BleedGopher
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per Judd:
For many in the crowd of 49,736 at Huntington Bank Stadium on Saturday, there was no debate on how they would spend the moments after the Gophers’ 23-13 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers. The Gophers hadn’t beaten the Badgers at home since Nov. 8, 2003, meaning the majority of students who rushed onto the field had no idea what it felt or looked like to beat the Badgers in Minneapolis until the clock hit triple zeroes at 6:41 p.m.
This was a moment to be celebrated. It’s not often that Paul Bunyan’s Axe spends extended time on the University of Minnesota campus and the fact that spectators of all ages covered the turf served as proof of this. The Gophers had beaten the Badgers as recently as 2018 in Madison, but that was followed by consecutive defeats, meaning the Axe called Wisconsin home for 16 of the past 17 years.
But as joyous of occasion as this might have been, especially since the defeat cost the Badgers a trip to the Big Ten championship game against Michigan next Saturday, you also had to wonder what was going through the minds of the Gophers’ veteran followers? Not the students. They have the advantage of youth and their optimism allows them the benefit of assuming the Gophers’ past failures won’t follow them.
But for those of us who know better, and know just how difficult real success has been to achieve for this program, it was impossible not to reflect on how close the Gophers came to winning the Big Ten West title and a trip to the conference championship game in Indianapolis.
There were three things that had to happen this weekend for the Gophers to have a chance to go where they had never been before. The first was Nebraska beating visiting Iowa on Friday. A Gophers win over Wisconsin and a Purdue win over Indiana would have left Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Purdue with 6-3 records in the conference and the four-way tie would have sent Minnesota to Indy.
www.skornorth.com
Go Gophers!!
For many in the crowd of 49,736 at Huntington Bank Stadium on Saturday, there was no debate on how they would spend the moments after the Gophers’ 23-13 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers. The Gophers hadn’t beaten the Badgers at home since Nov. 8, 2003, meaning the majority of students who rushed onto the field had no idea what it felt or looked like to beat the Badgers in Minneapolis until the clock hit triple zeroes at 6:41 p.m.
This was a moment to be celebrated. It’s not often that Paul Bunyan’s Axe spends extended time on the University of Minnesota campus and the fact that spectators of all ages covered the turf served as proof of this. The Gophers had beaten the Badgers as recently as 2018 in Madison, but that was followed by consecutive defeats, meaning the Axe called Wisconsin home for 16 of the past 17 years.
But as joyous of occasion as this might have been, especially since the defeat cost the Badgers a trip to the Big Ten championship game against Michigan next Saturday, you also had to wonder what was going through the minds of the Gophers’ veteran followers? Not the students. They have the advantage of youth and their optimism allows them the benefit of assuming the Gophers’ past failures won’t follow them.
But for those of us who know better, and know just how difficult real success has been to achieve for this program, it was impossible not to reflect on how close the Gophers came to winning the Big Ten West title and a trip to the conference championship game in Indianapolis.
There were three things that had to happen this weekend for the Gophers to have a chance to go where they had never been before. The first was Nebraska beating visiting Iowa on Friday. A Gophers win over Wisconsin and a Purdue win over Indiana would have left Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Purdue with 6-3 records in the conference and the four-way tie would have sent Minnesota to Indy.
Zulgad: What might have been? Win over Badgers is cause for celebration and reflection – SKOR North
For many in the crowd of 49,736 at Huntington Bank Stadium on Saturday, there was no debate on how they would spend the moments after the Gophers' 23-13 victory
www.skornorth.com
Go Gophers!!
