Minnesota’s losing streak continued after getting routed 45-17 by Penn State (6-1) in their annual White Out game. The Gophers looked like they could maybe keep it close right away and were only down seven at the half. Unfortunately, Penn State came out and scored 21 unanswered in the third quarter, putting the game in hand. The game was frustrating to watch as a Gopher fan. Were their glimmers of hope, of course, but for most part it was painful to get through. With that let’s take a look at the Minnesota Gophers week 8 takeaways.
Penalities/Refs
Okay, so I’m going there, I’m going to bash the officiating, but first I will start with the Gopher’s own penalties. Minnesota started the game with two false starts in their opening drive. They had five total in the game. I’m sorry, I get it’s the White Out game, but how on Earth do you not have your team ready for this?
https://twitter.com/beaver_stadium/status/1584010946095112194
You know what the environment will be, how loud it’s going to be, how can you not have the team prepared? This is a coaching, specifically a P.J. Fleck issue. It’s not like you were playing Northwestern and the crowd was unexpectedly loud. No you know the type of environment you are going into. You know how hostile it will be, how can you not be prepared!?
Okay, now onto the refs. The penalty differential for the game was 8-for-52 yards for Minnesota and 4-for-35 for Penn State. As I mentioned above five were false starts. Not bad right but there were two penalties on plays that led to plays resulting in touchdowns for the Nittany Lions. The first is below.
https://twitter.com/AndyRhinoAck/status/1583986625016524801
I mean the guy has at least a yard of his jersey and of course they score a touchdown. Now it was second and four, and who knows if they get the first down. If the Gophers would have held it’s a field goal, and four less points on the board.
The next was a horrific defensive pass interference call that should never have been called. Safety Terrell Smith was called for pass interference, after both him and the Penn State wide receiver were having contact. The receiver then stopped on his route and Smith broke for the ball that was thrown ten plus yards past where the receiver even was. No, the receiver didn’t stop because of Smith he was running a route and stopped, and Clifford missed him. This was a third and ten and would have resulted in a likely field goal. The next play Nicholas Singleton scored on a 16-yard run. The refs cost the Gophers four points on this bad call.
https://twitter.com/247Sports/status/1584004889486581760
There was also the interception Penn State got, leading to the Singleton touchdown. A Nittany Lion cornerback held the jersey of the Gopher receiver and then tripped him. How there wasn’t at least a holding call was beyond me. Now, I’m not saying the refs are responsible for this loss, but man did they screw the Gophers tonight. Any momentum or second half chances were really hurt by these missed calls. Yes, the defensive play wasn’t good, and the offense really struggled again, but it doesn’t help when the refs stab you in the back a few times.
Inconsistent Play Calling
I nearly started screaming at my TV for a chance that P.J. Fleck and Kirk Ciarrocca could hear me. My goodness for terrible and inconsistent play calling. Minnesota ran 66 plays, 46 were running and 22 were passing. The Gophers rushed for 165 yards, one touchdown, and averaged 3.6 yards per carry. Passing, they had 175 yards, averaging 8.0 yards per pass. They needed to be balanced to open up their passing attack. Did they really think Penn State was going to let someone run for over 400 yards on them in consecutive weeks? They should have focused on the passing game knowing they would over-correct to stop the run.
Minnesota, on their first three drives, their first 13 plays consisted of 11 rushing. This was so frustrating. How could you not throw the ball? Minnesota on those three drives had 22 total yards and had a field goal thanks to interception return by Justin Walley. When down in the red zone the Gophers only ran, and it resulted in -3 total yards. This was just unacceptable. I began questioning if P.J Fleck didn’t have confidence in Athan Kaliakmanis, because he was only running. The Gophers needed balance to win, instead they made it easy for Penn State to say we dare you to throw, and they just kept on running the ball.
The Defense Struggled
For really the first time all year I saw a Gopher’s defense that didn’t get beat because they were gassed. They just didn’t play great for a good chunk of the game. They missed tackles, had blown coverages, and were just not very organized.
https://twitter.com/KDPomp/status/1584009149238898689
This was just sloppy. How do you leave someone uncovered in a game like this? It just comes off as giving up. Rossi’s defense has been great for the Gophers, but tonight was just pathetic. The Gophers gave up 479 yards (304 passing and 175 rushing). They gave up 24 first downs and were 5-for-11 on third down. They did get an interception, but that was it. Minnesota got pushed around creating huge holes for the Penn State running tandem. They just generally struggled to do anything to stop the Nittany Lion offense. On the bright side. This is the best offense they’ll see the rest of the year. Downside, they still have to play some good defenses.
The Season All Hangs On The Offense
Okay, so yes, the defense did play badly against Penn State, but in their last three games it is mostly because the offense can’t sustain drives. Minnesota in their last three games has had 27:38, 19:56, and 31:30 time of possession. It’s hard for a defense to be at their best if they can’t rest and work on making adjustments while the offense can give a good drive. It just makes it that much harder on them to actually go out and play at their top level.
Yes, Penn State is good, and they had plenty of mistakes and issues as mentioned above, but the offense is the key to their success. The longer they can be on the field the better they are when it comes to shutting down their opponents. It also helps if the offense can score some points too.
Bright Spot
I don’t normally do this but given the game I felt it was needed. So, the bright spot; Mohamed Ibrahim got his 15th straight game with 100-yards rushing. His streak now ties former Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott for the longest streak in the Big 10 over the last 25 years.
A Look Ahead
The Gophers finally head home after a rough two-week road trip. Minnesota next weekend will host Rutgers (4-3), who beat Indiana 24-17 on Saturday.