Kill Has Seizure Before Half
Although the Gophers improved to 3-0 on the year with a 29-12 win over Western Illinois, the biggest story of the day was head coach Jerry Kill suffering another in-game seizure on the sideline before halftime. Kill, who has fearlessly battled epilepsy for years, was taken to a local hospital where he was resting comfortably, according to the team.
As Kill continues to work through epilepsy, his recovery time has continued to improve following these incidents. Defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys noted that although Kill won’t be in a great mood, he should be back relatively soon.
“You never truly know,” said Claeys. “That’s the frustrating thing about these whole things. I can tell you he’s done everything he’s been asked to do. He’s been in great shape physically. He’s going to be pissed, no question, because he’s done what he’s supposed to do. The positive is, every time it happens, you know more and the situation will get better. His recovery time now is so much better than it’s ever been. It’s like I told the kids ‘Hell, you need to have fun because he’d be mad if we didn’t.’”
Following his departure from the game, the players rallied around Kill, hoping to win it for their coach.
“We just had to keep him in the back of our minds,” said Ra’Shede Hageman. “Coach Kill’s tough and he definitely would have wanted us to play hard and not let up.”
Even the younger players, who don’t have as much experience with Kill’s condition, were prepared for this scenario.
“We have great coaches; we’re well prepared like no other,” said redshirt freshman Maxx Williams. “We know something like this could happen and we know Coach and what he goes through. I think our coaches knew that we weren’t going to miss a beat…I know Coach Kill wouldn’t want us to miss a beat. He’d want us to go out there and play tough like we did in the second half. Coach Kill is one of the toughest guys I know and I know he’s going to be alright…We just kind of rallied and got after it.”
Nelson Injured
For much of the game, the Gophers were also without their starting quarterback, Philip Nelson, after the sophomore left the game in the second quarter with a hamstring injury.
“It’s a leg injury,” said Claeys. “No sense in taking the risk. I haven’t talked to [head football trainer] Ed Lochrie yet, but I do know it’s a hamstring.”
Leidner Steps Up
Mitch Leidner entered the game in the second half for the injured Nelson and performed well, racking up 64 yards rushing and completing seven of his eight pass attempts for 105 yards on the day.
“When you get in a tough situation like that, with the game still in the balance, and you have to put in your second quarterback—I mean…wow,” said Claeys. “What a performance he made…Things were struggling and he took over the game and made the plays he had to make, without getting as many reps in practice.”
A true team player, Leidner made the most of his chance against Western Illinois.
“The kid loves football,” said Claeys of Leidner. “I can remember when Coach [Kill] visited him at home. ‘I’ll play any position I can play, Coach, to play at the University of Minnesota.’ It ain’t about recruiting and stars. When you start to get kids who want to be here and love being here, that’s when you start to win.”
Leidner hasn’t played much this season, but was grateful for the opportunity to show what he was capable of.
“It was a good feeling to get out on the field today,” said Leidner. “I had a good time out there and it was even better when the offense started to pick up.”
Running Game Provides Spark
The combination of Rodrick Williams Jr. and David Cobb totaled 138 yards and four scores on the ground. In the absence of Donnell Kirkwood, the duo performed well against the Leathernecks.
“I think those two kids are starting to run hard and we need that,” said Claeys. “When you get depth and you get competition it makes everyone play harder. Rodrick and David Cobb, right now, they’re running the ball hard. They’re moving our offense.”
Although Minnesota’s rushing game struggled early, Cobb provided a spark in the second half for the Maroon and Gold.; rushing for 83 yards and two scores in the final two frames.
“Coaches (Anderson and Limegover) came in at halftime and talked to us and told us to stay the course,” said Cobb. “The offensive line got in a good groove. Mitch made a couple of good reads so they had to stay home so it was opening up for the running backs.”
In the second half, the Minnesota offensive line paved the way from some long runs by Minnesota’s backs.
“I think the difference was the offensive line and us just kind of clicked and rallied and said, ‘We can block these guys. We can get vertical on them and really pound the ball down their throat,’” said Maxx Williams. “I think that’s what we decided to do and it just clicked for us.”
Stifling Defense
The Gophers’ defense allowed just 68 rushing yards to a talented Western Illinois ground game, holding the Leathernecks to just two scores on the day.
“The offense started a little slow today, but that doesn’t give us any excuses,” said Hageman. “We knew we had to come out and play out hard. We had to stop them and give the offense opportunities to score.”
Hageman Stands Out
Star senior Ra’Shede Hageman had a great outing against Western Illinois, totaling a team-high six tackles to go with a sack, a pass break-up, and a blocked extra point attempt. Arguably the highlight of the game came when Hageman had his helmet ripped off by the blocker but was still able to track down the quarterback for the sack; forcing the Leathernecks to punt.
“You’ve got to be mentally tough,” said Hageman of the play. “The goal is getting to the quarterback. I don’t care if there’s one, two, three people in front of me. I’m going to do the best job I can and accomplish that.”
Myrick Burns Redshirt
Similar to Eric Murray last season, cornerback Jalen Myrick was called on to play in his true freshman season. The Georgia native saw playing time on Saturday, eliminating his chance to redshirt this year.
“We’re going to try and do the same with Jalen, that we did with Eric Murray—factor him in—because Jalen has the skills to play in the secondary,” said Claeys. “We’re trying to work him into our nickel package a little bit through the week. We’ve just found that secondary kids that get that little bit of experience playing in the games and playing special teams, play a lot better as sophomores.”
What’s Next?
Next Saturday, the Gophers face San Jose State at TCF Bank Stadium. Kickoff is set for 11:00 CT as Minnesota looks to start the season 4-0.