Last Saturday’s loss to Cal was a whole lot of “meh” and that was immediately followed by the team’s first bye of the season. It was a very winnable game for the Gophers, especially considering Cal’s blowout loss at San Diego State this past Saturday, but Minnesota never seized their opportunities and lost 27-14. The […]
Last Saturday’s loss to Cal was a whole lot of “meh” and that was immediately followed by the team’s first bye of the season. It was a very winnable game for the Gophers, especially considering Cal’s blowout loss at San Diego State this past Saturday, but Minnesota never seized their opportunities and lost 27-14.
The opportunity was there. After trailing 10-7 at halftime, the Gopher offense put together a 10-play, 64-yard drive to take a 14-10 lead with less than 6 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter. Time for Danny Collins to orchestrate a stop and watch the offense lean on Fame Ijeboi and Drake Lindsey’s play-action passing to grind out another long drive to push the lead. But instead, Collins’ defense was put on its heels by Bryan Harsin’s offense as Cal took back the lead after a 75-yard, touchdown drive for the go-ahead score that they wouldn’t relinquish.
The excuses are ripe for the taking here, and there’s an element of truth to all of them.
Injuries wiped out the running game. Darius Taylor was not back from a hammy injury in the NW State game and AJ Turner was limited to four carries. But Ijeboi looked very good in the first real work that we have been seen from the redshirt freshman. He finished with 85 yards and a 5.3 yard per carry average. Very encouraging for the future of the running game.
It was the first road game and P4 opponent for Drake Lindsey. Freshmen quarterbacks don’t just “arrive.” There is a learning curve. The hope, this season, isn’t that Lindsey is an All-American quarterback who takes college football by storm. The hope, at least the one grounded in some form of reality, is that he learns and improves throughout the season. He hasn’t arrived, but he’s growing. The redshirt freshman was 19/32 passing for 205 yards, one touchdown and one pick. It wasn’t a terrible day for Lindsey, but sometimes the quarterback has to carry the team.
This team is young with several new starters and it is early. The team’s quarterback, left tackle, primary running back (after injuries), a starting WR and the team’s best defensive player are all second-year players to go along with several other transfers & returners who are starting for the first time.
All of these are true.
It is also true that this was a winnable game that feels like a missed opportunity.
This team came into the season with some significant questions. The Cal game was not a definitive answer to any of them.
The fear now, at least for TMP, is that apathy is already setting in. PJ Fleck has consistently been winning eight or nine games per season and just another eight-win season isn’t moving the needle for anybody. I’ll caution this apathy with two points.
First, be careful what you wish for. Wisconsin used to be consistently winning eight, nine or even ten games per season. That fanbase is melting down this week as the Badgers look real bad. The Luke Fickell experiment is looking like a disaster and he has a $25,000,000 buyout in his back pocket. Nebraska has been in a similar funk after they made it clear that winning nine games a year wasn’t good enough under Bo Pelini. Now they are feeling real good about things after not getting blown out by Michigan at home (but still losing).
Secondly…again…the questions around this team have not been definitively answered yet.
The season still has nine games remaining and this can still be a fun season. Fleck’s teams typically get better throughout the season and they fix what is fixable.
Do I think Koi Perich is going to have a bad game like this again? I do not, I think he will grow.
Do I think Drake Lindsey is going to continue to get better? I do, and I think it’ll be fun to watch.
Do I think the offensive line will get better? I really do, they do every year.
Am I looking forward to the Badger game to end the season? I really, really am. Maybe the Gophers are playing to get themselves into a more prestigious bowl or maybe not. But I would really enjoy a 30-point win.
There is a lot to play for this season and there are a lot of growth opportunities for a number of talented young players on this roster. Don’t let apathy win and enjoy the season.
Category: General Sports
