What grade do you give the Gophers regular season?

[Sports_Realist]

I give us a B+. The improvement and energy around the program are better than in ages. The Nebraska win gave us a big win over a legacy program. We're going bowling. The offensive and defensive units made visible progress. We got some breaks we normally never get. Points off for the abysmal performance against Iowa. That game was there for the taking. Even a loss shouldn't have looked so poor.

 

[EG#9]

I am no longer surprised by what constituted an "A" by many GopherHole posters. I personally went with a "B" largely on the basis of having both border rival games at home this year and the Gophers losing both of them (and by double digits both times). It was a nice step forward season to me, but it was frustrating to get the "their work is done, great job" vibe once the team beat PSU to reach 4-2 in the conference and even more so after losing to Wisconsin. Their seemed to be no expectations, no real push to do more with the failures of the last two games being overlooked in a way that was somewhat reminiscent of last year after beating Illinois to get bowl eligible. I am not saying the team felt this way, but the public patting on the back for a successful season before it's over is just bizarre.

Overall, you have to be pleased with the record and the improvements this team has made defensively. Obviously, their is a lot of work to be done on the offensive side of the ball before next season kicks off.

 

[GophersInIowa]

I am no longer surprised by what constituted an "A" by many GopherHole posters. I personally went with a "B" largely on the basis of having both border rival games at home this year and the Gophers losing both of them (and by double digits both times). It was a nice step forward season to me, but it was frustrating to get the "their work is done, great job" vibe once the team beat PSU to reach 4-2 in the conference and even more so after losing to Wisconsin. Their seemed to be no expectations, no real push to do more with the failures of the last two games being overlooked in a way that was somewhat reminiscent of last year after beating Illinois to get bowl eligible. I am not saying the team felt this way, but the public patting on the back for a successful season before it's over is just bizarre.

Overall, you have to be pleased with the record and the improvements this team has made defensively. Obviously, their is a lot of work to be done on the offensive side of the ball before next season kicks off.

Didn't see that happening at all. I just think most people felt beating Wisconsin and Michigan St. would be very tough to do. I think many people are saying A just because the team has improved a lot and exceeded most people's predictions. After Iowa and Michigan, it appeared like just winning a game or two the rest of the season wouldn't be easy.

 

[Maximus]

Thank you Golden Gopher football team for liberating yourselves and Golden Gopher football fans from the bondage that Joel Maturi led us into.

Thanks go to Teague for hiring Jerry Kill.

 

[dpodoll68]

Thanks go to Teague for hiring Jerry Kill.

Also, war is an apt metaphor for football. Both are grown men playing a kid's game.

Joel Maturi was hired as athletic director in 1968.

Joel Maturi had complete and total autonomy over the football program.

 

[RodentRampage]

I don't understand the notion that one's grade is dependent on performance versus expectations. Are those of you who rate the season highly because you expected less willing to rate a future 10-2 season as a failure because you expected 12-0? To me only performance matters. We finished 8-4. That's a B. It's a C in conference at 4-4 but winning all the non-conf games boosts the overall season to a B. While my expectations for next year are higher because of the improving trend and the return of many, especially on offense, if we finish at 8-4 (4-4) again next year, that will be another B.

If you're only grading on how many wins the team has, you don't need a grade at all, you just look at the number of wins. A grade relative to expectations makes the most sense. It may well be that in years to come an 8-4 season will be less than reasonable expectations.

 

[WarriorGopher]

I went with B+. It would seem to me that when turning a program around from the depths this one was in three years ago, the last thing to make the jump will be the skill positions on offense. Think about it. Our top two WRs coming into the year were a DII transfer and a local JC transfer. We played two, young, QBs who both showed a lot of upside.

We saw some flashes from young skill and pass catching guys (Wolitarsky, D. Jones, Max Williams) and have some others who redshirted. If these guys take a step forward and can run behind a young, yet strong (and seemingly deep) O-line, it's going to be a lot of fun.

 

[pharmacygopher]

I'd like to hear from LITTLEGUYSINGREEN and RockinRanger on the C+ or worse votes....I'd like to hear their perspective