Jeremy: Gopher Bliss

It felt good on Saturday. It felt really good.
With 7:47 left in the game I turned to Jeffrey and said words that I could not get out of my head until I was back in the parking lot after the Gopher/Purdue game: "this feels way too much like playing against Michigan." Jeff shook his head yes. He understood that we had been through this several times.
I pointed to the field and said "I want those guys to prove me wrong."
I wasn't saying that I didn't have confidence in Mason and the Gophers ability to pull out the win... okay, yeah I was. I was skeptical and I was getting myself set up for disappointment. It feels really good to be wrong.
Too many times I've had to look at my uncle in the parking lot after a game like that and watch him shake his head in disbelief. Too many times I've listened to my cousin or my friends cuss and stomp in anger after a game like that. Too many times I've spent the hour after a game like that talking about the list of what went wrong. Too many times.
It was nice to sit in the parking lot after the game and see happy faces walking past. It was nice to enjoy a cold one as a celebration, not because you needed to drown away what had happened.
As for the game itself, one thing was proven that everybody knew, and one thing happened that nobody expected.
Everybody knew that Laurence Maroney was one of the best backs in the country, but the way he sliced through the #1 rated rushing defense in the nation on Saturday was a thing of beauty. Acting as the workhorse, something Maroney has never had to do, he racked up 333 yards on the ground, on receptions and on kick-off returns. That is just a huge number. Even though he didn't score any touchdowns you can't tell me this guy isn't a legit contender for the Heisman.
I'm not sure anybody expected to see anything worthwhile out of Cupito during this game. Of course, the guy did throw three picks, but the amazing thing that happened was that he began to show guts and a surprisingly bad memory. Everytime he threw a pick it seemed like he forgot that he had just thrown one of the worst passes of his life, and he came back and kept working at it. He showed moments of sheer confusion and cluelessness, but for once those moments were followed by moments of brilliance and accuracy. After throwing his third and final pick of the game, Cupito led the Gophs through the 4th quarter, into overtime, and on to victory, going 7-11 for 60 yards and 2 touchdowns. Although he still has moments when he looks like he has decided who he is going to throw to in the huddle instead of checking down all of his receivers, he is beginning to look like he can handle the adversity of being a Big 10 quarterback.
Next up Penn State in Happy Valley.
For the record, my predictions about the season so far are right on, but after feeling so good about being wrong during the Purdue game, I hope the Gophers prove me wrong against the other Big 10 powerhouses.