I'll be damned. The Gophers actually did it.

Gophers 31

Penn State 26

The final minutes of this game were playing out like a well worn script. The exact thing that has happened every single time this Gophers program has had a chance to really do something impressive and meaningful for my whole lifetime, and even a couple decades further back than that, was happening again. 

A dazzling first half full of big pass plays and turnovers was about to go to waste.

A 12 point lead with under 5 minutes left was about to be erased.

It was going to be a total kick in the teeth. We were even going to have the obligatory huge officiating mistake to grumble about, as the Nittany Lions last TD should not have counted due to a delay of game.

Now, it was not going to be a program-killer. It wasn't even going to destroy this season. But how often do you get a chance to take down a top 5 team at home?

So as Penn State was going right down the field again for the inevitable winning score, every Minnesota sports fan had to be feeling the same dread.

But, at least on this day, this was not going to be just another Gophers choke, another Minnesota sports heartbreak. 

Every other year, every other game, that last Penn State pass to the endzone winds up in the hands of a receiver for a game winning dagger.

But not today. Today that ball landed in the hands of a guy in a shiny gold helmet, and the Gophers WON. All the hype, all the twists and turns, and this time it ended in a W.

9-0 for the first time since 1904. First win over a top 5 team since 1999. First home win over a top 5 team in I don't even know how long.

Now, there's a lot of season to go still. Iowa next week. Wisconsin a few weeks later. Maybe a Big Ten title game appearance. Possibly a really good bowl game. I suppose you still have to give them a tiny chance at the playoff (although c'mon that's a pipe dream, we ain't beating Ohio State).

I've always been an eye roller when it comes to PJ Fleck and some of his shenanigans, but the fact is in just 3 years he has built this program into one that can win a game like this. 

This is all I want. I want the Gophers to have the kind of football program that can compete with the best of the Big Ten, and every so often have a really good season and occasionally take down a highly ranked team.