After the team’s first loss of the season last week vs. Iowa, the Gophers came out firing vs. Northwestern en route to a 38-22 win in Evanston. The defense forced a three-and-out on the first drive and within a couple of minutes, Tanner Morgan and Rashod Bateman were hooking up for the duo’s first touchdown of the day. By mid-afternoon, Bateman had three touchdowns and the Gophers were celebrating going 1-0 in the Northwestern Championship Season. This is the tenth win for P.J. Fleck and the Gophers, the first time the team has reached double-digit wins since 1905 when high school teams were among the opponents the Gophers faced. Here are a couple of key stats from today’s victory!
1000: Three Gophers players reached milestones in this afternoon’s win. Rodney Smith eclipsed 1000 yards rushing on the season while both Bateman and Tyler Johnson reached 1000 yards receiving. The air/ground depth on Minnesota’s roster has been a key to the team’s success this season.
25: Tanner Morgan’s third touchdown pass to Bateman was also his 25th of the season, good for a new school record. Adam Weber and Morgan were tied at 24 heading into the second half before Morgan’s corner pass to Bateman after a fantastic route by the WR. Morgan ended the day with four touchdown passes (Bateman 3, Johnson 1)
212: The Gophers ended the game with 198 rushing yards on the day against a Northwestern team that ranks well against the run defense. Smith led the team with 77 yards on the ground while Mohamed Ibrahim added 76 yards and Shannon Brooks added 44 more. Seth Green carried the ball only once but it was for 25 yards and led to a Lantz field goal in the fourth quarter.
11: Antoine Winfield Jr. ended the game with 11 total tackles on the day to lead the team. On top of the tackles, Winfield also had one sack and a forced fumble. Other sacks on the day for Minnesota came from Kamal Martin and Sam Renner.
6: The Gophers entered the red zone six different times and successfully came out with points all six times. One rushing touchdown by Brooks and four touchdown passes to go along with a Lantz field goal late to secure the victory.
9: The Gophers had NINE third-down conversions today on 11 total third-down situations. The ability to convert on 81.8-percent of their third downs helped extend drives and helped contribute to the victory.
3: While Morgan had 211 yards through the air, the production was handled by just three receivers. Chris Autman-Bell caught one pass for eight yards while Morgan and Johnson each caught seven passes. Johnson had 125 yards and one touchdown while Bateman added 78 yards with his three-touchdown performance. Both are ranked in the top-15 in both yards and touchdowns in the nation.
28: In all ten wins this season, the Gophers have eclipsed 28 points or more. That “magic” number will be important to reach next weekend vs. the Badgers as Wisconsin’s offense behind Taylor is able to put up points if given an opportunity.
5: The Gophers averaged 5.0 yards per play on first down, allowing the Gophers offense to open the playbook on second down and short. On 20 of those first down plays, the Gophers ran the ball for exactly 100 yards. Overall the Gophers averaged 6.8 yards per play.
The Gophers now look ahead to Axe Week. The Wisconsin Badgers will come to Minneapolis next week and if the Badgers take care of business vs. Purdue, the game against the Gophers will be for the Big Ten West and a trip to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship. The Gophers currently have the Axe after an emotional win at Camp Randall Stadium last year. ESPN’s College GameDay hinted this morning that if both the Gophers and Badgers took care of business today that the crew might be headed to Minneapolis. Details on that are still to come as of this posting. Regardless, kickoff from TCF Bank Stadium on Nov. 30 will begin at 2:30 p.m. and the “bank” will be ROCKIN!