Ohio State vs. Minnesota Preview
By Tony Gerdeman

Ohio State and Minnesota will meet for only the 47th time on Saturday, continuing one of the more historically infrequent Big Ten match-ups.

The Buckeyes are 39-7 all-time against the Gophers and hold a perfect 10-0 record in the Metrodome.

Overall, Minnesota is 4-19 against the Buckeyes at home. In fact, Ohio State hasn’t lost in Minneapolis since 1981.

The Buckeyes have won four-straight games over Minnesota and head coach Jim Tressel is 4-0 against the Gophers.

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The last time the Buckeyes lost to Minnesota was in 2000, when the Gophers went into Columbus and beat the 6th-ranked Buckeyes 29-17. That was also Minnesota’s last victory over a team ranked in the Top Ten. Since that victory, the Gophers are 2-18 against ranked opponents.

Minnesota is 82-73-2 all-time in the Metrodome.

When Minnesota Has The Ball

Even though Glen Mason and his offense are long gone, the Gophers still want to control the ball on the ground--they just choose to go about it out of the spread now.

Redshirt freshman Adam Weber controls the game with the use of the spread option and read option attacks. He’s not just a maintenance man at quarterback, as he can actually make plays running and throwing. He is currently second in the Big Ten in total offense, averaging 257.8 yards passing and 64.2 yards rushing per game.

He is essentially the poor man’s Jake Locker. Weber doesn’t have Locker’s speed, but they both tend to fall forward and they both have the ability to move a pile when need be.

The running game will be a bit of an issue this week because starting tailback Amir Pinnix is battling turf toe and acute fumblitis, so his touches may be limited this week. The bulk of the carries—if they don’t go to Weber—will end up with freshman Duane Bennett. Bennett is a little guy (5’9” 195) but has big play ability and is an exciting prospect.

Also expect to see running back Jay Thomas get some carries if Pinnix isn’t able (or permitted) to go.

While the read-option may be a familiar look for the Buckeyes, the Gopher attack will be much different than Washington’s was. Whereas Washington would constantly try to attack wide, the Gophers have no problem running straight at the front seven. It’s this brute style that could spell trouble for Adam Weber if he keeps the ball too much.

Minnesota averages 229.8 yards rushing per game, which is 15th in the nation, so the front four will obviously be in for a busy day. The defensive ends will need to continue to play disciplined football and the defensive tackles will need to continue to keep blockers off of the linebackers.

Middle linebacker James Laurinaitis is from Minnesota so do not be surprised to see a little extra out of him this week—if that’s even possible.

Minnesota’s passing game relies on short, quick passes that basically double as outside runs.

They have a couple of quick freshmen in Tray Herndon and Harold Howell who they like to get outside and let run. The Ohio State secondary is a group of extremely sound tacklers and their skills will need to be on display this week.

Weber’s two main weapons, however, will be Eric Decker and Ernie Wheelwright. Decker is second in the conference in receiving yards per game with 105.2 and Wheelwright is second in the conference in touchdown receptions with five.

The Gophers are the best team in the Big Ten when it comes to third down conversions, converting 55.2% of their opportunities. When the Buckeyes are in the nickel, redshirt freshman cornerback Chimdi Chekwa will most likely match up with Decker or Wheelwright and he’ll need to have a strong outing to keep Minnesota from converting third downs.

Of course, the defense will also need to keep an eye on Weber who is just as likely to pick up third downs with his feet as he is with his arm.

The defensive line will be in for a battle all game long against this attacking offense. And it’s not just the style of offense, it’s also the players. This offensive line has only given up three sacks on the season, which is second in the conference.

While the Gophers are very good at protecting the quarterback, they are terrible at protecting the ball. On the season, Minnesota has turned the ball over 16 times, splitting fumbles and interceptions evenly.

When it comes to the special teams, however, the Gophers have a couple of very effective weapons.

Place-kicker Joel Monroe has one of the bigger legs in the conference, leading the Big Ten in touchbacks with six. Because his kicks are longer than most, the Gophers are allowing 21.5 yards per return, but that’s not necessarily leading to tremendous field position. This kick coverage unit is very good.

Punter Justin Kucek is averaging 42.3 yards per punt and he has had one punt blocked already this season.

The return game is another area of strength for the Gophers. Running back Jay Thomas already has a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown this season, and the big play guy is freshman Harold Howell, though he has yet to really break one. With the way the Ohio State coverage teams have played at times, this could be Howell’s week.

When Ohio State Has The Ball

When the Buckeyes have the ball, they will pretty much be able to do whatever they want, whenever they want to do it.

The Gophers are ranked 119th in the nation (dead last) in pass defense, allowing 407.8 yards per game. They are much better against the run, ranking 51st in the nation, allowing 135.5 yards rushing per game. The rushing number, of course, is skewed simply because passing is so easy.

The Gophers will run several different fronts and they like to attack when possible, though they frequently get burned in the process. They are starting to calm down a bit on defense, but they are still looking for answers.

Running backs Chris Wells and Maurice Wells will both get plenty of carries this week and it shouldn’t be much trouble for Chris Wells to reach 100 yards rushing for the fourth consecutive week.

With the Buckeyes relatively thin at running back right now, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to pass the ball as much as possible. They don’t have to be downfield throws, just extended handoffs wherever possible.

Of course, not going downfield is pretty difficult to come by when your receivers are constantly getting open, which has been a good problem for the Buckeyes this season.

Quarterback Todd Boeckman should have his best game of the season and receiver Brian Robiskie should continue his stellar play. Robiskie is leading the conference in receiving yards per game with 107.8. The only person who can stop those numbers from going up this week is Jim Tressel.

The Gophers have been very disappointed in their sack numbers this year (three) and have been unable to get to the quarterback with a basic attack. The defensive line has only produced one sack so far and defensive end Willie VanDeSteeg has yet to come close to reproducing any of his numbers from his first two years here.

The Gophers’ need to rely on blitzing has made big plays commonplace in both the passing game and running game.

It’s not uncommon for Minnesota to have seven to nine defenders in the box, with several showing blitz, only to drop back in zones. However, with that many people so close to the line, there is very little help downfield. If Chris Wells gets through the initial mess, he won’t be stopped until he hands the ref the ball in the end zone. And if the Buckeyes are passing the ball, Boeckman will just throw a touch pass down the sideline to whoever is being single-covered.

Minnesota is in a bad way on defense and it is not going to get any better this week.

Dominique Barber is the Gophers’ starting strong safety and is also their leading tackler, with 39 stops. His 30 solo tackles are ten more than the next Gopher in line. When your safety has that many solo tackles that means he has very little help.

By comparison, Ohio State’s leading solo tackler is James Laurinaitis, with fourteen.

Three of the four starters in the secondary are seniors, but without a pass rush, there really isn’t much they can do. And even if there was a pass rush, a secondary that gives up over 400 yards passing per game just isn’t very good.

The Gophers have played Bowling Green, Miami (Ohio), Florida Atlantic and Purdue this season, and are giving up an average of 38.5 points per game—which just happens to be the scoring average the Buckeyes have managed over the Gophers in Jim Tressel’s four previous meetings with them.

The special teams continue to be an area of positives and negatives for the Buckeyes. After shutting down Northwestern’s kickoff return game for most of the afternoon last week, the Buckeyes gave up a return touchdown on a kick that was covered perfectly.
The Gophers have the weapons to exploit the Buckeyes in the return game, and they should get plenty of opportunities.

Other than that, with this game being in the Metrodome, the kicking should be outstanding all around. As long as the long-snapping is, that is.

How It’ll End Up

Remember last week’s game when it was 45-0 in the second quarter and you were wishing there were some leaves in your yard to rake?

Well, since this game is at night, you can’t do any raking, and you definitely don’t want to start any type of precedent by cleaning on a Saturday, so it would probably be best if you just sit and enjoy the offense for a change, because the Big Ten season is coming and we may not see many more outcomes like the ones we’ve seen lately.

If the Ohio State coaches want to, they will put up 500 yards of total offense and they could probably do it in any combination they feel comfortable with. However, Jim Tressel has always been more of a 450 guy, and that probably won’t change this week. Plus, with the way Minnesota turns the ball over, there will be some short fields to work with.

When the Buckeyes do have the ball, they will have quite a few big plays to show for it. Chris Wells will have a fifty-yard run or so and Todd Boeckman should have another four touchdowns this week.

Unlike Northwestern, however, the Gophers will be able to move the ball a bit. But much like Washington, the Ohio State defense will eventually wear the Gophers out and that’s usually when the turnovers start.

The Gophers just don’t have it yet. And there’s no telling when they will.

Ohio State 45 – Minnesota 14

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