We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 080

Reviewing another Gophers blowout win and looking ahead to a high-stakes November.

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In Review: Maryland 10-52 Minnesota

Though it was one of the worst-uniformed games of the college football season, Saturday's 52-10 dismantling of Maryland was a nearly perfect game for Minnesota heading into their idle week. It was Minnesota's 10th straight win going back to 2018, their fourth straight blowout, and their fifth straight dominant performance against a conference opponent.

The Gophers have beaten three of the six teams who beat them last season, and they're guaranteed a chance at two more (Iowa and Northwestern) before the season ends. There is too much of the season left to say whether they'll get a shot against the sixth (Ohio State) in Indianapolis, but with a two-game lead in the Big Ten West, that's entirely up to them.

We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 079

Previewing Maryland-Minnesota and looking at the Big Ten as a whole.

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In Review: Minnesota 42-7 Rutgers

The Gophers did what they needed to do against Rutgers. That's the bottom line. They were supposed to win big, and 42-7 definitely counts as winning big.

Though there were some minor hiccups in the first half, it was clear from the beginning who the better team was. The only question was whether that team would come away unscathed. The answer wasn't what the Gophers wanted, but they don't have many injuries, and they're still winning. At 7-0 and up to No. 17 in the AP Poll, the Gophers could be on track for the program's best season this century, if not in several decades.

We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 078

The Vikings' and Gophers' dominant wins over the Eagles and Cornhuskers.

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In Review: Nebraska 7-34 Minnesota

Before the season, a 6-0 start to Minnesota's season was a definite possibility. FPI gave it an 18 percent chance of happening. SP+ gave it an 11 percent chance. Though there were some likely toss-ups on the front half of the schedule, the Gophers were probably going to be favorites in most of those six games, if not in all of them.

The non-conference schedule inspired worry, some of it warranted, after a trio of single-possession victories. The Big Ten opener against Purdue felt incomplete, despite the fact that the result was close to certain for much of the fourth quarter, because the final margin was 7 points.

The Gophers have ended those worries with two complete routs of teams that blew them out last season, finding their way into the AP Poll for the first time in five years.

The team is bowl eligible. The fans, usually a fickle lot, are happy. The Chair is back in Minneapolis. The next two opponents are very beatable, and it's easy to daydream about beating two of the four after the bye week.

It turns out being 6-0 feels pretty good.

We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 077

Bon Iver, the Twins, and the Gophers.

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In Review: Illinois 17-40 Minnesota

For the first time this season, the Gophers won a game without any late drama. The only asterisk you might put on the victory was that the opponent was Illinois, but the 23-point margin beat the spread by more than a possession, and Minnesota still didn't allow an offensive touchdown. It was a comprehensive thrashing, both on the ground and in the air, and on each side of the ball.

Though the Gophers looked like they'd be at least slight favorites in each of their first five games (according to SP+, their lowest preseason win probability was 53 percent at Fresno State), it is hard not to feel excited at Minnesota's direction after a 5-0 start and two straight commanding wins over Big Ten teams.

Picking up the Pieces

Sports, like all great theatre, appeal to us because they package all of the wonderful and terrible feelings of real life into a few hours at a time,  mostly leaving out the boring parts. Failing that, it makes the boring parts feel less boring because everything else feels too important to be boring.

However, the wonderful thing is that none of it is important. It's all "men in pajamas playing projectile fetch." When a game is over, we can move on.

Except, like in real life, we cannot always move on. When things go wrong, we feel alone and broken, and we want answers. We can try believing that it's because we're cursed somehow — by where we live, by the opponents in our teams' paths, or just by being — but the truth is that there are no curses. Sometimes, a good team loses to another good team. And sometimes, it happens again and again and again.

We Are Maroon and Gold Episode 076

The Twins in the ALDS, the Vikings' existential crisis, and the Gophers.

Eno Sarris' "Picking a statistical method ... and a World Series champion," in which he appraises the Twins as "the best non-favorite in the playoffs." Chandler kind of misrepresents his statement in this episode by saying that Sarris says the only teams with better chances are the Yankees and Astros, but if you throw in the Dodgers, that characterization is not too far off.

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In Review: Minnesota 38-31 Purdue

The score may not show it, but Minnesota put forth its most commanding performance of the season against Purdue on Saturday. A change of approach on offense generated some big plays that put the Gophers up three touchdowns going into the fourth quarter. That proved just too big a deficit for the Boilermakers to overcome, even while benefiting from a funky bounce on an onside kick, some shoddy defending, and an impressive performance by redshirt freshman quarterback Jack Plummer.

It wasn't a perfect day for the Gophers, but it was really good at points.