Let me take you way back to Oct. 23, 2020.
The Vikings, after a terribly disappointing 1-5 start, had just a day earlier traded defensive end Yannick Ngakoue roughly six weeks after acquiring him. On that same day, they had learned bookend defensive end Danielle Hunter would miss the entire season with a neck condition.
No white flags were officially waved, but those two events — preceded by a lopsided home loss to the previously winless Falcons — were ominous signals of a season going off the rails.
But on that Friday, local sports fans were buoyed by the optimism generated by a different football team.
The Gophers, coming off an 11-win season and suddenly granted a chance to build on that with a nine-game Big Ten fall season, were set to open on Oct. 24 against Michigan. Both teams were ranked at the time, and the matchup was good enough that College Gameday again visited campus (albeit with far less fanfare this time).
To preview that game and the entire Minnesota season, I hosted a video with Star Tribune columnist Chip Scoggins. We talked about question marks (defense), strong points (offense) and the uncertainty surrounding the entirety of this college football season.
But one observer was far more certain about what was to come. In response to a tweet promoting that video, a reader named Jeff replied: "Whenever Gopher football shows promise, they fall on their faces. It's like Charlie Brown believing Lucy that, this time, she won't move the ball when he kicks it. And every time she moves it and he falls on his (butt). It's a sure thing, but Charlie believes her every time."
This is not a new metaphor, nor is it going on a far-flung limb to suggest the Gophers might not live up to expectations in a given season.
