STrib: Which five Gophers helped their stock most in the Outback Bowl?

[BleedGopher]

per Megan:

Five Gophers whose stock is on the rise after the Outback Bowl:

Tyler Johnson: The senior receiver finished his career in iconic fashion.

Interim offensive coordinator Matt Simon: Calling his first game against one of the best defenses in college football was no problem for the receivers coach.

Tight end Bryce Witham: He’s the fourth-string tight end behind starter Jake Paulson, Ko Kieft and Brevyn Spann-Ford. But he made the most of his increased playing time Wednesday, with Paulson out injured. He caught two passes for 12 yards — the 11-yard fourth-down conversion to seal the game, and a short touchdown on fourth down after officials had already overturned two other Gophers scores.

Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi: His defense was hardly on the field against Auburn, just more than 22 minutes, but that’s because they seemed to force a three-and-out most series.

Running back Mohamed Ibrahim: Ibrahim reclaimed the No. 1 running back throne in the Outback Bowl, rushing for 140 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.

Which five Gophers helped their stock most in the Outback Bowl?

Tyler Johnson and interim offensive coordinator Matt Simon weren't the only ones who boosted their profiles.

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

My only issue with some of the choices is that their stock was already high.

Mo is the smallest big back in America. It looks like he'd be about as fun to tackle as ball of razor blades. He was a bad man yesterday, but he's always been a bad man and I don't think anyone doubted that he'd be the #1 back next year.

Rossi: I've stayed impressed with him all year. He was able to put out a pretty good defense considering we have been without one of our better players all year and we don't really have the pass rush we need (yet). Calling a defense without a pass rush is like calling an offense without an OL, there isn't much you can do at times.

I want add to the list - our OL, DL, and Sori-Marin.

Our OL bullied Auburn's defensive front. I liked how often the ESPN announcers were talking up their DL because they were saying it context of "these really talented guys are getting whipped". It was our OL's best game of the year.

Our DL took away their run. That was all of them (Teague, MDT, Renner).

MSM - I thought he looked the most comfortable he looked all year. We ask a lot of our LBers because we often only two of them out there. He is always around the ball but he is really good at taking on blockers.

 

[march madness]

I like the 3rd and long underiszed defensive line we employed!

 

[Urbandale]

Mo not only runs with evil intentions, he's the best blocking running back I've seen in a Gopher uniform. I don't really know how he does it because he looks like the 145-pound wrestler mistakenly sent out against the heavyweight.

 

[MNVCGUY]

My only issue with some of the choices is that their stock was already high.

Mo is the smallest big back in America. It looks like he'd be about as fun to tackle as ball of razor blades. He was a bad man yesterday, but he's always been a bad man and I don't think anyone doubted that he'd be the #1 back next year.

Rossi: I've stayed impressed with him all year. He was able to put out a pretty good defense considering we have been without one of our better players all year and we don't really have the pass rush we need (yet). Calling a defense without a pass rush is like calling an offense without an OL, there isn't much you can do at times.

I want add to the list - our OL, DL, and Sori-Marin.

Our OL bullied Auburn's defensive front. I liked how often the ESPN announcers were talking up their DL because they were saying it context of "these really talented guys are getting whipped". It was our OL's best game of the year.

Our DL took away their run. That was all of them (Teague, MDT, Renner).

MSM - I thought he looked the most comfortable he looked all year. We ask a lot of our LBers because we often only two of them out there. He is always around the ball but he is really good at taking on blockers.

I actually think their list was pretty good with the exception of Rossi. Rossi's stock has been pretty high since he took over for Smith last season.

TJ gave his draft stock a nice boost, Simon called a great game, Witham went from complete unknown to household name for most Gopher fans, and Mo did in fact remind everyone just how good he is.

I would have replaced Rossi with our offensive line. Going up against a great defensive front for Auburn they more then held their own, even without Faalele. Auburn has a defensive front 7 loaded with guys who will be playing in the NFL and our O-Line handled them all game. It was an extremely impressive performance.