First Glance Preview: Hoosiers Head to Minnesota For Friday Night Lights on Oct. 26

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Written By Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Week nine will see the Indiana Hoosiers play on a Friday night for the first time in October when they travel to Minneapolis to face the Golden Gophers. The Hoosiers and Gophers have not met on the gridiron since 2013 when Minnesota knocked off IU 42-39 in Bloomington. The last IU win in the series came in 2007 when the Hoosiers blew out the Golden Gophers 40-20 en route to the Insight Bowl. 

Week Nine: Minnesota Golden Gophers

Date & Time: Friday October 26th, 8PM

Venue: TCF Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN

TV: FS1

Golden Gophers at a Glance

Head Coach: P.J. Fleck

Entering his 6th Season Overall and 2nd at Minnesota

Overall Record: 35-29

At Minnesota: 5-7

Minnesota Last Season: 5-7 (2-7) Finished 6th in the Big Ten West

Golden Gopher Returning Leaders

Passing: No QB on the roster has thrown a pass

Rushing: Rodney Smith (229 att. 977 yards 4.3 YPC 3 TDs)

Receiving: Tyler Johnson (35 rec. 667 yards 19.3 YPR 7 TDs)

Tackles: LB Thomas Barber (115 tackles 9 TFL, 1.5 Sacks, 4 Pass Defensed)

Pre-season Predictions

Athlon’s: 6th in the Big Ten West

Lindy’s: 6th in the Big Ten West

Street & Smith’s: 6th in the Big Ten West

Phil Steele: 5th in the Big Ten West

Impact Newcomers for the Golden Gophers

1. Zack Annexstead, QB- Due to attrition and roster management, the Golden Gophers are guaranteed to start a freshman (redshirt or true) at quarterback in 2018. That battle will be between Tanner Morgan (RS freshman) and Zack Annexstead (true freshman). Annexstead joined the Gophers for spring practice and is a walk-on player who turned down other FBS offers to help Minnesota. He had a very solid spring, so solid that JUCO transfer Vic Viramontes headed back to JUCO.

2. Curtis Dunlap, OL- Dunlap was a big time get for P.J. Fleck out of IMG academy. He is 6’5” 370 pounds and will only grow into the guard position. He will be behind Blaise Andries who is a redshirt freshman and was Minnesota’s top recruit in the 2017 class.

3. Rashod Bateman, WR- Bateman has a chance to be the Gopher’s number two receiving option behind Tyler Johnson. Bateman is a highly-touted recruit out of Georgia where he broke the Tift County (H.S.) single-season record for catches (83), yards (1,539) and touchdowns (21). At 6’2” and 200 pounds, Bateman has the size and tools to be a very good wide receiver in the Big Ten.

4. O.J. Smith, DT- A graduate transfer from the University of Alabama, Smith brings a winning pedigree and veteran talent to the Minnesota defense. However, he is inexperienced notching just two tackles in two seasons at ‘Bama.

Offensive Preview

Minnesota is probably going to struggle on offense as they do not have a quarterback on the roster who has thrown a colligate pass and lost one of their best running backs in Shannon Brooks, they will likely start two freshmen receivers and have to replace two starters on the line. That is a lot of turnover for a team that finished 2017 123rd in total offense.

Leading the offense will be either redshirt freshman Tanner Morgan or true freshman Zack Annexstead. Morgan brings solid size, a strong arm and enough athletic ability to be a threat to run as well. Don’t be surprised if Fleck rotates quarterbacks early and often during 2018.

The bread and butter for the Minnesota offense has been the run game and that attack, which was ranked a respectable 46th nationally, took a blow in the off-season. It went from a three-man attack with Rodney Smith, Shannon Brooks and Kobe McCray. A trio that combined for 1,842 yards and 16 touchdowns. McCray left the program and Brooks suffered a season ending leg injury in spring practice. The good news for the Gophers is that Smith was the leader of that pack with 977 yards and three touchdowns on 229 carries. With as much as Minnesota runs, can they just lean on one feature back?

Smith may have to create some yards himself as the Gophers have to replace two starters along the offensive line. On the bright side the players stepping into the starting spots have experience. At center, senior Jared Weyler is back after starting six games last year before missing the remaining six. Redshirt junior Bronson Dovich will step in at guard having appeared in 21 career games. Returning starters Donnell Greene at left tackle, left guard Connor Olson and right tackle Sam Schlueter were solid last year as this unit gave up just 22 sacks and paved the way for a top-50 rushing attack.

After Tyler Johnson, the receiver corps is wide open. Smith gives the Gophers a good receiving threat out of the backfield as he caught 17 passes for 107 yards and second leading receiver Phillip Howard is back for his sophomore campaign. Youth can inject much needed talent and production to this unit as highly-touted recruit Rashard Bateman and fellow freshman Chris Autum-Bell can play their way into the starting lineup. Sophomore tight end Ko Kioft brings a 6’4” 250-pound frame and could become a weapon there.

Defensive Preview

The strength of Minnesota will be their defense which returns seven starters on a unit that finished 30th in the nation in total defense. This unit is headlined by its linebacking group. Junior Thomas Barber leads the way in the middle and paced the Gophers in tackles with 115 stops including 10.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. Alongside Barber is fellow junior Kamal Martin who made 42 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, two sacks and two forced fumbles. The third linebacker in Minnesota’s 4-3 defense in senior Blake Cashman who made 30 tackles, five TFLs and two sacks in a backup role. Freshman Braelen Oliver, sophomore Bailey Schoenfelder and senior Julian Huff will be in the rotation there as well.

Image: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

In front of the strong linebacking unit is a defensive line that will have just two returning starters in their top-eight on the projected depth chart. The Gophers will have three freshmen in their two-deep. Grad transfer O.J. Smith will add talent albeit inexperienced in the middle of the line and at 6’2” and 309 pounds, will be tough to move. Senior Gary Moore will be next to Smith. Moore was productive in a reserve role making 19 tackles including 2.5 TFLs. On the edges will be junior Carter Coughlin, who started in 2017 and made 37 tackles and a whopping 11.5 TFLs and 6.5 sacks. At the other end is redshirt freshman Esezi Otomewo, a 6’6” monster from Indianapolis.

The Gopher defensive backfield is home to arguably the best player on Minnesota, junior safety Antonie Winfield. Winfield was limited to just four games in 2017 but has made 72 tackles in 16 career games. When healthy he is one of the best in the Big Ten. Senior Jacob Huff, 65 tackles and three interceptions, will start next to Winfield at the other safety position. On the corner, senior Antonio Shenault returns after making 64 tackles and had four passes defensed. Behind the starter the Gophers have young depth with three freshmen and a junior in the two-deep.

Special Teams Preview

Senior kicker Emmit Carpenter is one of the most consistent kickers in the Big Ten and has connected on 36-of-44 field goals but has struggled on kickoffs. Junior Jacob Herbers will take over the full-time punting duties from Ryan Santoso. Herbers had one punt for 11 yards last season, so the jury is still out on him.

Rodney Smith, who had a 25 yard per return average last season, could be the main kick returner, but with the lack of depth at running back, Fleck may need to look elsewhere to save his legs. Shenault will handle the punt return duties.