Everyone knows redshirt senior Mitch Leidner will be the Gophers’ starting quarterback this season, but even head coach Tracy Claeys can’t say who will be No. 2.
Sophomore Demry Croft played in three games as a reserve behind Leidner last season. During the spring Leidner didn’t participate in practices because of foot surgery but neither Croft nor freshman Seth Green (he enrolled at Minnesota in January) separated themselves as the No. 1 backup. Nor did redshirt junior and former walk-on Conor Rhoda, who played briefly in two games during the 2014 season.
Claeys said having 14 days of spring practices wasn’t enough to determine his second unit quarterback. He predicted that about 10 days prior to Minnesota’s opening game the coaching staff will settle on a backup to Leidner.
The Gophers begin formal practices in early August and play Oregon State at home on September 1. Regarding Croft and Green, Claeys said one of them is headed toward a redshirt season.
“There’s no question,” Claeys told Sports Headliners. “One of them will end up being redshirted—however it works out.”
Croft had plenty of learning to do last year as a freshman and looked just okay during his limited playing time. He completed seven of 17 passes for 34 yards, while rushing nine times for 38 yards. Former Gophers coach Jerry Kill has raved about Croft’s potential since he signed him to a National Letter of Intent out of Boylan High School in Rockford, Illinois.
Green, though, who Kill never coached, was the more highly rated prep quarterback in a high school career that included playing time in both Allen, Texas and Woodbury, Minnesota. Scout ranked Green as the No. 4 quarterback in Texas last season, while 247Sports listed him as the No. 10 dual-threat QB in America.
The development of Croft, Green and Rhoda is vital to not only the next few seasons for the Gophers but also this fall. Leidner is considered one of the Big Ten’s best returning quarterbacks and a long-term injury to him could wreck Minnesota’s season.
The Gophers’ prospects for a winning season in the Big Ten are fragile, and to be successful without Leidner Minnesota would probably need a breakthrough performance by one of their young quarterbacks. That’s a predicament neither Claeys nor the fanbase wants to see because the coach believes a healthy team can challenge for the West Division title.
Much of the college football media isn’t as optimistic, making the Gophers a popular choice to finish fifth in the seven-team West Division. However, Minnesota is seen as a dark horse with a favorable schedule and a bowl game waiting as a season-ending prize.
Optimistic Gopher fans are anticipating a 4-0 start when division favorite Iowa brings Floyd of Rosedale to town on October 8. That record will require an opening conference win on the road at Penn State on October 1, and right now the Nittany Lions will be the favorite. Prior to the game in State College, Minnesota will have to defeat two mediocre teams, Oregon State and Colorado State, and FCS ho-humer Indiana State—all at home.
Fans who are high on Maroon and Gold Kool Aid can see a 9-0 start before the Gophers play at Nebraska on November 12. If an undefeated Minnesota team could get by Iowa, the Gophers’ next four games are all against Big Ten opponents with less impressive resumes than Minnesota’s. But road games at Maryland and Illinois could be “trap games,” while wins figure to come easier at home against Rutgers and Purdue (two wins in the last 24 conference games).
All this preseason speculation is fun, of course, but counts for nothing. Just remember last spring when local baseball fans had the Twins winning close to 90 games and perhaps flirting with a postseason series. At the same time national media were penciling in the Twins for last place in the division. By May we all knew who was right.
While nobody knows how much the Gophers will improve on last season’s 6-7 overall and 2-6 conference records, we do understand this: Dinkytown ain’t Columbus, Ohio. Translation: the Gophers roster has nowhere close to the number of talented players and depth of an Ohio State and the other elites of college football.
A year ago Buckeyes fans were pondering who would be named the starter among three potential Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks. It was more than comforting to know that if one went down—or even two were sidelined—there was a star QB waiting to play.
At Minnesota the situation is much different. Gopher followers have collective fingers crossed that Leidner is on the field for 13 games during an eight, nine or 10 wins season.
College Football Notes
Gophers’ border rival Wisconsin has an interesting opening game—hosting SEC power LSU at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Other unusual openers include California and Hawaii in Sydney, Australia; and Boston College and Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland.
The Gophers open their season September 1 against Oregon State at TCF Bank Stadium in a Thursday night game televised by the Big Ten Network. The opening weekend of college football includes made for national TV games Alabama-USC, Oklahoma-Houston and Notre Dame-Texas.
About 30 former Gophers, at the invitation of Claeys, attended a welcome reception for incoming freshmen players on campus last night. Each of the alums and freshmen spoke including ex-Gopher tackle Ray Hawes who paid tribute to Sandy Stephens. Now deceased, Stephens was the first African-American All-American quarterback in the nation and helped lead Minnesota to Big Ten and national titles.
Seniors Mitch Leidner, Jack Lynn and Damarius Travis will represent the Gophers at the Big Ten Football Media Days in Chicago July 25 and 26.
Prominent former Gophers assistants are working at other programs including Matt Limegrover, Minnesota’s offensive coordinator last season and now offensive line coach at Penn State. Other “alums” include Kevin Cosgrove and Bob DeBesse who are the defensive and offensive coordinators at New Mexico; Michigan offensive assistant Jedd Fisch; Texas A&M offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone; Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Ted Roof, and Texas State head coach Everett Withers.
It looks like former Gopher Philip Nelson will be the starting quarterback for East Carolina. Nelson is a senior and will play for first-year coach Scottie Montgomery.
Former Gophers football player Mark Sheffert is a nationally-known business advisor in financial, strategic, leadership and governance issues. Sheffert made a presentation and led a discussion on governance with the University of Minnesota Board of Regents last week. He is chairman and CEO of Minneapolis-based Manchester Companies.