Minnesota Golden Gophers (West Division)
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Stadium: TCF Bank Stadium (50,805)
Coach: Jerry Kill (5th year): 25-26 at Minnesota/48-42 overall, 13-19 v B1G
2014 Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-5)(5-3) 2015 Minnesota Golden Gophers
42 Eastern Illinois 20 S3 Texas Christian
35 Middle Tennessee 24 S12 at Colorado State
7 at Texas Christian 30 S19 Kent State
24 San Jose State 7 S26 Ohio University
30 at Michigan 14 O3 at Northwestern
24 Northwestern 17 O10 at Purdue
39 Purdue 38 O17 Nebraska
24 at Illinois 28 O31 Michigan
51 Iowa 14 N7 at Ohio State
24 Ohio State 31 N14 at Iowa
28 at Nebraska 24 N21 Illinois
24 at Wisconsin 34 N28 Wisconsin
17 Missouri 33
(Citrus Bowl)
When you look at building a program from the ground up, you should look at a photo of Jerry Kill and his staff. In the last three seasons, Minnesota has improved from three wins to eight wins last year as Minnesota is now a program to be taken seriously in the B1G Conference.
QB Mitch Leidner made a fine comeback last year after he sprained his MCL and his performance suffered as a result during their loss at TCU, but came back to lead the offense and pick up a respectable 452 rushing yards. This year, as Minnesota will be attempting to replace 1600+ yard rusher David Cobb, the coaching staff will work on more downfield passing routes. Although the Gophers lose outstanding TE Maxx Williams (declared early for NFL draft), their leading receiver from a year ago, returning will senior KJ Maye, at the wideout position. He did well, considering Minnesota’s run-heavy play selection as he hauled in 16 catches for 298 yards. Maye will also be used quite a bit on reverses and counters as last year he carried 23 times for 144 yards and a touchdown. The challenge at this position, especially as they attempt to develop more a deep threat, will be replacing Isaac Fruechte at WR, however, the coaches are impressed at how redshirt freshman Jeff (JJ) Jones looked in spring practice, so they have tentatively penciled him in as the starter opposite Maye. Junior Duke Anyanwu, who figures to be fully recovered from his ACL injury a year ago, has the upper hand in replacing Williams at TE with sophomore Brandon Lingen could see time when the Gophers go to a two-TE formation. Minnesota will always favor the running game and they will look to replace Cobb with senior Rodrick Williams, who played in all 13 games last year as Cobb’s backup and managed 114 yards and three scores. Sophomore Berkley Edwards also saw experience last year and garnered 140 yards and two scores. They, along with HB/WB sophomore Nate Wozniak will look to keep Minnesota going on the ground as they try to make up for the loss of Cobb and Wozniak could be used as more of an “H-back”, catching passes out of the backfield. Minnesota had a good offensive line last year and look for that to continue this season. Even though they lose All-B1G guard Zac Eppling and center Tommy Olson, they return three experienced linemen in senior Josh Campion at RG, and both tackles juniors Ben Lauer and Jonah Pirsig. Senior Jon Christenson, who saw action in all their games last year, will take over at LG and his classmate Brian Bobek should be the starting center.
Defensively, the Gophers have defended against the run a little better each year Kill has been the coach. This is due, in large part, in being able to recruit bigger and faster defensive linemen. This year, they are faced with replacing an excellent DT Cameron Botticelli and also DE Michael Amaefula, but return senior Theiren Cockran at DE and sophomore NT Steven Richardson. Cockran had 23 tackles last year and four sacks and Richardson also contributed 23 tackles with two sacks. Juniors Scott Ekpe and Hendrick Epke look to fill in at DT and the other DE spot. This unit should be able to defend against the run better than they did last year. The Gophers are also looking well at linebacker, with two starters, De’Vondre Campbell (sr) and junior Jack Lynn return at the outside positions. Campbell turned in an impressive 75 tackles and 6.5 TFL in 2014, while Lynn turned in 57 tackles, 6.5 TFL and a sack. Junior Cody Poock, a JC transfer, will take over the middle position here. New recruits Julian Huff and Joseph Mydra figure to get quite a bit of playing time in this unit as well. Even though the Gophers lose Cedric Thompson and Derrick Wells out of the secondary, they still return experience. Senior CB Briean Boddy-Calhoun was 1st Team All Conference a year ago with 51 tackles and an impressive five interceptions and the other CB, senior Eric Murray, made 2nd team All-Conference with 69 tackes, seven pass break-ups and an interception. Senior SS Damarius Travis is also back with 61 tackles and will be tough to handle during blitz situations as he managed 3.5 tackles for loss. Hard-tackling senior FS Antonio Johnson returns after missing their last four games, while JC transfer Ace Rogers should do well in the nickel and dime packages.
Special teams is another area in which Jerry Kill-coached teams do well and this year, the Gophers return sophomore kicker Ryan Santoso and senior punter Peter Mortell. Santoso was 12/18 on his field goals with a long of 52, while Mortell averaged 43.3 yards on his 62 punts and was third-team All Conference. Craig James averaged 8.7 yards per punt return and he is back, as well as kick returner Jalen Myrick, who averaged a respectable 28.2 yards per kickoff return and had a 100-yard return for a touchdown.
Last year, the Gophers were +10 in the turnover margin, which is something Coach Jerry Kill has improved on each year he has been at the helm of Minnesota. With an improved defensive line, the Gophers could make things very interesting in the B1G West Division and could be a handful against the run-heavy teams on their schedule, such as Nebraska and Wisconsin. However, they lose quite a bit of experience, particularly on offense and with just twelve returning starters, it will be tough to repeat last year’s eight-win total.
2015 Projection: 8-4 (5-3) 3rd in West Division
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