Saturday was a range of emotions. I, for one, was very excited for this game and am on record that this was a game I desperately wanted Minnesota to win and validate that we are a team to recognize. As the week progressed, my confidence continued to grow and I was convinced this was going to be a statement game for the program.
On the game’s opening play Karter Menz’s took down Kamario Taylor on a designed run for a one-yard loss. The next play was a 37-yard pass from Taylor to Anthony Evans and from that
point, Mississippi State dominated the entire game.
The offense was unable to score a touchdown.
The offense was so inept at running the ball that they completely abandoned it in the second half.
The defense was giving up 8.6 yards per play in the first half.
It was a buzzkill and incredibly disappointing.
I have enough history of watching PJ Fleck for nine seasons to know that things do often get better. I have been writing here, reading comments and advising fans to see the pattern that in September we all fall victim to getting over-excited about the team early, quickly falling into despair that this year’s team may not be good enough to win a Big Ten game, and then seeing them get things slowly figured out and finish in the range of six to eight wins.
And I believe that still to be true. But the disappointment is in the feeling that this is Groundhog’s Day. The problem is not that Minnesota lost to Mississippi State. Good teams lose games. The problem is how familiar this all felt.
Another September game where the defense looks disjointed. Another stretch where the running game disappears. Another performance that makes you wonder how a veteran coaching staff can look so unprepared for an opponent of comparable talent. In 2025 the Gophers finished the season ranked higher than Cal in SP+. In 2024 they finished higher than North Carolina. Both are games they likely should have won.
Maybe, as has so often been the case under Fleck, this team will improve. Maybe the offensive line settles in, Lindsey grows more comfortable and the defense gets back to looking like the unit we expected. History says there is a decent chance that happens.
But at some point, improvement cannot always mean digging out of the same early-season hole.
In year 10, the frustration is not that this team might eventually be a solid team. The frustration is that we keep arriving at that destination by taking the same exhausting route.
At some point, year-to-year progress has to mean more than getting better at recovering from the same mistakes. It has to mean changing whatever keeps putting this program in a position where September becomes part of the problem instead of part of the solution. Maybe we need to be patient, it looks like Fleck finally figured out special teams in year 10.
This staff has proven it can develop a team over the course of a season. Now it needs to prove it can have that team more prepared at the beginning of one.
