Rodent Football?

[so haaad]

The Gophs played very well at times. The defense once again showed how much they've improved over last year. And I'm very impressed with Adam Weber. He shows a lot of maturity for a sophomore. The offensive line showed they are very young, but they'll get better with time.

[PierBridge]

BUMP!

[Scott M]

WHADDAYA THINK OF MY DEFENSE NOW!?!?!?! Didn't see a snap, just got off work. Sounds like there may be hope for Gopher Nation afterall. A win on the road against last year's Rose Bowl representative, baby steps my friends, baby steps!!!

[PierBridge]

We will now refer to it as Gopher Football!

[riverrat56]

Anyone know what the deal was with the fair catch?/fumble late in the first half? The Ref said it was an ineligable fair catch signal, but Illinois still got the ball back?

Great win btw, good thing I woke up from my nap in time to see it!

[mechanictim]

The call just meant that the reciever signaled a fair catch but not well enough for the refs to flag the defense for tackling him. As soon as he made the little wave with his arm he could not advance the ball but since he didn't put his arm over his head the kicking team isn't expected to see it and there is no penalty for hitting a reciever after signaling a fair catch. Since he couldn't advance the ball the play ended when he caught the ball and therefore no fumble.

[gopher_nation]

Great game!! Fun to watch. I wasn't sure if they were going to win a Big 10 game this year, but I am pleasantly surprised. Brewster knows what he is doing there. Confidence has to be sky high with them guys right now. They still have at least two more conference wins in them. Great to see some Minnesota boys in the spotlight.

[lawdog]

WOW!

The invalid fair catch signal is pretty much as Mechanictim explained. Its a dead ball and a penalty on the recieving team as soon as he catches it. A valid fair catch signal is one hand held high over your head.

[riverrat56]

Thanks guys, I just had never heard of an invalid fair catch before, and thought that well since it is invalid, it shouldn't count and we should get the fumble! Just wishful thinking I guess.

[Mudcutter]

take your bison outta the mix. 340 rushing yards to Young ST??? Come on. Northern IOwa will CRUSH you at the UNI Dome.

Welcome to playing real DIVII or FCS teams!!!

and they did--- NDSU after being so highly rated before the year is likely not even going to playoffs, and likely will not finish in the top half of the MV. Welcome again to tough conference. You'd be ALOT better with a QB that can throw.

[toughguy]

Ranked!!!! 25th in 2 poles. I don't know if they deserve it yet but it's nice to see. I hope they can keep it up.

[so haaad]

I always find it interesting when a team moves up in the polls despite even playing this past weekend! Hopefully they can keep playing like they have the last few weeks. Historically, a national top 25 ranking for the Gophs always meant they would get run over in thier next game. Hopefully that will change this year.

[riverrat56]

Either way it is a large improvement and this season may go along ways in the recruiting process. It's alot more attractive to go play for a 6+ win team than a 1 win teams. Also should give Brewster a few years to prove he can win.

[PierBridge]

Did we win again?

[Scott M]

yup.

3 home games left. Homecoming with Northwestern, home with Michigan, at Wisconsin, and hosting Iowa. Halfway through the conference schedule and only Northwestern is in the upper half of the conference.

Take care of business and you could be looking at a nice little bowl game!

[so haaad]

Another good win for the Gophs...aka the new "G-Men". They are now up to #20 in the polls.

The last four games are going to be the toughest of the season regardless of their opponents' rankings. Northwestern is a pretty good team. Michigan is, well, still Michigan with lots of talent. Wisconsin is talented at running back and wide receiver and is always tough at Camp Randall. And Iowa is playing very well with a fantastic running game. I would love to see the new "G-Men" go at least 2-2 to finish the season 9-3 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten.

[PierBridge]

I'd take that!

Go Gophs!

[so haaad]

I hate to start thinking ahead, but:

If Penn State continues to play the way they are playing right now, they might be in the national championship game. That would mean Ohio State would play in the Rose Bowl. And if the Gophers just play 2-2 football the rest of the year, they should be playing on Jan. 1 for the first time since 1962. Again, I hate to start thinking ahead but this is what it would look like if things continue the way they are.

Capital One Bowl: Big Ten #2 pick (Michigan State)

Outback Bowl: Big Ten #3 pick (GOPHERS!)

Alamo Bowl: Big Ten #4/5 pick (Northwestern)

Champs Sports Bowl: Big Ten #5 pick (Iowa)

Insight Bowl: Big Ten #6 pick

Motor City Bowl: Big Ten #7 pick

[Mudcutter]

Gophers/IOwa game will decide who goes to a better bowl.

IOwa is underated with a good def and a back that will go on the first day of the draft, and a coach that is digging himself outta problems.

Go Gophers!!!!

[PierBridge]

Tough Loss.....guess our 7th National title will have to wait until next year..

[Scott M]

1st quarter they looked terrible, 2nd quarter they looked decent, and the second half seemed to be just a back and forth crawl. Too bad about the pick 6...but somehow you felt that they weren't going to win the remaining 4. Still can get into a nice bowl game if they win out. Michigan, Iowa, and Bucky left.

[snoozebutton]

Still can get into a nice bowl game if they win out. Michigan, Iowa, and Bucky left.

Don't worry about the Badgers, no matter how far ahead they seem to get, they find a way to lose.

[MNPOINTER]

Huuuuge weekend for the gophers! We're 7-2, have never beaten Michigan in the dome, gold out, and Brew has a large group of top recruits visting this weekend. OH, and if we win, we keep the jug till 2011, meaning we open the stadium with that baby in the trophy case!

[so haaad]

I agree with you MNPOINTER. Some really nice recruits will be on-hand for the game, including local boys Bryce McNeal and Ra'shede Hageman. Getting those two guys would mean that Brewster got all top 5 recruits from the state. Huge!

Let's hope the Gopher's defense can shut down Michigan's offense. The Roof....the Roof...the Roof is on fire.

[PierBridge]

Huuuuge weekend for the gophers! We're 7-2, have never beaten Michigan in the dome, gold out, and Brew has a large group of top recruits visting this weekend. OH, and if we win, we keep the jug till 2011, meaning we open the stadium with that baby in the trophy case!

Yikes.... Could be another huge let down.