Behind a big game from tailback David Cobb, Minnesota beat Penn State on Saturday to win eight games in a season for the first time since 2003 and just the fourth time since 1967. In addition, the Gophers now have won four Big Ten games in a row for the first time since 1973.
Golden Gophers coach Jerry Kill celebrated the milestones by doing some post-game dancing in the locker room.
Minnesota (8-2) has beaten Northwestern, Nebraska, Indiana and Penn State in its current four-game winning streak -- not exactly a who's who in college football this season. And the final two regular-season games are against Wisconsin and Michigan State, both of which look to be too strong for the Gophers to handle.
Still, winning eight games at Minnesota is an achievement. And to win four in a row with Kill taking a sabbatical of sorts to battle his epilepsy is a sign that focus has not been an issue with the Gophers.
During its streak, Minnesota has won twice with its defense (Northwestern and Penn State) and twice with its offense (Nebraska and Indiana). That's impressive, too, and a sign the coaching staff is taking advantage of the Gophers' strengths and doing a good job of masking their deficiencies in certain situations.
Kill again was in the press box Saturday, and there were reports that for the first time during his "sabbatical," he was armed with play sheets and the like.
"I'm going to enjoy every single moment of this victory," Kill said after the win. "All of us coaches are the same in that we'll go home and sit in front of the TV and start to think about the next game. The good news is we have a couple weeks to prepare and we need this bye week [the game against Wisconsin is Nov. 23]. We need to get guys healed up so we can go strong for these last few games."
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
