Maryland Runs Through Gophers in Big 10 Opener

(by Jonathan Lewis MN Sports Unlimited contributor)

The Minnesota Golden Gophers started their Big 10 schedule off with a clunker at home against Maryland. The Gophers lost by a score of 31-24 to suffer their first loss of the season. Considering what we saw from the Gophers during their non-conference schedule, it looked like a completely different team on Saturday, with the Gophers looking mostly overmatched in all facets of the game. Regardless as I typically do I will take a look at what went well and what didn’t.

What Went Right:

To be honest there wasn’t much that went right during the game. One of the positives was that the Gophers were able to hang with Maryland despite really not being able to get into any sort of a rhythm offensively. Jonathan Celestin was all over the field on defense, recording 15 tackles. But other than that really not a whole lot of positives to draw from this game.

What Went Wrong:

The Gophers lost the battle at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. They were held to just 80 yards on 31 carries offensively. Shannon Brooks and Rodney Smith had no running lanes and the Gopher offense collectively looked overmatched against the Maryland front 7. Connor Rhoda struggled throughout the day, with a good chunk of his passing yards coming on a few big plays. Rhoda sealed the game with a costly late interception and just didn’t look as comfortable as he had during the first few games of the year. On the defensive side of the ball the Gophers were gouged throughout the game by the Maryland offense, who ran wild with 262 rushing yards. Despite coming in as heavy underdogs, it was evident from the start of the game that Maryland came in with more fire and was the team that deserved to get the win.

What’s Next:

The Gophers will take on Purdue in their second Big 10 game of the year on Saturday. Purdue comes into the game with a record of 2-2, having lost their first Big 10 game to Michigan by a score of 28-10. Look for a preview of the game later in the week here on Minnesota Sports Unlimited!