Gopher Football
There are so many good things to say about Minnesota’s running backs you almost don’t know here to start. Both Barber & Maroney are star college running backs, who if they got more carries, would certainly be worthy of Heisman talk. In the limited action we saw from Amir Pinnix and Gary Russell, one might draw the conclusion that Minnesota had the best #3 & #4 running backs in the nation as well. Despite the passing game never really coming around, the Gopher rushing game never slipped for more than a game at a time, actually waiting until the last two games of the season to peak.
Games To Forget
| 2004 Rushing Yards | ||||||
| Toledo | ||||||
| Illinois St. | ||||||
| Colorado St. | ||||||
| Northwestern | ||||||
| Penn St. | ||||||
| Michigan | ||||||
| Michigan St. | ||||||
| Illinois | ||||||
| Indiana | ||||||
| Wisconsin | ||||||
| Iowa | ||||||
| Alabama | ||||||
| TOTAL | ||||||
Michigan State & Wisconsin. There were really only two games this season where one of the great Gopher running back duo did not dominate: Michigan State being the first, and Wisconsin being the other. I honestly don’t think that the running backs had anything to do with their bad performances, but if you are looking for sub par performances this year, these two games would be it. Both of these games were “team-disasters”. The defense was porous from the get go, and the offense sputtered and turned the ball over. In both games, the team got behind so far the running game was abandoned, and neither Marion Barber nor Laurence Maroney really go the chance to show what they could do. Against the Badgers, Maroney had 8 carries for 57 yards (31 of them on a meaningless 4th quarter TD), and Barber had only 7 carries for 34 yards. Versus the Spartans, Maroney had 13 carries for 54 yards, and Barber had only 8 carries for 36 yards. Both of these games saw the carries total way lower than was normal.
Games To Remember
Iowa & Alabama. 2004 ended with a BANG for both Barber & Maroney. After struggling in the second-to-last Big Ten game against Wisconsin, things didn’t figure to go so well the next week against Iowa; a team with a defense just as tough as the Badgers. Instead, the Gophers running game got back on track and steamrolled the Iowa defense on the ground to the tune of 337 yards. Both Barber & Maroney went over 150 yards, and Maroney chipped in 3 TD runs. The Music City Bowl against Alabama was another interesting matchup. The Crimson Tide came in with the #2 ranked defense in the nation, and had not allowed an individual rusher to go for more than 100 yards on them the entire season. Again, this was a matchup that had some Gopher fans concerned. But just like they did against Iowa, the Gophers came out and stunned the Alabama “D”. Marion Barber ran for 187 yards and a TD, and Laurence Maroney added 109 yards. Most of these yards were in the first half, before Bryan Cupito suffered a knee injury and the Gophers were forced to run almost every play. What’s even more impressive though, is after Alabama caught onto what was going on, they still couldn’t stop the Gopher rushing attack. Minnesota was very effective in eating up the 2nd half clock with a lot of 3-5 yard runs. You know things are working when the other team knows exactly what you’re going to do, and they still can’t stop you (especially against a great defense like Alabama).
Relative Strength
| 2005 Recruits | |||||
| Jay Thomas | 6’0″ 185 lbs | Oakdale, MN | |||
Unselfishness. You can’t say enough about Marion Barber and Laurence Maroney. Each of them has gone over 1000 yards and 10 TD’s for two straight years, and each of them is capable of dominating a game. Both of them are complete backs, but each has their own unique style that makes them special. For Barber, it’s toughness. Though Marion is not as fast as Maroney, it’s made up for in his ability to break tackles and drag defenders the extra yards. For Maroney, it’s the burst through the hole and the ability to take any run the distance. Each of them does a great job of finding the holes, and having the patience to let the play develop. Both Barber & Maroney are solid guys; Barber at 5’11” 215 lbs and Maroney at 5’11” 205 lbs. Several years from now, Gophers fans will look back on these past two years and realize how lucky we were to have two great backs who were unselfish enough to share the load. The Minnesota running game is too big for one back, and fortunately both Marion Barber and Laurence Maroney realized this and each humbly did their part.
Relative Weakness
Pass catching. I almost hate to go here, but the only part of the running backs game that was lacking this year was pass catching. As most of us know, it’s not necessarily that our backs can’t catch a football, it’s more that the offense never calls plays to throw it to them. Combined, Barber & Maroney had 448 rushing attempts. But also combined, these two only had 6 pass receptions (3 a piece). This year’s passing game saw some struggles, especially in throwing to the wide receivers. That left many Gopher fans perplexed as to why the coaches don’t try to involve the running backs more in this part of the game. I honestly don’t know why, I can only say that Minnesota does not have a stupid offensive coaching staff, and if throwing to the running backs would make the offense better, then we certainly would be seeing it. If there was a bright spot to this, it was that fullback Justin Valentine had a couple of big receptions this year. Maybe this is something that can be built upon next season.
Looking Ahead
| Depth Chart Projection for 2005 | ||||||
| 1st String: | Laurence Maroney (JR) | Justin Valentine (SO) | ||||
| 2nd String: | Amir Pinnix (SO) | Jason Lamers (JR) | ||||
| 3rd String: | Gary Russell (SO) | Junior Eugene (SR) | ||||
As was the case this past sesaon, Minnesota will be without one of its great running threats next year. After the 2003 season, Gopher fans wondered how the Minnesota running game would survive with Thomas Tapeh. Needless to say, we survived. So with the early exit of Marion Barber to the NFL, how will with Gopher running game fare in 2005? What we do know is that Laurence Maroney will be ‘the guy’ next year. This season Maroney averaged about 18 carries per game, but look for that total next year to be up around 25-30. With another great offensive line likely to line up for Minnesota, I don’t see any reason why Maroney can’t continue his great yards/carry average (Barring a complete collapse of the passing game). Backing up Maroney are two more exciting prospects, Amir Pinnix and Gary Russell. Both Pinnix and Russell looked very good in the limited action they saw this season. Look for Pinnix and Russell to pick up the slack with them splitting the remaining 15-20 carries per game. When all is said and done, it should be another great year for Minnesota running backs.
Summary
I don’t think I can say anything that hasn’t already been said. As I mentioned above, both Maroney & Barber have gone for 1000 yards & 10 TD’s for two straight seasons. If that isn’t impressive enough for you, they did it this season with Minnesota having an often inept passing attack. More so this year than last, opposing defenses played in tight to the line of scrimmage and dared Minnesota to run. In games like Michigan State it worked, but in other games like Colorado State it did not. More often than not the running game was able to catch fire at some point. In 9 of the 12 games this year, either Maroney or Barber had 100 yards rushing. In 4 of the 12 (Illinois State, Colorado State, Iowa & Alabama), BOTH Maroney & Barber went for over 100 yards. In the Toledo game, Minnesota had 4 different backs rush for at least 70 yards. Overall, you couldn’t ask for much more.
Season Grade: A
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