Prior Lake with 2 2023 verbals and maybe some 2024 who will get a U of M offers is playing Eden Prairie who have a couple of 2024 who might get offers.

@Dylan Callaghan-Croley has more on the Purdue Boilermakers and players to watch for on both sides of the ball heading into Saturday's matchup with the Gophers

I'm at 5 and counting. It feels REALLY GOOD to still be alive to see the Gophers relevant, ranked, and rowing!

@Alex Carlson breaks down the formula for the Gophers to improve to 5-0 on the season

Hurricane Ian is absolutely devastating parts of the west coast of Florida including Naples (FL) the hometown of Gophers commit Kerry Brown.

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What Brohm said about Minnesota during his Monday press conference.

Overall thoughts on Minnesota:

"We're excited to get on the road and play a good football team that is currently ranked in Minnesota. No one has really come close to them. They've dominated in four games. When people have scored, it's been against backups that have been in the game. This team is playing efficient football right now. Great running game. Big offensive linemen. Big running back. Big tight ends. Sixth or seventh-year quarterback that runs their offense very, very well. Defensively, they are very sound and physical up front. Experience in the secondary. Really good linebackers. They are definitely doing a very good job. Gotta give credit to their team right now. Really solid football in Big Ten fashion with a great defense and solid running game."

"We understand this is a tough matchup. We are going to have to do a lot of things right. We're gonna have to find ways to get scores and take advantage of possessions. Get some stops on defense. Once again, the key is can we find a way to get a lead and take them out of what they really want to do will be important. Our guys will work hard. We understand the challenge, but that is Big Ten football."

On Tanner Morgan:

"He does a great job in their system. He's very smart. He can throw an accurate football. He knows how to run their offense which is let's be big and physical in the run game and run them against the looks that we can and then when defense start to cheat they run enough run, pass options that it allows him time to make throws. The key to play that is you have to figure out how to make him uncomfortable. You have to figure out a way to create pressure. You have to put them in more passing situations than they would like because if you don't, they are in control of the game. They have been very, very effective doing that."

"They are back this year with their new offensive coordinator and doing even more so what they did in the past which has been very effective. He's got really big linemen and big tight ends and a running game and they make you bleed. They make you bleed. And if you don't find a way to bandage it up or do something to strike back, it could be a long death."

On slowing down Mo Ibrahim:

"You have to have the perfect balance of making the right calls and getting enough guys down in there. We went back and watched out game last year against them and we did a good job against the run and they hit two wide-open, play-action passes that crushed us off of that because we were too low with our safeties and too aggressive. So there has to be that fine line. There has to be that fine balance. In obvious run situations, they brought in seven linemen and multiple tight ends and then we load the box with everybody and bigger personnel and find a way to stop them. That's the challenge is you have to give your players a chance by your calls. You also have to understand that max-protect, play-action is what they are good at. They hit us at least three times last year, one time for a touchdown and two times for 40 or 50-yard chunks, that we can't allow."

"For him to come back this fast and playing at the level after being hurt last year speaks for the type of football player he is. He's tough. He's physical. He runs hard. Their offense relies on him. I think he's a tough son of a guy who plays very, very well and fits their system great."

On matching up against Minnesota's offense:

"It's going to be a tremendous challenge. This is the best team we've played to date in my opinion. They are hot. They are confident. No one has come close to them. They went to Michigan State and it was a shutout until the last offensive play of Michigan State's game, just a go-route down the sidelines versus backups. So, that's pretty doggone good. Like is said, they have a sound running game. Once you start to wanna commit more guys, they'll get you on a deep pass over-the-top. If they are allowed to do that, then they are just gonna continue to roll. At the same time, people underestimate their defense. Their defense has been lights out shutting people down. I think they understand what they are being coached to do and they've done a great job. So, this is a quality football team that's playing at a high level that we are going to have to really, really execute and have a few things go our way to get ahead of the eight-ball because we are going to have to get ahead of the eight-ball in order to win the game."

Other notes:

- Mentioned their cornerbacks played every snap against FAU, asked them to do a lot in 1-on-1 coverage and could tell they were getting tired. Have some injury issues there.
- Said if O'Connell doesn't go against Minnesota, Austin Burton will obviously be the main guy but might get Michael Alaimo in on a series or two as well.
- LB/S Jalen Graham continues to be out, same situation as O'Connell where they will assess his situation later this week
- Says Charlie Jones hasn't played this much in his career and has gotten tired in games, but will obviously continue to feature him
- Confident in Austin Burton abilities, says they didn't get as many plays down the field as they would have liked against FAU, but he has the ability to make plays passing and with his feet as well
- Says their kicker, Mitchell Fineran, has been dinged up the last couple of games and hasn't performed as well as he should have. Wants him to get more "live kicks" in practice this week
- Brohm mentioned personnel-wise they are going to have to get some bigger bodies in against Minnesota at certain positions. Haven't had to use that personnel up to this point, but they will have to get them ready for this game

@Clint Cosgrove & yours truly both agree...that's a FACT

We need to give honor where honor is due people. They must be accounted for, if this continues this offense is unstoppable. Literally! Maybe that time in Happy Valley was good for Ciarrococca.

A Rivals exclusive as @Clint Cosgrove sets down with Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck to talk recruiting, coaching, and culture

Two articles to share this morning….

What PJ Fleck had to say on Monday….


Tanner Morgan earns Big Ten Co-Offensive POW honors

Summarizing what PJ Fleck said on Monday as the Gophers prepare for Purdue...

Overall thoughts on Michigan State win:

- Impressed with Joe Rossi and his staff and their game plan against Michigan State
- Team has been efficient up to this point. Need to continue to be efficient.
- Every single week in the Big Ten, everyone gets tested
- Have to focus on our beliefs on offense and defense

On Tanner Morgan:

- Mindset Tanner Morgan has will make him an amazing player, husband, father, and coach
- He always has the mindset of wanting to get himself better
- He's super competitive

On finding advantages with formations

- Doing everything they can to find an advantage
- Formations help us create advantages with our numbers
- Everyone's formations are pretty basic, then they tweak what they do based off that, only so many ways you can run the football
- Purdue will be doing the same and will show us things we haven't seen

On Purdue WR Charlie Jones

- Plays way above how big he is
- Catches the contested balls better than anyone in the Big Ten
- He doesn't fair catch a return, he fearless
- Tremendous amount of respect for his

On Saturday's home game

- Have to find a way to be 1-0 against Purdue
- We have incredible fans
- Hope everyone knows what section they are in and what to wear
- Fan bases creates energy in college football and makes this so fun
- Hope everyone buys into it and has fun with it

On Daniel Jackson

- He's been showing his skills the whole time, just hasn't been on the field consistently with various injuries
- Team has a lot of confidence in him and his abilities
- Had 10 different players catch passes, that's what we'll have to continue to do to be successful

Creating takeaways:

- Hoping opportunities for turnovers will create themselves as Big Ten play moves forward
- Takeaways are great, but I want you play really good defense first

On Purdue's QB situation:

- A Jeff Brohm offense is going to be good no matter who plays QB
- He's one of the best X's and O's coach there is
- Always new wrinkles in his offense and he has explosive playmakers everywhere
- Both QB's have been there multiple years, so they are familiar with their system
- We are going to prepare for Aidan O'Connell and anybody else.

The BTN host said a few days ago that he doubts Minnesota's passing game and said that Morgan had the big season 2019 because he had 2 NFL wideouts. I wonder what he will say next week about Morgan and the Minnesota passing game?

We can’t sack a QB to save our life without a blitz. Only weakness of this team. Which means, until we see a great QB like Ohio State has….we will roll through our competition.
Striggow is a possibility. That’s all I see right now. Rush stepping up maybe.

First Half: https://minnesota.rivals.com/news/film-review-gophers-vs-michigan-state-first-half

Second Half: https://minnesota.rivals.com/news/film-review-gophers-vs-michigan-state-second-half