'He's The Real Deal': Purdue Defense Faces Challenge of Slowing Down Mohamed Ibrahim
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Mohamed Ibrahim was unstoppable against No. 4 Ohio State in Minnesota's season opener a year ago. He helped welcome the Buckeyes to Minneapolis with a dominant performance, steamrolling his way to 163 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 30 carries.
But in what ended as a 45-31 loss back on Sept. 2, 2021, Ibrahim did not finish the game. He went down late in the third quarter with a ruptured Achilles tendon that required surgery, forcing him to miss the rest of the season.
Nearly a full calendar year after going down, Ibrahim made a triumphant return to the field in 2022 and has already amassed 567 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground in four games. Now a sixth-year senior, Ibrahim has picked up right where he left off before his injury.
Purdue football is next in line to make an attempt at slowing down Ibrahim when the team goes on the road against an undefeated Minnesota squad that ranks No. 21 in the country on Saturday.
"I think he's outstanding. He's played really, really good football before his surgery, against great teams," Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said. "And for him to come back this fast and be playing at this level after just hurting it last year speaks for the type of football player he is.
"He's tough. He's physical. He runs hard. He understands their offense relies on him gaining 100-plus yards a game if he can, and I just think he's a tough son of a gun who plays very, very well and fits their system great."
Ibrahim did not suit up for the Golden Gophers in their 20-13 win over the Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium during the 2021 season. Instead, backup running back Treyson Potts finished as the leading rusher, and Minnesota tallied just 125 yards on the ground.
This year, Purdue has been largely effective in holding opposing running backs in check. The team hasn't allowed a single 100-yard rusher on the season, giving up just 31 yards to Penn State freshman phenom Nickolas Singleton and 42 yards to Syracuse star Sean Tucker.
The Boilermakers have also surrendered only one rushing touchdown so far in 2022, which came on a two-yard quarterback sneak by Sean Clifford of the Nittany Lions in the season opener.
In preparation to face off against the likes of Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin — a trio of run-heavy teams in the conference — Purdue's defense has put heavy emphasis on controlling gaps and loading the box.
"In the Big Ten West, it's a lot of running teams. You've got all those big teams that want to run the ball," Purdue redshirt senior defensive end Jack Sullivan said. "So it's been a big focus for us, just being gap sound. Stay in our gaps, doing our jobs, coming down and hitting. I think that work has been paying off for us."
However, against the Golden Gophers, the Boilermakers face their toughest task to date. Minnesota leads all Big Ten teams with 294.5 rushing yards per game on the season and is also second in the conference averaging 543.0 total yards of total offense, trailing only Ohio State.
Ibrahim is the engine that is fueling a dominant and well-balanced offensive scheme. He has recorded 13 consecutive games of at least 100 yards rushing dating back to the 2019 season.
In two career games against Purdue, Ibrahim tallied 257 total rushing yards and a trio of scores on 43 carries. The team will look to hold him under the century mark for the first time since Nov. 30, 2019, when Ibrahim registered 39 yards against Wisconsin.
"He's the real deal. He's a great back — physical, runs low. He'll be the best back we've seen so far," Purdue redshirt junior linebacker Jacob Wahlberg said. "He's a really good back and we'll have to execute in order to stop him."
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.