The No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) will head up to Minneapolis on Saturday for their annual rivalry game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-6, 2-6), looking for a 14th consecutive win over their arch-rivals.
To get the inside scoop on Minnesota and new head coach P.J. Fleck, we asked E.J. Stevens of TheGopherReport.com a few questions about the Gophers. Our questions and his answers are included below.
This is the first season for P.J. Fleck in Minnesota - what has he brought to the Gophers that makes him different from their previous coaches, both schematically and from an off-the-field perspective?
E.J. Stevens: Schematically, P.J. Fleck likes his offense to be as balanced as possible, but because Minnesota doesn't really have the personnel to play the way he wants to yet, they have been forced to rely much heavier on the run game than perhaps he would like to. An inexperienced quarterback and injuries/lack of depth and talent in the receiving core are the top reasons for this. On defense, Minnesota plays a ton of nickel and against run heavier teams they will put an extra linebacker in there instead of the nickel corner. Their base, however, under defensive coordinator Robb Smith is a 4-3, so that is similar to what Minnesota ran before.
From an off-field perspective, Fleck is night-and-day different from previous coach Tracy Claeys. He is a relentless recruiter that has made an impact immediately in that aspect and has had 23 commits now for almost two months. He loves talking to the media and gives no shortage of sound bites to be used and interpreted as they will. Fleck has not been shy about his goals to win a Big Ten championship at Minnesota, something that hasn't been done in over 50 years. While he continues to share his goals, he is also realistic about where this program is at and continues to preach culture over results right now. It's going to be process, but Fleck definitely believes he can win at a high level in Minneapolis.
I know Minnesota's offense is both young and dealing with several injuries. What have they been able to do consistently this year, and what has held them back at times?
E.J. Stevens: Honestly, they haven't been able to do much at all consistently on offense. Their strength is running the ball with backs Rodney Smith, Shannon Brooks and Kobe McCrary. However, when opponents know this is what you want to do and believe they can lock up your receivers with man coverage on the outside, this leads to plenty of eight-man boxes which makes it very difficult to run the ball. Throw in inexperienced quarterbacks and Minnesota has had quite the mess on offense this season. Their most success was in a 518 yard total offense performance against Nebraska two weeks ago. They were able to utilize starting quarterback Demry Croft on the read option and he ran for a school record for (for a quarterback) 183 yards in the victory. When Croft can be a threat to run, that makes the defense key in on him more and that can create more space for the running backs. Rodney Smith also rushed for 134 yards in the win over Nebraska, which was his highest total of the season.
I mentioned this a bit previously, but the lack of viable pass-catching offenses has really hampered the Minnesota offense. Number one receiver Tyler Johnson (677 yards receiving) broke his wrist against Nebraska two weeks ago, and without him the offense looked lost last week. The receivers struggle to get open, and when they do they have had a ton of issues with dropped passes. That does not make things easier for an inexperienced quarterback. The offensive line has also lost starters Nick Connelly and Jared Weyler for the season, so the Gophers are a bit thin up front right now.
The defensive side of the ball has been a little more consistent this year - what do they do well, and who are the key players to watch?
E.J. Stevens: They have done a respectable job forcing turnovers and have forced 17 on the season. Until last weeks five turnover game, Minnesota was +4 in turnover margin on the season, which was a big reason they have been close in almost every game this year. Redshirt sophomore Jacob Huff has been a key piece to a young secondary and he leads the team with three interceptions on the year. Sophomore linebacker Thomas Barber has been instrumental at middle linebacker as well. He is second in the Big Ten with 108 tackles and has 10.5 tackles for loss as well. Another sophomore, linebacker turned rush-end Carter Coughlin, is having a breakout season. He leads the team with 6.5 sacks and has gotten better every game despite facing difficult challenges against offensive tackles that outweigh him by over 70 pounds. The team may switch him back to linebacker next year as they get more depth at the defensive end position.
Just how banged up is this Minnesota team right now? Who are they missing from the offense in particular - and are there any guys who could return to the field this week?
E.J. Stevens: Minnesota is definitely banged up, but so are a lot of teams this time of year. The problem is they don't have enough depth to supplement these injuries with quality players. The biggest losses are definitely star safety Antoine Winfield Jr., wide receiver Tyler Johnson, running back Shannon Brooks and center Jared Weyler. None of those four will be back this weekend. Some good news for Minnesota is that now starting center Conner Olson limped off the field last week against Northwestern but later returned to the game and should be ready to play this week as well.
The starting receivers this week are listed as two redshirt freshmen in Mark Williams and Philly Howard and walk-on Clay Geary, who is yet to register a catch this season. The Gophers are down to skin and bones at the receiver position right now. On defense, cornerback Kiondre Thomas had missed the past few games but returned last weekend against Northwestern. The other starter, Antonio Shenault, has been banged up as well but was listed as a starter on this weeks depth chart, so he should be ready to go.
What do you expect to see this weekend? Who wins and why?
E.J. Stevens: The Gophers have been getting gashed on the ground this season and I don't really see a way that changes against Wisconsin. This is just not a good match up right now for the maroon and gold. It would be a surprise to see Minnesota keep this one within two touchdowns because of the inability to stop the run, which is of course the Badgers bread and butter. If the Gophers can't run the ball themselves on offense, it will be an even longer day. With Wisconsin giving up just 79 yards per game on the ground, it would be a success to even get to 100 yards rushing on the day.
To stay close, Minnesota may have to get a special teams/defensive touchdown or two and force at least two-three turnovers. It's hard to see Wisconsin not winning their 14th straight Paul Bunyan's Axe trophy this weekend in Minneapolis.
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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.
