Gophers send Rams running for the hills

The only thing that stopped the Gophers from scoring in bunches early were unforced mistakes, like a false start on fourth and short. Once Colorado State started making some errors of their own, Minnesota capitalized and the flood gates opened. The Gophers took a modest 22-10 lead into halftime. The final score was an immodest 56-24. This runs the Gophers’ Big Ten leading non-conference winning streak to 18 games, which includes victories against Alabama, Oregon and Arkansas.

Normally, the special teams play is the overlooked part of the game but today it was hard to miss it, with great and terrible play by both teams. The great for Minnesota included a blocked punt returned for a TD and the terrible inlcluded three missed extra points in a row! Nearly all of the CSU scoring was set up by some big kick returns thanks to George Hill, who had 208 yards on 10 kick returns! The Gophers answered with a 53-yard punt return by Dominic Jones that led to their final touchdown of the first half.

The Rams’ defense keyed on the run early and held the Gophers to under 100 yards running in the first quarter (an accomplishment) and only 3 points. Bryan Cupito and his receivers got off to a slow start but turned it up a notch to keep the defense honest. Logan Payne led the receivers with 53 yards and three catches. Jared Ellerson contributed big with a 51-yard catch for a TD. However, on the whole, the receivers dropped far too many passes today. Jakari Wallace did help the cause for the receivers with a couple of nice reverses.

The Gopher defense looked good again today. Like last week, they put good presure on the quarterback and they are 2-for-2 in knocking the starting QB out of the game. This week Justin Holland was the victim. Mike Sherels made sure the Gopher turnover margin stayed solidly in the positive territory. He had two fumble recoveries and an interception. I also liked the hard-hitting play of Brandon Owens and John Pawlieski, who were the team’s leading tacklers.

You alse really have to be impressed with the young talent coming up on defense. Alex Daniels made a couple big plays on special teams. The biggest was on a punt blocked by Dominique Barber that Daniels scooped up and ran in for a TD.

The Minnesota subs played most of the last 20 or so minutes of the game. They kept the momentum going, outscoring the Rams 21-14 the rest of the way. There is no doubt that the Gophers have a stable full of good running backs. Amir Pinnix, who got plenty of carries the whole game, ran for 65 yards. The more of a bounding rusher Gary Russell tallied 66 yards, almost 10 yards a carry and two TD runs. Justin Valentine got in on the fun with 33 yards.

Oh yes, Laurence Maroney got plenty of touches and was slowed early by CSU’s run-cheating defense. Finally, he got free for a 32-yard touchdown run. Maroney had his 15th consecutive 100+ yard rushing game before halftime. Last week he had over 100 yards in the first quarter. They need to keep a stat on how many 100-yard rushing first halfs or even first quarters Maroney gets.

Overall, this was a well played game for this young season. There are some significant things to work out on special teams. On offense and defense there are plenty of very good things to build on. I’m really encouraged by the spirited play of David Lockwood’s defense. It’s a throwback to Dave Gibbs’ defenses that were short on talent but full of fire. Lockwood has the luxury of much better talent than was present at the begining of the Glen Mason era. A defense that can hold up all season could take the Big Ten by surprise like the Gophers did in 1999. Except, a Gopher surpise this time will likely result in more than the 8-4 season they had in ’99. Is a 10-2 season and a New Year’s Day bowl game too much to ask? Well, we’re still in the season of dreamin’.