Gophers need to 'get back to who we are,' hosting Rutgers on 3-game skid
Penn State Nittany Lions Wide Receiver Parker Washington (3) makes a catch for a touchdown with Minnesota Golden Gophers Defensive Back Terell Smith (4) defending during the second half of the College Football game between the Minnesota Golden Gopher ((Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS - For the first time in nearly a month, the University of Minnesota football team is back home this week to host Rutgers at 1:30 p.m. at Huntington Bank Stadium.
After Saturday’s 45-17 loss at Penn State, the Gophers’ defense and coordinator Joe Rossi met on Sunday. The prevailing message from that meeting? "Get back to who we are."
"There was some stuff in that game and some stuff these past couple weeks that isn’t us, isn’t our identity," defensive end Thomas Rush said. "We talk to getting back to what we do best. That’s doing your job, your responsibility and executing your job when the time comes."
In the loss to the Nittany Lions, the Gophers allowed Sean Clifford to pass for 295 yards and four touchdowns. Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen combined to run for 158 yards and two scores. Mitchell Tinsley scored on a 20-yard pass after a Minnesota defensive back lined up on the wrong side of the field, leaving Tinsley uncovered.
PJ Fleck said Monday he thought the defense played well, minus five explosive plays. Depending on your definition of an explosive play, all five went for touchdowns.
Penn State collected 479 total yards. Two weeks ago, the Gophers allowed 472 total yards at Illinois as Chase Brown ran for 180, and scored on a 40-yard touchdown pass in a blown coverage. The unit looks a lot different the last two weeks than the one that led the Gophers to a 4-0 start, and a win at Michigan State.
OFFENSIVE LINE FALSE START ISSUES
The Gophers’ offense couldn’t get out of its own way early at Happy Valley. They committed five false start penalties in the first 20 offensive plays, and finished with seven pre-snap penalties for the game. Fleck said Monday the Penn State front made noise pre-snap, which isn’t allowed, to distract the Gophers. Center John Michael Schmitz said Tuesday they have to play better.
"Just a lack of focus and concentration. You’ve got to really be locked in, as loud as that stadium was, you’ve got to really focus in on our cadence. Definitely unacceptable with all those penalties," Schmitz said.
WHAT ARE THE GOPHERS PLAYING FOR?
With a mix of talent at depth at nearly every position on the roster, the Gophers entered the 2022 season with expectations of contending for the Big Ten West. They were ranked No. 22 in the nation after a 34-7 win at Michigan State, out-scoring opponents 183-24 in the process.
Since? They’ve lost three straight and fallen to 1-3 in Big Ten play. Any talk of the College Football Playoff is out the window. They’re not mathematically out of the Big Ten West race, but it’s a tall mountain to climb. So what’s there to play for with five games to go? For starters, each other.
"Just playing for our brothers, just playing for each other, leaving it all out there. You really don’t know what’s going to happen at the end of the season. We’re playing for a bowl game, we could be in the Big Ten championship, not sure what’s going to happen," Schmitz said.
Rush said in a team meeting this week, Fleck has now coined the phrase "Gopher Football Playoff." They’ve got five games remaining, and a chance to get to a bowl game for the fourth time under Fleck.
"Whatever people want to say about that, we have five games left in the season. We’re going to play these five games, starting with Rutgers being the most important because it’s the next, just one game at a time and in the end we’ll look up and see where we’re at," Rush said.
FLECK REMAINS MUM ON TANNER MORGAN
At his weekly news conference Monday, Fleck said quarterback Tanner Morgan is doing "surprisingly well" after missing the Penn State game in the concussion protocol. He left the loss at Illinois after taking a hit to the head.
He also said it’s too early to tell if he’ll return Saturday against Rutgers. Morgan was at practice Tuesday, but Fleck didn’t say on his weekly KFAN radio show if he participated.
When Fleck was asked if we’ll be surprised on Saturday, referencing Morgan’s return, he gave a long pause before saying, "Maybe." In his absence, Athan Kaliakmanis was 9-of-22 for 175 yards and a touchdown, and ran seven times for 45 yards in his first career start at Penn State.
Morgan’s status for Rutgers will remain unclear until the team takes the field for warm-ups on Saturday.