If Future Frothy approached you in his flying Delorean back
in August and told you that on January 1st Minnesota would be 11-2 with two
wins over Top 15 teams and a bowl win against #12 Auburn, what would you have
thought? Let’s assume he also told you that Auburn’s three losses were all
against Top 10 teams and three of their wins were against Top 20 teams
including Alabama? I’m assuming once you cleaned up your pants from being
approached by a time-traveling giant you might not have believed it.
Yet here we are in 2020 and all of those things are true. It
wasn’t a perfect season and there were certainly disappointments, but come on.
I find their impact lessened and hopefully you do too, because there’s so much
to celebrate. Everyone can tick off several milestones and big events that
haven’t happened recently or even in our lifetimes. Maybe someone on the
website will do a year-end retrospective to review them again, but I’ll focus
on the two that weren’t true until today.
First, 11 wins are the most for Minnesota in the forward
pass era. Only two Minnesota squads have ever won more: the 1904 (13-0) and
1903 (14-0-1), but both of those schedules included several high school teams
and a variety of small colleges. It’s a huge milestone for the program.
Second and potentially bigger, Minnesota defeated two AP Top
15 teams this season. The last time that happened was 1961 when the Gophers
defeated #1 Michigan State and #7 Purdue. Minnesota went into the Outback Bowl
ranked #18 in the AP Poll and will likely finish the season in the Top 15,
probably in the 10-13 range. This will be their highest end-of-season ranking
since 1962 when Minnesota finished #10. These a meaningful changes, and the
type of thing that really strong programs need to do regularly.
The Outback Bowl looked like a blast for those who went; the
crowd appeared heavily slanted towards the maroon and gold, and the bowl and
city of Tampa Bay seemed to have a lot of good events taking advantage of the
amazing weather. For those of us watching in the back room at Manning’s it
began with the same apprehension and emotional self-defense mechanisms all
Gopher fans know well. That gradually gave way to cautious optimism that at
least we wouldn’t get blown out, then hope, and then joy. In there was the
moment that I felt defined what was different about this team and this season.
In the third quarter the Gophers were up 24-17 when Minnesota
encountered series of events that seemed to swing the momentum to Auburn. A
borderline pass interference call against Benjamin St. Juste led to a
game-tying touchdown for Auburn on the next play. A holding call against the Gopher
line that should have been negated by an obvious Auburn offsides prior to the
snap, and then a false-start penalty, forced Minnesota to punt. Auburn got the ball
on their 20, and then a pair of immediate first downs brought the ball near
midfield.
Gopher fans are familiar with this feeling, and even those
of us who thought we’d put it behind us felt that old tightening of the gut and
other gastrointestinal areas. In the past this is where it all comes apart. With
the ball on the Auburn 47, Minnesota stuffed a rush attempt for a 1 yard loss.
2nd and 11 from the 46, Minnesota penetrated the Auburn O-line and
forced Bo Nix to scramble resulting in an incomplete pass. 3rd and
11 from the 46, Nix was flushed again but salvaged a 3 yard run to the Auburn
49. It was 4th and 8, and perhaps feeling the momentum swing
themselves, Auburn went for it. Like the two plays before, Nix dropped back to
pass but the O-line splintered and he suddenly was running for the sideline
from two Minnesota defenders. A desperation pass near the sideline fell
incomplete and Auburn turned over on downs.
This was what felt so different in 2019. At the moment when
everything seemed to be going against Minnesota, the team maintained their
cool, the coaches made adjustments, and the Gophers stopped Auburn in their
tracks. The team never showed signs of giving up, and their play only improved
as the game went on. On their remaining two possessions, Auburn punted both
times and gained a total of only 19 yards.
Then the Gopher offense did their job. After an abortive
drive and a game of “spot the football” led to a Minnesota punt, on Minnesota’s
penultimate possession Tyler Johnson put a bow on an incredible career with a
73 yard touchdown reception that ended up being the winning play. The final
Minnesota drive may be forgotten in the narrative of the game, but we can thank
Mo Ibrahim and Bryce Witham for burning the remaining 8:38 on the clock and
giving us a hint of what we might see with a Coach Simon offense in the 2020
season.
Minnesota came in ready to play and the coaching staff
mostly out-schemed Auburn on both sides of the ball. On the season, Auburn’s
defense has been one of the best in the country, allowing an average of 20
points per game and a stingy 123 rushing yards per game along with 214 passing ypg
for a total average of 337 offensive yards. Minnesota blew these statistics
away scoring 31, gaining 215 yards on the ground and 279 in the air for a total
of 494. It was the most productive game for the Minnesota offense in 2019 other
than the Maryland game where they gained 498 total yards.
As impressive as this was, Minnesota’s defense deserves
significant credit as well, allowing 17 points and 232 total yards to the Auburn
offense. Auburn’s offense has struggled with its identity at times this season,
but Bo Nix is still a good QB and they have other weapons. They averaged 33 ppg on
the season, 199 yards on the ground and 207 through the air. Minnesota held
them to a paltry 56 yards on the ground and 176 through the air.
If you’re not excited about 2020 after today you need to
figure your life out. We still don’t know who our new Offensive Coordinator
will be, but Matt Simon had one hell of a good job interview today. He showed
he knows how to use Mo Ibrahim effectively even in the face of a very good run
defense; Mo gained 140 yards on 20 carries for a 7.0 ypc average. He used the
passing game to open up the run, and with a double-team on Rashod Bateman the
whole game, schemed to take advantage of that and feed Johnson instead. But the
most exciting thing to me and something that would have come in handy in
November was a tight end passing game. Bryce Witham had 2 receptions for 11
yards and 1 TD, but both plays were absolutely critical to the game. If the 2020
Gopher offense can build on their 2019 success at WR and also activate a
situational passing game with the TEs, the Running Backs will have a lot of
different options to get out into the flats.
It has been an absolute pleasure to get to watch Tyler
Johnson’s career blossom under a good QB and WR coaches. His 204 yard
performance today gave him the most productive WR season in Minnesota history
and a well-deserved MVP. It’s possible that for the past two years, we got to
see the two greatest Wide Receivers in Gopher history play together.
The less said about our Special Teams the better. This area
has been a liability all season, and Rob Wenger absolutely has to improve it in
2020 or it’s going to cost us an otherwise-winnable close game.
Finally, a tip of the hat to Tanner Morgan and the Gopher
O-line. Both adjusted very effectively as the game went along, finally finding
a way to be successful without Daniel Faalele. Morgan’s initial skittishness grew
to confidence in the pocket as the game went on, and the O-line picked up on
Auburn’s schemes and were able to get him a lot more time by the 4th
Quarter than they had in the 1st. Morgan was 19/29 for 278 yards, 2
TDs, and 1 INT.
As we head into the offseason, take time to savor what a fun
ride this season has been. Unless you were alive in 1960 or 1961 you’ve never
experienced anything like it. Yet we know there’s so much more that can happen,
so much more to achieve. As good as this was, 2020 has potential to be truly
exceptional. Yes, there are questions, but Coach Fleck and his staff have
earned the opportunity to enjoy our trust that they’re going to build on this
remarkable success.
Now get off your butts and go get your free coconut shrimp.
Let’s bankrupt Outback Steakhouse!
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