It's been freakin' ugly for the Gophers this year. After a spirited 2nd half performance against USC, the crap has been flying around in so many different ways it's getting hard to keep track of them. Every single writer on this blog has voted Minnesota the worst team in the B1G for the last several weeks, and for good reason. Indiana should be thanking us for keeping them out of the cellar.

So I decided it's time to steal BabaOReally's idea, and try to find some silver linings. This ought to be interesting.

Cloud: The Gophers lost to North Dakota State. It was gross, and it was the third time in five years that the Gophers have managed to lose to an FCS team. This feat was accomplished with 3 different coaches.

Silver Lining: The Gopher offense did manage an impressive opening drive against NDSU. A clock-eater that was balanced and resulted in a TD. While it's not a ton to build on, it does show that this offense, with preparation and clear direction, can execute.

Cloud: The first half of the season was the easier half for the Gophers, but they managed to lose three games (NMSU, NDSU & Purdue) that looked very winnable coming into the season. Things get much tougher from here on out with Nebraska, Wisky, MSU, Illinois, Iowa & N'Western on the schedule.

Silver Lining: I would say there are two here. First, our most winnable games are behind us, which means as fans we can approach each Gopher game moving forward completely devoid of optimism and most likely significantly boozed up. Second, N'Western is reeling after losing 4 straight even with #PersaStrong back at the helm. I'm not saying the Gophers will beat N'Western, I'm just saying that game suddenly looks slightly more interesting.

Cloud: At 1-5 overall, with the toughest part of their schedule coming up, it's likely that the Gophers will manage to drop 5 strait games at The Bank. 

Silver Lining: IT'S HOCKEY SEASON! The Gopher men's hockey team started out 4-0 with a sweep last weekend over defending National Champions University of Minnesota Duluth. The Gophers have one of the most exciting freshman in the game in native Minnesotan Kyle Rau, and the Gophers look to get back to their championship contending ways.

Cloud: The Gophers have the worst offense in the B1G.

Silver Lining: A lot of freshman are getting a significant amount of playing time which can only help their development. Against Purdue WR Marcus Jones had a 32 yard reception and a kickoff returned for a TD. QB Max Shortell has played in every game this season. Tommy Olson, Jimmy Gjere and Zac Epping have all gotten a good amount of playing time on the OL and are all freshmen. This playing time should help them out in coming years.

With 20 seconds remaining in the Gophers loss to New Mexico State earlier today, head coach Jerry Kill collapsed on the sideline and had a seizure.  He was immediately attended to by Gophers trainers and paramedics.

With his wife Rebecca at his side, he was given an IV and oxygen on the field before being put on a stretcher, put in an ambulance, and taken to the University of Minnesota hospital.  There were some reports that his seizure might have been brought on by the heat, but that has not been confirmed.  It was close to 100 degrees on the field at TCF Bank Stadium today.

Thankfully, it looks like he'll be okay.  Ever since Kill was treated for cancer, he has had an issue with this seizure disorder, having once collapsed on the field in 2005, while the coach for Southern Illinois.  According to Dr. Pat Smith, who near as I can tell on Twitter is the tending physician (he is not listed as a Gophers team doctor via their official website) his vital signs are normal, his life was never at risk, and he has been given a sedative, which is standard procedure for an episode like this.

It was definitely a scary sight for Gopher fans, as TCF Bank Stadium feel eerily silent, and players and fans held their breath while Kill was being attended to.  After the game, defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys informed the press that this is a known condition for Coach Kill, the team was briefed about it after he was named coach, and Coach Kill has never missed a game because of it.

We'll have more on the actual game itself, but for now, let's just be thankful that it looks like Jerry Kill will be okay, and at the end of the day, that's what is really important.

[BamaHawkeye: UPDATED from last year's Minnesota piece, which was an update from Ohio State's 2009 piece...Here's to this being the last update]

From the desk of Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney...

I sense the hatred floating through the Big Ten this week. Our Wildcats are traveling to battle pious opposition, and our newest scarlet guard are strengthening our Western border. During a normal year, those two games create a buzz among the citizens. But this year is something different. This year...this week...we must all look to further West and focus our hatred there. This week, we shall begin to teach the fools who oppose us the consequences of their insurgency. Find your hatred...focus it...we must light the fuse of hatred.

Jim Delaney addresses the media at a recent press conference.

We have followed the small rebel army deep into their own territory. Our (Off Tackle) Empire shall slay them in their own home. As the sun reaches its zenith near the Pacific Ocean, we shall wage our battle. I see the question in your eyes. Why must our hatred be so focused? Why must we destroy this band of rebels when there are more powerful settlements to our South? We must destroy these rebels because of the pain that they have inflicted upon us. We must destroy these rebels so that we may turn our attention to the South. Until this band of Trojan insurgents is defeated, we shall never have the opportunity to raid the Southern settlements. I feel your hatred growing. That is good.

Make sure to go back and submit your picks for Week 1 of the Obligatory Predictions Contest. Win the whole damn thing and win cool prizes.

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"Bud Grant? Tony Dungy?... Jiminy Christmas, I get to be a part of this?" - Jerry Kill

I. Case History/Opening Statement

A. Case History

I'll admit, I liked what Tim Brewster had to say when he joined the University of Minnesota has head football coach. Boy was I wrong. The Tim Brewster experiment turned out to be a complete joke, making the Gophers the laughing stock of the B1G (apologies to Indiana). Brewster came into Minnesota, found what he deemed to be a mess, and essentially created a snake-oil salesman mess of his own.

By the third game of the 2010 season, Minnesota fans had seen enough. By the seventh game of the season, so had Athletic Director Joel Maturi, who went on to promise a Tubby Smith-like hire in the wake of the mistake he made with Brewster. Promises this... Al Golden that... enter Jerry Kill.

B. Opening Statement

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury... your skepticism is justified. This Gopher football program, it was a mess. Even Tony Hayward would have had to admit it. And THAT'S a guy that knows a mess. 

And guess what? I wasn't happy about the Jerry Kill hire at first either. Not splashy enough. But Jerry Kill is kind of like warm bread pudding. Bread pudding really isn't much to look at, it's got a bit of an odd texture to it, but bread pudding will surprise you in the end. It's a good, solid, All-American type of dessert that just simply delivers.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury... I believe Jerry Kill can deliver.

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It's Thursday....you're hungry....it's POTLUCK TIME!

That's right, it's OTE's weekly segment where the writing staff provides a dish (i.e., a question about the Team of the Week -- Minnesota), we all feast on the delicious knowledge, and then make Penn State clean all the dishes (non-Midwesterners ALWAYS get shafted with dish duty -- plus, it's fun to watch them complain that they never should have joined our potluck/conference).  So follow us after the jump to re-live the Tim Brewster Failegacy, debate whether Minnesota might return to glory (and not just the decidedly mediocre, Glen Mason-type of Pizza Pizza Bowl level glory), and consider whether any coach more resembles his school's mascot than Jerry Kill.....

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HEY! Welcome back to B1G 2011... OTE's comprehensive look at each B1G team heading into the 2011 season. I'm your host for today, JDMill, and today we continue our Minnesota series with situational speculation. What if it's 4th & 3, Minnesota is on the opponent's 20 yard line and down by 7 (please suspend your disbelief) with a minute left to play,.. what play does Matt Limegrover call? Flip the situation... Minnesota is trying to stop their opponent who is in the same situation. What kind of defense does Tracy Claeys call?

The B1G game is a bit different than what Kill's group has seen week in and week out in the past, but assuming that the Gophers have the horses to match up with what the opponent is throwing at them, and looking at some past tendencies of this coaching staff, we can make some assumptions about how Kill and his staff will approach things. Let's speculate together after the jump... shall we?

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Last year's bottom dwellers in the B1G have more than just 2010 futility in common... they both brought in new coaches for 2011. In last week's Point/Counterpoint, Ricardo Efendi took a look at new Indiana head man Kevin Wilson, exploring whether or not Wilson and his staff have the goods to bring success to Indiana, or if Indiana being Indiana will prove to be too much for Wilson to overcome.

That piece created a lot of reaction, so I see no reason not to repeat that question and ask the same about Minnesota. The only difference is we'll flip the script and discuss potential failure before potential success.

Point: Minnesota has been Minnesota for too long. Underachieving and mediocre. Jerry Kill and his staff have proven they know how to win... but they've never had a challenge like Minnesota.

This isn't about Jerry Kill, it's about Minnesota, and a lot of people think that Minnesota just isn't a place where you can win in football anymore. It's not Kill's fault he'll fail.

The administration at Minnesota doesn't get it. The programs that pay the bills aren't there just to support the programs that feed from the teat of football. Joel Maturi is more interested in winning Director's Cups than he is in winning Rose Bowls.

Sure Minnesota dumped the Hump Dump and built a beautiful new stadium and sure they just ditched stuffy WCCO for their radio rights in favor of the more progressive KFAN, but it's too little too late. Minnesota  just can't catch up, they're too far behind.

The best Jerry Kill can hope for is to get to the level that Glen Mason "achieved": beating four cupcakes in the non-conference, squeaking out two wins in the Big Ten, and heading to a low-to-mid-tier bowl game.

Counterpoint: Jerry Kill is the first real football coach Minnesota has seen since Lou Holtz. He isn't a blow-hard, he isn't here as a stepping stone, he's just here to coach and win. He will bring success back to Minnesota... but it might take a couple of years.

Tim Brewster's biggest contribution to Minnesota football was recruiting. In his first full year of recruiting, Brewster brought in more talent than Minnesota had seen in years. The problem is that he didn't have a hot clue what to do with it because he had never been a head football coach before.

Jerry Kill is just about the anti-Tim Brewster. He's pessimistic, honest, fiery and from a football standpoint he knows exactly what he's trying to accomplish. He doesn't walk around the practice field with his arms crossed, observing the team and lending encouragement where needed. He gets after it. He's in the middle of the play, in the middle of the huddle, he's running downfield to yell or offer praise and he's got his hand on the pulse of everything that is going on with his football team.

Jerry Kill knows what he wants to accomplish and he knows exactly how he's going to accomplish it. And perhaps most important of all, he's done it before. Jerry Kill would be coaching exactly the same way that he's been doing it his entire career whether he was at Minneapolis Southwest High School, Northern Illinois, or Alabama.

Jerry Kill's formula for success will bring Minnesota back to relevance in the B1G within 3 years.

Today we continue B1G 2011, our comprehensive offseason preview series.  From now through early July, we'll be dedicating each week on OTE to individual programs, and providing daily team insight and analysis.  We'll work in reverse chronological order from last year's conference finish.  (Don't worry, we'll make sure to squeeze Nebraska in somewhere along the way.)  This approach will allow us to thoroughly appraise each club.

First season: 1882
Head Coach: Jerry Kill (1^st Year, 0-0)
All-Time Record: 635-454-44 (.580)
2010 Record: 3-9 (2-6 Conference)

2010 was a tumultuous year in DinkyTown as the team started the season with a win under Tim Brewster... a win that would prove to be his last, as he was fired following a loss to Purdue in October, the team's sixth straight loss at the time. Offensive Coordinator Jeff Horton would take the reins for the remaining 5 games, and manage to lead the Gophers to two conference wins (Illinois & Iowa) in their final two games of the season to salvage some semblance of respectability.

[Conversation Pointer: Don't be afraid to make fun of Tim Brewster when talking to a Gopher football fan. We used to think we liked him, but we learned he was all talk and no walk. A real snake-oils salesman, if you will. We aren't happy about what he left us with, so go ahead and join in the fun.]

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