The Minnesota Gophers are 1-0 after a dominant shutout win over New Mexico State Thursday night.
“We were in complete control. We’re athletic, we’re fast. But could we put together a complete game after training camp?” head coach P.J. Fleck said after the game on Big Ten Network.
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That question was answered as the Gophers manhandled Jerry Kill’s Aggies 38-0. Here are five things that stood out.
1. Defense dominates
The 38-0 win is Minnesota’s second shutout in the past 15 years, with the only other coming in Week 3 last season when the Gophers went to Colorado and won 30-0. Before that, you have to go all the way back to 2006 when Bryan Cupito was throwing passes to Eric Decker to find another shutout.
Minnesota was third in the nation allowing 278.8 yards per game last season, and they appear to be just as good defensively this season. New Mexico State had a grand total of 91 yards.
2. Mohamed Ibrahim didn’t miss a beat
Injured after a dominating three quarters in last year’s season opener against Ohio State, Mohamed Ibrahim picked up where he left off – with his rehabilitated Achilles – and ran through New Mexico State with 21 carries for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Ibrahim barely played in the second half.
Meanwhile, the running back depth and offensive line proved way too good for the Aggies as Minnesota ran the ball 57 times for 297 yards and five touchdowns. Trey Potts had 17 carries for 89 yards and a touchdown as he and Ibrahim are, as expected, the clear 1-2 punch in the backfield.
3. Dominant time of possession
The running game putting up nearly 300 yards and five touchdowns makes it really obvious that Minnesota had the ball for the majority of the game. The Gophers had the ball for 44 minutes, 30 seconds of the game. That meant the Aggies had the ball for just 14 minutes, 30 seconds.
4. Only 3 penalties all night long
The first game of the year is often a bit of a dress rehearsal in college football, and that usually means lots of penalties. But the Gophers didn’t have a penalty in the first half and were called for only three all game: two holding penalties and a defensive pass interference.
5. Tanner Morgan, Chris Autman-Bell connection
After Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman proved to be incredible targets for quarterback Tanner Morgan in 2019 and 2020, the new big man on campus appears to be Chris Autman-Bell. The senior receiver looked extremely athletic and in control every time Morgan looked his way.
Autman-Bell finished the night with just three catches for 38 yards, but his almost touchdown catch was probably the play of the game, even though it didn’t count because the back of his foot landed out of bounds in the back of the end zone.
— go to ➡️ collegefootballnetwork.com (@PickettsPool) September 2, 2022
Morgan finished 13 of 19 for 174 yards. He didn’t throw for a touchdown or interception, but he did have a pair of quarterback sneaks for touchdowns.
This was Morgan’s first game back with offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca, who was the offensive coordinator in 2019 when Morgan set a school record with 30 touchdown passes. Ciarrocca spent the past two years at Penn State and West Virginia.
