Looking at Minnesota’s offense, it’s easy to look at the Gophers’ stats and assume that they prefer to throw the ball more than they prefer to run it. That’s because Minnesota has thrown the ball 53.9% of the time and run the ball just 46.1% of the time, but that wouldn’t tell the whole story.
In each of the Gophers’ wins, Minnesota has run the ball more than 51% of the time while they have run the ball less than 39% of the time in each of their three losses.
So, it seems the more the Gophers have to throw the ball, the less likely they are to win, which is interesting because the stats for their quarterback don’t look that bad.
Speaking of which, let’s look at Minnesota’s offensive personnel.
Quarterback,
Junior Drake Lindsey will start at quarterback for the Golden Gophers. He has started all eight games this season for Minnesota. He has completed 161 of 259 pass attempts which is good for 62.16%. He has thrown for ten touchdowns and been intercepted six times, and he is averaging 199 yards per game.
Lindsey isn’t much of a running quarterback. He has run 24 times for a net loss of 39 yards, and his longest run has been just five yards. He has not scored on any of his runs.
Running Game
Senior Darius Taylor has been the team’s starting running back in six of the Gophers’ eight games. He has carried 83 times for just 217 net yards. That’s an average of 2.6 yards per carry. He leads the team in rushing touchdowns with five.
Junior TJ Thomas has been Minnesota’s most productive back. He has carried 63 times for 379 net yards and a touchdown. That’s good for an average of 6.0 yards per carry. Thomas’ only start of the season came against Akron.
Sophomore Xavier Ford got the start last week against Indiana. For the season, he has carried 29 times for 128 yards and a touchdown. He is averaging 4.4 yards per carry, and his longest run of the season went for 11 yards.
Passing Game
Minnesota has tended to start three wide receivers and one tight end in most games, though depending on the game, they have started a second tight end or running back instead of the third receiver.
Interestingly, the Gophers’ top receiver has only started half of their games. That would be Javon Tracy. Tracy has 46 receptions for 460 yards and a touchdown.
Cincinnati transfer Noah Jennings is the only Minnesota receiver to start all eight gamees. His 33 receptions for 395 yards is second on the team in both categories. Jennings has scored one touchdown.
Junior Jalen Smith has started six games so far. He has made 18 receptions for 263 yards. That’s an average of 14.60 yards per catch. Smith’s three touchdowns is the most on the team.
Minnesota has started two tight ends four times and they have started five different players at tight end. Despite that, or maybe because of it, no Gopher tight end has made more than 7 receptions. Freshman Roman Voss leads the tight ends with 7 receptions for 117 yards and two touchdowns.
So, Minnesota doesn’t throw to their tight ends much till they are in the end zone.
Analysis
After looking at each player’s stats, it doesn’t look like the Golden Gophers’ offense is especially explosive. They certainly prefer to run the football, and they run it a lot more in their wins than they do in their losses.
Now, that looks like it’s because they are forced to throw the ball more to catch up, but if the Bruin defense can shut down the Gopher rushing attack, it will likely go a long way toward a Bruin victory.
Go Bruins!!!
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Well Joe, temperatures are expected to be somewhere in the low 40s at kickoff. In addition to the "body clock" issue, this will be the coldest weather test the Bruins have faced all season. Our defense leads the entire country with 26 takeaways. Hopefully, the multiple looks we use on Defense will confuse Gophers quarterback Drake Lindsey enough to get a pick or two and set up short fields; don't know if either team can manage 80 yard drives today against these two tough defenses.......