Corey Hetherman is hitting his stride as Gophers defensive coordinator

Minnesota has not allowed a touchdown in its last 10 quarters of football.

Corey Hetherman / GopherSports /

Minnesota was forced to make a big change to its defense this offseason when longtime defensive coordinator Joe Rossi accepted the same position at Michigan State. P.J. Fleck opted to hire Corey Hetherman, who was most recently the linebackers coach at Rutgers.

With a veteran-laden defensive line and talented players in the secondary, the Gophers defense had the personnel to be an exciting unit in 2024. You saw flashes of that in Week 1 against North Carolina, but with a whopping 20 missed tackles as a team, there was more to be had.

"It was the first time we were really live tackling, outside of a couple scrimmages in preseason camp," Hetherman said after the game. "You go out there and play against a really good football team, play against a good back. He made us miss a couple of times, but I think we didn't really trust the system in the game... that's to me, the difference of the ball game."

The Gophers have begun to trust the new-look system under Hetherman. They had only five missed tackles against Rhode Island and only three against Nevada. They haven't let up a score of any kind in back-to-back games for the first time since 1962.

Allowing only 9.5 points per game through three weeks, Minnesota has the No. 13 scoring defense in the country. They're allowing only 74.3 rushing yards per game, which ranks 20th in college football.

This week they will be tested against the nation's leading rusher, Kaleb Johnson, and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Johnson is averaging 159.6 rushing yards per game on a remarkable 7.9 yards per carry.

Hetherman was previously the defensive coordinator at Maine from 2016-2018 and James Madison from 2019-2021. This season is his first time calling plays at the FBS level let alone in a major conference like the Big Ten. A smooth transition in his first game might've been unrealistic to expect, but he's since proven to have intriguing potential as a play-caller.

Minnesota and Hetherman will face a big step up in competition from Nevada and Rhode Island this week against Iowa. It's fair to believe that the defensive unit as a whole has made significant improvements since Week 1, but Saturday night will be their first chance to prove it on a big stage.