Following an emotional 20-17 victory on the road against Northwestern, acting head coach Tracy Claeys took questions at Tuesday’s local press conference and Big Ten Conference call. The Gophers were happy with their first league win but know that there is still plenty of work to do to prepare for Nebraska this weekend.
Looking Back
With Jerry Kill making the drive to Evanston to watch the game, Claeys was proud of the Gophers for winning a passionate contest over the Wildcats.
“The kids played hard and competed hard and made some plays that we needed to make,” said Claeys. “We handled some adversity in the game awfully well. We’re very proud of that. Hopefully that will carry over when we play a very good Nebraska team.”
One of the keys to Minnesota’s success was the play of Ra’Shede Hageman. The standout senior snagged an interception while breaking up a number of other pass attempts.
“He played well,” said Claeys of Hageman. “He got a push up the middle. The guys in the secondary played awfully well. Ra’Shede, he’s been playing better but that game, just so happens the quarterback threw him the ball and anytime you make an interception and you’re a big guy like that, you’re going to get noticed. I just thought he did a great job. We blitzed a little bit more and stunted a little bit more in that game than we had been which got Ra’Shede a lot more one-on-ones…We need to do more things like that to help Ra’Shede out so they can’t just double-team him.”
Hageman and the defensive line were large reasons for the Gophers’ ability to shut down the athletic Northwestern offense.
“I think they just made more plays on the ball than what we’d had,” said Claeys. “We’ve struggled on third down the two weeks prior to that and our secondary really played well. Up front, we were able to get pressure and get the ball out quicker than we had the last couple of games. You can’t cover them all day long. I thought our guys up front did a good job of getting the ball out quick and our secondary guys made more plays on the ball.”
Minnesota’s secondary held the Wildcats to 234 yards passing and just 6-of-16 on third down attempts.
“I think mainly it was the secondary,” said Claeys. “We spent lots of time on the passing game those three off days because our zone drops have gotten sloppy and man-wise we weren’t making very many plays on the ball. We emphasized the third-down part for those three days in a row. We went back and looked at all our third downs from all year long. By the way the kids played, that carried over and was a big emphasis for us to win the game.”
Kill Update
Jerry Kill was able to make the trip to watch the Gophers’ victory and has also spent time at the football offices in Minneapolis.
“He’s been at the office for a couple days here for a few hours,” said Claeys of Kill. “He’s building back up to what he needs to do get back, so he’s been around.”
Claeys noted that he wouldn’t be shocked to see Kill taking in Minnesota’s practices this week.
“I think there’s a chance of that,” said Claeys. “If he feels up to it…I didn’t ask him. He’ll be in and out as he feels. He’s got a process of what he’s got to go through the better he feels, he likes to come around and be around the kids.”
Like in Evanston, Claeys could see Kill watching the game from the press box to keep an eye on his team, but didn’t think he will do much coaching.
“I would be surprised if he would be heavily involved in [the game],” said Claeys. “If he drove seven hours to go to Chicago, I’m sure he’ll be in the press box for this game. If he’s got some advice that will help us win the football game, I’ll gladly listen to it.”
Quarterback Situation
While playing both Mitch Leidner and Philip Nelson, the Gopher coaching staff can’t escape questions about the battle for the position. As of Tuesday, no decision about the starter had been made due to an illness plaguing Leidner.
“Mitch is feeling a little under the weather so we’re going to put him on some meds and visit with the offensive guys,” said Claeys. “So we’ll see how much he can practice. He’s going to take some medication and if he starts to feel bad, that can go either way. Sometimes you get better as the week goes on, sometimes you get worse. We’re going to wait a bit, later in the week and see how much practice Mitch can go through. We do have one thing in place here; in order to play in the game you’ve got to practice.”
If Nelson is the starter, Claeys and the Gophers feel comfortable after the way he performed against Northwestern.
“Late in the fourth quarter, when you have a lead, that’s no time to put a rookie in there and have a rookie mistake,” said Claeys of Nelson. “Philip’s been in that situation and he really handled it great at the end to run the clock out.”
If Leidner can get healthy, Minnesota will plan to play both quarterbacks against Nebraska.
“It doesn’t affect the offense; we’re running the same plays regardless of who’s in there,” said Claeys. “Whoever starts, my intentions are we’re going to get [the backup] a series in the first half if we can, then play them both in the second half. I don’t believe in alternating every so-many series. We’ll need both of them with the quarterback running game that we do. We’ll need both of them to be prepared.”
Wells Banged Up
Derrick Wells has been battling injury and will be questionable for Saturday’s game against Nebraska. With Wells out, Brock Vereen will continue to get time at cornerback this week in practice.
“We’ll leave Brock at corner for the first two days of practice on Tuesday and Wednesday then he’ll get a few reps at safety on Thursday,” said Claeys. “We need to leave him out there until we know that Derrick Wells is 100-percent. Right now, still, the right hit at the right time could put Derrick out. He’s banged up a little bit. We’ll try to control how much he gets hit in practice.”
Claeys as Head Coach
As acting head coach, Tracy Claeys is getting a taste of what it is like to lead a college football team. Although it would be tough for Claeys to leave Kill and the Gophers, it is something he would have to listen to if the right opportunity came about.
“I think anytime if somebody were to approach you, I think you’d look at it and see if it’s a better thing than what you’re doing or if that’s the right time in your career,” said Claeys. “I think I’m more than capable of doing it but it’d have to be the right situation at the right place. It’d be awfully hard to go into Coach Kill’s office and tell him I’m leaving and going somewhere after everything the guy’s done for me and how good he’s been for me for 19 years. If somebody came along and was interested, obviously I’d listen.”