The big question through this off-week was wondering if this team can play a competitive homecoming game against Northwestern next weekend.
After an embarrassing loss at the inaugural Big Ten conference game against Iowa and witnessing the Wildcats amass more than 700 total yards in a win over Indiana last weekend, all the hype over the Gophers seemed to disappear into a forgettable pit of Minnesota conference play history.
While Northwestern collapsed in the fourth quarter against a 3-2 Penn State team, allowing 22 unanswered points in that quarter alone, Northwestern will no-doubt be the favorites heading into TCF Bank Stadium.
The Gophers have lost two straight against Northwestern and have only won one game against the Wildcats since 2007.
If Jerry Kill’s team allows big plays like in the second quarter against Iowa, homecoming could get ugly, and the students, who came out in masses against Syracuse after a disappointing attendance in the beginning of the season, will become howdy.
But the believer in me envisions the sold-out student section storming the field after the defense holds a high-powered Northwestern spread offense to under 20 points and winning by a touchdown and change thanks to Donnell Kirkwood carrying the team on his back.
I’m not being overly dramatic, but the student section did rush the field following a win over Iowa last season. Now imagine a win over a ranked opponent and at the same time working up into the top tier of the conference.
Gophers were the favorites heading into Iowa, but next weekend’s home game will either validate the ascent of the Gopher football program under Kill, or it will prove that this is the same team that finished without a bowl game last year.