University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Set to Battle No. 8 Ohio State on ESPN2
9/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
GOPHERS, BUCKEYES MEETING FOR FINAL TIME IN METRODOME
Minnesota (1-3, 0-1) looks to get its season headed back in the right direction this week, when the Golden Gophers host No. 8/8 Ohio State (4-0, 1-0) Saturday at the Metrodome. The Gophers have hung around to the bitter end in every game this season, including a pair of overtime battles, but have come up short in 3 of 4 contests, with the setbacks averaging just six points each.
The eighth-ranked Buckeyes, on the other hand, are one of four remaining unbeatens in the Big Ten and have never lost in the Metrodome. OSU’s average margin of victory this season has been 30 points, with the stingy Buckeye defense yielding just 7.2 points per game.
ESPN2 will be on hand to televise the Gophers live nationally for the second straight week. Mark Jones (play-by-play) and Bob Davie (analyst) will call the action with Stacey Dales filing updates from both sidelines. Phil Dean is the broadcast’s producer.
THE SERIES
Saturday’s game will mark the 47th meeting between the Golden Gophers and the Buckeyes. Ohio State leads the all-time series, 39-7, and has won all 10 previous meetings between the two programs in the Metrodome. Overall in the series, Minnesota has dropped four straight to Ohio State. The Gophers’ last win in the series dates to a 29-17 victory in Columbus on Oct. 14, 2000.
THE COACHES
Minnesota’s Tim Brewster is 1-3 in his first year with the Golden Gophers and his first season as a head coach. Jim Tressel is in his 22nd season of college coaching, seventh at Ohio State, and owns a 201-71-2 overall record, including a 66-14 mark at Ohio State.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE GOPHERS
Minnesota enters the week looking to right its season after suffering back-to-back losses in the same year for the first time since the Gophers suffering through a four-game skid in late September and early October of 2006.
The Gophers continue to play right to the final whistle - Minnesota’s three losses thus far have come by an average of just six points each - however slow starts, inconsistent play and a rash of turnover have conspired to make winning an elusive commodity for the Maroon and Gold.
The Minnesota’s offense has certainly proved to be more than capable of both moving the ball and putting points on the board. The Gophers enter the week ranked 15th in the NCAA in rushing (229.8 ypg), 15th in total offense (487.5) and 30th in scoring (45.5 ppg). In fact, Minnesota is currently one of just 19 team in the nation averaging at least 200 yards in both rushing and passing per game. The unit has also been bitten hard by the turnover bug and has committed 14 of the team’s 16 giveaways in 2007.
Still, several bright spots have stepped forward for the Gophers, led by freshman quarterback Adam Weber. Weber’s rapid development has helped him emerge as perhaps the nation’s top all-around freshman signal-caller. Through four games, he ranks 17th nationally and second in the Big Ten in total offense (322.0 ypg). Weber is one of only three players in the country along with Oregon’s Dennis Dixon and Indiana’s Kellen Lewis to rank in the top 100 in rushing and to have at least 11 touchdown passes and is one of just 28 players in the country and one of two freshmen to have already thrown for over 1,000 yards. On the scoring front, Weber ranks 13th in the NCAA and second among freshmen in points responsible for (20.5 ppg) and is one of just 17 quarterbacks with at least 11 TD passes.
Weber, who has taken all 328 offensive snaps for the Gophers this season, has spread the wealth in the passing game, connecting with 11 different targets thus far. His two primary weapons have been sophomore Eric Decker (30 receptions for 421 yards and 4 touchdowns) and senior Ernie Wheelwright (16 receptions for a 205 yards and five touchdowns). Decker has hauled in at least seven receptions in each of the last three games and ranks in the top 20 nationally and No. 2 in the Big Ten in both receptions (7.5) and receiving yards (105.3) per game. Wheelwright, meanwhile, has proved to be a scoring machine and is tied for second in the Big Ten in receiving touchdowns with five.
The Gophers’ ground attack has been bolstered by senior Amir Pinnix and freshman Duane Bennett. Pinnix ranks No. 4 in the Big Ten and No. 25 nationally in rushing (109.8 ypg). Bennett rushed for 81 yards on seven attempts and scored his first career touchdown last week vs. Purdue.
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’ prodigious offensive numbers, Minnesota has allowed just three sacks on the season on 165 passing attempts, good for 12 in the nation and second in the Big Ten.
The Minnesota defense has played well in fits and starts but is still looking to put together a complete-game effort. The unit has directly yielded seven or fewer points in three halves this season (Bowling Green, 2nd; Florida Atlantic, 2nd; and Purdue, 1st) and at times has more than held its own.
Senior strong safety Dominique Barber has paced the Gophers in tackles in each of the last two games with a career-high 13 at Florida Atlantic and 12 vs. Purdue. He now leads Minnesota and ranks second in the Big Ten with 39 total stops on the year. Senior linebacker Mike Sherels ranks seventh in the Big Ten in total tackles. He enters the week with 30 to his credit this season, despite missing the entire second half of the Miami (Ohio) game.
Junior defensive end Willie VanDeSteeg and senior cornerback Jamal Harris are also off to strong starts in 2007. VanDeSteeg, a Rotary Lombardi Award candidate, has 4.5 tackles for losses, while Harris leads the league and ranks sixth nationally in passes defended with 2.0 per game. He is also tied for second in the Big Ten in interceptions with two.
On special teams, the Gophers have proved to be one of the nation’s top teams in kickoff returns (13th). Jay Thomas, who had a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown at FAU, is the nation’s No. 1 kick returner this week, while place-kicker Joel Monroe has proved to be one of the country’s top weapons on kickoffs and a steady performer on placements. He leads the Big Ten in touchbacks with six.
A GOPHER VICTORY SATURDAY NIGHT WOULD...
Would snap Minnesota’s two-game losing streak.
End a four-game slide vs. the Buckeyes.
Be Minnesota’s first win over Ohio State ever in the Metrodome.
Mark Minnesota’s first home win vs. the Buckeyes since 1981.
Put the brakes on a six-game losing streak vs. ranked opponents.
Be Minnesota’s first win over a top-10 foe since defeating No. 6 Ohio State in 2000.
RARE RIVALS
Saturday’s battle between the Golden Gopher and the Buckeyes will be just the 47th meeting between the two programs. As a result, the Minnesota-Ohio State series is one of the Gophers’ least played Big Ten rivalries. Only Minnesota’s series with Michigan State (41 games) and Penn State (10 games) have produced fewer encounters. Minnesota and Ohio State first met on Oct. 15, 1921 in Columbus, Ohio. The two schools only played each other 12 times between 1921 and 1966 before beginning annual battles in 1969. Minnesota and Ohio State met every year from 1969 until 1992 when the Big Ten’s rotating schedule began in 1993 with the addition of Penn State.
OHIO GOPHERS
With 11 players on its roster from the Buckeye State, Minnesota boasts more players from Ohio than any state in the Union except Minnesota. In fact, the number of Ohio players on Minnesota’s 2007 roster is the same as the number of players hailing from the neighboring states of North Dakota (0), South Dakota (1), Iowa (2) and Wisconsin (8) combined. Minnesota’s 11 Ohioans include: Dominic Alford (Cleveland); William Brody (Garfield Heights); D.J. Burris (Kenton); Mike Chambers (Cuyohoga Falls); Ryan Collado (Cincinnati); Jason Giannini (Canton); Blake Haudan (Toledo); Justin Kucek (Canfield); Mike Maciejowski (Columbus); Justin Valentine (Columbus); and Ernie Wheelwright (Columbus).
MINNESOTA VS. OHIO STATE: The Last Time (Oct. 28, 2006)
Consensus No. 1-ranked Ohio State ran out to a 17-point half time lead and never looked back as the Buckeye dealt Minnesota a 44-0 shutout at Ohio Stadium last season. Minnesota slugged it out with OSU in the early going, forcing a pair of Buckeye fumbles to stay within striking distance. But a two of Brian Cupito interceptions to open the second half led directly to Buckeye touchdowns and Ohio State opened up a 31-0 lead just past the midpoint of the third quarter. OSU turned two long drives into touchdowns during the fourth quarter to provide the final margin. Minnesota’s defense did hold future Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith to just 183 passing yards, but the Gophers’ offense was unable to get moving as Minnesota managed just 182 yards for the game.
MINNESOTA VS. OHIO STATE: Last Time at the Metrodome (Oct. 29, 2005)
Brian Cupito lit up the Buckeyes for 396 yards on 25-for-36 passing with a touchdown and Laurence Maroney rushed for 133 yards on 25 attempts, but two Ohio State touchdowns early in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference as the Gophers dropped a 45-31 decision at the Metrodome. Minnesota battle back from an early 17-7 hole and tied the game early in the second quarter on a Cupito to Jared Ellerson hookup from five yards out. Ohio State responded early in the third with a 67-yard run by Antonio Pittman then got a 27-yard touchdown pass from Troy Smith to Anthony Gonzalez to take back control of the game. A 1-yard run by Gary Russell would get the Gophers back within a touchdown but that’s as close as Minnesota would get as the Buckeye won their 10th straight at the Dome.
FIRST RANK
The eighth-ranked Buckeyes are the first ranked opponent of the season for the Golden Gophers. The last time Minnesota squared off with a ranked opponent came last year, when the Gophers faced then-No. 1 Ohio State in Columbus on Oct. 28, 2006.
POLL POSITION
Minnesota is 24-118-3 all time vs. ranked opponents, including a 13-74-2 mark against the top 10. The Gophers’ last win over a ranked foe dates to Sept. 24, 2005, when Minnesota knocked off then-No. 11 Purdue, 42-35, in two overtimes at the Metrodome. The Maroon and Gold’s last victory over a top-10 opponent dates to Oct. 14, 2000, when Minnesota went into Columbus and defeated the then-No. 6 Buckeyes, 29-17. Since then, the Gophers have dropped five in a row against the top 10 and are just 2-18 vs. ranked opponents.
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.
