Minnesota Golden Gophers – Syndication Server

Minnesota Golden Gophers could rise in Big Ten football power rankings

The Minnesota Golden Gophers are a major wildcard in the new look Big Ten conference. They have an opportunity to rise.

It’s never too early for a “way too early” Big Ten power ranking! Things will change. Players will hurt the portal, players will transfer in, injuries will happen but for the most part, we have a pretty good understanding of rosters after National Signing Day and so much transfer portal movement.

In each part of this series, we will unveil where each of the 18 teams in the new look conference begins. We started at No. 1 with the revamped Ohio State Buckeyes. Then, the Oregon Ducks come in at the second spot. Coming in at No. 3 were the defending National Champion Michigan Wolverines, who are in a bit of a transition period.

At No. 4, we unveiled the Penn State Nittany Lions, who are returning a lot of talent from their 2023 roster. Then we made way for the old reliable, the Iowa Hawkeyes. At No. 6, another new addition to the conference, the USC Trojans. Next up at No. 7, the Wisconsin Badgers came in, followed by the Washington Huskies at No. 8 in the ranking.

Coming in at No. 9, another pretty consistent program with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. They come into the 2024 season as a real wildcard.

Head coach PJ Fleck has done a lot of good things at Minnesota, raising the floor of a program that was very up and down before he came. On offense, you can expect the Golden Gophers to run the football at a high clip. Sophomore running back Darius Taylor put together a tremendous first season and has a really good offensive line in front of him, led by star left tackle Aireontae Ersery.

Minnesota will be breaking in a new quarterback this season with New Hampshire transfer Max Brosmer. He comes to the team after putting together a tremendous 2023 season, throwing for 3,464 yards and scoring 34 total touchdowns. He will be the key to trying to be a balanced offense.

On defense, you should expect the Golden Gophers to put a good product on the field. The team is tasked with replacing Joe Rossi at defensive coordinator after he left for Michigan State this offseason. Former Rutgers linebacker coach Corey Heatherman comes with a good reputation and has a nice core to work with, including talented pass rushers Danny Striggow and Jah Joyner.

Full Big Ten Rankings

We still aren’t talking enough about Minnesota’s Darius Taylor

The Golden Gophers freshman only played in six games, but he rushed for 190 yards three times, including Tuesday’s Quick Lane Bowl.

You’d be forgiven for not thinking about Minnesota running back Darius Taylor much this season.

Taylor was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2023, 247Sports’ No. 29 running back in the class. The Golden Gophers finished 5-7 this season, only making a bowl game because the schedule needed to be filled. Taylor only played in five of those games, and he only received a single carry against Nebraska.

You’d only start to raise an eyebrow when you realized he still led the team in rushing yards.

Taylor gained three yards on his one carry against Nebraska, the first game of the season. In the next game against Eastern Michigan, he ran for 193 yards on 33 carries. Might just be the competition, right? Until he followed that up with 138 yards against North Carolina and 198 yards against Northwestern.

He rushed for 529 yards in his first four collegiate games, and he only had one carry in the first one.

Taylor missed most of the rest of the season with a leg injury, coming back for a 59-yard performance on 16 carries against Iowa before returning to the bench again. Even with that performance and the Nebraska game, he still averaged 118.2 yards per game in the regular season. The next-best mark in the Big Ten was Ohio State star TreVeyon Henderson at 94.9.

The budding freshman star came back in the Quick Lane Bowl and picked up right where he left off against Bowling Green, picking up a career-high 208 yards and scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter to build the lead back up to two scores.

Only four freshman running backs in the FBS ran for more than 730 yards this season, and West Virginia’s Jaheim White was the only one of those who played for a Power 5 school. Taylor ran for 737 in his best four games alone.

This was not a dominant rushing offense he fell into, either. Minnesota was 78th in the country in rushing offense this season. In Taylor’s four full regular-season games, the Golden Gophers averaged 205.75 yards per game on the ground. In the other eight, they averaged 121.25.

Minnesota averaged five yards per carry as a team only four times in 2023: the three games before Taylor got injured and Tuesday’s bowl game. There’s a pretty obvious theme to follow there.

Taylor isn’t simply poised to become one of the best running backs in the country. He already is. If he takes another step forward as a sophomore, or if he even just plays a full 12-game schedule, well, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Darius Taylor runs Minnesota to victory in Quick Lane Bowl

The Golden Gophers exchanged touchdowns with the Falcons for most of the game but held on for a 30-24 victory to close the season.

Minnesota defeated Bowling Green 30-24 in the Quick Lane Bowl on Tuesday behind a dominant day from running back Darius Taylor.

The freshman put on a show against the Falcons, amassing 208 yards on 35 carries including a 14-yard run on the team’s first play from scrimmage.

In fact, the freshman was so good that the Golden Gophers only threw 16 passes for the whole game. The team’s leading receiver? Taylor, who had 11 yards. He accounted for 77.9% of his team’s total yards of offense.

Bowling Green’s offense was productive, with Connor Bazelak throwing for 221 yards and a touchdown on 36 attempts. But a pair of Minnesota touchdowns in the third quarter stretched the lead farther than the Falcons could reach.

Taylor was only a three-star prospect in the Class of 2023, but this was the third time he’d rushed for 190 yards in a single game this season and the fourth time he cleared 130 yards. He only received multiple carries in five games.

Here are the best photos from Minnesota’s victory.

Minnesota could have a toxic environment within the program

Could Minnesota have an issue in the locker room?

Another Big Ten school is dealing with the possibility of a toxic environment within its football program. This time it revolves around P.J. Fleck and the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

According to an interview with Front Office Sports, former players weighed in on the Minnesota football program comparing it to that of a cult. One term used in the interviews collected by FOS was the Fleck Bank. It ultimately meant that players could get away with a positive drug test or violation of team rules according to the report.

“You almost wondered who was a rat and who wasn’t a rat,” the first player told FOS. “You always felt like you had to keep [your] guard up. They told us we could seek help with a mental health counselor, and get some therapy sessions. But our schedules were so busy that it was like, when would you do that?”

“Some of Fleck’s recruits tested positive, but he looked past it because they had coins in the Fleck Bank from doing community service or staying around to pray with him,” said the second player. “He wanted you to be family, and he wanted you to do whatever he wanted you to do.”

With so much attention on cultures within programs after the hazing scandal at Northwestern, it remains to be seen what this could mean for the Minnesota program. Athletic director Mark Coyle seems to be firmly in the corner of Fleck but this could become a fluid situation to monitor if any current players come forward as well.

Best nonconference matchups of the 2023 college football season

The best 20 nonconference games of the 2023 season.

We are under 100 days to the college football season but who is counting anyway? Well, just about everyone is. Teams are gearing up to make a run at the College Football Playoffs and end Georgia’s run of dominance. The Bulldogs are 29-1 over the last two seasons where they won the title in both.

Can anyone step up and prevent them from joining the Minnesota Golden Gophers in college football immortality? Minnesota won three straight titles in the early to mid-1930s. A feat that has seems impossible to repeat, until now. Almost a century later, we could be witnessing history.

Before we get to the CFP, there is plenty more that needs to be addressed. Teams have fall camps, nonconference games, and the run to their respective conference championship games.

In their 100 storylines to follow, CBS Sports ranked the best 20 nonconference matchups of the 2023 college football season. Plenty of eyes will be on the likes of Alabama, Colorado, Texas, and Texas A&M, but who else should we be paying attention to ahead of conference play?

One notable matchup missing is the opening game of the season in Dublin, Ireland, where Notre Dame and Navy are set to meet on the gridiron. That game was among our must-see games in each week of the 2023 college football season.

Check out the list from CBS Sports:

2023 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four: What to know, how to watch, and predictions

How to watch the Frozen Four and what to expect.

THE NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship better known as the Frozen Four will get underway on Thursday evening as the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Boston University Terriers, Quinnipiac Bobcats, and Michigan Wolverines will battle it out for the national title.

What to know:

This year’s Frozen Four is taking place in Tampa, Florida at Amalie Arena. The semifinal contests are set for Thursday evening at 5:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., the winners advancing to Saturday’s national championship game at 8:00 p.m. Each of the Frozen Four’s three games will be aired on ESPN2 and could also be streamed on ESPN.com.

How they got there:

The Frozen Four will feature three of the tournament’s top four teams with Minnesota, Quinnipiac, and Michigan ranked as the top three overall seeds. The tournament’s fourth No.1 seed, the Denver Pioneers were knocked out in the Manchester Regional by the Cornell Big Red who would eventually fall 2-1 to Boston University in the Regional Finals.

Minnesota, the top overall seed is playing in their second straight Frozen Four after appearing in the tournament last season before losing to Minnesota State in the semifinals. The Gophers went 26-9-1 this season and defeated Canisius and St. Cloud State in the Fargo Regional to advance to Tampa.

Quinnipiac is making its third NCAA Tournament Frozen Four appearance after also appearing in the 2013 and 2016 Frozen Fours. They were dominant this season with a 30-4-3 record. In both of their prior appearances, they would be the runner-ups in the tournament. They defeated Merrimack and Ohio State in the Bridgeport Regional to advance to the Frozen Four

Michigan, the third-overall seed was the Big Ten Tournament Champion and posted a 24-11-3 regular season record. They dominated Colgate in the Allentown Regional semifinals 11-1 before outlasting Penn State 2-1 in overtime to advance to their second straight Frozen Four.

Finally, Boston University, the No.2 seed in the Manchester Regional went 27-10-0 this season before beating Western Michigan and Cornell in Manchester. This will be their first Frozen Four appearance since 2015.

Semifinal Matchups

No. 1 Minnesota vs No. 2 Boston University (5:00 p.m.)

This matchup is between two very similar teams as both are high scoring but were also some of the best defensive teams in the country this season. Minnesota’s Logan Cooley and Jimmy Snuggerud were phenomenal throughout the regular season posting 57 and 50 points respectively. The Terriers will need to keep those two in check if they hope to win.

On the other end, Lane Hutson and Matt Brown will need to keep up the fantastic work they’ve put in all season with 48 and 46 goals respectively. The ultimate deciding factor in this one might be Boston U’s ability to stop the Minnesota power play that has scored on 26.2% of all opportunities this season.

Prediction: Minnesota 4 – Boston University 2

No. 1 Quinnipiac vs No. 1 Michigan (8:30 p.m.)

This game will likely come down to Quinnipiac goalie Yaniv Perets who has been dominant all season. He’s started all 39 games for the Bobcats this season, posting a 1.46 goals against average including a .932 save percentage. As a team, the Bobcats are only allowing 1.54 goals per game this season.

The Bobcats can also score with he best of them with 3.95 goals per game. With the Wolverines, you’re in for a high scoring affair usually, scoring 4.23 goals per game but also allowing 3.08 goals a night. A highly talented team, the Wolverines have two first round picks in Luke Hughes and Mackie Samoskevich on their roster with Adam Fantilli being a likely top five selection in this year’s NHL Draft.

Prediction: Quinnipiac 4 – Michigan 3