2019 Penn State at Minnesota | Nov. 9, 2019 | Big Ten Football

gophers will kick off k.j hamler back deep the most dangerous return men in the country sean i think one of the most important things for minnesota in this game particularly early is managing the adrenaline managing the moment and they'll get a great opportunity right now kicking the hamlet ryerson kicks off and it goes out of bounds a rough start for minnesota here's holly rowe well penn state has 8-0 in part because they've had great consistency 18 of their 22 starters have started all eight games but today they have got some shake-ups in their lineup antonio shelton their defensive tackle who started every game is suspended after a spitting incident against michigan state coach franklin suspended him supported by the big ten micah parsons their leading tackler will not start today after what they're calling a behavioral modification issue he's expected to come in the second or third series and the biggest news noah kane the leading rusher who had worked his way up the depth target to start in his first game last week he is questionable today coach said he is an emergency situation only he is here and dressed and did participate in warm-ups well they feel that they have depth on the defensive line to take care of the absence of shelton they're certainly deep at running back they've been rotating four and parsons will likely sit out very little time so here's sean clifford from the 35 yard line the play fake and the strike incomplete trying to sip it into justin shorter who is covered by coney durr clifford red shirt sophomore from cincinnati out of st xavier high school where he won a state title as a senior 276 yards per game of total offense number one to the big ten and number 23 in the country accurate thrower good decision maker and can hurt you with his feet as well he has more rushing attempts than any player on their team steps up takes off weaves across midfield and gets chopped down after his 17-yard gain by antoine winfield the outstanding defensive back their leading tackler well you mentioned it he's got more rush attempts at any of their running backs he's a very good runner he's faster than he looks he's faster than people give him credit for and he knows how to find openings to run the football [Applause] he can get down the field he had a 58-yard rush against buffalo earlier this year throwing deep single coverage jump ball and it is intercepted by antoine winfield his sixth of the season [Applause] well sometimes you mess with fire you get burnt you think you got a match up you like right justin shorter against antoine winfield of safety not when the guy has five interceptions coming into the game he's always around the football he knows how to make plays on the football and he just went up higher than a much taller receiver in justin shorter to make the play for the gophers he leads the big ten with six interceptions four now in the last three games most in that span of the country only douglas coleman of texas tech has more interceptions for the season he has seven so the crowd ignited early tough field position for tanner morgan and the golden gophers offense from their own five rodney smith part of a deep running back group runs over lamont wade who made the tackle after a nine yard game very big offensive line that really since their first bye week in between georgia southern and purdue they kicked into a whole new gear in terms of running the football and they are a very confident group running behind that big offensive line all of them six five or taller the average 340 helped by the mammoth right tackle daniel lele who's six nine 400 pounds smith has the first down and a couple more cam brown made the tackle there's tanner morgan like sean clifford from the cincinnati areas from union kentucky said he can drive to downtown cincinnati in 15 minutes 12-2 as the starting quarterback here at the university of minnesota they list him at six two he admitted yesterday six feet and one half inch [Applause] very honest admission we don't get that very often in our with the players to get honesty not just admissions that they are shorter than listed throw on target another first down rashaan bateman the sophomore from tifton georgia they think is going to be one of the all-time greats here well first of all watch rodney smith the running back with the block to help out the quarterback right there helps out on windsor and that opens up the slant they throw a lot of slants off the play action to these big bodied receivers and again the combination of bateman and tyler johnson as good as there is in the big ten there is a flag down on the play the officials read by mark klusinski sorting it out [Applause] [Music] i guarantee you that's something that james franklin clued the officials into before the game because it's a lot of rpo off the run game with minnesota they've been called for a couple linemen downfield they get that three to four yard area that can be kind of a gray area at times but that's a big part of minnesota's pass game so the play stands 15-yard gain morgan and the offense move from their own five-yard line out to the 33 and now to the 34 on the carry by rodney smith out of jonesboro georgia number three all-time in rushing here behind two greats daryl thompson and lawrence moroney over the last four averaging 141 per game it is a team you mentioned the bye week it's a team that has dramatically improved in running the football as the season's gone along all of a sudden the outside zone play kicked in they had been working on it all season they're using it's a great impact lately the blitz is picked up there's an open man it's rashad bateman and he is gone touchdown minnesota 66 yards what a read by tanner morgan there was a blitz off the slot sean he saw it so did bateman and they made a perfect adjustment to it watch there's a blitz john reed comes up on the short receiver the safety is late getting over [Applause] late getting over to make the play tanner morgan and vaping quickly and he got the football for the touchdown well lamont wade came on a blitz and shannon brooks the running back did a great job picking it up kirk character the offensive coordinator told us yes i hate to leave backs in the block but against penn state you have to do it and that's why they did do it it played a big part in a 66-yard touchdown the first touchdown given up by penn state in the first quarter this season they've given up three points all year in the opening quarter that leaves wisconsin at ohio state as the only teams now that have not allowed a first quarter touchdown this season ryerson kicks off for the second time this one returnable from the five for kj handle room straight up the middle and taken down at the 31 yard line here's today's unexpected outcome brought to you by exxon mobil well it's perfect design here's lamont wade coming on the blitz that's going to send john reed here and the running the wide receiver here and garrett taylor is gonna be late getting over from his safety spot it takes the back picking up the blitz it takes the quarterback and receiver being on the same page and it ends up being a touchdown for minnesota early in the ball game [Music] or rashad bateman talked to pj fleck yesterday said rashad is special and a seven nothing lead for minnesota the toss to journey brown and he's tackled by carter coughlin most productive defensive lineman in the history of the minnesota program 21 and a half career sacks for the senior from eden prairie and scoring first is a good old man for the gophers under coach fleck a fast start was so important on both sides of the ball they got the interception then they get the touchdown drive on their first possession couldn't script a better start if you're pj flynn minnesota likes to play with the lead they like to milk the clock james franklin said it's important to get an early lead against minnesota speed them up a bit clifford's throw off target for jahan dotson it'll be third down and six so it's interesting when we talked to ricky ronnie yesterday the offensive coordinator of penn state we asked who else in your receiving core do you think can step up he said justin shorter we think he's gonna have a big game today first two times they tried to throw to him he had a drop and he got beat on an interception right now he's not on the field on this third down play four defensive ends in the game now they move a couple of defensive ends inside they have speed along that defensive line receivers sean has time he's on target has a first down to pat fryermute one of the best tight ends in the country their second leading receiver for the year with 26. apparently there was a timeout called by minnesota the timeout call just before the snap on the last play penn state founded had converted to first down they'll have to do it again hard to hear with deputy noyes in the sellout crowd clifford on target again fryermuth broke free and he's in to go for territory at the 45-yard line a gain of 20 for the sophomore from merrimack massachusetts nice job of recognition winfield lined up over friar muth but then he blitz and sean clifford saw it quickly and got the football the right spot got it in between two defenders here's journey brown he breaks tackles he has lots of running room he has a touchdown penn state with the quick response 45 yards for journey brown and they're an extra point away from a seven-all-time excellent block by the left tackle rasheed walker but then you're going to see a miss tackle right up here the safety jordan howden is going to miss a tackle he's unblocked he misses the tackle and journey brown makes a pay for it penn state answers quickly with an explosive play of their own this is an offense built on explosive runs and passes there's jake pinegar for the extra point to tie it entertaining first four minutes and nine seconds the extra point good and as we mentioned the gophers number 13 in the ap poll but number 17 in the eyes of the committee they say they're really not focused on that there's a lot of football still to be played demetrius douglas had trouble with the jordan stout kickoff and he winds up only to the 13. first time in the history of the ap poll that area dates back to 1936. two games of eight no teams are better on the same day bam at lsu later wide open it's the touchdown scorer rashad bateman dropped at the 41-yard line but a big gainer to start this possession 28 yards for minnesota he actually had both receivers open he had johnson open deep he passed on him and went underneath the basement that play action off their run fake off the stretch play has been dynamite for minnesota here over the last four or five ball games we should note micah parsons is on the field disciplined as holly told you for behavioral modification their leading tackler emerging as one of the best linebackers in the country semi-finalists for the buckets award as the best linebacker in the country as a sophomore straight ahead goes shannon brooks and that's a gain of two fifth year senior from georgia jan johnson the middle linebacker leads the defense for penn state made the tackle jan johnson kind of the glue of that defense real active linebackers with cam brown and micah parsons on the outside but he's the quarterback of that defense right in the middle very physical guy nice tackle at the point of attack there very smart he's already earned two degrees in penn state and he's working on the third play fake to shannon brooks another bullet right on target from tanner morgan to tyler johnson the hometown product from minneapolis north high school takes them to the 39-yard line of penn state penn state tried to bring their safety lamont wade up into the run box and that left a hole behind him and tyler johnson ran right into that void and tanner morgan found him with the football 32 straight games with a reception that's 171 career catches now tied with 2-2 atwell for third in minnesota history on first and ten straight ahead shannon brooks and robert windsor made the tackle having an outstanding year in the middle of that defensive line you know we talked about after the bye week the change in this minnesota offense and their running game the other thing to keep in mind they have three running backs that are all really powerful and good runners and they're all healthy now which they've all battled injuries at different times in their career and now they're all healthy and that's made a big difference for this go for offense too smith ibrahimon brooks 7 500 and three combined rush yards that's the most of any running back trio in the country deep and talented at a lot of places [Applause] tackled at the 33-yard line by windsor jan johnson and garrett taylor i think if you're a doubter of this minnesota team you run the risk of having your opinion changed well they're also about as good a start as you could make in terms of making a right impression they look the part they're a physical well-coated discipline team you can understand the doubts this is the first ranked opponent they've played this season the eight teams they've defeated have a combined winning percentage of 42 those second lowest among any power five team only missouri by that standard has played a weaker schedule [Applause] his specialty is short yardage he did not get the first down they have not picked field goals very well so on fourth and one they're going to send their wildcat quarterback into the game seth green they don't necessarily put him in the wildcat when he's on the field but more often than not they do and he's good at it well they are this time because tanner morgan's down here as a wide receiver they've used this quite a bit this is the real quarterback tanner morgan here so seth green big guy in there at the wildcat 6-4 240 was a tight end keeps it lowers his head and has the first down to the 28-yard line excellent block by the tight end brevin spann forward number 88 coming across and then ibrahim with the lead block and they do a combination they'll let the quarterback run and lead block with the back they'll let the back run and lead back lead block with the quarterback that time seth green gets the first down with power two touchdowns for coach fleck in their last game two weeks ago against maryland each of these teams coming off a bye week they're well rested had a chance to get some people healthy rodney smith back in and he gets stacked up i think they have the clearest path to the playoffs i'll be shocked but they're not one of the four teams in there when it's all said and done rodney smith outside he goes [Applause] up about four yards short of the first down we talked about the stretch play and that's been their second pitch they've always been good at the inside zone that has become their new second favorite play and they got an excellent block that time by blaise andrews the left guard against micah parson penn state wants to get penetration when they see that play they want to get across the line of scrimmage parsons did but he got picked up by the secondary block the gophers went to that outside zone or stretch play because they want to see the defensive lineman running laterally not penetrating short throw little bubble chris ottman bell inside the 10 the five touchdown minnesota [Applause] as long as that play and the ball is thrown behind the line of scrimmage lineman can get down field to block this is perfect execution by minnesota ball's kind behind the line of scrivener downfield and then chris onto told us he knows he's number three as a receiver but he wants to be number one and all he does is make big plays that's a number one kind of play right there by altman bell huge catch in their win against fresno state early in the year on the fourth down brock walker kicks the extra point yesterday when these gophers had their walkthrough [Applause] back in 1904 by the way they opened the season they played some high school teams they opened the season with twin cities central high school on their way to nine and all bill lamagne rules expert refereed that game penn state will not be charged with time out we reset the play clock it's first and ten no time out for penn state [Music] so still first and ten no timeout journey brown another long journey for brown across midfield in the gopher territory and banged out of bounds at the 40-yard line another long run for brown this one's 35 yards watch the block of the center right here michael bennett gonna do a nice job just kind of getting the middle linebacker tied in there and then journey brown with some nifty running quick feet in the hole breaks it outside and we've already seen that ability to turn a short run into a long game they scored their touchdown on a 45-yard gallop clifford down the middle an open receiver and he short hopped pat fryermuth youth had to stop for the ball if that ball's thrown deeper he walks into the end zone good design on the play call he's splitting the defense and there's nobody behind him if that ball's thrown two yards deeper it's open for a touchdown he had to kind of pull that hand back you see he hit his hand on a i think it was his own offensive lineman and that's why that ball was short now you wonder if that right hand or right thumb is okay on this play just one for five to start the game uh tanner morgan's five for five that one behind handler but he caught it and he's down inside the 20. they'll spot it at the 17 and penn state trying to answer once again 23 on that play it's rpo the offensive line is blocking run it's a good play fake that brings the linebackers up and you run those slants behind it nice connection to hamlet clifford steps toward the line it's off the hands of handler with jordan in former coverage here at minnesota george howard out of las vegas this is the part of the field where fryermuth really becomes a covenant receiver big good hands here he is right here kind of in a bunch formation he got two tight ends and hamler to the same side of the formation he caught three touchdown passes in their last game two weeks to go against michigan state fake to brown clifford's traveling the line of scrimmage hoping for a block from handler he gets chased out by braylon oliver redshirt freshman from douglasville georgia short of the first down by a couple of yards you see the creativity though by sean clifford nobody was there he has become a really outstanding runner in this offense some by design but most of the time just when he improvises [Applause] quarterback run very much in play here on third and short on the 10-yard line [Applause] on the same side here they are right there [Music] [Applause] looking to the sideline it wasn't like they had to race to the line of scrimmage they just took too long once they got there and i think you saw james franklin when he covered up that microphone i think he was letting ricky ronnie know upstairs we can't afford that we've got to speed up that's a costly penalty on third down the sellout crowd making it difficult clifford throws incomplete trying to get it to fryermuth again and the field goal unit will come on for the nittany lions jake pinagar will try to make it 14 to 10. that time was in the pressure on the quarterback and forced that errant throw by sean clifford but that penalty third and three to third and eight was huge against penn state jake five out of six for the sophomore from ankeny iowa snap and hold are good and the kick is right down the middle into the all-state net will be back in 30 seconds their team trying to prove a point their fans perfectly believe that this is one of the best teams in college football and they look like it so far today jordan stout's kickoff would be a touch back yes history lesson courtesy of aflac our creative friends in the truck led by our producer phil dean our director scott johnson here's rodney smith [Applause] he gets nine well minnesota was a powerhouse in 1904 they won their third national championship that year but what do you think the college football playoff committee would have thought about the win over twin city central high school only nebraska scored on them the entire year they beat the huskers 16 to 12. smith looks like he has enough for the first down just across the 35. you know one thing about this minnesota run game we've talked about the big offensive line we've talked about the healthy running backs the trio the other thing about this offense their tight ends are outstanding blockers and we'll see a bunch of different ones co keith number 42 is the starter jake paulson who hasn't played for a couple weeks number 80 also an outstanding blocker this formation they don't have one in but when they run the football those tight ends are a critical part of the action third possession for minnesota they've scored touchdowns on the previous two tyler johnson leads across the 40. jaquan brisker made the tackle and bear in mind that the gophers are doing this against the penn state team that was second in the country in scoring defense coming in they've given up 9.6 points per game on their way to 8-0 only ohio state better they hadn't given up a touchdown all year in the first quarter they've given up two to the gophers today i think they knew that this was going to be a tough matchup with these wide receivers now their pass rush for the most part this year has bailed them out but so far not able to get to the quarterback muhammad ibrahim closer to the lion to make but didn't get there minimal gain it'll be third down and three in the gophers don't need to snap it again [Applause] brent pry the defensive coordinator for penn state leading one of the best units in the country but tested today [Music] most points they've given up in a game this year is 21 to michigan this is part of that clock i mean they're one of the few teams still in college football that believes in the power of time of possession it's an important part of pj fleck's plan here at minnesota learn to manage the clock from jim tressel when he was a graduate assistant at ohio state lots of offense in the first quarter minnesota leads 14-10 the governors had 199 yards of offense in the first 15 minutes and as the second quarter begins tanner morgan and minnesota looking at third down along three a short four however you want to characterize and penn state showing man coverage press man morgan pulls it down takes off running slides down to the 49-yard line for the minnesota first down whenever there's man coverage that's going to open up running lanes for the quarterback when you see linebackers take off in coverage that opens things up and tanner morgan reads it and he finds open grass and gets the first down on third and four good block by john michael schmitz who's come in at center for connor olson he's not a starter but pj fleck calls him their sixth starter they rotate him into the game and move positions yeah olson's at left guard he's gives them versatility playing center and guard blaze andrews the starting left guard typically can play guard and tackle so they've got a lot of flexibility in what they do with this offensive line the ball carrier you got them across midfield very methodical this is you know james franklin said we don't want to let them get the game developed the way they want well this is the way minnesota wants the game to be right now [Music] shannon brooks trying to turn the corner and did not stopped at the line of scrimmage by garrett taylor fifth year senior safety out of richmond virginia that was beautiful play by jason owway the defensive end though jason owway had contained on that play he read the stretch play he kept his outside arm free and turned that play back inside and that's why the play was stopped for a very short game [Music] here's another third down for minnesota two out of three on third down and converted on a fourth down with the wildcat rose matos right here is over the center he's usually on the outside tough spot to be there in the middle given time throws near sideline incomplete intended for chris bell to read castro fields won the battle of hyphenated last names it was a good read that was where the single coverage was but it was excellent coverage by castro fields downfield to knock the ball away [Music] there's a miss in the game for morgan six out of seven aj hamler dangerous punt returner back for the punt from jacob herbers counted only one time in their last game against maryland there's the national championship trophy presented by dr pepper on hand here at tcf bank stadium in minneapolis for this big big ten battle with national championship implications both of these teams visions of hoisting that trophy in new orleans in january penn state called timeout they had 12 men on the field save a penalty [Music] almost straight up in the air takes a great bounce landed near the 20. and is going to stop at the six yard line here's holly rowe penn state with a missed opportunity on their last offensive possession in the red zone sean clifford was chased out of bounds james franklin sprinted 20 yards downfield got in his quarterback's ear and said you've got to go faster clifford did not and a result delay of game penalty really stalled that drive and they were forced to settle for a field goal after all of that came over to the sideline had a long conversation with franklin he has got to be more efficient pre-snapped getting them going quicker on offense you know holly when you're playing on the road everything slows down your communication that whole process you have to speed things up as the quarterback journey browns had a big first half runs a 45 for a touchdown another run of 35. he settles for about five on that play driven back by jamal teague and antoine winfield see so many offenses that try to change things at the line of scrimmage called the game there much easier to do at home than it is on the road pick up the tempo here get to the line quickly snap it quickly and brown a red shirt sophomore from beadfield pennsylvania stopped short of the line to make these fans are into it they were encouraged to wear maroon they responded to that and they're waving their gold rally towels feels like i'm in pittsburgh [Applause] on third and three they fake the run it's on target to fryer youth for a first down chop down by antoine winfield in the 27 13 yards on third down see this play fake is just going to hold these linebackers enough to get briarmuth behind him you got to respect the play fake it opens up right behind him but this time clifford on target take the handoff think that he might run finally through the handler who's knocked out of bounds on the penn state sideline far side they'll spot it at the 32-yard line a gain of five tony durer made the tackle very solid cornerback number 16. clifford designed quarterback run dropped after a yard it was carter coughlin again you know minnesota is playing without one of their best defensive players kamal martin is one of their top tacklers tied for the lead he's only played five games battling some injuries and they miss him he's a real difference maker on their defense hasn't been in the ball game so far today i thought he might be able to go we visited with the coaches yesterday but doesn't look like he will [Applause] then they go to the four defensive end package more speed along the defensive line anticipating pass on third and four clifford shows his own speed ran away from the speedy d-line got the first down onto the 43-yard line mariano sorry merritt who's the stand-in for kamal martin paid the tackle watch when this linebacker blitz is here clifford's gonna read it get right inside find green grass and he's done this all season again he's played with a maturity beyond his years and those are just good fast decisions by the young quarterback that won a 10-yard gain 10 minutes to go in the half long throw hamlet runs under it winfield got there a fraction too late for minnesota and penn state in business at the gopher 40 after a 17-yard play defense number 12 15-yard penalty automatic first down and they'll tack 15 on to the end on the personal foul called against taeyeon devers yeah well this is a clear call the ball is going to be released it's gone and a clear late hit and then at the end of the play winfield just kind of misjudged the ball hamler is not a big guy but he was able to keep him away with his body and make the catch because that ball was in the air a long time and winfield was not able to make a good play in the ball thanks to the positioning of hamlin first penalty against the golfers 33rd of the year only wake forest has been obsessed fewer penalties across the country this season it's a very disciplined minnesota team journey brown dumped by micah dew treadway a transfer from notre dame big body guy who did not get on the field a lot at notre dame he's been a good addition to this defensive front here in minnesota shifting in the middle of that front and standing up near treadway's number 18. this looks very confusing right now for penn state play club still with seven seconds [Applause] a couple of peaks to the sideline snaps it with two sends it out wide for journey brown incomplete it'll be third down to nine they just looked a little discombobulated on where they wanted their personnel on that play they shifted two or three times snapped the football then they had the aaron throw and now it's third down at nine in minnesota territory [Applause] ricky slade and running back they blitzer ran him over but the ball got off and it's intercepted again by antoine winfield and he brings it back to the 39-yard line 14-10 minnesota they have the ball back after the second interception of the game from antoine winfield from their own 39 tanner morgan on target again rashad bateman inside the nickname 40 to the 39-yard line again there's the play action with the slam but going back to the interception mariano's sorry ferran is right here he's the guy playing in place of kamal martin watch him run over the running back ricky slade he creates the pressure this could have been a defensive pass interference on chris williamson it was not called and winfield able to come up with a second interception so a big break there for minnesota and now they've capitalized on the first down play tanner morgan so impressive at quarterback seven out of eight for 175 and two touchdowns that is his best performance of the season to date as earlier this year against purdue out of 22 for 396 yards and four touchdowns one of the best performances that you'll ever see in college football by a quarterback yeah purdue was really intent on stopping the minnesota run they only ran for 93 yards but tanner morgan made him pay in the passing game in a huge way a completion percentage of 95.5 against the boilermakers the best in big ten history among those who threw a minimum of 15 passes in a game trying to thread it in and he does tyler johnson touchdown minnesota [Applause] [Applause] now one-handed grab by the great tyler johnson and minnesota on fire on offense here in the first half set up again by the winfield interception one-on-one coverage against the freshman keaton ellis a perfect throw and a big-time catch by a big-time receiver tyler johnson here's brock walker redshirt freshman kicker would have tempted only one point after all season prior to today he's won the kicking battle at least for the time being pj fleck fired up and justifiably solved perfect throw over the outside you just see the strength the big body of tyler johnson fights off the freshman keaton ellis and another touchdown for the golden gophers they capitalize on the turnover a pass to bateman and now a touchdown pass to tyler johnson minnesota looking as strong as they look to us on film i don't think you and i are surprised that they look good they look really good on tape you can say well they didn't play anybody but all you can do is beat the people that you've been playing in the last four games they played they've been hammering people and when you watch the film the talent jumps up johnson and bateman that's one of the best wide receiver duos in the country winfield's already shown he's one of the best defensive backs in the country they have a mammoth and good offensive line they have three accomplished running backs and a quarterback who does a great job of running the show absolutely and they have a good plan coming into this game off the buy week that is causing a lot of problems for brent price defense so far and ryerson very short kickoff kj handler trying to get outside and he's chased out of bounds his flag down back at the 23-yard line he went out of the 33. during the return illegal block in the back return team number seven ten-yard penalty from the spot of the foul first down penn state guys antoine winfield jr having a fantastic game with two picks that they've turned into points and he has a good reason for being good in that backfield he had one of the world's best mentors his own father antoine wilfield won the thorpe award while he was at ohio state went on to have a great nfl career where he was a three-time pro bowler he said my dad has taught me all the little interest kisses of this craft and guys he knew exactly how many interceptions he needed to take over number one in the country he is now tied for first with seven he told me yesterday he was going to do it today and boy he actually has pathetic tied with douglas coleman of texas tech for the national league seven interception ricky slade chopped down behind the line of scrimmage by carter coughlin and coney durr and by the way the seven interceptions for the season ties the minnesota single season record with jeff wright in 1970 the most recent to have seven and the only other harold van every back in 1939 and a lot of season left for winfield to have that record all by himself lots of time for sean clifford throws deep for handler and good coverage by jordan howden who was right on his hip excellent coverage by howden and that time you saw just just a little glimpse of panic in sean clifford he didn't have anything he just took a shot down the field for hamler but that was excellent coverage and now it's third and long deep in his own territory for sean clifford again fryermuth very much an option at this point in the field unfamiliar territory for penn state they have trailed infrequently on their way to 8-0 clifford a nice pocket and a throw that's dropped off the hands of daniel george you said it earlier todd they're looking for other wide receivers to make plays beyond amler and they're really not getting much from the other guys no not so far and i mean dodson has not had a ball thrown to him this is the first one to shorter that's a catchable ball it's a good throw by sean clifford and you've got to have other guys step up daniel george just not able to make the play [Applause] blake gilligan the punter caught by demetrius douglas and he's ripped down immediately from the gopher partisans here at tcf bank stadium minnesota leading by 11. they go to the fleet flicker tanner morgan has a man wide open tyler johnson the balls out and it goes out of bounds and it'll be minnesota ball big break for the gophers it'll go into the books as a 27 yard game well you're going to see eyes on the backfield that is what holds the defense and the freshman linebacker brandon smith number 12 not able to get out there in time to make a play good hit on the football by marquis wilson the freshman quarterback but it's kicked out of bounds and minnesota first down [Applause] shannon brooks down near the 10-yard line tackled by lamont wade after micah parsons missed close to the line of scrimmage this is the stretch play you get everything moving this way now watch the right guard get enough of a block on parsons as he tries to come across the line of scrimmage one block the back has the opportunity to cut it up anywhere inside and they get another first down deep in penn state penn state territory they couldn't get that play to work early in the season as a result they couldn't run the football kirk ciraca the offensive staff stuck with it he credits the offensive line coach brian callahan boy are they taking hay with the outside zone the stretch plays they call it micah parsons tackled shannon brooks there's kirk ciaraca so they went back and studied washington redskins film from by mike shanahan was the head coach there well they felt like they really needed another run a second pitch they loved their inside zone and they were using the play-action passes off the outside zone but they needed to get better at running it and credit to them for sticking with it even though last year when they put it in it was pretty much bad the whole year penn state said we're not going to run laterally against that play along the line we're going to try to penetrate blow it up but it hasn't worked all that often morgan was under some duress got it to breven spann ford just his third catch of the season and only the seventh for a minnesota tight end really nice play by jan johnson that time and that's kind of a play where you try to fool him you don't throw the tight ends much it's a throwback play and jan johnson was not full very smart defender in the middle of that defense was there to snuff it out one of their team leaders fifth year senior jan johnson a team captain degree in psychology a masters in management and organizational leadership and now getting a third degree in health policy a fade and over the head of tyler johnson they had exactly what they wanted sean they had tyler johnson going on lamont wade who's a five foot nine safety he's had an excellent season especially the last four games but that matchup favored tyler johnson just an overthrow by tanner morgan so here's brock walker who has emerged as their new kicker red shirt freshman from sioux falls south dakota this is his first career collegiate field goal attempt i think his heart is racing a little bit national tv sell-out crowd one of the big games in program history no problem good from 26 and a 14 point lead for the golden gophers fired up for gopher football and getting more excited by the moment as minnesota has a 24 to 10 lead over the number four team in the country penn state aj handler back for the kickoff row the boat is the mantra [Music] aj hammer tries the near side and gets chased out of 26. tanner morgan has been brilliant so far in the first half 10 of 12 243 touchdown but he's gonna wish he had this one back because as he gets the fade round if he puts that ball right there it's another touch on his fourth of the game he's got single coverage his favorite receiver the ball just sails a little bit wide instead of that back pylon or else they'd have an even bigger lead than they have right now but he has been outstanding so far in the first half he works for the kinesiologist who's based in toronto and that's the reason why he does those hip snaps on the sideline over here since his teammates make fun of him journey brown the ball carrier kiante shad made the tackle tanner told us yesterday my hips are the most important part of my throwing motion my hips need to lead my arm so i'm trying to keep my lips hips maybe his lips too loose on the sideline that's your job keeping your lips loose usually not a problem john clifford just 6 out of 16. makes it the journey brown on target there kj hamler tackled by benjamin st just that might have been a touchdown this minnesota was thinking run all the way the fake really held him good faith to journey brown and then you get hamler your big play receiver and if it wasn't for the shoestring tackle st juice that's a touchdown for penn state one of the many things that they do so well here at minnesota journey brown the ball carrier the gain of a couple they tackle very well the safeties in particular we've seen midfield make a couple of stops where he didn't make them that might have been off to the [Music] another one races those grand transfers on this minnesota defense came over from michigan has three years of eligibility graduated in two years and he's tall he's six foot three matches up on big receivers joe rossi the defensive coordinator said st juice to play in the nfl and he had a hard time getting on the field in michigan carter coughlin with the sack [Applause] well this is just an effort played by coughlin here he is right here he's working on will fry's the right tackle and he's got to go all the way around the plate fry's does a decent job taking him around the quarterback but then he's still able to get enough of sean clifford to get him to the ground there's joe rossi the defensive coordinator leading forward and making some notes pittsburgh guy went to pittsburgh central catholic and moreno among others out of pittsburgh central catholic great football history there sean clifford got spun around and walloped at the 41-yard line coney durr the primary hit he's four yards short of a first down james franco looks like he's gonna go for it yeah he's signaling go for it [Music] [Applause] fourth and four under a minute to go in the half minnesota calls time out this is their second half this is a 30-second timeout man we spent some time with him yesterday i'm a believer i think he's for real i think he's genuine and i think his players believe he's genuine and that's the most important thing i completely agree he hadn't met him until yesterday the fraud antenna was up and it was extinguished quickly by coach fleck ultra impressive i think he wanted to call that timeout this is a huge play if they get a stop here they're going to get the ball to start the third quarter huge momentum play right here clifford throws and a catch in traffic by pat fryerbooth clearly one of the best tight ends in the country nine yards in a first down at the minnesota 32. watch him just stick that right foot in the ground just got enough separation from chris williamson with that little step to get open for the play 40 seconds clock running two timeouts for the nittany lions clifford one on one with fryer myth well covered by antoine winfield a matchup with two of the best players in the country at their position the thing about winfield that makes him special he's solid against the run he can cover and he can play the middle of the field as a safety and he's got excellent ball skills as we've already seen now he's got the bloodlines and he's had the mentor and the coach but uh he's got the genes too he's got ball skills that are unique much of this youth here in the twin cities going to vikings games while his dad starred for minnesota's nfl entry sean clifford trying to lead his way through some traffic including the umpire he's down at the 27 james franklin races onto the field to call a timeout brown was the lead blocker and the umpire was the the second blocker on the play brad tried to get out of the way the guy that penn state's got to get involved here is jahan dodson he's down here at the bottom number five he's an explosive type receiver has had a quiet first half so far third down five three-man rush clifford throws firemouth up ended at the eight-yard line winfield there again 20-yard play first and goal one timeout left clock stopped to move the chains looks like they're ready to snap it and spike it what a play by clifford john i mean he was scrambling kept his eyes down field and because he was moving behind the line of scrimmage the defense is going to open up and give him a throw to fryer mute that's a hard throw moving to his left back to the middle on target to his big tight end to extend this drop [Applause] brown would be a wildcat they shift clifford back to the quarterback's body trying to rip it into nick bowers another tight end and it was off target it's third down and goal with 14 seconds of the timeout it was kind of a trick play it was an unbalanced line and so bowers was lined up as the tackle position but minnesota was not full thomas barber almost came away with the interception on third and goal clifford looked like a design run he's chopped down at the three clock still ticking they'll let it go down call to timeout then either kick a field goal or take one more shot at the end zone third and final charge i know you're down 14 on the road but i think you got to take points here don't you minnesota is going to get the ball to start the third quarter i think you got to take points cut into the lead and go in and figure out what's wrong with your plan for the second half particularly defensively if you go for it here and don't make it minnesota goes into the locker room with tremendous momentum and they get the ball to start the third quarter i agree with you a lot of football to be played you have an offense that's capable of being explosive taking the points here comes jake peniger blake gilligan the punter is the holder you got a fake you liked that might be within the realm of possibility this is essentially an extra point for peniger 21-yard field goal from almost dead center there's a flag down and ran into the kicker benjamin saint juiced now what do you do no time left the field goal was good [Music] looking to the sideline they could take half the distance running into the kicker on the defense that penalties decline the field goal is good that's the end of the first half and implies the same logic we're just talking about you're going to take the points take the point they got the points particular 10 of 12 240 yards he's going to get the ball to start the third quarter penn state has to figure some way to get under his skin and get some pressure on a touch him and here's a look at today's pacific life game summary one of the many stars in that half from minnesota antoine winfield yeah two interceptions i mean he is a ball hog he has great ball skills his dad was a great defensive back in college in the nfl and he has just really set the tone for this minnesota defense they've given up a lot of yards but the turnovers have kept this lead and then our offense tanner morgan as we said 240 yards three touchdowns and uh he has been very comfortable and efficient we talked about the wide receivers in that matchup and they have shown the part so far tyler johnson the wide receiver taking the ball around the left side very little perhaps a yard those 240 yards passing for tanner morgan in the first half the most passing yards allowed by penn state in the first half of any game since the 2017 rose bowl the end of the 2016 season with sam darnold threw for 263 for usc against the nittany lions in that first half yards of total offense bear look now a little change here they cover the inside guard and the center and rodney smith runs right through it a moment ago holly with james franklin coach franklin what was the greatest area of correction you addressed with your team just now well they did a nice job they did a lot more unbalanced against our defense than we had seen on film we gotta settle down there we gotta get get them to third down and then get off the field they haven't been uncomfortable in offense in the first half so we gotta be better on first and second down and then offensively can't turn the ball over i mean we've done a great job of that all year long we've turned the ball over played right into their hands couldn't have played much worse in the first half we're still in this thing so we'll play well in the second half thank you thank you morgan forced to pull it down and now he gets swatted down by johnson for a loss on the play the turnover certainly a key penn state committed to the two interceptions thrown by sean clifford picked off by antoine wittenfield you think of minnesota football the road the boat culture because it really is a culture so many aspects of it but discipline football at the corner of it one penalty for the gophers in the first half no turnout and efficient i mean they're efficient on both sides of the ball they're in the right place on defense for the most part and they've been very efficient with both the run the path that was the first negative yardage play of the ball game for minnesota right there against one of the terrific defensive fronts in the country morgan on the run in the open field spun away from lamont wade at shakatoni got him down well shy of the first down line to make by about seven yards i think that tanner morgan they worked with him you see sean clifford on the side they talked to him a lot during the bye week hey penn state they collapsed the pocket you've got to speed the clock up if you don't see your first or second progression early make something happen get out of there we've seen already two plays him doing that shiraka said we spent a lot of time scheming to give our number one option in each passing play the ability to get open quickly help morgan get rid of it quickly they go to the run on third and seven here's muhammad ibrahim not content to go down he delivers a blow [Applause] darren taylor stuck his face in at the end of it got knocked back watch the block by curtis dunlap on micah parsons that's the key block on the play and they did it with the run on third and seven and got the first down it was tariq castro fields who got run over penn state was best in the country entering today they were giving up 1.99 yards per rush to their opponents minnesota's average five per carry today that [Music] rodney smith driven back by parsons who missed on that previous play didn't miss connection had a good game blocking on the edge for minnesota that time he was beaten to the inside by parsons for the for the play and another behind first two behind the line of scrimmage plays for this penn state defense that has lived off of those kind of plays tackles for loss and sacks all season [Music] [Applause] by the referee illegal substitution 12 men on the offense five yard penalty remains second down you know it's tough to sneak one of these offensive linemen off as big as they are yeah you might have a chance with a wide receiver but when it's an offensive lineman you're not going to get away with that sam schluter tried to take off here's that unbalance that james franklin was talking about actually not to just have schluter back in the ball game [Applause] [Music] help with the penalty is the first third and long play that minnesota has been in they've been able to stay in manageable situations throw the ball when they want it how they won this one plays into the hands of the penn state defense 24 points give it up you saw brent price defense have been outstanding all year but the 24 points the most they've given up in the game this season it yielded that at the half michigan scored 21 against the nittany lions out to tyler johnson he's inside the 40 but still 10 yards short of the first down taken down by cam brown this has got to be too far for a field goal as pj fleck thinking about going for it still got a lot of yards to gain on fourth now too close to punt too far to kick a field goal and under his philosophy the time of possession is the most important thing this is not too early for him to start building the clock he says if i think we have the game going our way and i feel comfortable we can protect the lead i'm going to slow the place down plays down pace now that's what he's doing he might just let this run all the way down and call timeout looks like that is what he's gonna do i think you're right i don't think they can get conservative though at this point in the game penn state has too much firepower on offense they have to keep doing what they've been doing this possession penn state just got it behind the chains delay again offense five-yard penalty remains fourth down there's jacob herbers the punter he's done an excellent job his special this year has been pinning opponents inside the 20-yard line 10 of his 27 punts prior to today had been inside the opposing 20. [Music] in one game against purdue here it is again fair catch made by kj handler nearly hood of these teams making the playoff ohio state deemed to have the best chance you might be wondering minnesota 1.2 entering today a number that obviously will go up and they could knock off fourth ranked penn state here today jump up to 3.8 we're told by the fbi people back at espn sean clifford first play from scrimmage in the second half for the nindy lions and his pass went over the head of daniel george there by durer but i think the ball was so high on the throw that it wasn't even catchable with power rush on the inside by sam renner number nine he just pushes his man back into the quarterback's lap watch number 90 working on gonzalez and then gets a hand up and knocks the ball away he and coughlin [Music] came here as a walk-on joe ross he said he went from wondering if he'd ever play a snap to now he's an nfl prospect as a fifth year senior from nearby maple grove minnesota minnesota's showing pressure here but i think they'll probably back out and only rush three that's what they do make them completed underneath and they get close to clifford and he is yanked down at the one-yard line the seizing october made the tackle for minnesota it was a three-man rush they dropped eight clifford couldn't get rid of the ball early that's why he tried to leave the pocket he was first forced out of the pocket by boyie mafe and then otamoway something like that oh blake gilligan the veteran out of the bag of the end zone high good punt what a year he's had demetrius douglas from his own 47. bounces off the initial hit great had to convert on third down and 29 in the final moments of the game against georgia southern from their own six with no timeouts left to march down the field and beat them by three they've been crushing people since shannon brooks tried the middle unsuccessfully loses the ball as he hit the ground the quarterback morgan trying to get it back but penn state has it at the 50-yard line the first takeaway of the game for brent price defense i think it was the freshman keith ellis who knocks this ball out excellent job by the penn state deep that's stringing the play out on the other side perfect field position to take a shot and see if you can get a big one right here [Applause] on the 50-yard line neither team is scored here in the third quarter brown almost escaped but couldn't get away from cody dirk from baton rouge louisiana what a day he's having red shirt junior only 5-9 but joe ross said tremendous feat great in run support and coverage and we've seen that today rossi is the defensive coordinator here in minnesota this rush got close to clipper but didn't get him down and that ball is caught by kj jordan drake balled over it looked like it was going to be an interception because i didn't think clifford was able to get enough on this throw it was a little bit underthrown and what a job by hamler maintaining his concentration as he's going to the ground for the catch 16-yard gain journey brown off left guard [Music] stopped at the 32. pj collects a character he has interesting people on the staff too we'll visit with the coordinators yesterday talked to joe rossi daryl rossi's coached a lot of different places a couple of years ago he was out of football he was part of the staff that got fired at rutgers his wife was just about to give birth he said you know what i'm going to take a year off help raise my baby kj handler on the jet sweep action dumped by carter kaufman then when he went to get back in d.j fleck offered a role here but it was an off the field analyst and joe rossi's one of his jobs was to drive around campus and a golf cart during the day to make sure the gopher football players were going to their classes in january in january he said i had a golf cart that had no wind chills and one day i'd come in it was driving rain about 35 degrees i did sit for about three minutes and say what the heck am i doing they said stop feeling sorry for yourself get back to work now he's the defensive coordinator doing a tremendous job clifford throws aj handler again completes the new steady diet of their best receiver and it's a first down for penn state at the 20-yard line we've seen clifford do this a couple times he starts to leave the pocket and he looks like he's gonna run it you have to respect him as a runner but he keeps his eyes downfield and he's able to quickly deliver the ball forward for the first down trying to capitalize on the first gopher turnover of the day down the middle off the hands of justin shorter it would have been a touchdown well they wanted to get this guy involved they thought that justin shorter could have a big game today this is his second drop and he was also the guy that whitfield went up over and got the interception off clifford paid the price but he put the ball in the right spot and shorter just wasn't able to come down with it ironically shorter is their tallest wide receiver with sam renner who put the hit on clifford they try handler coming in this direction and he's yanked down by jordan powder after a gain of eight [Music] third down to two as we approach five minutes remaining in the third quarter we haven't really said it yet but this is the area where they miss noah of all their running backs he's the most powerful runner that they have he is dressed but the coaches were hoping not to use them with a lower body injury they don't give specific injury information at penn state [Applause] it's journey brown spins and is very close to that line to make along the 10-yard line antoine winfield the tackle nice double team in there by the center michael bennett cj thorpe the right guard he gets the first down first and goal from just inside the 10 yard line nose of the football barely across the 10. prior mute territory here [Applause] and it's a touchdown great fake by clifford and nick bowers as his first catch of the game a 10-yard touchdown he just sneaks in you've got hamlet there next minnesota kind of forgets about him all the attention on 87-1 and a nice play caught by ricky ronnie and a reed by sean clifford going to go for two here they try to make it a three-point game with 405 to go in the third quarter not enough guys here at the bottom not enough defenders they throw it out to ricky slade and even short-handed [Applause] penn state capitalized on the first minnesota turnover of the day turned it into six points and the kickoff by jordan stout down by demetrius douglas in the first half minnesota had 321 yards against penn state's defense no negative plays by the nittany lions first two possessions three negative plays and a turnover so a much more spirited effort here to start the second half morgan caught chris ottman bell quality gain on first down he got eight morgan delivered that under duress got hit right as he was throwing the football still able to make an accurate throw and again when they're second and two third and three in that area that is when uh this offense has been very very difficult to stop tonight more td passes than incompletions for morgan the sophomore from union kentucky he was on his way to western michigan to play for pj fleck there and the pj wound up coming here he invited morgan to come with him rodney smith no gain micah parsons jan johnson there it's going to be a holding penalty against minnesota offense number 51 10-yard penalty [Applause] yeah curtis dunlap got a little bit surprised by the blitzing jan johnson and just instinctively reached out and grabbed him an easy call in the middle of that formation and once again now they were second and really short and now they're second behind the chains and so penn state's defense a chance to get off the field again quickly and after one penalty in the first half three already here in the third quarter the second least penalized team in the country smith remains the running back on second and 12. morgan faked it has a man open caught first down 46-yard line rashad bateman for 23. unbelievable we talked about how much they run the slams watch him run the slant and then out and tariq castro fields is completely twisted around beautiful route and another nice throw by tanner morgan to get the yardage back in the first down that was pretty good five catches today alden for a first down or a score 87 career catches in just 22 games here in minnesota there's the slam come right back to it picking on castro feels a little bit here in a couple plays when he came in as a freshman he was only 170 and a few pounds he's put on about 25 pounds they think he can still get bigger and by the time he leaves here they think he could be as good as everest played here 13 more for number thirteen [Applause] [Music] he's very smart and the coaches all talked about morgan's work ethic he said he's the football equipment of a basketball gym rat always in the film room always asking questions bringing ideas to the coaches and they give him a lot of responsibilities you can see watching today and he does a nice job to get him into the right things [Applause] his dad ted helped coach him growing up he faked it to smith he got hit the ball goes straight up in the air and it falls incomplete shakatoni delivered the blow to tanner morgan and forced the pop-up throw this was a whiff by the tight end jake paulson this is supposed to be picked up jake paulson is coming across as the tight end and just whips on the play and that's why the hit was put on morgan and minnesota very lucky that ball was not intercepted shaquan brisker down field offense number 78 five-yard penalty repeat second down hasn't played football for very long he did play it img academy and he does have 4x gloves but we're told the only reason he has those is they don't have any bigger he asked if they had bigger gloves and they said no 400 pounds as we all know is a lot a typical adult male lion as you know todd being a nittany lion weighs 400 pounds a piano approximately 400 pounds [Applause] we put sean clifford and kj handler together for penn state 392 pounds very likable young man and they think he's just developing his football player gary rawls [Applause] second down to 11. not in field goal range here comes chris often bell again and penn state ready for that this time cam brown right there to drop it for no game really well played by cam brown maintain leverage good hustle and rally to the football that time by penn state on defense and a third and long we've just seen a much different penn state defense here in the third quarter than we saw in that first half juan brisker was slow to get up a moment ago is right back on the field now the junior from pittsburgh junior college transfer from la awana community college first year at penn state 30 seconds to go third quarter clearly they have slowed the pace here with the lead you wonder if they've cost themselves morgan says no to that question on target to rashaan bateman inside the five-yard line and out of bounds at the four wants the use of the eyes by tanner morgan he's going to look to his left that keeps the safety in the middle of the field and then he throws it to the other sideline to his number one target today rashad bateman but it was the eyes of tanner morgan that opened that up for baitman what a day for bateman targeted seven times he's caught all seven for 203 yards and a touchdown the minnesota golden gophers leading 24 to 19 as we go to the fourth quarter they have it first and goal at the penn state four seth green the wildcat quarterback in right now they've done a lot of different things with him in there snapping it to the other back of the backfield they give it to green he's submarine as he whistled down apparently not to let the play go and they're gonna mark him near the two-yard line he has not thrown the ball this season now last year he was four or five a couple of touchdowns but he has not thrown it yet this year he was a quarterback moved to tight end then moved to wide receiver he's a huge reason why they are the best team in the country in goal to go situations 18 for 18 scoring touchdowns other teams are perfect but they don't have as many touchdowns and opportunities as the gophers have in goal to go [Applause] these tight ends how they block for minnesota wow [Music] i want you to watch when we get a chance to show the replay code keep number 42 his block for seth green [Applause] there's brock walker the golden gophers a 12 point lead with 14 11 to go [Music] [Applause] so many good players green another one an excellent role player they're so well coached at 38 [Music] [Applause] since the summer but florida state's interest might have sped up the process we met yesterday with kirk sharok on the offensive board of the metro couple they were together in rutgers and rutgers under greg actually had was the office coordinator in pj fleck worked under him as the wide receiver coach a couple years ago when pj got the job at western michigan he had never been a head coach he called kirk character said i want you to come with me told us yesterday i had two other offers western michigan would have been the least pain he said i told my wife who you just saw in the middle of the screen there kirk ciaraca his wife kim kj handler returning the kickoff i've decided for so long where we live here are the pluses and minuses of the three you choose she said let me sleep on the next morning she said let's go to kalamazoo even though it's the lowest peak he's a lot and she said you've always said you think pj kleck is going to be a great head coach let's go there help him and see if that's the way it turns out boy was she right 13-1 there last year western michigan to get the opportunity here in minnesota and inching closer to one of the big wins in the modern history of minnesota football he had fire good dump off to journey brown but he had his tight end running down the middle of the field not sure why sean clifford didn't pull the trigger on that one but he was able to reload and get it to journey brown as an outlet for a nice game 17 yards on the completion brown squirts through and then got flat but he has another first down penn state quickly on the move that's a 12-yard gain why it's so important when you're in scoring territory if you're minnesota you've got to go for touchdowns you can't settle for field goals this penn state offenses is too powerful they can score quickly with the playmakers they have devin ford a home run hitter at running back drew freshman comes in the blitz came late clifford got it off and hamler goes to the turf and makes another catch really good protection this is a long route handlers running a deep crossing route from one side of the field all the way to the other numbers that requires a lot of protection clifford got it and got the ball to hamper the seventh catch of the day 19-yard gain he has 119 yards receiving now devin for a four game todd aren't you a little surprised to see more four we visited with james franco last night he told us noah kane is unlikely to play he certainly gave the impression that the man likeliest to take the lead was devin ford we thought we thought we'd see more i think that journey brown's a little older maybe a little bit more proficient in the past blocking part clifford for fryer inside the 10 tackled by antoine wingfield first and goal nittany lions responding quickly tony tour is going to go for an interception watch number 16 go for the interception instead of the sure tackle briarbuth able to turn it in for 10 more yards moving quickly 14-yard gain on the last players devon ford twisted back by sam renner gone 68 yards in a little over two minutes long way to go just under 12 minutes [Applause] [Music] the heartbeat of this defense by the defense coordinator joe rossi made the tackle and i would think todd this might be two down four down territory or two plays to get the first down because three points are still down by nine two scores clifford stuffed at the line of scrimmage ball came out with the play blown dead carter coughlin and jamal team you're hoping that you're going to influence the linebackers with the fake on the jet sweep but watch tig on the inside just throws off the block at the center and is able to stop him in the backfield and he's a backup team just a sophomore made only four tackles all year it's a deep and talented team fourth down and goal [Applause] chris williamson had the coverage and minnesota takes over on downs pj's everywhere we got pjd working in the producer chair down in the truck pj flag is phillip john fleck roger smith carries out to the seven yard line our producer phil dean [Music] that's great and the attire is a nod to jim tressel who he has mentioned many times has a great influence on him during the year he spent as a graduate assistant under trestle at ohio state [Applause] 2006 rodney smith dumped by jan johnson for a loss under 10 minutes to go [Music] guys cj fleck is such an interesting character people flock to him and gravitate towards him what's interesting about him is he actually started out as a sixth grade social studies teacher that was the career path he was on he taught ancient rome he has been what he describes a very average person all his life but if you're around him for five seconds you buy into that energy and these fans and this fan base are all in signed a big contract extension here this week and i think fans are pretty excited they'll have him for a while no doubt he uses the word lead all the time but everybody in the program should be striving to be lead at everything he's an elite coach morgan throws a flutter ball bateman trying to get back there's a flag down ball landed out of bounds they might have a conversation was this deflected one or number two was it catchable the ball fluttered did they get deflected is that why it fluttered past interference defense you can't make this penalty if you're john reed he's their best corner you got third and ten backed up by their own end zone now we're told from the truck it was clearly not deflected so that is he altered his course coming back to the ball and it was catchable i mean it landed close enough to the sideline there to be caught with his feet in bounds that is the costliest penalty of the game for penn state i mean that is a critical error by a very smart and very good football player in john reed it was a question mark during the week with what was reportedly a wrist injury obviously no gain maybe a yard for rodney smith ohio state's the real deal i mean they they are just so complete on both sides of the ball minnesota does not play that could possibly see him in the championship game that state plays on november 23rd management trestle ball as he called it yesterday tyler johnson the catch new set of dives from minnesota out to their own 32-yard line of 11-yard play johnson has been there their go-to guy for the last couple years right here in minneapolis north high school that's bobby bell senior bobby jr his son one of my best friends in kansas city bobby one of the greatest players ever played here has endowed a scholarship here at minnesota and tyler johnson has his scholarship and bobby is really enjoying what he's seeing today out of this gopher football team i love tyler johnson here great young man state championship basketball team for the polars of minneapolis north high school minnesota's led almost the entire game entering today's game penn state had led for 84 of all the possible minutes in their games played this season rodney smith dropped for a loss pam brown exploded across the line of to drop that for about a six yard loss here's today's pacific life game summary well it's basically looking at the quarterback sean clifford tanner morgan very similar guys coming into the game morgan's day has just been stellar i mean 17 of 19 328 yards three touchdowns against one of the best defenses in all of college football of course these two don't play opposite each other they're not on the field at the same time but they know each other well both for the cincinnati area tanner morgan said yesterday he remembers a youth football game they played in the sixth grade here's mohammed ibrahim stacked up who's in the sixth grade and you could tell it still bothered tanner morgan he said we lost to clifford's team six to nothing on a hook and ladder yeah he also did remember that they beat him the next year he added that one as well so he's one and one said they're actually good friends and uh familiar with each other stay in contact with each other big play here for tanner just to be smart your team's got control of the game [Music] the defense has played well be smart with the football here surprised look for alone he's going to snap it with about 13 and the pj flex not going to allow that that clock's going to run every time while they have this two-score lead james franklin is going to use a timeout his first of three to stop that clock penn state this is their first of the half minnesota leading 31-29 626 to go bear in mind penn state has blocked three punts this season and in all four kicks three block punts tied for the national league houston and nebraska good punt by jacob herbers kj handler got away from it down it at the 36. [Applause] james franklin will be asked about that decision after the game sean clifford looked around and found his man open it's dan jacina who's on the track team as a sprinter at penn state one of the fastest men in the program he's to the 43 of minnesota very quickly a great start to this drive 21 yards really a nice job by clifford and he held on to that ball as long as he possibly could before delivering he's 16 out of 32 for 242 a touchdown to two picks [Applause] yeah joe rossi told us yesterday this kid plays the position well and we have seen that run or pass justin has got to step on it and it's a good throw but durr reads the eyes of the receiver and just rips that hand up in there and knocks the ball away who had two career catches before this drive started got his third career catch and then was targeted again on the very next play trying to take advantage of his blazing speed clifford's pass banded down at the line of scrimmage knocked down by sam redder and i believe it was caught by one of the linemen which was unfortunate because that becomes a loss of yardage if it's just incomplete it's third and ten because his lineman caught it it's now third at fourteen instead des holmes was the left tackle on that play he caught the football here's the back up but in there now crunch time playing left tackle rasheed walker ordinarily is their left tackle third down and 15. 5 10 to go two timeouts for penn state down by 12. just inside golden gopher territory clifford on target looks like he got the first down such a dependable receiver pat fryer-muth is a tight end but he's really just a big receiver has excellent hands has a good feel for zone coverages sits right down then the big body is able to stretch it for the first down let me take a look at this to see if he reached that first down previous play was a catch for a first down the play is under further review after review by david noeck the replay official the call in the field stands inconclusive certainly to change it to a first down for penn state at the minnesota 32-yard line here's hamler a lot of field to his side right there sean clifford steps up in the pocket fires on target jahan dodson inside the 15-yard line they'll mark it at the 14. he used hamler to clear out and dawson came on the dig route underneath it and was able to get in the football 18-yard game another impressive drive by the nittany lions catch near sideline daniel george out of bounds six yard line second and two clock running 4 20 to go [Music] just one touchdown four possessions inside the red zone well below their season average last time they got like this they were able to sneak nick bowers number 83 into the end zone for the touchdown the two tight ends on the left this time it's for hamlet away by benjamin st juice that's the advantage of being a 6-3 corner he was beat on the play but he's got such length and long arms even though he's beat he's able to get there with his leg and knock the football away essentially well done by the graduate student from montreal as todd mitch an earlier transfer from michigan [Applause] third down to two or under four minutes to go penn state down by 12. two time-outs left play [Applause] i don't think they got it off didn't look like they did jeremy brown walks in sean clifford is hurt at the end of the play it was an awkward handoff between me and journey brown a lot of times on that clock though the referee will look up and look down and you get about a half a second leeway on the end of that playground it's the back judge's job behind the defense journey brown having a career day career high 123 yards rushing and he scored two touchdowns jake pinagar adds the extra point [Music] 3 49 to go a five-point game sportscenter tonight after wyoming and boise state with kenny mayne and zubin magenti they'll have all the post-game coverage from lsu and alabama full breakdown of this compelling game between penn state and minnesota also how good can the james harden russell westbrook combo b for the houston bryants sports center after college football and espn in the espn app well we thought we were gonna have a fourth quarter game this has been a heck of a football game penn state showing some resiliency here in the second half you know they trailed at halftime to buffalo early in the year 10-7 that's will levis the backup quarterback they think very highly of him but he might be thrust into a critically important situation here if clifford cannot return if penn state gets the ball back he'd be under center or taking shotgun snaps in minnesota with their hands team on the field i would expect penn state to kick this ball deep they've got two timeouts their defenses played much better in the second half i'm thinking they're gonna kick this ball deep and try to play defense with those two timeouts and hope that they can get a stop at three and out when you're in your hands team you don't typically have a kickoff return blockable bounced down the field demetrius douglas just went down seven catches 203 yards and a touchdown morgan 339 yards rodney smith dropped for a one-yard loss they need to make a couple first downs and they're going to have to throw the football something with tanner morgan ander morgan's in trouble and sacked micah parsons [Applause] back near the 10-yard line penn state this is their third and finals the center connor olson gets fooled by the quickness of micah parsons he took one false step and parsons was around him that explosive first step that micah has this penn state defense which has been much different in the second half than they were in the first half has come up with four negative plays that they had that entire first 30 minutes and now they've got their team in a great position to get the ball back with good field position it looks like they'll have sean clifford holly sean clifford had been taken into the injury tent for penn state he just came stalking out of the tent with a man on a mission he's got blood on his jersey his hands are banged up he was not limping with that right leg that looked like it had been clamping and pat friend with the tight end just grabbed him they had a special message there is juice on this penn state sideline right now guys that's a great thing if it was cramping and that is a likely explanation he seems to be walking around fine now third down and 21. [Applause] rodney smith holds his way back to the 20. penn state can't stop it but they have plenty of time with this big strike offense with about three minutes a little less than three minutes to go when they get it back they have time and they have momentum because the last couple times they've had the ball they have moved right down the field on minnesota minnesota playing a little bit of safe coverage not trying to bring extra pressure on sean clifford he just kind of picked him apart i know part of the philosophy here is to milk the clock with the lead i just wonder if they took himself out of their offensive rhythm in the second half playing at a slower pace was huge the punt is muffed by kj hamler and it looked like the nittany lions got it back but it's going to cost them some yardage back inside the 30. it seemed like there was a lot of bodies around hamlet when he tried to field this punt he's giving the fair catch single but it's his own guy i guess that is too close to him so there's no foul he's certainly touched it yeah back up wide receiver primarily a special teams player he got in the way ellis brooks is going to fortunately for penn state end up on the football market at the 28-yard line so a field goal does penn state no good and sean clifford take them 72 yards for a dramatic victory this is what you look for if you're a quarterback boshawn clifford he fires on target friar muth nine yards penn state has not led today they went down seven nothing tied it at seven went down 14 to seven and they have trailed ever since since minnesota took that 14-7 lead with four and a half to go in the first quarter clifford look out from behind got it off with arms around his waist and it's caught by jahan johnson taeyeon devers had clifford but couldn't get him on the ground got fryer both with seven catches for over a hundred yards in the ball game right now for penn state clifford forced to retrain on target jahon dankson inside the 20 and down at the 10-yard line there's the flag down [Music] at the 50-yard line near the far numbers i believe it's going to be against minnesota for a hold holding defense number six the penalties decline first down chris williamson call for holding it doesn't matter you know he's holding on handler there's the penalty dodson gets separation from st juice who stumbled and finally dodson with the big play we've been wondering where he's been we know what kind of talent and ability he has biggest play of the ball game for the penn state office he's emerging late in this game a game they have to have most certainly with an eye toward the national championship picture here's journey brown driven back from the 10. now i wonder todd if you're minnesota do you use timeouts i mean penn state has plenty of time they're at the tent they're in a win or lose situation minnesota might need time on the clock if penn state scores and if they hold penn state here there's so little time left they're going to run out the clock either way on second and nine down the middle and chop down jordy brown by thomas barber who's not getting up quickly there is a flag down and the crowd thinks this one's going against penn state pass interference [Applause] offense number eleven 15-yard penalty daniel george was the wide receiver in a short split he's running straight down the field and he initiates contact journey brown came on the option route behind him that's why he was so open i think it was the right call meanwhile key member of that defense thomas barber minnesota golden gopher legacy four-man rush clifford has rome fires too long for daniel george antoine winfield has been spectacular today with two interceptions all over the field as usual have the coverage beautiful job we mentioned those two young linebackers they were in double coverage on pat fryermuth on that play that's why sean clifford had to try to go outside they had his number one target blanketed as antoine winfield's dad great start here minnesota with the vikings tremendous college player at ohio state three-man rush clifford again as time throws and it is intercepted in the end zone by jordan howden [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thought he got interfered with he got pulled down by benjamin st juice i'm not sure if clifford was throwing this ball out for hamlet this is their second of the half this is a 30-second timeout watch dodson get pulled down and the ball is thrown behind hamler and intercepted not sure if it was going to one or five but it was behind hamler and howden was there for the third interception of the ball game for minnesota the second of his career the former walk-on now on scholarship sophomore out of las vegas what did pj fleck what's all over their building 78 percent if they do what winter turnover battle you have fewer missed tackles than your opponent and you have more explosive plays and they're going to win all three on all three of those when you do that you win 78 of the time the player spotlight brought to you by wrangler rashad bateman almost set the single game school receiving yardage record held by ryan felwell back in the mid-1990s a game over at the old metrodome which no longer exists he had five catches of 23 yards or more how about tanner morgan 18 of 20. 339 yards and three touchdowns they rode the boat and it's for real here baby yeah big room on the boat there are a lot fewer doubters around the college football landscape when it comes to the minnesota gophers than we had at the start of the day they play for the governor's victory bell which dates back to 1993 when penn state came into the big ten and their first game in conference was against minnesota it's over one of the biggest wins in school history for the university of minnesota they go to nine and old they beat undefeated previously penn state 31-26

Channel: Big Ten Network

Views: 5,428

Keywords: minnesota golden gophers, minnesota, golden gophers, gophers, penn state nittany lions, penn state, nittany lions, psu, football, big ten football, college football, ncaa football, big 10 football

Id: 4mlSdeJ-zNA

Length: 111min 15sec (6675 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 17 2020