Buffs Film Room: Why Minnesota is better than they were last year

Colorado is seeking some revenge this weekend.

This time last year, CU welcomed Minnesota to Folsom Field where the Gophers blew out the Buffs 30-0.

Minnesota went on to finish 9-4 last season with a victory in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against West Virginia. Many of the Gophers’ most important players in last year’s matchup returned to school and will be playing substantial snaps in this year’s matchup.

While this team may not be as experienced as last week’s Air Force team, the Gophers have an established head coach and return 20 starters from last year.

In today’s edition of the Buffs’ Film Room, we’re going to take a look at some of Minnesota’s best players and how the Buffs can attempt to defend and scheme around them.

Tanner Morgan

We start with quarterback Tanner Morgan. Morgan has been at Minnesota for what feels like the entirety of the universities existence. In reality, he is a sixth-year senior that has been the Gophers’ starting quarterback dating back to the second half of his redshirt-freshman season. In 2019, Morgan made a tremendous leap as a sophomore that launched him into the conversation of possibly being the best quarterback in the Big Ten. The Gophers finished 11-2 that season and with NFL receivers Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman, Morgan manufactured the best season of his career.

The Gophers and Morgan have been chasing the heights of 2019 ever since and Morgan has gone from being talked about as one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten and a potential draft darling into an afterthought. While Morgan may not ever have a season as good as his sophomore year again, this is a veteran quarterback that has shown good ability to make some impressive throws.

Throws like this were one of the reasons why Morgan and the Gophers were able to upset Wisconsin last season. This is a beautiful back-shoulder throw that shows just how experienced Morgan is and how much football he has played over the years.

Morgan has a great rapport with his receivers that shows on throws like this where he has to use touch, timing and anticipation to not only deliver a catchable ball but a ball that hits receivers in stride resulting in yards after the catch.

Morgan may not take over the game and win it by himself against the Buffs this weekend, but he only needs to make a handful of throws and plays overall for the Gophers to build a substantial lead over Colorado.

Morgan will be the best quarterback the Buffs have played against this year to this point. He isn’t a runner but Morgan is mobile enough to get himself out of trouble and extend plays behind the line of scrimmage. Colorado’s defense will need to generate pressure against Morgan whether it’s with a straight rush or with blitzes if they stand any chance of competing with Minnesota. Disrupting Morgan will be crucial for the Buffs’ success this weekend.

Mohamed Ibrahim

Coming off of a season shortened to only seven games because of COVID-19, Mohamed Ibrahim rushed for 1,076 yards and 15 touchdowns on 201 carries. The expectations for 2021 were through the roof and in the first game of the year against Ohio State, Ibrahim rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries before he suffered an Achilles tendon injury that would end his season.

This year, Ibrahim is back to full health and is ready to pick up where he last left off when on the field for Minnesota.

Listed at 5-foot-10 and 210 pounds, Ibrahim profiles as a road-grating bowling ball at running back but shows good vision, agility and lateral movement allowing him to almost always find the right hole behind the offensive line.

Ibrahim’s running style doesn’t suggest that he is a big play threat but he has been able to gain the corner and outrun defenders for big gains before. We’ll find out if he is close to or has already regained his form from 2020 this weekend.

The Buffs’ defense has been able to play well through the first half in the first two games of 2022 but they will need to have a complete, wire-to-wire performance against Minnesota to avoid another blowout. There was a precedent placed on tackling last week by head coach Karl Dorrell and Ibrahim will present enough problems with his size and running style that tackling will be a point of emphasis again this week.

Trey Potts

After Ibrahim went down in the season opener, the door was open for Trey Potts to take control of the Minnesota backfield and show off his talents. In the four games Potts started after the Ohio State game last year, he was the leading rusher for the Gophers and had gathered 552 yards rushing and six touchdowns. However, Potts suffered a “very serious” season-ending injury last October.

Against Miami (OH) last season, Potts ripped off 178 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 34 carries. It was his best performance of the season and was the start of a run in 2021 where Potts proved he was capable of leading Minnesota’s backfield.

With a similar size and build to Ibrahim, Potts plays the position in a similar fashion to his teammate. Potts even has similar skills in his feet and lower body to jump cut and maneuver his way through the offensive line to hit the right hole.

Whether it’s Potts or Ibrahim running the ball for the Gophers this weekend, the Buffs could have their hands full with both backs.

Chris Autman-Bell

The Gophers’ leading receiver last season and number one target entering 2022 is Chris Autman-Bell. A sixth-year senior for the Gophers, Autman-Bell has been a reliable target for Tanner Morgan dating back to their freshman year in 2018.

While he has been overshadowed and outplayed by other receivers in his time at Minnesota, Autman-Bell managed to lead the Gophers in receiving yards, receptions and touchdowns in 2021.

One of Autman-Bell’s most impressive plays of the entire year that proved to be crucial in a seven-point win over the Huskers last year.

He may not have the top-end speed, size or run-after-the-catch ability you’ll find in some of the nation’s best receivers, but Autman-Bell is a well-rounded player that is capable of making plays all over the field.

Colorado’s secondary is young and inexperienced but they showed up in a fantastic way the first two weeks of the season. After limiting Quinton Johnston and the rest of TCU’s explosive receiving corps, the Buffs’ secondary only allowed one completion against Air Force last week. The secondary will be looked upon once again this week to come up huge against an experienced quarterback and wide receiver tandem.

Thomas Rush

Boye Mafe was the Gopher’s leading sack-man last season and became the 40th overall selection in the 2022 NFL Draft to the Seattle Seahawks. While the Gophers lost their best pass rusher from last season, Thomas Rush returns and is ready to build off of a 2021 campaign that included 5.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for a loss.

Rush is a fifth-year senior that had only started two games before the 2021 season, now he enters as the Gophers’ most experienced and most impactful player in their front seven.

Buffs fans may be familiar with Rush from last year as he had his best game of the season against Colorado where he brought Brendon Lewis down twice for sacks. On this particular play, Rush is able to loop around off a stunt for a free run at Lewis.

Rush was able to notch another sack against a mobile quarterback when the Gophers played against Maryland last year. Rush does a great job of spying and corralling Tagovailoa behind the line of scrimmage on this play.

The Buffs’ offensive line has played at a sufficient level through two weeks but will face quite the challenge on Saturday against Rush and the rest of the Gophers’ front seven. It would be reasonable to see Minnesota throw more stunts and twists at Colorado given the Gophers had success with them last year. Communication and execution are going to be crucial for Colorado’s offensive line this weekend to make sure Rush doesn’t have another multi-sack game.

Tyler Nubin

After Antoine Winfield Jr. left school early for the NFL Draft after the 2019 season, Tyler Nubin was the player called upon to step up and fill the void left by Winfield Jr. While he didn’t have much of an impact in 2020, Nubin was able to bring back some dynamic and versatile safety play to Minnesota’s secondary in 2021.

Nubin was an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention and MVP of the Guaranteed Rate Bowl last season. His three interceptions last year led the team and there is reason to believe that Nubin will only grow as a player this year.

Nubin enters your screen just after the ball is snapped from his safety position. He times the snap and shoots the gap perfectly giving himself a free shot at the quarterback. This was Nubin’s only sack of the 2021 season, but it is something to watch out for as the Gophers play their first Power 5 opponent in the Buffs this weekend.

This play is more so on the quarterback making a bad read and throw as opposed to Nubin putting himself in position and making a play on the ball. Regardless, being in the right place at the right time is half the battle when playing in the secondary.

Colorado’s quarterback struggles have been well documented and talked about. It’s a virtual guarantee that offensive coordinator Mike Sanford has been in J.T. Shrout and Brendon Lewis’ ears all week making sure they find Nubin before every snap this upcoming Saturday.

There’s a good chance that this may be the best team Colorado will face until November. Minnesota is a deep, experienced and talented team at nearly all positions. Oddsmakers are expecting a result very similar to last year as the Buffs enter Saturday’s game as 28-point underdogs. If the Buffs hope to make this year’s contest a different result, these six players must be neutralized in some form or fashion.