The Tracy Claeys era is off to a somewhat inauspicious start in Minneapolis. Yes, Claeys’ Minnesota Golden Gophers took down Oregon State to start the season 1-0, but the biggest story from the game wasn’t the win. It was the lack of discipline shown by Minnesota. While some of the Golden Gophers’ penalties can be chalked up to early-season sloppiness (the four false starts, for example), the three ejections for targeting cannot. The focus on avoiding hits to the head is several years old now, and while the ejection for hitting a sliding quarterback is new, it’s not as if that was an acceptable play in recent memory. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen two ejections in one game, let alone three. This was news in college football, and I guarantee you referees around the country heard about it. They will be watching the Gophers carefully this season.
Twin Cities or Sin Cities? Minnesota Golden Gophers Penalties are the Story
Speaking of sloppiness, keep an eye on snaps next week.
Tyler Moore, who started much of last season at center as a true freshman, and quarterback Mitch Leidner had issues on a few exchanges, including one that Leidner had to knock out of the end zone for an Oregon State safety. These lapses cannot continue into a second game.
Credit the Gopher linebackers for playing at an above-average level without three mainstays.
Six minutes into the game, starter Cody Poock was the first player to be ejected. His replacement, Nick Rallis, was injured shortly thereafter and didn’t return to action. Early in the third quarter, starter Jonathan Celestin was also ejected. I suppose if one unit HAD to lose three players, it’s lucky it was this one as linebacker is probably the Gophers’ deepest position. Sophomore Julian Huff in particular was absolutely flying in his increased playing time. The Beavers racked up a lot of offense, but their ground game went nowhere.
Remember the name Tai’yon Devers.
As one of the announcers pointed out, the freshman from Pompano Beach, FL had more strip sacks on Thursday (two) than days of college classes attended. My 2016 Athlon College Football Preview doesn’t even have Devers on the two-deep. Not only does he have good size for a freshman at 6’4″ and 215 pounds, he’s fast for a defensive end- hence the two strip sacks, both recovered by Minnesota and turned into touchdowns. The only thing I didn’t like from Devers in this game? In the fourth quarter, he became player number three to be ejected.
Is Ryan Santoso a better punter than kicker?
It sure looks that way, and he’s not a bad kicker. Of his six punts, the Beavers returned three of them a total of four yards. I can’t find a website with punting stats, but I know he had at least one downed inside the 10-yard line and most of them (all of them?) were inside the 20.
No pressure, kid. Sophomore Emmit Carpenter‘s first collegiate kick? A 45-yarder as the first half ended. Off the upright and through.
Good call to go for two?
When Minnesota scored in the last two minutes, increasing their 24-23 lead to 30-23, Coach Claeys called for a two-point conversion. Why? I’m not sure, given that an extra point would have put the Gophers up by eight, meaning Oregon State needed a touchdown and a two-point conversion just to force overtime. It’s not the call I would have made, but I didn’t think the Beavers would get in the end zone again anyway.
Still, Rallis out next week.
Coach Claeys has already announced that receiver Rashad Still and linebacker Nick Rallis, both injured against Oregon State, will miss the Indiana State game Saturday. No word on whether they would have played against, say, a conference opponent. My guess is that running back Shannon Brooks, nursing a foot injury from training camp, will sit this one out as well. Brooks did not play against Oregon State.
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