100 Things Minnesota Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die by Brian Murphy

Author:Brian Murphy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Triumph Books
Published: 2017-08-16T04:00:00+00:00

34. Maize and Blues

The eruption was more than just noise. It was a cathartic roar unlike anything the Gophers had generated at the Metrodome, an eardrum-aching, decibel-spiking din typical of postseason Twins games.

There were 58 seconds remaining in the third quarter on October 10, 2003, when Thomas Tapeh rumbled into the end zone from two yards out. Minnesota took a 21-point lead on Michigan and the sellout crowd of 62,374 was delirious with joy.

They were legacy fans old enough to remember the glory days of the 1960s, newly initiated students unaccustomed to dominance of a college football powerhouse, and plenty more crowding the bandwagon.

It was like a giant curtain had parted to reveal the Gophers’ manifest destiny after four decades of dormancy.

Undefeated and poised for a seventh win that would boost their No. 17 ranking, tighten their grip on a Rose Bowl bid, and elevate them into the national-championship conversation.

Poof!

Those dreams vanished in 15 nightmarish minutes as Michigan scored 31 fourth-quarter points in the greatest comeback in that school’s storied history, an unlikely 38–35 win that haunts Dinkytown to this day.

Instead of being Minnesota’s launchpad to Pasadena, the meltdown at the Metrodome was the Wolverines’ course correction as they reeled off six straight wins to punch their Rose Bowl ticket. The Gophers sifted through the ashes of what might have been and settled for an unfulfilling Sun Bowl appearance.

“Until this very moment, you look back and say, ‘What if?’” quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq mused in 2004. “What if we just won that damn game?”

Minnesota was off to its best start since winning the 1960 national title. Michigan had lost two of three, tumbling to No. 21 in the rankings. The Gophers had a national television audience on ESPN to showcase their bona fides, a quirky Friday-night game with a unique backstory.

Six years after arriving in Minnesota, head coach Glen Mason had resurrected the program into a viable Big Ten contender, and the Gophers could not escape the Metrodome fast enough.

The mausoleum in downtown Minneapolis was a soulless fan destination after the team moved indoors in 1982 from cozy on-campus Memorial Stadium. The Gophers were a hot ticket again but marginalized tenants whose occupancy was dictated by whomever and whenever the Twins and Vikings were playing.

In 2003, the Twins won their second straight American League Central Division crown. The Gophers were put on notice that their biggest game ever at the Metrodome, their most consequential game in 40 years, might conflict with Game 3 or 4 of the AL Championship Series. It would have to be rescheduled.

Never mind that the Twins were ultimately swept by the Yankees in a first-round series to make any ALCS conflict moot. Saturday was out. Friday night it was.

One fewer day to prepare only intensified the hype. The Gophers were favored, the stakes obvious.

“It’s probably going to be the biggest game for everyone on the team in their career,” senior safety Eli Ward told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “I know it’s definitely going to be the biggest game in my career.

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