See
more of the story
Evanston, Ill. – When P.J. Fleck promised to "Row The Boat" he never mentioned the days his program would perform like a capsized kayak.
For Gophers football, Ryan Field on Saturday became the juncture where reality smothers hype. Playing in wind, rain and eventually snow, a Northwestern team that had not blown out another Big Ten opponent smashed the Gophers 39-0.
There are two takeaways from this abomination against football, and they tell slightly different stories.
The first is that never in the history of this rivalry had Northwestern won by 39 points, until Saturday. Fleck accomplished what Tim Brewster's couldn't.
The second is that with a regular-season finale against unbeaten Wisconsin scheduled for Saturday, the Gophers are all but guaranteed to finish with two Big Ten victories for the fifth time in eight seasons. Gophers football mediocrity is as predictable as bad November weather in Chicago.
Gophers fans have every right to be embarrassed by their team's performance in Evanston. They have no right to be surprised.
"We'll put our oars back in the water," Fleck said.
Even considering that Northwestern is ranked (No. 23 in the CFP list) and the Gophers are in their first year under Fleck, there is no way the gap between these teams should be 39 points.
Northwestern relies on the run, but star back Justin Jackson managed just 46 yards last week against Purdue. Saturday, he rushed 31 times for 166 yards even though the Gophers knew that the weather conditions would dictate that Northwestern rely on its running game.
It is true, as Fleck noted, that the Wildcats have won six straight, but they had not won a Big Ten game by more than 16 points before facing Minnesota. Three of their victories came in overtime.
The Gophers frequently looked unprepared, burning timeouts for no good reason. Worse, they looked both disorganized and passive on defense. When enthusiasm is your calling card, a passionless performance is problematic.
"I'll take 100 percent of the blame," Fleck said.
The strangest aspect of the game was that quarterback Demry Croft, coming off the best performance of his brief college career, completed his first pass for 36 yards, then threw only 10 more times, completing just one more pass — for 7 yards to running back Rodney Smith.
Croft was sacked five times and threw three interceptions. Even factoring in egregious drops by his receivers, attempting 11 passes as a team in a 39-point loss while running the ball 38 times hints at oblivious coaching. There were times Saturday when this felt more like a scrimmage Fleck treated as a series of teachable moments than a virtual playoff for bowl eligibility.
Maybe that makes sense. He probably doesn't care whether this year's team plays in the Pinstripe or the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. His problem is that a historic loss damages credibility at a time when Fleck is trying to build his in Minnesota and with recruits.
Every Gophers coach since Lou Holtz has had a season in which he has won two or fewer games in the Big Ten. Unless he beats Wisconsin, Fleck will be joining good, bad, and mediocre company.
A lousy Gophers season is nothing new, and there is danger in drawing conclusions from any one game. If you thought Minnesota had turned a corner by scoring 54 points against Nebraska, you were wrong. If you think Fleck has no chance to win because of one bad game in Evanston, you're jumping to conclusions.
Even if you don't want to write off Fleck as nothing more than Smarter Brewster, you may feel free to conclude that his team performed on Saturday the way a badly coached team would perform.
"I'll take the blame," Fleck said.
His team wore white and anthracite on Saturday. The assumption was that the uniforms were meant to attract recruits, but maybe Fleck suspected his players might require disguises on one of the worst days in recent Gophers football history.
Jim Souhan's podcast can be heard at MNSPN.com. On Twitter: @SouhanStrib jsouhan@startribune.com
