GAME 8 OHIO STATE v MINNESOTA
November 7,
2015 Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Stadium: TCF Bank Stadium (50,805)
Coach: Tracy Claeys (1st year):
4-4 at Minnesota/overall/v B1G, 0-0 v OSU
Series: OSU 44, Minnesota 7
Last
Meeting: 11/15/2014:
OSU 31, Minnesota 24
Coach Meyer (4th year): 46-3 at OSU/150-26 overall, 32-2 v
B1G, 1-0 v Minnesota
2014 Minnesota Golden Gophers
(8-5)(5-3) 2014
Ohio State Buckeyes (14-1)(9-0)
42 Eastern Illinois 20 34 at
Navy (Baltimore) 17
35 Middle Tennessee State 24 21 Virginia Tech 35
7 at
Texas Christian 30 66 Kent State 0
24 San Jose State 7 50 Cincinnati 28
30 at Michigan 14 52 at Maryland 24
24 Northwestern 17 56 Rutgers 17
39 Purdue 38 31 at Penn State (2OT) 24
24 at Illinois 28 55 Illinois 14
51 Iowa 14 49 at Michigan State 37
24 Ohio State 31 31 at Minnesota 24
28 at Nebraska 24 42 Indiana 27
24 at Wisconsin 34 42 Michigan 28
17 Missouri 33 59 Wisconsin
0
(Citrus Bowl) (B1G
Championship)
42 Alabama 35
(Sugar
Bowl)
42 Oregon 20
(National
Championship)
2015 Minnesota Golden Gophers
(4-4)(1-3) 2015
Ohio State Buckeyes (8-0)(4-0)
17 Texas Christian 23 42 at Virginia Tech 24
23 at Colorado State (OT) 20 38 Hawaii 0
10 Kent State
7 20 Northern Illinois 13
27 Ohio University 24 38 Western Michigan 12
0 at
Northwestern 27 34 at Indiana 27
41 at Purdue 13 49 Maryland 28
25 Nebraska 48 38 Penn State 10
O24 49 at Rutgers
7
26 Michigan 29
N7 at Ohio State Minnesota
N14 at Iowa at
Illinois
N21 Illinois Michigan
State
N28 Wisconsin at
Michigan
It is a time
of transition for the Minnesota football program. Beloved coach Jerry Kill retired last week
and the Gophers went out and suffered a heart-breaking loss to Michigan in a
game where they clearly outplayed the Wolverines. Tracy Claeys has assumed the duties of
interim coach.
MINNESOTA OFFENSE v OHIO STATE
DEFENSE: The Gophers
are coming off a game in which they racked up 461 total yards against a good
Michigan defense. The Gopher offense is
in good hands with Mitch Leidner as the man under center. Although appearing to be a pure drop back
passer, Leidner has also shown an ability to run, with two career 100-yard
rushing games, and can throw the deep ball with good accuracy. The receiving combination of KJ Maye and Drew
Wolitarsky is capable of testing any secondary as they have combined for 87
receptions for 972 yards and five touchdowns.
Eric Carter missed last week’s game against Michigan with an injury and
is doubtful for this game, but he has contributed 21 receptions for 245 yards
and a score. Sophomore Brandon Lingen
has grown into a good blocker and a capable receiver as well. Lingen hauled in two scoring tosses at Purdue
and then caught four passes for 111 yards against Michigan, becoming the first
Minnesota tight end to have over 100 yards receiving in a game since 2001 and
the most since 1981. It no secret the
Gophers like to run the football ,and as a team, they have rushed for 1241
yards and nine touchdowns. Redshirt
freshman Rodney Smith will carry the bulk of the load for Minnesota on the
ground. A small, quick back, Smith has
541 yards and will be backed up by true freshman Shannon Brooks, who started
against Northwestern and had a break-out game at Purdue, where he garnered 176
yards. They have managed this production
despite a banged-up offensive line. Only
sophomore Connor Mayes at guard and sophomore Jonah Pirsig at tackle have
started all eight games. Junior Ben
Lauer and senior Joe Bjorklund have managed to fill in nicely at tackle and
guard on the left side on the line, while freshman Tyler Moore will fill in at
center for the injured Brian Bobek.
Ohio State’s
defense is coming off of two dominating performances against Penn State and
Rutgers. They will likely concentrate on
protecting against the zone run plays that have hurt them in the past, thus
daring Leidner to throw the ball. So,
the focus will be on the pass rush and guys like Eli Apple and Vonn Bell to
cover the deep routes.
MINNESOTA DEFENSE v OHIO STATE
OFFENSE: The Gophers
have been known to play a pretty decent brand of defense this year. Minnesota is averaging 5 three-and-outs a
game, which is fourth-best in the conference and 16th in the
nation. Up front, the Gophers are led by
senior DE Theiren Cockran, who is a four-year starter. This year, Cockran comes into the game with
19 tackles , six tackles for loss, and three sacks and his quickness makes him
tough to block on the perimeter on runs to his side. Next to him is DT sophomore Steve Richardson,
who has excelled thus far, with 26 tackles, including an impressive eight
tackles for loss and three sacks. The
Ekpe brothers (Scott and Hendrick, both juniors) round out this unit at the
other DT and DE spots. Scott has 14
tackles with two TFLs and Hendrick has five, with one TFL and one sack.
Minnesota’s
linebacking corps mixes a new face in sophomore Jonathan Celestin (MLB) with
experienced junior Jack Lynn at one OLB and senior De’Vondre Campbell at the
other. Campbell is third on the team in
tackles with 47, which includes two TFLs and a sack. He also has an interception to his credit, as
he has been adept at covering opposing running backs out of the backfield. Lynn is right behind him with 43 tackles and
has proven to be tough to block on blitzes, as he has collected 6.5 tackles for
loss. Celestin has picked up his game as
of late, with 29 tackles and three tackles for loss. Minnesota has one of the most experienced
secondaries in the conference in corners Eric Murray, Briean Boddy-Calhoun, and
SS Antonio Johnson who leads the team in tackles with 55. Murray is not far behind with 38 and excels
in run support with three tackles for loss and a sack. Boddy-Calhoun comes in to the game with 24
and has also contributed two interceptions.
Sophomore Adekunle Ayinde will be at FS and is a good deep-cover man
with 27 tackles and four pass break-ups.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Sophomore Ryan Santoso has proven
he has a good leg, as he has hit on 14 of 17 field goal attempts with a long of
50, while senior punter Peter Mortell has done an outstanding job on his 47
punts, averaging almost 44 yards with a long of 66.
SUMMARY: Minnesota played their hearts out
last week against Michigan and should’ve won that game. Whether the heartbreak of that game carries
over to this week, or perhaps gives them an added incentive, remains to be
seen. Minnesota wants to establish they
can run on the zone isolation plays that have occasionally hurt Ohio State this
year and they will try to throw short to TE Brandon Lingen to take pressure off
of Leidner on passing downs. On defense,
Minnesota will probably figure they have little choice, but to load the box to
slow down Elliott, thus daring Cardale Jones to beat their experienced
secondary with the deep ball where he has experienced some issues this
year. Ohio State could counter with Braxton
Miller and other speedsters on the edge and wear down Minnesota’s defense with
sheer speed and athleticism. On defense,
as long as Ohio State can prevent being gashed on the zone isolation runs, they
shouldn’t have much difficulty putting pressure on Leitner and forcing
mistakes. Last year, playing on the
frozen tundra in Minneapolis, the Buckeyes kept Minnesota in the game with
turnovers in the red zone and in the return game. So long as they avoid this, they’ll cruise to
an easy win.
OHIO STATE 42, MINNESOTA 17
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