In a game the Gophers needed to win to keep their CFP hopes alive, they came up short. The team took a 26-19 loss to Rutgers on Saturday, dropping their record to 6-4 on the season. While the Gophers were able to keep up with the Scarlet Knights, even at times holding a lead, the 4th quarter was a masterclass of failure on both sides of the ball.

While it is hard to blame one piece of the offensive it seemed to be the struggles of the run game that held the Gophers back. Darius Taylor was held to 28 yards in the game on 10 carries, struggling to find Rutgers secondary other than his 1st quarter 18 yard touchdown run. With Taylor then only running for 10 yards on 9 carries throughout the rest of the game the task was too much for Max Brosmer. Brosmer, who still was able to throw for 262 yards was not able to get much done when it counted as the Gophers run game had to be abandoned. Furthermore, taking a 4th quarter safety did not help Minnesota’s cause.

Defensively, the Gophers were unable to contain the previously poor passing offense led by former Gopher, Athan Kaliakmanis. Kaliakmanis threw for 240 yards and 3 touchdowns which opened up the offense for running back Antwan Raymond who led the game with 73 rushing yards. 

Overall, the game was a wakeup call for Minnesota who entered on a high. The win streak was snapped and the potential for a cinderella story as well. The Gophers will have two more Big Ten matchups in the coming weeks to prove their worth of a high tier bowl game. However, without production from Darius Taylor it is going to be hard to win against Penn St. or Wisconsin. 

The Gophers will now enter the bye week, getting ready for a 2:30 showdown on November 23rd vs. the #4 ranked Nittany Lions.

Men’s Basketball Update:

Men’s basketball kicked off their regular season last Wednesday and have thus far won both of their matchups. On Wednesday they took down Oral Roberts 80-57, then on Saturday they were able to pull out the win vs. Omaha 68-64. Although a 2-0 start feels good, problems may be on the horizon for the team.

Against Oral Roberts it seemed as if things were headed in the right direction. The Gophers got up to a 14 point lead at the half and were able to coast into an easy victory. The shooting was the strongest point as the Gophers shot over 60% from three. Furthermore, not that Oral Roberts is a Big Ten caliber team, but Gopher star Dawson Garcia had 30 points and 8 rebounds on the night

However, things were just not the same on Saturday. For most of the game, Minnesota was trailing and lacked energy. It was not until Mike Mitchell Jr. went down with an ankle injury in the second half that the team started to wake up. Then the limited crowd got into the game to get a few key turnovers in crunch time to seal the victory. However, at the end of the day it seemed as if the only way the team could score was with the ball in Dawson Garcia’s hands. While his 24 points and 7 rebounds was another huge game, the team around him struggled mightily with both shooting and creating shots.

Wednesday night, Minnesota will take on North Texas who will be the best team the Gophers have seen thus far. If Mitchell is able to be ready for the game we will get a better feel for which way this season may go. Looking ahead the Gophers will be at the barn for the 4th time this upcoming Saturday to take on Yale.