Sid Hartman: Gophers show they are still far from top

You had to believe Gophers football coach Tim Brewster when he spoke of the importance of facing Michigan, a team that came to the Metrodome 2-7 and with home losses to Utah and Toledo.

It was a big game for the Gophers because a victory would have made the Gophers 8-2 and a cinch to get an invitation to one of the Big Ten's better bowl games.

Now, with Wisconsin and Iowa on deck -- and both likely to be favorites over the Gophers -- Saturday's 29-6 loss to the Wolverines will certainly hurt their chances to go to a prestegious bowl. At 7-3 overall and 3-3 in the Big Ten, the Gophers still have a better record than either the Hawkeyes (6-4, 3-3) or Badgers (5-5, 2-5), but both those teams won Saturday and have a better reputation of drawing well at bowl games.

Just as in last week's loss to Northwestern, Brewster didn't make any excuses for Saturday's defeat to Michigan.

"From the beginning, they were more physical with their front than we were with our front," Brewster said. "I thought our defense did a nice job of forcing them to kick field goals, and giving us a chance to stay in the game.

"But, offensively, we just never had any consistency whatsoever, we didn't have any runs that we could hang our hat on, really. Really no consistency whatsoever. We didn't have anything really going in the passing game. We did a poor job protecting the passer and, again, physically, up front, we just didn't do what we needed to do."

If you analyze the Gophers' success this season, their three conference victories came against an Illinois team that lost to Western Michigan on Saturday, and against Indiana and Purdue, teams tied for last place in the Big Ten.

Michigan came to play What is hard to figure out is that the Gophers offense failed to execute against a Michigan team that came into the game last in the conference in pass defense (252.6 yards per game) and 10th in total defense (393.6).

Saturday, the Gophers, seeking their first victory over Michigan at the Metrodome, managed only 46 yards on 23 plays in the first half. They punted seven times in the half and had only one first down. The Gophers finished with only 188 yards of offense, 83 rushing and 105 passing.

This was the most embarrassing loss to Michigan since the 2003 game at the Metrodome when Michigan overcame a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to win 38-35. This is the same Michigan defense that over its past six games had given up an average of 448.2 yards per game: 384 yards (158 yards rushing, 226 passing) to Wisconsin, 501 yards (191-310) to Illinois, 327 yards (70-257) to Toledo, 482 yards (231-251) to Penn State, 473 yards (167-306) to Michigan State and 522 (256-266) to hapless Purdue, which scored 48 points on the Wolverines last week.

This game also proved how important wide receiver Eric Decker is to the Gophers offense. Decker, a future All America, reinjured his sprained ankle early in the game and never returned.

Decker's ankle was X-rayed after the game and he reported that he thought after hearing the result that he would be able to play at Wisconsin on Saturday.

The result might have been different had Decker been able to play the entire game. His absence made quarterback Adam Weber much less effective.

Not set back Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi didn't believe the loss set the football program back.

"We've got to put everything in perspective. We were playing real well early," Maturi said. "I'm a big believer in the mental aspect of the game, and I think when we were playing with a lot of confidence, we were playing a little bit above our talent. And now we're not playing with very much confidence, and we're probably playing a little bit below. When you put those combinations together that's why we've lost [three], and earlier it's why we won seven."

Maturi said he was confident the Gophers will get an invitation to a good bowl game, because he said there are no bad bowls. "Every bowl game is a good bowl game," he said. "Going into the season your goal, at this time, with this program, is to go to a bowl game. Obviously when you're 7-1 you had aspirations of going to a major bowl, and it doesn't look like it's a reality.

"But, again, that's why I've always looked at the big picture and I think Coach said it right: We've got a real big game next week at Wisconsin. Who knows what happens? We're either going to be 8-3 or 7-4, and then you have the next week against Iowa, the last game at the Dome, another very meaningful game. We can still finish this season 9-3 or 7-5 or someplace in between."

Maybe Adrian Peterson can have a big day against Green Bay today. The Packers gave up 178 yards to the Titans on the ground last week after previously giving up 217 rushing yards to the Cowboys, 178 to the Buccaneers and 176 to the Falcons. The Packers rank 27th among the 32 NFL teams against the run. ... Adam Schefter of the NFL Network reported that Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers' new contract included $20 million guaranteed. You wonder how Rodgers will respond to the Vikings crowd, something that troubled Brett Favre plenty of times during Favre's younger days.

Former Gophers running back Thomas Tapeh hasn't landed with another NFL team since being released by the Vikings. There is a chance the Eagles will bring him back to the NFL team he previously played for.

Brewster wanted fans to wear gold to Saturday's game, and the fans responded. It was the first time I can remember that 90 percent of the crowd wore gold to a Gophers game, and they cheered loud enough to make it almost impossible for Michigan to change plays at the line of scrimmage. ... The Gophers were very fortunate in their schedule not playing Penn State and Michigan State this year. They don't play Michigan the next two years.