Another elite Saturday football experience at Huntington Bank Stadium. PJ Fleck provided another fantastic moment and memory for Gopher fans.
A few years ago there was a meme (or maybe it was a short video) about how all you get from passionately following sports is pain, but concerts never disappoint. You never leave a concert feeling like you were punched in the gut. This is largely true. But also, you rarely leave a concert with the euphoric high that we experienced in the wins over Michigan and
Iowa this year. Football fandom is fun and I love that PJ Fleck embraces it. As we all should.
Saturday afternoon at Huntington Bank, the atmosphere was electric. The juice that was in the air was palpable. Michigan was a party after they won, but throughout the game, it was very similar to any other Big Ten game. This past Saturday was different; it was fun and tense for all four quarters. And then the floodgates opened. The team rushed Floyd and the fans stormed the field.
Now, I cannot help but look forward. Not because I want to predict where this team finishes, but because this season has already taught us how useless those predictions can be.
Minnesota has won the Big Ten games we thought would be the hardest to get. The Gophers didn’t win a road game last season and went out to Washington to earn a win. Minnesota beats Michigan less than once a decade and managed to beat the Wolverines at home. And PJ Fleck had been 1-8 against Iowa but then found a way to get that massive win.
And the one conference game we looked at as the most likely win? Purdue. They lost it.
So good luck trying to figure out what comes next. The rest of the schedule is a series of games where every game could go either way. Much like the first four Big Ten games, the ones that looked the easiest are possibly the most challenging, while the ones that looked like certain losses are a lot closer than originally anticipated.
@#6-Indiana – This is the least likely Gopher win remaining on the schedule, but the Hoosiers have looked vulnerable. They just scored a total of six points in regulation at Michigan. Offensively, they are not the same with Josh Hoover under center, but that defense is elite.
#7-UCLA – This is a truly remarkable turnaround for the Bruins, who were terrible last year. Now ranked 7th in the country and received one vote for first place in the Coaches Poll. And they’ve continued to win with starting QB, Nico Iamaleava out. Happy this one is home, but they’re going to make it back-to-back top-10 opponents.
@Penn State – They are having a down year, but another road game against a team filled with talented kids. Strangely, this might be our most likely win remaining on the schedule.
#20-Northwestern – Another shockingly good team this year and I’m happy this game is at home. David Braun is 2-0 against PJ Fleck, but both have been three-point losses and both were on the road. We should know a lot more about Northwestern over the next three weeks as they face Oregon, Iowa and Ohio State.
@ #25-Wisconsin – And finally, another game that was an assumed win before the season started. But now the Badgers are 5-2 and ranked.
The point is less about each opponent and whether we win or not. Minnesota has shown to be a team that can compete with anybody, but we certainly have enough issues to know that we cannot be confident against anybody either.
This team has the toughest remaining schedule in FBS and each week is going to be a grind. Every remaining game feels winnable and every remaining game feels losable. The final five weeks of the season are going to be wild and every conceivable goal is still on the table for this team.
What we do know is that this team has already beaten Washington, Michigan and Iowa. It has given us the Little Brown Jug and Floyd of Rosedale. It has produced a couple of Saturdays that will stick with us long after we forget what the final record was. And if we can find a way to keep Paul Bunyan’s Axe, then this is truly a remarkable season, even if they only have six or seven wins.
The rest of the schedule is daunting. But after everything we have seen so far, I am done penciling in wins and losses.
Show up Saturday and see what happens.
