Minnesota played a classic Gopher game and came out with a 31-3 rout of Northwestern. It took a while, but Minnesota got a 14-3 halftime lead. The Gophers came out and scored 17 unanswered and rushed their way to victory. The Gophers racked up 302 yards on the ground and four touchdowns in their win. With that let’s take a look at my Minnesota Gophers week 11 takeaways.
Mo, Mo, and More Mo
I can’t go one week without talking about this guy, he’s that great (and also the entire offense). Ibrahim extended his 100-yard game rushing streak to 17. He didn’t even need a full two quarters, reaching the mark with a little over three minutes to go in the first half.
In case you hadn’t heard, @_MoIbrahim is really good. 👇#B1Gstats x @GopherFootball pic.twitter.com/jVpmNWWTiS
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 12, 2022
Ibrahim rushed for 178 yards on 36 carries and three touchdowns, averaging 4.9 yards per carry. He also reached 51 career touchdowns today. All Ibrahim has done this year is close gaps and break records. With three games to go he has a chance to break the Gophers all-time rushing record held by none other than, you guessed it, Darrell Thompson. Thompson has 4,518 yards while Ibrahim sits at 4,086. Ibrahim has three games to go to gain 432 yards. Is it possible? Who knows, if he duplicates what he did today, he’ll break it easily. We’ll find out soon enough.
Make it 5️⃣0️⃣ TDs for @_MoIbrahim. 👏@GopherFootball x @GopherSports pic.twitter.com/ZzhaWDZVR0
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 12, 2022
Can The Defense Get Us To 9-3?
The Gophers defense yet again put on a fantastic performance. Minnesota held the Wildcats to 278 yards of total offense (206 passing and 72 rushing), ten first downs, a 19:38 time of possession and two interceptions. The defense has been great this season and have been fantastic during the last three games allowing 13 points or 4.3 points per game.
Why do I ask if the defense can get us to 9-3? It is because the two offenses we play are not great. Yes, Iowa has seemed to have found something on that side of the ball, but it’s still Iowa. Wisconsin can score, but struggled against an Iowa defense, one similar to the Gophers. There is a good chance that if the defense continues to play the way it has over the last three weeks and most of the season, we will get to 9-3. It all just hinges on how well the offense plays.
The Offensive Consistency Will Determine The Season
The score read 31-3, but it didn’t always feel like that. The Gophers racked up 366 yards of total offense with 64 passing and 302 rushing. Now, you can do that against Northwestern, but Iowa won’t let you be that one-dimensional and let you win. Wisconsin will give you fits as well. The Gophers also punted five times today. That’s not what you want when you’re playing Northwestern. If they want to win their last two games and their bowl game, they’ll need to get more balanced on offense, not turn the ball over, and limit how much they punt.
While the Gophers are a run first team, they need to learn how to incorporate the passing game. In their losses teams took away the run game (yes, even with Ibrahim rushing for 100 yards), they made it hard to run the ball. They forced Minnesota into third and long passing situations stopping them. The Hawkeyes hold teams to 92.8 yards rushing per game. They will make it tough on them and it could spell trouble if the Gophers can’t figure out how to run and pass consistently against them.
A Look Ahead
Next week the Gophers host Iowa (6-4) in the battle for the Floyd of Rosedale. Iowa is on a three-game win streak and coming off of a 24-10 over Wisconsin.
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