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University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
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/ Football
Photo by: Bruce Kluckhohn
Ski-U-Number: 6
10/8/2018 11:03:00 AM | Football
Minnesota has committed only 20 penalties this season and has been flagged only 11 times in the last four games.
Playing clean football has been a staple of coach P.J. Fleck's teams and this season is no different. The Gophers committed only two penalties against Iowa and now rank No. 6 in the country with only 20 penalties this season. They are No. 11 in the nation with just 199 penalty yards. The Gophers were called for nine penalties against New Mexico State, but have since been penalized only 11 times in the last four games.
The Gophers ranked first in the nation last season – Fleck's first as coach - in fewest penalties (39), fewest penalties per game (3.25), fewest penalty yards (340) and fewest penalty yards per game (28.33). It was a sharp contrast from 2016 when Minnesota ranked 91st in fewest penalties (88), 89th in fewest penalties per game (6.77), 86th in fewest penalty yards (743) and 80th in fewest penalty yards per game (57.15). Minnesota committed 49 fewer penalties in 2017 than 2016 and the difference in yards penalized was 403.
Nobody has been more impressive in that area than Thomas Barber. He does not have a single defensive penalty in his entire career despite seeing almost every single defensive snap as the "Mike" linebacker the past two seasons. According to Pro Football Focus, he has played 1,014 defensive snaps (24 in 2016, 747 in 2017 and 243 in 2018) in his career. The only penalty of his career came on a special teams play when he was called for holding against Northwestern as a freshman in 2016.
The Gophers ranked first in the nation last season – Fleck's first as coach - in fewest penalties (39), fewest penalties per game (3.25), fewest penalty yards (340) and fewest penalty yards per game (28.33). It was a sharp contrast from 2016 when Minnesota ranked 91st in fewest penalties (88), 89th in fewest penalties per game (6.77), 86th in fewest penalty yards (743) and 80th in fewest penalty yards per game (57.15). Minnesota committed 49 fewer penalties in 2017 than 2016 and the difference in yards penalized was 403.
Nobody has been more impressive in that area than Thomas Barber. He does not have a single defensive penalty in his entire career despite seeing almost every single defensive snap as the "Mike" linebacker the past two seasons. According to Pro Football Focus, he has played 1,014 defensive snaps (24 in 2016, 747 in 2017 and 243 in 2018) in his career. The only penalty of his career came on a special teams play when he was called for holding against Northwestern as a freshman in 2016.
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