On December 6, 2021, the Minnesota Gophers announced the return of a familiar face. Kirk Ciarrocca was to come back as the team’s offensive coordinator for the 2022 season. Having spent the last season as an offensive analyst with the West Virginia Mountaineers. Ciarrocca coached alongside Gophers head coach P.J Fleck from 2017-2019 at the University of Minnesota.
How We Got Here
2019 was a historic season for the University of Minnesota. It was their first 11-win season in over a century (1904). The team ended on a high note beating 12th ranked Auburn in the Outback Bowl 31-24. However, they were missing someone in that game. Offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca had left before their bowl game, taking the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach position at Penn State. Penn State went 4-5 in 2020, after going 11-2 in 2019. Ciarrocca was let go and was picked up by the West Virginia Mountaineers as an offensive analyst in 2021. The Mountaineers went 6-7, and after the regular season Ciarrocca was brought back to Minnesota. The two teams played each other in the Guarantee Rate Bowl with the Gophers winning 18-6.
2019 Gophers Offense
The Gophers’ offense in 2019 was great. The team averaged 432 yards per game with 253.3 passing and 178.7 rushing. Tanner Morgan had a career season in 2019, throwing for 3,252 yards (10.2 average) with 30 touchdowns and seven interceptions, and a completion percentage of 66.0. The running game saw three running backs combine for over two thousand yards rushing in Rodney Smith (1,163 and eight touchdowns), Mohamed Ibrahim (604 yards and seven touchdowns), and Shannon Brooks (408 yards and two touchdowns). Three receivers combined for almost three thousand yards receiving in Tyler Johnson (1,318 yards and 13 touchdowns), Rashod Bateman (1,219 and 11 touchdowns) and Chris Autman-Bell (371 yards and five touchdowns).
What The 2022 Offense Will Look Like
With Kirk Ciarrocca returning to the offensive coordinator position in 2022, what can the Gophers offense expect this season? Well, the Gophers have some familiar faces still hanging around from that 2019 season. Quarterback Tanner Morgan and Chris Autman-Bell are back for their sixth and final season, with running back Mohamed Ibrahim returing for his fifth. Ibrahim was the number two running back in 2019 behind Rodney Smith before having a breakout season in 2020 only to suffer a season ending achilles tear in the season opener in 2021. Running backs Trey Potts and Bryce Williams also return but are coming back from injuries as well.
Bell was third in 2019 before becoming number two to Rashod Bateman in 2020. In 2021 Bell started out with some injuries, missing most of the first four games. He rebounded well with 506 yards receiving (14.1 average) and six touchdowns. Bell is now leading a veteran receiving core in his final year with Minnesota. Paired with him are wide receivers Dylan Wright (365 yards and two touchdowns), Daniel Jackson (206 yards and one touchdown) and Michael Brown-Stephens (392 yards and one touchdown).
The Gophers offensive line is rebuilding a little after losing four of their five starters. Only center John Michael Schmitz remains to lead the new group. Five current linemen have experience and have played in games this past season. Thanks to the transfer portal the Gophers brought in a pair of linemen Quinn Carroll (Notre Dame) and Chuck Filiaga (Michigan) both of whom are expected to start this season.
What To Expect
Ciarrocca returns to a team that is familiar to him, though not without a few new faces. Those he has coached before are now the leaders and pillars of the offense. Given how well Morgan played under Ciarrocca in 2019, paired with all four wide receivers returning, expect the passing game to improve from last year. In 2021 the Gophers averaged 361.3 yards per game with only 162 yards passing. Compare that to 2019 when they averaged 432 yards per game with a 253.3 passing average. While they didn’t rush for as much in 2019 with a 178.7 average compared to 199.3 in 2021, expect this number to land between the two if the running backs are healthy.
All in all, expect a great passing game complemented by the running attack. If everything works out and the running backs remain healthy and the offensive line has good chemistry, don’t be shocked if this team rivals the offensive stats that the 2019 team put up.
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