Okay, so what's their best squad since the early 70s? It doesn't have to be great to be their best.
Just found this thread.
The two best Gopher teams since the primordial ooze era were 1999 and 2003. Don't know much about 99, but 2003 was my sophomore year at the U and I remember it vividly. I witnessed all three losses in the flesh. Consider the following:
- It could be argued that the program is still recovering from that Michigan game. The Game That Shall Not Be Named featured Gopher leads of 28-7 and 35-14 with 12 minutes to go only to have Chris Perry get about 300 yards on bubble screens down the stretch. It remains the only time I've ever been physically sick after a football game.
- The following week, at 11AM in a deserted Metrodome, they come out totally hung over against MSU. I think it was something like 21 or 28-love before the Gophers got going, but by then it was a day late and a dollar short.
-In the season finale at Iowa City, the Gophers lost 5 fumbles, including 1 into the end zone and a couple others deep in Hawk territory. At one point, the Gophers had over 400 yards rushing and 7 points to show for it. Incidentally, that miserable afternoon (35 degrees and drizzle/showers) was my first ever road game, and seeing how CFB fans actually tailgate was an eye opener.
It wasn't all bad. That win over Wisconsin was fun, although the defense made Jim Fn Sorgi look like the second coming of Peyton Manning. Masons issues were A) He had been publicly begging for the Ohio State job since 99, and B ) any player with any athletic ability was automatically shifted to running back, which left the back 7 awfully lean and played no small role in the dreadful Q4 collapses his teams were known for.
Yes, not beating the red weasels since then is infuriating. Badge is well aware of this.
Hope this helps.
