Gallery: The 6-0 Minnesota Gopher Football Team by the numbe

The recent futility of the Minnesota football program at the U is well chronicled. And by recent, we're talking about 50+ years now.

No Big Ten Championships since 1967
No Rose Bowl since January 1st, 1962 (following the '61 season)
No National Championships since 1960
One New Year's Day Bowl since 1962 (2015 Citrus Bowl)

Not to mention the amount of bad years there have been. Joe Salem, Jim Wacker and Tim Brewster all struggled mightily as head coaches during their tenures.

Cal Stoll, Lou Holtz, John Gutekunst, Glen Mason, Jerry Kill/Tracy Claes all has some limited success, but nothing approaching a return to the "glory days" of the Gophers. There are now only a handful of Minnesotans who can even remember those days (paging Sid Hartman).

Now, quietly, this year's team has snuck up on success we haven't seen in Dinkytown in a very long time. This isn't the nationally dominant days of Bernie Bierman that won 4 conference championships in 5 years, including 3 straight national titles. We're not here to get carried away.

But, P.J. Fleck is doing what he did at Western Michigan in year 3 where he went 13-0 in 2016. He's getting this program over the hump and into the discussion nationally. By the numbers:

They are ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2014.
The last time the Gophers were ranked as high as 20th, as they are this week, was November 1st, 2008. That team started 7-1 before collapsing down the stretch with 5 straight losses to end the season.
Gophers are 6-0 for the first time since 2003 (That streak ended famously with the Gophers coughing up a big lead over Michigan at the Metrodome on a Friday night, ultimately finishing 10-3. What could have been....)
Gophers are now on an 8-game winning streak dating back to last season. That hasn't happened since 1949.

Let's go back even further for this one. The Gophers have scored 28 points or more in each game so far this season. Last time that happened? 1905, under legendary coach Henry Williams. That would be the same Williams that Williams Arena is named after.

If you're concerned about the lack of difficulty on the Gopher schedule so far, that 1905 team took advantage of a few cupcakes too. They battled Twin Cities Central High, Shattuck/Pillsbury Academy, St. Thomas, and North Dakota Agricultural before playing Iowa State and Iowa. That schedule makes Fresno State look like Alabama.

The reason is Rutgers is terrible. After opening with a win over FCS UMass, it's been ugly. They've been outscored 195-23 in losing five straight. They've scored 1 touchdown (one!) in 4 Big Ten games.

This is a game the Gophers should win (and we've said that before and been disappointed).

Looking ahead, if they win, they'd be 7-0 for the first time since the national championship year in 1960. Then they'd get Maryland at home (Terps are 3-3 right now), another game they 'should' win (and we're careful with the should-wins aren't we?).

If 8-0 happens, get ready for a massive home game November 9th against Penn State, currently ranked seventh. It would be the biggest Gopher game in over 50 years. Maybe more.

Enjoy the ride and "Row the Boat" Gopher fans. We have earned it!

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Gallery: The 6-0 Minnesota Gopher Football Team by the numbers

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