It doesn’t take much for this Gophers squad to work hard under Jerry Kill, but a tough to Illinois and a rivalry game against Iowa has the Maroon and Gold eager to get back to their winning ways. On Tuesday, the Gopher coaches spoke to the media about the much-needed time off, the progression of some youngsters, and injury concerns heading into the battle for Floyd.
Getting Back on Track
The bye week came at the perfect time for the Gophers. Coming off a disappointing and surprising loss to Illinois, Minnesota used the additional time to relax, regroup, and refocus before the rivalry (hate) week preparing for Iowa.
“I think having the week—the off week definitely came at the right time mentally, because there was the grieving process,” said offensive coordination Matt Limegrover. “Nobody felt good about it. Coach gave them a day or two away. We watched the film. We made the corrections, and then we tell them all the time, put it in the rearview mirror. And we stressed that to those guys last week, and come Sunday there wasn’t a word about it.”
The down time allowed the Gophers a few extra days to prepare for one of their most hated rivals.
“We were moving forward and we got a huge game, big game, big conference game, border opponent,” said Limegrover. “Everybody knows that. We’re well aware of what’s ahead for us this next week. So it was good to kind of have that week to get through that and then move forward.”
Mayes Progressing; Will Play More
After burning his redshirt against Northwestern, the Gopher coaches have tried to get freshman Connor Mayes more involved in the offensive line rotation. Mayes played sparingly during the last two games but an extra week of preparation should help him see increased snaps against the Hawkeyes.
“You know what, the off week really helped him as well, to get the couple extra days in,” said Limegrover. “That’s the one good thing about a team like Iowa is we’ll be able to get Connor in there a little bit more, because like I said, for the most part we know what they’re going to do.”
The transition to college football is demanding for freshmen, especially offensive linemen. The learning curve is steep; the game is more physical and the action is high-speed. It’s difficult to improve with limited game reps so the extra week of practice has helped Mayes adjust to the pace and rigors of Big Ten football.
“A lot of times for a freshman in general, but especially a freshman offensive lineman, you kind of feel like that guy standing there when that stuff’s going at warp speed around you,” said Limegrover. “I think the last couple of weeks that stuff’s really slowed down for Connor and it’s given him an opportunity to really work on that technique, especially the last seven days or so.”
Searching For Wide Receivers
On Tuesday, Kill announced that Drew Wolitarsky hasn’t been practicing and is very questionable for Iowa. If Wolitarksy can’t play on Saturday, the Gophers are down to just five receivers.
We’ve got some guys there and they’ll step up and do a good job,” said Kill. “We got a core group of guys—five guys that we’ll be fine, but we’re losing a guy that’s been getting better and better. If we lose one more in there, then you’re really stretching things a little bit.”
Would Kill consider lifting a redshirt off a freshmen if another receiver goes down?
“I’m trying not to think about it right now,” Kill said. “It’s Tuesday. We’ve been repping a couple of guys, but you know, it’s hard to do this late. But you say, we’ve got five games left, too, counting this one, so we’ll have to see. A lot of it has to do with how Drew is going to come along. I don’t know where he’s going to be.”