October 21, 2007

UGLY loss, turns to gain for Gophers

The loss to North Dakota State was ugly and embarrassing (not as bad as Michigan's loss though :) ). Ultimately it is not that big of a deal. This is probably the most talented team NDSU has ever had. They have won a handful of Division II National Championships but this team is clearly the most talented team they have ever had. And this is one of the worst gopher teams we have seen in a long time (if not ever). Congratulations to the Bison and their fans, but gopher fans shouldn't too worked up over this.

A smaller program at their peak beating a larger program at their rock bottom really is not a significant statement. Is this the absolute low point of the program? I don't know that this is any lower than we've been all year. NDSU is probably a better football team than Bowling Green, Miami (OH) and certainly Florida Atlantic. Being classified as 1AA (or whatever it is) is the only reason people are worked up.

I've said this all year and I stick with it. Wins and losses this season are meaningless. Recruiting and bringing in talented football players is all that matters. Conventional wisdom would tell you that winning some games would help with recruiting but after every home loss Tim Brewster manages to get kids to commit the golden gophers. This weekend was no exception.

WR - Brandon Green - visited this weekend and has committed. This is huge. The Chicago area receiver a very talented 4-star player who has been on the radar of gopher fans for months. Signing Green will greatly reduce the impact of not landing Michael Floyd (should he commit elsewhere). As a junior Green racked up 1,800+ yds and had 21 touchdowns. Green and Minnesota native Sam Maresh are the 2 biggest verbals the gophers have received to this date.

Ath - Johnny Johnson - teammate of Green's. Johnson had interest from Illinois, Indiana and other midwest mid-major schools. Likely, Johnson will contribute at CB or possibly slot receiver.

OT - Josh Campion - is the first recruit for the 2009 class. The 6'5", 265 lb junior and one of the best prospects who will come out of Minnesota next year.

Landing a WR who will likely play immediately, an athlete who will likely red shirt and add some talented depth over his career and one of the top juniors in the state is pretty good on a day they lost to a 1AA school at home. It sucks to lose and likely run the season at 1-11, but brining in more talent so this doesn't happen again is what is most important.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're reaching by spinning this loss into a positive. I don't think you've said one negative word about this football team/coaching staff. Who cares about recruits when our head man can't coach his way past NDSU/FAU?

Tom said...

my mistake for not writing more clearly. The recruits are not a result of the loss. My point is I don't care about the loss. A new coach and a new system with marginal talent was going to make for a bad season. I care much more about upgrading talent and being something more than just "bowl eligible" (and nothing more).

Anonymous said...

Recruiting will set us free...with the Mase era talent we could never win it all, now we are taking it in the shorts for future glory (we hope).

Honestly, I haven't seen Brew make any stupid gameday mistakes this season, and our OC and DC are proven, so it should just be a matter of talent and time

Tom said...

I hope so anonymous (#2). I think Brew has made a few mistakes but nothing that has lost any games. I have loved how Dunbar has called games and Withers is tough to gauge cause he is handcuffed at every position with either no talent or youth.

I'm actually amazed at Brewster's recruiting ability. He has already landed a better class than Mason ever had and we are sitting at 1-7.