Things could get tricky tomorrow night at TCF Bank Stadium when the Gophers and TCU play their primetime college football opener televised on ESPN.
Neither the nationally ranked Horned Frogs nor improving Gophers have built foundations on gimmick plays but that doesn’t mean they’re not capable of using them. In today’s prepare-for-everything-world of football, a good bag of tricks is a must.
Gophers defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys acknowledged there is some comfort in having extensive video on the high scoring TCU offense after playing the Horned Frogs last season in Fort Worth. “I’m sure they’ve thrown in some curveballs and changes from the last season, but yeah, it’s been a lot easier to prepare…we have video to work with,” Claeys said.
The Gophers will find out tomorrow night if TCU will roll out trick plays like a pass to a running back, with a return toss to the quarterback, followed by a long throw down field. And unorthodox plays can be used by special teams, too, including onside kicks.
Minnesota offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover referred to a “bank” of special plays. “…You try and look at it and see what fits with what you’re going to try and do versus a specific opponent—if there’s something formationally or personnel-wise. I’d say we probably have 30 to 35 plays in this play bank, and you go back and revisit it from time to time.”
The Gophers may have picked up an idea or two from the Horned Frogs. “As you well know, you try and steal wherever you can, whenever you can in this profession,” Limegrover said. “We’ve seen a couple things that they’ve done—and like them—and they’re part of that play bank for sure.”
Gophers Notes
TCU is ranked No. 2 in the nation behind Ohio State in the Associated Press and ESPN preseason polls. The Horned Frogs have only five returning starters on defense but 10 of 11 back on offense including quarterback Trevone Boykin, a Heisman Trophy candidate favorite. TCU, 12-1 last season, is favored by at least two touchdowns, and nationally the Gophers are viewed as a big underdog.
“I think we had a (UM) donor that ran into their AD (TCU), and even their AD said that he wasn’t too worried about us,” said Gophers head coach Jerry Kill. Minnesota was 8-4 last season.
TCU is the highest ranked opponent Minnesota has opened the season with since the Associated Press began ranking teams in 1936. The Gophers are unranked in major polls and lost to the Horned Frogs 30-7 last year in Fort Worth.
Kill is counting on help from the home crowd tomorrow night at TCF Bank Stadium. “In our house, people don’t realize that our stadium is loud, the way it’s set up,” Kill said. “The more enthusiasm, the more energy that’s in our stadium, the more the kids feed off of it, and it definitely needs to be home field advantage (tomorrow night). … Fans will make a difference. They’re (TCU) a big no huddle team, so the louder the noise, the tougher it is (to communicate).”
A record TCF Bank Stadium attendance for a Gophers game will be announced. The stadium opened in 2009 and the Gophers had many sellouts of 50,805 before capacity was expanded to 52,525 last season. However, there were no sellout games in 2014 so a record crowd in excess of 52,525 is expected to be announced because of standing-room only sales.
High temperatures and muggy air, along with perhaps the largest crowd of the season, are likely to result in record beer sales for a Gophers football game at the stadium.
Justus Canfield, from New Brighton and Irondale High School, is the lone Minnesotan on the TCU roster. The 5-11 sophomore wide receiver went to TCU as a walk-on in 2013 and his only career game action so far was last year in the Horned Frogs’ bowl win.
While the Frogs have just one Minnesotan on their roster, the Gophers have 10 players from Texas. Among the surprises of the August practices has been 6-5 wide receiver Rashad Still from El Paso, Texas. Ranked only as a two-star recruit by ESPN, Scout and 247Sports coming out of high school, he has earned the praise of Kill, and the coach predicts the true freshman will play early in the season.
TCU scored 46.5 points per game last season, second best in the nation. The Horned Frogs make explosive plays including down field passes, and Minnesota defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys is concerned about tackling. “We can cover them, but if you don’t tackle them in space, all of a sudden one missed tackle…and they make their way down the field. It’ll all come down to how we tackle. It won’t be whether we’re athletic enough to cover them. That won’t be the story.”
Gophers starting quarterback Mitch Leidner said backups Chris Streveler, Demry Croft and Jacques Perra are all capable of playing if needed tomorrow night. Streveler has game experience but Croft and Perra don’t. “They’ll all be fine,” Leidner said.
While the Gophers-TCU game will be nationally televised by ESPN, the telecast will have ratings competition from the Michigan-Utah game on FS1. Jim Harbaugh makes his debut tomorrow night as Michigan’s coach in Salt Lake City against the Utes. The start time for that telecast is 7:30 p.m. Central Daylight, while the Gophers-Horned Frogs game is 8 p.m. Adding to the competition for viewers in this market is the Vikings game against the Titans from Nashville on Fox 9 at 7 p.m.
S.I.com made its bowl game projections yesterday and predicts the Gophers will play UCLA at the Foster Farms Bowl on December 26 in Santa Clara, California. TCU will play Alabama January 1 at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
Faribault business leader Richard Carlander is involved with funding murals in his town and the next one will be of former Gopher legend Bruce Smith. Smith, a Faribault native now deceased, is the only Gopher player ever to win the Heisman Trophy. Next year will be the 75th anniversary of the former Minnesota halfback winning college football’s most prized award.