Behind Enemy Lines: Minnesota Golden Gophers

An inside look at Syracuse football's Pinstripe Bowl opponent.

Syracuse and Minnesota square off in the Pinstripe Bowl on Thursday. All Syracuse caught up with Ryan Burns of Gopher Illustrated to get the inside scoop on the Orange's opponent. 

Q: Who do you expect to start at QB? What are his strengths and weaknesses?

Burns: I expect Athan Kaliakmanis to start at quarterback, but if Tanner Morgan is finally cleared to play, I wouldn't be shocked to see both of them. Morgan was knocked out of the Nebraska game with his second concussion in almost as many weeks, and then didn't practice for the rest of November because he was in the protocol. The senior quarterback holds career records of most career wins (33), most accurate quarterback with completion percentage, and is second in career completions, attempts and passing yards. But there's no doubt that the Greek Rifle, aka Kalikamanis, is the future of this football team. He's a bigger, faster and more athletic quarterback than Morgan, but he's also younger and isn't afraid to take some risks.

With a couple of key members of the Orange secondary not playing in this game, I'd imagine that regardless of quarterback, the Gophers will test them. 

Q: What makes Mo Ibrahim so good?

Burns: I know that Syracuse fans are used to watching really good running backs after watching Sean Tucker all year, but Mo Ibrahim is on a different level in my eyes. He ranked second in FBS football in yards after contact this season with 1,065 rushing yards. You read that right. This isn't meant as a shot across the bow for Orange fans, but he literally had more yards after contact than Tucker had rushing yards this season.

And the thing about Ibrahim is he isn't the biggest, strongest, fastest, twitchiest or most athletic running back that Syracuse fans have seen this season. But he's got the best vision of any of them, and his ability to consistently make the first man miss is uncanny. He's also always falling forward, so while he may not have the breakaway speed, Ibrahim is always getting positive yards and keeping this Minnesota offense on track. I've heard that he will be playing in the Pinstripe Bowl as he needs 35 rushing yards to break the Gophers single-season rushing record, and 67 yards to become the all-time leading in rushing yards as well.

Q: Minnesota has a reputation of being a strong defensive team. What makes them so good and who are key players?

Burns: Minnesota boasts one of the best and most well-rounded defenses in the nation under defensive coordinator Joe Rossi. The Golden Gophers rank fifth in the country by allowing 279.5 total yards per contest. They also have the No. 4 defense in terms of scoring (13.3 ppg), No. 8 in passing yards allowed (173.7) and the No. 15 rush defense (105.8).

Minnesota, Air Force, Illinois, and Iowa are the only teams in the FBS that rank in the top 20 in each of those categories.

They're also the No. 2 defense in college football on third down, as only 26.2% of third downs this season have been converted against the Gopher defense. No team in college football has fewer third downs converted against them overall, as Minnesota allowed just 39 all season.

And the interesting part about this defense is there's not a ton of guys that'll be drafted in April on it. Their best player in safety Tyler Nubin (probably a later Day 2 pick) decided to come back for 2023, and they'll have a couple of other members of the secondary in all-star games as well. But this is largely a defense that does their job, and when they do, they've been darn good at it.

Q: If there’s a weakness on the defense, what is it?

Burns: Pass-rush. Minnesota has struggled all season to get a consistent pass-rush, and they really don't send more than five guys when they blitz. The Gophers were dead-last in the Big Ten in sacks with 17, and they were in the bottom three in the Big Ten in pressures and hurries on the quarterback. 

Q: How do you see this game playing out?

Burns: With bowl games, it's all about who wants to be there. The only opt-out I'm watching for Minnesota right now is their first-team All-Big Ten center in John Michael Schmitz, which would be a big loss for Minnesota, but they'd also be replaced him with a fifth-year senior, and the other four guys around him were at least All-Big Ten honorable mention this fall. On the flip side, Syracuse's best offensive weapon and offensive lineman will be out, plus two key members of that secondary. You also factor in that the Orange will be without both of their coordinators in this game, which is a giant wild card.

I'm also skeptical that the 13th ranked run defense in the ACC is going to be able to stop a motivated Mohamed Ibrahim from doing what he does on the ground. Ibrahim was banged up with ankle and shoulder injuries in late November, but now with a month to recover, he should be as healthy as fans have seen. Minnesota's defense hasn't allowed an opponent to score more than 16 points in a game since October 22nd, while Syracuse's defense has allowed over 32 points per game over their last six games.

Dino Babers is 1-0 in his time at Syracuse in bowl games, while Minnesota is 3-0 under PJ Fleck.

If Sean Tucker, Matthew Bergeron, Duce Chestnut and Ja'Had Carter were playing in this game, I'd see it differently, but they're not. I have a lot of respect for Garrett Shrader and Oronde Gadsden, but I just don't see enough points from this offense to put up with what I think Minnesota's going to be able to do on the ground.

Gophers win, 24-14.

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