November 7, 2018 Game Day Preview

GAME

DAY PREVIEW

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

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Game Day Preview Fall 2018

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TONY SAUNDERS, DAILY

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GAME DAY PREVIEW 3 4 6 7

Daily Breakdown: Gophers underdogs against rolling Boilermakers Questions from the Other Side: Lafayette Journal & Courier's Mike Carmin Quick Hitters: Minnesota blown out at Illinois Looking back on the last time Minnesota went against Purdue

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

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the Daily

BREAKDOWN

PURDUE FAVORED AGAINST UMN Purdue has won five of the last six Big Ten games, with a 49-20 win vs. Ohio State.

TONY SAUNDERS, DAILY

Running back Shannon Brooks jumps over the defender during the game on Friday, Oct. 26 at TCF Bank Stadium. The Gophers won 38-31 with a late touchdown by wide receiver Rashod Bateman.

BY JACK WARRICK jwarrick@mndaily.com

More change is coming for the Gophers with another veteran running back down for the season and a new defensive coordinator.

Former defensive coordinator Robb Smith was fired, replaced by former defensive line coach Joe Rossi. Running back Shannon Brooks, who played in his first game of the season against Indiana, is out for the season.

The simple question after these developments is: How will the team respond against Purdue?

When Minnesota runs the ball: Minnesota's leading rusher has been freshman Mohamed Ibrahim this season, since the team has been without Brooks and other veteran Rodney Smith.

Ibrahim ran 107 times for 570 yards and five touchdowns in the six games he was healthy enough to play this year. Other than Ibrahim, the Gophers look to freshman Bryce Williams, who is second on the depth chart.

The Gophers currently rank in the bottom half of the Big Ten, with an average of 154 rushing yards per game.

Purdue's rushing defense ranks fourth in the Big Ten. Advantage: Purdue Matchup to watch: Running back Bryce Williams vs. linebacker Markus Bailey When Purdue runs the ball: Last week, in a close game against then-No.16 Iowa, Purdue's offense tallied 38 points to beat the Hawkeyes in a 38-36 shootout. Purdue mustered 101 total rushing yards on 31 carries. Leading rusher D.J. Knox was held to 34 yards on nine carries in the close victory.

Purdue is ranked one spot better than Minnesota's rush offense in the Big Ten,

averaging 155.6 rushing yards per game.

The Gophers gave up 430 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns to Illinois last week. With a new defensive coordinator, the Gophers will look for a positive change to the third-worst rushing defense in the Big Ten. Advantage: Purdue Matchup to watch: Running back D.J. Knox vs. linebacker Kamal Martin When Minnesota passes the ball: With a new quarterback in the fold, Tanner Morgan, and three capable wide receivers — Tyler Johnson, Rashod Bateman, and Chris Autman-Bell — the Gophers have used the pass game more effectively than the crippled running attack. Minnesota tallied 260 passing yards and two touchdowns against Illinois last week, though both receiving touchdowns came when the game was out of reach.

On the other hand, the Boilermakers rank last in the Big Ten in terms of pass defense. Though they have played five of the top seven passing teams in the Big

Ten (themselves being second on the list), they have given up an average of 296.4 passing yards per game.

Advantage: Minnesota Matchup to watch: Wide receiver Rashod Bateman vs. defensive back Navon Mosley When Purdue passes the ball: The Boilermakers had four touchdowns and 333 receiving yards against Iowa to put them past another ranked opponent. They have upset three ranked opponents this year, first against Boston College in a 30-13 victory and then a huge 49-20 upset win over then-No. 2 nationally ranked Ohio State.

Quarterback David Blough has been accurate this season, throwing 66 percent in his 311 pass attempts, good for 2,683 yards and 17 touchdowns. Blough passes to receiver Rondale Moore most often. Moore averages about 93 receiving yards per game.

The Gophers have an inexperienced group of defensive backs, and rank in the

middle of the Big Ten in terms of passing yards allowed on average this year.

Advantage: Purdue Matchup to watch: Wide receiver Rondale Moore vs. defensive back Coney Durr Prediction: Purdue 41, Minnesota 28 A high-scoring game is likely between these two teams because each ranks near the bottom in terms of giving up yards on defense. Pair this with each team's ability to throw the ball and find explosive, high yardage plays, and something like the Illinois game may be expected for the Gophers.

Purdue is on a roll, defeating five of its last six opponents, while the Gophers have lost five of the last six games.

Ever ything else you need to know: Start time: 2:30 p.m. CT Network: ESPN2 Radio: KFAN 100.3 Line: Purdue by 12

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QUESTIONS from the OTHER SIDE

Lafayette Journal & Courier's Mike Carmin Purdue football beat reporter Carmin gives insight to the Minnesota vs. Purdue matchup.

BY PAUL HODOWANIC phodowanic@mndaily.com

For this weekly column, the Daily interviews a journalist with knowledge on the Gophers' opponent on Saturday. We interviewed Lafayette Journal & Courier's Mike Carmin to gain insight on this week's game against Purdue. Carmin is a football beat reporter for the Journal & Courier.

TONY SAUNDERS, DAILY

Kicker Emmit Carpenter celebrates after a field goal on Friday, Oct. 26 at TCF Bank Stadium.

What are the big storylines going into the Minnesota game? “[The Boilermakers] beat Ohio State a couple weeks ago and then lost at Michigan State and now they’re coming off another game where they beat a ranked team ... how do they respond? Can they keep up their same level of play? There's a lot riding on the line for Purdue in this game. Number one is bowl eligibility. They can qualify for a bowl, and ... they [can] stay in the hunt for the Big Ten West depending on what Northwestern does.”

What has Purdue done to get back on track after their early season struggles?

“They only had four starters returning on defense. They had a lot of guys putting their hand [on] the ground for the first time, and it showed up in those first three games where they made mistakes that an experienced defense wouldn’t make. They didn’t tackle very well, they didn’t pursue very well. ... There is still room for improvement, but they are doing a lot of those things better now than they did the first three games.

Offensively, they just push the ball downfield a lot more than they did the first two weeks, and it’s paid off. They have a playmaker in freshman Rondale Moore that they’re trying to get the ball to a lot. …

Quarterback David Blough has played really well since he became the full-time starter in the Missouri game. A combination of all those things have pushed Purdue to a point where they are 5-4 and on the cusp of doing something a lot of people didn’t think they

would do when they started 0-3."

The last two seasons, David Blough was entrenched in a quarterback battle. What put him over the top this year and what has he done to be so successful?

“I think it’s a combination of his experience, Jeff Brohm’s [play calling] and his and Brohm’s desire to be more aggressive. ...

And it doesn’t hurt to have Rondale Moore on your team to create some big plays. He didn’t win the battle coming out of camp; Elijah Sindelar was the starting quarterback against Northwestern the first game. Going into the Missouri game, Sindelar was going to start the game but suffered an injury.

David took over from there and hasn’t relinquished the job since. … He’s a big reason why Purdue is in the position it’s in."

What does Purdue need to do to beat Minnesota?

“Number one, they have to continue to score a lot, they’ve done well the past few weeks when they’ve gotten off to a good start. … Defensively, they have to shut down Minnesota, they can’t let them put up the points they’re capable of putting up."

Purdue’s defense ranks 12th in the Big Ten in total defense. What have they struggled with this season?

"The main thing they’ve struggled with is defending the pass. They’ve struggled to get pressure from their front four on the quarterback. ... Their cornerbacks played better last week — they were a little bit more aggressive, a little bit closer to the line of scrimmage than they were against Michigan State, but it’s not the overall strength of the defense. They are a defense that does give up some points and does give up some yards, but for the most part they make those one or two stops during the game that gives the ball back over to the offense."

Best player on offense?

Rondale Moore Best player on defense?

Markus Bailey Most "under-the-radar" player?

Terry Wright Score Prediction?

Purdue 43 – Minnesota 25

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Quick Hitters

MINNESOTA BLOWN OUT AT ILLINOIS The Gophers struggled with Illinois' offense, giving up a season high of 55 points.

BY PAUL HODOWANIC phodowanic@mndaily.com

Final: Illinois 55 - Minnesota 31 After a tightly played first half, Illinois outscored Minnesota 21-0 in the third quarter, cementing the Gophers' fourth loss in their last five games.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Tanner Morgan started his second career game, throwing for 258 yards and two touchdowns.

Wide receiver Rashod Bateman had seven catches for a career-high 175 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Mohamed Ibrahim added 98 yards on the ground and rumbled in for two touchdowns.

The Gophers' defense allowed a season-high in points, 55, and rushing yards, 430.

This was just the latest instance in a string of bad defensive performances in Big Ten play.

In response, defensive coordinator Robb Smith was fired Sunday night, according to a statement released by the team. Current defensive line coach Joe Rossi will take over as interim defensive coordinator.

It was over when: Illinois scored 24 unanswered points at the start of the second half, extending their lead from 24-17 to 48-17. The Gophers were able to cut into that deficit, scoring on two late touchdown catches by Rashod Bateman, but at that point the outcome had been decided.

Key play: On Minnesota's second drive of the second half, Seth Green fumbled on the Gophers' 30-yard line and Illinois recovered. On the next play, quarterback A.J. Bush Jr. found Daniel Barker for a touchdown that extended the Illini lead to 38-17.

TONY SAUNDERS, DAILY

Wide receiver Tyler Johnson celebrates after a touchdown. Johnson finished the game with 102 yards and two touchdowns. The Gophers won 38-31 with a late touchdown by wide receiver Rashod Bateman on Friday, Oct. 26 at TCF Bank Stadium .

Five Observations: 1. Tackling struggles continue.

The Gophers allowed long touchdown plays of 77, 72, 67 and 30 yards, missing tackles on each

play. The team missed an unofficial season high 22 tackles on Saturday, surpassing the previous high of 18, which came two weeks ago at Nebraska. The tackling woes also played a part in the team giving up 649 total yards to Illinois, who ranks seventh in the Big Ten in total offense.

2. Tanner Morgan and Rashod Bateman are developing a strong connection.

In Morgan's two starts as the starting quarterback, the tandem have combined for 11 catches for 283 yards and three touchdowns. Bateman has become Morgan's go-to deep threat. On Saturday, he caught touchdown passes of 86 and 61 yards, and against Indiana he caught the 67-yard game-winning touchdown pass. Bateman has eclipsed 100 yards in both of Morgan's starts, the only times he has done so this season.

3. Mohamed Ibrahim continues to play well.

Ibrahim ran for 98 yards and two touchdowns, making it the third consecutive game he has scored at least one touchdown. In a year where Rodney Smith and Shannon Brooks have made little impact because of injuries, Ibrahim has carried the load well. He leads the team in rushing yards with 583, and has averaged over 5 yards per carry.

4. The Minnesota defense struggles against athletic quarterbacks.

In the last three weeks, the Gophers have faced athletic quarterbacks who can scramble and run effectively on designed run plays.

Against Illinois, A.J. Bush Jr. ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns. Indiana quarterback Peyton Ramsey averaged over 7 yards per carry, and against Nebraska Adrian Martinez ran for 125 yards and a touchdown.

5. The Gophers' bowl chances are not looking good.

With just three games left on the schedule, the Gophers will face Purdue and Northwestern at home before traveling to Madison, Wisconsin to take on the Badgers. In order to qualify for a bowl game, the team will need to win two of those games. However, that seems unlikely at this point, as they face the top three teams in the Big Ten West. Purdue is coming off two wins against ranked Ohio State and Iowa teams. Northwestern remains first in the Big Ten West and Wisconsin continues to be a hurdle the Gophers can't get over.

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Last Time...

Looking back on the last time Minnesota went against Purdue The Gophers have a 37-33-3 all-time record against the Purdue Boilermakers.

BY JACK WARRICK jwarrick@mndaily.com

This inaugural edition of "Last time ..." The Daily looked at and recapped the last game between Minnesota and Purdue, which happened over one year ago.

Final: Minnesota 17, Purdue 31 It looked like Minnesota had Purdue beat in the last matchup between the two teams on Oct. 7, 2017. It was the second Big Ten game of the season and the second Big Ten game under head coach P.J. Fleck.

Although it could have been larger, the Gophers had a 17-16 lead with under 2:30 to play during a rainy night at Purdue's RossAde Stadium. The Boilermakers gave up the ball four times in the first half, but the Gophers couldn't turn those into considerable points.

Purdue answered with a touchdown and two-point conversion on its next drive in the final moments of the game, making the score 24-17, and then-quarterback Conor Rhoda had 1:17 to get the score tied up with a touchdown. Instead, Rhoda threw an interception at the Purdue 27-yard line with 10 seconds to play, and Boilermakers' Ja'Whaun Bentley took that interception for a 76-yard touchdown. With that game-clinching interception, Purdue won 31-17 — the team's first victory over Minnesota since 2012.

It was an odd game. The two teams were sent to the locker room with about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter because of a rain delay. It lasted almost an hour and a half, and most of the fans had left the rainy scene by the time the players came back.

The game marked a battle of two

first-season head coaches, Fleck for Minnesota and Jeff Brohm for Purdue.

In the last matchup between the two teams, there were two different quarterbacks — Rhoda was in for Minnesota and Elijah Sindelar was the starter for Purdue.

The Boilermakers now rely mostly on redshirt senior David Blough, and the Gophers on either true freshman walk-on Zack Annexstad or redshirt freshman Tanner Morgan.

None of the four rushers who were in Minnesota's box score will be playing Saturday. Shannon Brooks, who led the rushing attack that game with 116 yards, and Rodney Smith will return next season. Each suffered season-ending injuries.

Rhoda and running back Kobe McCrary are ineligible in the NCAA after their four-year eligibility ended after last season.

Minnesota relied much more heavily on the running game last season, but there is currently a lack of experience at the position due to injuries. The only current Gophers' receiver who made an impact in that game was Tyler Johnson, who had two catches for 15 yards.

The defense had more current players finding their names in the stat sheet.

Notable names like linebacker Jonathan Celestin and defensive tackle Steven Richardson have since graduated. Current Gophers' linebacker Thomas Barber led the team with 10 tackles and a half sack.

Quotables from the game: “I’ve been through this before. I’ve been through year one before,” Fleck told reporters. “It’s not easy for anybody. But again, they’ll keep their oar in the water.”

“Forget the last interception part, to have five plays or whatever ... that went right down the field is unacceptable,” Fleck told reporters. “That 100 percent falls on me.”

TONY SAUNDERS, DAILY

Coach P.J. Fleck calls out to players on Friday, Oct. 26 at TCF Bank Stadium.