BleedGopher
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per Randy:
Thanks to a 28-point second quarter, the Gophers put the game’s issue in doubt and were able to play 27 freshmen — 15 true freshmen and 12 redshirt freshmen. Here are the ones who stood out:
• Zack Annexstad, QB: The walk-on wasn’t sharp right away. He completed only one of his first four passes before throwing a first-quarter touchdown pass to Tyler Johnson. Then Annexstad showed that he is a true freshman, fumbling a shotgun snap that New Mexico State recovered and converted for a tying touchdown.
Instead of going into a shell, Annexstad regrouped, even telling Fleck that everything would be all right.
“I looked at him and said, ‘We’re going to be all right, huh?’ ” Fleck said. “Usually it’s me telling them, ‘Hey, you’re going to be OK.’ That’s his personality. It’s different. And I like it.”
Annexstad backed up those words by leading three second-quarter TD drives. He completed six of seven passes for 132 yards and a TD in that span. In the first half, he went 10-for-16 for 162 yards and two TDs. He wasn’t as accurate in the second half, going 6-for-17 for 58 yards, but a 38-point win in a collegiate debut is nothing to sneeze at.
• Rashod Bateman and Chris Autman-Bell, WRs: The difference between the 2017 Gophers and the 2018 version was no more apparent than at this position, where young talent showed it can make an impact. Bateman, a true freshman, tied for the team lead with five catches for 52 yards, including a 25-yard reception that ignited the Gophers’ go-ahead drive early in the second quarter. Autman-Bell was a training camp standout last year before suffering a season-ending foot injury. He debuted with four catches for 43 yards, including two third-down conversions.
“We’ve got some wideouts on the outside that can make some plays. Three of them are freshmen,” Fleck said, including redshirt Demetrius Douglas. “They’re going to be around a long time.”
• Blaise Andries, RG: The Marshall, Minn., native was the Gophers’ top in-state recruit in the 2017 class, and he showed why in the second quarter. On Seth Green’s go-ahead 9-yard TD run out of the wildcat formation, the 6-5, 315-pound Andries had a beautifully brutal pancake block on an Aggies linebacker to give Green a path toward the end zone.
• Mohamed Ibrahim, RB: He ran nine times for 101 yards, the most for a Gopher in his debut since Thomas Hamner had 158 yards vs. Northeast Louisiana in 1996. But Ibrahim injured his left leg on his final carry, a 74-yarder that set up the Gophers’ final TD.
• Terell Smith, CB: It wasn’t only offensive freshmen who excelled in the opener. Smith, a true freshman, started and tied for the team lead with eight tackles, along collecting a team-best three pass breakups.
The efforts of those freshmen, and others, pleased Fleck.
“I went back in a chart of what I wanted to do, and if this could happen, I wanted to do it. We almost checked every single box,” Fleck said. “That’s what I wanted out of the first game.”
http://www.startribune.com/lots-to-like-from-large-group-of-gophers-freshmen-after-game-1/492222951/
Go Gophers!!
Thanks to a 28-point second quarter, the Gophers put the game’s issue in doubt and were able to play 27 freshmen — 15 true freshmen and 12 redshirt freshmen. Here are the ones who stood out:
• Zack Annexstad, QB: The walk-on wasn’t sharp right away. He completed only one of his first four passes before throwing a first-quarter touchdown pass to Tyler Johnson. Then Annexstad showed that he is a true freshman, fumbling a shotgun snap that New Mexico State recovered and converted for a tying touchdown.
Instead of going into a shell, Annexstad regrouped, even telling Fleck that everything would be all right.
“I looked at him and said, ‘We’re going to be all right, huh?’ ” Fleck said. “Usually it’s me telling them, ‘Hey, you’re going to be OK.’ That’s his personality. It’s different. And I like it.”
Annexstad backed up those words by leading three second-quarter TD drives. He completed six of seven passes for 132 yards and a TD in that span. In the first half, he went 10-for-16 for 162 yards and two TDs. He wasn’t as accurate in the second half, going 6-for-17 for 58 yards, but a 38-point win in a collegiate debut is nothing to sneeze at.
• Rashod Bateman and Chris Autman-Bell, WRs: The difference between the 2017 Gophers and the 2018 version was no more apparent than at this position, where young talent showed it can make an impact. Bateman, a true freshman, tied for the team lead with five catches for 52 yards, including a 25-yard reception that ignited the Gophers’ go-ahead drive early in the second quarter. Autman-Bell was a training camp standout last year before suffering a season-ending foot injury. He debuted with four catches for 43 yards, including two third-down conversions.
“We’ve got some wideouts on the outside that can make some plays. Three of them are freshmen,” Fleck said, including redshirt Demetrius Douglas. “They’re going to be around a long time.”
• Blaise Andries, RG: The Marshall, Minn., native was the Gophers’ top in-state recruit in the 2017 class, and he showed why in the second quarter. On Seth Green’s go-ahead 9-yard TD run out of the wildcat formation, the 6-5, 315-pound Andries had a beautifully brutal pancake block on an Aggies linebacker to give Green a path toward the end zone.
• Mohamed Ibrahim, RB: He ran nine times for 101 yards, the most for a Gopher in his debut since Thomas Hamner had 158 yards vs. Northeast Louisiana in 1996. But Ibrahim injured his left leg on his final carry, a 74-yarder that set up the Gophers’ final TD.
• Terell Smith, CB: It wasn’t only offensive freshmen who excelled in the opener. Smith, a true freshman, started and tied for the team lead with eight tackles, along collecting a team-best three pass breakups.
The efforts of those freshmen, and others, pleased Fleck.
“I went back in a chart of what I wanted to do, and if this could happen, I wanted to do it. We almost checked every single box,” Fleck said. “That’s what I wanted out of the first game.”
http://www.startribune.com/lots-to-like-from-large-group-of-gophers-freshmen-after-game-1/492222951/
Go Gophers!!