Following a two-game winning streak, featuring a 31-0 blowout and a 20-13 comeback victory, all the Gophers had to do against Northwestern, who had a record of 1-8, was be themselves, and that’s exactly what they did.
“The grit that this football team has…we were on a three game losing streak”, offensive lineman John Michael Schmitz said on how far the Gophers have come since losing big at Penn State. “Just being able to focus on this week. Learning from our past to create our future and just being able to respond to those upcoming weeks and focus on one game at a time.”
Quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis and co. received the pigskin first and the Wildcats’ defense led to a three and out. Northwestern traded three and outs with the Gophers and this seemed to have started a classic Big Ten battle of punts and one- to two-yard runs up the middle.
Northwestern QB Brendan Sullivan broke both teams’ offensive struggles open by tossing a 37-yarder to Marshall Lang right down the middle. That quick burst would be squashed by a pair of defensive backs, Terell Smith and Jordan Howden, sent on blitzes. The Gopher duo shut down RB Evan Hull’s 4th and 1 rush attempt.
As the game continued, Minnesota became more comfortable offensively, starting with its first first down of the game on their third drive. Mohamed Ibrahim barreled his way into the end zone after a nine play, 82-yard drive where there were seven rushes by Ibrahim and Trey Potts for 69 yards and a touchdown.
As Ibrahim kept rumbling and the Wildcats offense kept stumbling, Minnesota nearly entered the half with a 14-0 lead.
With two minutes remaining, Sullivan threw a 27-yard pass to Malik Washington, but the quarterback had to leave the game and get carted off the field. The new single caller, Ryan Hilinski, used Sullivan’s formula and nearly doubled his results, nailing the same receiver, Washington, for 46 yards, Northwestern ended the drive with a 35-yard field goal.
The Gophers’ secondary would rebound in the second half with a Tyler Nubin interception, his fourth of the season, turning into three points. Yet, Northwestern wouldn’t let the game get out of reach just yet, with Devin Turner forcing a fumble on Dylan Wright. Defense kept the Wildcats within a reachable distance to come back. The only problem was that Minnesota’s defense was just plain better and their offense had much more firepower.
“Honestly it was our box, our D-Line and linebackers played unbelievable,” Nubin said. “Getting off the ball, send the edges, create knockback in the run game, that made it a lot easier for us (defensive backs) for them to contain like that.”
The story of the game and the season has been Ibrahim, so it is only fitting he carried the Gophers on his back once again against Northwestern. He ran 36 times for 178 yards and 3 touchdowns, a true tour de force in the backfield. He now sits sixth all time in Big Ten rushing touchdowns, passing former Wisconsin Badger Jonathan Taylor.
“Do we need him (Mo) to have 38 to 40 carries a game? No,” Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck said. “Mo is such a fighter, and he’s so tough, but I don’t want to see Mo run inside zone 22 times on a Tuesday. He works incredibly hard in the training room…when you ask about how a kid can take so many carries, he’s mentally, physically and emotionally ready come Saturday.”
True freshman Zach Evans had the last laugh of the ballgame, scoring the first touchdown of his career at the climax of the fourth quarter, and Minnesota would bulldoze Northwestern 31-3.
“I’m really proud of our team tonight and how they persevered all week,” Fleck said. “We didn’t have the greatest practice Wednesday and I let them know and I challenged them, challenged our staff, challenged me, and they responded really well to that.”
The Gophers play their rival, the Iowa Hawkeyes, on Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium to fight for the Floyd of Rosedale. Iowa and Minnesota are currently in a four-way tie for first place in the Big Ten West with Illinois and Purdue.
