Everyone here in the Cities agrees that Fleck is a loudmouthed used car salesman. This fact drives several columnists for the local fish wrap up the wall. They fell in love with Jerry Kills "Country Jer" schtick, which IMHO was even more of an act than PJ's behavior. By all accounts, Fleck actually practices what he preaches. The players have bought in, and you can't argue with the results.
Unlike before last November 24, he actually has something to sell. Those outside the Gopher fan base have no idea how much bad juju that win in Madison got rid of. And that Axe is as big and heavy as the photos show it to be.
You'll get no argument from me about the quality (or lack thereof) of schedule. Yes they were rough in the first few games, but beating the piss out of teams sure beats getting caught looking ahead. As noted, the last time a Gopher football team was 8-0, the USS Arizona was still afloat and Bruce Smith was on the way to winning his Heisman.
In my Gopher fandom, there have only been 2 home games that have approached the amount of hype this game is going to get. One was the 2003 Friday fiasco vs. Michigan. The other was the very first game at the New Brickhouse in 2009. I know that Texas is no stranger to this kind of hype, but this is rare for us. We're going to revel in it a little bit.