Editor’s note: This is part of a continuing series previewing the Power 5 and top Group of 5 teams for the 2021 college football season.
With his campus located only a handful of miles from where George Floyd was murdered and COVID-19 battering his squad throughout the fall of 2020, Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck had to deal with more than just player departures from an 11-win team in 2019.
Every day brought new questions, difficult answers and uncertainty in all aspects of football and life, from wondering if the Gophers even would play to whether it mattered anyway. Amid those challenges, that Minnesota managed a 3-4 record with two overtime losses taught Fleck that his team’s character and resiliency was beyond reproach.
“Major adversity does two things in your life: It either pulls you apart, or brings you together,” said Fleck, who begins his fifth season with the Gophers. “That’s what it does, especially in a team format. I think this team had to deal with so much being that BLM and social justice and George Floyd was right here in the Twin Cities on top of the pandemic.
“Someone asked me the question the other day: ‘Who was your biggest mentor through 2020?’ And I said, ‘My team.’ I’ve never learned more from a football team than I learned from my team last year. And I hope they felt the same way in return. I think we’re closer than we’ve ever been as a team. It was a year that I don’t think anybody will ever forget, and that change has to happen. Period. And it has in our world.”
There were rough spots on the field, no question. Minnesota gave up 49 points in the season opener to Michigan and needed a touchdown with 14 seconds left to avoid a shutout against Iowa. Maryland rallied from a 17-point fourth quarter deficit to beat the Gophers in overtime. But when faced with the most impossible odds of all, Fleck’s troops pulled off one of his greatest coaching victories.
After a two-week layoff because of COVID, Minnesota was down 35 players (including several starters) when it traveled to Nebraska. Still, the Gophers dictated the game’s tempo, held the Cornhuskers to just one second-half field goal and ran out the final 4:42 with eight consecutive running plays to win 24-17.
“We were really close to canceling that game,” Fleck said. “The Big Ten gave us the green light to play. Internally it looked like you couldn’t because you had 35 players out, but if you could find a way to get on that field, our kids wanted to play. We weren’t worried about just the win or the loss; we were worried about playing.
“People ask me all the time, like that Nebraska game, how important was that? That’s a top-three win I’ve ever seen in my career and for all the reasons that have nothing to do with just football. It has to do with the type of team we have, and the type of team we have moving forward and what they were able to accomplish when everybody basically said there’s no way they get this done.”
The grit Minnesota displayed in the Nebraska victory and the following week in an overtime loss at Wisconsin has Fleck, his staff and the players believing in a carryover effect. A woefully inexperienced defense flopped in the first month but improved late in the season. It now has enough depth and new additions to mask some of its 2020 deficiencies. Tanner Morgan returns for his fourth season at starting quarterback and seeks a return to his 2019 form. Running back Mohamed Ibrahim, who was named the Big Ten’s top running back in 2020, ranked second nationally in rush yards per game and also comes back. Minnesota boasts perhaps the nation’s deepest and most experienced offensive line.
All of those factors lead Fleck to believe 2020 was an adversity-filled speedbump — not a crater — and his 2021 team is poised for a continuation from an 11-2 campaign in 2019.
“I love that we have high expectations,” Fleck said. “I get paid to win, and I get all that. But there were a lot of other things way more important than just winning a football game in 2020. Our team realized that, I realized that, we realized that together and we did everything we could to be the best we could be. We hit every obstacle head on, and we weren’t afraid to do that.”
Roster analysis
Quarterbacks: Tanner Morgan had a season for the ages in 2019 with 30 touchdown passes, only seven interceptions and 3,253 yards while completing 66 percent of his passes. Last year, those numbers fell off dramatically with seven touchdowns, five interceptions and a 57.9 completion percentage.
There were plenty of contributing factors for the senior Morgan (6-foot-2, 215 pounds) slumping from potential Heisman candidate to the Big Ten mid-pack. The Gophers had a new offensive coordinator in Mike Sanford and lost key wide receiver Tyler Johnson to the NFL draft. The Big Ten’s late start, coupled with the lack of preparation, disrupted the rhythm of nearly all of the league’s passing attacks, not just Minnesota.
“If you look at the offenses in general in the Big Ten, there wasn’t a lot of continuity with personnel,” Sanford said. “There were some challenges just to find that synergy, the route timing, throwing to consistent receivers. I think Tanner did some really good things. He grew a lot. I think he’s going to be even better this year because of it.”
Tanner Morgan threw a touchdown pass in six of his seven starts last season. (Jesse Johnson / USA TODAY Sports)
“We have high expectations of our quarterback,” Fleck said. “We have high expectations of Tanner. Tanner is an incredible competitor — just like all of our quarterbacks — and we’ll continue to keep that standard incredibly high. I know he does for himself, and he’s gotten a lot better in the offseason.”
Zack Annexstad, a redshirt junior, is an experienced backup. He started seven games in 2018 before an injury forced him to the sidelines. He and Morgan were set for a major battle in 2019 before a season-ending injury in training camp cost Annexstad (6-3, 220) and elevated Morgan.
Running backs: Few, if any, players were as productive as Mohammed Ibrahimwithout garnering the All-American validation. Ibrahim (5-10, 210) finished with 1,076 yards and 15 rushing touchdowns at 5.4 yards per carry in just seven games last year. Ibrahim’s 153.7 yards per game and 2.1 touchdowns per game were the tops among Power 5 running backs.
Ibrahim, a senior, had a chance to pad his statistics but declined when individual accolades collided with team goals. With his team facing third-and-6 at the Nebraska 18-yard line inside of two minutes, Ibrahim hit the turf after a 12-yard gain rather than score an easy touchdown. That decision allowed the Gophers to run out the clock for the win.
“He’s one of the best players in college football. Period,” Fleck said. “It doesn’t matter where he plays, what conference he is in. He is one of the best players in college football, one of the smartest players in college football and he’s one of the best teammates you could ever ask for. When you have that combination, you’ve got a really dangerous player.”
To maximize Ibrahim’s effectiveness, the Gophers have three other running backs who will spell him. They include sophomores Cam Wiley (6-2, 210) and Treyson Potts (5-11, 200) and junior Bryce Williams (6-0, 210).
“We’ve got four backs, and really even more behind them, which makes me really excited about what that group can be from a diversity standpoint, different types of attributes and skill sets,” Sanford said. “But, also, we got to spell Mo more.”
Wide receivers/tight ends: In consecutive years the Gophers have lost two of the Big Ten’s top receivers. This time, it was Rashod Bateman, who landed as a first-round pick with the Baltimore Ravens. That leaves the Gophers with one experienced threat in senior Chris Autman-Bell (6-1, 215) and plenty of talented, but unproven, complementary receivers. Autman-Bell caught 22 passes for 430 yards last fall.
“I have no doubt in my mind that Chris Autman-Bell has the mentality to be the guy,” Sanford said. “Really for him, it starts with a mindset of, ‘If the ball is in the air, I’m going to find a way, and I’m going to will myself to come down with that football.’ That’s who Chris is, and I think that Chris has always been that guy. But now his opportunities are going to continue to increase.
“We’re not going to be just like, 1-A and 1-B and it’s just like Chris and maybe one other guy. We’re going to be more varied, and I guess more level in terms of the distribution of targets.”
Multiple receivers will have a chance to play alongside or opposite Autman-Bell. They include senior Clay Geary (5-10, 200), sophomore Daniel Jackson(6-0, 200), sophomore Mike Brown-Stephens (5-11, 195), sophomore Texas A&M transfer Dylan Wright (6-3, 215), freshman Lemeke Brockington (6-0, 195), and freshman Brady Boyd (6-1, 185). Other than Autman-Bell, Jackson is the only returning receiver who caught more than five passes last year.
At tight end, Minnesota primarily will use a combination of senior Ko Kieft(6-5, 265) and junior Brevyn Spann-Ford (6-7, 270), both of whom are coming off injuries. The Gophers’ tight ends totaled seven catches for 82 yards last fall.
“We’ve got to get more production from the tight end position,” Sanford said.
Offensive line: The only teams that can match Minnesota’s experience up front play on Sundays. The Gophers have five returnees with at least 13 career starts and two others that combine for 15. Five players with significant experience enter either year five or six with the program.
Conner Olson (6-5, 310) and Sam Schlueter (6-6, 325) are sixth-year players with 45 and 34 career starts, respectively. Olson has opened between 14 and 16 games apiece at all three interior positions. Schlueter is the team’s left tackle.
With 33 career starts, Blaise Andries (6-6, 335) can play almost anywhere up front, while fellow fifth-year senior John Michael Schmitz (6-4, 320) is slated for center. The Gophers welcome back fourth-year juniors Daniel Faalele (6-9, 400), a two-year starter at right tackle who opted out last year, and guard Curtis Dunlap Jr. (6-5, 345), who was injured last year. They combined for 32 starts. Also, fifth-year senior Alex Ruschmeyer (6-4, 305), has opened six games during his career.
“We’ve got to utilize that depth in creative ways,” Sanford said. “You’ve got to utilize that depth in keeping eight, nine guys that are very, very good football players involved. The next step is for us to be a dominant offensive line in the run game and the pass game.”
Fleck said the unit could have four selections in the 2022 NFL Draft.
“We have one of the most experienced offensive lines, maybe one of the biggest offensive lines, in the country,” Fleck said. “We’re going to have multiple ways to get the best players on the field and best players on the field doesn’t always mean the quarterback to the wideout to the running back. It could mean up front.”
Gophers returning production
| CATEGORY | PERCENT RETURNING | TOP RETURNER |
|---|
| Pass yds | 99% | Morgan, 1.374 |
| Rush yds | 99% | Ibrahim, 1,076 |
| Rec | 63% | Autman-Bell, 22 |
| OL starts | 100% | Multiple, 7 |
| Tackles | 96% | Sori-Marin, 47 |
| TFLs | 100% | Mafe, 5.5 |
| Sacks | 100% | Mafe, 4.5 |
| Ints | 100% | Multiple, 1 |
Defensive line: The Gophers struggled against the run and pass last year, which has led the staff to hit the transfer portal at defensive tackle. Minnesota signed Clemson’s Nyles Pinckney (6-1, 290) and N.C. State’s Val Martin (6-1, 300) — both grad transfers — to help at least for rotational purposes. They’ll join former Notre Dame transfer Micah Dew-Treadway (6-4, 315), sophomore DeAngelo Carter (6-2, 310), sophomore Logan Richter (6-4, 340) and sophomore Rashad Cheney (6-2, 290) at defensive tackle.
Senior Boye Mafe (6-4, 265) at times looks like a dominant pass rusher at defensive end but needs to improve on overall consistency. Mafe led the Gophers with 4.5 sacks last year. Seniors Esezi Otomewo (6-6, 285) and former linebacker Thomas Rush (6-3, 245) will see plenty of action either opposite Mafe or rotating with him. Sophomore M.J. Anderson (6-3, 280) also should see double-digit snaps per game.
“Boye has a chance to be one of the better pass rushers in the league,” Minnesota defensive coordinator Joe Rossi said. “He put up really good numbers last year. We want to see him improve in the run game and kind of take his game to the next level. But we’re excited about him.”
The extra numbers should help with depth up front, which is critical when facing slam-ball Big Ten West teams like Wisconsin and Iowa.
“I think that eight-to-10 mark is really good,” Fleck said of his line rotation. “I feel like for the first time since we’ve been here that we have that number.”
Linebackers: Perhaps no unit struggled as much as this one last year, partly because of attrition and also because of injuries. Senior Mariano Sori-Marin(6-3, 245) led the Gophers in tackles and will be joined by 2019 starter Braelen Oliver (6-0, 235), a junior who missed last season. Working in with them likely will be graduate senior Jack Gibbens (6-3, 245) from Abilene Christian. In his career, Gibbens totaled 258 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks and five interceptions.
“As a unit we didn’t play well, and that’s the position I coach,” Rossi said. “We had one guy that had played defensive snaps going into last year, which was Mariano.
“Now you’ve got Mariano back. You added Jack and Braelen was a starter for us in ‘19. So you have him back. You have Jack now, who was a four-year starter at Abilene Christian with a 4.0 GPA undergrad. Super intelligent, big, physical, super excited about him. Now you have three guys that have been starters.”
Mariano Sori-Martin led Minnesota with 54 tackles in seven games last season. (Douglas DeFelice / USA TODAY Sports)
Sophomore Cody Lindenberg (6-3, 235), Donald Willis (6-2, 215) and D.J. Gordon IV (6-1, 230) saw plenty of action as freshmen and should push Gibbens and Oliver for playing time this year.
Defensive backs: Minnesota has plenty of room for improvement in defending the pass, and true freshman Justin Walley might provide immediate help. Walley (5-11, 185) enrolled early and showcased the kind of skills to elevate him to significant playing time at cornerback.
“I think he’s going to be one of the most talented corners in college football eventually,” Fleck said.
Joining Walley at corner includes sixth-year returnee Coney Durr (5-1, 200), redshirt freshman Miles Fleming (5-11, 180), senior Phillip Howard (5-11, 195) and senior Terell Smith (6-1, 215). Senior Jordan Howden (6-0, 210) likely will start at one safety spot, while a competition among junior Tyler Nubin (6-2, 205), senior Calvin Swenson (6-1, 215), and sophomore Michael Dixon (6-2, 210) should determine the other starter.
“The outside will probably say it’s a weakness,” Rossi said. “I got to see spring practice. I’m excited about the group. Again, is someone going to step in and be (third-round draft pick) Ben St. Juste next year? Probably not. But we have guys that can play.”
Special teams: The Gophers hit the transfer portal at both kicker and punter this offseason. At kicker, Minnesota signed Matthew Trickett, a two-time All-MAC performer at Kent State. Trickett (6-0, 195) connected on 47 of 57 field goals and all but one of his 95 extra-point attempts in three seasons. He scored 235 points. Four different players, including Mafe, attempted field goals or extra points last year.
Sophomore Daniel Sparks (6-6, 200), who averaged 44.6 yards per punt last year at Louisiana-Monroe, is the favorite at punter. Sparks will battle sophomore Australian native Mark Crawford (6-5, 220), who averaged 37.8 yards a punt last year for the Gophers.
Howard was the team’s primary punt returner last year, while a combination of Ibrahim, Wiley, Potts and Autman-Bell brought back kickoffs. All of them return.
What others are saying about Minnesota
One Big Ten defensive assistant broke down the Gophers’ offense and provided context to the team’s 2020 issues.
“I don’t know that Minnesota ever quite got it rolling because of the ups and downs that came with COVID,” the assistant said. “I think some of that was just what they were going through last year, not to mention COVID, but just the city in general and trying to get their feet on the ground and develop some consistency. They had really all the same parts that they had from the previous year.
“I do think Tanner Morgan’s a good quarterback. They will always have a run game that will support the quarterback. They’ve got a unique running game. They run an inside zone play that we’ve had to rename. It’s in a different category than just your typical inside zone the way that Iowa would run the inside zone. And that play action off of that run scheme, it can get guys to bite in there.
“The running back (Ibrahim) is damn good. Damn good. And the offensive line is always going to be really good with Brian Callahan, their offensive line coach. He is well respected. He doesn’t try to do a whole lot. They know what they want to master, and they’re going to try to master it.”
How the Gophers have recruited from 2018-2021
Fleck has elevated the Gophers’ recruiting from the mid-50s in most years under the Jerry Kill-Tracy Claeys regime to an annual top-40 class. In the 2021 cycle, the Gophers approached top-25 status until four-star Omaha (Neb.) cornerback Avante Dickerson chose not to sign in December and officially decommitted about a week before the February signing date. Dickerson picked Oregon.
Still, Fleck’s aggressiveness on the recruiting trail has upgraded Minnesota’s standing with recruits, and the program has become more competitive with regional foes. The Gophers also hit Georgia, Florida and Texas with regularity. Considering the COVID-19 restrictions on visits and in-person communication, Fleck was especially proud of how the staff held together the 2021 group.
“We were able to dive into this class we brought in last year,” Fleck said. “It was a really special group, a really special class. At one point, it would have been a top-25 class. I mean, one kid determined whether we were in it or out. But that was the top-25 recruiting class. That’s the highest-ranked class we’ve had at Minnesota, and it was during a pandemic.”
Transfers to know
The Gophers largely kept its team intact from 2020, losing only three transfers. The biggest departure was receiver/tight end/short-yardage quarterback Seth Green, who had played multiple roles for the Gophers. Green was lethal around the goal line with 15 rushing touchdowns and three scoring tosses over three seasons. He transferred to Houston to focus on tight end exclusively.
Minnesota loaded up with three transfers hoping to shore up a run defense that gave up 207.1 yards on the ground (102nd nationally) and 6.3 yards per carry (124th). Pinckney recorded 93 tackles in four seasons with 15 starts in 55 games at Clemson. Martin compiled 29 tackles in 22 games at N.C. State.
At linebacker, Gibbens was a glue-and-guts player for Abilene Christian. He collected 104 tackles, including 8.5 for loss, in the Wildcats’ 2019 season. In six games last fall, Gibbens recorded 49 tackles with 2.5 for loss, recovered two fumbles, intercepted one pass and blocked one kick.
Wright, a former four-star recruit, landed with the Gophers after playing in eight games over two seasons with Texas A&M. Trickett and Sparks came to Minnesota from Kent State and Louisiana-Monroe, respectively.
Impact of coaching changes
Fleck stood pat this offseason with his coaching staff after losing offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca to Penn State in 2020. The Gophers were among the nation’s worst-ranked teams in most defensive categories, but Fleck opted to stick with Rossi and bank on improvements after losing several core veterans following the 2019 season.
“It’s a phenomenal staff,” Fleck said. “There were so many circumstances last year. It had nothing to do with coaches, nothing to do with the players, nothing to do with any of that. So how can you truly evaluate that when you go through a pandemic that no one’s been through? You go through the social injustice we went through as a city and a state together. There were way more important things than football.
“I know what our staff can do. I love our defensive staff, I love our offense staff, I love special teams. I love our people we have in this organization. We were two overtimes from being 5-2, and no one’s saying anything.”
Schedule analysis
The Gophers face four-time defending Big Ten champion Ohio State in both teams’ opener in primetime at TCF Bank Stadium. No matter what happens that night, it won’t define Minnesota’s season. What will make it — or break it — are three other schedule segments and especially the final three games.
Following the opener, Minnesota has a four-game stretch that includes road trips to Colorado and Purdue. Those games will provide a reasonable assessment of the Gophers’ trajectory. After a bye, Minnesota plays a four-game stretch with Nebraska, Maryland and Illinois at home wrapped around a journey to Northwestern. This grouping will determine whether the Gophers are a West Division contender or merely a bowl contestant.
Minnesota wraps up its season at Iowa, at Indiana and then at home against Wisconsin. The Gophers haven’t won at Kinnick Stadium since 1999 or at home against the Badgers since 2003. To earn a trip to Indianapolis, Minnesota needs to claim at least one of those rivalry games without slipping up against the Hoosiers.
“You’ve got to be able to set yourself up to win something in November,” Fleck said. “Championships are won in November — they are — but you’ve got to set yourself up to be in that position by finding ways to win, and knowing how to win the game.”
Final assessment
Two areas largely will shape the Gophers’ season: run defense and quarterback play. Morgan was outstanding in 2019 with a pair of NFL receivers catching passes. If he can return to a similar level and elevate the passing attack, Minnesota will be formidable on offense. The running game should be one of the nation’s best.
But defensive improvement is what will determine the legitimacy of the Gophers’ divisional title aspiration. The Gophers cannot allow anything near 6.9 yards per play again and expect to reclaim either Paul Bunyan’s Axe or Floyd of Rosedale, let alone win the division. It’s unlikely to trim that number to even top-20 status nationally, but if the Gophers can get it inside 5.3 yards per play coupled with a passing game resurgence, they will compete with their West Division rivals. Barring a major collapse, Minnesota should earn a bowl spot.
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Ohio State
Miami (OH)
Bowling Green
Nebraska
Maryland
Illinois
Wisconsin
