MN Daily: Versatile Adekunle Ayinde fills in gaps on Gophers defense

[BleedGopher]

per the Daily:

After losing his starting position in the 2016 season, cornerback Adekunle Ayinde filled a hole on the depleted Gophers secondary in their final game against Washington State.

Ayinde proved why he should have been on the field when he jumped a bad pass, made the interception and ran it back for a touchdown to give Minnesota a two-possession lead with three minutes to go in fourth quarter.

This season, Ayinde has filled holes on Minnesota's defense once again. The redshirt senior has started at two different defensive back positions, three if you count nickel back, in five of six games this year, and he’s made 24 tackles, three pass break-ups and an interception.

“You’re thin to begin with as it is, and you’re starting to look down that depth chart saying, ‘oh my goodness.’” said head coach P.J. Fleck. “Then you start talking about [Ayinde], well [Ayinde’s] played safety, he’s played corner. Now he’s the starter, and all he’s done is gotten better.”

http://www.mndaily.com/article/2017/10/s-versatile-adekunle-ayinde-fills-in-gaps-on-gophers-defense

Go Gophers!!

 

[Vandy]

This kid has done everything you could hope to expect from a walk on.

Worked hard, stuck with the program, endured harsh media and fan criticism after some tough games where the Gophs had no one else to turn to, has improved and made some big plays since.

Every practice I watched, he stayed afterwords for additional coverage work. Seems to be an awfully decent kid.

His late game interception to seal the bowl victory over Washington State last year was pretty damn memorable.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

His name is just so awesome too!