BleedGopher
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per Randy:
The 2022 season opener against New Mexico State on Sept. 1 is seven weeks away, four weeks after training camp begins in early August. The Gophers seek to take that elusive next step of winning the Big Ten West Division championship and thereby advancing to the conference title game. It's a goal that slipped through the grasp of an 11-2 Gophers team in 2019 and last year's 9-4 squad.
"We're getting so close,'' said Schmitz, a preseason first-team All-America selection by Athlon Sports. "Winning that championship in the Big Ten, winning the Big Ten West and of course, going to the Rose Bowl, are visions we have with this program.''
Schmitz will anchor a Gophers offensive line that lost four starters, while Morgan will try to rediscover the form that saw him pass for school records of 3,253 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2019. Two other sixth-year seniors — running back Mohamed Ibrahim and wide receiver Chris Autman-Bell — join Morgan and Schmitz as keys for Minnesota's offense.
Ibrahim, the 2020 Big Ten Running Back of the Year, tore an Achilles' tendon in last year's season opener and missed the rest of the season. Autman-Bell, whose 12 career touchdown catches are 10 more than any other active Gopher, oozes confidence after a subpar 2021 season that convinced him to stay with the team rather than leave for the NFL draft.
"It was my plan, definitely, to move on, but God gave me a different plan,'' Autman-Bell said. "I came back for one more [season], taking it day by day.''
Go Gophers!!
The 2022 season opener against New Mexico State on Sept. 1 is seven weeks away, four weeks after training camp begins in early August. The Gophers seek to take that elusive next step of winning the Big Ten West Division championship and thereby advancing to the conference title game. It's a goal that slipped through the grasp of an 11-2 Gophers team in 2019 and last year's 9-4 squad.
"We're getting so close,'' said Schmitz, a preseason first-team All-America selection by Athlon Sports. "Winning that championship in the Big Ten, winning the Big Ten West and of course, going to the Rose Bowl, are visions we have with this program.''
Schmitz will anchor a Gophers offensive line that lost four starters, while Morgan will try to rediscover the form that saw him pass for school records of 3,253 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2019. Two other sixth-year seniors — running back Mohamed Ibrahim and wide receiver Chris Autman-Bell — join Morgan and Schmitz as keys for Minnesota's offense.
Ibrahim, the 2020 Big Ten Running Back of the Year, tore an Achilles' tendon in last year's season opener and missed the rest of the season. Autman-Bell, whose 12 career touchdown catches are 10 more than any other active Gopher, oozes confidence after a subpar 2021 season that convinced him to stay with the team rather than leave for the NFL draft.
"It was my plan, definitely, to move on, but God gave me a different plan,'' Autman-Bell said. "I came back for one more [season], taking it day by day.''
Go Gophers!!
