STrib: Gophers coach Ben Johnson called the Nebraska win the most important of his career

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My lord some of you just won't allow yourselves to enjoy anything.

As someone who wants CBJ to be done after this season and who laments how far down the program is I am still applauding the victory and am totally fine with the quotes. The game doesn't change my opinion of CBJ as a coach, but I am happy the team and him found a way to win.
 





fan of Ray Williams said:
The Fiddler played 37 minutes also. That is hard to believe. Had to triple check.
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If Ben had been talking about the odds of winning, he would have gone with that one. TT and The Fiddler going all the way for the win will never be duplicated.
 

Dave H said:
My lord some of you just won't allow yourselves to enjoy anything.

As someone who wants CBJ to be done after this season and who laments how far down the program is I am still applauding the victory and am totally fine with the quotes. The game doesn't change my opinion of CBJ as a coach, but I am happy the team and him found a way to win.
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The game doesn’t change your opinion of Johnson even a little bit?
 




bga1 said:
It was. But Ben is right, the Nebraska win was more important. This year is do or die time.
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I just don’t think that win changes the season in any meaningful way. If they go on to win 6+ more conference games he’s shown improvement and keeps his job. If they go 2-16 down the stretch that game is rendered meaningless.
 

Dakota2 said:
The game doesn’t change your opinion of Johnson even a little bit?
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No because it could be a fluke. Bad coaches can find a way to get some weird type of victory we see it all the time. It does tell me the team hasn't quit on him which is great to see.

I need more than a data point to change my opinion...too much evidence the other way right now. For now though I am just waiting and seeing like I always do during a season. If the team wins more games than I expect (and it looks like there is increasing improvement as we go) then I will change my mind and will point to this game as the beginning. If we still finish at the bottom and the team is not demonstrably better then it was a nice brightspot in an otherwise awful season.

For now I just live in the moment.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
I just don’t think that win changes the season in any meaningful way. If they go on to win 6+ more conference games he’s shown improvement and keeps his job. If they go 2-16 down the stretch that game is rendered meaningless.
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If they didn't win that Nebraska game, then their chances of winning 7 games would have been nearly nil. As you know in sports, winning begets winning. I'm pretty sure that winning that game helps their mentality a lot.
 





UpAndUnder43 said:
I just don’t think that win changes the season in any meaningful way. If they go on to win 6+ more conference games he’s shown improvement and keeps his job. If they go 2-16 down the stretch that game is rendered meaningless.
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Didn't you say that you weren't watching it? I'd guess that the feeling about the game was much different if one was watching it unfold live. Going from "Oh, boy, we're screwed" when Garcia went down to "What's the point of even watching the second half?" as half-time approached to "My God! Who the hell are these guys?" with about 9 minutes left in the game.

I don't think one would go through the same emotions watching it on replay.
 


bga1 said:
If they didn't win that Nebraska game, then their chances of winning 7 games would have been nearly nil. As you know in sports, winning begets winning. I'm pretty sure that winning that game helps their mentality a lot.
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We’ll see if it matters. I think if he wins 6+ total B1G games he’s back next year. I don’t think that win was a precursor to more wins.

Garcia being out for extended time would suck for all involved. Because it’s not a fair analysis of the team or coach. And as fans he’s enjoyable to watch.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Didn't you say that you weren't watching it? I'd guess that the feeling about the game was much different if one was watching it unfold live. Going from "Oh, boy, we're screwed" when Garcia went down to "What's the point of even watching the second half?" as half-time approached to "My God! Who the hell are these guys?" with about 9 minutes left in the game.

I don't think one would go through the same emotions watching it on replay.
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Probably very true. But I would also argue emotions are causing people to overreact to a “should win” and act like it was era defining. Nebraska may surprise but they’ve been pretty bad under Hoiberg. This year appears to be the same. If they start to win games against middle of the road big ten teams—I’ll be happy. If their marquee win was Nebraska @ home? I’ll be upset and they should find a new coach.

I don’t blame the players for winning the game. But acting like the half time deficit isn’t their own doing is absurd.
 


Dave H said:
No because it could be a fluke. Bad coaches can find a way to get some weird type of victory we see it all the time. It does tell me the team hasn't quit on him which is great to see.

I need more than a data point to change my opinion...too much evidence the other way right now. For now though I am just waiting and seeing like I always do during a season. If the team wins more games than I expect (and it looks like there is increasing improvement as we go) then I will change my mind and will point to this game as the beginning. If we still finish at the bottom and the team is not demonstrably better then it was a nice brightspot in an otherwise awful season.

For now I just live in the moment.
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You’re a bit confused. The moment is the past week, Nebraska and Florida Gulf Coast. You are holding on to lhe last two years. Must be more comfortable for you.
 

Dakota2 said:
You’re a bit confused. The moment is the past week, Nebraska and Florida Gulf Coast. You are holding on to lhe last two years. Must be more comfortable for you.
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Ha, does anyone truly believe a home win against Nebraska cleans the slate for any coach?

Meanwhile Gard is over the border holding off the hot seat by beating the number three team in the nation with an awful awful roster.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
But I would also argue emotions are causing people to overreact to a “should win” and act like it was era defining. Nebraska may surprise but they’ve been pretty bad under Hoiberg. This year appears to be the same.
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Could those who think that the Nebraska game might be a watershed moment be wrong? Sure, but you have to understand that the things you mention (like Nebraska's historical mediocrity) are of no value in dismissing a watershed moment or a significant turnaround.

Team history is of no value in predicting a significant turnaround. No one predicted that Northwestern would finish second in the conference last season after five straight losing seasons (not conference - overall). I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have found anyone predicting the Gophers would finish 4th in the conference in 2016-17 after an 8 win season.

I remember after the great football season in 2019 someone posted here that he thought the Georgia Southern game was the watershed moment of that season. I happened to be at that game and I agreed with him. The Gophers looked dead in the water. They were down by 4 with about 3 and a half minutes left and facing a 4th and 8 at their own 27 yard line. They ended up going the length of the field (all on passes) and scoring a touchdown to win by 3. Georgia Southern was a mediocre team but that end-of-game sequence gave Tanner and the receivers confidence. Up to that point they had not been the dynamic passing team that they ended up being that year. The next weekend at Purdue, Tanner had the game of his life (21 of 22 for 396 yards).

By the way, just as I typed the above message, Nebraska put the finishing touches on their win against Michigan State.
 



UpAndUnder43 said:
Probably very true. But I would also argue emotions are causing people to overreact to a “should win” and act like it was era defining. Nebraska may surprise but they’ve been pretty bad under Hoiberg. This year appears to be the same. If they start to win games against middle of the road big ten teams—I’ll be happy. If their marquee win was Nebraska @ home? I’ll be upset and they should find a new coach.

I don’t blame the players for winning the game. But acting like the half time deficit isn’t their own doing is absurd.
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How about Nebraska's win over Michigan St. today? Does that qualify as a win over a middle of the road Big Ten team?
 

bc2211 said:
Ha, does anyone truly believe a home win against Nebraska cleans the slate for any coach?

Meanwhile Gard is over the border holding off the hot seat by beating the number three team in the nation with an awful awful roster.
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Did someone say the Nebraska win cleans the slate for the first two seasons? I didn't see that comment.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Could those who think that the Nebraska game might be a watershed moment be wrong? Sure, but you have to understand that the things you mention (like Nebraska's historical mediocrity) are of no value in dismissing a watershed moment or a significant turnaround.

Team history is of no value in predicting a significant turnaround. No one predicted that Northwestern would finish second in the conference last season after five straight losing seasons (not conference - overall). I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have found anyone predicting the Gophers would finish 4th in the conference in 2016-17 after an 8 win season.

I remember after the great football season in 2019 someone posted here that he thought the Georgia Southern game was the watershed moment of that season. I happened to be at that game and I agreed with him. The Gophers looked dead in the water. They were down by 4 with about 3 and a half minutes left and facing a 4th and 8 at their own 27 yard line. They ended up going the length of the field (all on passes) and scoring a touchdown to win by 3. Georgia Southern was a mediocre team but that end-of-game sequence gave Tanner and the receivers confidence. Up to that point they had not been the dynamic passing team that they ended up being that year. The next weekend at Purdue, Tanner had the game of his life (21 of 22 for 396 yards).

By the way, just as I typed the above message, Nebraska put the finishing touches on their win against Michigan State.
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Nebraska beating MSU enhances the value of our game, even if MSU is 4-5.
 

Dakota2 said:
How about Nebraska's win over Michigan St. today? Does that qualify as a win over a middle of the road Big Ten team?
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Michigan St is under .500

Nice win for Nebraska I guess. Still don’t see the Huskers finishing 6th-10th in the conference.
 
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TwistingMyMelon said:
Could those who think that the Nebraska game might be a watershed moment be wrong? Sure, but you have to understand that the things you mention (like Nebraska's historical mediocrity) are of no value in dismissing a watershed moment or a significant turnaround.

Team history is of no value in predicting a significant turnaround. No one predicted that Northwestern would finish second in the conference last season after five straight losing seasons (not conference - overall). I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have found anyone predicting the Gophers would finish 4th in the conference in 2016-17 after an 8 win season.

I remember after the great football season in 2019 someone posted here that he thought the Georgia Southern game was the watershed moment of that season. I happened to be at that game and I agreed with him. The Gophers looked dead in the water. They were down by 4 with about 3 and a half minutes left and facing a 4th and 8 at their own 27 yard line. They ended up going the length of the field (all on passes) and scoring a touchdown to win by 3. Georgia Southern was a mediocre team but that end-of-game sequence gave Tanner and the receivers confidence. Up to that point they had not been the dynamic passing team that they ended up being that year. The next weekend at Purdue, Tanner had the game of his life (21 of 22 for 396 yards).

By the way, just as I typed the above message, Nebraska put the finishing touches on their win against Michigan State.
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All valid points. Besides your final paragraph completely contradicting everything you said. Nebraska didn’t beat Michigan St (team history has no value!) they beat a 4-5 team.
 


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