Minnesota (0-1 overall, Big Ten 0-0) at Colorado State (1-0 overall, 0-0 Mountain West)
When: Saturday, 2:30 p.m. CT – Fort Collins, Colo.
Stadium: Hughes Stadium (32,500)
TV/Radio: CBS Sports Network, KFAN 100.3
Series: Gophers lead series 2-0
Last Meeting: Sept. 10, 2005, Minnesota won 56-24 at the H.H.H Metrodome
Coach: Mike Bobo (1st season, 1-0)
National Championships: Minnesota (7); Colorado State (0)
INSIDE THE GAME
More Rodney
Jerry Kill has big plans for freshman Rodney Smith following 88 yards rushing and a touchdown in his first college game. Kill even admitted that Smith should have had a larger role against TCU.
“He’s the only back I’ve had in a long time that played 46 plays and he graded out perfect, never made a mistake, not in pass protection, not running the ball, no mental errors, true freshman. So I’d say he needs to play more,” said Kill.
Smith exceeded expectations in his first contest.
“Do you expect a freshman running back to do that well,” said Kill. “No, not in the first game.”
Home Field Elevation
Last year, the Rams went undefeated at home, which may be partially attributed to playing in the thin Rocky Mountain air.
“Well, they’re undefeated at home last year, so I mean, I think that tells you how that proceeds,” said Kill. “As far as elevation, all those kind of things, I mean, we don’t have the budget to go out there and stay for a week.”
The Gophers are planning to be in Colorado as little as possible to try to avoid the elevation change.
“We’re not going to talk about it,” said Kill. “Adam Weber has been out there and played and so forth, and what I’ve been told, you do one of two things. You go out and stay a week or you get out there and you don’t stay longer than 24 hours, so that’s what we’ll do. We’ll take the shorter route and not talk about it.”
New Defense
The Rams switch to a 4-3 defense this year, giving Minnesota less film to prepare for offensively. The Gophers will create a plan that can be adjusted to different looks CSU might throw on the field.
“When you get with a new coach, that new head coach has a different philosophy on what he wants to do or a different way he wants to do things, even if he’s an offensive coach,” said Matt Limegrover. “There’s always a little bit of that unknown, so we’re trying to make sure that the game plan we have is as sound and secure and safe as it can be against what we potentially are going to see.”
Matchup to Watch
Minnesota pass defense vs. Colorado State pass offense — The Gophers’ defense faces another talented aerial attack on Saturday. CSU torched Savannah State for nearly 400 passing yards and six touchdowns—all by different receivers—last week. The Rams’ offense is lead by consensus first-team All-America, Rashard Higgins. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound junior is coming off a historic season when he led the nation in receiving yards (1,750) and touchdowns (17).
“I think Higgins is one of the best receivers in the country,” said Kill. “I think that’s well-known.”
Higgins isn’t the only the threat to the talented Golden Gopher secondary.
“Like I said, Higgins is a special guy,” Kill explained. “A person that they don’t talk about is the tight end (Kivon Cartwright) that they got back that didn’t play a year ago, and he’s a very productive player. I think that will be a good challenge again for our secondary.”
STORYLINE CENTRAL
Kelly Lyell of the Coloradoan has the latest on All-American wide receiver Rashard Higgins. Higgins left practice on Tuesday with a presumed ankle sprain but returned to practice on Wednesday and is expected to play.
Joe Christensen has the rundown of the Gophers’ injury situation. Lincoln Plsek and Duke Anyanwu may not be back this year and Damarius Travis is “very questionable.” The good news is Josh Campion should be back and Ben Lauer is getting much closer to 100%.
After a thrashing of Savannah State, the Rams are looking to be tested against the Gophers, according Mike Brohard of the Loveland Reporter-Herald. Minnesota presents a much different test for CSU who are looking for their fourth year in a row beating a Power 5 opponent.
Also from Kelly Lyell, the Rams defensive line was dominant last week, recording five sacks and helping to hold Savannah State to 100 yards passing. The D-line was also strong against the run, allowing just 1.7 yards per carry.
WHO WINS?
The Gophers Win If…
They’ll hit on a couple more deep passes. Matt Limegrover and the offense took a few more risks than usual against TCU; airing the ball out on multiple occasions. If Mitch Leidner can connect with the likes of Rashad Still, KJ Maye, or Eric Carter to spark the passing attack, it will open up space for the always-powerful run game.
“We’ve got to pick it up in that area a little bit,” said Kill on Minnesota’s passing attack. “We get the right players on the field, hell, that’s my fault. We’ve got to get the right players on the field. We found one and a couple receivers, and there’s probably a couple more I’ll find at Colorado State. I’ll keep that a secret.”
The Rams Win If…
Their new offense can surprise the Gophers. As CSU crushed Savannah State last week, 65-13, the Rams really didn’t need to break out the entire playbook. New head coach, Mike Bobo, will have the advantage of limited tape for the Gophers to view.
“Then knowing what they have, you know, we’ve studied an awful lot of Georgia’s film in the off-season to give us an idea of some of the things that he might like to do,” said Tracy Claeys. “But a lot of times offensive coordinators get to be head coaches, and there’s things they didn’t get to do at the previous school because they weren’t the head coach, and so now you see some new wrinkles, and those are the things we’re not going to know is what those new wrinkles are.”