Gopher Football Sunday: Minnesota vs Wisconsin

Justin Gaard is back to talk about the Gophers win vs Wisconsin. Ryan Burns of Gopher Illustrated joins and gives his perspective on the win.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
To the final edition for twenty twenty five of Gopher
Football Sunday Here on the fan, I am Guardzi back
in the six five to one carpets plus studios, justin
Guard and we are here until nine o'clock. If you're
new to the show, we spend an hour talking about
Gopher football before typically we turn the rest of the
day purple on the fan, and it's going to be

(00:20):
I would imagine a little bit of a combination because
it is Max Brosemer Day, the day that so many
of us at Brozmur Brownstones have been waiting for us.
He will get the start against the Seattle Seahawks coming
up a little bit later, just after three o'clock pregame
at one. We might talk about that with Ryan Burns
from Gopher Illustrated dot Com when he makes his final
week the appearance on the show next segment. But we

(00:42):
were recapping a seventeen to seven Gopher victory over Wisconsin
yesterday at Huntington Banks Stadium. They finished the season seven
and five, five and four in the Big Ten and
take a one game lead in the Battle for Paul
Bunyan's Axe Border Battle Series. I believe it's sixty four
to six FFTY three and eight is the Gophers record

(01:02):
in the longest continuous running rivalry in college football. What
we do in the first segment of the show, we
talk about what we liked, what we didn't like. Brad
Shawn Bryan campe in text line is six four six
eight six. We'll try to review some texts with Burnsy
when he joins us about ten minutes from now as well.
And first of all, it was a one of the
most interesting days at Huntington Banks Stadium given the weather conditions,

(01:25):
the snow globe conditions, as Burnsy said pregame. Our guy
Chipskoggins wrote about it as well. The temperatures were not
cold if you're prepared for it, which most people that
live in Minnesota and most Wisconsin fans understand what the
weather's going to be like. But the incessant snow for
the entire game was something that has only happened probably
twice in the fifteen years that I've been on the sidelines.

(01:48):
And the atmosphere was fun. It was cool, it was vibrant,
the students were there again, it was great. A lot
of Wisconsin fans per usual, which was fun. Added the
good element to it. It was a fun day at
Huntingdon Bank Stadium. We wrapped up the regular season there yesterday.
Before we get to what we liked, give a little
background on how I was.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
Feeling leading into the game.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
And I had reverse twenty eighteen vibes going into the
game yesterday. What are reverse twenty eighteen vibes? Well, if
you remember twenty eighteen, it was PJ Flex's second year.
The Gophers were five and six, They had a couple
of victories going into the Wisconsin game. If you recall,
that was the year that the Gophers got crushed at Illinois,

(02:29):
gave up a million yards to the Iliini, who weren't
very good. PJ fires Rob Smith, he hires Joe Rossi.
They'd beat Purdue the next week, speaking of snow, and
they're kind of going along. And I definitely wasn't expecting
that day in twenty eighteen that the decade and a
half axless streak was going to be stabbed at Camp Randall.

(02:51):
As we know it was. They got the acts, they
brought it back, people met him at the facility. They
went to the Quick Lame Bowl they think it was
called then. I think that was my second quick Laying Bowl.
I've had the privilege of doing three, and the rest
was kind of history. And that was one of the
games that propelled them to the next season in twenty nineteen,
and obviously everything that's happened since then. I had reverse

(03:12):
twenty eighteen vibes going into the game, and that Wisconsin
had been playing a lot better. We've talked about it
on Parentis Spare all season. I have a lot of
respect for this particular Wisconsin club because of all the
stuff they dealt with during the season, in terms of
the Luke Fickle negativity, the offensive negativity, the former players
just constantly ripping the program and going and wanting to

(03:34):
go back to the days of Barry Alvarez and Brett
Bieliman and Paul Christ and all of that. And I
give these Badgers credit for hanging in because it was
ugly there. About a month ago, Luke Fickle gets to
vote a confidence from the ad. He definitely got saved
by a thirty million dollar buyout. But this Wisconsin defense
had hung in all season long, and even though their

(03:56):
offense gave them nothing for a million different reasons that
we'll talk about, they were rewarded for hanging in the
last couple of weeks. They beat a pretty good Washington
team at home a few weeks ago. They beat a
ranked Illinois team last week at Camp randall pretty dominant effort.
I think the final score was twenty seven to ten.
So it was a Wisconsin team that was feeling pretty

(04:18):
good about itself. And if you follow the people that
covered the Badgers over there, most of them thought they
were coming in a Huntington Bank Stadium yesterday and winning
this game and possibly springboarding them even though they couldn't
go to a bowl game because they only had four victories,
springboarding them into year four of the Fickle Era. And
we know how the Gophers were playing. We talked about
it last week. Their defense was not good. It was terrible.

(04:42):
A week ago their defense had been not good. It
had been terrible. They weren't doing anything well. They weren't
sacking the quarterback, they weren't getting turnovers, they weren't stopping
the run. Northwestern, a team that had scored average twenty
two points in Big Ten games, put up thirty eight
and the Gophers base got one stop a week ago
at Wrigley Field. So I did not have a good

(05:04):
feeling going into the game just because of how the
teams were trending, but pretty obvious. Pretty early. It was
evident to me that a lot was going to have
to go wrong for the Gophers. They were going to
have to make a lot of mistakes to not retain
the acts yesterday. So that's how I felt going in.
What did I like as the game was going on?

(05:25):
The defense did what it needed to do. I just
mentioned it. They had not been good in consistent stretches
this season. They were dreadful last week against Northwestern, and
Wisconsin came in with one of the worst offenses you're
going to see all year, probably the worst. On their
fourth quarterback to start the game, they end up going
back to another guy that they've used a little bit
this year. And you couldn't let them start to feel

(05:47):
good about themselves. You couldn't let them try to get
anything going, and the Gophers really didn't. They essentially messed
up one play at the end of the first half
that led to the Badgers only touchdown towards the end
of the first half there that made it the ten
seven game at the half. But other than that, they
were able to stop the run. They were able to
stop to pass enough, they got the turnovers that they

(06:07):
needed to get and finally in the third interception capitalized
with the dagger touchdown to Jamison Gears. How about John
Nester when we're talking about things that we liked from
the game, the Gopher player hadn't had a defensive day
like he did yesterday since the mid nineties. Two interceptions,
of fumble, recovery, nine tackles. He was everywhere we talked

(06:28):
to him on the field after the game. It was
a great performance for him. Second interception, huge return, set
up the dagger touchdown. We've talked a ton about portal
misses the last few weeks on this show. I think
a couple of weeks ago we talked about offensive portal
misses coming out of Oregon. Last week we talked about
defensive portal misses coming out of Northwestern. John Nester was

(06:53):
a big time portal hit and I shuddered to think
where they would be in the secondary without him this season.
And we saw a taste of it last weekend when
he was not available for the Northwestern game.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
What the Gophers were dealing with, what they were down to.

Speaker 1 (07:06):
They lose justin Wally from a year ago, They lose
Ethan Robinson from a year ago, they needed somebody to
slide in and john Nester filled that role beautifully, and
really the hallmark game for him of the season came yesterday.
And the cool thing for the Gophers is he's got
another year left and seems like he's in a good
spot in terms of wanting to stay here. So big

(07:27):
credit to john Nester for essentially dominating that game yesterday. Offensively.
They did what they needed to do and did enough too.
The conditions were rough. I don't think I've ever talked
about a field as much as I talked about it yesterday.
That was essentially my job yesterday on the sidelines was
to update everybody on what they were doing to try to.

Speaker 2 (07:49):
Get the field playable and keep the field playable.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
And what was going on with the coils and what
was going on with the snow. It wasn't cold, but
the snow just never let up and it was a
nuisance the entire game. The footing wasn't great. I think
you could tell that running routes was difficult. I think
you could tell that, and the Gophers essentially kept the ball.
They dominated the time of possession early, they converted on
seven to fourteen third downs. They didn't turn it over

(08:13):
for the entire month of November, which I don't think
is probably being talked about enough, and they didn't turn
it over then obviously yesterday, which was really the only
way you were going to lose that game to Wisconsin.
Drake Lindsay's passing line is kind of hilarious. Eighteen of
twenty four for ninety yards and a touchdown. Eighteen passes

(08:34):
for ninety yards is hard to do. Completions is hard
to do, but no picks, no fumbles, never really put
the ball in harm's way, and Darius Taylor ran for
one hundred yards, including that forty nine yard touchdown in
the first half. The only way Wisconsin was beating you
yesterday is if you made critical mistakes, if you gave
them short fields. That's how Washington lost to them a
couple of weeks ago at Camp Randall, and the Gophers

(08:56):
didn't do that, which allowed them to win the field
position battle with The final thing that we liked a
good punting day from the Australian Tom Weston, who's been
up and down this season. Three punts inside the twenty
two inside the tennis yard line, it was pretty obvious
Wisconsin was not going to consistently put long drives together,
and so the fact that I know there at one

(09:18):
point the fans were a little annoyed that the Gophers
punted around the forti ish yard line forty five yard
line of Wisconsin. It was a fourth and probably three
or four on a day like yesterday, that was absolutely
the right thing to do. Just keep punting, you have
the lead, don't give them any short field, don't give
them any illusion or an easier touchdown. Make them move

(09:41):
the ball eighty five ninety five yards. They were just
not going to be able to do that. They haven't
been able to do that all year, let alone yesterday,
when the field was in the shape that it was,
the weather was in the shape that it was. That
was the first time that really all the phases did
enough at the same time to have a pretty comp
seventeen to seven victory and win the Acts for the

(10:03):
fourth time in five years, which, if you remember when
we first started on the fan, the Badgers were in
the middle of a decade and a half long axe
dominant series where teenagers grew up having no idea that
the Acts could actually come back to Minnesota, and the
fact that it feels like a legit rivalry now, feels

(10:25):
like Minnesota's got the upper hand on it now will
not go unnoticed on this particular show, and I assume
it will not go unnoticed when we chat with Ryan
Burns from Gopher Illustrated dot Com coming up next segment.
In terms of what we didn't like, really not much
to not like yesterday, they pretty much controlled the game.
I never felt even at ten to seven that the
Gophers were going to be in any kind of serious trouble.

(10:47):
Wisconsin turns it over on their first defensive or offensive
possession of the third. Gophers couldn't do much there. Obviously.
The missfield goal would be something that you don't like,
because that's been a problem, thankfully unlike Northwest, and that
didn't come down to it yesterday.

Speaker 2 (11:02):
Wisconsin moved the ball a.

Speaker 1 (11:03):
Little bit better in the second half, but the Gophers
were able to get the key turnovers that essentially moved
the game along for them and let them keep the
Badgers at arms linked and the Gophers end up winning
the game that they began as betting underdogs. By the
time all the money came in, they started the week
as favorites. They ended the week as about a point

(11:25):
and a half underdog. I think is what I saw,
and they ended up winning the game yesterday and keeping
the Acts for a second straight year and the fourth
time in five years. Six four, six eighty six. That's
the brat Shawn Brian camp in text line, you can
hit that. We've got a good long segment with Ryan
Burns from Gopher Illustrated dot Com coming up after this.
The Gophers beat Wisconsin seventeen to seven. They finished the

(11:46):
year seven and five, five and four in the Big Ten.
We'll get some final season thoughts and season evaluations from
Burnsey as well when we return to Gopher Football Sunday
on the Fan. All right, welcome back to go for

(12:50):
Football Sunday on the Fan. Justin guard in the sixty
five to one Carpets Plus studio. We are here until
nine o'clock, a two hour edition of Sunday Sermons of
Dan Barrero's coming up because the vike Kans have a
late game today at Seattle. It's a one o'clock pregame kickoff.
Shortly after three, the Max Brozmer era of Minnesota Vikings
football begins. We're having at least, I'm having some user

(13:11):
air with the bratch on Brian Cafe in text line
six four six eighty six. So if you'd like to
communicate with Ryan Burns and or me in the next
twenty five to thirty minutes or so, please tweet me
at Guardsy. Please tweet him at Ryan Burns MN and
he joins us now on the Connectico Water Systems hotline.
First things first, Burnsy, can I count on you to
tap in to Grey's Food Hall in the North Loop

(13:31):
today at three o'clock to help usher in the Max
Brozmer era of Minnesota Vikings football so we can all
watch it together and remember where we were when the
franchise has changed forever. Can I count on you at
Grey's Food Hall today at three o'clock?

Speaker 3 (13:46):
Well, I just appreciate that already. I can see behind
you here that you've already changed it to the Brozemer
Brownstones and as a founding member, and I know that
you're asking for stakes within your company there. It's going
to be a very impressed day for you in about
seven hours to see hopefully Max Brozmer go to a
lot of tempo. We're gonna hope Kevin O'Connell goes to

(14:07):
two things for Max Brosmer today, with the state of
that offensive line tempo in a short passing game, koc
give the young man a chance against a pretty good
Seattle defense from what I'm told, in a road environment,
but I will be a grace food hall, Nordon and
I've been doing watch parties there pretty much every road
game this season. I would love to see people come
and join us. The food is awesome, They've got TVs everywhere,

(14:29):
They've got a great bar upstairs with a million options
and opportunities. So we'd love to see Gopher fans come
on in watch and watch the Brozemer era begin together.
We will call it the Brozmur Brownstones Community Room. We
will have a party there in the Brosemar Brownstones Community
Room and community Party. I would love to see people
join us at three o'clock. I'm looking forward to this

(14:49):
appearance by Burnsy. If our discussion during the break is
any indication, Burnsy has one of his cats in his
office right now.

Speaker 2 (14:57):
His hair is all over the place.

Speaker 1 (14:59):
You can tell he's in moderating the message board all
night long and getting everything up at Gopher Illustrated dot com.
He's he's on one this morning already, which I am
excited about. I'm looking forward to diving into a lot
of it. But let's start with the game first, Bernsy,
before we talk about big picture stuff. I don't know
if you heard my open or not, but I never

(15:20):
really got the sense that the Gophers were in much
trouble yesterday if they weren't going to put themselves in
much trouble, and they didn't offensively not turning it over
obviously defensively, you give up the one inexplicable play before
the half, which didn't make a ton of sense, and
then the touchdown that I know you have some thoughts
and feelings on as well, But what did you What
were the Brian Burns' main headlines or takeaways from the

(15:42):
latest victory against Wisconsin, So you.

Speaker 3 (15:45):
Weren't worried that well, that's interesting because the entire state
of Wisconsin. I saw the ESPN graphic that you saw
out of Madison where we're seeing thirty point big, like,
what just what are we doing over there?

Speaker 2 (15:57):
In the story, I told you you were on some
I told you were on well.

Speaker 1 (16:01):
I don't know if you heard the open, but I
did have reverse twenty eighteen vibes going into the game.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
I don't know if you know what did.

Speaker 4 (16:06):
We talked about it on parentis Bear.

Speaker 3 (16:07):
That's where I reminded you even last year where the
Gophers came into that game at Camp Brandle, they had
lost one at Rutgers which their offensive line implodes in
the fourth quarter. They lose a close, heartbreaking game to
Penn State, who is a top five team in the country,
one that went to the College Football Playoffs semi finals
last year. Where the defense gets the ball six minutes

(16:29):
all three timeouts, the offense never sees the ball. Like
the vibes weren't good going into Camp Brandle last year
and they found a way, and then this year again
vibes not good for Minnesota. Wisconsin had been two to
one this month with two ranked wins, and then we
get the snow Globe game. But I want to ask
you this. We have spent so much time on this
Sunday morning all year talking about the Gopher defense and

(16:52):
lack of takeaways. How audible do you think the sigh
of relief was? Or Danny Collins and he watches the
Wisconsin freshman quarterback snap the ball into the motion man.

Speaker 4 (17:05):
And then after a scrum.

Speaker 3 (17:06):
Where it looks like your three children trying to find
something at the bottom of a pile, actually come away
with the football.

Speaker 4 (17:13):
What do you think?

Speaker 3 (17:14):
Danny Collins was like, this is how I get my takeaway.
He can take it anyway he can get it. But
how big, how loud do you think that sid was?

Speaker 1 (17:23):
Well, it was funny that they always say catch the
ones they throw to you and make the plays that
are presented to you, And that was such a gift
and they still almost returned it. It should have been
such an easy fumble recovery. I know nothing was easy
yesterday on the field, the ball, the whole deal. But
when there was a scrum for it, I thought it'd

(17:46):
be impossible to not get this ball if you were
the Gophers. And for whatever the reason, yesterday was the
day because the other two were really good plays. A
tipped interception, who knew a tipped interception to a guy
that's waiting right there, the tip doesn't just go fall
harmlessly to the turf or over somebody's head. And then
Nester makes a great play on the final interception. Yeah,

(18:06):
I was thinking of you the whole time, and I
even brought it up to the defense, to Nester specifically
on the field. After that, you know they knew about
the turnovers talk because you were relentless on it all
season long, rightfully so that they weren't able to weren't
able to do that. And they talk about it all
the time. They emphasize it all the time. Their last
period of practice every day is about turnovers. And so

(18:28):
it's not for lack of emphasis, but that first one
was funny that it was so close to not being
somehow a fumble recovery when it was absolutely gift wrapped
on a black Friday Thanksgiving weekend.

Speaker 3 (18:42):
Yeah, I mean, nothing had gone right for the Gopher
defense all month. We'd spent so much time talking about it,
and for them to not only get one takeaway but
three takeaways, to me is the story of the game.
Where we'll talk about the offense and they've got a
lot of awards, but one of the underrated talked about
parts or undervalued things about the Gopher offense was they

(19:02):
never shot themselves in the foot outside of the Iowa game,
to the point where in Big Ten play the Gopher
offense gave the ball away the least amount of times
of any Big Ten offense they had four giveaways all
Big Ten play. They had zero giveaways in the entire
month of November. And in a game where it's again

(19:24):
then the snow Globe game, where between every media timeout
you're watching men with shovels out there on the every
five yard increment on the hashes, trying to have anything resembling.

Speaker 4 (19:35):
A field out there. That's important and that's what matters.

Speaker 3 (19:40):
So to be able to shut down what is remains
a bad Wisconsin offense was something the Gopher defense needed
to do and you're able to win the football game
because of it.

Speaker 2 (19:52):
Where would they be without John Nester?

Speaker 4 (19:55):
I mean we are on the sabbath, so WWJD what
would John do? And John Nester would lead the team
in tackles, have three takeaways because he had two picks.

Speaker 3 (20:04):
Plus he's the one who were actually jumped on that fumble.
You've also got him having two tackles for loss in
open space where.

Speaker 4 (20:12):
I mean they missed him immensely. I mean they did.

Speaker 3 (20:14):
And it's kind of ironic to me that the Iowa
transfer comes into the Minnesota Wisconsin game and has arguably
the biggest impact. But I mean they would be lost
without him. From yesterday, I mean, he was fantastic all around.
Again pro football focus not the end all be all,
especially grade wise, but from rewatching the game this morning, already,
I agree that he should be the highest graded guy.

(20:35):
I agree that he should be the highest graded tackler
in coverage and run defense. And he was absolutely flying around.
I thought Maverick Bereanowski put an exclamation point on his
what I thought was a very good twenty twenty five
season for him. He's the one who actually reads the
eyes of Hunter Simmons, which that was a very important
drive coming out of.

Speaker 4 (20:54):
Halftime for the Goper defense.

Speaker 3 (20:56):
You had just given up seven points allegedly, now you
actually did. That's what the Big ten referee said. We'll
get to that later, but you needed to get momentum
back on your side. Bereanowski just stares down the quarterback,
gets his hands on the football, deflex it right into
the chest to John Nestor, and then Anthony Smith shows
up late, gets the pressure on Hunter Simmons, John Nesters

(21:18):
in the hip pocket returns to sixty something yards and
John Nester had a fantastic game yesterday. And the other
part I want to discuss with you too, is Aiden
Gooseby at corner of all places where had I looked
into it after the game. Aiden Gooseby had been used
at safety for nine hundred plus snaps in his Gopher career.

(21:39):
Here he had played two snaps at outside corner before
last night, where he played over forty five, and you
saw him end the game with one of the most
vicious legal hits you will ever see in modern football,
where he could have probably intercepted that football. But as
you saw in the waning moments of that game, there

(22:01):
was a little bit of chippiness between the two teams,
and I think sending a message of physicality is something
that the young man wanted to send. So again, there
were great individual performances within it. I'm not trying to
sell you that the Wisconsin defense is any good.

Speaker 4 (22:15):
They're not.

Speaker 3 (22:16):
But you kept a bad offense bad outside of one
sixty eight yard play.

Speaker 1 (22:22):
Yeah, let's talk about a couple of the changes and
that they did. Because we've already got a text about
Tony Nelson, which I'm sure you have thoughts and feelings
on that he got to start yesterday.

Speaker 2 (22:32):
We're going to get to the offense in a minute.

Speaker 1 (22:35):
But you wonder, because we saw last week what they
were trying to do in the secondary, especially with Nestro
out was untenable.

Speaker 2 (22:42):
Right A.

Speaker 1 (22:42):
Hunter Stone literally was perfect in the second half. He
had won incompletion, but Anthony Smith was lined up off side,
so that was rendered irrelevant. We always talked about that.
The strength of this defense we thought was the safety room,
right with Gooseby, with Kerry Brown, with Koy Parritch.

Speaker 2 (22:59):
We wondered about corner. That was a fair concern. I
think we saw that.

Speaker 1 (23:03):
You wonder what may have been if they got to
that card quicker the let's just move one of our
safeties a little bit, as opposed to rolling with younger
guys or even a Bingo McMillan, who is a great
story because he's been around forever at a million different schools.
You do wonder about the what if they're of taking
from your strength to plug one of your weaknesses. Because Gooseby,

(23:24):
as you said, I thought, played pretty well yesterday.

Speaker 3 (23:27):
I mean that's going to be the what if part
personnel wise of the season is did you stick with
your previous right guard.

Speaker 4 (23:33):
Way too long?

Speaker 3 (23:34):
I'd tell you absolutely, without any shadow of a doubt, did,
especially when the pride to Tracy Minnesota comes in and
elevates the floor where I don't know that Tony Nelson's
got an immensely high ceiling as an offensive lineman, but
I can tell you the floor is exponentially higher where
the previous right guard would have some gaffs where they're catastrophic,

(23:56):
whether it's a I mean just an absolute three, four
or five plays game where they're just giant red marks
in the ledger. I don't know that Tony Nelson has
more black in the ledger, but there's certainly not anymore
red from what I saw yesterday against what I still
think is a very good Wisconsin front seven. Again, there's
a lot of warts with the Wisconsin team. It's why

(24:18):
they won four games this season. Their defense, in specifically
their defensive line is pretty dan good to me. So
whether it is Tony Nelson not being inserted sooner on
the right side of the offensive line, whether it is
not moving Aiden Gooseby after one of the bye weeks
over to cornerback with all the different things that they

(24:38):
had going on injury wise, yes, I mean it's easy
to say for you and me. Media Jackal guys, hindsight
analysis is always twenty twenty, but especially now knowing that
Aiden Goosby can look pretty dang good at corner. I mean,
that's something that I think, I hope that they continue
to experiment with a heading to now Bowl game prep

(24:59):
and certainly even looking forward to the twenty twenty six offseason.

Speaker 1 (25:03):
This is Ryan Burns from Gopher Illustrated dot Com. This
is Gopher Football Sunday on the fan. We're here until
nine o'clock. Burrew would take over with Sunday Sermons nine
to eleven. Vikings Football Sunday starts at one today. The
Max Brozmer era of Vikings Football begins today against the
Seattle Seahawks. Were discussing a Gophers victory seventeen seven over
Wisconsin yesterday at Huntington Bank. They finished the season seven

(25:23):
and five, five and four in the Big Ten. You
mentioned it already and I know you wrote about it,
and it's a good nugget that the Gopher offense didn't
turn the ball over in the month of November. And
when your defense isn't getting turnovers, obviously you need to
hold onto the ball. And it didn't help them really
until obviously yesterday. But It was one of the most

(25:43):
interesting games weatherwise Burnsey in that it wasn't cold, but
the snow was just enough and the wind was just
enough where you knew it was gonna be tough sledding.
I think some of the issues I think about that
open pass Lindsay to Brockington. It's almost like Brockington couldn't
get to where Lindsay had been throwing it to him
all week because Drake doesn't miss that badly. Guys were

(26:05):
just every play, guys were trying to re establish their footing,
and so it wasn't going to be an offensive masterpiece.
I think Lindsay's line is hilarious. Eighteen of twenty four
for ninety yards. Eighteen of twenty four for ninety yards
in a.

Speaker 3 (26:18):
Time just Donovan McNabb for the Minnesota Vikings right now.

Speaker 1 (26:21):
Seriously, it's I mean, I don't even know if you can,
if that's mathematically possible to do eighteen of twenty four
for ninety yards. The A dot, as you like to say,
has to be a world record low like that might
be the lowest aid dot Drake Lindsay ever has in
his entire football life. But I to me that they

(26:43):
kept the ball in the first half, they converted on
third downs. They I thought played the field position game
really well. I thought they handled the mess that it
was yesterday pretty well offensively. Given again, we've talked about
it all year on Paris Bear, Wisconsin's defense has been
good this year. They've kept them games that they had
no business being in because of how bad the offense is.

(27:04):
And I've been impressed with their defense all year. So
to grind that out yesterday I thought was a big
plus and positive for the offense.

Speaker 4 (27:12):
Yeah. Was Drake Lindsay perfect yesterday? No?

Speaker 3 (27:15):
I mean that one you mentioned off the turnover where
Brockington's dragging across the middle wide open and he kind
of throws it off his back foot and throw sales.
If that's on target, I think Brockington may score. If not,
he's down inside the five, But instead you end up
kicking a field goal and it's blocked and you get
no points. I mean, that could have been a huge
inflection point. But now that we've got twelve games of

(27:38):
data on Drake Lindsay, I think maybe the thing that
I wish I could stress to people is I don't
think you're valuing enough how much he values the football.
I mean he finishes the regular season. I was sixteen
passing touchdowns and only six interceptions. And I think this
next guy is probably listening to the program right now.
The Mounds View Mustang Adam Weber, like Weber threw for

(28:02):
a ton as a freshman. Again, he had twenty four
passing touchdowns. But and I say this with the utmost
peace and love to mister Weber. I mean he also
had nineteen picks that season as a freshman. Again, that's
what freshmen do. They make poor decisions and that maybe
force balls they shouldn't. I can't remember many games outside
of the Iowa game where the entire team implodes, essentially

(28:24):
in that game in Iowa City, where Drake had blow
ups like that, And to only be able to point
to one thing or one game on the schedule where
your freshman quarterback imploded. I mean six interceptions for a
freshman in the Big Ten, with sixteen passing touchdowns, completing
over sixty percent of his passes, I think somewhere close
to sixty.

Speaker 4 (28:44):
Three sixty four percent. I mean, what a great freshman
season for him.

Speaker 1 (28:49):
Yeah, half his interceptions were in that Iowa game. Yeah,
three of them, and that was the first time where
he looked like you would expect a freshman to look like,
making bad reads, making bad decisions, making bad throws, looking
completely rattled. I agree with you, and Chipper wrote about it.
I don't know if you read it this morning. That

(29:10):
to me is if we're doing season long takeaways, and
we'll get to some of those in a minute, that
to me is the biggest one. That they have a
dude at quarterback. I think they have a legit, bonafide dude.
And we said it all off season that you don't
have to hand the program over to a retro freshman
in twenty twenty five. If you don't want to look

(29:31):
around college football, not very many teams are doing it
right that aren't recruiting the five star guys right. The
Bryce under was the Julian sayings, you know, go down
the list that aren't recruiting the arch mannings, who, by
the way, had to sit a couple of years before
he played, Like, you don't have to do that, And
I think it was a great evaluation by Harbo. It
was great recruiting by Harbo, Fleck, Matt Simon, everybody that

(29:54):
put the full court press on him, and obviously you
got to keep him, and that's always going to be
you know, my rant about that. I don't worry about
that with him as much as you know, maybe some
other people do. But you got to keep him number one,
which I'm not too worried about. But you got to
help him, right. I mean, he did all this with,
as you said, a line that was not good for
much of the season, right in in flux, not you know,

(30:17):
you did it with receivers that, as you've brought up
multiple times, were not exactly the most electric or.

Speaker 3 (30:24):
Were sure handed, as we even saw yesterday in those
conditions exactly.

Speaker 1 (30:28):
So now it's you gotta get the dude some help
because he did all of that. And what I liked,
and I talked about this on the broadcast yesterday. You've
talked about this too the last month or so, he
really he got on his guys, like if there was
a penalty, he was pissed when Tracy drops the first ball,
he's on his ass. Like I like that, Like because

(30:51):
he's he's a dude, he's a competitor and that So
that's the biggest takeaway for me from the seasons. You
have a guy, you have easily the best quarterback they've
had in our time covering it right, Tanner Morgan thinks
he's going to be the all time leader in everything.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
You know, if he win, all is sudden done.

Speaker 1 (31:09):
You know, if he hangs around for an entire career
and get some help, that to me is that I
don't think should be undervalued either, because how long have
we been waiting for a quarterback? How many How long
have a lot of programs been waiting for a quarterback
that you can talk as optimistically about as Drake Lindsay.

Speaker 4 (31:29):
I mean, it's it's an elite observation.

Speaker 3 (31:31):
It's why I think you might have a full hour
on Sunday mornings to be able to wax.

Speaker 4 (31:35):
Poetically about it.

Speaker 3 (31:37):
And I feel very strongly as we sit here on
November thirty at that Drake Lindsay will be back next year,
because I know the text will come in or the
emails or wherever they will be. Well, Drake's gonna leave
go to Arkansas when they eventually hire a coach, YadA, YadA.

Speaker 4 (31:52):
I think PJ.

Speaker 3 (31:52):
Fleck, and I think Drake Lindsay and I think the
offensive coordinator Greg Harbow are all on the same page.
That they want to keep this thing rolling. Conversations have
been had for some time here behind the scenes about
keeping Drake and I, like I said, I feel very
very confident as we sit here that Drake Lindsay will
be here next year.

Speaker 4 (32:10):
Now, if and when Drake.

Speaker 3 (32:11):
Lindsay comes back, that's what you have to do is
imagine what Drake Lindsay would look like with a running
game that actually functions right now. That's getting an offensive
line to play more physical and to have less ma's
missed assignments.

Speaker 2 (32:25):
Up front.

Speaker 3 (32:26):
It's figuring out what you want to do at tailback
where Darius Taylor does run for one hundred yards yesterday
and he's able to slide into the end zone there
on a hole in which I think you could take
your Well, you're Minnetonka now, so I'm gonna say you
drive a Maserati.

Speaker 1 (32:41):
Yeah. Lexis Lexus TX. Thanks to Lexus of Wisetta and
Lexus of Maplewood.

Speaker 4 (32:47):
What's it like to be on the west side of
the river compared.

Speaker 2 (32:49):
To me on the east side?

Speaker 1 (32:50):
Well, maple Wood, Lexus of maple Wood.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
This is the December to Remember sales event. Go check
it out.

Speaker 1 (32:56):
Lexus Offmaplewood dot Com. But go ahead the TXT. I
just wish you a happy Honda days. To be quite
honest with you, there's room for all your cats in
the Lexus TX. I can promise you that it's a.

Speaker 4 (33:07):
Finding a car running game.

Speaker 2 (33:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (33:09):
I mean, this is the next step that Harbo has
to figure out. They've also got to figure out what
do you do with Darius Taylor and what do you
pay Darius Taylor? I mean, these are the discussions that
you and I get to have on paring a spare
Now for the next couple months. Is everybody's getting their
contract offers out, because that's with this day and age is.
I'll remind all the listeners that because of the house settlement,

(33:29):
PJ Flex got fourteen fourteen and a half million to
be able to pay his players. So does every other
Power two team. So yeah, Flex got fourteen more million dollars,
but so does everybody else in Power two. But what
do you offer Darius after a season in which he
was oft injured. I don't know how many actual quarters,
especially in Big ten play he was at one hundred percent,

(33:51):
and I don't know that I exactly want to dedicate
a large chunk of the linimited finite budget that I
have run, especially if you're going to have to pay
Drake a million plus, which I'm sure they do.

Speaker 4 (34:03):
And we'll see what Anthony Smith decides.

Speaker 3 (34:06):
Yes, he did walk on Senior Day yesterday, but we've
seen Gophers walk on senior Day and come back before.
So imagine what Drake Lindsey can look like with a
running game. Imagine what Drake Lindsay can look like with
receivers who actually go up and get the football or
get consistent separation. And that's where my plea to the
Gopher staff is also this guards I want to get

(34:27):
your opinion on as much as it is cleaning up
the portal, where I don't know that the discussion around
it is they necessarily had a ton of whiffs. I
don't know that there's necessarily enough hits. And yes, it's
easy to say after a game like that where John Nester, portal,
Tom Weston, even the punter yesterday, him being able to
change field position was a huge part of it. But

(34:49):
I think the Gopher staff has to do a better
job of getting young players.

Speaker 4 (34:54):
Ready to go.

Speaker 3 (34:55):
Yeah, we talked about Drake Lindsey like Drake Lindsay was
ready to go as redshirt freshman, and Greg Harbow deserves
credit for that, but you look at other positions on
this roster, the young guys weren't ready to go. And
I think about Wednesday coming up here on National Signing Day,
and I think a great place to check out coverage
for that is a place called Gopher Illustrated dot Com

(35:16):
that's having a seventy five percent off deal to get
behind the paywall, and especially as we all await the
Lane Kiffin decision and coaching carousel stuff, it's a great
place to go. Like you are going to be signing
on Wednesday, one of the best classes that Fleck has
had here, and you think about some of the young
guys even in this state, like Forest Lakes, Howie Johnson,
Roman Boss, the pride of Jackson County, Central Cold Spring, Minnesota.

Speaker 4 (35:40):
Stand up.

Speaker 3 (35:41):
You've got Andrew Trout coming to coming down to campus.

Speaker 4 (35:44):
Like you have young talented players.

Speaker 3 (35:49):
Now you have to do a much better job of
getting them ready to play, because that's where I don't
know that you're going to be able to afford a
bunch of high impact portal guys.

Speaker 4 (35:59):
That's the reality of.

Speaker 3 (36:02):
The situation with Minnesota's budget here again, whether you want
to look at athletic budget where the Gophers are bottom
three and spending in the Big Ten, the realistic Dinky
Town athletes budget like, you're not going to be able
to outbid other Big ten teams. You could be comparable,
but being the highest bin in the room is not
something I anticipate them being in January.

Speaker 4 (36:23):
So where do you pivot?

Speaker 3 (36:25):
You have to pivot to your own roster, and it's
the young guys, the true freshman, the red shirt freshman,
the red shirt sophomores. They have to pour everything they
have and do a much better job of elevating those
guys to get them ready to play so that hopefully
this twenty twenty six team can be again what I
think many people thought the twenty twenty four team was

(36:45):
going to be.

Speaker 1 (36:46):
All right, let's in our final couple of minutes here
talk big picture and season observations.

Speaker 2 (36:52):
Recap.

Speaker 1 (36:53):
They finished seven and five, five and four in the
Big Ten. They go undefeated at Huntington Banks Stadium, they
go winless away from hunting Ten Bank Stadium. It's there's
opinions on all sides of it on how this season
should be viewed, and I understand arguments on all sides
of it. I think you can make an argument on
all sides of it. Whatever your argument is, I think
you have legitimate evidence on the season. For me, it

(37:16):
was it was a solid season. It wasn't a great season.
It wasn't a disastrous season. And you look at.

Speaker 2 (37:23):
A lot of others.

Speaker 1 (37:23):
They finished ninth in the Big Ten, essentially top half,
which I don't think is an unrealistic place for the
Gophers to finish when you think about the top six
teams that are typically going to be there and then
everybody else, you know, fighting for the final handful of
spots there in the top half. So I think because
of how the road games went, burns Ey, I think

(37:44):
that clouds it for people, which I understand. I mean,
they were non competitive in most of the road games,
you know, three of the five the col game, even
Mark Coyle said yesterday with me, that's one that sticks
out to him as one that got away. And we
all know what happened at Northwestern. But I don't think
it was a disaster. It obviously wasn't epic. I think
it was a good, solid season where again you kept

(38:06):
Wisconsin at Bay and have a trophy in the case.
And now let's see what twenty twenty six turns into
with the quarterback as we just talked about, with some
of the best recruiting classes that Fleck has had here
with again more of the top players in state. Staying,
I just think the program is in a good spot.
I really do. I just think it's in a good,

(38:27):
solid spot. Now, of course, you want to take it
to another level. PJ said that to the team yesterday,
like I typically don't talk about things that are said
in the locker room because it's not really my place.
But when I can hear things, you know that are
said from the coaches and the players and all of that.
But he says that to the team, like we're in
a good spot. We have to take it to a
different spot. We have to take it to a different level.

(38:49):
These are the guys that are in the program now
that need to do that. The guys that have been
here have gotten it where it is. Good job by you,
but we have to move. He even joked, he said,
we went under feel at home and the team started
to go crazy, and he goes, hold on, we lost
every game on the road, like he's well aware of it,
like everybody else is well aware of it, and I

(39:10):
think that needs to be noted. But I just feel
like it's in a really good, solid, stable spot and
now let's see where they can go with the best
quarterback that they've had and the best couple of recruiting
classes back to back that they've had. What do you
want to say in our final four minutes or so
on that?

Speaker 4 (39:26):
Yeah, I think it's a great little nugget there.

Speaker 3 (39:29):
And I think perspective is something that Look, when you
get to be my age guards, you you try to
be able to wax poetically about something like that. Where
perspective in life we're even with this team is something
I feel like the casual or even the hardcore fan
base loses from time to time. Where with the win yesterday,
you keep the acts in Dicky Town. Okay, you get

(39:50):
to seven regular season wins, that is an over on
the preseason Vegas over under at six and a half.
Your seventh win is also your fifth in Big Ten plays.
That means you finish above five hundred and the Big
Ten for the fourth time in five seasons. Now, I
don't know if you read this nugget a Goph illustrated afterwards.
But do you know when the last time was the

(40:12):
Gopher football program finished above five hundred and four out
of five seasons before this current stretch that they're right
in right now.

Speaker 1 (40:19):
I did read that, but I've been in like five
states in two countries in the last two weeks, and
I can't remember I did read it.

Speaker 2 (40:26):
It was a long time ago.

Speaker 3 (40:27):
Well, I can see that you're still back in the
Bahamas with a rum runner right now, and that's okay.
I know it's one of your favorite drinks. But the
last time that had happened nineteen sixty five to nineteen
sixty nine, Murray Warmath was the coach.

Speaker 4 (40:42):
Yeah, so little perspective.

Speaker 3 (40:43):
You've also got the Gophers going undefeated at home for
the first time since nineteen sixty seven. It's fifty eight
years ago. Now, I'm not here trying to tell you
that even with the birthday boy yesterday, Philip John Fleck
getting his win passing your guy Mason your face for
the I think it's for the fourth most all time
wins here at the University of minnesot I'm not saying

(41:04):
build the statue, right because you're right, they got absolutely
blasted on the road. I was there just like you
were at Iowa, Ohio State Oregon. They threw away games
after midnight against Cal, they threw one to the backstop
at Wrigley Field, where you score thirty five points, find
a way to lose.

Speaker 4 (41:22):
Like, this thing wasn't perfect.

Speaker 3 (41:23):
And I want to cover ceiling seasons like twenty nineteen.
You want to talk about them, We want to come
on this program Sunday mornings and do so. But this
roster was never going to be the one that did that,
which is why you could even go back to Big
ten media days in late July. I never really understood
why Flex messaging back then was b delusional and talking

(41:45):
about the College Football Playoff with stuff like that, because
that was never going to be this team. To me,
that was last year's team where you had six guys
make fifty threes. Another I think three or four were
on practice squads in the NFL. That was team in
which you could say that should have been nine wins
going to Florida, YadA YadA. Well, yeah, you can point

(42:06):
to the Northwestern of Cal games is one you threw away.
But I also could tell you, I mean we could
look at the entire Big Ten slate at home where
they got lucky against Rutgers, they found a way to
win against Michigan State. We can go down the line
there where the two most complete performances, or the Wisconsin
game against the four win Wisconsin team, and then you're

(42:26):
Nebraska team, which I can't wait to see because knowing
tomorrow is December first, you're ready to hear about how
Nebraska is gonna win the offseason for the fifty fifth
straight year and Tom Osborne and the black Shirts are going.

Speaker 4 (42:38):
To be ranked twentieth in the preseason polls. But my
thing here is is.

Speaker 3 (42:43):
This, Like I have seen even casual local media, it's
been like, well, look at who they played. They don't
get to pick who they play, man like, they play
who they play. And they finished the buff five hundred
and the Big Ten, and I don't know that there'll
be a single go for drafted in the next NFL
draft to put Anthony Smith Alex to come back. I mean,

(43:05):
that's kind of my point here is this isn't the
most talented team that Pleck has had. That's also his
problem that it's not the most talented team, but at
a place like the University of Minnesota that has to
rebuild and doesn't get to reload like in Ohio state,
or even now that Indiana's got Mark Cuban money. I
would encourage people, potentially even speaking here in a few minutes,

(43:28):
to go look at where they bought Fernando Mendoza from,
which is cal for xyz million. But look, it's a good,
solid season. It continues upon a run of good solid
seasons where I've already seen the casuals in the social
media chirpin'. Well, here comes de Troy. Here we go

(43:48):
seven to five, like can not?

Speaker 4 (43:51):
Can we not? On a Sunday morning? Here again you
win the Acts for the fourth time.

Speaker 3 (43:56):
In five years, by the way, which again it's a
bad Wisconsin team. You kept a bad Wisconsin team bad
in those weather conditions.

Speaker 4 (44:03):
Oh good for you.

Speaker 1 (44:04):
Wisconsin beat a lot of bad Minnesota teams in the
stre of the streak of fifteen, right, I mean, that's
that's how.

Speaker 3 (44:10):
They again, no one wants to hear that. They all
just want to again, you know, go down. And that's
where again you win for the fourth time in five years,
which that's the first time I am thirty three years
on this planet. That's the first time in my lifetime
that's happened since I think nineteen ninety that stretch five
years previous. So you cannot be elated about this season.

(44:31):
And I don't blame you. I'm not telling you to
be I'm telling you that for this team to be
seven and five, I think we all agree. Now you're
probably gonna be going to a bowl game that is
either in I'm gonna guess Arizona, Nashville, or Las Vegas.
Which also brings me to my final point here is
can we have the Gopher administration actually stand up for

(44:55):
not only this football team, but this fan base, because
I'm so tired of the narrative that the Gopher football
fan base doesn't travel anymore. I mean, you have been
there like I have, from Boulder to the bowl games
to Aachenal Hill game, like for the Rose. This generation
of Gopher football fan especially if you give them a

(45:18):
destination to go to where they have not been to Nashville.
And I know you continue to try and tell me
every single offseason the Gophers were just a Nashville Justine Well,
mister guard, they haven't been there in twenty years or
even they've they've never been to a bowl game in Vegas.
They're competing with Nebraska, and essentially I would tell you
Penn State for those Bulls, because I think Northwestern is

(45:40):
going to go to Detroit now that they're six and six.

Speaker 4 (45:43):
Miss me with the whole thing of that.

Speaker 3 (45:45):
This Gopher fan base won't travel because again, these bowl
games are worried about selling tickets and getting money into the.

Speaker 4 (45:52):
Nashville area of the Vegas area wherever.

Speaker 3 (45:54):
I want the Gopher administration to spend the next six
days five days grand standing and doing everything you have
to do behind the scenes to show them that if
you give the Gophers a Nashville Bowl game, I mean,
I don't know where you're going to be. I'm sure
you're gonna be like Morgan wall and throwing cheers off
on the Broadway by the time we get you out

(46:15):
of the bar. But give them a reason to travel
and they will. I'm just tired of this. I mean,
Minnesota just being content with accepting a bowl game. Actually
grandstand for this team so you can actually go to
a bowl game.

Speaker 4 (46:30):
We've seen too many.

Speaker 3 (46:31):
Times that Minnesota gets passed over for again a bat
This Nebraska team is nothing to write home.

Speaker 4 (46:38):
About Penn State. They still don't even have a coach
in their six and six.

Speaker 3 (46:42):
Why should those two teams be getting Vegas in Nashville
above you, I just don't agree.

Speaker 4 (46:47):
With that, So we'll find out again.

Speaker 3 (46:48):
You're not going to know the ballgame destination officially until
Sunday afternoon next week, so another seven.

Speaker 4 (46:55):
Days from now. But that's where Mark Coyle and PJ.

Speaker 3 (46:58):
Fleck and the entire A Minute get to now spend
their next seven days figuring out what is their preferred
Bowl game order and trying to make those bowl committees
agree with them.

Speaker 1 (47:10):
Burnsy, thank you for that last six minutes. I hope
you feel better and got that off your chest. Enjoy
go FORER grid Iron Radio a little bit later today.
I'll be listening to it later, as you know. And
thank you for every Sunday and all the different things
you did this year with all of our weird travel
schedules and everything you know, from the tarmac and cal
to last night after Wrigley, making this show work pretty

(47:33):
much every single week when we didn't have international games
for the Vikings. I appreciate you for getting up every
Sunday and helping us out and we will talk to
you this week on Parentis Bear Buddy.

Speaker 4 (47:42):
We love all the listeners.

Speaker 3 (47:43):
We appreciate all of you guys coming up to us
on Oak Street telling you that you listen again. We
appreciate all of you more than you ever know. Appreciate
your guards. You can't wait to do it again next year.

Speaker 1 (47:52):
Yeah, we'll see as soon. That is Ryan Burns from
Gopher Illustrated dot Com. We ran the clock out. We'll
wrap up the show when we come back. Let's go
for football Sunday on the fan.

Speaker 2 (48:02):
I'm furrency like we typically do.

Speaker 1 (48:04):
Thanks to him for jumping on all season long. Thanks
to Brett Lake Moore as well. We had to do
a lot of moving parts this season because of crazy
late games and travel schedules and everything that happened. So
appreciate everybody hanging out and getting up with us every
Sunday at eight o'clock.

Speaker 2 (48:17):
We will do it again next year. Of course.

Speaker 1 (48:19):
Reminder, come see me Gray's Food Haul, North Loop, Minneapolis today,
the day we'll remember when it all changed for the
Minnesota Vikings. The Max Brozemer Era starts today just after three.
Come see me at Gray's Food Hall. Thanks everybody, Sunday
sermons of dan Baros Next