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University of Minnesota Athletics
Johnson Is Minnesota's Breakout Star
10/17/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Two years ago Tyler Johnson was making play after play at quarterback at nearby Minneapolis North High School.
As a senior, he threw for 2,606 yards and 36 touchdowns and also rushed for more than 1,100 yards and 20 scores and led the Polars to a berth in the state football championship game, which was played at TCF Bank Stadium.
Johnson moved from quarterback to receiver when he got to Minnesota and has been a breakout star for the Maroon and Gold. The sophomore has caught 25 passes for 472 yards and six touchdowns this year after making 14 catches for 141 yards and one score in 13 games as a true freshman last season.
Johnson caught three touchdowns - all from Demry Croft - against Michigan State. Johnson is the 13th Gopher to catch three or more touchdowns in one game and is the first since tight end Maxx Williams did so against Iowa in 2014. All three of Johnson's scores against the Spartans came in the fourth quarter, making him the first Gopher to catch three touchdowns in one quarter since 2006 when Logan Payne caught three in the first quarter against Temple. Johnson is the first to catch three touchdowns in one quarter in a Big Ten game since Omar Douglas did so in the third quarter against Purdue in 1993.
"I thought he was a dude on Saturday against Michigan State," said Minnesota offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca. "I have been fortunate. I have been around some dudes at wide receiver. You have to dominate that defensive back every single week, every single play. That's what dudes do. You see his mental approach evolving and getting better and better. That nekton mentality approach, always attacking, never full. That starts to rub off on the other guys. Next thing you know we have five guys like that, then we got seven, then we got nine. Now you can't help be like that or you can't be in the group."
Johnson has three 100-yard games this season (141 vs. Buffalo, 127 at Oregon State and 106 vs. Michigan State) to become the first Gopher since A.J. Barker in 2012 to record at least three 100-yard receiving games in a season. Eric Decker in 2009 was the last to have four 100-yard games in a season.
The 6-2, 190-pounder started the season with consecutive 100-yard games against Buffalo and Oregon State to become the first Gopher to record back-to-back 100-yard games since KJ Maye in 2015. His 141 yards against Buffalo were the second most ever for a Gopher at TCF Bank Stadium and his 127 at Oregon State were the most for a Gopher on the road since Da'Jon McKnight had 173 yards at Michigan State in 2011.
He has six receiving touchdowns this season (three each from Conor Rhoda and Demry Croft) and his scores have covered 67, 61, 18, 17, 9 and 3 yards. Johnson's 67-yarder at Oregon State from Rhoda is Minnesota's longest passing touchdown since 2007 when Adam Weber connected with Ralph Spry on 71-yard score (span of 117 games). Minnesota's longest touchdown pass last season was 22 yards and its longest passing play was 62 yards.
Johnson has scored 36 points this year, which ranks him second on the team behind kicker Emmit Carpenter (47 points) and ahead of running back Shannon Brooks (30 points). The last Gopher to catch more than six touchdowns in a season was tight end Maxx Williams in 2014.
Johnson is on the verge of breaking into the top five for receptions and yards for a sophomores in school history. He needs 16 catches to break into the top five for receptions by a sophomore, as Aaron Osterman (1992) and Dwayne McMullen (1982) are fifth in program receptions for a sophomore with 41 (Eric Decker is first with 67 in 2007). Johnson needs 168 yards to tie McMullen (1982) for fifth in yards by a sophomore with 640 (Decker, 2007 and Jared Ellerson, 2003 are tied for first with 909 yards). Johnson is two touchdowns shy of tying Williams (2014) for receiving touchdowns by a sophomore with eight.
The Minneapolis native is averaging 18.9 yards per reception this year, which ranks 30th in the nation and first in the Big Ten (minimum 15 catches). The Minnesota record for yards per reception (minimum 20 catches) is 24.30 yards and is held by Jared Ellerson who made 21 receptions in 2005.
One reason for Johnson's breakout season is receiver coach Matt Simon, who is from Farmington, Minn., and played collegiate football at Northern Illinois, where P.J. Fleck was his position coach. Simon came to Minnesota with Fleck from Western Michigan where he tutored consensus All-American Corey Davis, who ended his career with a Football Bowl Subdivision 5,212 yards. Davis joined Randy Moss as the only Mid-American Conference receiver to be drafted in the first round, as he was selected fifth overall by the Tennessee Titans.
