.png&width=42&height=42&type=webp)
University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota continues Big Ten Action at Northwestern
10/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
GOPHERS, WILDCATS MEETING FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2004
Minnesota (1-5, 0-3) closes out a short two-game Big Ten road swing this week as the Golden Gophers travel to Evanston, Ill., to face Northwestern (3-3, 1-2) Saturday at Ryan Field. It will be the first meeting between the Gophers and Wildcats in three years. And with half of the 2007 campaign still remaining, Saturday’s game will be critical for Minnesota. The Gophers have not tasted victory since the second week of season and enter the game looking to snap a four-game losing streak after falling at Indiana last week, 40-20.
Northwestern ended a three-game slide of its own last week by winning at Michigan State in overtime, 48-41. Quarterback C.J. Bachr threw for a school-record 520 yards and five touchdowns to lift the Wildcats to their first Big Ten victory of the season.
For the second week in a row and the fourth time this season, the Gophers will be televised by the Big Ten Network. The game has been set for at an 11:07 a.m. (CDT) kickoff with Jim Kelly (play-by-play) and Mike Tomczak (analyst) calling the action. Marshall Harris will provide updates from the sidelines, with Mitch Green serving as the producer.
THE SERIES
Minnesota leads the all-time series with Northwestern, 48-28-5, and is 22-16-2 vs. the Wildcats in Evanston. The Gophers have won three straight over the Wildcats, including a 43-17 victory in 2004 at the Metrodome in the last meeting between the two teams. Minnesota’s last loss to Northwestern was a 23-17 setback in Evanston in 2001.
THE COACHES
Minnesota’s Tim Brewster is 1-5 in his first year with the Golden Gophers and his first season as a head coach. Pat Fitzgerald is 7-11 in two seasons at Northwestern. Saturday’s game will be the first between the two former All-Big Ten performers.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE GOPHERS
Life doesn’t get any easier for the Gophers this week as Minnesota heads back out on the road to face a Northwestern team that all of a sudden is feeling pretty good about itself. With half of the 2007 season already in the history books, Minnesota will be out to pull off a repeat performance of its 2006 campaign, when the Gophers reeled off wins in four of their final five games to earn an Insight Bowl berth.
But in order to do that Minnesota will have to figure out a way to play more consistently in all three phases of the game. The Gophers have had plenty of bright spots during the 2007 season, at times displaying an explosive offense, a defense able to make crucial stands and dangerous special teams. The trick thus far has been getting all three units to perform at the top of their respective games at the same time.
Minnesota’s offense has certainly proved to be more than capable of moving the football. The Gophers enter the week ranked 32nd in the NCAA in total offense, racking up an average of 436.5 yards per game, and have failed to hit the 300-yard mark just once this season. Recently, however, Minnesota has had trouble turning those yards into points and as a result the Gophers’ scoring average has slipped to 28.3 ppg. The Maroon and Gold offense has also been bitten hard by the turnover bug, committing 18 of the team’s 20 giveaways.
The Gophers’ offense is led by record-setting quarterback Adam Weber, who already owns Minnesota freshman single-season marks for completions ( 146), passing yards (1,543) and passing touchdowns (13) as well as the program’s frosh single-game total offense record (368 yards vs. Miami-Ohio).
Weber’s rapid development has helped him emerge as perhaps the nation’s top all-around freshman signal-caller. Through six games, he ranks 19th nationally - No. 1 among freshmen - and third in the Big Ten in total offense (301.8 ypg). In fact, only Troy’s Omar Haugabook has BOTH rushed and passed for more yards so far this season than Weber. One of just 20 players and the only freshman in the country to have passed for at least 1,540 yards already this year, Weber also ranks 20th in the NCAA and third among freshmen in points responsible for (16.7 ppg).
Weber, who has taken all 474 offensive snaps for the Gophers this season, has spread the wealth in the passing game, connecting with 12 different targets thus far. His two primary weapons have been sophomore Eric Decker (44 receptions for 560 yards and 5 touchdowns) and senior Ernie Wheelwright (29 receptions for a 344 yards and five touchdowns). The Big Ten’s leading receiver in terms of catches per game, Decker ranks in the top 20 nationally in both receptions (7.33) and receiving yards (93.3) per game. Wheelwright, meanwhile, ranks seventh in the Big Ten in receptions per game (4.8) and posted his fourth career 100-yard receiving performance last week at Indiana with seven catches for 101 yards.
The Gophers’ ground attack has featured as many as three different players, in addition to Weber. Senior Amir Pinnix and freshman Duane Bennett have shouldered the bulk of the work, with sophomore Jay Thomas also pitching in. Pinnix ranks No. 8 in the Big Ten and in rushing and has produced 469 yards on the ground this year. Bennett, the Gophers’ starter in each of the last two games, has rushed for 184 yards on 27 attempts with two touchdowns, while Thomas has gained 100 yards, with 58 coming at Indiana last week.
All of this has been made possible by an offensive line that is proving to be one of the nation’s best. In addition to the Gophers’ solid all-around numbers, Minnesota has allowed just five sacks this season, good for 10 in the nation and No. 1 in the Big Ten.
The Minnesota defense has played well at times but is still looking to put together a complete-game effort. Senior strong safety Dominique Barber is Minnesota’s leading tackler and ranks fifth in the Big Ten with 51 total stops on the year. Senior linebackers Mike Sherels (39 tackles) and John Shevlin (38 tackles) also rank in the Big Ten’s top 20 for stops. Junior defensive end Willie VanDeSteeg, who had three tackles for losses with a sack at Indiana last week, and senior cornerback Jamal Harris are also performing well. VanDeSteeg, a Rotary Lombardi Award candidate, has 7.5 tackles for losses good for 10th in the Big Ten, while Harris is second in league and ranks tied for ninth nationally in passes defended with 1.7 per game.
On special teams, the Gophers rank No. 3 in the Big Ten (13th NCAA) in kickoff returns and No. 1 in the league in kickoff coverage. Thomas ranks ninth in the NCAA in kickoff returns, while place-kicker Joel Monroe and punter Justin Kucek (No. 2 in the Big Ten in punting) have both proven to be among the country’s top special teams weapons.
ILLINOIS GOPHERS
Saturday’s game against Illinois will be a homecoming for a number of Golden Gophers. Minnesota boasts five players from the Land of Lincoln. Minnesota’s five Illinois natives include: freshman running back Duane Bennett (Fairview Heights, Ill. - O’Fallon Township HS); sophomore defensive tackle Otis Hudson (Barrington, Ill. - Barrington HS); freshman tight end Curtis Hughes (Chicago, Ill. - Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep); junior tight end Jack Simmons (Libertyville, Ill. - Carmel HS); and junior defensive tackle Eric Small (Naperville, Ill. - Joliet JC).
GOPHERS HAVE HAD CATS’ NUMBER LATELY
Minnesota enters Saturday’s matchup with Northwestern riding a three-game winning streak vs. the Wildcats. The Gophers have averaged 43.3 points per game during the run and scored over 40 points in all three games. Minnesota has also held NU to just 17 points in each of the last two meetings. The Gophers’ longest winning streak in the series dates to the 1970s and 80s, when Minnesota won seven straight over Northwestern from 1975-81.
MISSING YOU
Due to the Big Ten’s rotating schedule, Minnesota and Northwestern have not faced one another in either of the last two seasons. The Gophers also did not play Illinois in either 2005 or 2006. Currently, Minnesota is in the first year of a two-year rotation that has the Gophers missing both Penn State and Michigan State.
MINNESOTA vs. NORTHWESTERN: The Last Time (Sept. 25, 2004)
Laurence Maroney ran for 145 yards and a touchdown and Minnesota exploded for 19 second-quarter points to defeat Northwestern 43-17 at the Metrodome.
Justin Valentine keyed the Gophers’ spurt with two touchdown runs during the second quarter sandwiched around a Brian Cupito 50-yard hookup with Paris Hamilton that gave Minnesota a 33-10 halftime lead.
Northwestern cut into the Gophers’ edge when Brett Basanez scored on a 15 yard run to make it 33-17.
But Minnesota quickly slammed the door. Rhys Lloyd connected on a 46-yard field goal and Jared Ellerson hauled in a halfback pass from Marion Barber as the Gophers’ scored the final 10 points to put the game out of reach.
MINNESOTA vs. NORTHWESTERN: The Last Time in Evanston (Oct. 4, 2003)
Asad Abdul-Khaliq passed for 331 yards and four touchdowns and Thomas Tapeh and Marion Barber III teamed up to add 158 yards on the ground as the Golden Gophers routed Northwestern 43-17 at Ryan Field.
Early on, however, it appeared that it might be Northwestern that was positioning itself for a runaway victory. The Wildcats scored the first 14 points of the game on a 12-yard touchdown run by Jason Wright and a 2-yard plunge by Brett Basanez.
But Minnesota responded by scoring 42 of the final 45 points of the game.
Jared Ellerson hauled in a 96-yard strike from Abdul-Khaliq midway through the second quarter to spark the rally then added an 82-yard touchdown grab just seconds into the third quarter.
In between, Minnesota got a 3-yard touchdown run from Barber and a 6-yard TD pass from Abdul-Khaliq to Ben Utecht to take control of the game. Barber added a 31-yard touchdown run in the third quarter before Aaron Hosack closed out the scoring with a 32-yard TD pass from Abdul-Khaliq.
In all, Abdul-Khaliq averaged over 27 yards on each of his 12 completions.
CAT CONNECTION
Saturday’s game at Northwestern will be a homecoming of sorts for a member of the Minnesota coach staff as offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar returns to his old stomping grounds. Dunbar coached on the Wildcats’ staff from 2001-05, spending the 2002-05 seasons as NU’s offensive coordinator. While on staff at Northwestern, Dunbar directed some of the nation’s most potent offenses, including the Wildcats’ 2005 squad that ranked fourth in the country in total offense, averaging 500.3 yards per game to become just the second team in the history of the Big Ten to generate at least 500 yards per game. Dunbar also tutored Northwestern quarterback Brett Basanez, who set 30 Northwestern offensive records and finished second in Big Ten history to Drew Brees in career passing yards (10,580), total offense (11,576) and completions (913). In 2005 under Dunbar, Basanez set Northwestern season records for passing yards (3,622), total offense (4,027), completions (314) and touchdown passes (21). Dunbar’s offense would also set Sun Bowl records for total yards (584) and first downs (33) in 2005 against UCLA.
BREWSTER HAS ILLINOIS TIES, TOO
Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster has fond memories of his time in the state of Illinois as well. Brewster lettered at the University of Illinois in 1982 and 1983 and served as team captain of the 1983 Rose Bowl squad. That season he also led the nation’s tight ends in receiving and earned All-Big Ten honors.
To download a PDF of the complete version of Minnesota’s weekly game notes please click the link below or at the top of the page.
