Gopher Fans Answer Call | Pack The Bank | Get Rewarded | Storm Field | Now Party

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Two weeks ago, I called upon the TCF Bank Stadium student section to change their best. I wasn’t mad. I was disappointed. I know how many kids on that campus love football and love the Gophers. Today, the student section along with all of Gopher Nation, showed the world why Minnesota is the greatest place on this entire fucking planet.

 

I have goosebumps typing this. My heart is so full, just thinking about the way fans showed up today.

 

I wasn’t the only one who called out the fan base I belong to, 2 weeks ago. Media all over the place got in on it and all of the “blue blood” bases around the country were sitting in their cornfields, calling out Gopher fans, while wishing they had a quarter of the entertainment options we do in the Twin Cities and around the state of Minnesota. For those opposing fans who are reading this, get your cousins’ panties out of your mouth because Gopher Nation didn’t show up because of you. They showed up for this football team, that is taking its highly infectious energy, and injecting it directly into the carotid artery of this entire state. The fans were there early, stood all game, and fucking rocked the place.

 

Again, I expected fans to show up… but I did not expect what PJ Fleck called “the best college football environment I have ever played in as a head coach.” It was absolutely intense inside of those brick walls.

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The Nittany Lions may have played in some hostile environments this season but they definitely struggled at times, to get plays in and out on offense over the TCF crowd. James Franklin could be seen multiple times absolutely losing his shit. The noise forced a delay of game on a huge 3rd and short, in the first half, and that’s when you knew the crowd was giving Penn State all they could handle.

The student section, especially deserves a ton of credit. They were the first ones there, the first ones to fill both the lower and upper bowls, and led the entire stadium all game. They were the heartbeat of the environment. They were intense for all 60 minutes.

I wrote about the victory already so I won’t touch on that here. This one is about the fans. The team rewarded their show out with a victory and fans celebrated with them after the game, with a field storm that was absolutely worthy of the biggest victory in over a half-century for one of the most historic football teams in the entire country.

Soak it in.

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Carter Coughlin lauded the fans after the game for changing their best, but he also reminded them that “changing your best” is something that’s reoccurring. That means being even better in a few weeks when the Gophers get back from a two-game road trip, where they will visit first Iowa and then Northwestern…

… but let’s be real. Showing up and changing your best to help defend The Axe vs Wisconsin, won’t be a problem. Especially given the Big Ten Championship and even CFP implications…

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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