{"id":24631,"date":"2019-10-07T08:00:39","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T12:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordoncollegefootball.com\/?p=24631"},"modified":"2019-10-06T11:55:47","modified_gmt":"2019-10-06T15:55:47","slug":"lots-of-highlights-for-the-golden-gophers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2019\/10\/07\/lots-of-highlights-for-the-golden-gophers\/","title":{"rendered":"Lots of Highlights for the Golden Gophers"},"content":{"rendered":"

There were lots of highlights for the Golden Gophers on Saturday, chief among them the 40-17 score. There were two lowlights as well, namely a Grant Ryerse<\/a><\/strong> kickoff that went out of bounds and pick-six thrown by Tanner Morgan<\/a><\/strong>. Fortunately, both happened early in the game and the team recovered nicely. Late in the second quarter, there was a bad snap resulting in a non-existent PAT. After that, it was smooth sailing in all phases of the game.<\/p>\n

Highlights for the Golden Gophers<\/h2>\n

Offensive Highlights<\/h3>\n

It doesn’t seem to be on youtube yet, but Rodney Smith<\/a><\/strong> took off on a 64-yard run in the second quarter to set up Minnesota’s first touchdown. Rashod Bateman<\/a><\/strong>‘s downfield blocking was a huge part of the play. In my notes, it says that Smith had 125 yards on ten carries at the 8:28 mark of the second quarter. He finished the game with 24 carries for 211 yards.<\/p>\n

While we’re on the topic of the run game, it was great to see Shannon Brooks<\/a><\/strong> score his first touchdown since returning to action last week. Brooks suffered the second ACL tear of his career against Illinois a year ago. (Twincities.com does a nice job summarizing his injury history in this article<\/a>).<\/p>\n

As for the receiving game, I don’t even know what to say about Tyler Johnson<\/a><\/strong> anymore. While Illinois did a good job shutting down the passing game, the reliable senior caught his fifth touchdown in as many games. Also of note, redshirt freshman Brevyn Spann-Ford<\/a><\/strong> had his first career catch- and it happened to be for a touchdown. The 6’7″ tight end is a big target and could prove to be a useful weapon, especially in the red zone, down the stretch.<\/p>\n

Defensive Highlights<\/h3>\n

This was arguably the best game of the season for the Minnesota defense, which allowed just three points. (Both of the Illini touchdowns were scored by their defense).<\/p>\n

The most noteworthy highlight was certainly Antoine Winfield Jr.<\/a><\/strong>‘s first-quarter interception. Winfield returned it thirteen yards to set up the Gophers’ first points of the day, a Michael Lantz<\/a><\/strong> field goal. Later in the game, freshman linebacker Braelen Oliver<\/a><\/strong> got his first career sack. Notre Dame grad transfer Micah Dew-Treadway<\/a><\/strong> combined with Winston DeLattiboudere<\/a><\/strong> for his first half-sack as a Gopher. Benjamin St-Juste<\/a><\/strong> and Coney Durr<\/a><\/strong> each had multiple pass breakups for the second week in a row. Overall, it was a stellar effort by the defense.<\/p>\n

Special Teams Highlights<\/h3>\n

Other than the aforementioned errors, it was another good effort on special teams. For the second consecutive game, the team downed a Jacob Herbers<\/a><\/strong> punt inside the five; I couldn’t see the number clearly, but I think it was Phillip Howard<\/a><\/strong> who downed it again this week. Smith had a 22-yard kick return, but I have to say, I hate seeing him in the return game. He’s too valuable as a running back to take the injury risk, especially with Mohamed Ibrahim<\/a><\/strong> out.<\/p>\n

Freshman kicker Michael Lantz<\/a><\/strong> was 2\/2 on field goals and 4\/4 on extra points. (The extra point that didn’t happen doesn’t count against him because he never actually tried to kick the ball.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Overall, it was a fantastic team effort with plenty of highlights for the Golden Gophers. The team’s biggest test of the season to date is coming up next Saturday with a visit from Nebraska.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>