Game Preview: University of Minnesota

The Golden Gophers are coming off of a 7-6 season that saw them finally beat Wisconsin and win a bowl game.  PJ Fleck is in his third year leading the squad and has a roster full of his guys after inheriting a roster that was pretty barren of talent following the 2016 season.  Last year the Gopher offense averaged 28.92 ppg and moved the ball to the tune of 379.6 ypg (170.8 rushing and 208.77 passing).  Minnesota brings back a number of key contributors on both sides of the ball and will be looking to build off of an improved 2018.

Offense

#2 Tanner Morgan (6-2, 215) is back at quarterback for his sophomore season after starting the last seven games of the 2018 season.  While not spectacular, he provided a level of consistency that the Gophers have lacked for a number of years at the quarterback position.  Morgan finished the year with 1401 yards passing along with 9 TD and 6 INT.  He is not much of a threat to run the ball and is definetely more of a traditional pocket passer.  #5 Zack Annexstad started last season but was lost due to injury.  He was expected to compete with Morgan to start again in 2019 but a foot injury early in camp has put his status for 2019 in doubt.

 At running back, the Gophers are loaded. #1 Rodney Smith (5-11, 210), #24 Mohamed Ibrahim (5-10, 210), and #21 Bryce Williams (6-0, 205) have all been the featured back at times.  The Jacks won't need to worry about another 1,000 yard rusher in #4 Shannon Brooks who will likely return to the lineup during B1G play. Smith will be the feature back after his 2018 season ended after only two games.  Smith, if he can stay healthy, will likely end his career as a Gopher great having amassed almost 3,000 yards already in his career to go with 21 TD.  He is also a threat as a receiver having caught 58 passes for 451 yards.  There isn't a huge drop-off from Smith to Ibrahim who finished the year as "the man", rushing for 1,160 yards and 9 TD. Ibrahim, just a sophomore, was 3rd on the depth chart to start last season but because of injuries was given the opportunity, which he made the most of (should sound familiar to Jackrabbit fans).  Bryce Williams was a true freshman last season and started two games.   He finished with 520 yards and 4 TD and has the potential for even greater production.  Another player to watch running the ball is #17 Seth Green.  Green, a former QB, is now a wide receiver/tight end but lines up as a "wildcat" quarterback at times.  He had 76 attempts in 2018 for 283 yards and 8 TD.

The Gophers do return two very talented wide receivers in #6 Tyler Johnson and #13 Rashod Bateman.  Johnson is considered a top-100 NFL draft prospect and he possesses good size (6-2, 205) and speed.  Limiting Johnson's impact will be a key for the young Jackrabbit secondary. In 2018, he had 78 receptions for 1,169 yards and 12 TD.  Bateman (6-2, 200) is probably the speedier of the two and finished his freshman season with 51 receptions for 704 yards and 6 TD.  Behind the starters is #82 Demetrius Douglass (9 rec, 87 yards, 1 TD), #17 Seth Green (2 rec, 37 yards) and a lot of inexperience.    The tight end position is up for grabs but returns starter #42 Ko Kieft (6-4, 255) who is a good run blocker.  #85 Bryce Witham (6-5, 265) is a big body and did snag 3 receptions for 75 yards in 2018. A name to watch is the hyper athletic #88 Brevyn Spann-Ford. He is a redshirt freshman but the Jacks were one of the first to offer him a scholarship so he's been on my radar for awhile.  There has been a lot of hype surrounding Spann-Ford this off season so I wouldn't be shocked if the Gophers try to highlight their new weapon early in the game to set the tone for the season.

Along the offensive line the Gophers return 2 of 5 starters from a unit that improved as the season went along.  Much has been made about the mammoth right tackle #78 Daniel Faalele (6-9, 400) but there are number of unknowns still at this point.  On the interior #77 Blaise Andries (6-6, 325), #64 Connor Olson (6-5, 305), #51 Curtis Dunlap Jr (6-5, 345), and #60 John Michael Shmitz (6-4, 315) appear to be competing at the two guard and center positions.  Olson started at center last season and will start there again or at guard.  The Gophers don't appear settled on a left tackle yet as both #70 Sam Schleuter (6-6, 325) and #79 Jason Dickson (6-6, 320) have spent time with the 1's.  Last year this group did struggle with injuries so they are constantly searching for depth.  They did give up 27 sacks last season but did pave the way for a successful ground attack.     

Defense
The Gopher defense went from okay at the start of last season to pretty bad in the middle to being really good by the end.  In the final four games they allowed just 59 total points.  This came on the heals of giving up 55 and 53 points to Illinois and Nebraska.   Overall, they allowed 26.4 ppg and 173.4 rushing ypg.  They were saltier in pass defense and allowed just 212 ypg.  Another bonus for the Gopher defense is they return a majority of their starters and contributors from 2018.

The defensive line is being counted on to generate more pressure in 2018.  They only generated 23 sacks but will need to do more in 2019.  A player who bounces all over the place but spends most of his time coming off the edge is #45 Carter Coughlin.  In 2018 he racked up 48 tackles, 9.5 sacks, 15 TFLs, and 4 forced fumbles.  He's a legit weapon for the U and the Jacks will have to know where he is at every play. Opposite him will likely be either #46 Winston DeLattiboudere (6-3, 260) or #12 Ta'yon Devers (6-4, 245). In 2018 DeLattibourdere was the starter opposite Coughlin and finished with 25 tackles and 1 sack while Devers had just 5 tackles.  Providing depth is #69 Boye Mafe who had a nice redshirt freshman season with 12 tackles and a half sack.  Mafe was high school teammates with Deyon Campbell and and Malik Lofton and was nearly a Jackrabbit before a late offer from the Gophers.

The interior of the Gophers defensive line is completely overhauled.  #18 Micah Dew-Treadway is a Notre Dame transfer who saw limited action for the Fighting Irish the past two seasons.  It isn't known yet what his role will be for the U but he is a huge man (6-4, 315). #90 Sam Renner (6-4, 275) will likely be the other starter on the interior after playing as the primary backup in 2018.  He finished with 13 tackles and is a high motor type of guy.   #52 Jamaal Teague (6-3, 310) played as a true freshman and is looking to make a big jump this season after finishing with 8 tackles and a sack.  Finally, #19 Keonte Schad (6-3, 295) was one of the top juco-defensive tackles last season.  Over the past two years at Ellsworth Community College he racked up 71 tackles, 19.5 TFL, a sack, and 4 fumble recoveries.  Again, this group is inexperienced but has a wealth of talent and size.  I'm excited to see how the Jacks matchup against this group.

The linebacker group loses Blake Cashman but returns the other two starters plus whatever position you want to give Coughlin.  #41 Thomas Barber (6-0, 240) and #21 Kamal Martin (6-3, 245) are back as starters and are the senior leaders of the defense.  Barber was the third leading tackler in 2018 and finished with 81 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 1 INT.  Martin had 59 tackles and 2 PBUs. Between these two there are 35 career starts and over 300 tackles. Starting between them will likely be #8 Thomas Rush who played as a true freshman and racked up 5 tackles and a sack.  Another player with returning experience is #55 Mariono Sori-Marin who had 5 tackles and is a special teams demon.

The secondary is experienced and returns four players with starting experience but graduated their second leading tackler from 2018.  The corners are #16 Coney Durr (5-10, 200) and #4 Terrell Smith (6-1, 200) with #6 Chris Williamson (6-0, 205) serving as the nickle back.  Durr had 36 tackles, .5 sack, 2 INT, and 5 PBU while Smith finished with 43 tackles, 1 INT, and 8 PBU. Williamson had 34 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT, and 4 PBU.  This is a talente trio that will certainly not back down from the talented Jackrabbit receivers.  The safeties are also very experienced with #11 Anotoine Winfield Jr. (5-11, 205) and #23 Jordan Howden (5-11, 200) returning.  Winfield Jr. was experiencing a breakout season before going down with a significant knee injury.  He still finished with 17 tackles, 1 INT, and 1 fumble recovery in just 3.5 games.  Howden finished with 45 tackles and an INT as true freshman last year. #27 Tyler Nubin was one of the prize recruits for the Gophers 2019 class so it will be interestin to see if he is ready to contribute or not. 

Special Teams
Like the rest of the team the Gophers special teams units were up and down in 2018.  However, there will be new starters at kicker and long snapper.  The punter, #47 Jacob Herbers, averaged 41 yards on 51 attempts, 18 of which were downed inside the 20.  The long snapper job looks like it is going to #37 Brady Weeks who was an early enrollee in January.  The kicking duties are still up in the air with no official starter named at this point.  #97 Michael Tarbutt is a grad transfer from Connecticut where he went 17-27 on field goals and 54-57 on xp.  #38 Michael Lantz was a five star kicking recruit and maybe the guy.  Sioux Falls Washington alum and former Jackrabbit verbal #34 Brock Walker is also in the mix.

In the return game, Demetrius Douglas and Antoine Winfield Jr. each returned a punt for a TD last season so there is plenty of danger in the return game.  Douglas also handled the kick return duties where he averaged nearly 25 yards per return on 24 attempts.  The Jackrabbit coverage units will have to maintain their solid coverage responsibilities that they showed in 2018.

Go Jacks!
Matt