The Minnesota Gophers Football team, looking to erase the memory of last week’s 38-13 drubbing by Mississippi State, destroyed an outgunned Akron Zips squad 41-7 at the Bank today. After some first-quarter cobwebs, the Gophers got untracked running up 395 yards in total offense. And their maligned defensive unit surrendered only 221 yards while sacking Akron quarterbacks twice. They also forced the Zips to lose two fumbles.

The Gophers’ running game looked improved in the second half, with their line moving Zips defenders around effectively. Quarterback Duke Lindsey’s school-record streak of pass completions without throwing an interception ended at 213 when Akron linebacker Omari Abor snared a first-quarter tipped pass. Minnesota turned the ball over only once and committed four penalties; a far cry from last week’s 12. This game served as a necessary tune-up for their Big Ten opener next week against the Washington Huskies in Pullman.

Gophers Start Strong

A 42-yard kickoff return by Quayd Hendrix set up the Gophers’ first score. On first down, Lindsey would hit Noah Jennings for a 30-yard completion down to the Zips 28-yard line. Drake would complete three short passes before throwing a strike to freshman tight end Roman Voss down the middle for his first collegiate touchdown and a seven-point lead.

Minnesota would squander an opportunity when, on the next Zips possession, Gophers linebacker Joey Gerlach stripped Zips running back Jordan Gant of the ball, which was recovered by TJ Bush at the visitors’ 44-yard line. But the Gophers’ offense went three-and-out and were forced to punt it away. Later in the first quarter, Lindsey connected with Javon Tracy on consecutive passes for 60 yards, bringing the ball down to the Zips’ 11-yard line. Unable to punch it in from there, the Minnesota settled for a Luke Drzewiecki 24-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead.

Solid Second Quarter Defense

Karter Menz’s 16-yard sack of Zips quarterback Brayden Roggow gave the Gophers the spark they needed. With 11:45 left in the first half, Tracy would return a punt up the middle, all the way down to the Akron eight-yard line. Two plays later, Lindsey found Jennings in the middle of the end zone to extend the Gophers’ lead to 17-0.

Later in the quarter, the Zips would run an 11-play drive, consuming over six minutes of clock but come up empty. Two costly Akron penalties, an Anthony Smith pass deflection, and a nice pass break-up by cornerback John Nestor would force the Zips to lose the ball on downs. Lindsey would then direct his team down the field on a 12-play, 36-yard drive.

The key play in the drive was a Lindsey-to-Tracy toss and catch for 21 yards, which put the ball at the Akron 29-yard line. The Gophers could not advance it further and were forced to settle for a 45-yard Drzewiecki field goal and a 20-0 lead. And that is how the half would end on this blustery day in Minnesota.

Minnesota Keeps Up the Pressure

A mistake by the Zips would lead to the Gophers’ first score of the second half. Off a Tom Weston punt, Akron’s Sean Patrick muffed the ball, which was recovered by Gerlach on the visitors’ 13-yard line. Three plays later, Lindsey would find Jalen Smith in the right corner of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown reception. Smith twisted his body toward the sideline to make an incredible athletic catch. Minnesota now led 27-0.

With 4:37 left in the third quarter, the Gophers launched a drive with the intent to establish their ground game. With improved blocking and a weary Zips defense, an 11-play, 90-yard drive would culminate in an A.J. Turner four-yard touchdown run and a 34-0 Minnesota advantage. On the drive, TJ Thomas would rush eight times for 45 yards, and Turner would tote three carries for 17 yards, including the touchdown.

Gophers Close it Out

On the ensuing Gophers drive, Thomas would ramble for an explosive 71-yard run for Minnesota’s fifth touchdown of the afternoon. The Zips would finally hit pay dirt on their next possession when Marquese Williams slashed up the middle for a ten-yard score. And that’s the way it ended, with the Gophers leaving the field with a commanding 41-7 victory.

Summary

Lindsey would finish 17-31 for 204 yards, with three touchdown passes and one pick. Thomas led all rushers with 122 yards on 13 carries and the one score. Tracy was the leading receiver with five grabs for 91 yards, and he added 171 all-purpose yards. Nestor and Gerlach led all Gophers defenders with eight tackles, and Menz recorded Minnesota’s only solo sack.

Post-Game Comments from P.J. Fleck and Drake Lindsey

Media: Is that the bounce back you wanted to see from your defensive front? And the defense overall played much more aggressively, I thought.

PJ Fleck: “Yeah, I mean eight tackles for a loss. Thought they got after it. Thought they played violent. Thought they played better with their hands. Better block destruction, getting off blocks. Got to give them credit. They do some things schematically that are going to get you out of the box, and if you do miss a tackle, they’re going to be able to get some yards.

“Yeah, I thought we were swarming pretty well. You know that quarterback is really shifty. I mean, yeah, I thought we were swarming pretty well. You know that quarterback is really shifty. I mean, he’s hard to bring down. He’s not that tall, but you’d think, okay, well, that’s pretty easy. Not saying you’d rather have a tall guy, but sometimes the quarterback’s even harder to find, and then he can just skitter scat right out of there. And he’s explosive too.

“Some really good performances on defense. Some things we got to clean up, but I thought our coverage was really good in the one-on-one stuff. We did get a penalty on one of them, but I think when you’re watching us lean, locate, knock the ball away, I thought there were some really good performances that way. We’ve got to continue as we get into Big Ten play to be way better than that. But we played more guys. We were dominating the line of scrimmage, which is what you want to see.”

Media: Drake, talk about the touchdown to Jalen (Smith). He made a nice turnaround to catch the ball.

Drake Lindsey: “It was a really good catch by Jalen. We practice those types of catches and throws all offseason. Coach Harbaugh (offensive coordinator Greg), Coach Fleck, and our wide-out coach, Coach (Fruechte), they all really emphasized it. When you watched Indiana last year, all they did was throw back shoulder passes.

“We wanted to emphasize it, make it something that we could attack and be good at. Throw it over the top, adjust, and make the play. Jalen was making that play all offseason; all the wideouts were. It’s just good to see it come on Saturdays; that’s what you do the offseason for. So, continue to do that in practice and then keep repeating it on Saturdays”

Next Week

The Gophers travel to Washington to play the Huskies in the Big Ten opener. Washington is 3-0 for the season with victories over. The game is scheduled for a 10 pm CDT start.