Know Your Opponent: Minnesota Golden Gophers

Written by: Nate Comp (@NathanComp1)

Head Coach: PJ Fleck

Overall: 5th Season, 32-23 (.582) Overall

Bowl Appearances at Minnesota: 2

2020 Record: 3-4 (3-4, 4th in the Big Ten West)

Bowl Appearances Since 2000: 15 (7-8)

Mascot: Goldy Gopher

Colors: Maroon and Gold

Outfitter: Nike

National Titles: 7 Claimed, 2 Unclaimed

Conference Titles: 18

Heisman Winners: 1 (Bruce Smith, 1941)

2021 Record: 4-5

Last Week: LOSS @ Iowa 27-22

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Tanner Morgan (116-200 passing (58.0%), 1540 yards, 7 TDs, 7 INTs)

Rushing: Trey Potts (112 rushes, 552 yards, 4.9 YPC, 6 TDs) *Out for Season

Receiving: Chris Autman-Bell (29 receptions, 409 yards, 3 TDs)

Tackles: Mariano Sori-Marin (71 tackles, 37 solo, 3 PDs, 2 FF, 1 INT)

Stat of the Week: Last week, PJ Fleck dropped to 0-5 in his tenure with the Gophers against Iowa.

Minnesota’s Talking Points

1. Strong Rushing Attack.

The Golden Gophers have been gashed with injury at the running back position but have not let that slow their ground game. This past weekend against a top 10 Iowa rushing defense, Minnesota tailbacks Ky Thomas and Mar’Keise Irving combined for 206 rushing yards. Minnesota had over 40 minutes of possession against the Hawkeyes in Kinnick Stadium and won the total yards battle by 132 yards. Tanner Morgan has been shaky, so Fleck has relied on his ground game.

2. Tanner Morgan.

Speaking of Morgan, Gopher fans are starting to wonder if the Tanner Morgan they saw in 2019 will ever reappear. While he still is fifth in school history in completed passes (521), third in passing yards (7,568), first in career completion percentage (61%), and fourth in touchdown passes (53), he has simply not looked the same since that magical 2019 season. A couple errant throws this past weekend likely kept the Gophers from winning, and some fans are ready to see if backups Zack Annexstad, Cole Kramer, or Jacob Clark could have better success.

Fleck still has the utmost confidence in Morgan.

“He responds really well. That's the thing that makes Tanner very unique is he has the ability to respond and squeeze all the juice from the orange. Flush it, move on and do really well with that type of mindset. Again, it was not just Tanner. It was everybody,” said Fleck on Monday.

3. Critical Moments on Defense.

You go to Kinnick Stadium and hold the Hawkeyes to 71 yards rushing, most weeks you’re going to leave victorious. However, the Gopher defense has struggled in the game’s biggest moments to get a stop.

“It's consistency,” said Fleck. “It's two explosive plays on defense for Iowa and they score a touchdown, right? The two third down runs that are long and they get a first down or setup a fourth and short. The screen where we miss a tackle. We dropped two interceptions and the fourth one sneak. Those are huge plays on the defensive side of the ball.”