Gophers Football: Trying to Avoid Groundhog Day

Oct 25, 2014; Champaign, IL, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers quarterback Mitch Leidner (7) looks to pass the ball in the game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium. Illinois won 28-24. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

As a child, I played outside frequently. Back yard football, building forts in the woods and Super Soaker fights were some of my favorite things to do in the summer. However, if it was raining, I was sick or if I just felt lazy, flipping on the TV was my fallback. Many of you have probably noticed by now that daytime television leaves a lot to be desired. Because of this, I tended to gravitate towards the same movies, over and over again. One of them was “Groundhog Day” starring Bill Murray. For those unfamiliar, the basic premise is that he was forced to live the same lousy day, again and again, until he finally got it right and landed Andie MacDowell.

Leading off a post about college football in 2014 with a description of a movie from 1993 may seem strange, but it is done for a reason. The Minnesota Golden Gophers football team has essentially been living the same season, over and over, for decades. There are some better seasons, and some truly awful, Brewstery seasons in the mix, but the general plot remains the same: Get some big wins against quality opponents, lose games that should be won, play in the MicronPC/Sun/Music City/Texas Bowl. Rinse. Repeat.

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The Gophers are on a bye week after a terrible loss to a very bad Illinois team. Before said loss, there was momentum in the media and fan base that this year is different, and the team would finally break through. Now, many of those same people are lamenting the “same old Gophers” blowing it again. Starting next week against Iowa, the Gophers have a chance to rewrite the all too familiar script.

As much as it may not feel like it, the Gophers are still tied for first place in the Big Ten West. As Coach Jerry Kill told him team and the Pioneer Press, “The season isn’t over.” Everything from a division championship, conference championship and New Year’s bowl are all still possible. It is very reasonable to think that with the state of Mitch Leidner’s play and the cracks that are showing in Tracy Claeys’ defense, the Gophers will end up at around .500 in the conference again and will be playing in a mediocre bowl game again. To avoid that, the Gophers will have to stop history from repeating itself.

It’s time to win over Andie.