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University of Minnesota Athletics
2002 Football Season Outlook:
The Offense
8/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
| Sophomore running back Marion Barber III |
?Yes, we were disappointed that we didn?t qualify for postseason play last season,? Mason said. ?That is one of our team goals every year. However, there were a lot of positives that came out of 2001. We played numerous first and second-year players. That learning experience, we feel, will pay dividends this year and for seasons to come.?
OFFENSE
Minnesota returns 38 letterwinners, including eight starters on defense and six on offense. The offense will be centered around junior co-captain quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq who started eight games in 2001, including the last seven. Abdul-Khaliq improved every week and began to display the ability that made him one of the most sought-after quarterbacks in the country as a prep senior. He possesses great mobility and is an elusive runner with a very strong and accurate arm. He threw for 1,393 yards and 12 TDs, adding 266 yards and three TDs rushing. He finished the year ranked fifth in the Big Ten in passing efficiency with a rating of 134.6. Abdul-Khaliq's game blossomed at the end of the 2001 season, throwing for six touchdowns in the final two games and only two interceptions over the last five contests.
?Asad has displayed tremendous talent since arriving at Minnesota,? Mason said. ?Like a lot of young quarterbacks, his career has been up and down until the latter half of his sophomore year, when he came into his own and established himself as a leader, of not only the offense, but the entire team. He has the rare combination of a very strong, accurate arm with a deceiving, exciting, elusive style of running.?
Abdul-Khaliq will have a number of offensive weapons at his disposal. Leading the way is a tandem of talented running backs in Marion Barber III and Thomas Tapeh.
| Junior quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq |
?Tapeh and Barber are a 1-2 punch. They are thunder and lightning,? Mason explained. ?Both players are strong and fast, have good hands and are proven Big Ten backs. Tapeh will be featured as a tailback and fullback while Barber will be featured as a tailback and receiver. Their abilities and diversity should make our offense very exciting.?
At receiver, the Golden Gophers must replace the most prolific wideout in school history, Ron Johnson, who set nearly every school season and career receiving record. Leading the way will be a pair of speedy wideouts in Jermaine Mays and Antoine Burns. Mays is a fifth- year senior who redshirted the 2001 season. He has 34 career receptions, good for four touchdowns and 513 yards. He has a healthy 15.1 yards per reception average and is very dangerous after the catch. In addition, Mays was the team's top kickoff returner in 2000 when he averaged 23.7 yards per runback with a school-record 100-yard return for a score.
?Jermaine (Mays) returns this season after sitting out last year,? Mason said. ?He made tremendous improvement in his off year and is one of the most committed players in our program. He has excellent speed and will add a deep, big-play potential to our offense.?
Burns is in his third year in the program since transferring from Rochester Community College. He redshirted in 2000, before bursting onto the scene and into a starting role last year. He caught 30 passes for 470 yards and three touchdowns with a 15.7 yards per catch average.
Three other letterwinners return at wideout in Tony Patterson, Keith Matthews and Demetrus Johnson. Patterson earned his second letter in 2001 when he caught 14 passes for 178 yards with a long catch of 49 yards. Another of the Golden Gophers? big targets, he is 6-3, 201 pounds with excellent leaping ability and is not afraid to come across the middle of the field. Matthews is back after sitting out the 2001 season with a few nagging injuries. He earned his letter as a true freshman in 2000. A good-sized target at 6-2, 198, he has great hands. Johnson earned his letter this past fall when he played in every game, catching three passes for 21 yards. A key member of the special teams, he has very good speed and is a tough runner after converting from running back.
?I like this group of receivers,? Mason commented. ?They have good size and speed and the ability to run after the catch.?
| Junior tight end Ben Utecht |
?Utecht may just be the best tight end in the country,? Mason said. ?He is a big wide receiver with the ability to be a dominating blocker. He will be a key to our offense and will figure much more prominently in our passing game.?
One of the biggest concerns for Minnesota's offense going into spring ball was filling the holes on the offensive line created by graduation. The Golden Gophers lost three of the five starters from a line that helped lead the team to a No. 14 rushing ranking in the country. Senior Jake Kuppe returns to anchor the offensive line. A two-year starter, Kuppe is one of the biggest players in the Big Ten, yet he still has excellent feet and is a very good pass protector and run blocker. He is joined by senior Jeremiah Carter. A versatile offensive lineman, Carter can play any position along the line, but will start the year at left tackle. The other returning letterwinner on the line is Joe Quinn, a junior guard who made one start and participated in 115 plays last season. Quinn worked at the right guard position during spring practice and will look to cement himself in that position during preseason camp.
At 6-6, 253, Rian Melander will begin camp as the first-team left guard. Melander has strong bloodlines as the nephew of Jon Melander, a Golden Gopher letterwinner from 1986-89 who went on to play in the NFL. Melander has the frame to get bigger and the talent to be a strong performer for years to come. He will be pushed by Mark McElroy, a 6-5, 291-pound sophomore.
At center, Mason will go back to a formula that worked his first year in 1997. That is, start a talented freshman at center. In ?97, Mason turned to Ben Hamilton, who became a two-time All-American for Mason. In 2002, the Golden Gophers will center their hopes on freshman Mike Nicholson. The advantage Nicholson has over Hamilton is the redshirt freshman is about the same size (6-5, 279) as Hamilton when the All- American graduated. Nicholson has an abundance of talent and will learn on the job for the Maroon and Gold. McElroy will also back-up Nicholson.
Other offensive linemen who will start the year providing depth along the line will be junior Matt McIntosh (6-8, 302) and freshman Richard Ellman (6-5, 277) at left tackle; freshman Trevor McCulloch (6-4, 318) and junior Morgan Kirkland (6-2, 281) at right guard; and sophomore Ricky Wymer (6-8, 310) and redshirt freshman Lance Sannes (6-7, 330) at right tackle.
| Senior offensive lineman Jake Kuppe |
This is the first of a three part series previewing the 2002 Golden Gopher Football team. Part two of the series will be on the site on Tuesday and will look at the Golden Gopher defense. Part three will look at Minnesota's special teams and be on the site Thursday.
| Sophomore running back Marion Barber III |
?Yes, we were disappointed that we didn?t qualify for postseason play last season,? Mason said. ?That is one of our team goals every year. However, there were a lot of positives that came out of 2001. We played numerous first and second-year players. That learning experience, we feel, will pay dividends this year and for seasons to come.?
OFFENSE
Minnesota returns 38 letterwinners, including eight starters on defense and six on offense. The offense will be centered around junior co-captain quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq who started eight games in 2001, including the last seven. Abdul-Khaliq improved every week and began to display the ability that made him one of the most sought-after quarterbacks in the country as a prep senior. He possesses great mobility and is an elusive runner with a very strong and accurate arm. He threw for 1,393 yards and 12 TDs, adding 266 yards and three TDs rushing. He finished the year ranked fifth in the Big Ten in passing efficiency with a rating of 134.6. Abdul-Khaliq's game blossomed at the end of the 2001 season, throwing for six touchdowns in the final two games and only two interceptions over the last five contests.
?Asad has displayed tremendous talent since arriving at Minnesota,? Mason said. ?Like a lot of young quarterbacks, his career has been up and down until the latter half of his sophomore year, when he came into his own and established himself as a leader, of not only the offense, but the entire team. He has the rare combination of a very strong, accurate arm with a deceiving, exciting, elusive style of running.?
Abdul-Khaliq will have a number of offensive weapons at his disposal. Leading the way is a tandem of talented running backs in Marion Barber III and Thomas Tapeh.
| Junior quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq |
?Tapeh and Barber are a 1-2 punch. They are thunder and lightning,? Mason explained. ?Both players are strong and fast, have good hands and are proven Big Ten backs. Tapeh will be featured as a tailback and fullback while Barber will be featured as a tailback and receiver. Their abilities and diversity should make our offense very exciting.?
At receiver, the Golden Gophers must replace the most prolific wideout in school history, Ron Johnson, who set nearly every school season and career receiving record. Leading the way will be a pair of speedy wideouts in Jermaine Mays and Antoine Burns. Mays is a fifth- year senior who redshirted the 2001 season. He has 34 career receptions, good for four touchdowns and 513 yards. He has a healthy 15.1 yards per reception average and is very dangerous after the catch. In addition, Mays was the team's top kickoff returner in 2000 when he averaged 23.7 yards per runback with a school-record 100-yard return for a score.
?Jermaine (Mays) returns this season after sitting out last year,? Mason said. ?He made tremendous improvement in his off year and is one of the most committed players in our program. He has excellent speed and will add a deep, big-play potential to our offense.?
Burns is in his third year in the program since transferring from Rochester Community College. He redshirted in 2000, before bursting onto the scene and into a starting role last year. He caught 30 passes for 470 yards and three touchdowns with a 15.7 yards per catch average.
Three other letterwinners return at wideout in Tony Patterson, Keith Matthews and Demetrus Johnson. Patterson earned his second letter in 2001 when he caught 14 passes for 178 yards with a long catch of 49 yards. Another of the Golden Gophers? big targets, he is 6-3, 201 pounds with excellent leaping ability and is not afraid to come across the middle of the field. Matthews is back after sitting out the 2001 season with a few nagging injuries. He earned his letter as a true freshman in 2000. A good-sized target at 6-2, 198, he has great hands. Johnson earned his letter this past fall when he played in every game, catching three passes for 21 yards. A key member of the special teams, he has very good speed and is a tough runner after converting from running back.
?I like this group of receivers,? Mason commented. ?They have good size and speed and the ability to run after the catch.?
| Junior tight end Ben Utecht |
?Utecht may just be the best tight end in the country,? Mason said. ?He is a big wide receiver with the ability to be a dominating blocker. He will be a key to our offense and will figure much more prominently in our passing game.?
One of the biggest concerns for Minnesota's offense going into spring ball was filling the holes on the offensive line created by graduation. The Golden Gophers lost three of the five starters from a line that helped lead the team to a No. 14 rushing ranking in the country. Senior Jake Kuppe returns to anchor the offensive line. A two-year starter, Kuppe is one of the biggest players in the Big Ten, yet he still has excellent feet and is a very good pass protector and run blocker. He is joined by senior Jeremiah Carter. A versatile offensive lineman, Carter can play any position along the line, but will start the year at left tackle. The other returning letterwinner on the line is Joe Quinn, a junior guard who made one start and participated in 115 plays last season. Quinn worked at the right guard position during spring practice and will look to cement himself in that position during preseason camp.
At 6-6, 253, Rian Melander will begin camp as the first-team left guard. Melander has strong bloodlines as the nephew of Jon Melander, a Golden Gopher letterwinner from 1986-89 who went on to play in the NFL. Melander has the frame to get bigger and the talent to be a strong performer for years to come. He will be pushed by Mark McElroy, a 6-5, 291-pound sophomore.
At center, Mason will go back to a formula that worked his first year in 1997. That is, start a talented freshman at center. In ?97, Mason turned to Ben Hamilton, who became a two-time All-American for Mason. In 2002, the Golden Gophers will center their hopes on freshman Mike Nicholson. The advantage Nicholson has over Hamilton is the redshirt freshman is about the same size (6-5, 279) as Hamilton when the All- American graduated. Nicholson has an abundance of talent and will learn on the job for the Maroon and Gold. McElroy will also back-up Nicholson.
Other offensive linemen who will start the year providing depth along the line will be junior Matt McIntosh (6-8, 302) and freshman Richard Ellman (6-5, 277) at left tackle; freshman Trevor McCulloch (6-4, 318) and junior Morgan Kirkland (6-2, 281) at right guard; and sophomore Ricky Wymer (6-8, 310) and redshirt freshman Lance Sannes (6-7, 330) at right tackle.
| Senior offensive lineman Jake Kuppe |
