ROAD KILL ALERT: The Minnesota Gophers finished the season 8-4 by beating the crap out of the Wiscansin Badgers. They beat them so bad that Wiscansin decided to fire their second head coach of the season! I honestly can't even remember the last time Paul Bunyan's Axe wasn't in MPLS. GREAT TIMES. It was also interesting to see Wiscansin playing the song "Jump Around" at the end of the 3rd Quarter, since the Minnesota Gophers own that song. Just found the interesting. The Gophers have finally let QB Athan Kaliakmanis loose as he threw for 319 yards and 2 Touchdowns. It is exciting to see his potential play out and against a solid defense. We were able to see the future of the Gophers really shine and I don't think it was a fluke. Athan being able to start a number of games down the stretch is only going to help his progression for next season and we are already seeing some top WRs wanting to transfer to Minnesota. With Ibrahim gone next season, I expect to see a much more passing attack from the Gophers in this new era.
I would expect to see the Gophers get into a mid-high bowl game this season against a team that we can definitely beat. Under PJ Fleck, the Gophers have shown to improve as the season progresses. I think this year is no different. With Athan's confidence continuing to grow, whoever is matched up with the Gophers in the bowl game is going to need to try to stop one of the nation's best RBs in Mo Ibrahim, an up and coming passing game led by Athan Kaliakmanis who has 4+ capable WRs, and one of the nation's best defenses. With the Gophers sitting at 8-4, I have a feeling we are going to be matched with a team that really won't stand a chance at beating us. We should know Sunday which Bowl we will be playing in and who our opponent will be. I can guarantee you the Gophers coaching staff will have the team ready to ball out and improve to 4-0 in Bowl games under PJ Fleck.
We have an exciting future ahead of us, Gopher fans! I know this season may appear to be a disappointment, but let's look at the positive side. In the last 3 normal seasons, the Gophers have won 11 games, 9 games, and if they win the Bowl game this year, another 9 win season. They are absolutely raising the floor of this program. We haven't been this good in 100 years and now we have fans complaining of 9 win seasons being a "bad" outcome. I'd say we have the right coach and leader for this program to keep improving and moving forward!
