest. And those are the fans the program needs. Conversely, a good performance in the bowl game will linger through the off-season, when people will be making ticket-buying decisions for next year.

A bowl victory would be very important for this program.
 

The last game you played always stays in the memory. Walking off the field with a victory leaves a good memory. walking off the field with a loss leaves a bad memory. So, the carry-over from the Wisconsin game will linger.

But - there is always a but - the Gophers need to follow up with a good performance in the bowl game. If they lay an egg in the bowl, the good feeling from the WI game will dissipate. The hard-core fans will not forget, but the on-the-fence fans will lose some interest. And those are the fans the program needs. Conversely, a good performance in the bowl game will linger through the off-season, when people will be making ticket-buying decisions for next year.

A bowl victory would be very important for this program.

Very true. Your last game, especially in college football, is the most important. FBS College football is the one competitive arena that allows half of the eligible teams to win their last game.
 

If we had won those three games my nine win tell me I’m wrong thread wouldn’t look so dumb
 



On second thought, I don't think it's open to interpretation. No silver lining here ... other than the fact we got a new DC out of the deal.

JTG
I found myself in a quandary after the Nebraska game. You don't want to cheer for the Gophers to lose, however it was blatantly obvious we were going nowhere with Smith as our DC. So the sooner and more spectacularly he fails and is fired, the sooner there is a chance to salvage our season. Thankfully this moment happened after the Illinois game when we still had three games left to recover. Never in my wildest dreams though did I think we would improve as much as we did.
 


The last game you played always stays in the memory. Walking off the field with a victory leaves a good memory. walking off the field with a loss leaves a bad memory. So, the carry-over from the Wisconsin game will linger.

But - there is always a but - the Gophers need to follow up with a good performance in the bowl game. If they lay an egg in the bowl, the good feeling from the WI game will dissipate. The hard-core fans will not forget, but the on-the-fence fans will lose some interest. And those are the fans the program needs. Conversely, a good performance in the bowl game will linger through the off-season, when people will be making ticket-buying decisions for next year.

A bowl victory would be very important for this program.

Just getting into a bowl is huge, but yes a bowl win would be awesome! Even if it's in the Detroit Bowl against a lame ACC opponent ... who cares! Beat them, on national TV, and it shows high school sophs and juniors what they can be apart of at Minnesota.
 

The biggest silver lining from those three blowout losses to teams with losing records is that the cumulative effect of those pushed Robb Smith out the door. The effect was striking and immediate. The effect was also, at least so far, lasting for some duration as the Gophers played three pretty good defensive games in a row afterward (gave up an average of 16 points and 306 yards in those games to three teams who finished 21-15 overall).
 



The biggest silver lining from those three blowout losses to teams with losing records is that the cumulative effect of those pushed Robb Smith out the door. The effect was striking and immediate. The effect was also, at least so far, lasting for some duration as the Gophers played three pretty good defensive games in a row afterward (gave up an average of 16 points and 306 yards in those games to three teams who finished 21-15 overall).

It really was. Good description.
 

I always view bowl eligibility as a big deal - no matter what bowl, what opponent, or how we get there (5-7). For selfish reasons. The CFB year is short. The off-season long. It shortens the offseason and gives me another Gopher game to watch.


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If we had won those three games my nine win tell me I’m wrong thread wouldn’t look so dumb

It did not look dumb (I know, sarcasm on your part)...the Rossi Poll proves you were just willing to say it, unlike many other GHers...until now.
 

Lovie Smith got a contract extension. A gift that keeps on giving


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I always view bowl eligibility as a big deal - no matter what bowl, what opponent, or how we get there (5-7). For selfish reasons. The CFB year is short. The off-season long. It shortens the offseason and gives me another Gopher game to watch.


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This x1000!

The offseason is long and cold. We follow recruiting, chat about innane things like transfers and position changes, and watch spring practice like it's the national championship...all the while counting down the days until game #1. When that first week comes, I'm like a kid in a candy store. Then, in a flash, the season is over.

I have great memories of watching and attending Gophers bowl games around the holidays...it's a great holiday tradition in my family. So thankful to have another this year!
 

I always view bowl eligibility as a big deal - no matter what bowl, what opponent, or how we get there (5-7). For selfish reasons. The CFB year is short. The off-season long. It shortens the offseason and gives me another Gopher game to watch.


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Plus it gives the team extra practice and experience.
 

You can get to the same record in different ways. Obviously there were some really bad losses this year. But the season ended on high note and that's important. I think we'd view the season differently if we had won at Maryland and Illinois but got blown out by Purdue, NW and WI. Same record, completely different feeling.
 




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