Post Game Thread: Gophers Get Crushed by Michigan

Michigan was dominant and choked the life out of the Gophers. There was no time to throw the ball or for any routes to develop. Didn't expect to win but discouraging to see how far away the Gophers are from that team. Michigan physically mauled the Gophers. Gophers even with key players healthy would not have competed well against that opponent. The QB Athon K has regressed badly. Staring down almost all his throws, poor footwork, not finishing. I mean he had no pocket to speak of but he doesn't make any decisive throws or reads. Not sure he is answer at QB down the road.
 

Can we just fast forward to the super conference of the elite and be done with it? Programs like Minnesota, Mizzou, Arizona, West Virgina, Purdue, etc., are just never going to field a competitive team the way the game is heading.

I didn’t tune in tonight not because I was afraid of losing, but because I knew it’d be boring. Things are just going to get worse with the new additions. Good luck to any coach trying to recruit talent against Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, USC, and Oregon in the same conference.

We may as well welcome our status as win-padders so the above teams can make the playoffs year in and out.
 

It's just that the product is the most boring thing I've ever seen and has been for a few years.

You can't recruit with this.

By the end of the year, there will be no one in the stands.

Next year, the blue bloods come to the conference. It's almost pointless.

It's college football and there is no drafting of players. I guess we get the leftovers as per usual.
 

I don't expect us to beat MI - but I still expect to see effort by the players and coaches and I did not see that today. Seems 'Row the Boat' is starting to sound as stupid to the players as it does to the fans.
 

Our quarterback play this year has been atrocious and we have no options that’s 100% on PJ but no one will hold him accountable. This was the worst tackling game I’ve seen probably in the last 20 years not just gopher football but just college football in general. Completely embarrassing. The marginally athletic quarterbacks made us look like fools out there running the ball. PJ caught lightning in a bottle with Winfield, Coughlin and crew then came Mo. This is who PJ really is. He’s not a good coach. Compare his staff with Michigan’s staff. I’m not saying we’re gonna get the same quality but Harbaugh has A players on staff we have c level type coaches on our staff. We’re in a really bad place in year seven just another in a decades long history of failed head coaching hires.
 


It's just that the product is the most boring thing I've ever seen and has been for a few years.

You can't recruit with this.

By the end of the year, there will be no one in the stands.

Next year, the blue bloods come to the conference. It's almost pointless.

It's college football and there is no drafting of players. I guess we get the leftovers as per usual.
Yep, we had our chances the last few years - 2019, 2021, 2022. I don't see a happy future now with the changes in college sports. I'm about done with the emotional investment in MN sports, with possible exception of Twins. It's just too difficult to maintain, and I've been at it for about 60 years.
 


yeah, it was ugly. it just points out the huge gap between a mid-level program like MN and the real blue-bloods.

BUT - Gophs are 3-3/1-2 with 6 games to play.
the remaining games with opponents' records as of today:
Iowa (5-1/2-1)
MSU (2-3/0-2)
Illinois (2-4/0-3)
Purdue (2-4/1-2)
OSU (5-0/2-0)
Wisc (4-1/2-0)

as bad as the Michigan game looked, the Gophers should be favored in 3 games. win those and they're bowl-eligible. Iowa has no offense. Wisconsin has lost to the only really good team they've played. Same for Iowa. either of those games is at least potentially winnable. that is not me being a homer. the B1G West is just that bad.

Now it's up the the Coaching staff and players to determine what the rest of the season is going to look like.
 

Yep, we had our chances the last few years - 2019, 2021, 2022. I don't see a happy future now with the changes in college sports. I'm about done with the emotional investment in MN sports, with possible exception of Twins. It's just too difficult to maintain, and I've been at it for about 60 years.
yeah allthe changes in college sports seemed to make the rich even richer, taking from the rest. Pretty discouraging. Seemed for a while that the Gophers had a chance to compete at a decent level most years, but the talent gap in these two teams…doesn’t seem fair? What used to be against the rules is now more out in the open and even more money flying around than before. Sad state of college sports.

Even a team like Maryland, who seems to have talent and seems to have a very good team this year, just got throttled in the second half by another blue blood who has 10x that of he average team.

I’m not even upset by this game. It was predictable. On the other hand, I’m stillvery upset about the NW game…where NW notably barely topped Howard today.
 



This is the type of game where you wish it was played on Peacock only and not NBC. This was the anti-recruiting game. The coaches will likely be making a few calls this week to settle things down as I'm sure a few teams will take a run at a few of our top 2024 recruits if they have any holes to fill.
 

Anybody surprised by today's result needs to get his head checked.

As I've been saying: We have been basement dwellers in the Big 10 with regards to recruiting for years now.

You cannot expect to compete with teams like Michigan if you recruit as well as Bowling Green. Fleck needs to do better.
 

yeah allthe changes in college sports seemed to make the rich even richer, taking from the rest. Pretty discouraging. Seemed for a while that the Gophers had a chance to compete at a decent level most years, but the talent gap in these two teams…doesn’t seem fair? What used to be against the rules is now more out in the open and even more money flying around than before. Sad state of college sports.
Meanwhile Louisville just beat Notre Dame.

Only half the people in Louisville cheer for Louisville. But yet here they are..
 

Anybody surprised by today's result needs to get his head checked.

As I've been saying: We have been basement dwellers in the Big 10 with regards to recruiting for years now.

You cannot expect to compete with teams like Michigan if you recruit as well as Bowling Green. Fleck needs to do better.
Fleck couldn’t beat Bowling Green with all of the advantages. He’s been done for a long time.
 



Can we just fast forward to the super conference of the elite and be done with it? Programs like Minnesota, Mizzou, Arizona, West Virgina, Purdue, etc., are just never going to field a competitive team the way the game is heading.

I didn’t tune in tonight not because I was afraid of losing, but because I knew it’d be boring. Things are just going to get worse with the new additions. Good luck to any coach trying to recruit talent against Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, USC, and Oregon in the same conference.

We may as well welcome our status as win-padders so the above teams can make the playoffs year in and out.
Correct. This is the new normal.
 



Correct. This is the new normal.
Our quarterback threw two picks sixes and we tackled like a bunch of Girl Scouts but we got crushed because of NIL? We switch coaching staffs and we still lose but I bet it’s kind of a dog fight to the finish. Our fellas have not been prepared to play nor have our game plans been worth a damn in any game this year. Let’s not be lemMing’s and let PJ get away with his
NIL complaints bullshit.
 

I was there and the 52-10 score was not representative of the true gap between the 2 teams. That was a total domination.
 
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I know he was getting a lot of pressure but given AK is weak in the passing game and gets rattled in big games why not work on the quick game? I couldn’t for the life of me understand why PJ wouldn’t work on the passing game. Instead they ran the damn ball for last 7 minutes of the game and basically ran out the clock. I get it, you are getting killed but man alive your QB is just awful throwing the ball, work on it Coach!

Man alive it’s depressing to see the talent gap, with more studs coming into the conference next year is the best moving into the future 6-6 and Mayo bowls? Is that going to make us happy? Yeesh.
 

Folks expecting something else … dunno what team they have been watching.


Plays are there, on offense and defense … players gotta make the play.

Players are playing, not great.

On defense guys are indecisive, over pursuing, missing tackles. It’s weird.

Offense, missed blocks, passing…

We did score more vs Michigan than any of their opponents so far.
 
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This game was post Brew days bad. Kill got us out of games like this and I thought Fleck would make sure we would never deal with drubbings of the old days again, but here we are.

To me; what I saw in the 2nd half was thoroughly embarrassing! He just basically curled up in a ball and waved the white flag. Handed the ball off every play as he didn't want his players to get hurt by the big and bad Wolverines.

I agree on recruiting, as I've been saying his recruiting had been slipping for a few years now, even before NIL became something to be overly concerned about, but I was told I'm a star chaser, but here we are.
 

We just finished our first half to our 2023 season and we went 3-3

Should have been 4-2

We got 6 games left and this is what I believe will happen

Iowa - L
MSU - W
ILL - W
Purdue - L
tOSU - L
Wis - L

We’ll finish the second half of the season with 2-4

We will end the year with 3-9 and not going bowling this year.

Mark it!
 

We just finished our first half to our 2023 season and we went 3-3

Should have been 4-2

We got 6 games left and this is what I believe will happen

Iowa - L
MSU - W
ILL - W
Purdue - L
tOSU - L
Wis - L

We’ll finish the second half of the season with 2-4

We will end the year with 3-9 and not going bowling this year.

Mark it!
Umm

That's not 3-9 you chode
 

We just finished our first half to our 2023 season and we went 3-3

Should have been 4-2

We got 6 games left and this is what I believe will happen

Iowa - L
MSU - W
ILL - W
Purdue - L
tOSU - L
Wis - L

We’ll finish the second half of the season with 2-4

We will end the year with 3-9 and not going bowling this year.

Mark it!
So... if we are 3-3 and we go 2-4 in the second half of the season, how do we finish 3-9?

I agree that we aren't going bowling.
 

We just finished our first half to our 2023 season and we went 3-3

Should have been 4-2

We got 6 games left and this is what I believe will happen

Iowa - L
MSU - W
ILL - W
Purdue - L
tOSU - L
Wis - L

We’ll finish the second half of the season with 2-4

We will end the year with 3-9 and not going bowling this year.

Mark it!


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Anybody surprised by today's result needs to get his head checked.

As I've been saying: We have been basement dwellers in the Big 10 with regards to recruiting for years now.

You cannot expect to compete with teams like Michigan if you recruit as well as Bowling Green. Fleck needs to do better.
How are we supposed to recruit like Michigan? No coach in the country can do that here unless we somehow become NIL kings.
 

The Fairgrounds were packed. Lots and lots of Michigan fans. The only time I've ever seen it that packed was when NDSU was last here. Just a sorry state if affairs. PJ gonna brag about selling out the stadium tonight?
 
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We just finished our first half to our 2023 season and we went 3-3

Should have been 4-2
We should have lost to Nebraska and we probably would if we played them again now. Our more accurate record is 2-4. This team is not a 'rebuilding year' - it is an utter disaster with literally nothing on the horizon to give me confidence in the next 2-3 years. We will be lucky to pull out 2 more wins this year if this is the effort by the coaches and players.
 

Get used to it. With four powerhouse teams coming in to our "conference" from the Pac-12, the Gophers, like most B10 teams are going to have tough sledding. With NIL and the transfer lunacy, the elite will dominate and PJ, over 7 years, hasn't recruited at the level that would make the Gophers competitive even in the disappearing West division. AK was 5 for 15 today, for 52 yards, with two pick-sixes. Cole never played at all. This year the Gophers may win six, but it won't be easy.
 




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