Post Game Thread: Gophers Blow Horrendous Game to a HORRIBLE Northwestern Team


So much good in the first half.....so much bad in the second.

Def has to figure their sh!t out because there is no way they should have given up that many points to Northwestern.

The throw to BSF may have been high and hot but if he thinks he is playing on Sundays next year he has to make that catch.

Redding fielding that punt in the EZ was just a horrible mental error and those 20 yards of field position were massive. Perfect punt, should have been downed at the 1.

Hope Taylor is ok, he grabbed at his hamstring late in the game and wasn't out there in OT. Kid is a stud and could have really used him on that final series.

Crooms made some great catches.

Athan played much better than last week.

Unbelievably frustrating loss that should not have happened. No way the D shouldn't have been able to protect a 21 point lead in the second half.

Gonna be tough to get over this one....but hey....at least we aren't Iowa.
Well stated. The way the lead slipped away via stupid penalties, missed sacks, Athan getting tight (not taking the easy stuff) and shitty soft zone coverage have not typically been a thing with this staff. This will cost the program some mojo.
 

Like I’ve been saying for years: Fleck has consistently had recruiting classes that are in the bottom third of the Big 10, including having the worst recruiting class of the Big 10 in 2022.

We recruit at the level of Rutgers and Northwestern — ask yourself: why do you expect we’ll be better than Rutgers or Northwestern?

We had a few years of easy schedules and a few bounces that went out way — see the Nebraska game for example. Those outliers have spoiled the fans, but the numbers don’t lie. Over time, the Law of Large Numbers says that we will lose a lot of football games just like today.

Want a better team? Demand better recruiting classes. Want more embarrassing losses like today? Keep believing that this coaching staff has some magical ability to “coach up” 2-3 star recruits into 4 or 5 star players.
Is your plan to keep posting the exact same thing about 100 times in every thread until someone responds to you?
 

This was such a weird loss because NW made up a 21 point deficit in 12 minutes if the 4th Q without a pick-6, a scoop-and-score or a big KO or punt return. It won by marching down the field three successive times with an efficient, yard-chomping passing game (something we simply are not allowed to have, I guess). And we just kept giving them back the ball because of our hyper-predictable, simplistic offense—failing to mount marches. This was a complete failure by both offense and defense. And a blown ST play, too, of course. We are severely out-coached. A really bad day at the office.
 

This season is over, no bowl, no trophy victories. We looked like a HS team today. Hard to fathom.
 



This is the sad thing about College Football. Bad losses ruin your seasons. This is as bad as it gets.

I was absolutely stunned watching the Defense just absolutely collapse. The O didn't do anything either in the 4th Quarter BUT they did put up enough points to where all the D had to do was make a stop.

This collapse will go down in history with ALL the other collapses over the years we've witnessed with the Gophers! It's stunning really how many there are and I'm not sure where this one ranks BUT it has to be up there with how highly we like to think the Gophers have climbed under Fleck.
 

Many young QBs struggle and I get trying to keep to simple for him while building his confidence. I was impressed at the time and now even more so how calmly Morgan performed out of the gate when Annexstad went down vs a blowout to Nebraska or Illinois in 2018
Also the goal tonight should have been not only to win but to develop the passing game.
 





This Gophers team is young and bad. Bottom half of the West and they won't make a bowl game. Brevyn Spann-Ford and Tyler Nubin should have gone into the NFL because they are wasting a year when they could have made a lot more money than here with NIL.

With half the PAC12 coming in next year, it would be advisable for Minnesota to leave the league and join up with Oregon State and Washington State in the losers conference.

An utter collapse and return to terrible Gopher football of yesteryear.
Nubin is NFL caliber, never understood the hype around BSF. I feel like he has played like this his whole gopher career, even when he catches it, it rarely seems to be a clean catch
 


Should've walked off the field right here.
 

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A few thoughts after getting back from the game from hell:

  • I've attended hundreds and hundreds of sporting events in person. This was, without question, the worst game I've ever witnessed.
  • The comatose offense coming out for the second half set the stage for the collapse. 3-and-out after 3-and-out kept giving NW the ball back and the defense took the baton and tripped over their own dicks.
  • We were out-schemed and out-atheleted by NW, which, given their dire situation, leaves me speechless.
  • Fleck's maddening conservative approach has pushed me over the ledge. I can no longer watch an entire half of football where the only points we score are on a 4th and 1 where missed tackles lead to a long TD run. Otherwise, there wasn't a drive that was remotely close to putting up points. Our offense is stuck in the Nixon administration. Three yards and a cloud of rubberized pellets.
  • I cannot believe I paid to watch that shit.
 

Totally agree. Want to be better need better players. Our lack of top end athletes on defense and skill positions is noticeable
This is such a tiresome comment. We just got beat by a team that on offense has recruiting numbers roughly equal to ours, and on defense has recruiting numbers well below ours. This isn’t the same as getting beat by UNC, where recruiting is probably a factor. We just got beat by a team that recruits no better than us (possibly worse). There is so much more to a loss like this than the simplistic “recruiting” explanation. We have lots of good athletes in the team. Our hyper-conservative offensive strategy, and our really strange zone defense (which leaves key receivers ALWAYS wide open) are the problem. We’ve got enough athletes to beat NW, especially when we take a 21 point lead into the 4th Q. This loss is on PJ and his coordinators, who were spectacularly out-coached in in 4th Q by an interim HC who trusted his QB throw the ball.
 

So much good in the first half.....so much bad in the second.

Def has to figure their sh!t out because there is no way they should have given up that many points to Northwestern.

The throw to BSF may have been high and hot but if he thinks he is playing on Sundays next year he has to make that catch.

Redding fielding that punt in the EZ was just a horrible mental error and those 20 yards of field position were massive. Perfect punt, should have been downed at the 1.

Hope Taylor is ok, he grabbed at his hamstring late in the game and wasn't out there in OT. Kid is a stud and could have really used him on that final series.

Crooms made some great catches.

Athan played much better than last week.

Unbelievably frustrating loss that should not have happened. No way the D shouldn't have been able to protect a 21 point lead in the second half.

Gonna be tough to get over this one....but hey....at least we aren't Iowa.
Iowa didn't lose to Northwestern.
 







This is such a tiresome comment. We just got beat by a team that on offense has recruiting numbers roughly equal to ours, and on defense has recruiting numbers well below ours. This isn’t the same as getting beat by UNC, where recruiting is probably a factor. We just got beat by a team that recruits no better than us (possibly worse). There is so much more to a loss like this than the simplistic “recruiting” explanation. We have lots of good athletes in the team. Our hyper-conservative offensive strategy, and our really strange zone defense (which leaves key receivers ALWAYS wide open) are the problem. We’ve got enough athletes to beat NW, especially when we take a 21 point lead into the 4th Q. This loss is on PJ and his coordinators, who were spectacularly out-coached in in 4th Q by an interim HC who trusted his QB throw the ball.
Agree on this game for sure.
 


No question - a very disappointing loss. up there with the worst losses in the Fleck era.

OK, that's done. the big question is what happens next?

do the Gophers come out next week with anything different? different schemes, different personnel, different approaches on offense and/or defense?

or do they come out and just keep doing the same things again?

If there are no changes, then I think Fleck's seat gets hot really for the 1st time in his tenure at MN - at least with the fans and maybe with the boosters.

But in reality, as long as Mark (Spineless) Coyle is the AD, Fleck's job is safe. Coyle does not have the balls to fire Fleck - or even put any pressure on him.
 

This is such a tiresome comment. We just got beat by a team that on offense has recruiting numbers roughly equal to ours, and on defense has recruiting numbers well below ours. This isn’t the same as getting beat by UNC, where recruiting is probably a factor. We just got beat by a team that recruits no better than us (possibly worse). There is so much more to a loss like this than the simplistic “recruiting” explanation. We have lots of good athletes in the team. Our hyper-conservative offensive strategy, and our really strange zone defense (which leaves key receivers ALWAYS wide open) are the problem. We’ve got enough athletes to beat NW, especially when we take a 21 point lead into the 4th Q. This loss is on PJ and his coordinators, who were spectacularly out-coached in in 4th Q by an interim HC who trusted his QB throw the ball.
We got beat by a team that recruits about as well as we do.

We should expect it to happen about 50% of the time.
 

Last year, for the season, we had 19 sacks.
This year we have 11 sacks through 4 games. Y’all wanted more pressure, done. I’d rather keep having a top 10 defense.

Last year, Athan’s first start was at PSU, during a “white out” and we scored 17 points, had ~340 yards, 16 first downs, and lost bad.

Tonight, iowa, with their big transfer QB, during a white out at PSU, had 2 first downs,~40 yards total offense, and lost really bad.

Shit happens, man, bad losses happen, upsets happen.

On to next week. I have a busy week, I need to get to work, work hard and move forward. That’s what we all need to do, and so does this team.

Oh, I also really hate this board most of the time. Settle TF down.
 

Gophs were 4 for 14 on 3rd down. How the f#ck did they score 31 points?
Recovering a fumble inside the NW 10 obviously helped, and having Taylor break one for 43 yards after getting stacked up on 4th and 1 did too.
 

Last year, for the season, we had 19 sacks.
This year we have 11 sacks through 4 games. Y’all wanted more pressure, done. I’d rather keep having a top 10 defense.

Last year, Athan’s first start was at PSU, during a “white out” and we scored 17 points, had ~340 yards, 16 first downs, and lost bad.

Tonight, iowa, with their big transfer QB, during a white out at PSU, had 2 first downs,~40 yards total offense, and lost really bad.

Shit happens, man, bad losses happen, upsets happen.

On to next week. I have a busy week, I need to get to work, work hard and move forward. That’s what we all need to do, and so does this team.

Oh, I also really hate this board most of the time. Settle TF down.


Wrong week to drop that.
 

Nubin is NFL caliber, never understood the hype around BSF. I feel like he has played like this his whole gopher career, even when he catches it, it rarely seems to be a clean catch
If any team drafts BSF in the first 5 rounds I'd be shocked.
 




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