The Golden Gophers may be off to an 0-1 start, but playing a tough, ranked team to open the season does have its advantages. It’s much easier to have a realistic idea of the team’s potential and to see, accurately, where they need improvement than it would be had they beaten up on an FCS team this week. There were aspects of the game that head coach Jerry Kill had to be very pleased with, but there were also things that presumably had him shaking his head.
Minnesota Falls To TCU; Colorado State Up Next
The Positive
-The defense, overall, was very good. Remember, TCU wasn’t held under 30 points a single time last year. Dual-threat quarterback Trevone Boykin and top running back Aaron Green were each held under 100 yards rushing.
-True freshman Julian Huff looks to be a stud-in-the-making at linebacker. I got out my college football preview magazines from the summer, and neither Athlon nor the Sporting News had him listed on the two-deep. All the 5’11”, 219-pound Huff did Thursday night was make plays, with 6’8″, 308-pound senior Hala Vaitai across from him for TCU.
-Down 10-0 and deep in their own territory, cornerback Eric Murray forced a fumble, which safety Antonio Johnson recovered. Murray added an interception later.
-Drew Wolitarsky caught a 30-yard pass to convert on 3rd-and-5; later in the same drive K.J. Maye picked up seven yards passing on 4th-and-2. That drive was capped by freshman Rodney Smith’s first collegiate touchdown.
The Negative
-The offense was somewhat anemic. The second half was better than the first, but the Gophers didn’t hit 200 yards passing or rushing. Quarterback Mitch Leidner was 19/35 for 197 yards and one score- not terrible numbers, but the completion percentage could definitely be better. Leidner had several balls that were a little too high or a little too far in front of his receivers- some of them probably should have been caught anyway, but overall the passing game was average at best.
-Seven penalties, including a couple of the dumb variety, for 60 yards.
The Bottom Line
Not the result the Gophers wanted, but a respectable one and a decent effort all around. The Horned Frogs did not look like the second-best team in the country.
On to next week…
Colorado State finished 10-3 a year ago, with two of those losses coming to Boise State and Utah, and are in their first year under new head coach Mike Bobo, formerly the offensive coordinator at Georgia. They have eight starters returning on defense, including six seniors, and should provide a good challenge for the Gopher offense. Minnesota needs to use their remaining non-conference slate to focus on timing and rhythm in the passing game and to work on opening up holes for the runners. The defense, quite frankly, should just keep doing their thing. The Rams are breaking in a new quarterback and lost quite a few starters on offense. The guy to watch for will be receiver Rashard Higgins, who was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award in 2014.
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