MINNEAPOLIS -- Two Big Ten games, two wins for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Jerry Kill's team is coming off a home victory over Northwestern, which lifted Minnesota to 5-1 on the season and a perfect 2-0 in the conference. The Gophers now prepare to host Purdue this weekend with the hope of improving to 6-1.
Leading up to that game, I answered your questions about Minnesota. Be sure to send in your questions after Saturday's game against the Boilermakers.
Q: For how good of an athlete he is, it doesn't seem like Berkley Edwards has many touches on offense. Is it because he is still learning the game? Seems we should be getting him more involved. -- Zach, New Ulm, Minn.
A: I'm as surprised as you are that Edwards, a redshirt freshman running back, hasn't been more involved in the offense. As for the reason why he doesn't have many touches, I'm not entirely sure. I'd venture to guess that he's still trying to adjust to the size and speed (even though he's fast) of the college game. On top of that, Minnesota has an every-down running back in David Cobb that it feels comfortable giving the ball to plenty.
Still, the most touches he's had in a game this season was six in Minnesota's win against Middle Tennessee -- and he only gained 17 yards on those six carries. His best game was his college debut when he rushed for 60 yards on just four carries, including a 42-yard touchdown. It seemed at the time that it was a sign of things to come for Edwards, but he's become a non-factor in Minnesota's offense. I anticipated that the Gophers would try to draw up some plays to get the ball into his hands in space, whether it be a screen pass or an end around. Minnesota did run Edwards on an end around against Northwestern, but he lost five yards on the play.
I also thought Edwards might see some more time on kick or punt returns, given his speed and quickness, but he hasn't done either yet. We'll see if Minnesota figures out a way to get Edwards move involved on offense. From everything I've heard about him -- and a few glimpses we've seen in the rare occasion he's on the field -- he possesses the home run threat that the Gophers' other running backs simply don't have.
Q: Tough call burning Connor Mayes' redshirt almost half way through the season. I know we're getting a little thin on the offensive line, but especially with linemen it would be nice to have a full season of a 22-23 year old fifth-year senior as opposed to a half season of an 18-19 year old. I trust Coach Kill and company, and obviously they are way more smart than me and know their team, but I wonder if this was necessary? -- Nathan, Moorhead, Minn.
A: Offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover talked about Mayes on Tuesday, saying it's never an easy decision to take a redshirt off a kid, especially at this point in the season. And Mayes is a guy the Gophers have high hopes for. He came to Minnesota from Van Alstyne, Texas, as a four-star recruit. In almost all cases, the Gophers would have loved to keep a player of his caliber redshirted for a season so, like you said, they can truly reap the benefits in his fourth and fifth years when he has more experience under his belt. But the fact that Minnesota did take the redshirt off Mayes shows that A) they indeed needed some help on the offensive line with a few other guys banged up, and B) they feel that Mayes can contribute to the line rotation as a true freshman.
Limegrover praised Mayes as a "very coachable kid" and said the freshman lineman has exceeded Limegrover's expectations to this point. Sure, it would have been ideal to have Mayes enter next season as a redshirt freshman. But with two senior starters on the offensive line, the Gophers will have a few holes to fill next fall. Now they can plug Mayes into the mix, and he'll already have some college experience under his belt.
Q: I've been critical of Limegrover, but credit where credit is due. He has put together a really good and balanced game plan the past two weeks that have also allowed Mitch Leidner to get comfortable throwing the ball. I know this wasn't a question, but like I said, credit where credit is due. -- DJ, Edina, Minn.
A: Agreed. I think Limegrover took some heat earlier in the season when Minnesota's passing game struggled. Of course, he wasn't the one on the field making the throws, but people still like to pass the blame to the coordinators when things aren't going well.
So it's only fair that Limegrover gets some of the credit for the way Leidner and the passing game have steadily improved the last few weeks. The Gophers have an offense that tends to take what the defense gives it. Against Michigan, that meant a handful of screen passes to David Cobb, who gained a career-high 50 receiving yards in that game. This past weekend against Northwestern we saw Minnesota send tight end Maxx Williams on a short route over the middle that gained 12 yards. Williams initially threw a block at the line and then turned to receive the dump-off pass from Leidner. It was a great play call by Limegrover, who added a new wrinkle to the offense.
The Gophers also used play action against Northwestern perhaps more effectively than at any other point this season. Limegrover said Tuesday that he knew the play action would be something that would match up well with the way the Wildcats were defending, and it proved to be true.
Q: I think Minnesota can finish the season 10-2. How do you think they'll end up and what bowl game could you see them playing in? -- Jerry, Minneapolis
A: Yes, the Gophers are off to an impressive 5-1 start, and have a very realistic shot of improving to 7-1 with wins over Purdue and Illinois. At this point, though, I'd say 10-2 is a bit of a stretch. Given how well Minnesota is playing, it's not as far-fetched to say they'll win 10 games as it might have been before the season, but it's still a little ambitious.
I see the Gophers tripping up in at least two of their final four games (against Iowa and Ohio State at home and Nebraska and Wisconsin on the road).
Which of those two games they're most likely to stumble in, I'm not entirely sure. I think beating Ohio State at home is doable, but the Buckeyes are one of the best teams in the Big Ten and have a high-powered offense that could certainly test Minnesota's defense. The Hawkeyes have had an impressive start to their season, too, and are one field goal away from a perfect 6-0 record.
Winning on the road in the Big Ten is never easy, and Lincoln and Madison are two of the tougher road venues in the conference. Nebraska's only loss this year was by five points on the road against No. 10 Michigan State. Wisconsin, meanwhile, has been a head-scratcher. The Badgers have the second-best rushing offense in the country but one of the worst passing attacks, and are 4-2 through six games.
I'll go out on a limb and say that 9-3 is possible for Minnesota after an eight-win season last year. As for which bowl game they'll end up in, that will depend quite a bit on what happens with the rest of the Big Ten. It's a down year for the conference, but the Gophers could still be looking up at teams like Michigan State, Ohio State and Nebraska in the bowl game pecking order. A game such as the Outback Bowl is realistic for Minnesota, and would be a significant step up from the Gophers' previous two bowl games.
Q: How good could this team be if Mitch Leidner throws the ball as efficiently and effectively as he did on Saturday? Outside of the one ball forced to Maxx, he made tough throws right on the money in key spots. Outstanding performance by that kid if you ask me! -- Nathan, Moorhead, Minn.
A: The passing game is what can make this team go from a good team to a great one. We know that the Gophers will be able to run the ball effectively, and the defense continues to improve. The missing piece of the puzzle has been the aerial attack, of which there hasn't really been much in the last few years.
I'd have to say Leidner had perhaps his best game -- or at least his most efficient -- in Saturday's win over Northwestern. He was 10-of-15 for 153 yards. He did throw an interception when he tried to sneak a pass into double coverage but was otherwise as accurate as we've seen him. True, he threw for more yards against Michigan (167) but he needed 22 passes to do so. Leidner will never be the kind of quarterback who will be asked to throw 35 to 40 times a game; that's just not how Minnesota's offense is set up. And the Gophers don't need him to throw for 300 yards each week. If they can get more games like the ones Leidner has turned in the last two games, Minnesota will be in good shape.
Q: Is there concern about the workload for David Cobb? He's already at 154 carries, after 237 all of last year, and those are hard carries, Cobb gets in there and gets the tough yards. This team is going to need him the most during that tough stretch run in November. How do you think the coaching staff might plan to get other backs more involved or otherwise find a way to spell #27? -- Todd, St. Louis Park, Minn.
A: I actually wrote about this last week. I asked Cobb about how he was handling being that every-down back, as he's gotten the vast majority of carries among Gophers running backs. I was surprised when he said he felt fresh. His reasoning? He didn't carry the ball much as a freshman and sophomore -- just 11 total times in two years, to be exact. Still, even though Cobb wasn't running much in games during those first two years, he was still putting on mileage during practice.
There doesn't seem to be any concern internally with the Gophers in regards to Cobb's workload. That fact seems to be backed up on the field each week as Cobb continues to receive the lion's share of carries. In fact, neither Donnell Kirkwood nor Rodrick Williams had a single carry in last Saturday's win against Northwestern, while Cobb ran 30 times for 97 yards. Redshirt freshman Berkley Edwards had just one carry, an end around that went for a loss.
If Cobb gets banged up from here on out, Minnesota's running game will likely struggle a bit. To help preserve Cobb for the important stretch of games late in the season, it would be wise of the Gophers to spell him from time to time. Though Kirkwood and Williams haven't had the same type of success as Cobb, both are more than capable of rushing five to 10 times a game to give Cobb a breather.
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