Gophers finally put out of their misery

Wisconsin 20

Gophers 17

OT

This awful Gophers season was already over following last week's mediocre victory over a bad Nebraska team. Somehow this awful team had evened up their record at 3-3. It wasn't good. Most of it was bad, but at least it was over and you could save some face.

But then the Big Ten did a horrible thing to us. They announced that the Gophers had to play another game, and that it was going to be against Wisconsin. No! COVID had mercifully spared us from another embarrassing loss to those shithead fans. Now we had to play them. And a bunch of dumb rubes CELEBRATED this news. 

And fittingly, this awful season ended in a disgusting, rather humiliating defeat. Although not in an expected blowout, just in an eminently winnable game that the Badgers seemed to be begging to lose, only for the sorry ass Gophers to refuse the gift.

This game had some amusing twists, but the game was decided the moment Tanner Morgan threw that endzone pick. An unacceptable throw.

Morgan had a terrible season. He went from being talked up as a pro prospect (I never bought it, but the talk was there) to looking like a bad freshman. Wisconsin has bad QBs, but they still had TWO outplay Morgan today. I have never seen an allegedly good QB become so instantly scared in the face of any sort of pass rush. Morgan just kept running away scared the second any Badger got within 10 feet of him in the pocket.

Late in the game, Wisconsin is driving easily for what we all knew was going to be a game winning field goal. They were gouging us on the ground, so it was absurdly stupid when they called for their backup QB to chuck up a deep ball, which was picked in the endzone.

So it's Gophers ball with time to go win the game. And what does Morgan do? He scrambles away from non-existent pressure, which leads to a holding call. Then he runs himself right into a strip sack. The Gophers recovered but Fleck chose to run out the clock rather than risk another Morgan mistake.

Then in OT, Morgan almost threw a pick and Fleck decided to kick a field goal. Which was already stupid, cause there was no chance we wouldn't have allowed a touchdown. And it became disastrous when the field goal was wide left. 

Wisconsin easily moved into chippie field goal range, made the kick easily, and retained the axe for 16th time in 17 years.

I honestly wish the Big Ten had no season. All this 7 game mini-season did was obliterate all the optimism I had for this program after that bowl win over Auburn. 

Fleck is going to live off 2019 for a long time in this town, because we have been so starved for such a season. And no, you can't expect that kind of record every year, especially losing a lot of talent to the NFL and also to opt outs.

But you can't go backwards like this. Fleck himself even said defiantly last year that this program is not going back to where they have been so much over more years than I have been alive, where 6 win seasons are considered high water marks.

But this season sure made last year look like one hell of a fluke.

And while we don't expect top 10 seasons all the time, you have to do better in the 2 big rivalry games. Fleck is now 1-7 against Iowa and Wisconsin. Hell, win one of them last year and you play in the Rose Bowl.

I don't even know what this bowl season is, but at 3-4 you most likely aren't in a bowl game of any kind, so your chances to make something of this season died with the blowout loss to Iowa and this pathetic giveaway to Wisconsin.

It was a total waste. We might wanna hold off on erecting those PJ Fleck statues until he can prove that he is more than a one hit wonder.