Upon Further Review: Gophers’ gaffes pull defeat from jaws of victory

In a contest in which defense was seemingly at times optional, Maryland’s gaffes – both physical and mental – appeared to aid Minnesota’s chances of getting a win.

But in the end, it was the Gophers who handed the keys to victory to the Terrapins, who pulled off a stunning 45-44 overtime win over Minnesota on Friday night.

The Gophers trailed by 13 points after the first quarter but tallied the next 31 points – good for a 17-point lead after three quarters. Maryland assisted as much as it could during this time, with some questionable decision making.

The Terrapins elected to punt on a fourth-and-2 from the Minnesota 43 in the second quarter after the Gophers had just taken the lead marching up and down the field with little interference (and yes, Minnesota then drove 91 yards for another touchdown). Maryland inexplicably let the clock run out in the first half with a timeout in its pocket and a chance to get in field-goal position or try a Hail Mary. In the third, after driving down the field and near the goal line thanks in part to the running of Jake Funk (21 carries, 221 yards, TD), Maryland gave the ball to true freshman Peny Boone, who, on his first and only carry of the day, fumbled into the end zone, the Gophers recovering.

The Terrapins also had a missed field-goal attempt from 50 (hitting off the upright) and committed 10 penalties for 97 yards. It’s as if they were gift-wrapping a win for the Gophers.

Alas, the mojo changed in the fourth quarter and the wheels fell off for Minnesota.

Playing perhaps too conservatively, the Gophers appeared to try to run the clock out. Maryland sold out on the run and succeeded, forcing Minnesota into tough third-down situations which it didn’t convert, going 0-for-3. (The Gophers ran nine times in the fourth quarter, including a sack, gaining 11 yards, while passing it just twice, completing both for 12 yards).

The nail in the coffin for Minnesota came in the overtime on a missed extra-point attempt, another questionable decision, but one which was set up by a horrendous fourth quarter in which Maryland outscored the Gophers 17-0 and grasped victory from the jaws of defeat.

Head coach P.J. Fleck and Minnesota players keep saying how 2019 is over and means nothing in 2020. We don’t need them to tell that us. The Gophers’ play on the field and 0-2 record – as many losses as they had all of last year – tells the story on its own.

Here’s a recap of Friday’s game (Game story | Photo gallery):

PLAYER OF THE GAME

We have a feeling he’ll be mentioned here often, win or lose, but Mohamed Ibrahim had another big game for Minnesota. Rushing 41 times – the first Big Ten running back with 40+ carries since Iowa’s Jordan Canzeri had 43 in 2015 and first Gophers RB since Laurence Maroney had 43 vs. Wisconsin in 2005 – Ibrahim had 207 yards, his most in a regular-season game, and four touchdowns. The latter tied a school single-game mark last accomplished by quarterback Mitch Leidner Sept. 21, 2013 vs. San Jose State. The previous running back with four rushing TDs in a game was Marion Barber III vs Ohio on Sept. 13, 2003. It hadn’t been done in a Big Ten game for Minnesota since Oct. 21, 1972 when John King had four vs. Iowa.

Gimme Gimme Mo!

Count ’em, 3 TDs (so far) in the first half for @GopherFootball‘s @_MoIbrahim. pic.twitter.com/ybVnCLwsDy

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 31, 2020

DON’T FORGET ABOUT ME

Chris Autman-Bell had only one catch in the opening game. He wasn’t as forgotten in this one, pulling down four catches for 112 yards – his first 100-yard game. Autman-Bell also made a great catch, high pointing a ball in the end zone for a touchdown despite double coverage.

.@T_morg2 slings it to Chris Autman-Bell who makes an insane grab for the TD! @GopherFootball x #RTB pic.twitter.com/owtauuSSPw

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 31, 2020

THAT MOMENT

We’ve mentioned a lot of Maryland’s gaffes up top. Fleck wasn’t immune. Early in the game he challenged an Autman-Bell catch at the 1 saying the receiver got into the end zone. Why waste your only challenge – especially in the first half — when Minnesota had the ball first-and-goal from the 1? But his bigger mistake came in the overtime, electing to kick the extra point rather than go for two (the miss obviously augmented this decision). Minnesota’s defense couldn’t stop Maryland all game – the Terps punted just once, that ill-advised plus-territory boot described above, and rolled up 675 yards averaging an incredible 10.2 yards per play. The defense was not going to win this game for the Gophers. Minnesota won the overtime toss and wisely elected to be on offense second. This allows a team to know what it needs to do to win. If Maryland got a field goal, a touchdown wins it. If the Terps scored, as they did, then you know if a 2-point conversion will win it. Fleck said after the game he had not thought of going for two on this first possession but would have considered it on the second one. Oh, P.J. Going for two when you have the ball first in OT gives the advantage to the team who has it second (miss it, and kick the extra point for the win; make it and the team knows it has to go for two). Minnesota had the advantage. It was time to go for two. The failure wasn’t in the missed kick attempt, it was in the decision to kick.

THIS NUMBER

35 – number of “chunk” plays. We’ve mentioned a lot of figures corresponding to the dreadful defense played on both sides. Perhaps nothing helps sums up just how bad it was than the number of big plays each team had. A “chunk” play is a pass of 15+ yards or run of 10+ yards. Maryland had an incredible 21 (or 31.8% of its plays), 11 passing and 10 rushing. Minnesota had 14, nine rushing, and five (of 10 completions) passing. Here are some more “fun” numbers: Maryland gained 436 yards on first downs (205 on 18 rushes and 231 on 14-of-18 passing). The Terps averaged 15.3, 7.4, 11.8 and 9.4 yards per play in each quarter (in order of first through fourth). Minnesota averaged 7.6, 8.6, 8.3 and 2.1

THEY SAID IT

“We had plenty of opportunities to win the game. Put ourselves in a huge, massive, crater hole at the beginning of the game. Got our way out of it, got ahead and then just weren’t able to … usually we can find a way to finish that game but we weren’t able to. We were a first down or two away from finishing the game. That’s how close the margin of error is.” – Fleck

“I just told Brock I love him. I told him, ‘That’s not the reason why we lost this football game.’ There was plenty of opportunity. There was plenty of blame to go around.”– Fleck on the missed extra-point attempt

“The big thing is momentum doesn’t really exist to us. So what we have really have to do is start fast, accelerate middle and finish strong. We can’t be good in just be good in one category or two, we need to be elite in all three. … But at the end of the day we just need to do our job better and execute better.” – quarterback Tanner Morgan on the team’s inconsistency

“Mo did a phenomenal job. He did what Mo does. He ran extremely hard. … We just have to finish the game better as an offensive unit.”– Morgan on Ibrahim

“No one is holding their head down. We have a team that is very big on response and everybody is ready to respond.”– defensive end Boye Mafe

“We knew that we would have to stop the run in order to win this game. … We really stepped up (in the second half) and we took our role that we had each play seriously and we didn’t take no for an answer.”– Terps defensive lineman Lawtez Rogers

WHAT’S NEXT

Minnesota heads to Illinois to face the Illini, who lost their opener 45-7 at Wisconsin and hosted Purdue on Saturday. Illinois will be without starting quarterback Brandon Peters, who tested positive for COVID-19 and is in the Big Ten’s 21-day protocol. Many players, including No. 2 QB Isaiah Williams, missed the Illini’s game against the Boilermakers due to contact tracing quarantine and it is uncertain who of these will be back against the Gophers.