November 15, 2018 Game Day Preview

Thursday, November 15, 2018

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Game Day Preview Fall 2018

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GAME DAY

PREVIEW

3 4 6 7 7

Daily breakdown: Gophers slight underdogs at home Depth charts for Minnesota and Northwestern

Quick hitters: Gophers flip the script with big win over Purdue Question from the other side: The Daily Northwestern's Ben Pope Last time: Looking back to the last game between Minnesota and Northwestern

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NORTHWESTERN FAVORED OVER MINNESOTA

the Daily

BREAKDOWN

Northwestern clinched the Big Ten West last week while Gophers cling to bowl dream.

BY PAUL HODOWANIC phodowanic@mndaily.com

Now as a ranked team, Northwestern has already clinched its trip to Indianapolis to play for the Big Ten championship as the Big Ten West leader.

Minnesota is an underdog, but is trending upward with the tough task ahead against the team that shut out the Gophers 39-0 last season.

With new starters at virtually every position on offense, the Gophers hope for a different result this time around.

When Minnesota runs the ball: Minnesota ran the ball effortlessly last week against Purdue, finishing with a team total of 265 yards and two touchdowns.

Freshman Mohamed Ibrahim continued to lead the efforts with over 155 rushing yards at an average of over eight yards per carry.

Northwestern has been stingy against the run this year, ranking fourth in the Big Ten against the run. Against Iowa, the Wildcats held the Hawkeyes to 64 yards on the ground, averaging less than three yards per carry. It was the second week in a row holding an offense under three yards per carry.

Advantage: Northwestern Matchup to watch: RB Mohamed Ibrahim vs. LB Blake Gallagher When Northwestern runs the ball: Northwestern ranks last in the Big Ten in rushing, averaging more than 100 yards per game. The team unexpectedly moved the ball very well on the ground last week — running back Isaiah Bowser ran for 165 yards and a touchdown in their win versus Iowa. Bowser has been hot lately, rushing for over 100 yards in three of the last four games.

TONY SAUNDERS, DAILY

Redshirt sophomore Coney Durr signals a fourth down during the Gophers' game against Indiana on Friday, Oct. 26 at TCF Bank Stadium.

Minnesota ranks 10th in the Big Ten in rush defense, letting up 178 yards per game.

However, against Purdue the Gophers allowed just 88 yards on 30 carries.

Advantage: Minnesota Matchup to watch: RB Isaiah Bowser vs. LB Blake Cashman When Minnesota passes the ball: Last week against Purdue, quarterback Tanner Morgan wasn't asked to do too much as the Gophers ran down Purdue's throat. He threw 18 times for 139 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. The Gophers have a talented tandem of wide receivers with Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman that have put up record numbers this year. Johnson became the first Gopher to have 100 yards receiving in four straight Big Ten games and ranks fourth in school history with 17 receiving touchdowns.

Last week Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley threw for 269 yards a touchdown against the

Wildcats. Northwestern ranks ninth in the Big Ten in passing defense, and has major question marks in their secondary heading into Saturday. Three members of their secondary have already been ruled out because of injury and they will rely on freshmen Cameron Ruiz and A.J. Hampton to carry the load.

Advantage: Minnesota Matchup to watch: WR Tyler Johnson vs.

CB Cameron Ruiz When Northwestern passes the ball: Quarterback Clayton Thorson has been inconsistent throughout the year. He ranks fourth in the Big Ten in passing yards, 233.5 per game, but has thrown as many interceptions as touchdowns, 12. Against Iowa, Thorson struggled throwing 122 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Minnesota held Purdue's standout quarterback, David Blough, to 142 yards and a touchdown a week ago. Minnesota's pass defense is ranked seventh in the Big Ten and has steadily

improved over the last five weeks, allowing fewer passing yards in each game than they did the week before.

Advantage: Minnesota Matchup to watch: WR Flynn Nagel vs. DB Terell Smith Score Prediction: Minnesota 27, Northwestern 24 Saturday is senior night for the Gophers and a win would make them bowl-eligible.

Northwestern has already clinched the Big Ten West title and has major injury problems in the secondary.

Tanner Morgan and the talented crop of wide receivers should be able to find space and pull off a slight upset at home.

Ever ything else you need to know: Start time: 11 a.m. CT Network: Big Ten Network Radio: KFAN 100.3 FM Line: Northwestern by 2.5

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MINNESOTA’S DEPTH CHART DEFENSE

OFFENSE QB 2 Tanner Morgan (6-2, 210 R-Fr.) 5 Zack Annexstad (6-2, 215, Fr.) TB 24 Mohamed Ibrahim (5-10, 205 R-Fr.) OR 21 Bryce Williams (6-0, 200, Fr.) 28 Jonathan Femi-Cole (6-0, 225, R-Jr.) OR 8 Nolan Edmonds (5-11, 200, Fr.) TE 42 Ko Kieft (6-4, 250, R-Fr.) OR 80 Jake Paulson (6-4, 260, R-Fr.) OR 85 Bryce Witham (6-4, 255, R-Jr.) OR 88 Brevyn Spann-Ford (6-7, 260, Fr.) WR 13 Rashod Bateman (6-2, 200, Fr.) 17 Seth Green (6-4, 240, R-So.) OR 89 Matt Morse (6-1, 195, R-Jr.) WR 82 Demetrius Douglas (6-0, 190, R-Fr.) 25 Phillip Howard (5-11, 195, R-So.) OR 18 Clay Geary (5-10, 190, R-So.)

OFFENSE 72 73 LG 59 52 65 C 66 RG 71 78 RT 70 76 WR 8 81 LT

WR 2 12 WR 88 19 QB 18 10

WR 6 3 27 LT 73 58 75 LG 64 61 75 C 62 60 66 RG 77 51 RT 78 70 76

Tyler Johnson (6-2, 200, Jr.) Chris Autman-Bell (6-1, 200, R-Fr. OR Paul Gossage (6-3, 185, R-Jr.) Donnell Greene (6-7, 320, R-Sr.) Quinn Oseland (6-6, 305, R-Jr.) OR Kyle Sassack (6-7, 290, R-Fr.) Connor Olson (6-5, 300, R-So.) Bronson Dovich (6-5, 300, R-Jr.) OR Austin Beier (6-4, 285, Fr.) Jared Weyler (6-4, 296, R-Jr.) John Michael Schmitz (6-4, 300, R-Fr.) OR Nathan Boe (6-4, 285, Fr.) Blaise Andries (6-5, 315, R-Fr.) Curtis Dunlap Jr. (6-5, 370, Fr.) Daniel Faalele (6-9, 400, Fr.) OR Sam Schlueter (6-6, 305, R-So.) Jack York (6-6, 210, R-Fr.)

DE 46 9 DT 19 90 DT 97 52 DE 45 12 69 LB 21 55 LB 41 8 14 LB 36 20

Winston DeLattiboudere (6-3, 250, R-Jr.) Esezi Otomewo (6-6, 260, R-Fr.) Gary Moore (6-4, 300, R-Sr.) Sam Renner (6-4, 270, R-Jr.) Royal Silver (6-3, 300, R-Jr.) OR Jamaal Teague (6-3, 305, Fr.) Carter Coughlin (6-4, 245, Jr.) Tai’yon Devers (6-4, 240, Jr.) OR Boye Mafe (6-4, 250, R-Fr.) Kamal Martin (6-3, 235, Jr.) Mariano Sori-Marin (6-3, 240, Fr.) Thomas Barber (6-1, 235, Jr.) Thomas Rush (6-3, 230, Fr.) OR Braelen Oliver (6-0, 225, Fr.) Blake Cashman (6-2, 235, Sr.) Julian Huff (6-0, 225, Sr.)

DB 16 31 7 DB 23 22 49 DB 2 27 DB 4 15 6 DB 31 26 25

Coney Durr (5-10, 190, Jr.) OR Kiondre Thomas (6-0, 190, R-So.) Rey Estes (6-0, 175, R-Fr.) Jordan Howden (5-11, 185, Fr.) OR Benny Sapp III (6-1, 195, Fr.) OR Josh Aune (6-2, 205, Fr.) Jacob Huff (5-11, 207, Jr.) Calvin Swenson (6-1, 210, R-So.) OR Terell Smith (6-1, 195, Fr.) C.J. Smith (6-1, 185, Fr.) Chris Williamson (6-0, 200, R-Jr.) Kiondre Thomas (6-1, 190, R-So.) Justus Harris (5-10, 180, So.) Phillip Howard (5-11, 195, R-So.)

NORTHWESTERN'S DEPTH CHART

Blake Hence (6-5, 310, Sr.) Gunnar Vogel (6-6, 286, So.) J.B. Butler (6-3, 308, Sr.) Sam Gerak (6-3, 295, R-Fy.) Jared Thomas (6-4, 295, Jr.) Nik Urban (6-3, 293, So. Tommy Doles (6-4, 296, Sr.) Sam Stovall (6-4, 285, Fy.) Rashawn Slater (6-3, 314, So.) Ethan Wiederkehr (6-5, 283, R-Fy.) Kyric McGowan (5-10, 198, So.) Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman (6-2, 202, So.) Flynn Nagel (5-11, 195, Sr.) J.J. Jefferson (5-10, 167, Fy) Bennett Skowronek (6-4, 211, Jr.) Riley Lees (6-0, 206, So.) Clayton Thorson (6-4, 226, Sr.) T.J. Green (6-2, 215, Jr.)

DEFENSE

RB 25 (Isaiah Bowser 6-1, 216, Fy) 21 Drake Anderson (5-11, 181, Fy.) OR 4 Solomon Vault (5-10, 196, Sr) OR 1 Chad Hanaoka (5-6, 180, Sr) SB 84 Cameron Green 6-3, 237, Jr. 80 Trey Pugh (6-4, 239, So.) 44 James Prather (6-4, 256, Sr.)

97 98 DT 99 95 DT 92 94 DE 91 83 WILL 51 40 MIKE 42 35 SAM 32 28 CB 18 11 CB 10 9 DE

Joe Gaziano (6-4, 275, Jr.) Earnest Brown IV (6-5, 254, So.) Jordan Thompson (6-3, 292, Sr.) Alex Miller (6-3, 268, Jr.) Fred Wyatt (6-4, 288, Sr.) Ben Oxley (6-6, 292, Sr.) Samdup Miller (6-3, 258, So.) Trent Goens (6-3, 254, Jr.) Blake Gallagher (6-1, 227, So.) Peter McIntyre (6-2, 229, R-Fy.) Paddy Fisher (6-4, 241, So.) Erik Mueller (6-2, 226, So.) Nate Hall (6-2, 231, Sr.) Chris Bergin (5-11, 213, So.) Cam Ruiz (5-11, 180, R-Fy.) A.J. Hampton (5-11, 166, Fy.) Alonzo Mayo (5-11, 186, Jr.) Roderick Campbell (6-0, 187, Jr.)

S S

13 47 7 22

J.R. Pace (6-1, 200, So.) Joe Bergin (5-11, 197, Jr.) Travis Whillock (6-1, 199, So.) Bryce Jackson (6-1, 190, R-Fy.)

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MN CTD. SPECIAL TEAMS K P LS KR PR H

38 37 47 46 25 39 82 18 82 47 46 14

Emmit Carpenter (6-0, 200, R-Sr.) John Mack (6-0, 195, R-So.) Jacob Herbers (6-2, 215, R-Jr.) Alex Melvin (6-4, 205, R-Jr.) Payton Jordahl (6-2, 230, R-Sr.) Michael Vojvodich (6-3, 210, Fr.) Demetrius Douglas (6-0, 190, R-Fr.) Clay Geary (5-10, 190, R-So.) Demetrius Douglas (6-0, 190, R-Fr.) Jacob Herbers (6-2, 215, R-Jr.) Alex Melvin (6-4, 205, R-Jr.) Casey O’Brien (6-1, 175, R-Fr.)

NW CTD. SPECIAL TEAMS K

P LS KR PR H KS

14 49 38 90 49 37 43 48 8 2 19 2 49 10 49

Charlie Kuhbander 6-0, 180, S. Jake Collins 6-1, 201, Gr. OR Drew Luckenbaugh 6-1, 205, So. OR Jake Genyk 6-3, 200, Fy. Jake Collins 6-1, 201, Gr. Cody Gronewold 6-1, 180, R-Fy Tyler Gillikin 6-2, 217, So. Peter Snodgrass 6-0, 208, R-Fy. Kyric McGowan 5-10, 198, So. Flynn Nagel 5-11, 195, Sr. Riley Lees 6-0, 206, So. Flynn Nagel 5-11, 195, Sr. Jake Collins 6-1, 201, Gr. T.J. Green (6-2, 215, Jr.) Jake Collins 6-1, 201, Gr.

Thursday, November 15, 2018

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Quick Hitters

Gophers flip the script with big win over Purdue The Gophers' defense allowed an average of 43 points in the Big Ten before playing Purdue.

BY JACK WARRICK jwarrick@mndaily.com

TONY SAUNDERS, DAILY

Runningback Mohamed Ibrahim stiff arms the defender on a long run on Saturday, Nov. 10 at TCF Bank Stadium. The Gophers beat Purdue 41-10. Ibrahim finished with 155 rushing yards.

Final: Minnesota 41, Purdue 10 The Gophers' defense shocked Purdue Saturday after allowing a season-high 55 points to Illinois the week before. After head coach P.J. Fleck fired former defensive coordinator Robb Smith earlier this month, the question on everyone's mind was: "How is this team going to respond?"

The Gophers responded by restricting a powerful Purdue offense to 233 total offensive yards, with 88 coming from the rush game. The Gophers held the Boilermakers to 10 points on the third coldest game in TCF Bank Stadium history.

The offense followed the defense's lead and tallied 41 points — the most since the first game of the season.Quarterback Tanner Morgan threw for one touchdown and an interception, completing 10-18 passes for 138 yards.

It was over when: Quarterback Seth Green lined up in the wildcat for two yards and a touchdown on the Gophers' first offensive drive of the second half. His effort gave the Gophers a 27-3 lead with time to play in the third quarter.

Key play: Linebacker Blake Cashman, a senior who started as a walk-on, ran down Purdue quarterback David Blough on the first drive of the second half. He forced a fumble and ran the ball 40 yards for a touchdown, starting Minnesota off well in the second half.

"I just sat there for the quarterback and [Blough] came. ... he tried to stiff arm me. ... I hit his arm down. And I saw there was an opportunity to go for the ball, so I seized that moment," Cashman said after the game.

Five obser vations: 1. The defense is moving in the right direction.

The Gophers put former defensive line coach Joe Rossi as the new interim defensive coordinator last week, and it paid off.

Minnesota held a productive Purdue offense, which had beaten ranked teams such as Ohio State and Iowa earlier in the season to 10 points.

2. Seth Green can do it all.

Green, who plays wide receiver and quarterback, completed a 11-yard throwing touchdown to a wide open tight end Jake Paulson for the first touchdown of the game. The Purdue defense left him uncovered as it suspected Green to do a quarterback keep, as he often does in goal line situations.

Green scored a rushing touchdown on the first offensive drive of the second half to give the Gophers a 27-3 lead.

3. Tanner Morgan is developing as the No. 1 quarterback in his third start.

Morgan started the last three games, winning two of them including the upset against Purdue last week. The Gophers needed him to play the second half of the Nebraska game when former starter Zack Annexstad suffered an injury.

Morgan and Annexstad continue to battle in practice, Fleck said in a Tuesday press conference.

"He's playing at a high level; I think he's leading at a high level," Fleck said.

"Zack's getting ready to be able to play again. Again, I'll continue to evaluate that.

It's a quarterback competition that's very healthy."

4. The running game hasn't lost its step.

After losing senior running backs Rodney Smith and Shannon Brooks to injury, two freshman running backs have kept the Gophers on their feet. Mohamed Ibrahim was the work horse with 18 carries for 155 yards, while Bryce Williams tallied 68 yards on nine carries and a touchdown.

5. It's hard to lose when the defense held Purdue 0-12 on third down.

Purdue, when faced with make-orbreak, third-down situations, completed none of them in the loss. The Gophers' defense has allowed 38 percent of third-down conversions this season, but allowed none on Saturday.

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QUESTIONS from the OTHER SIDE Northwestern clinched the Big Ten West division last week after beating then No. 21 Iowa.

BY JACK WARRICK jwarrick@mndaily.com

For this weekly column, the Daily interviews a journalist with knowledge on the Gophers' next opponent. We interviewed The Daily Northwestern's Ben Pope to gain insight on this week's game against Northwestern. Pope is a football and men's basketball reporter for the Daily Northwestern.

What changed since the beginning of the season with a 1-3 start, to now winning the last five of six and having a No. 24 ranking?

“Northwestern has really started slowly almost every year lately. ... In terms of onthe-field performance, the offensive line was really beat up early in the season with a lot of injuries, and they’ve gotten more healthy and more consistent lately. ... So if you look there, for a few weeks Northwestern really wasn’t able to do anything on the ground.

They were averaging, like, 20 yards a game rushing.

But Isaiah Bowser — who’s a true freshman [and] wasn’t really a top recruit — has really emerged. He has over 100 yards each of the last four weeks. He’s a power back who runs between the tackles mostly. He isn’t the fastest guy but has a lot of muscle and is hard to bring down. [He] can consistently get yards every time he gets the ball. That really fits into Northwestern’s steady sort of physical style on offense. He’s really the exact kind of running back they needed to emerge.

So offensively, that’s really been the key.

And then on defense, it’s definitely been the stronger unit this season, even when they were losing those games. The defensive line is one of the deepest in the Big Ten, and has a future NFL star in Joe Gaziano, a defensive end.”

Northwestern doesn’t have a very powerful offense, but have squeezed out close games against ranked opponents. What is the identity of this year’s team?

“For much of the early part of the season

it really was more passing-oriented, but coinciding with the team’s success lately has also been a shift more to the running game that historically has been the centerpiece of Northwestern’s offense. That’s really the key to everything working. Clayton Thorson has actually kind of struggled lately. ... He’s had some accuracy issues, and they’ve really relied on Bowser to get the ball moving.”

What is the basis of this defense, not much pressure from the defensive line with the lowest number of sacks in the Big Ten, but they still hold teams to manageable points. How would you describe this defense?

“The defensive philosophy is mainly, and this works especially well in the Big Ten, to stop the run on first and second down, and then play good pass defense on third down and force punts. ... The run defense is top 20 in the country. ... They force teams to cut to the inside, and right into the linebacking group. ... You go back and look through a lot of the games recently and some great running backs from opposing teams have not done too much. They held [Wisconsin's] Jonathan Taylor to not only under 100 yards for the first time this season, but only 46 yards. That says a lot about how good they are against the run.”

Northwestern wins this game if …

“I mean, the point spread’s only like three points, and I know Minnesota’s played well at home this year. That game last week, certainly all of us here at Northwestern were paying a lot of attention to because that was crucial for us clinching the division. ... So I don’t think the Wildcats are going in there expecting to just roll over the Gophers. ... So if [Thorson] can find some more space to operate and get more yards going in the passing game, that could be a big development.

I know Minnesota’s a bit susceptible defensively, although it seemed like last week they took a lot of strides forward.”

Speed round: Best offensive player?

WR Flynn Nagel Best Defensive player?

DL Joe Gaziano Under the radar player?

TE Cameron Green Score Prediction?

Northwestern 24, Minnesota 21

Last Time...

The last game between Minnesota and Northwestern The Gophers have a 53-35-5 all-time record against the Northwestern Wildcats.

BY PAUL HODOWANIC phodowanic@mndaily.com

Final: Northwestern 39, Minnesota 0 It was the worst loss to Northwestern in Gophers history as Minnesota couldn't get out of their own way and were blown out by the Wildcats in Evanston, Illinois last season.

Minnesota turned the ball over five times, with three interceptions and two fumbles against the Wildcats. Northwestern made the most of those mistakes, scoring touchdowns on the four of the five drives following a turnover. The mistakes were made even worse by where they were made on the field. Of the four touchdown drives following a turnover, the longest scoring drive was 36 yards. In total, six of the Wildcats' 14 possessions started in Minnesota territory.

Minnesota quarterback Demry Croft went 2-11 for 43 yards and three interceptions, finishing with a quarterback rating of 0.9. The lone bright spot came in the run game, as Rodney Smith ran for 96 yards and Kobe McCrary ran for 69 yards, but both lost fumbles.

Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson had quite the unusual night. He threw for three touchdowns, however he threw for 86 yards on 9-13 passing. The Wildcats controlled the game on the ground as Justin Jackson ran for 133 yards.

The loss seemed to linger for the Gophers as they were shut out again the following week against Wisconsin at home, losing 31-0.

This year's game will see a much different Gophers team, especially on offense.

There will be a new quarterback in Tanner Morgan, who is making his third career

“Before we could even have an opportunity to go win the game, we were losing the game so fast that it just got out of control.”

P.J. FLECK head coach

start. None of the players who had a rushing attempt or caught a pass for the Gophers in last year's game will play on Saturday, and only two of the starters on the offensive line will start again. The offense will rely much more on the pass this season with both Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman having breakout seasons.

The much of the defensive personnel remains the same but will be under new direction, as Joe Rossi will call plays for the second time this season. Thomas Barber was one of the lone standouts in last year's game, totaling 15 total tackles and half a sack, and will look to repeat that performance again this season.

Quotables from the game: "Before we could even have an opportunity to go win the game, we were losing the game so fast that it just got out of control — quickly,” head coach P.J. Fleck told reporters.

“The magnitude of the score is five turnovers, seven times five equals 35 — it was 39 to nothing,” Fleck told reporters. “When you turn the ball over, and you turn it over inside your own zone as many times as we did ... they’re going to score every time.”

"It was a little tough, you know, wet balls, cold weather, wind — that’s a tough combination to work with,” Croft told reporters. “But we have to make things shake.”