Gopher Football 2014

[nofishfisherman]

Quote:

Let's put aside my 14-second 40 for a moment and pretend I'm a five-star recruit. What is the Jerry Kill pitch to get me into a Gophers' uniform?

JK: I think we have a lot of things we can talk about. This is an unbelievable city to come to, and we have 19 Fortune 500 companies here. There are great opportunities here. We have a tremendous school, a great academic school and, with having that and all the Fortune 500 companies, that's important. We have summers and springs and falls that are outstanding. It's the Land of 10,000 Lakes, a beautiful state. And I think we're the top four in the country in fitness states. So we have so many things to offer -- a brand-new stadium -- so we just have to get people to visit. To be honest with you, when we get people to visit, we've usually got a pretty good chance to get them committed.

I know when I got this job I was like,' Boy, that's a long way up there.' But when people get here, they just don't leave -- and I'm talking about the business world. That's important. http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/95396/recruiting-qa-minnesotas-jerry-kill-2

He can talk about all of those things but the fact is top tier talent is more concerned with their ability to make it to the NFL versus how many Fortune 500 companies might be in the area. Most probably couldn't even tell you what a Fortune 500 company is.

The U of M can get good players but they are mostly players that know they have an outside shot at best at even being invited to the combine when they are done at the U. The guys with legit hopes of going pro are more likely to look at programs that have a history of putting out pro talent and that can offer easier class schedules.

[dfv87]

This is correct... with no General College and history of making athletes lives easier the U will continue to have to make do with 3-4 star recruits and hope they can blossom into something special. You know in football the SEC schools do not put much emphasis on academic performance as say a Northwestern or MN but similar could be said for many schools not just SEC but let's be honest they are the poster children of my point.

[Huskie]

I'm hoping the kids playing are enjoying the moment much more than most of the posters on this thread.

[BuckSutherland]

Some of us are dying to be fans, but the bitter taste of Michigan is still in our(my) mouth(s). About the time I say some positive about them we get clobbered, and end up losing the Tampax Tampoon Bowl to some loser team.

[Duffman]

Do I think they have a shot in WI?

I don't think we will be talking about playing Ohio State at this time next week.

But it's sports, it's a MN vs WI sporting event, expect the unexpected.

There's one problem with that line of thinking, I think those kids honestly expect to bring back the Axe.

They believe.

I'm not there yet.

[Canon Guy]

I see the Wisconsin coach will not let the Axe be on the sidelines. The winning team will be awarded the Axe in the locker room.

[CaptainMusky]

That's probably a smart move after what happened two years ago. Keep it in the locker room and avoid confrontation.

[Canon Guy]

Must have been some pressure on him so he has backtracked a little. The Axe will now be brought out to one the end zones so the players can still go get it right after a victory.

[toughguy]

Must have been some pressure on him so he has backtracked a little. The Axe will now be brought out to one the end zones so the players can still go get it right after a victory.

Good. I like the tradition of running for the axe but I can see where rushing for the sideline of the other team might cause issues. Putting it in the end zone seems like a good idea. Chopping at the goal post was pretty low class but not worth rioting over either. For the first time ever, I'm looking forward to Saturday's game more than last Sunday's border battle. What does that tell you about how much the Vikings and Gophers have changed.

[SkunkedAgain]

Too many people take this all too seriously. You can be a fan without committing your life to the team. Since moving here in the early 1990s I've been a big fan of the team. This season has already exceeded expectations so everything that's been happening since the Illinois has been icing on the cake.

I was a firm believer that we'd win 3 out of the 4 first easy games and lose 3 out of the 4 tough games. We're already one ahead of that prediction. I'm happy win or lose next week.

[JBMasterAngler]

Gophers are projected to play Missouri in the citrus bowl. That matchup doesn't sound too exciting. I'd rather they play a real SEC team like ole miss, or LSU, or even south carolina.

[JBMasterAngler]

Gophers now ranked #18

[Canon Guy]

I've seen a few different scenarios. Saturday will probably determine which bowl they go to. I've seen match ups against Mizz, Ole Miss, LSU and Utah

[JBMasterAngler]

Latest prediction has them playing LSU in the outback bowl. Win or lose they'll be playing on new years. And it would appear the worst they could do is the outback bowl.

[Canon Guy]

I don't know if they can pull it out Saturday, but either way this season has surely been a step in the right direction.

[JBMasterAngler]

Tough game. After the badgers swung the momentum in their favor late in the 2nd quarter, it became very hard to watch.

[swampman]

Gophers had a great start but they needed a perfect game today, they left to many points on the field in the first half. At the end of the day they lost to a better team, defense couldn't get the stops when they had to and some of Leidner's passes were downright embarrassing.

Still a good season be interesting to see which bowl the gophers end up in.

Ohio state/Wisconsin could be interesting with Ohio state losing there qb for the rest of the year.

[blue_healer_guy]

pile qb, sound familar.

[blue_healer_guy]

pile qb, sound familar.

[Huskie]

QB is the best we have at this time, what else can they do? Let's hope for a good bowl and a victory to cap a great year for the Gophers!!!

[LMITOUT]

Can we stop with the "Wisconsin is our rival" nonsense once and for all?

Gophers: 0-11

Vikings: 1-9-1

Wisconsin made MN its beeotch again and at this point it's laughable to call it any sort of a "rivalry" or "border battle".

[schmitty3]

Can we stop with the "Wisconsin is our rival" nonsense once and for all?

Gophers: 0-11

Vikings: 1-9-1

Wisconsin made MN its beeotch again and at this point it's laughable to call it any sort of a "rivalry" or "border battle".

Gophers vs Wisconsin-Gophers lead 59-57-8

Vikings vs Packers-Packers lead 58-49-2

Every rivalry goes through ups and downs, but historically these are both two great rivals.

[LMITOUT]

Doh-kay

BTW, does Jerry Kill coach the bowl game or is he already packing for Lincoln? I hope he heads south and doesn't look back. He doesn't deserve this fraudulent fan base or having to recruit players to a place where their football careers go to die.

[SkunkedAgain]

Keep stirring the drink LMT.

The Gophers are just a decent QB away from being a top contending team in the Big Ten - nothing more, nothing less.

It will be a tough start to next season with a home game against #6 TCU again.

[JBMasterAngler]

Wether Kill goes anywhere or not, and I don't believe he will, it won't be Nebraska! Scott Frost, their former national title winning QB is the leading candidate for the husker job.

[SkunkedAgain]

As someone on KFAN said yesterday, if you win 9 or 10 games at Minnesota consistently they'll build you a statue. Do that at Nebraska and they'll have your head. I'm not sure that Kill really has a national contending staff. A good one for sure, but not elite which is what Nebraska wants.

I think that Kill is angling for the facilities that he needs. Politics

[LMITOUT]

They just got handed a brand new stadium.

Don't give me the "we need better facilities to compete" hogwash.

Good grief.

[swampman]

They just got handed a brand new stadium.

Don't give me the "we need better facilities to compete" hogwash.

Good grief.

Their facilities stadium aside are pretty much regarded at the bottom compared to other big ten schools. Don't really know why you care anyway its always the same old negative spin on everything with you anyway.

[LMITOUT]

It's always something, isn't it? Another excuse for mediocrity, another song and dance to bilk the public for more money.

Go south Jerry and never look back. You deserve better than chasing the eternal carrot on a string treatment you'll get in this state.

[swampman]

Ok? So by coach Kill lobbying for practice and team facilities to bring them in line with the rest of the Big ten he is bilking money out of the public which you are obviously against yet he deserves a fan base that will support him and not have to chase a carrot on a stick? Gotcha, way to talk out of both sides of your mouth.