Gopher Football 2014

[Big Dave2]

I was not surprised by this loss.

A true Gopher fan is never surprised by any loss.

[CaptainMusky]

Not making excuses because this is a bad loss. But it was their homecoming and they had a bye the week before. The defense is starting to concern me and Leidner is still a work in progress.

[Big Dave2]

Quote:

Gophers football: A brief history of disappointment

By Marcus R. Fuller

It was Minnesota's first Big Ten loss of the season Saturday at Illinois, but because of what was on the line, it hit harder than most.

In what we'll call the Gophers' rebuilding era, there have been more than a few of those.

When the Gophers (6-2, 3-1) arrived in Champaign, Ill., on Saturday they had a chance to retain sole possession of first place in the Big Ten's West Division and improve to 4-0 in the conference for the first time since 1967 -- the last time they shared a piece of the league crown.

Instead, they came out flat, fell behind 14-0 and, after rallying, fumbled away the lead. For Gophers fans waiting for their team to rejoin the ranks of the nation's best programs, it was another gut punch.

Minnesota's Rose Bowl drought of 52 years is the longest in the Big Ten. Not coincidentally, the early 1960s were the last time they also were in serious national title discussions.

It was one thing to lose to North Dakota State or South Dakota when the program was down. Or even get demolished 55-0 by Iowa or 58-0 by Michigan when the season already was in a tailspin. But the Gophers were hoping this finally could be the season for a championship run. It still could be, but last Saturday caused some serious doubts.

Now the Gophers have a bye week to stew over another lost opportunity, off until their Nov. 8 game against Iowa at TCF Bank Stadium.

To refresh your memory -- sorry -- we have compiled the most deflating Gopher losses in the past 15 years.

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Drumroll, please ...

Nov. 1, 2008 -- Tim Brewster took Minnesota from a 1-11 record to a 7-1 start and No. 20 in the polls in his second season as coach.

With home games against three unranked opponents among the Gophers' final four games -- Northwestern, Michigan and Iowa -- Brewster had roses in his eyes. But the Gophers lost to the Wildcats when Adam Weber threw a pick-six with 12 seconds remaining, and Minnesota went on to lose its next five games, including a bowl loss and a 55-0 drubbing by Iowa in the Gophers' final game at the Metrodome.

Dec. 29, 2006 -- This one was so bad, it convinced athletic director Joel Maturi to fire coach Glen Mason less than a year after signing him to an extension. The Gophers beat Indiana, Michigan State and Iowa in consecutive games to become bowl eligible, then took a 38-7 lead on the Red Raiders with less than eight minutes remaining in the third quarter of the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Ariz. Tech then scored 31 unanswered points, the biggest comeback in Division I-A bowl history, and won on an overtime field goal.

Oct. 9, 2004 -- The 5-0 Gophers were ranked No. 13 in the AP poll after starting the conference schedule with two victories when they traveled to Ann Arbor to meet 14th-ranked Michigan. Minnesota took a 24-17 fourth-quarter lead in front of 111,528 fans only to fall when Chad Henne threw a 31-yard touchdown pass with 1:57 left. The following week, Minnesota lost 51-17 to unranked Michigan State in East Lansing.

Oct. 15, 2005 -- Confidence was high for the 5-1 Gophers after beating Michigan for the first time since 1986 -- in Ann Arbor, no less -- and avenging 2004's disappointing loss. Heisman Trophy candidate Laurence Maroney rushed for 258 yards, and the Gophers were beating their archrival 34-24 with 3:27 left in the fourth quarter. But the Badgers scored two touchdowns in less than two minutes to win, including the winner on a blocked punt in the end zone with 30 seconds left, shocking the second-largest crowd (65,089) in Metrodome history.

Oct. 10, 2003 -- Mason admitted last year, a decade later, that if not for the blown 21-point lead in the fourth quarter against Michigan that his program "might not only have ended up in a Jan. 1 bowl game, you might have ended up in the big one. The Rose Bowl."

Minnesota was 6-0, ranked 13th in the country and a contender to win its first Big Ten title since 1967. The Wolverines were 4-2, still a national power, and ranked 19th. It was the 100th anniversary of the Little Brown Jug. The Metrodome was sold out for undoubtedly the biggest game in recent Gophers history, being nationally televised on a Friday night.

Minnesota led 14-0 at halftime, 28-7 after three quarters and 35-21 in the fourth. But Michigan scored 31 fourth-quarter points, six on an interception return, to win.

The Gophers won 10 games that season, including a last-second victory over Oregon in the Sun Bowl. But ask 100 Gophers fans about 2003, and it's the Michigan game they'll mention first.

Follow Marcus Fuller at twitter.com/GophersNow.

DISHONORABLE MENTION

Illinois 28, Gophers 24, Oct. 25, 2014 -- See above.

Iowa 31, Gophers 13, Sept. 29, 2012 -- Jerry Kill's second season started strong, with a 4-0 record in nonconference games, but Iowa showed the Gophers they weren't ready for the Big Ten by dominating them physically in Iowa City. Minnesota fell behind 24-0 at halftime. It was a harbinger of what was to come in conference play (the Gophers started 0-3).

Oregon 24, Gophers 20, Dec. 31, 1999 -- The Gophers were ranked No. 12 in the AP poll and had won three straight to end the regular season, a streak that included victories at No. 2 Penn State and Iowa. But they lost this Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.

Toledo 38, Gophers 7. Aug. 30, 2001 -- The Gophers were coming off back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time since 1985-86 and their first victory over Ohio State since 1981. But the 2001 season started with a blowout loss to Toledo and bottomed out at 1-4 before the Gophers managed to finish 4-7.

Ohio State 34, Gophers 3, Nov. 2, 2002 -- Minnesota was 7-1 and ranked No. 23 before reality hit hard in Columbus.

-- Marcus R. Fuller

[Huskie]

I'll be in the deer stand during the game so will not get to watch it on TV. The Gophers will have their hands full with the running game of Iowa, the D better show up from the get go. Offensively we will need to establish the run and then take some shots down field. Hopefully having two weeks to prep will help us this time. Big game for both squads, my heart see's it 31-24 for the Gophers but my head says Iowa by two TD's. I hope I'm wrong.

[Duffman]

The Jug and the Pig in the same year!

And the Axe yet to come?

It'll be a Thanksgiving miracle Charlie Brown.

[fishersofmen]

That was an awesome beatdown lets do it again next week! Best team we have had in a very long time hopefully it keeps getting better.

[Big Dave2]

I was much more excited about the Gophers win over Iowa until I took a look at Iowa's schedule. That has to be the easiest schedule in the Big 10.

[Canon Guy]

Nice win against a team that had dominated the Gophers last couple of years.

[JBMasterAngler]

Kind've nice to see that their 2 trophy games this year have both been their easiest wins. 3 times a charm against Wisconsin perhaps? Winning both trophies in the same year for the 1st time since 1967! That is truly amazing! Gotta enjoy this one to the fullest though, because I don't see any realistic chance of the gophers beating Ohio State next week

[CaptainMusky]

Its possible the gophers bring home the jug, the axe and Floyd all in the same year.

2/3 of the way there. What a convincing win yesterday. Just bottle that up and repeat. :-)

[ANYFISH2]

We have 3 of 4 trophies, not? Don't we have the one between us and penn st also?

[Big Dave2]

We have 3 of 4 trophies, not? Don't we have the one between us and penn st also?

They did have a trophy with Penn State until the Gophers got a little over excited...................

[CaptainMusky]

Lol bigdave! Ooops!

[JBMasterAngler]

They should've made a replica of that trophy all patched up with duct tape

[JBMasterAngler]

Wow, they certainly made a game of it! Aside from a win, they did more than I had hoped for. Perfect football weather! A loss is a loss, but if there is anything positive out of this, it was the fact they were able to capitalize on turnovers. Feel better about their chances against Wisconsin and Nebraska.

[CaptainMusky]

Make that FG in the first half and the end of the game gets more interesting for sure. Not blaming the kid because it was a 52 yarder man he's got a leg.

[Bryce]

A legimate D1 qb would be licking his chops at the clown show neb and wisc are putting on. Wish we had one. Rodents lose out and continue to be a waste of our tax dollars.

[schmitty3]

Field goal? How bout the fact our quarterback does a better job of throwing it to the defense than he does our receivers. Just give us a decent D1 quarterback and this is a very good team, but Leidner is just awful.

[fishersofmen]

Another game of qb's. Imagine how good we would be the next few years with Barrett.

[Huskie]

We were outplayed badly, poor QB (but he's the best we have) and line play, but managed to make a game of it. Two more tough ones coming up, hope we can get the 'huskers!!

[JBMasterAngler]

I think David Cobb is licking his chops at the chance to face Nebraska's defense (I use the term defense lightly of course). Single game rushing record for gophers is 294 yards. Perhaps?

[SkunkedAgain]

I disagree with the poor line play comment. Most of Cobb's yards came up the gut and he wasn't running through tackles - he had holes. While we didn't do a great job on stopping Barrett, part of that was also the all-out scheme the Gophers were running defensively.

It was a great game to watch and a good measuring stick for Minnesota. It showed the QB and WR are the real shortcomings on the team. While our rookie defensively linemen are doing well, I'd like to think we'd have contained Barrett even better had we not lost our three starting DLinemen to ACL tears in Week 1.

Regardless, a good game for the team.

[nofishfisherman]

Kind of wishing I didn't give away my tickets to the game. Despite the loss it would have been a fun game to attend. Guess I was just tired of sitting in the cold after hunting the bulk of the week.

Honestly I was expecting the gophers to do the typical gopher thing and get steam rolled after playing well enough leading into the game to build up they hype a little.

[swampman]

Next two weeks are going to be interesting in the big ten west the Gophers still control there own destiny, would have been nice to have one of these last two games at home. Nebraska certainly looks beatable after this weekend. Wisconsin looked awesome, have to find a way to slow there running game down and you have a chance because they aren't going to beat you throwing the ball.

Might lose the last two might not, the Illinois game might very well keep them out of the Big ten championship game which would mean facing Ohio state in a dome on a fast field, not something I might want to see anyway, LOL.

[SkunkedAgain]

I think that we have a better chance of beating Wisconsin than Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are still a good team and beating them on the road when they are likely to rebound is a tough prediction. I agree with you swampman, that Wisconsin is more beatable because of their lack of balance. I think that we can stop good running games but not talented enough to stop truly balanced teams like Ohio State, unless we play perfect football which we don't do yet.