Sept. 10, 2022: After a dominant first half from Tanner Morgan, the Gophers dominated all facets of the game for 60 minutes, toppling FCS foe Western Illinois 62-10.
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Full-Game Recap:
First-Quarter: Mike Brown-Stephens fumbled on the second offensive play of the game, but the defense responded forcing a 4 & out drive for Western Illinois. The following drive was a dominant one for the offense. After 12 plays for 60 yards, Mohamed Ibrahim punched in his third TD of the season, giving Minnesota a 7-0 lead. Following another Leathernecks punt, the offense put together another dominant drive, capped off by a Trey Potts touchdown. Western Illinois responded with a scoring drive capped off by a 47-yard field goal, the Gophers’ first points allowed of the season.
Second-Quarter: Minnesota opened quarter number two with a 12-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a Tanner Morgan TD (his third of the season), giving the Maroon & Gold a 21-3 lead. Western Illinois continued to struggle to get anything going offensively while the Gophers continued rolling. A Matthew Trickett FG and another Trey Potts TD resulted in a 31-3 lead heading into the locker room.
Third-Quarter: Mohamed Ibrahim led the Gophers on a dominant drive out of the break. Four carries and 59 yards later, he fell into his second TD of the day, extending the lead to 38-3. Western Illinois’ first offensive play of half No. 2 ended in a ridiculous Jordan Howden INT. The offense continued to roll, as Morgan found Brevyn Spann-Ford for a beautiful 45-yard TD widening the lead to 45-3. Halfway through the quarter, they finally turned to Athan Kaliakmanis behind center. The redshirt freshman drove right down the field for his first career rushing TD, extending the lead to 52-3.
Fourth-Quarter: Cole Kramer opened the fourth quarter at QB for the Gophers and led the Maroon & Gold to another Matthew Trickett field goal extending the lead to 55-3 (their most points since a 2016 game against Indiana State). Former walk-on RB Preston Jelen added his first career-TD late. After allowing their first TD of the season late to Western Illinois, Minnesota finished with a complete 62-10 victory.
Instant Reaction & Takeaways:
If there were any gripes for Gophers fans after week one, it would be to open up the passing game a little more. Minnesota did that in week two. Tanner Morgan turned his best half of football in quite some time, finishing 11/15 for 223 yards and a rushing touchdown. Big first halves from Mike Brown-Stephens and Chris Autman-Bell turned in the Gophers’ best half passing the ball since Ciarrocca left in 2019. The second half was much of the same and Morgan looked like he returned to his 2019 self, totaling his most passing yards since the Axe Game that season.
The running back duo of Potts and Ibrahim looked like one of college football’s best once again. A clinical second-half opening drive from Ibrahim brought him over 100 yards for the 11th consecutive game. The duo combined for 200+ yards once again. I believe there is a real chance we see two Golden Gophers rush for 1,000+ yards for the first time since Maroney and Barber III.
Minnesota’s defense flexed its muscles again and if it wasn’t for a weird drive in the second quarter, I think we would’ve seen another shutout. Overall, the Gophers did what they needed to do and dominated a far inferior opponent, something that had not happened in previous years under P.J. Fleck. There is not much more that I am taking away from this game that I did not know in the preseason. Kirk Ciarrocca has revived Tanner Morgan into a solid college quarterback, something he has always been.
What is Next?
Minnesota will host its third straight home game to open the season, as former offensive coordinator Mike Sanford Jr. and Colorado will travel to Hungtington Bank Stadium for a 230pm kickoff in week three. Colorado was 17.5-point underdogs in week two against Air Force, so it won’t be a massive step up in competition, but still a step up from New Mexico State and Western Illinois.
There is not a whole lot that should be taken away from two dominant wins over New Mexico State and Western Illinois, but if any Gophers fans mapped out an ideal start to the season, it would’ve probably looked a lot like it has. The Gophers are scheduled for 12 games and now sitting at 2-0, there is not really much more you could’ve asked for through two weeks.