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The Minnesota Gophers are off to a 3-2 start to the 2021 season. I think if you’d asked most fans, they’d have likely predicted either this exact record or 4-1 with the lone loss coming to Ohio State. However, it’s important to note that the folks predicting 3-2 would almost certainly have predicted that the team’s second loss would be at the hands of Colorado or Purdue, not Bowling Green. It’s that latter detail (and/or things like the noticeable struggles of the Minnesota offense) that have most Gophers fans feeling rather uneasy, despite the season going mostly as expected in terms of the overall record.
With that in mind, I thought it might be interesting to revisit the preseason predictions that TDG readers made regarding the 2021 regular season record, get an updated snapshot of how you all think the rest of the season will go, and get your thoughts on a couple of other important questions facing the Gophers so far this season. Let’s get to it.
NOTE: If you’re not seeing any of the embedded polls in this post, it means you’re viewing the post through either Google AMP or Apple News. To make sure you can vote in the polls, go to www.thedailygopher.com and click on this post.
Reminder of what we were thinking before the season
It may feel like long ago, but overall Gophers fans were pretty bullish on 2021. Here are the results of the preseason predictions poll found in the TDG Staff Predictions post that ran the week before the Ohio State game.
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As you can see, the vast majority of people voting (86%) felt the Gophers would win between 7 and 10 games this season. A full majority (58%) saw the team winning 8 or 9 games. This closely matched what the TDG staff was predicting as well.
The real question is, do folks still feel the same after 5 games?
Updated predictions for 2021
Poll
Given what you’ve seen through 5 games this season, how many wins do you think Minnesota will finish the 2021 regular season with?
This poll is closed
-
1%
10
(6 votes) -
7%
9
(40 votes) -
30%
8
(162 votes) -
39%
7
(207 votes) -
15%
6
(79 votes) -
4%
5
(26 votes) -
0%
4
(1 vote) -
0%
3
(3 votes)
Other questions that I’m pondering right now
I think we’ve seen enough for me to ask for opinions about a few other topics. Obviously I expect that our opinions could change again before some of the events discussed below. However, I’m interested to see what y’all are thinking as of today.
TROPHY GAMES
Poll
Do you think Minnesota will beat Nebraska?
This poll is closed
-
69%
Yes
(391 votes) -
21%
No
(119 votes) -
9%
I don’t know
(51 votes)
Poll
Do you think Minnesota will beat Iowa?
This poll is closed
-
7%
Yes
(40 votes) -
89%
No
(493 votes) -
3%
I don’t know
(20 votes)
Poll
Do you think Minnesota will beat Wisconsin?
This poll is closed
-
64%
Yes
(355 votes) -
26%
No
(144 votes) -
9%
I don’t know
(53 votes)
MINNESOTA OFFENSE
Poll
How would you rate Minnesota’s offense through 5 games?
This poll is closed
-
0%
Elite
(1 vote) -
2%
Good
(15 votes) -
34%
Average
(189 votes) -
52%
Below average
(288 votes) -
9%
Terrible
(53 votes)
Poll
Do you think Mike Sanford Jr. will still be Minnesota’s Offensive Coordinator at the end of the 2021 season?
This poll is closed
-
25%
Yes
(134 votes) -
61%
No
(327 votes) -
13%
I don’t know
(69 votes)
Poll
Should P.J. Fleck fire Mike Sanford Jr as offensive coordinator?
This poll is closed
-
73%
Yes
(395 votes) -
12%
No
(68 votes) -
13%
I don’t know
(72 votes)
MINNESOTA DEFENSE
Poll
How would you rate Minnesota’s defense through 5 games?
This poll is closed
-
6%
Elite
(37 votes) -
69%
Good
(366 votes) -
20%
Average
(106 votes) -
3%
Below average
(19 votes) -
0%
Terrible
(1 vote)
MINNESOTA SPECIAL TEAMS
Poll
How would you rate Minnesota’s special teams through 5 games?
This poll is closed
-
4%
Elite
(24 votes) -
41%
Good
(216 votes) -
40%
Average
(212 votes) -
11%
Below average
(61 votes) -
1%
Terrible
(8 votes)
YOUR MOOD
Poll
How do you feel about the Gophers right now?
This poll is closed
-
0%
Things are going great.
(2 votes) -
22%
The Bowling Green loss sucked, but I’m just as confident as I was before the season.
(123 votes) -
75%
I have concerns about this team and am more pessimistic about the rest of the season than I was before it began.
(402 votes) -
1%
This season was a tire fire, it was always going to be a tire fire, and existence is pain.
(8 votes)