Minnesota gets no O in ugly loss to Hawkeyes

Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009 ... Head Coach: Tim Brewster

2009 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 6-6
2009 Record: 6-6

9/5 at Syracuse W 23-20 OT
9/12 Air Force W 20-13
9/19 California L 34-21
9/26 at Northwestern W 35-24
10/3 Wisconsin L 31-28
10/10 Purdue W 35-20
10/17 at Penn St L 20-0
10/24 at Ohio St L 38-7
10/31 Mich St W 42-34
11/7 Illinois L 35-32
11/14 S Dakota St W 16-13
11/21 at Iowa L 12-0
11/28 OPEN DATE

2008 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 6-6
2008 Record: 7-6

8/30 Northern Illinois W 31-27
9/6 at Bo. Green W 42-17
9/13 Montana State  W 35-23
9/20 Florida Atlantic W 37-3
9/27 at Ohio State L 34-21
10/4 Indiana W 16-7
10/11 at Illinois W 27-20
10/18 OPEN DATE 
10/25 at Purdue W 17-6
11/1 Northwestern L 24-17
11/8 Michigan L 29-6
11/15 at Wisconsin L 35-32
11/22 Iowa L 55-0
Insight Bowl
12/31 Kansas L 42-21

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Nov. 21
at Iowa 12 … Minnesota 0
In an ugly defensive battle, Iowa came up with Daniel Murray field goals from 30 and 45 yards out and a one-yard Brandon Wegher run, and the defense did the rest to win the Floyd of Rosedale trophy. Minnesota held Iowa to 171 yards, but it only came up with 201 of its own and got stuffed on its one great scoring chance with the ball at the two.
Player of the Game: Iowa LB Pat Angerer made 16 tackles
Minnesota: Passing: Adam Weber, 14-40, 153 yds
Rushing: Kevin Whaley, 11-38, Receiving: Da’Jon McKnight, 4-63
Iowa: Passing: James Vandenberg, 11-24, 117 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Adam Robinson, 12-72, Receiving: Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, 7-63 
What It All Means: The Minnesota defense came up with a tremendous effort, but the offense was beyond awful … again. Adam Weber is lost without Eric Decker to throw to, while the running game is a disaster. The Big Ten’s worst offense has several weeks to work on coming up with something, anything to throw out there for the bowl game, but there will have to be something quirky to overcome the lack of overall execution. Nothing has worked over the last few weeks.

Nov. 14
at Minnesota 16 … South Dakota State 13
Minnesota got all it could handle needing a 25-yard Eric Ellestad field goal with 2:22 to play to beat the Jackrabbits. Ellestad also connected from 23 and 26 yards in the first quarter, while Minnesota’s only touchdown came on a fumble recovery with D.L. Wilhite taking the popped up ball three yards for a score. SDSU turned it over four times and got its only touchdown on a 22-yard interception return for a touchdown from Derek Domino. SDSU had two late chances, but couldn’t produce points.
Player of the Game: Minnesota P Blake Haudan averaged 43.9 yards on eight punts putting five inside the 20.
South Dakota State: Passing: Thomas O’Brien, 14-37, 177 yds, 2 INT
Rushing: Kyle Minett, 19-79, Receiving: Glen Fox, 5-95
Minnesota: Passing: Adam Weber, 10-21, 94 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Kevin Whaley, 16-56, Receiving: Nick Tow-Arnett, 4-39
What It All Means: Yeah, Minnesota is bowl eligible, but yeeeeeesh. Having lost three of their last four games, the Gophers should’ve lost to South Dakota State, but the defense came up big when it had to, didn’t allow an offensive touchdown, and got the win it needed to get to six before dealing with Iowa. However, the team is a mess. It should be getting better at this point in the year, and the offense is getting worse. The running game is non-existent and Adam Weber appears lost at times without having Eric Decker to throw to.

Nov. 7
Illinois 35 … at Minnesota 32
Illinois lost QB Juice Williams to an ankle injury, but the defense came up with seven sacks and got a 44-yard interception return for a score from Terry Hawthorne as part of a 28-7 run to start the game. Justin Green and Jason Ford each ran for short scores and Arrelious Benn caught a four-yard touchdown pass, but the Illini had to hang on for dear life. Minnesota overcame a miserable first half with a Jon Hoese touchdown catch from ten yards out and a three-yard run to get back into the game. Ben Kuznia returned a blocked punt for a score to pull the Gophers within three, but the onside kick went out of bounds and Illinois hung on.
Player of the Game: Illinois DE Clay Nurse made seven tackles and four sacks.
Minnesota: Passing: Adam Weber, 14-30, 221 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Kevin Whaley, 8-41, 1 TD, Receiving: Brandon Green, 4-64
Illinois: Passing: Jacob Charest, 10-19, 185 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Jason Ford, 20-82, 1 TD, Receiving: Arrelious Benn, 3-41, 1 TD 
What It All Means: What was that?! QB Adam Weber was miserable in the first half and the offensive line couldn’t come close to stopping the Illinois pass rush. Give the Gophers credit for hanging in there to come back in the second half, but the rushing attack has gone bye-bye and the team is missing a playmaker with Eric Decker gone. Weber was fantastic against Michigan State, and he needs to be tremendous to get the Gophers to a bowl. Don’t assume the South Dakota State game next week is a gimme, especially if Minnesota plays like it did in the first half against the Illini.

Oct. 31
at Minnesota 42 … Michigan State 34
In a bizarre game, Minnesota committed 17 penalties to Michigan State’s nine but got five Adam Weber touchdown passes including an all-timer of a bizarre play to pull away late. With the Gophers up one in the fourth, Nick Tow-Arnett caught pass on 3rd-and-17, got blasted and fell to the turf, but the ball bounced up in the air and was grabbed by Duane Bennett who took it in for a game-sealing 59-yard score. Bennett also took a pass 62 yards for a score and ran for a one-yard touchdown, but Michigan State always seemed to have an answer highlighted by Keshawn Martin’s 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half and a 84-yard touchdown run. In a matchup of two tremendous linebackers, Michigan State’s Greg Jones came up with 12 tackles and Minnesota’s Lee Campbell made six.
Player of the Game: Minnesota QB Adam Weber completed 19-of-31 passes for 416 yards and five touchdowns with an interception.
Michigan State: Passing: Kirk Cousins, 21-35, 236 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Keshawn Martin, 1-84, 1 TD, Receiving: B.J. Cunningham, 5-83
Minnesota: Passing: Adam Weber, 19-31, 416 yds, 5 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Duane Bennett, 14-36, 1 TD, Receiving: Nick Tow-Arnett, 8-81, 2 TD
What It All Means: It’s almost like Minnesota said enough is enough after two lousy performances and chose to let it rip. With star WR Eric Decker out with a foot injury, Adam Weber bombed away by using the running backs more in the passing game, particularly Duane Bennett, and everyone seemed to sharpen up to pick of the slack. It’s impossible to overstate the importance of the win to stop the slide after losing Penn State and Ohio State by a combined score of 58 to 7, and now the Gophers are a win away from going to a bowl.  

Oct. 24
at Ohio State 38 … Minnesota 7
Ohio State wasn’t sharp early, only scoring in the first half on a 62-yard DeVier Posey touchdown catch, and then it was all Buckeyes out of the locker room. Terrelle Pryor ran for a 15-yard score and connected with Posey for a 57-yard score as part of a 21-point second quarter on the way to a 38-0 lead. Minnesota, who made several critical mistakes throughout the game, finally got on the board with just over four minutes to play with a 16-yard Troy Stoudermire catch. Ohio State outgained Minnesota 509 yards to 286.
Player of the Game: Ohio State WR DeVier Posey caught eight passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns
Ohio State: Passing: Terrelle Pryor, 13-25, 239 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Terrelle Pryor, 15-104, 1 TD, Receiving: DeVier Posey, 8-161, 2 TD
Minnesota: Passing: Adam Weber, 10-23, 112 yds, 2 INT
Rushing: MarQueis Gray, 11-81, Receiving: Troy Stoudermire, 4-47, 1 TD 
What It All Means: Minnesota is getting sloppy. It’s the midseason, and while the offense is the biggest problem, not scoring against Penn State and failing to get on the board against Ohio State until the final minutes, the mistakes are the big concern. The team is better than this, but all of a sudden, there are too many dropped passes, there were eight bad penalties and four worse turnovers, and the offense went 1-of-10 on third downs. The running game isn’t going to work this year, so there needs to be a spark from somewhere. With WR Eric Decker being erased, it might have to be backup QB MarQueis Gray who turned into a top playmaker to get the offense moving.

Oct. 17
at Penn State 20 … Minnesota 0
Penn State got a 12-yard touchdown catch from Derek Moye, which was originally ruled out of bounds before the overturned replay, got two Collin Wagner field goals, and a one-yard Daryll Clark run in a dominating win. Minnesota was held to 138 yards of total offense and got stuffed on the one on its best scoring chance. Penn State converted 11-of-17 third down chances and held on to the ball for almost 42 minutes.
Player of the Game: Penn State QB Daryll Clark completed 21-of-32 passes for 287 yards and a touchdown, and he ran for a score.
Minnesota: Passing: Adam Weber, 10-22, 101 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Kevin Whaley, 6-11, Receiving: Nick Tow-Arnett, 3-26
Penn State: Passing: Daryll Clark, 21-32, 287 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Evan Royster, 23-137, Receiving: Derek Moye, 6-120, 1 TD 
What It All Means: Nitpicking time. Penn State dominated Minnesota and was never under any threat, but the nine penalties were too many and there were only 20 points in a game when the offense held on to the ball for 42 minutes and cranked out 464 yards. The defense didn’t led the Gophers breathe with the return of LB Sean Lee from a few weeks off adding a spark. Minnesota isn’t a world-beater, but this was a near-perfect win going into the showdown at Michigan. The Big Ten title is still in the picture, and if the team plays like this and the O line really is progressing, there might be another trip to Pasadena.

Oct. 10
at Minnesota 35 .. Purdue 20
DeLeon Eskridge started off the scoring for the Gophers with two one-yard touchdown runs to give the Gophers an early lead, and then the Purdue mistakes started coming. Minnesota took advantage of three turnovers with Lee Campbell blocking a field goal and picking off a pass to set up scores. Purdue collapsed in the third quarter and the Gophers took advantage with Traye Simmons returning the blocked field goal for a score and with Adam Weber and Kevin Whaley each running for short scores. Purdue outgained Minnesota 402 yards to 281, with Kevin Smith catching a 61-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, but the errors were too much to overcome.
Player of the Game: Minnesota LB Lee Campbell made 11 tackles, a tackle for loss, and an interception. He also blocked a field goal.
Purdue: Passing: Joey Elliott, 25-47, 299 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Ralph Bolden, 18-58, Receiving: Aaron Valentin, 8-89
Minnesota: Passing: Adam Weber, 5-9, 74 yds, 2 INT
Rushing: Kevin Whaley, 8-79, 1 TD, Receiving: Eric Decker, 3-50
What It All Means: Ten pass attempts? That Minnesota was able to win by 15 and not get Eric Decker more involved showed how committed the team was to the run against a mediocre Purdue defensive front. The offense did a nice job of spreading the work around and getting production from just about everyone who carried it. Most importantly in this game, the Gophers took advantage of mistakes. After the loss to Wisconsin, this was a nice bounceback win before going on the road to deal with Penn State and Ohio State. If UM can come up with a split, it’ll make the season.

Oct. 3
Wisconsin 31 … at Minnesota 28
Wisconsin was dominating the game and was marching for a game-sealing score, but Zach Brown lost a fumble and Marcus Sherels returned it 88 yards for a score to cut the Badger lead to three in the final seven minutes. The Badgers answered with a long march and a one-yard John Clay touchdown run, but the Gophers wouldn’t quit with a scoring drive that took less than a minute with Duane Bennett punching it in. Minnesota would have one last shot, but the drive fizzled. The Badgers outgained the Gophers 454 yards to 328.
Player of the Game: Wisconsin RB John Clay ran 32 times for 184 yards and three touchdowns
Minnesota: Passing: Adam Weber, 16-30, 271 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: DeLeon Eskridge, 14-60, Receiving: Eric Decker, 8-140, 1 TD
Wisconsin: Passing: Scott Tolzien, 16-26, 159 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: John Clay, 32-184, 3 TD, Receiving: Garrett Graham, 7-68
What It All Means: Minnesota should’ve had a bigger lead than 13-10 at halftime with penalties and turnovers proving to be too costly, but in the second half, the bigger problem was the inability to hold up against the Badger running game. The offense gave it a go late, but the hole had already been dug. This is a turning point. Last year the Gophers went into the tank over the second half of the season, and with dates at Penn State and at Ohio State to follow, the Purdue game next week means everything to the season.

Sept. 26
Minnesota 35 … at Northwestern 24
Minnesota got revenge from last year’s tough loss to the Wildcats as Duane Bennett ran for three short touchdowns and Eric Decker caught two scoring passes. Northwestern held a 24-21 lead in the fourth quarter on a 13-yard Brendan Mitchell touchdown catch, but that was it for the Wildcat scoring with Minnesota scoring 14 unanswered points to pull out the win. Mike Kafka threw two touchdown passes for NU.
Player of the Game: Minnesota RB Duane Bennett ran 21 times for 89 yards and three touchdowns.
Minnesota: Passing: Adam Weber, 15-26, 186 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Duane Bennett, 21-83, 3 TD, Receiving: Erik Decker, 8-84, 2 TD
Northwestern: Passing: Mike Kafka, 32-47, 309 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Arby Fields, 9-43, 1 TD, Receiving: Zeke Markshausen, 6-70
What It All Means: Minnesota did a nice job of getting back on track after the rough loss to Cal, and it showed a little running game for the first time in a while with Duane Bennett providing a decent balance. But the team will go as far as Adam Weber and Eric Decker can carry it with those two needing to do even more next week against a Wisconsin running game that could go nuts on a soft Gopher defensive front. A bigger concern is the midrange pass defense that got picked apart by NU’s Mike Kafka; UW’s Scott Tolzien is red hot at the moment. 

Sept. 19
California 35 … at Minnesota 21
Jahvid Best ran for a school-record five touchdowns scoring from 33, two, 27, two and two yards out, with the last two putting the game away after Minnesota tied it at 21 with a seven-yard scoring pass from WR Eric Decker to QB MarQueis Gray. Decker also caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Adam Weber. The Gophers had their chances late, but a Weber interception ruined the chances.
Player of the Game: California RB Jahvid Best ran 26 times for 131 yards and five touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 17 yards.
Minnesota: Passing: Adam Weber, 21-32, 226 yds, 2 TD, 3 INT
Rushing: DeLeon Eskridge, 7-21, Receiving: Eric Decker, 8-119, 2 TD
California: Passing: Kevin Riley, 16-25, 252 yds
Rushing: Jahvid Best, 26-131, 5 TD, Receiving: Verran Tucker, 3-78
What It All Means: Minnesota has to manufacture a ground game. Losing to Cal isn’t anything to be ashamed of, that’s supposed to be one of the nation’s best teams, and Jahvid Best will do big things against a lot of good teams, but to make a big push in the Big Ten, the Gophers have to run for more than 37 yards at home. Adam Weber-to-Eric Decker is the offense, but they’re not good enough to carry the team consistently. Weber hasn’t been sharp enough.

Sept. 12
at Minnesota 20 ... Air Force 13
Minnesota opened its beautiful new stadium with 17 tackles from LB Nathan Tripplett and ten catches from Eric Decker on the way to a 20-10 lead. Down 10-3 going into the fourth, the Gophers a 17-point run in the fourth quarter highlighted by a 52-yard Triplett fumble return for a score and with a seven-yard DeLeon Eskridge run. Air Force managed an Erik Soderberg field goal with just over a minute to play to pull within seven, but couldn't get the onside kick.
Player of the Game: Minnesota LB Nathan Triplett made 17 tackles, broke up a pass, and returned a fumble 52 yards for a score.
Air Force: Passing: Tim Jefferson, 10-17, 125 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Asher Clark, 12-90, Receiving: Jonathan Warzeka, 3-55
Minnesota: Passing: Adam Weber, 20-29, 219 yds
Rushing: DeLeon Eskridge, 7-53, Receiving: Eric Decker, 10-113
What It All Means: While it was nice to open up the new ballpark with a win, the offense had better find more pop in a big hurry before Cal shows up. Adam Weber and Eric Decker continue to hook up time and again to keep the chains moving, but there isn't enough of a commitment to the ground game and there aren't nearly enough consistent drives considering Weber has been hot early. On the plus side, the defense has been good over the first two weeks, but Jahvid Best and the Bears could change that in a big hurry.

Sept. 5
Minnesota 23 … at Syracuse 20 OT
Minnesota PK Eric Ellestad sent the game into overtime with a 26-yard field goal with less than a minute to play, and then he won it on a 35-yarder in the extra time. Syracuse had a golden opportunity in its chance, but a scrambling Greg Paulus threw an interception opening the door for the Gophers. Adam Weber threw a seven yard touchdown pass to Troy Stoudermire and Duane Bennett ran for a 16-yard score, but Syracuse rallied in the first half with a 29-yard Mike Williams touchdown catch and a one-yard Delone Carter scoring dash. The Orange failed to get on the board in the second half.
Player of the Game: Minnesota WR Eric Decker caught nine passes for 183 yards
Minnesota: Passing: Adam Weber, 19-42, 248 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Duane Bennett, 16-78, 1 TD, Receiving: Eric Decker, 9-183
VV: Passing: Greg Paulus, 19-31, 167 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Delone Carter, 23-88, 1 TD, Receiving: Mike Williams, 7-94, 1 TD
What It All Means: Minnesota outplayed Syracuse but had to scramble because the passing game wasn’t quite clicking and the running game didn’t do enough to help carry the offense. However, when needed, Adam Weber came through with the passes needed to get the team in a position to get into overtime. The defense had a terrific game, led by LB Lee Campbell, keeping the Orange to just 257 yards of total offense and allowing just one of 12 third down conversions.