Three issues plaguing Gophers football team at halfway point

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Half of the Gophers football season is in the books, and while the results can be evenly spit, the sequence of events has been turbulent.

A blowout loss to Mississippi State in mid-September was followed by two Big Ten wins at Washington and in lifting the Little Brown Jug with the Michigan victory. That pair was followed by a startlingly lopsided loss at Purdue last weekend.

Clear highs and glaring lows, while wins over lower-level Akron and Eastern Illinois are less valuable chapters across the opening six weeks and heading into this bye week.

“I’ve learned a lot about this football team; we have six games of data,” head coach P.J. Fleck said after the 41-13 defeat to the Boilermakers in West Lafayette, Ind. “This team had something like this happen against Mississippi State, and boy, I’d say they responded pretty well. Life is not about it continuing to go up; it’s not always going to happen like that. This team is made of high character, incredible men, (who can produce a) massive response.”

Minnesota’s schedule will get much tougher in the season’s second half; ESPN ranks it the 13th hardest remaining slate in the nation. The U’s strength of record thus far is pegged at 42nd, per ESPN.

Minnesota (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) will play four ranked opponents — No. 17 Iowa on Oct. 24, at No. 5 Indiana on Oct. 31, No. 12 UCLA on Nov. 7 and No. 25 Northwestern on Nov. 21. Plus, two more road games at Penn State on Nov. 14 and at Wisconsin Nov. 27.

Here are three things the Gophers must improve on in order to, at least, become bowl eligible (six wins) this season:

Improve the run game

It’s a broken record, but Minnesota continues to struggle on the ground. The Gophers’ 3.6 yards per carry ranks 117th in the nation — the makings of a third straight year averaging under 4 yards per carry.

Season-ending injuries to centers Ashton Beers and Brett Carroll and short-term injury to Jaden Ball has forced preseason All-American Greg Johnson to move from guard to center and forced others to step up.

Minnesota’s worst Pro Football Focus grade is in the run-blocking category (59.4). Johnson, Nathan Roy and Tony Nelson have been standouts, while Daniel Shipp and Bennett Warren has been subpar.

Offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh has mixed in more gap-scheme runs with the staple mix of zone plays, but the U managed only 27 yards on the ground at Purdue. Going into the game, the Boilermakers were giving up 183 per game (17th in Big Ten).

Top tailback Darius Taylor has been cleared to play in the last three games, but does not appear to have the same burst in his legs from the season opener. He is averaging 2.4 yards per rush this year; his career average since 2023 is 4.7.

Run blocking from Gopher tight ends have been a startling weakness — after being a program strength for years. Pierce Walsh, Julian Johnson and Co. have run blocking grades below 50.0, according to PFF.

Many missed tackles

Purdue amassed 464 yards of offense last weekend, including 305 rushing and former Gophers running back Fame Ijeboi posted a career-high 195 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries.

“No block destruction and then we missed tackles,” Fleck said.

In Minnesota’s two Big Ten wins, they averaged eight missed tackles, but in the two losses, they averaged 16.

“I think at the end of the day, not everybody did their job on every play,”  said linebacker Maverick Baranowski, who leads the team with 45 tackles, along with six missed tackles. “That’s something we are going to work on and continue to focus on: doing our job.”

Better tackling, as well as proper run fits, will be needed soon from coordinator Danny Collins’ unit. Iowa running back Kamari Moulton forced 12 of his 25 total missed tackles in the 41-24 win at Washington in Week 6. And Indiana’s top two tailbacks have forced bunches, too: Turbo Richard (31) and Lee Beebee (22).

Splash plays needed from star players

Anthony Smith was named preseason Big Ten defensive player of the year, in part, for his conference-leading 12 1/2 sacks in 2025. Through half of this season, the fifth-year edge rusher has 1 1/2.

Smith is tied for eighth in the nation with 23 total pressures, per PFF, so he is still being credited with getting to the quarterback at a high clip and respect paid to him might be opening things up for TJ Bush (four sacks) and Karter Menz (three).

In Minnesota’s two conference wins, they are averaging 20 1/2 pressures and five sacks per game. In its two losses, the U is averaging less than one sack and fewer than 9 1/5 pressures.

Safety Kerry Brown hasn’t been the rock needed in the back end. He doesn’t have an interception so far this year; he had two apiece 2025 and 24. He allowed two touchdowns in coverage against Mississippi State, but played better in the Purdue loss.

In the Big Ten wins, quarterback Drake Lindsey has completed 70% of his passes, with four touchdowns and three interceptions. In the two defeats, he’s completed 60%, with one TD and one pick.

For Minnesota to finish the season strong, and perhaps pull off upsets, big players need to step up in big games.

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