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University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Notes
9/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 2, 2010 – Johnny “Red” Floyd Stadium – Murfreesboro, Tenn. – Att. 25,908
Series Notes
- Minnesota opened its 127th season of college football with tonight’s game at Middle Tennessee
- Tonight’s game was the Gophers’ first vs. the Blue Raiders. Minnesota is now 12-1 against current members of the Sun Belt Conference with the win in tonight’s game.
- MTSU will return tonight’s game in 2017 at TCF Bank Stadium to complete the two-game series.
Team Notes
- Minnesota is 89-32-6 all-time in season openers, including a 3-1 mark under head coach Tim Brewster.
- The Gophers’ record when opening the season on the road is 13-16-2, 2-0 under Brewster.
- Minnesota has now won four straight opening-season road games (2010 Middle Tennessee, 2009 at Syracuse, 2006 at Kent State, and 2005 at Tulsa).
- Minnesota opened its season on the road for the second year in a row and the fourth time in the last six years. The Gophers are currently in the midst of a four-year stretch of starting on the road. The Maroon and gold won’t open a season at home until 2013 vs. UNLV.
- Middle Tennessee is the first of nine 2009 Bowl participant the Gophers will face this season.
- Minnesota converted both of its first half fourth-down conversion tries. The Gophers were 5 for 15 in 2009.
- Minnesota did not commit a turnover tonight, while forcing two by the Blue Raiders. The Gophers did not have a turnover-free game in all of 2009.
- Minnesota’s 281 rushing yards marked the first time the Gophers have topped the 200-yard mark on the ground since gaining 239 at Northwestern in 2007 was their most rushing yards since rushing for 306 vs. Miami-Ohio.
Individual Notes
- Eleven Gophers made their first career starts tonight, including eight on the defensive side of the ball. Minnesota’s first time offensive starters were left tackle Ed Olson and tight ends Eric Lair and Curtis Hughes. On defense, tackles Jewhan Edwards and Brandon Kirksey, ends D.L. Wilhite and Matt Garin, linebackers Gary Tinsely and Keanon Cooper and safeties Christyn Lewis and James Manuel all made their Gopher starting debuts.
- The Gophers’ starting defense entered tonight’s game with a combined 17 starts to its credit, with 14 coming from senior cornerback Ryan Collado. Tonight’s 10 remaining defensive starters for Minnesota had just three combined starts between them before facing the Blue Raiders.
- A total of 14 Gophers made their playing debuts for Minnesota tonight.
- Jon Hoese scored the opening touchdown of the season for the Gophers to cap Minnesota’s first possession of the game. The 1-yard TD run at the 8:43 mark was his fourth career score. He added a second score to put Minnesota up 14-0 with 13:48 to play in the second quarter for his fifth career TD run and then added a third with 3:09 to play for his sixth. The last TD run capped a 9:10, 16-play, 77-yard drive.
- Hoese’s three rushing touchdowns were a career high.
- Hoese’s 22-yard 3rd quarter reception from the showdown of his own goalpost was a career long.
- Duane Bennett’s 32-yard run on the first offensive play of the game was longer than any run by the Gophers during 2009. Bennett had a 29-yard run vs. Purdue for the longest run during all of the 2009 campaign.
- Bennett finished with 187 yards on the ground. It marked the first time a Gopher has rushed for 100 yards since DeLeon Eskridge ran for 124 at Illinois in 2008 as Minnesota went 19 games without a 100-yard rusher.
- Bennett’s 30 carries were the most since Amir Pinnix had 34 in the 2006 Insight Bowl vs. Texas Tech. His 187 yards were also the most by a Gopher since Pinnix finished with 206 in the same game.
- Bennett’s 187 yards were a career high and marked just the second time in his career that he has eclipsed the 100-yard mark on the ground (at Michigan in 2007 with 106 yards was the other time he did it).
- Mike Rallis snagged his first career interception in the first quarter. Rallis also led the Gophers with seven total tackles (one off a career high), while Keanon Cooper and Ryan Collado each pitched in with six.
- Freshman Donnel Kirkwood dashed 18 yards on his first career carry with just over 12 minutes to play in the second quarter. He finished the game with 50 yards on 12 carries in his first appearance as a Gopher.
- DeLeon Eskridge totaled 40 yards on 11 carries as the Gophers had their most productive game on the ground in three seasons.
- Eric Ellestad connected on a 20-yard field goal to tie the game at 17 with 14:11 to play in the game after missing second quarter kicks of 39 and 40 yards. He is now 14 for 20 on career FG tries.
Middle Tennessee Notes
TANNER CLOSING IN ON TOP 10: RB Phillip Tanner scored the Blue Raiders' first touchdown of the 2010 season when he ran in from seven yards out from a "Wildcat" position. It marked Tanner's 21st rushing touchdown of his career and inches him closer to the Blue Raiders' top ten list. Tanner needs two more rushing scores to tie Ricky Martin for 10th place. It was also Tanner's 23rd career touchdown and he needs just one more score of any kind to tie Kerry Wright and Ricky Martin for 10th place on the all-time touchdowns scored list.
KILGORE STRONG DEBUT: Sophomore quarterback Logan Kilgore made his first career start on national television against Minnesota and turned in a strong effort. Kilgore completed 13 of 18 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown. After the Blue Raiders fell behind 14-0, Kilgore engineered a comeback that saw MT score 17 unanswered points.
FIRST TIME STARTERS: Middle Tennessee had six players make their first career starts on Thursday night against Minnesota. CB Arness Ikner, QB Logan Kilgore, OL Preston Bailey, DT Gary Tucker, WR Jared Bamber, and LB Justin Jones all made the starting rotation in the season opener.
NATIONAL EXPOSURE: Tonight's game was the 11th nationally televised game for the Blue Raiders under Rick Stockstill which is the most by any team in the Sun Belt Conference during that span. It marked the 13th national broadcast in school history.
STREAK ENDS AT 7: Middle Tennessee saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end tonight against Minnesota. The Blue Raiders' streak was the third longest in the country entering tonight's play.
4TH LARGEST CROWD: Middle Tennessee announced a crowd of 25,908 on Thursday and that goes down as the fourth largest in school history. The largest crowd in stadium history happened last year against Memphis when 28,105 saw the Blue Raiders take down the Tigers. Three of the top five crowds in school history has happened under head coach Rick Stockstill.
QUICK HITTERS: WR Sancho McDonald reeled in his sixth career touchdown pass late in the second quarter ... PK Alan Gendreau made his 29th career field goal early in the third quarter and needs one more to tie Colby Smith for sixth place on the all-time list ... WR Richard Drake made his first career reception late in the third quarter ... OL Mark Fisher made his team-high 36th career start and played in his 38th career game ... MT is now 1-3 under Stockstill when tied at the half and dropped to 1-2 when tied after the third quarter ... P Nathaniel Toulson launched three kicks for 133 yards, a 44.3 average, with a long of 53. He had one kick downed at the 1-yard line by Malcolm Beyah.
