The Gophers' film room at the Gibson-Nagurski Complex likely won't be a pleasant setting Sunday. TCU's defense was stifling, its offense swift and efficient, but Minnesota's mistakes kept it from ever threatening in by far its toughest nonference test of 2014. Here's a look at the 2-1 Gophers' grades from Saturday's 30-7 loss in Fort Worth.
With an athletic, physical front seven that overwhelmed the Gophers' previously staunch offensive line, the Horned Frogs -- who won just four games last year -- held Minnesota to 99 yards on the ground. Coming off a career-high 220 yards that earned him Big Ten co-offensive player of the week, senior running back David Cobb gained just 41 on 15 attempts -- 2.7 per rush. The next-best rusher on the day was backup quarterback Chris Streveler (35 yards on seven carries), who only came into the game after Mitch Leidner exited in the fourth quarter.
If there was any doubt about Leidner's shortcomings as a thrower, it was eradicated Saturday inside Amon G. Carter Stadium. Harassed frequently and sacked twice, the redshirt sophomore completed 12 of 26 passes for 151 yards, threw three interceptions and had a few more ill-advised throws that could've been picked off. It wasn't just him, though; Minnesota's pass blocking has been suspect so far this season, and it allowed TCU to collapse the pocket and force Leidner -- who limped off favoring his left knee in the fourth quarter for the second week in a row -- to roll and throw before setting his feet.
This was easily the Gophers' best facet of the day, as TCU often took to the air for its biggest chunks of yardage. When the Frogs decided to stay on the ground, Minnesota was able to limit -- not stop -- them. The home team finished with 169 rushing yards, 92 of which came from the legs of super-athletic quarterback Trevone Boykin.
It wasn't so much that the Gophers secondary couldn't match up with TCU's trackstar-led group of skill players; it's that the Frogs' revamped, lightning-strike, no-huddle attack rarely allowed them the time to do so. A defense that's sound in its scheme and matchups was on its heels from the outset, yielding 258 passing yards and a pair of touchdown tosses from Boykin to receiver Josh Doctson, who caught six passes for 64 yards on the day. TCU ran 73 plays in 25:35 of possession time, snapping the ball every 21 seconds and rarely allowing Minnesota much room to switch out its personnel.
Between the turnovers and Minnesota's special teams lapses, TCU never had far to go on its scoring drives; all five of them began inside Gophers territory. The first came thanks to a 46-yard punt return by the Frogs' Cameron Echols-Luper, but that was TCU's only big return of the day. Marcus Jones had a huge one of his own, taking a kickoff 58 yards and setting up Minnesota with its best field position of the day, at the TCU 42. But Sam Carter picked off Leidner three plays later. Peter Mortell punted eight times for 373 yards (46.6 yards per kick), including a 40-yarder that was downed inside the 1 (a personal foul call against Minnesota's Daletavious McGhee brought the ball out to to the 16).
The best part of Minnesota's first 2014 loss was the flight home -- the Gophers can review their mistakes, sleep on them for a night or two and then move on to a much lesser opponent in San Jose State at home next Saturday to close out the nonconference schedule. But some alarming signs emerged for a Gophers team that won eight games last year and appeared to be on the rise coming into the season. Now, it's imperative they keep them from morphing into season-long trends.
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