Why do I do this to myself?
We are nine games into the season and it has been a roller coaster.
Personally, I was very excited heading into the 2024 season. But that excitement was quickly extinguished when the Gophers gave a lackluster effort in their season opening loss to North Carolina. The hope was that North Carolina was a good team, but their 70-50 loss to James Madison and 5-4 record suggests that they are not.
With hopes dampened, the team utterly decimated their next two non-conference opponents. They beat Rhode Island and Nevada by a combined score of 75-0. Nevada has continued to struggle this season, but Rhode Island is 8-1 and currently ranked #10 in FCS. With the offense on track and the defense looking great, hopes were raising again for a matchup with Iowa.
Even after two quarters of the Iowa game, things were looking good. A 14-7 halftime lead at home and the offense showing some signs of life? Yes, that is exactly what we wanted. And then Iowa played with a level of physicality and execution that Minnesota was unable to match and they dominated the Gophers en route to a 31-14 win. The following week was a trip to Michigan and Minnesota quickly trailed 21-3, looking helpless. Once again, the outlook for the remaining 7 1⁄2 games of the season was very discouraging.
Then something happened and the Gophers came out in the second half at Ann Arbor looking very different. Perhaps it was disinterest from the Michigan players? Perhaps it was some sort of spark on the Minnesota sideline, but the Gophers made a furious comeback in the 4th quarter. Were it not for a really bad off-sides call on an onside kick, Minnesota very well may have come home with the Little Brown Jug.
They didn’t, and a home date with #11 USC was next. A loss was expected but the Gophers took control in the 4th quarter and came away with an exciting win over what many thought was a good USC team.
That USC win was the start of a 4-game losing streak. You all know this. A win at UCLA, an ass kicking over Maryland and a road win over #24 Illinois.
So today the Gophers sit with a 6-3 record with a couple of missed opportunities earlier in the season that feel more frustrating today than they did in August and September.
But now, once again, Gopher football has an opportunity to make this a good season. The College Football Playoff is not even a remote possibility, but it never was. Turns out that a really good bowl game and destination is still available.
When the team was meandering to a 2-3 record (only beating Rhode Island and Nevada), nobody expected that the Mayo or Music Bowls would be realistic possibilities. But they are, the opportunity is there.
The opportunity is there for an 8-win season. Again, this was a feat that did not seem possible in September. But the opportunity is there.
There are three games remaining on the schedule and two of them are looking very winable. It starts with a trip to Rutgers on Saturday where the Gopher are 6-point favorites.
The Scarlet Knights started strong, but have lost four consecutive games. These are two coaching staffs who are very familiar with each other, Athan Kaliakmanis will have his opportunity to show PJ Fleck just how good he is and this is a very intriguing matchup. But once again, this is a huge opportunity for Fleck and his program. Get this win, move to 7-3 and keep an eye on those bowl destinations.
I will concede Penn State as a loss and then we travel to Madison to face the Badgers.
Once again…opportunity. Have we won eight games and brought home Paul Bunyan’s Axe? Yes, this will not be a new phenomenon. But is that still a good season? It is. This is not a post about expectations being raised to unreasonable levels…but it could be, and going 8-4 with a win over Wisconsin is a good season.
My expectations for the season are rising. Can the Gophers get to Nashville or Charlotte? There’s nothing easy about winning a couple of Big Ten road games to close out the season, but the opportunity is there.