It was an embarrassing game on the road at Ryan Field, as the Minnesota Golden Gophers were downed by the Northwestern Wildcats in a 39-0 rout.
Minnesota did everything wrong in the shutout loss on Northwestern’s senior day. The Gophers looked lost on both sides of the ball, getting steamrolled in the trenches and playing a game that closely resembled their loss to Michigan.
Early Miscues
Early on, the Gophers had problems moving the football, while the defense held stout in the first quarter despite solid running from Northwestern’s Justin Jackson. Still, on the first offensive play, the Gophers went silent. Top receiver Tyler Johnson being sidelined hurt the passing game, but not nearly as much as dropped passes that went through open receivers’ hands. The most egregious drop was a potential touchdown slipping through Phillip Howard’s hands, leading to an interception and adding to quarterback Demry Croft’s dismal performance.
The ground game never gained traction either, and Kobe McCrary played limited snaps after his first fumble of the season. Trying to supplant the running attack with passing was a failed endeavor.
Northwestern took advantage of the Gophers’ missteps with a 25-point second quarter. The Wildcats had the Gophers outgunned 246-80 in total yards, and had three drives start in plus territory. Jackson topped both 5,000 career yards and 1,000 yards on the season in his 166-yard performance.
After an 80-yard drive ended in a Jeremy Larkin touchdown, the Wildcats turned the McCrary fumble and a Croft interception into two scores to receiver Garrett Dickerson. Northwestern had no resistance running the ball, and finished the game with 277 yards on the ground along with three scores.
The Gophers defense went another game without forcing a turnover as the score was run up on the team. Special teams failed the defense, with two punts under 20 yards and only averaging 36.6 yards per punt. The offense didn’t do much more, finishing with five turnovers and just 182 yards. Despite their shortcomings, the Gophers defense missed plenty of tackles, overplaying the run and getting swept up in the down blocks.
Putting Them Away
After a dominant first half, Wildcats quarterback Clayton Thorson simply had to manage the game, finishing with only 86 yards, but also three scores. Croft followed up last weekend’s hat-trick touchdown performance with only 43 passing yards and three interceptions. Rodney Smith finished with 93 yards and a fumble late in the game.
The entire offense seemed lost, failing to really block and getting away from last weekend’s simplicity.
The Northwestern defense took advantage of the poor offensive line play, producing six sacks and 11 tackles for loss. Wildcats linebacker Nate Hall led the team with seven tackles and 2.5 sacks along with three tackles for loss, playing unstable in the front and clogging up the running game. Hall also snagged an interception in a very impressive day, joining cornerback Montre Hartage and safety Kyle Queiro in the interception party.
Northwestern’s offense was impressive, but the defense won the game and helped the offense score with four of their five touchdowns off turnovers. The Gophers defense was picked apart, getting torn for 363 yards and 5.3 yards per play.
The game highlighted how the Gophers are dependent on putting together a full game, with early struggles and miscues leading to a massive second quarter from the Wildcats. This is a burn-the-tape game for the Gophers, who need to shake off the bad loss quickly, as they host Wisconsin next weekend.
Listen to The Entire Crew Every Week on the Cold Omaha Staff Pod!
