Gophers are a true contender in the Big Ten, maybe nationally
The Minnesota Gophers appear to be for real. They're elite in all three phases of the game, have experience on both sides of the ball and play a schedule that could help vault them to the Big Ten Championship Game against the winner of the Big Ten East, be it Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State or another team.
Plenty of questions remained after the Gophers whipped New Mexico State, Western Illinois and Colorado by a combined score of 149-17 the first three weeks of the season, but Saturday's dominating 34-7 win at Michigan State put the rest of the country on notice.
The Gophers got what they wanted when running the ball. Tanner Morgan resembled the quarterback that got some NFL Draft hype following his excellent 2019 season, finishing with as many touchdown passes (3) as incompletions (3) – and he did that in his first game without his top wide receiver, Chris Autman-Bell, who is out for the season with a leg injury.
They have a Heisman hopeful in running back Mohamed Ibrahim, who extended his streak of consecutive games with 100+ yards to 13, just two shy of the Big Ten record set by former Ohio State-turned-Dallas Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott.
But it's not just offensive firepower, ball control domination and the nation's best third-down offense (78.8%!). These Gophers are stingy on defense.
Entering the game, the Gophers were tied with Michigan for the third-best scoring defense in the country. But Michigan gave up 27 to Maryland and No. 1 Georgia allowed 22 to Kent State. Ole Miss, which was tied with Iowa for the No. 2 scoring defense, also gave up 20+ in their game, so Minnesota will enter Week 5 with the No. 2 or No. 1 scoring defense – and it will be No. 1 if Iowa allows 14+ points to Rutgers on Saturday night.
Minnesota entered the game allowing 170 yards per game, which ranked second nationally. They allowed just 240 yards to the Spartans, and 72 of those came on the final drive of the game when Minnesota's backups were in.
The question now is how far can the Gophers go.
Their toughest games include at Illinois (3-1), at Penn State (3-1), at home against Iowa (2-1) and at Wisconsin (2-1). Penn State is the only ranked opponent left on Minnesota's schedule.
Iowa boasts a great scoring defense but context matters. They barely beat South Dakota State in their opener before losing to Iowa State in Week 2. The same can be said about Wisconsin as the Badgers lost at home in Week 2 to Washington State.
Clearly, Minnesota has a legit shot to win the West and play in the Big Ten title game.
If it happens, they're definitely in consideration for the Rose Bowl, if not a spot in the BCS playoffs. Time will tell, but the path is paved with gold for the Gophers ... they just have to take care of business.
Related: 5 things that stood out in the Gophers' blowout win at Michigan State
Related: Gophers' Mo Ibrahim has entered the Heisman chat
