Minnesota Football: Gophers escape upset scare from South Dakota State

Minnesota football survived a challenge from visiting FCS power South Dakota State on Thursday. What should we take away from the Gophers’ victory?

On Thursday night, Minnesota hoped to kick off a promising new season with a win over a quality FCS opponent. South Dakota State, a semifinalist in last year’s FCS playoffs, came to Minneapolis hunting for a statement upset over a Big Ten program. The Jackrabbits looked far more determined over the course of 60 minutes, but costly mistakes by the visitors allowed the Golden Gophers to escape TCF Bank Stadium with a 28-21 victory.

Despite the defeat, South Dakota State asserted their presence as a team to watch in the Missouri Valley Conference this season. Minnesota, meanwhile, is left to lick their wounds after a pride-deflating close call against a program with a fraction of the resources at the Golden Gophers’ disposal.

What did we learn from this game? More than anything, what we can take away from this season opener is that the Golden Gophers have a lot of work to do if they hope to seriously contend for a bowl appearance in P.J. Fleck’s third season at the helm. Let’s look a little deeper at how this game played out to see where they need to go back to the practice field.

Minnesota barely escaped the first half with a slim lead

Minnesota looked like the worse team through much of the first half, but when they got the ball back with 4:57 left to play in the first quarter the Gophers turned their third possession of the game into points. As they marched on a 15-play, 91-yard drive to the endzone, Minnesota ate up more than 10 minutes of game clock. Seth Green capped the drive by gaining the final yard on the ground, though Rodney Smith and Mohamed Ibrahim did the bulk of the rushing work on the drive.

South Dakota State responded late in the second quarter, as redshirt freshman J’Bore Gibbs completed three big passes and ran in the ball from one yard out to tie up the contest. It looked like the score would stay that way, but there was still enough time for drama to ensue before the intermission.

In the final minute of the first half, Minnesota benefitted from a pair of huge plays. First, Rashod Bateman latched on to Tanner Morgan’s 42-yard pass with his fully-outstretched left hand, pulling in the ball as though magnetized. With the early frontrunner for reception of the year, Bateman put the Gophers ahead 13-7.

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The score stayed that way after Minnesota kicker Michael Lantz missed the extra point, and for a moment it looked like South Dakota State had tied the game on the ensuing kickoff as Cade Johnson bolted 99 yards to the endzone. But a flag for a holding penalty brought it all back, and the Golden Gophers lucked out to maintain a lead that looked like it had been immediately lost.

South Dakota State beat itself with costly turnovers in the second half

After the halftime break, South Dakota State received the ball first. The Jackrabbits moved the chains and looked ready to sustain a tying or go-ahead drive. Then a bad snap in the shotgun rolled to J’Bore Gibbs, and rather than falling on the ball to kill the play the young quarterback tossed the ball right into Chris Williamson’s numbers.

It was the easiest interception that Williamson could possibly ask for, and he promptly ran it back 43 yards to the house to give Minnesota a two-touchdown lead.

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The game certainly wasn’t over yet, though, as South Dakota State came right back after the gaffe and pounded the rock 92 yards downfield on 10 plays to pull within six points. Just six minutes into the third quarter, the Jackrabbits were keeping things interesting. On their next possession, South Dakota State scored again to take a 21-20 lead. If not for the pick-six, they had complete control of the quarter much as they had dominated long stretches of the first half.

What was perhaps more impressive than South Dakota State’s offensive development as the game progressed was the continued domination of the Jackrabbits defense. All night long, Morgan was under pressure and Minnesota backs were unable to find open lanes to run. With each subsequent drive the Golden Gophers found it increasingly difficult to move the football.

But another costly turnover allowed Minnesota to get back into the game. When Gibbs coughed up a fumble on a read-option play inside their own half of the field, it allowed the Gophers to pull back ahead. Keeping it on the ground, Minnesota ran down the clock and pulled ahead for the winning points on a plunge through the line by Ibrahim.

South Dakota State offered one final scare, driving near the red zone and running at will on the Golden Gophers defense. But Minnesota sacked Gibbs on fourth down, and the offense ran out the clock to avoid an embarrassing FCS upset at home.

While they walk away victors, Minnesota cannot feel good about how this game transpired against the Jackrabbits. There will be plenty to study in the film room over the next week as they prepare for another tough test on the road against Fresno State.