The 2009 Insight Bowl was a great football game…for the first quarter. The game initially appeared to be a Wild West gunslinger showdown with two touchdowns scored in the first two minutes of the game. By the second quarter, Kansas began to pull away as their seasoned veterans overpowered a young Gopher team. Rather than a play-by-play analysis, let’s look at what was to dislike and like about the game:

Dislikes

1. Officiating - While fair officiating probably wouldn’t have made a difference in the outcome of the game, it definitely would have resulted in a closer matchup. In particular, the pass interference call against Steve Davis on third down in the second quarter was a morale-buster. On the replay, he did not hold or impede the receiver from catching the pass. To add insult to injury, the pass was also uncatchable. That bad call resulted in a Kansas touchdown and the beginning of the end for the Gophers. Kansas was not called for a single penalty in the first half despite chop-blocking or grabbing fist-fulls of Gopher jerseys on nearly every offensive play. Also, Minnesota was called for an illegal formation when Kansas had previously gotten away with the exact same violation.

2. Lack of a hurry-up offense - With 10:56 left in the game and down by fourteen points, the Gophers had the ball and were within striking distance of tying the game with two possessions. Minnesota ran almost five minutes off of the clock without scoring. They haven’t run a hurry-up offense all year, and extended huddles with the clock running during this drive was frustrating to watch. Hopefully Minnesota will develop a hurry-up offense for next year as players gain experience and maturity.

3. Todd Reesing’s accuracy - Kansas fans must have been ecstatic, but it was excruciatingly frustrating to watch him throw every pass right on the numbers.

Likes

1. Gophers’ offensive adjustments - Minnesota added some new formations to their offense that should compliment the core spread offense in years to come. Having a power running option for goal line and short yardage situations balances out some of the inherent shortcomings of the spread offense.

2. David Pittman - Pittman was injured for the majority of the 2008 season, but was finally let loose against Kansas. His first quarter bomb to Eric Decker was long overdue. Hopefully 2009 will have a healthy David Pittman more involved in the offense.

3. Da’Jon McKnight - He was only in the game for the final drive but he has the size, speed, and agility to justify predicting a bright future for the freshman wide receiver.

4. The Gophers’ offensive line - While not dominant, the Gophers’ offensive line exhibited improvements in footwork, balance, and positioning versus the Kansas defense. Adam Weber actually had time to pass the football.

All in all, the 2009 Insight Bowl was a disappointment for Minnesota. Nobody expected Minnesota to win, but a victory would have been a great capstone for the 2008 season. Gopher fans can take consolation in knowing that while the game ended in a loss, the 2008 season wasn’t even supposed to end with a bowl game.