Minnesota Football has its eyes on the Big Ten West championship after a ground and pound approach led to nine wins last year. Will the passing attack improve and lead to bigger things in 2022?
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are poised to make a run for the Big Ten West title in a wide-open division in 2022. With no obvious front runner, the division is there for the taking if the Gophers can find a way to build on last year’s solid 9-4 performance.
The key to the Minnesota football season will be whether QB Tanner Morgan and the passing attack can provide some firepower after a miserable season a year ago. Last season the Gophers ranked an abysmal 114th in offensive explosive plays and were 129th out of 130 in offensive plays per game. The philosophy was to grind out games and not allow the passing game to blow it, which led to slow, methodical, clock-bleeding drives that were good for nine wins.
However, the passing woes contributed to a pair of embarrassing losses that ultimately kept them from playing in the Big Ten title game and a prominent bowl game.
Managing only 10 points at home in a loss to Bowling Green on homecoming and just six points in a loss at Illinois illuminated the deficiencies of the passing game and led to offseason changes.
Head coach PJ Fleck made a move at Offensive Coordinator, firing Mike Sanford Jr for the lack of a passing game (the Gophers were 118th in pass yards per game, and only four teams attempted fewer passes in all the FBS). A familiar face returns at OC with Kirk Ciarrocca coming back to try and recapture the success of the 2019 season that had Morgan receiving NFL draft buzz.
With Morgan, bruising RB Mo Ibrahim, WR Chris Autman-Bell, and C John Michael Schmitz all returning for sixth seasons the Gophers have a Big Ten West championship or bust mentality. Despite the offensive line losing a few pieces and the defense replacing several key players, the Gophers are in a position to repeat and possibly improve upon last season’s win total given that they avoid both Michigan and Ohio State this season.