MINNing For Gold | Minnesota Golden Gophers (NCAA Football)

[Burger5204]

If you need linemen, you might be a tad too late. Maybe you'll get a lucky transfer. Athletes seem to be available late in the year.

[mattynokes]

Burger5204: JUCOs are my go-to late in the season, but there aren't any viable options left. There's definitely some one-star JUCOs and a few two-star high school prospects left, but I don't think they can help us. Anyone that I'd add now would likely be passed up on the depth chart by an incoming freshman the following year. My only hope is that there are some linemen added in the off-season.
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2017 Long Forgotten Photos

Jermaine McBride blocked field goal (at Illinois).


Elgin Baker touchdown run (at Illinois).


Jeremy Jamison touchdown run (at Illinois).


Jermaine McBride blocked PAT(vs Michigan).


George Hill kick return touchdown (at Northwestern).


Sean White pancake (at Northwestern).


Jeremy Jamison touchdown reception (at Northwestern).


Jeremy Jamison touchdown run (vs Mississippi).


Eric Jordan reception off of a deflection (vs Mississippi).

[mattynokes]

2018 Photos

Eric Gardner (84) gets his hands on the ball, but it’s Mike Freeman who hauls in the hail mary pass for a score (vs Miami).


Kyle Smith gets behind the defense for a long touchdown catch and run (vs Colorado State).


Sam Romero times the snap perfectly to block the PAT (vs Colorado State).


Mike Freeman lays out for a photo perfect shot on his touchdown catch to ice the game (vs Colorado State).


Travis Norman palms the ball with two fingers with Willie Hardy (39) celebrates the score with jumping jacks (at Ohio State).


Elgin Baker heads into the endzone for a big score (at Ohio State).


Ricky Kiniry picks off a pass late in the game to give Minnesota a chance to win (at Ohio State).


Eric Gardner with an over the shoulder touchdown (at Wisconsin).


Elgin Baker slings it to Eric Gardner for a score while Tamati Pelu (73) and Travis Norman (41) provide pass protection (at Iowa).


Elgin Baker takes a QB Power 49 yards for an untouched score (vs Illinois).


Mr. Hurdle takes the direct snap 93 yards for a score, but it all started with hopping over Evan Jude’s pancake (vs Illinois).

BONUS VIDEO

What a crazy play. It was the FL Screen out of Shotgun Y-Trips. As soon as the ball was snapped I noticed the CB jump the play. Somehow Baker was able to avoid the DE and scrambling, I thought I was past the line of scrimmage and being concerned with the DT now in chase, I tried to slide. However, I wasn’t past the LOS and Baker throws it backwards to a now wide open Freeman, who was credited with a 17 yard run.

[mattynokes]

2018 Review

Week 12 #19	At #22	L 24-52
Suspension Roll: TB Robert Phillips (2 Games) TE Steve Gaines (2 Games) What an ugly game. Turnovers certainly didn’t help either. Next. Week 13 Vs W 34-17 Suspension Roll: T Buck Washington (3 Games) WR Chris Heath (1 Quarter) We made quick work of the Wildcats. Thomas and Norman combined for almost 200 yards rushing and Baker was an efficient 12 of 19 passing. Great all-around effort.
Week 14 #25	At	L 24-30
Suspension Roll: TE Justin Scott (1 Game) Despite their 3-8 record, entering the game, they were the quality opponent we had hoped for when we scheduled them to a home-and-home series. In the end, we just couldn’t hold on to our lead.
Week 19	Vs (80)	W 45-10
The game was close at halftime (21-10) and we even turned it over on our first possession in the third quarter, but an interception at the goal line by Ricky Kiniry started the onslaught as we racked up over 450 yards of offense for the school’s first bowl win since 2004.

[mattynokes]

ESPN College Football Season Review

Rank Team Rank Team Rank Team Rank Team Rank Team 1 Georgia 6 Texas Tech 11 Oklahoma 16 Nevada 21 Miami 2 NC State 7 Wisconsin 12 Georgia Tech 17 Maryland 22 S. Mississippi 3 Washington 8 Texas Christian 13 Boston College 18 S. California 23 Utah 4 Notre Dame 9 Oregon 14 Alabama 19 South Carolina 24 Houston 5 Troy 10 Auburn 15 Texas 20 Pittsburgh 25 Toledo 5

Rank	EAST	Record		Rank		WEST	Record
1		8-6 (6-3)		1			11-3 (9-0)*
2		7-6 (5-3)		2			8-5 (6-2)
3		8-5 (5-3)		3			8-5 (5-3)
4		3-9 (2-6)		4			8-5 (4-4)
5		4-8 (2-6)		5			5-7 (3-5)
6		2-10 (1-7)		6			3-9 (1-7)

* - B1G Champion

BOWL GAMES
	Rose Bowl vs #5 Washington, L 16-20
	Ticket City Bowl vs Houston, L 21-24
	Gator Bowl vs Louisiana State, L 21-41
	Capital One Bowl vs #12 Auburn, L 10-41
	Outback Bowl vs Mississippi, L 23-29
	Insight Bowl vs Iowa State, W 45-10
	Texas Bowl vs Baylor, W 49-3

ALL-B1G TEAMS

Position 1st Team 2nd Team QB Dan Wilson (Jr, Wisconsin) Lance Moore (Sr, Penn State) TB Derrick Smith (Sr, Nebraska) Lawrence Barber (Jr, Michigan) TB Randy Johnson (Sr, Wisconsin) Travis Norman (Sr, Minnesota) WR Brian Weber (Sr, Wisconsin) Doug Small (Sr, Indiana) WR Terry Hudson (Sr, Michigan) Nick Smith (Sr, Northwestern) TE Antwan Weber (Sr, Indiana) Marcus Wayne (Jr, Michigan State) T Evan Jude (Sr, Minnesota) Matt Craft (So, Penn State) T Ernest Smith (R-Fr, Wisconsin) Nick Holmes (Sr, Iowa) G Ray Cook (Sr, Iowa) Thomas Timmons (So, Wisconsin) G John Cox (Sr, Iowa) Matt Smith (Sr, Nebraska) C Henry Parker (Jr, Wisconsin) Phil Tidwell (Jr, Penn State) DE Allen Wade (Sr, Wisconsin) Leonard Peterson (Jr, Ohio State) DE Chad Leonard (Sr, Iowa) Nathan Campbell (Sr, Wisconsin) DT Richard Archie (Sr, Michigan) Todd Barber (Sr, Nebraska) DT Sean Baker (Jr, Wisconsin) Clayton Evans (Sr, Minnesota) LB Quinton Smith (Sr, Iowa) Alex Roach (Sr, Wisconsin) LB Pierre Jenkins (Jr, Wisconsin) William Fuller (So, Iowa) LB Allen Moore (Sr, Wisconsin) Kris Jenkins (Jr, Penn State) CB Kevin Simmons (Sr, Indiana) Will Lindsey (Sr, Iowa) CB Maurice Ham (Sr, Ohio State) Tyler Nelson (Jr, Wisconsin) S Doug Mills (Sr, Iowa) Brett Craig (Jr, Wisconsin) S Kenneth Morton (Sr, Michigan) Stephen Atkins (Jr, Indiana) K Greg Jones (Sr, Nebraska) Corey Hall (R-Fr, Minnesota) P Michael Lynch (R-Fr, Iowa) Brad Jones (Jr, Indiana) RET WR Antonio Battle (Jr, Iowa) TB Chriatian Lane (Sr, Minnesota)

[mattynokes]

2018 Photos Pt. 2

Sam Romero catches the option pitch and takes the distance for a score (at Brigham Young).


Donnie Griffin (94) misses the sack while Clayton Evans cleans up (at Brigham Young).


George Hill slips out of a tackle, getting free for a 32 yard touchdown run (vs Iowa State).


On busted coverage, Mike Freeman takes a simple out route 77 yards for a touchdown (vs Iowa State).


Get this man some syrup! George Smith finishes off his third pancake of the play (at Iowa State).

[mattynokes]

2018 Season In Review

Offense	Total Off	Pass Off	Rush Off	PPG	Off/G	Pass/G	Rush/G	Give	3rd Pct.
84	4680	2342	2338	30.5	360.0	180.2	179.8	14	49.5%
Defense	Total Def	Pass Def	Rush Def	PPG	Def/G	Pass/G	Rush/G	Take	Diff
84	4584	3001	1583	28.1	352.6	230.8	121.8	15	1

Additional Achievements

K Corey Hall - Freshman All-American

Departing Players

QB Elgin Baker

TB Travis Norman

TB Justin Thomas

H-B Willie Hardy

WR Mike Freeman

WR Eric Gardner

T Evan Jude

G Ben Reid

T Tamati Pelu

DT Clayton Evans

DT Donnie Griffin

LB Donny Hawkins

LB Cedric Jackson

LB David Harris

CB Ricky Kiniry

CB Todd Edwards

S Tyler Smith

KR Christian Lane

		2018		Minnesota Golden Gophers			13 TOTAL GAMES
TACKLES					RUSHING
NAME	YR	POS	TA	SK	NAME	YR	NO	YDS	AVG	TD	FUM
T SMITH	SR	S	81	1.0	T NORMAN	SR	203	872	4.3	12	4
A ARNOLD	JR	S	74	0.0	G HILL	JR	112	452	4.0	3	1
C JACKSON	SR	LB	66	0.0	E BAKER	SR	110	414	3.8	6	7
T EDWARDS	SR	CB	62	0.0	J THOMAS	SR	105	387	3.7	1	0
D HARRIS	SR	LB	60	4.0	W HARDY	SR	21	77	3.7	1	0
R KINIRY	SR	CB	59	0.0	B ROBERTS	JR	9	46	5.1	0	0
J MCBRIDE	SO	CB	50	0.0	C ROLAND	JR	9	34	3.8	0	0
D GRIFFIN	SR	DT	43	9.0	J BERRY	JR	5	31	6.2	0	0
DO HAWKINS	SR	LB	42	1.0	M FREEMAN	SR	1	17	17.0	0	0
M COX	JR	DE	38	1.0	M TREANGEN	JR	6	8	1.3	0	1
C EVANS	SR	DT	37	8.0					#DIV/0!
M WALKER	JR	DE	26	3.0					#DIV/0!
D WALKER	JR	CB	24	0.0					#DIV/0!
J JONES	JR	LB	18	0.0
C LANE	SR	SP	16	0.0	TOTAL		581	2338	4.0	23	13
J CABRAL	SO	LB	15	0.0	PASSING
V MAY	FR	LB	14	0.0	NAME		PC	PA	YDS	AVG	%	TD	INT
S ROMERO	JR	CB	11	0.0	E BAKER	SR	157	291	2210	7.6	54.0	19	6
D JONES	FR	S	9	0.0	C ROLAND	JR	9	18	121	6.7	50.0	1	1
S WALKER	JR	CB	8	0.0	M TREANGEN	JR	2	7	11	1.6	28.6	0	0
N CULP	SO	SP	8	0.0
L RICHARDSON	JR	DT	7	0.0
D CANNON	SO	S	7	0.0
M THOMAS	FR	DE	7	0.0	TOTAL		168	316	2342	7.4	53.2	20	7
M ELLIS	SO	LB	5	0.0	RECEIVING
DA HAWKINS	SO	DT	5	0.0	NAME	YR	NO	YDS	AVG	TD
B SANDERS	SO	SP	2	0.0	E GARDNER	SR	46	746	16.2	5
S GAINES	FR	LS	2	0.0	M FREEMAN	SR	29	503	17.3	4
J GERALD	FR	PN	1	0.0	B ROBERTS	JR	28	448	16.0	3
					E JOHNSON	JR	16	182	11.4	1
					W HARDY	SR	16	148	9.3	1
					K SMITH	JR	10	172	17.2	1
					T NORMAN	SR	9	34	3.8	0
					J THOMAS	SR	8	60	7.5	1
					N CULP	SO	4	46	11.5	3
					K ODOM	SO	2	3	1.5	1
									#DIV/0!
									#DIV/0!
TOTAL			797	27.0					#DIV/0!
FUMBLE RECOVERY									#DIV/0!
NAME	YR	POS	NO	TD					#DIV/0!
T SMITH	SR	S	2	1					#DIV/0!
S ROMERO	JR	CB	1	1
DO HAWKINS	SR	LB	1	0	TOTAL		168	2342	13.9	20
M COX	JR	DE	1	0	KICKOFF RETURN
D GRIFFIN	SR	DT	1	0	NAME	YR	NO	YDS	AVG	TD
					C LANE	SR	29	876	30.2	2
					G HILL	JR	24	688	28.7	1
					J THOMAS	SR	9	246	27.3	0
									#DIV/0!
									#DIV/0!
									#DIV/0!
					TOTAL		62	1810	29.2	3
					PUNT RETURN
					NAME	YR	NO	YDS	AVG	TD
TOTAL			6	2	J THOMAS	SR	20	198	9.9	0
INTERCEPTIONS					C LANE	SR	18	174	9.7	1
NAME	YR	POS	NO	TD	B ROBERTS	JR	2	22	11.0	0
R KINIRY	SR	CB	3	0					#DIV/0!
J MCBRIDE	SO	CB	2	0					#DIV/0!
T EDWARDS	SR	CB	1	0
C JACKSON	SR	LB	1	0	TOTAL		40	394	9.9	1
A ARNOLD	JR	S	1	0	KICKING
T SMITH	SR	S	1	0	NAME	YR	FGM	FGA	%	LG	XPM	PTS
					C HALL	FR	16	20	80.0	43	45	93
					J GERALD	FR	1	2	50.0	45	4	7
					TOTAL		17	22	77.3	45	49	100
					PUNTING
					NAME	YR	NO	YDS	AVG	<20	TB
					J GERALD	FR	52	2087	40.1	20	2
					C LANE	SR	1	28	28.0	1	0
TOTAL			9	0	TOTAL		53	2115	39.9	21	2

[mattynokes]

2019 Recruiting Class

2019 Minnesota Golden Gophers Recruiting Class (#46) - [17]
Position	Rating	Rank	Overall	Player	Hometown	Overall
WR		26	151	Leon Schultz	Hillside, NJ	73
ATH		16	175	Terry Sims	River Road, NC	72
ATH		17	192	Andrew Bowers	Athens, GA	73
DE		16	294	Kole McIntyre	Ammon, ID	73
OLB		19	350	Daniel Hayden	Toronto, ON, CN	72
TB		66	459	Vincent Graves	Plantation, FL (Walk-On)	67
TB		69	480	Andrew Martin	Lufkin, TX	67
ATH		50	658	Chase Browne (So)	Littleton, CO	75
CB		85	944	A.J. Graham	Oakdale, LA	67
QB		61	1026	Jeremy Branch	New Berlin, WI	67
G		62	1115	Fred Collins	El Paso, TX	67
ATH		71	1265	Eric Williams (So)	Goldenrod, FL	70
CB		129	1416	Robert Jordan (Jr)	Bellair, FL	77
OLB		112	1454	Carlos Fields (So)	Anaheim, CA	73
T		123	1883	Aaron Riley	Vidalia, GA	61
OLB		154	1894	Derek Robinson	Edina, MN	60
DE		179	2073	Kyle Thomas (Jr)	Schertz, TX	71

This class is new for us on many different parts. First off, it’s the best class that I’ve signed so far. Secondly, we went national with only signing two prospects from the Midwest region. Lastly, with many of our initial targets committing elsewhere, we hit the JUCO trail with authority, bringing in 5 junior college athletes. It’s very possible that many of them see playing time right away.

Offense
I can’t overlook at how we failed to bring in more (and better) offensive linemen, However, we brought in many skilled players. And no, I did not recruit that many running backs, two are walk-ons. I nearly recruited Graves, but preferred Martin. Back to quarterback, I’m very high on Branch. The kid can run very well and has solid arm strength. He’ll have enough time to fix his accuracy issues. I’m thrilled with the receivers I got. Schultz should be a star. He’s listed as a possession receiver, but has borderline 4.4 speed! JUCO Browne will almost assuredly play wide receiver and probably see the field a lot in 2019. Sims (6-3 235) is also projected to play wide out and he, too, has been rumored to have 4.4 speed.

For the linemen that we did get, Collins looks like a future great run blocking artist. He’s not terrible in pass protection, but he easily is meant for the ground game. Riley is very raw, but our offensive line is fairly young, so he’ll have plenty of time to grow into a starter.

Defense
Here, we failed to get the great high school coverage defenders in the secondary, but it’s still a solid haul. Either of McIntyre or Thomas will look to move inside to tackle. Both are very disciplined players who can stop the run or the pass. My favorite recruit is probably Bowers. He’s good enough in coverage to play corner (though not fast enough) or safety and he hits well enough to play defensive end (though not big enough) or linebacker. It will be a tough decision on where he ends up, but he should be a stud. Hayden doesn’t possess great athleticism, but he is phenomenal in run support. Like Hayden, Fields does not run well, but is great in run support. One should move inside while the other may battle it out for the strongside starting spot.

Robinson is amazing in coverage and a candidate to move back to safety. Robinson is exactly what I want. A guy who can run and a guy who can press. Even though we didn’t get a great 4-star corner, he will do just fine, a hidden gem in this class. It’s entirely possible that Jordan starts this year. “Amazing speed” and “great man-to-man coverage” are what scouts had to say about him. Our final JUCO commit, Eric Williams, is a true athlete. He can run, he can catch, and he can cover a bit. Where will he end up? The answer is, I have no idea. He could play either offense or defense at a number of positions. It’s just a “wait and see” approach with him.

Looking Ahead
Since we didn’t get our big offensive line effort, we’ll need it again next season. We’ll also need a quality haul on cornerbacks as 4 of our 6 on the roster are upperclassmen. We’re set to lose another 18 players and have 20 open scholarship spots on the roster. The good news is that we don’t project to have many needs, so we can focus on just a few players that will really boost our team going forward. The 2019 and 2020 classes are ones that you’ll be saying, “those were the classes that built this program back into a powerhouse”, hopefully.