In a game that was never in doubt, the Minnesota Gophers Football team easily dispatched the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Northwestern State Demons 66-0 at Huntington Bank Stadium. The Gophers, favored by 43.5 points, led 35-0 after the first quarter and built a 59-0 halftime lead. The Demons snapped a 20-game winless drought with a 20-10 victory over Alcorn State last Saturday.

With the game never in doubt, Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck rested his starters and got a look at some of his younger, less experienced players. It also bolstered the team’s confidence after struggling against the University of Buffalo last week. The Gophers also escaped the game without sustaining a serious injury, with one game left before the Big Ten Opener at home against Rutgers on Sept. 27.

Gophers Scores Right Away

On the first play from scrimmage, Minnesota cornerback John Nestor intercepted a pass intended for the Demons’ wide receiver Brendan Webb at the Northwestern 29-yard line and took it to the house to open the scoring. On their next series, the Gophers increased their lead to 14-0 on an A.J. Turner one-yard plunge, capping off a seven-play 50-yard drive. Minnesota defensive end Anthony Smith snuffed out the Demons’ next drive with a sack of quarterback Abram Johnston at the Northwestern 13-yard line.

The Gophers scored on their third possession on a handoff to an in-motion Le’Meke Brockington, who scampered around the left side for a seven-yard touchdown run. The touchdown was set up by a couple of first-down receptions by Purdue transfer Drew Tiber and Washington transfer Cam Davis. Their next first-quarter touchdown was aided by a pass over the middle to Koi Perich, who advanced the ball to the Demons’ seven-yard line. Minnesota made it 28 -0 one play later on a one-yard Drake Lindsey keeper.

On the next Northwestern possession, the defense added to the Gophers’ rout when Za’Quan Bryan forced a fumble by Demons running back Zay Davis that linebacker Matt Kingsbury scooped up for a 25-yard fumble recovery touchdown. The quarter ended with Minnesota leading 35-0.

Demons Blitzed in Second Quarter

The Gophers went ahead 42-0 with a 45-yard Lindsey bomb to Javon Tracy streaking down the middle. In the next Northwestern series, Johnston was pressured by Minnesota defensive lineman Nate Becker, and he threw a wobbly pass that Nestor intercepted at the Demons’ 31-yard line. Three plays later, Davis charged up the middle for a seven-yard touchdown run, upping the score to 49-0.

Minnesota’s second unit added the eighth score of the day on a short pass from quarterback Max Shikenjanski to running back Fame ljeboi, who scampered 22 yards for the touchdown. Northwestern, in a deep hole, due to an ill-fated kick return, had the ball stripped away by the Gophers’ Garrison Monroe and recovered by Kingsbury at the Demons’ six-yard line. Minnesota was stopped and settled for a Brady Denaburg 27-yard field goal, pushing the score to 59-0. And that is how the half ended.

More of the same

On the first Minnesota drive of the second half, a 52-yard strike from Shikenjanski to Kenric Lanier II brought the ball down to the Northwestern eight-yard line. Two plays later, the Gophers quarterback took it in himself from eight yards out, and the lead mushroomed to 66-0. The only bright spot for the Demons was an interception by cornerback Troy Santa Marina Jr. on a Dylan Wittke pass in the end zone to thwart a third-quarter Minnesota drive.

Finally

Mercifully, the game was called with 6:15 left in the fourth quarter due to inclement weather. The Gophers roll to a lopsided 66-0 victory.

Aftermath

The Gophers amassed 484 yards of total offense compared to 42 for the Demons. Nine different Minnesota players scored, along with Denaburg’s field goal. Grant Washington led the team in rushing with 126 yards in 20 carries. Lanier led all pass catchers with 59 receiving yards, and Lindsey finished 8-9 for 139 yards and one touchdown reception.

On the other side of the ball, linebacker Joey Gerlach led all Gophers defenders with five tackles, and Nestor added the two interceptions.

I asked Coach Fleck this question after the game.

Interview

New Leaf News: What does a game like this mean for Grant Washington, Garrison Monroe, Matt Kingsbury, people like that?

PJ Fleck: “Experience. Nothing trumps experience. There’s nothing better than it. You can talk about it. You can say you know it. You’ve got to go do it, and you’ve got to keep doing it. It doesn’t matter who you do it against. You’ve just got to keep playing it, and you’ll continue to build confidence.

Those guys that you just mentioned, even Xavier (Ford). Xavier got in there tonight. That was really good for him, that experience. That’s all going to help our football team this year, and that’s also about the investment as we continue to go through with that cultural sustainability for years to come, even with our quarterback position.

But again, I promise you this, we look at every single rep like it’s a national championship rep. There is no such thing as mop up time at the University of Minnesota. And if you think that, watch the TV telecast of people get coached. Being up 66 points, and it’s like we’re down 66 points.

We are going to coach our football team to get better from the start to the end every time we get our hands on them in practice. That’s what a development program does. This isn’t about watching, monitoring, and observing; it’s about coaching. And there’s so many things that we’re going to learn from that we didn’t even do well today.

Even the sky punt. We’ve got to be better in the sky punt. We’ve got to understand that situation and where that ball can’t go. You can know it; you can talk about it. You can say, you know it. You’ve got to go do it. And those are the things that we’ll continue to get better at.”

Next

The Gophers take on the University of California Golden Bears in Berkeley, California, next Saturday. Game time is scheduled for 9:30 pm CDT.