Penn State…come on down!
The Gophers avoided the infamous “trap game” narrative and took care of business on Oct. 26 with a 52-10 win over Maryland. The Gophers played an almost perfect first half, making few mistakes en route to a 28-3 halftime lead.
The win–along with a Nittany Lions win over Michigan State–sets up a battle of undefeated Big Ten teams on Nov. 9 when Penn State will travel to Minneapolis. The game is expected to be Fox’s No. 1 game at 11 a.m. but official gametime will be announced on Oct. 28. Both teams will be 8-0 and ranked in the top-20 in the AP Poll.
6: Replacing injured player Kamal Martin, sophomore linebacker Mariano Sori-Martin had six total tackles in the first half to lead the team. Benjamin St-Juste was second with five total tackles and Antoine Winfield Jr. and Chris Williamson had four and three total tackles respectively. Martin ended the game with eight total tackles.
3,848: During Saturday’s win, Rodney Smith became the third all-time leading rusher in school history. Smith passed Thomas Hamner (1996-1999) who ended his Gophers career with 3,810. The two rushers ahead of Smith are Laurence Maroney (3,933) and Darrell Thompson (4,654).
5,110: On top of becoming third all-time in rushing yards, Smith also became the school’s all-time leader in all-purpose yards with 5,110. Smith was tied with Gophers legend Darrell Thompson (1986-1989) at 5,109 before diving over the pile for a 1-yard touchdown late in the third quarter. A fantastic achievement after everything Smith has been through during his career as a Gopher.
3: In the first half, the Gophers went three-for-three in the redzone and converted four-of-five conversions on third down. This ability to keep the drive alive was huge for the maroon and gold and allowed the team the ability to put seven points on the board. Morgan and Co. had the ball for over 17 minutes in the first half (17:56) as opposed to just 12:04 for Maryland. Minnesota converted at least three points on all seven redzone drives.
52: Points for the Gophers is a season-high. Minnesota has scored 28 or more points in all eight games this season, a feat the team hasn’t achieved since 1903-1904 when the team played against high school teams. Minnesota has scored 94 points in the last two games in wins over Rutgers and Maryland.
321: Minnesota had seven different rushers with 20 or more yards and combined for 321 rushing yards on 54 carries on Saturday afternoon. Smith led the charge with 103 yards on 17 carries.
The Gophers vs. Nittany Lions game is expected to be a complete sellout. Come on out and support this historic team as they take on another top Big Ten contender in Penn State. Be loud and be proud. Go Gophers!!!