Watch Live: Gopher Football Defeats #5 Penn State 31-26 (Gopher Classics)

[Music] the University of Minnesota has a proud football history but most college football fans know little or nothing about those long-ago accomplishments they're certainly learning more about this year's Golden Gophers ain't no wreck number 17 powered their on the armor quarterback Tanner Morgan and the folk growing enthusiasm of coach PJ Fleck today they face the team everyone knows Penn State the fourth ranked Nittany Lions are also even though led by the deep ball combination of quarterback Sean Clifford then receiver cagey handler [Applause] it is a critical big tent battle with major college football playoff implications its Penn State and Minnesota [Applause] [Music] you're watching ESPN college football presented by tracfone part of veterans week on ABC brought to you by USAA welcome everyone to Minneapolis for what is without question the biggest game in the 10-year history of TCF Bank Stadium Minnesota hosting number four Penn State PJ Fleck the coach calls it one of the most important games in the proud history of Minnesota football hi everybody welcome Sean McDonald along with Todd Blackledge delighted to have you with us we'll be joined shortly by Holly Rowe Todd great atmosphere here great anticipation it's a Minnesota team undefeated but ranked number 17 in the first college football playoff rankings that is the worst of any undefeated power flag team in the history the playoff they're not getting a lot of respect at least they don't feel they are here locally they haven't played a strong schedule that changes today are they Italian 'todelete Penn State I think they are I think they're a really good football team what I've seen on film they're well coached they're fundamentally sound they don't do things to get themselves beat don't come in turnovers or penalties and they've got some really good players and I think they've got a chance to answer a lot of questions today we got a senior running back in Rodney Smith running behind a big offensive line nearing a thousand yards they got a pair of wide receivers and Rashad and in Tyler Johnson I think the best duo Penn State will have seen this season big play guys on defense Antoine Winfield jr. leaves the big ten with five interceptions an outstanding player and Carter Coughlin one of their senior leaders on the defensive line this is a team that is on a mission and have a chance to make a big statement today indeed they do against a Penn State team that perhaps has exceeded expectations as well they were number 15 in the country when the season began up to number four in the first playoff ranking that was surprised to some ahead of Clemson very tough schedule left but one of the reasons why he perhaps they are surprised to some is the outstanding quarterback play yeah Sean Clifford's been outstanding this is his third year in this offensive system but his first year as the starting quarterback a lot of people thought what's going to happen without tres McSorley well you look at the stats compared to the first day game Sean Clifford better than tres McSorely everybody knew Penn State's defense was going to be legit and they are but what Sean Clifford is done with this offense has been [Applause] the Gophers eat it all for the first time since 1941 settling for a great day of college football Penn State then Minnesota right after this it looks sounds and feels like a big game because it is you're watching the Big Ten on ABC men state type the first and the big today's to the Ohio state Minnesota leading the Big Ten West perhaps this is a preview of the conference title game these two teams certainly hope so a lot of football to be played between now and then Minnesota won the toss and deferred so the Gophers will kick off JJ hammer back deep [Music] most dangerous return band in the country John 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 hammer Ryerson kicks off and it goes out of bounds start for Minnesota here's Holly roll the Penn State is eight know in part because they victory consistency 18 of their 22 starters have started all eight games but today they have got some shake ups in their lineup shows and 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 Michael Parsons their leading tackler will not start today left what they're calling a behavioral modification issue he's expected to come in the second or third series and the biggest news Noah came the leading rusher who had worked his wins the depth chart to starting his first game last week he is questionable today coach said he is an emergency situation only he is here addressed and did participate they feel that they have depth of the defensive line to take care of the absence of Sheldon they're certainly deep and running back they've been rotating for 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 sipping into justin shorter who is covered by Kony dirt Clifford redshirt sophomore Cincinnati out of Saint Xavier High School where he won a state title as a senior 276 yards per game of total offense number one to the big 10 and number 23 in the country accurate thrower good decision maker and can hurt you with his feet as well more rushing attempts than any player on their team sup takes off leaves across midfield and gets chopped down after 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 he can get down the field they had a 58 yard rush against Buffalo earlier this year throwing his sixth of the season well sometimes you mess with fire you get burned you think you got a matchup you lie 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 and Justin shorter to make the play for the Gophers he leads the big ten with six interceptions for now in the last three games most in that span of the country only Douglas Coleman of Texas Tech has wore interceptions for the season he has seven 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 drew runs over Wade who made the tackle after a nine yard game very big offensive line that really since their first buy weed 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 were taller they averaged three forty helped by the mammoth right tackle Daniel foul a lay who's six nine four hundred pounds it has the first down in a couple more cam braun made the tackle there's Tanner Morgan like Sean Clifford from the Cincinnati area from Union and Kentucky he can drive to downtown Cincinnati in 15 minutes 12 and 2 as the starting quarterback here at the University of Minnesota they listed at 6 - he admitted yesterday's six feet and 1/2 inch [Applause] very honest admission we don't get that very often in our meetings with the players [Applause] to get honesty not just admissions that they are shorter than listed throw on target another first down Rashad Bateman 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 the slam 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 but by Mark luzinski sorting it out there's no the players the first time here at tu that's something to 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 in the offense boo from their own 5-yard line to the 33 and down to the 34 on the carry by Rodney Smith that of Jonesboro Georgia number three all-time in rushing here behind two greats Darryl Thompson and Laurence Moroney over the last four a virgin and 41 per game it is a team you mentioned the bye week it's a team that has dramatically improved and running the football as the seasons gone along all of a sudden the outside zone plague kicked in they had been working on it all season they're using it to gradient lately the blitz has picked up there's an open man that's with shot Bateman and here's Minnesota 66 yards what a read by Tanner Morgan there was a blitz off the slot John he saw it so did Bateman and they made a perfect adjustment to it once there's a blitz John Reed comes up on the shore receiver the safety is late getting over late getting over to may proclaim Tanner and Mehmed read it quickly and he got the football for the touchdown Lamont Wade came on a blitz and Shannon Brooks the running back did a great job picking it up Berkshire off of the offensive coordinator told us if they 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 seventh of the year for Bateman longest play of the season against Penn State it all started with the interception by Winfield 95 yards on the drive and a great start for Morgan and the Gophers [Music] you can watch today's game in 4k on DirecTV and on Comcast it's the samsung q LED TV 4k game of the week the first touchdown given up by Penn State in the first quarter this season they've given a three points all year in the opening quarter these Wisconsin at Ohio State is the only teams now that have not allow the first quarter touchdown this season Ron air-sea 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 30 brought to you by ExxonMobil well as perfect design here's the mod weight coming on the Blitz that's going to send John Reed here and the running the wide receiver here and Garrett Taylor is going to be late getting over from his safety spot it takes the back picking up the Blitz that takes the quarterback and receiver being on the same [Applause] we're shot Bateman talk to PJ Fleck yesterday said Rashad is special and a 7-nothing lead for Minnesota the talks to dirty brown and he's tackled by Carter Coughlin most productive defensive lineman in the history of the Minnesota program forty one and a half career sacks for the senior from Eden Prairie and scoring first is a good omen for the Gophers under coach Fleck 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 fun Minnesota likes to play with the lead they like to milk the clock names Franklin said it's important to get an early lead against Minnesota speed them up a bit Lefferts throw up target for Jehan dachshund it'll be third down and six it's interesting when we talked to Ricky Ronnie yesterday the offensive coordinator Penn State we asked who else in your receiving Cordia they can step up he said Justin shorter we think he's gonna have a big game today first two times they tried to throw it to him he'd 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 clip hurt out of the gun five receivers Shawn has time he's on target has a first down to Pat Pryor mute one of the best tight ends in the country their second leading receiver for the year with 26 I'll call five Minnesota try third down again right after this 2:41 then again from nineteen forty-five to fifty the my anus was as coach barely served in the Marines during World War two college football hall of fame [Applause] national championships soda history 1960 [Applause] timeout Paul just before the snap on the last play Penn State thought it had converted a first down they'll have to do it again hard to hear with deafening noise in the sellout crowd clipper non-target again prior news broke free and he's indigo for territory at the 45 yard line a gain of 20 for the sophomore from Merrimack Massachusetts nice job of recognition Whitfield lined up over fryer mute but then he blitz Sean Clifford saw quickly got the football in the right spot got it in between two defenders his journey Brown he breaks tackles he has lots of Running Room he has a touchdown and stay with the quick response [Applause] [Music] right up here the safety Jordan the mountain is going to miss a tackle he's unlocked he misses the tackle the journey Brown makes him pay for Penn State answers quickly with an explosive player they're on this is an offense built on explosive runs and fast there's Jake Koenig our for the extra point to tie it entertaining first four minutes and nine seconds the extra point and good 7/7 here let's get you an update back to the studio we go they say good morning for Minneapolis capacity and though issue with that big number one Penn State number five in the AP ball in the coaches poll but ranked by the committee number four ahead of Clemson and as we mentioned the Gophers number 13 in the AP poll but number 17 the eyes of the committee they say there's really not focused on that there's a lot of football still to be played demetria's Douglas had trouble with the Jordan stout kickoff return only to the 13 for Coach PJ Fleck led this program to a number of firsts including the eight nose started first time since the days of coach Bernie pyramid five and all in the Big Ten since 1961 the first time and Africa to pick the 1961 the last time they hosted a game between two teams in the top 15 we said settle in for an historic day we agreed you the top of the telecast first time in the history of the AP poll dates back to 1936 two games a day later it's the touchdown score or Sean Bateman to the 41 but big gainers 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 Bateman that play-action off there run fake off the stretch play has been dynamite for Minnesota here over the last four or five ballgames we should note Micah Parsons is on the field disciplined Asst Holly told you for behavioral modification their leading tackler the merging is one of the best linebackers in the country semi-finalists for the buckets Award as the best linebacker in the country has a slightly straight ahead goes Shannon Bronx and that's a gain of 250 our senior from Georgia Jan Johnson the middle linebacker leads the defense for Penn State made the tackle Jan Johnson kind of the glue and that defense real active linebackers with cam Brown and Michael Parsons on the outside but he's the quarterback of that defense right in the middle very physical guy I stabbed the Smarties already earned two degrees at Penn State and he's working on a third the Shipman 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 a hundred and seventy one career catches now tied with two-two at well for third in Minnesota history [Applause] on first and ten and 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 by changing this Minnesota offense in their running game the other thing to keep in mind they have three running backs that are all really powerfully good runners that are all healthy now which they've all battled injuries at different times in their career now they're all healthy and that's made a big difference for this both rockets to Smith Ibraham and Brooks seventy five hundred and three combined rush yards [Music] real in the country deep and talented and a lot of places [Applause] Piper knew 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 vision changed well they're all still about as good as start as you could make in terms of making a right impression they'd look at the park their physical well discipline team you can understand the doubts this is the first ranked opponent they played this season they've defeated how to combine winning percentage of 42% second lowest among any Timon in Missouri by that standard displayed a weaker schedule this specialty is short yardage he did not get the first down kick field goals very well he's on fourth and one they're going to send their Wildcat quarterback into the game Seth Green [Music] 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 they are this time his Tanner Morgan's down here as a wide receiver they've used this quite a bit this is the real quarterback Tanner Morgan here recept Green big guy in there at the Wildcat 64 240 tight-end [Applause] keeps it lowers his head it has the first down excellent block by the tight end brevet spam for Denver 88 coming across and then ibrahim abraham with the lead block and they do a combination they'll let the quarterback run and leave 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 scored two touchdowns for Coach black in their last game two weeks ago against Maryland each of these teams coming off a bye week well rested and chance to people healthy Rodney Smith back in and he gets tacked up tonight on ABC to the ESPN at 7:30 Eastern Time Saturday Night Football presented by bass pro shop in Cabela's number five Clemson at NC State indistinct Amir Kirk Herbstreit talking this morning about how this talented Clemson team particularly Devils sweet not very happy that day [Applause] not in playoff position right now but most people think they're going to win out be one of the 14 I think they have the clearest path to the play I'll be shocked if they're not one of the four teams in there when it's all set down outside he goes when we top about four yards short of the first down we talk 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 get an excellent block that time by plays and Ruiz the left guard against Michael 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 Gophers went to that outside zone a stretch play because they want to see the defensive lineman running shorts are all little bubble Chris Hoffman bill inside the ten [Applause] [Music] the ball is thrown behind the line of scrimmage linemen can get down wheel the block this is perfect execution by Minnesota those Taraka told us he knows he's number three is 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 huge gadget there win Fresno State earlier Broadwater kicks the extra point and back and forth they go early fess up and bail Kankakee Illinois with his fifth touchdown with his redshirt sophomore season [Music] aerial coverage provided by Goodyear introducing the newest honorary member of the College Football Hall of Fame the Goodyear blimp Goodyear more driven beautiful day here in Minnesota 43 degrees mostly sunny skies now after cloudy morning very little wind is warmed up it wasn't [Music] Thursday night KJ handler [Applause] why'd she pick off that he's down at the 21 yard line like trivia question sorry no the last time they started night and Oh was in 1904 there were five Dana that warned that part those five states we're doing American history and college football history so we're emphasizing education at today [Applause] open the season in high school either way tonight at all bill DiMaggio refereed that game [Applause] we reset the play clock its first in ten no timeout for Penn State [Music] [Applause] still first and ten no timeout journey proud launch across midfield in the Gopher territory banged out of bounds at the 40-yard line underground this one's 35 yards I'll watch the clock at the center right here if I do a nice job just kind of getting the middle linebacker tied in there and then journey crowd with some nifty woman quick feet in the hole breaks it outside and we've already seen that ability to turn a short run into a long game he scored their touchdown on a 45 yard gallop but foretell the middle an open receiver any short frier do you have to stop for the ball and that balls throw deeper he walks into the end zone good design on the play call he's splitting the defense and there's nobody behind him that balls thrown two yards deeper it's open for a touchdown he had to kind of pull that hand back you see hit his hand on 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 is okay on this planet just one four five to start the game while five four five that one behind everybody and he's down inside 222 spotted in the 17 in Penn State trying to answer once again 23 on that play this 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 Hamlin Clifford it's off - hands up Hamlet Zorn's out of coverage warmer walk on here at Minnesota Jordan power out of Las Vegas this is the part of the field where fire mute really becomes a coveted receiver big good hands here he is right here formation they've got two tight ends to the same side of the formation got three touchdown passes in their last game two weeks ago against Michigan State the fake to brown straddling the line of scrimmage hoping for a block from handler gets chased down by Braylon am 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 runner in this offense some by design but most of the time just improvise [Applause] very much in play here the 10-yard line [Applause] on the same side here they are right there for the ball with snap the way a game [Applause] a longtime hit me to the sideline they raced to the line of scrimmage they just took too long once they got there I think it's not James Franklin when he covered up that microphone I think he was letting Ricky Ronnie though upstairs we can't afford that we've got to speed up that's a costly penalty on third down sellout crowd making it difficult Clifford throws incomplete try to get it to fry roof again and the field goal unit will come on for the Nittany Lions jig vinegar will try to make it 14 to 10 that time boy a buffet was in the pressure on the quarterback divorce that Aaron [Music] 33 to 38 was huge against Penn State vinegar snap and hold are good right down to the Allstate then we'll be back in 30 seconds [Music] Graig seen the crowd alive first home sellout here in Minneapolis for the Gophers since 2015 26 home game since their last sellout their team trying to prove a point their fins perfectly believe that this is one of the best teams in college football and they look like it so far today Jordans kickoff would be a touchback it's time to answer the Arizona is definitely one good as well you should have know that I do and I also do Alaska Mexico and Oklahoma she was just too bashful to speak up [Applause] of history lesson courtesy of a flag and create a friends in the truck but their producer filled date our director Scott Johnson Rodney Smith 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 been thought about the win over Twin Cities central high school all the Nebraska scored on the entire huh 16 to 12 Smith looks like he has enough for the first down just 35 the one thing about this Minnesota run game we've talked about the big offensive line we've talked about the healthy running backs in the trio the other thing about this offense their tight ends are outstanding blockers and we'll see a bunch of different ones go Keith number 42 is the starter Jake Paulson has a plate 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 critical part of the of the action third possession for Minnesota to score touchdowns in the previous two Tyler Johnson leaves across the 40 Quan brisker made the tackle bear in mind that the Gophers are doing this against a Penn State team that was second in the country and scoring defense coming in they've given up 9.6 points per game on their way to eight and all who 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 so far not able to get to the quarterback Abraham closer to the line to make but didn't get there no gain it'll be third down and three the Gophers don't need to spend that again [Music] the defensive coordinator for Penn State one of the best students in the country tested today most points they've given up in a game this year's 21 to Michigan this is part of that clock to be there one of the few teams still in college football that believes in the power of time of possession it's an important part a PJ flex plan here at Minnesota learn to manage the clock from Jim Tressel when he was a graduate assistant at Ohio State they're fired up a mini who's the ESPN's presentation of college football on ABC will return after this message [Music] [Applause] [Music] we're one Minnesota and when you're starting to see how this whole thing can really work in this whole Twin Cities area that's what we're talking about but our fans were unbelievable tonight that's the best college football fireman I've ever played in as [Music] [Applause] lots of offense in the first quarter Minnesota leads 14 to 10 the Gophers had 199 yards of offense in the first 15 minutes it is the second quarter begins Tanner Morgan and Minnesota looking at third down along for a short four we want to characterize Penn State's showing man coverage press BAM pulls it down takes off running slides down at the 49 yard line with a Minnesota first down whenever there's man coverage that's gonna open up running lanes for the quarterback but do you see linebackers take off in coverage that opens things up and he finds open grass he gets the first down third before good block by John Michael Schmitz who's come in and centers for Connor Olsen he's not a starter but PJ Fleck calls of their sixth starter they rotate him into the game move positions the Olsons at left guard gives him pursuit ility face-centered guard lays and Ruiz the starting left guard typically contain guard and tackle so they've got a lot of flexibility in what they do at this off for him the ball-carrier he's got them across midfield very methodical this is 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 the Shannon Brooks trying to turn the corner and did not stopped at the line of scrimmage by Karen Taylor fifty year senior safety out of Richmond Virginia that was beautiful play by Jason no way the defensive end though Jason no way had contained on that play the stretch play he kept his outside arm free and turned that play back inside and that's why the play was stopped for very short game here's another third down for Minnesota two out of three on third down [Applause] converted on a fourth down gross Mattos right here is over the center he's usually on the outside tough bot be they are dependable or in given time for near sideline incomplete intended for assignment bell to recast row fields we've won the battle of hyphenated last days good read that was where the single coverage was but it was excellent coverage by Castro fields downfield to knock the ball away [Music] AJ handler dangers punt returner back for the punt from [Applause] timeout against Maryland and state this is their first to the head it comes with Minnesota leading 14 to 10 [Music] there's the national championship trophy said it by dr. pepper on hand there TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis for this big big tent battle with national championship implication 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 [Applause] landed near the twine [Applause] stop at the six yard line [Music] let me state with a missed opportunity on their land was chased out of bounds Franklin sprinted 20 yards downfield got in his quarterbacks ear and said you've got to go faster Clifford did not in a result sit delay of game penalty stop that drive in there for a field goal getting them going quicker on offense 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 245 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 they're 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 [Music] stop short of line to be these fans are into it they were encouraged to wear maroon they responded to that in there waving their gold rally towels feels like a med Pittsburgh [Applause] it's on targets of fryer news for a first down chopped down by Antoine Winfield in the 2713 yards on third down see this play fake is just gonna hold these linebackers add up to get fryer youth behind him you gotta respect the play fake it opens up right behind into this time flickered on target [Applause] [Music] finally through to gambler it's knocked out of bounds on the Penn State sideline far side the spotted at the 32 yard line a gain of five the tackle [Music] number 16 [Applause] designed quarter dropped after yard Carter constant again [Music] you know Minnesotans playing without one of their best defensive players kamal mark is one of their top tacklers 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 at the ball game so far today he might be able to go we visited with the coaches yesterday but doesn't look like he will then they go to the four defensive end package more speed along the defensive line anticipating pass on third and four metric shows his own speed ran away from this PDD line got the first down out to the 43 yard line a stand-in for Kemal Martin may the tackle watch when this linebacker blitz is here Clippers going to read it get right inside five 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 important and on a 10-yard game ten minutes to go over the head [Applause] under it Whitefield got their fraction too late for Minnesota and pence dated business at the Gopher for tea after a 17-yard play number 12 fifteen yard penalty TAC 15 onto the end on the personal foul called against a on Devers now 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 handler is not a big guy but he was able to keep him away with his body and make the guess because that ball was in the air [Applause] Whitfield was not able to make a good play on the ball thanks to the positioning of Hamelin against the Dolphins thirty third of the year Forrest will obsessed fewer families across the country this season it's a very disciplined Minnesota team dirty brown dumped by FICA do Treadway [Music] did not get on the field a lot it no today he's been a good addition to his defensive front here in Minnesota [Applause] [Music] over 18 it's very confusing the end of the Penn State still seven seconds for the couple the peach to the sub line snaps in with two ends it out wide for journey for holding complete it'll be third down and nine they just looked a little discombobulated on where they wanted their personnel on that plane they shipped it two or three times snapped the football that they had the air at throw you'd hit us in the territory [Applause] Ricky Slade in and running back they flex a random over but the pole-sitter set again [Applause] thirty [Applause] there was pressure on the quarterback in this ball is a little bit under throwing body single coverage on handler one shot clipper and he's going to get hit a little bit as he throws the ball is underthrown and Winfield comes from his free safety position and makes the interception his second of the game as part of veterans week presented by USAA [Applause] fourteen to ten 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 [Applause] and 42 the 39 yard line there's the play action with the slant but going back to the interception Mariano soaring ferret is right here he's the guy playing in place of Kamala watch him run over at the running back Ricky slave he creates the question this could have been a defensive pass interference on Chris Williamson it was not called and went field able to come up with a second interception a big break there for Minnesota and now they've capitalized on the first down play Tanner Morgan so impressive at quarterback 7 out of 8 for 175 and to touch them his best performance of the season today for 396 yards and 4 touchdowns of the best performances that you'll ever see in college football by a quarterback yeah Purdue is really intent on stopping the Minnesota run they only ran for 93 yards but Tanner Morgan made up a in the passing game in a huge way percentage of 95.5 against the the best in Big Ten history fifteen tie the thread ahead and he does Tyler Johnson touchdown Minnesota [Applause] gratify the great Tyler Johnson [Music] so no offense here in the first half set up again by the wind field interception one-on-one coverage against the Pressman Keith Ellis a perfect throw and a big-time catch by a big-time receiver here's bra that shirt freshman kicker would have kept at only one point after all season fire - today he's won the kickee Bethel lease for the time being BJ [Music] justifiably so perfect over the outside you just see the strength the big body of Tyler Johnson fights off the freshmen heat Nellis and another touchdown for the Golden Gophers they capitalize on the turnover a pass to Bateman and now a touchdown in the soda looking as strong as they look to us until you and I are surprised that they've looked good they look really good on TV and say well they didn't play anybody but all you can do is beat the people that you've been playing and the last four games they played they've been hammering people and when you watch the film the tally jumps up hey Johnson it's me that's one the best wide receiver duo's in the country Whitfield 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 [Music] good plan coming into this ball it's causing a lot of problems with Bret brides defense so far that Ryerson very short kickoff page a hammer [Applause] outside he's chased down the moms there's a flag down back at the 23 yard line he went out of the 33 during the return illegal block in the back number seven first down Penn State guys Antoine Winfield jr. having a fan time so get them to pick her to be turned into points and yet the good reasons for being good in that backfield he had one of the world's best mentors his own father Anton well-built won the Thorpe Award while he was at Ohio State went on to have a great NFL throw fuller said my dad has taught me all the little interest kiss keys of this craft 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 pathetic tight with Douglas Coleman of Texas Tech in the national 87 interception Greinke Slade shot down behind the line of scrimmage by Carter Coughlin at Coney Durer and by the way the seven interceptions for the season ties the Minnesota single-season record with Jeff right in 1970 the most recent to have seven and the only other Harold ban 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 Rose and good coverage by Jordan excellent coverage by Howden at that time he saw just just a little glimpse of panic it's Sean Clifford he didn't have anything he just took a shot down the field for handler but that was excellent coverage and now it's third and long deep in his own territory for Sean clipper and get fryer knew very much an option at this point we feel unfamiliar territory for Penn State they have trailed infrequently on their way Dave 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 antler really not getting much from the other guy not so far into me Johnson 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 is not able to make the putt Millikan not by the beefiest Douglas and he's ripped down immediately excellent pot 43 yards well covered by dantien this season Taco Bell is celebrating student sections passionate fans like these Minnesota Golden Gophers the rewarding the applause student section beer go to espn.com slash Taco Bell see how your school can compete and get the committee's attention by using hashtag live ma student section contest [Applause] student sections have plenty of help being vocal the Gopher partisans here at TCF Bank Stadium [Applause] Minnesota leading by 11 we Flickr Tanner Morgan is a man wide open Tyler Johnson the pause [Applause] it'll be Minnesota ball big break for the Gophers it'll go into the books is a 27 yard game where you're going to see eyes on the backfield holds the d-pad Smith number 12 not able to get out there in time to make a play good hit on the football by Marquess Wilson the freshman quarterback but it's kicked out of bounds in Minnesota first down [Applause] whoops down near the 10-yard line tackled by LaVon weed after 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 the block on Parsons as he tries to come across the last scrimmage the back anywhere inside and they get another first down deep it cuts that tear penn state territory get that play to work early in the season as a result they couldn't run the ball hurt Soraka the offensive staff stuck with it he credits the offensive line coach Bryan Callahan making hay with the outside zone to stretch plays they call it Michael Parsons tackle Shannon Brooks there's Kirk Soraka so they went back in studies Washington Redskins felt for Mike Shanahan was the head coach there 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 and running it to them for sticking with it even though last year when they put it in it was pretty much a bath the whole year Penn State lay along the line we're gonna try to penetrate blow it up and it hasn't worked on that Morgan was under some duress got it to brevin span for just his third catch of the season and only the seventh for Minnesota tight end my chance at that time and that's kind of a play where you try to fool up don't throw to the tight end spot you to throw back play Jan Johnson was not fool very smart defender in the middle that deep is there to snuff it out one of the team leaders 5th year senior Jan Johnson a team like ecology of masters and managed leadership getting the third degree [Applause] [Music] Johnson they had exactly what they wanted shot they had Tyler Johnson going on the pop wait 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 Walker who has emerged as their new kicker redshirt freshman from Sioux Falls South Dakota this is his first career collegiate field goal attempt [Applause] his heart is racing a little bit national TV sellout crowd one of the big games in program history no problem good from 26 and a 14-point lead for the Golden Gophers aerial coverage provided by Goodyear recognizing those who strive to rise above the rest Goodyear more driven [Music] far off in the distance they are fired up for Gopher football they getting more excited by the moment as Minnesota has a 24 detent lead over the number four team in the catching Penn State AJ handler for the kickoff roll the boat is the mantra [Applause] the nearside gets chased out of 26 Tanner Morgan has been brilliant so far in the first half 10 of 12 to 14 3 touchdown but he's gonna wish he had this one back because as he gets the fade route if he puts that ball right there it's another touchdown 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 a 2 haven't even bigger lead [Music] and he has been outstanding so far in the first half the worst of the kinesiologist who's based in Toronto does those hip snaps of the journey around the ball-carrier kiante shad made the tackle with Tanner told us yes they might hipster the most important part of my throwing house and my hips need to leave my arm so I'm trying to keep my lips to loose on the sidelines that's that's your job keeping your lips they'll do they're usually not a problem [Applause] John Clifford just 6 out of 16 fakes at the journey Brown on target their page a handler by Benjamin st. Jude - that might have been a touchdown this [Music] Minnesota was thinking run all the way the fake really held a good fake to journey Brown and then you get a blur your big play receiver and if it wasn't for the shoestring tackle st. - 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 gain of a couple they tackled [Music] the Safety's in particular statement the stopper he didn't make them that might have been off to the races [Applause] 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 two defensive corners that say Jews to play in the NFL he had a heart getting on the field of Michigan harder consoled with the sack [Applause] this is just an effort play by Coughlin here he is right here he's working on will trot is the right tackle and he's got to go all the way around the play fries does a decent job taking him around the quarterback but then is still able to get enough up Sean Clifford to get him to the ground there's Jill Rossi the defensive coordinator waiting for some notes Pittsburgh I went to Pittsburgh Central Catholic and Moreno among others out of Pittsburg Central Catholic rate football history there Shawn Clifford got spun around walloped at the 41 yard line Coney dur the primary head he's four yards short of a first down James Franklin looks like he's going to go for it he's sick going go for it forsen for under a minute to go in the half beside a pastime out [Applause] this is a 30-second timeout and we'll be back in 30 seconds moments away the capital on the halftime report Jonathan Milburn Sanchez 2410 Minnesota huge fourth down and four for Penn State at the Gulf of 41 here's your tooth that is right here amplifier view on the same side it looks like Minnesota's going to call another time [Applause] doesn't like to take the timeouts when we watch the tape of their game two weeks ago which was her last game against Maryland and he used all the first half time outs in the first border and he used all the second half timeouts in the third quarter he says his job is during the game to manage the game particularly the management of the clock but he has I think demonstrated he is a great manager of programs both at Western Michigan appeared Minnesota yeah and you know what a lot of people wonder is it - you --n and until you meet the guy you don't know after we spent some time with a BSA 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 so yesterday the antenna was up and it was extinguished quickly by coach play ultra impressive I think he wanted to call that timeout this is a huge play they get a stop here they're going to get the ball to start the third quarter huge momentum play Clifford throws and a catch in traffic by clearly one of the best tight ends in the country nine yards in a first down in the Minnesota 32 watched him to stick that right foot in the ground just got enough separation from Chris Williamson with that little step to get open to the fly 40 seconds clock running two timeouts the vanity lights Clifford one-on-one with prior miss well covered by a match of the two of the best players in the country of their position think about Winfield that makes him special he 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 he's got the bloodlines he's had the mentor in the coach he's got the genes to these ball skills that are unique much of his youth here in the Twin Cities going to Vikings games while his dad start four Minnesota's FL entry Sean Clifford [Applause] 27 James Franco races onto the field of design journey Brown was a late blocker and the umpire was the the second blocker on the plug Hudak tried to get out of the way kick off your week 10 NFL Sunday with ESPN of ESPN at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Illinois stories previews of each game right up until the kickoff 50 season of money night football immunity yes the poor taste feed in San Francisco close to the Seattle Seahawks 8:00 Eastern Time Monday night countdown at 6:00 Eastern San Francisco the only remaining undefeated team in the NFL the Penn State's got to get involved here is jihad 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 offended at the 8-yard Winfield there again 20 yard play first and goal one timeout left box top 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 downfield and because he was moving behind the line of scrimmage the defense is going to open up and give him a throw to prior news that's a hard throw moving to his left back to the middle on target to his big tight end to extend this Drive Bilu there's a force [Applause] lined up as if journey Brown would be a wildcat they shift Clifford back to the quarterback's body tried to other tight ended it was off target its third down and goal with 14 seconds of the time it was kind of a trick play was lined up as the Thomas barber with the interception [Music] third and goal Clifford looked like a design run he's chucked out at the three still ticking a field goal or take that for a shot at the end and I know you're dancing on the road but I think you got to take points here don't you Minnesota is gonna get the ball to start the third quarter I think you got to take points cut into the lead and go in and and figure out what's wrong with your plan for the second half particularly defensively [Music] if you go for it here and don't make it Minnesota goes into the locker with tremendous momentum and they get the ball to start to third floor and I agree with you a lot of football to be played offense that's capable of being explosive [Music] late Gillikin the butter is the holder fakie alight is in the realm of possibility this is essentially an extra point for vinegar 21-yard killed almost dead center there's a flag down I ran into the kicker Benjamin st. juste now what do you do no time left the field goal was good [Applause] [Music] looking to the sideline [Music] they could take half the distance running into the kicker on the defense that penalty is declined the field goal is good that's the end of the first half the same locker just hotdogs you're gonna take the points taking points we got the points [Applause] it's half-time in time for music from your University of Minnesota marching band today the pride of Minnesota pays tribute to those who have served or are serving in the United States military or his first responders we thank these selfless individuals and their families for their service and contributions to our nation we be and in 1941 with a song made famous by the mound Minnesota singing sensation beyondblue sisters that became an iconic world war to hit here is boogie Woogie Bugle Boy [Music] [Music] for our next election we turn to the March King John Philip Sousa and the March he wrote in 1888 at the request of President Chester hey Arthur and has since become the official march of the United States Marine Corps this is Semper Fidelis [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the pride of Minnesota now honors all those who have proudly served our country both at home and abroad we invite our would served or are serving and their family members to stand and be recognized when you hear the anthem of your military branch as we play the Armed Forces salutes history had its eyes on Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton when he requested that President George Washington greet the revenue marine on August 4 1790 today this wrench serves his America's maritime First Responder we salute the United States [Music] on August 1st 1907 only three and a half years after the Wright brothers first flight the US Army Signal Corps formed an aeronautical division this division became its own branch on September 18 1947 protecting America since the dawn of flight the United States Air Force [Music] [Music] [Music] with a recognized birthday on October 13 1775 the day when the Continental Congress passed a resolution creating the branch this organization's mission continues to be to deter aggression and maintain freedom of the Seas we honor the United States [Music] [Music] [Music] the next branch was formed on November 10 1775 in Philadelphia and since that time they have served in every American armed conflict oh is painful as they fight for right and freedom we salute the few the proud the United States Marine Corps [Music] establish 244 years ago to protect our nation our final branch was founded on June 14 1775 the largest and oldest branch of the u.s. military they have defended our country from Yorktown to the beaches of Normandy we honor the United States Army [Applause] [Music] [Music] we ask all would served or are serving to stand one more time and we also ask all those who are serving our country through their critical work as first responders to join them while we blame America's favorite March the Stars and Stripes forever [Music] now please rise enjoying associate director of bands professor Jerry Luke art in the singing of our alma mater hail Minnesota [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] and now your Minnesota rouser [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] fans it's time for today's KSTP you're watching ESPN college football presented by trackball part of veterans week on ABC brachii by US Bay a row the boat catchy slogan it's really you know you think it's kind of a offensive gimmick it isn't hear me that's what they do keep the oar in the water keep on rowing no matter how it's going and it's going very well for them today and we were impressed when we saw them on film and we knew that this would be their biggest challenge going against Penn State but they have not missed a beat may Tanner Morgan at quarterback has been spectacular 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 [Applause] look at today's Pacific Life game summary one of the many stars in that half for Minnesota Antoine Winfield you have two interceptions that mean he is at ball hog he has great ball skills his dad was a great defensive back in college and the NFL and he is just really set the tone for this Minnesota defense had given up a lot of yards but the turnovers have kept this lead and then on offense Tanner Morgan as we said 10 of 12 240 yards three touchdowns and he has been very comfortable efficient we talked about the wide receivers in the matchup and they have showed the partner so with 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 a first half of any games since the 2017 Rose Bowl the end of the 2016 season whence and Arnold threw for 263 for USC against the dittany Lions that first half 322 yards of total offense a little change here they cover the inside guard at the center Rodney Smith right like a Parsons the tackle a moment ago Holly with James Franklin they did a nice job balanced against our defense that we had seen on film we got a settled down there we get them to third down an uncomfortable in the first half [Music] enforced a poet down he gets swatted down by Jan Johnson for loss on the play the turnovers certainly a key Penn State committed to the two interceptions thrown by Sean Clifford picked off fight Antoine Winfield you think of Minnesota football the road the boat culture is really is a culture so many aspects of the put disciplined football at the core of it one penalty room for the Gophers in the first half no turbo and he fishing 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 to pass that was the first negative yardage play of the ballgame for Minnesota right there for the terrific defensive fuss in the country in the open field spot away from Lamont wave with Shaka Tony 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 they talk to him a lot during the bye week a Penn State they collapse the pocket you've got a speed that clock up if you don't see your first or second progression early make something happen get out there we've seen already two plays if doing them Scirocco said we spent a lot of time scheming to give our number one option the ability to get open quickly help Morgan get rid of it quickly they go to the run on third and second here's Mohammed I behave not content to go down he delivers [Applause] Taylor stuck his face in at the end of it and watched the block by Kurtis Dunlap on Micah Parsons that's the key block on the play and got the first down it was - Rick Castro Fields who got run over Penn State was best in the country entering today they were giving up one point nine nine yards per rush to their opponents Minnesota's average five to carry today that was good for 21 from Baltimore Rodney Smith women backed by Parsons who missed on that previous defeat Koki had a good game blocking on the heads for Minnesota that time he was beaten to the inside by Parsons for the for the flight 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 [Applause] flex or by the referee in tipsy been on the field illegal substitution 12 men on the offense five yard penalty remains second down it's tough to sneak one of these offensive lineman 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 gonna get away with that Sam Schluter tried to here's that Goff here's that unbalanced that James Franklin was talking about actually got to just have leader back in the ball game [Applause] at 16 Nesmith stacked up for no gain with response here after giving up a couple plays the Penn State demons with some negative plays the penalty is the first third at long play Minnesota has been in they've been able to stay in bandar school situations blow the ball when they wanted how they want this one plays into the hands of the fence they gave us a little bit better twenty-four points give it up he saw Brent prized offensive in outstanding gave this season they had yielded that after half Michigan against the busy lives to Tyler Johnson the Ford even still ten 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 get a lot of yards to gain on fourth down to close to punt too far to kick a field and under his philosophy type of possessions the most important things this is not too early for him to start bulking the clock he says if I think we have the game going our way and I feel puffle we can protect the lead I'm going to slow the place down plays down I just let this run all the way down and call timeout it 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 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 again offense five-yard penalty remains fourth down here's Jacob Herbers the punter done an excellent job especially this year's been pinning opponents inside the 20-yard line ten of his 27 punts prior to today had been inside the opposing 20 [Music] five in one game against Purdue here it is again fair catch made by KJ handler near the 10-yard one they could knock off forthright Penn State here today point eight-percent were told by [Applause] Shawn Clifford first play from scrimmage to the second half for the Nittany Lions in his pass but over the head of Daniel George he'll contact thereby juror but I think the ball was so high that it wasn't even catchable [Applause] a way to get two hot dogs and up here getting isolated a lot of Benjamin st. juste [Applause] Clifford with pressure in his face and the ball waters to the turf complain it'll be heard rush on the inside by Santa Brender number 90 he just pushes his band watch number 19 working on Gonzalez and that gets a hand up and knocks the ball away came here is a walk on Joe Rossi study went from never play a snap - now he's an NFL as a fifth year senior from nearby Minnesota so does showing pressure here but I think they'll probably back out and only rush three that's what they do make a couple eat it underneath and they get close to Clifford and he is yang [Applause] the co2 made the tackle for Minnesota it was a three minute rush they dropped a flipper could kick over the ball early that's why he tried to leave the pocket he was first forced out of the pocket by Boston [Applause] Oh to blow away [Applause] late gillich in the veteran out of the bag of the end zone hi to demetria's Douglas 47 bounces off the initial hit great Tariq Castro fields down there had the first hit got back up and was involved the tackle well here's their season they struggled to beat South Dakota State Fresno State at Georgia so that seven point one overdue then look at how the scores change they hammered Illinois Nebraska and occurs in 52 to 10 the last time out against Maryland but listen on the horizon here for BJ flex it's such a fascinating season because they were lucky to be four no and then they looked dominant making their way to H though they won their first four games by an average of five points per game they had to win at Fresno State and double overtime they had to convert on Georgia Southern from their own six with no timeouts left to march down the field to beat them they've been crushing people since Brookes tried the middle unsuccessfully loses the ball as he hit the ground the cornerback borgund trying to get it back but Penn State at the 50-yard line the first takeaway of the game for print price defense thing was the freshman Keith Ellis who knocks his ball excellent job by the Penn State defense [Music] Livan weighed the first guy there that Keith Nellis number two is the guy who comes in and knocks the football out shaaka Tony ends up with it and Penn State gets their much-needed turnover on defense Bofors as well they just turned it over for the first time they rebooted and on the other side perfect field position to take a shot and see if you get a big one right here the 50-yard line neither team has scored here the third quarter journey Brown almost escaped but could get away from Kody turn from Baton Rouge Louisiana what a day he's having redshirt junior only five nine but Joe Ross set tremendous feet great and runs support and coverage and we've seen that today who's the defensive coordinator here in Minnesota this rush got close to clipper but didn't get him down kdj Hamlin with Jordan hydrate ball it looked like it was going to be an interception because I didn't think liver was able to get enough on this throws a little bit under thrown and what a job by handler maintaining his concentration as he's going to the ground for the catch 16 yard game Jurnee Brown off left guard stopped at the 32bj flexor character he hasn't just put people under staff to visit with the board leaders yes who talked to Joe Rossi no 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 and said you know nope raise my baby JJ handler on the jet sweep action dump by Carter Coughlin then he went to get back in DJ gone when parole here but it was a thought the field handle 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 are going to in January it jr. he said I've gone no windows in one day I'd come in it was driving rate 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 a Jay handler again steady diet of their best receiver and it's a push down from 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 time little eyes on the first go for turnover the day down the middle - Justin shorter it would have been a touchdown they wanted to get to this guy in palm they not the Justin shorter could have a big game today this is his second drop and he was also the guy that Whitfield went up over he got the interception on lipfird paid the price but he put the ball in the right spot and shorter just wasn't able to come down with Veronika's shorter is their tallest wide receiver the Sam Brenner who put the hit on Clifford they try handler coming in this direction he's yanked down by Jordan pouted after a gain of eight [Music] third down to two as we approached five minutes remaining in the third quarter never really said it yet but this but all their running backs he's the most powerful runner that they have he is dressed but the coaches were hoping not to use it with a lower body injury they don't give specific injury information at Penn State [Applause] it's dirty it is very close to that line to make along the 10-yard line Antoine Winfield the tackle [Applause] CJ fork the right card first first it goes from just inside the ten-yard line those in the football barely across the ten prior puke territory here [Applause] bunch set with two tight heads single walk [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] get a three-point game to go in the third quarter they throw it out - Ricky swag and even short-handed on this side they made the stop [Applause] that was a big tight end blocking on him the guy who caught the touchdown Mallory the undersized quarterback wipes off the block and gets the stop on the 2.1 you're watching the big ten on ABC dcn back Steve in Minneapolis were aerial coverage is provided by good year from end zone end zone Goodyear more driven penn state capitalized on the first Minnesota turnover the day turned it into six points kickoff by Jordan Stout down by Demetrius Douglas here's Cassidy Hubbard big shout let's take a look at one of ATT's best performances number 10 Florida hosting Vandy Kyle trash with a career-high passing yards with over 330 so far here's his third touchdown pass in the day also has one on the ground the Gators up 35 nothing this one over on ESPN Shawn [Music] all right Cassidy thank you against Penn State's defense no negative plays fun first two possessions three negative plays and a turnover so a much more spirited effort here to start the second half morgen spotfin Bell quality gain on first down he got AIDS Morgan delivered etta us hit right as he was brought the football still able to make an accurate throw and again when their second at 2/3 and three in that area that is when not this offense has been very very difficult to stop tonight more TD passes that in completions for Morgan the sophomore from Union Kentucky he is on his way to Western Michigan Blake BJ Fleck there and the PJ wound up coming here to come with him Rodney Smith no gain Micah Parsons Jan Johnson there it's going to be a holding penalty against Minnesota a little bit surprised by the blitzing jan johnson and just instinctively reached out and grabbed him and easy call in the middle of that formation 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 more than painted to him been taught first up 46 yard line Rashad Bateman for 2030 unbelievable round we talked about how much they run the slants watch it run the slant and Tariq Castro fields is completely twisted around beautiful route and another nice throw by Tanner Morgan to get to the yardage back in a first down it catches today all the fur first down or a score eighty-seven career catches of just 22 games here at Minnesota there's the slip right back to [Music] here in a couple plays 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 Evers played here why not thirteen more for number 13 [Music] people we looked under control Rodney Smith to instantly Smith hits about five he's very smart then the coaches all talked about borgen's work ethic football equipment of a basketball chip ran all these in the film room always asking questions bringing ideas to the coaches and they give a lot of responsibilities you can see watching today he does a nice job again even of the right thing [Applause] dad Ted helped coach it growing up he faked it to Smith he got hit the ball goes straight up in the air and it falls incomplete Shaka Tony delivered the blow to Tanner Morgan and forced the pop-up thrown 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 whiffs on the play and that's why the hit was put on Morgan and Minnesota very lucky that ball was not intercepted Juan brisker a triple downfield number 78 five yard penalty repeat second down [Applause] some officials time out for an injury Lele with the beat down feel but you saw the Miss block that time by Jake Paulson and again this ball was up for grabs and credit Ottoman bail for at least going up and tried to fight it away to prevent the interception and when ba la ley is down field you're gonna see him he is the heaviest player you'll ever hear up or whatever yeah or feel the earth booth good to see brisket back up now walking off there's five a 400-pounder originally from Australia hasn't played football very long did play it IMG Academy and he does have four X gloves yeah but we're told the only reason he has those is they don't have any bigger he asked to pay a 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 mini lion weighs 400 pounds the piano approximately 400 pounds to put Sean Clifford and KJ handler together for Penn State 392 pounds [Applause] very raw still fatality [Applause] and down at 11 not in field goal range comes piss off and elegant and mint state ready for that this time right there to drop it for dole game they're really well played by campground 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 that we saw in that first half one Briscoe is slow to get up a moment ago is right back on the field now the junior from Pittsburgh junior college transfer from Lackawanna Community College first year Penn State [Applause] thirty Seconds to go third quarter they've slowed the pace here with the lead you wonder if they've cost himself some rhythm Morgan says no to that question inside the use of the organ he's going to live to his left that keeps the safety in the middle of the field and any frozen to the other sideline to his number-one target today Rashaad payment but it was the eyes of Tanner Morgan that opened up [Applause] what a day for baby target 7 4 - do you know what the U of M does for you from farms to breweries and orchards to markets discover how the University of Minnesota is cultivating a new crop of Minnesota businesses do you know what the U of M does for you from hopes to hands and paws to possibilities discover how the University of Minnesota is making medical advances for all Minnesotans Holly Rowe back in Minneapolis 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 for Seth Green quarterback in right now a lot of different things with him in there snapping it to the other back in the backfield they give it to green submarine as he whistled out apparently not go they're gonna mark him near the two yard line he has not thrown the ball this season now last year he was fine a couple of touchdowns but he has not thrown it yet this year he was a quarterback moved to tight end that 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 many touchdowns and opportunities as the Gophers had in gold to go [Applause] lose his head again I told you these tiny that's how they blog for Minnesota I want you to watch when we get a chance to show the replay Coquina number 42 is block percent free [Applause] Golden Gophers a 12 point lead with 14 11 to go [Applause] good cursor often told us yesterday that what the Titan is establishing our bet then our office becomes watch this blog leading the way for sex and great fatherland for the touchdown and so many good players greens another one next to a role player they're so well coached at 38 to a seven-year contract extension or this way 4.75 the work since the summer but Florida State's interest by other cut up the process we met yesterday with Kurt Chiron to the office according to mention a couple they were together Rutgers at Rutgers as Greg Schiano soraka actually had was the office coordinator and pj fleck worked under him as the wide receiver coach a couple years ago and PJ got the job at Western Michigan he had never been in a coach he called Kurt Soraka said I want you to come with Taraka told us yesterday I had two other offers Western Michigan would have been the least a said I told my wife you just saw in the middle of the screen there Kirk sure rocket his wife Kim is KJ Hamlin returning the kickoff well 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 Mangusta why and she said you've always said you think DJ fleck is going to be a great head coach let's go there help me see if that's the way it turns out boy was she right thirteen and one there last year Western Michigan to get the opportunity here in Minnesota and inching closer to one of the big wins in modern history of Minnesota football at fire view good dump off to Journey Brown when he had his tight end running down the middle of the field not sure why we're talking if we didn't pull the trigger on that one but he was able to reload and get into journey brown as an outlet for a nice game 17 yards on the completion Sports through but he has another first down Penn State quickly on the move that's a 12 yard game why it's so important when you're in scoring territory if you're Minnesota you've got to go for touchdown 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 and running back true freshman comes in the Blitz came late [Applause] and hailer goes to the traffic makes another catch really good projection this is a walk-around side of the field all the way numbers that requires a lot of protection Flint forgotten and got the ball to HAMP [Applause] seven catch of the day 19-yard game 19 yards receiving Devon for [Applause] our toodles privacy board for we visit with James Franco last night he told us no Akane is unlikely to play he certainly gave the impression that the man likeliest to take the lead was Devonport without accent journey Brown we thought we'd see more I think that journey Browns a little older maybe a little bit more proficient in the past blocking part Clifford for fire me inside the tent Winfield first of gold 50 line is responding quickly is gonna go for an interception watch number 16 go for the interception instead of the shirt at home for our view able to turn it in for 10 more yards [Applause] 14 yard gate on the last place Devon floor twisted back by Sam Leonard [Music] [Music] 68 yards and a little over two minutes long way to go just under 12 minutes [Applause] danced away from Coughlin across the five and that's it Winston the lot of a door called the heartbeat of his defense by the defense warning Joe Rossi made the tackle I would think table this maybe two down four down territory to plays to get the first down because three points is still down by nine two spores lipfird deadly to scrimmage came out with the play ball dead and there Jamal Teague made a beautiful play you're hoping that you're going to influence the linebackers with the fake on the jet sweep but watch Teague on the inside just throws off the Block in the center and is able to stop move in the backfield and he's a backup take justice on board made only four tackles all year it's a deep and talented team fourth down and go Clifford Chris Williamson had the coverage in Minnesota [Applause] we've said that nickelback lined up over Ambler a perfect play on a good throw Minnesota holds you're watching ESPN college football presented by tracfone part of veterans week on ABC brought to you by us a DJ's everywhere we got PJD what get the producer chair down at the truck DJ flag is Philip John Fleck down to the 7-yard line is also that's great and the attire is a nod to Jim Tressel he has mentioned many times as a great influence on him during the years been his graduate assistant other trust little hiyo State year apart six Rodney Smith dumped by Jan Johnson for a loss under 10 minutes to go 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 in 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 he uses the word lead all the time with everybody the program should be striving to be lead at everything he's an elite coach Borgan throws a flutter ball paid to try an event there's a full [Applause] now they might have a conversation was this deflected one or number two was it catchable the ball fluttered did it get deflected is that why it flutter pass interference you can't make this penalty if you're John Reid he's their best corner you got him third and ten backed up by their own end zone now we're told from the truck and was clearly not deflected so that as he altered his course coming back to the ball it was catchable at me and landed close enough to the sidelines there to beat caught with his feet in bounds that is the costly as penalty of the game for Penn State to me that is a critical error by a very smart and very good football player in John Reith it was a question mark during the week with what was purportedly a wrist injury [Applause] maybe a yard for Rodney Smith here's Cassidy Big Sean and now for today's Allstate mayhem moment number one Ohio State join with Maryland up two touchdowns to the onside kick it Blake Covell kicks it right in the hands of Chris allah-allah they bug eyes up 50 to nothing excuse me seven now in the third guys Ohio State's real deal they are just so complete on both sides of the ball Minnesota does not play them possibly see into the championship game state plays of November 23rd management trestle ball as he called yesterday Tyler Johnson the catch new set of downs for Minnesota to their own 32-yard go to God for the last couple years [Applause] that's Bobby Bell senior Bobby jr. his son one of my best friends at Kansas City Bobby one of the greatest players ever played here has endowed a scholarship here at Minnesota and Tyler Johnson has his scholarship but Bobby is really enjoying what he's seen today out of this Gopher football team Tyler Johnson here great young man the state championship basketball team for the Polar's of Minneapolis North High School [Applause] it comes at 7:54 to go in the golden gophers up by 12 your future and coca-cola sir this football season with your friends family and fans day it has been near Minneapolis fans hoping it's going to be their day from start to finish I already put Penn State in a very unusual position Minnesota's led almost the entire game entering today's game Penn State met led for 84 percent of all the possible minutes when their games played this season Smith dropped for lost him for about a six yard loss here's today's Pacific Life game summary 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 it's 17 of 19 328 yards three touchdowns against one of the best defenses in all of college football of course these two they'll play opposite each other they're not on the field the same time but they know each other well both of the Cincinnati area Tanner Morgan said yesterday he remembers a youth football game they play the sixth grade Piper team stacked up was in the 6th grade and it you could tell it's still father Tanner 14 he said we lost to Clifford's team six to nothing on a hook and ladder he also did remember that they beat up the next year yeah he added that one as well he's wanted one said they're actually good friends that compared with each other stay in contact with each other big play here for Tanner just be smart maybe your team's got control the game yupi fences play well be spot with football here not surprised look Ramon who's going to snap it with about 13 the PJ flex not going to allow that that clocks got to run every time while they have this to score lead is first of three to stop that clock Penn State this is the first of the half 6:26 to go in Minneapolis [Music] this season for every field voyage participating universities all state will make a contribution to the university's general scholarship fund thank you all state Minnesota leading 31 29 626 to go bear in mind Penn State has blocked three months this season and in all four kicks three blocked punts tied for the national lead Houston and Nebraska good putt by Jacob Herbers AJ him we got a wavefront down it at the 36 ranked number five on the first college football playoff rankings at NC State Saturday Night Football presented by bass pro shops and Cabela's [Applause] seven undefeated teams remaining but obviously we're going to lose two from that ranks at least two today cuz Alabama and LSU are playing each other later this afternoon and Penn State Minnesota head to head right now we can tell you that Baylor trails TCU nine to six in the fourth quarter in Fort Worth Alex Stroh's on T is the injured player for Minnesota he was the guy that downed the punt he actually jumped to catch it because it was bouncing backwards and when he landed he landed awkwardly on one of his legs but fortunate injury there on the penn state sideline backup linebacker special teamer from Chaska Minnesota she already has a brace on his left knee [Applause] so tada 12-point game want to go back to the third quarter when Penn State scored two mega 2419 James Franklin Huntington for two we didn't really have a time to talk about time I've never really been a proponent up into third quarters to sort of go chasing the point I think it usually comes back to the hot before that it helps but if they picked that point it would have been 24 to twice 31:20 but the last time fence that way down there went for it on fourth and goal they could have kicked the field goal at that point would have been 31:23 it's a one score game have the option to kick the field goal because they didn't get the two points room I had to go through [Applause] frankly would be asked about that decision after the game Shawn Clifford looked around and found his man open it's Dan gesina was on the track team as a sprinter in Penn State one of the fastest been in the program he's to the 43 of Minnesota very quickly a great start to this Drive 21-yard surely a nice chop by Clifford he held onto that bowl as long as he possibly could before delivery he's 16 out of 32 for 242 touchdown 2 2 pitch deep paw again for the speedy to set up it's broken up by co-leader [Applause] Joe Rossi told us yesterday this kid plays the position well and we have seen him Cecilia's got to step on it and it's a good throw reads the eyes of the receiver just rips at and knocks the ball away inches-7 who had two career catches before this drive started his third career catch and then was targeted again on the very next play trying to take advantage of his blazing speed leverage spats batted down at the line of scrimmage knocked out by Sam Brenner and Blaine was caught by one of the linemen which was unfortunate because that becomes a loss of yardage if it's just a complete it started ten because his live Mankato team instead this homes was the left not the football lose the effect cup crunch time playing left tackle Rasheed walk ordinarily they're left tackle third down at 15 five ten to go two timeouts for Penn State down by two just inside Golden Gopher territory conferred on target looks like he got the first down such a dependable receive pan-fry erm youth is a tight end but he's really just a big receiver has excellent hands has a good feel for so coverages sits right down than the big body's able to stretch it for the first down you may 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 now let's think so because from that replay it didn't look like he quite got we'll take a look at it at the booth you get another look at it tell me what happened we come back to review by David no active replay official to call the field stands inconclusive certainly to change it so the Minnesota 32 yard line here's an antler brought afield to his side right there Clifford steps up in the pocket fires on target John Dodson inside the 15-yard line they'll barking at the 14 Kammler to clear out and Datsun came on the dick route underneath it able to give the football in 18 yard gain impressive drive by the Nittany Lions catch near sideline Daniel George out of bounds six yard line seconded to clock running for 20 to go [Applause] as one touchdown the Reds are well below their season average this time they got like this they were able to stick Nick Bauer is number 83 into the endzone for the touchdown - Tenzin this time it's for him we're backed away by the Benjamin st. juste a6 3/4 he was beat on the play but he's got such the play even though he's beat he's able to get there with his leg and not the football away essentially well done by the graduate student for Montreal as Todd mentioned earlier transfer from Michigan third down to two or under four minutes to go down by 12 two timeouts left down to four music I don't place the staff here I don't think they got it off didn't look like they did dirty but Shawn Clifford his hurt at the end of the play he was an awkward handoff between three dirty Brown ourselves time on Florida injury he twisted weird on his right ankle right foot there's now it's looking more like cramps meanwhile PJ Fleck has been on the field giving the referee signal for delay a game he thought that they didn't get the snap off in time let's see one it's on zero they hadn't snapped it yet Penn State catches a break garner Coughlin got too far inside and then you see the nice block by Daniel George on the inside linebacker to secure the edge watch number 11 lock right there and the speed of Jerry Brown gets him to the pylon [Applause] [Music] look at all [Music] awkwardly fans are booing [Music] down and you get about a half a second leeway that judge's job behind the defense journey proud having 123 yards rushing you scored two touchdowns Jake Koenig ur adds the extra point 349 to go a five-point game SportsCenter tonight after Wyoming and Boise State Kenny made an Zubin vanetti the postgame coverage of LSU and Alabama will break down of this compelling game between Penn State and Minnesota also how good can the James Harden Russell Westbrook combo be for the Houston Rockets SportsCenter after college football and ESPN and the ESPN we thought we were gonna have a fourth-quarter game this has been a heck of a football game mint state showing some resiliency here in the second half you know they trail in at halftime to Buffalo early in the year 10 to 7 this will Levis the backup quarterback they think very highly of him but he might be thrust into a critically important situation here Clifford cannot return if Penn State gets the ball back he'd be under center or taking shotgun snaps Minnesota with their hands deep on the field I would expect Penn State to kick this ball deep they've got two timeouts their defenses play 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 did they get a stop three now [Music] you're in your hands team you don't typically have a kickoff return blockable down the field Douglas bobbled it from all that just went down near the 20-yard line here's a look at today's hardest working player brought to you by Duluth trading company literally two players it's Tanner Morgan and Rashad Bateman they're on the same page as this blitz has picked up quarterback wide receiver right in sync get the ball out before the safety could get over to help you've got a touchdown and a little bit later critical third and 10 conversion Tanner Morgan uses his eyes to boot the same thing [Applause] those two have been special today Bateman seven catches 203 yards and touchdown Oregon 339 yards I've dispensed drop the 1-yard loss here's Cassady poppers make Sean number 12 Baylor in a battle all morning trailing TCU all game down 3 36 seconds to go john mayer's from 51 yards out ties it up and they are headed to overtime and coming up next here on ABC II know Benjamin at Arizona State hosting USC 3:30 Eastern on ABC or the ESPN app we talked about great coaching jobs here in Minnesota certainly meeting flex and what batpoles done it has done at Baylor Minnesota at Baylor have each won 10 straight games dating back the last season and that is tied for the third longest winning streak in the country Clemson 24 in a row Ohio State about to be 15 [Applause] and the Gophers trying to make it 11 here they need to make a couple of first downs and they're gonna have to throw the football some into an abort [Music] mortgage in trouble it's out to Micah Parsons [Applause] near the 10-yard line State this is the third and final the center gonoro said get fooled by the quickness of Michael Carson's he took one false step and Parsons was around of that explosive first step that Micah has his Penn State deep beds which has been much different in the second half than they were in the first half has come up with more negative ways that they had that entire first 30 minutes 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 Shawn Clifford Holly Shawn Clifford had been taken into the injuries head 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 flapping and half right move too tight and just grabbed him they have special message there is juice on this Penn State fight line right now guys great think if it was cramping that was a likely explanation who even seems to be walking around fine now in 21 boys his way back to the 2010 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 both better because the last couple times have 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 and he is gonna pick them apart philosophy here's to milk the clock with the lead they took himself in Italy in the second half slower pace continue to place to punish my cage a gambler and look like the Nittany Lions got it back but it's it cost them some yardage back inside the 30 it seemed like there was a lot of bodies around handler when he tried to feel this pun he's giving the fair catch signal but it's his own guy I guess that is too close to him so there's no foul touch - yeah back up wide receiver primarily a special teams player he got in the way Ellis Brooks is going to fortunately for Penn State the football at the 28 yard line Goldust Penn State no good and Shawn Clifford take them 72 yards for a dramatic victory this is what you live for up here quarterback Roshan clipper he fires on target prior Meuse nine yards Penn State has not led today they went down seven nothing tied at at seven down 14 to 7 and they have trailed ever since since Minnesota took that 14 to 7 lead with four and a half to go to the first quarter look out from behind got it off with our arms around his waist and it's caught by Jahan dachshund hey on Devers Pat Clifford couldn't get up on the ground gunfire booth and handler both with seven catches for over a hundred yards in the ball game right now for pet Stan forced to retrain [Applause] down at the 50-yard line near the far numbers [Applause] I believe it's going to be against Minnesota for a hold holding defense number six [Applause] [Music] it doesn't matter he's holding on handler there's the penalty Dodson gets separation from say Jews who stumbled and finally Dobson with the big boy for the Penn State News emerging late in this game a game they have - most certainly with a toward the national championship picture here's tourney Brown driven back from the ten now I wondered Todd if you're Minnesota do you use timeouts I mean Penn State has plenty of time they're at the tent there in the winter lose situation Minnesota might need time on the clock and Penn State sports and if they hold Penn State here there's so little time we're going to run out the clock either way on second and nine down the middle and chop down Jerry Brown by Thomas barber who's not getting up quickly there is a flag down the crowd thinks this one's going against Penn State pass interference offense number 11 Daniel George was the wide receiver in a short split he's running straight down the journey Brown can't on the option route behind them that's why he was so open I think it was the right call he will key member that defense Thomas barber Minnesota Golden Gopher Legacy watch here's Daniel George he's going to run and make contact right here and journey Browns going to come in behind him good play design but he goes in and blocks two defenders and opens up the area for the tailback coming behind him good call on the offensive pass interference brings the ball all the way back out to the 24 yard [Applause] it's a key component on their defense five tackles today and they're already without COBOL Martin and he's their leader he's their coach on the field so even if he's only out for one play it's a critical play from a leadership standpoint who is a redshirt freshman and a linebacker along with Mariano sorry Byron Marin who is a sophomore so two youngsters in a linebacker on this critical second out of loft play four-man rush Clifford has room players to long for Daniel George Antoine Winfield has been spectacular today with two interceptions the field as usual at the coverage beautiful job we mentioned those two young linebackers they were in double coverage on Pat fryer for use on that play that's why Sean clipper had to try to go outside they had his number one target blanket ins Antoine Winfield dad great star here Minnesota with the Vikings tremendous college player at Ohio State three-man rush Clippard again as time [Applause] [Applause] Shan Jahan dotson thought he got interfere dwith he got pulled down by Benjamin st. juste I'm not sure if Clippard was throwing this ball is the second of the half this is a 30-second timeout watch Dotson get pulled down and the ball is thrown behind handler and intercepted not sure if it was going to one or five but it was behind handler and howden was there for the third interception of the ballgame for Minnesota the second of his career the former walk-on now on scholarship sophomore out of Las Vegas would @pj Fleck what's all over there building 78% if they do what winter number battle you have fewer missed tackles than your opponent and you have more explosive plays there Oh [Applause] 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 fell well 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 18 of 20 339 yards and three touchdowns [Applause] fewer doubters around the college football landscape when it comes to the Minnesota Gophers than we had at the start of the day they played for the governor's victory Bell which dates back to 1993 when Penn State came into the big ten in 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 [Music] I am NOT going down that path that what you just said but I appreciate it first and foremost got to give Penn State a lot of credit playoff team top four team slated to be in the college football playoff deservingly so James Franklin's one of the best football coaches in the country one of my really good friends he's got a really good football team we knew that we had to be able to play our style football there was nothing different about it it had to be us we could didn't have to do anything different we just had to be able do it better than we did the week before I know that sounds cliche and coach speak and gimmicky but at the end of the day it's really not it's just how you win football games since January we've been talking about this word pressure pressure pressure and all the players wrote down on a piece of coal last night which signified carbon what pressure has taught them since January and they put it all in this big bucket and overnight it turned to this diamond I don't know if it turned that fast but we said it did and that's what they are they're diamonds when everybody says they can't do something when everybody says we haven't played anybody when everybody says all that that's great and look respectfully so I mean I appreciate all of your jobs just like you appreciate everybody else's jobs you have a job to do I don't blame you for saying that or seeing that but what they did tonight was really special and it shows the culture shows the character character it shows their charisma and it shows their ability to overcome and it showed what they've learned we had a lot of close games at the beginning of the year and you're like why are these games so close why these games so close that's why because this one was close against the fourth ranked team in America people asked me where we think we should be ranked we're want to know in the Penn State season that's all we care about that's all we care about we wanted to be one to know we haven't talked about the rankings much we're not sitting here saying we should be upset by them or proud of them or celebrate them it's more of just we wanted to be one to know so many individual performances that we'll talk about here in a second but first and foremost gave a game ball out in the locker room to the state of Minnesota and I say that because I gave it to president gable and hopefully she can pass it on to the governor from our team we're one Minnesota you know before the game I'm getting text messages from Saunders Saunders wore maroon yesterday in his game that's special and when you're starting to see how this whole thing can really work in this whole Twin Cities area that's what we're talking about but our fans were unbelievable today that's the best college football environment I've ever played in as a head football coach because it was at home and it was for us it was marooned out and those gold towels were everywhere and our fans didn't sit down they stood up they made noise they made it difficult for Penn State and I'm just so proud to be a gopher and I speak for our whole team when I say that but our crowd our band you got to give credit to our administration micros Vicki for what he was able to do to put together to sell the stadium out but this is what we can become you know we got to let go of I'm sure there are some people on the final drive said oh here we go again gotta let go of all that 50 years ago 40 years ago 30 years ago 20 years ago ten years ago we got a change at some point I think this teams proven that that as we continue to go into the future we don't have to keep saying things like that that mean you're gonna win them all no it doesn't mean that but they're doing a lot of special things that you can keep building on to make your culture stronger and your programs stronger and make it more of a national brand I'm so proud of our coaches I'm so proud of our administration so proud of our players they just have incredible resolve their response mechanism our culture is what it is it's people its vision its work its result in response that's what it is and they respond like no other team I've ever seen and they deserve all the credit I just am lucky enough to talk to you at the end of the game that's basically all I do so very proud of them historic win for our program in this year and we got the Bell back and I think that's I think that got lost in the mesh somehow someway that even they're like where's the Bell they asked me at one point how I don't ask me and but I'm very proud but you got to give Penn State a lot of credit that's a really good football team and we're humble we're hungry and we'll just continue to change our best with that open up for questions hey and did you think he could pass I can't spend say the way you did well first of all Tanner Morgan we've talked since day one he's a winner intangibles through the roof a guy that you want to marry your daughter he's he is I mean I have a six and five year old so definitely not mine but somebody else's daughters but I will say that he's special he's special again he's two-star and a half maybe three star some people called in maybe got him a four star one day somebody in his town but he knows how to take programs to where they are and take him to where they always dreamed of being he's a winner and he was twenty or twenty-two you've seen him do it against Purdue we knew we're gonna have to throw the football yeah you saw their D line you saw what they looked like tough they're long they're strong we knew we were gonna have to mix it up I thought Kirk soraka called an unbelievable game unbelievable flawless we have one bad play we fumble if we don't fumble I don't think it's I think it's not as close as that but we do but this team came back and responded but Kirk suraqa was able to be able he put together the most unbelievable game plan for this situation it was right up Kurt's alley because here's what we did Wednesday last Wednesday we all left for recruiting Kirk didn't Kirk was by himself he's in his element Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday I'm not sure if he went home but he was by himself and that's Kirk Kirk loves to be by himself he got more work done than than anybody in the entire building probably for the last six months by himself he just loves that he loves sitting in his hole watching film and it showed I thought our coaches cooked really hard today we had to find a way to you know manage the clock the best we possibly could especially towards the end you know we had to make some decisions than to be able to find a way to go get a first down and we knew if we just run it run it burn their timeouts we didn't have a shot so we had to be able to find a way to get first down but players made big-time plays really proud of him and Tanner Morgan's one of them they're ready to play we talked about them being the reason for leadership council meeting this week was about the reason players are the reason coaches get a lot of credit but players are the reason you have to be responsible enough and confident enough that when the catch has to be made the interception has to be made the gap has to be filled that you're gonna be the reason that we either have success or you're gonna have to be the reason why we fail and you got to be a handle that responsibility so we showed them this compilation of all these things that happened over the course of sports that people were the reason they won and people they were the reason they failed but there was a fail and a succeed on either side and we studied that we talked about we need to be the reason and it starts with our leaders and our leaders tonight were the reason Antoine Winfield jr. Jordan Howden you look at an oftener Morgan Rashad Bateman Tyler Johnson Rodney Smith our whole line were captains this week all six of them because they deserve it they are their captains their leaders are this football team and we got to continue to develop that leadership as we keep going forward well I thought that you know we had we have two sacks or we had one sack one and it was kind of a great decision by Tanner to kind of eat that one and go down I thought we did a tremendous job in pass protection but it goes more of you know those guys working really hard but it goes back to the game plan goes back to Bryan Callahan Kurt Soraka Kenny burns Clay Patterson talking about protection the ball had to get out of our hand out of our hand out of our hand move the pocket if we possibly could but we had to get the ball down the field then we had to mix it with the run game in the RPO game and people talked about how simple we are we are I'm not sure how to answer that question we'll ask me all the time your simple aren't you yes why I don't know how to answer that question we're just us and we find ways to mix it up I think our offensive staff has a great ability to be able to if you're gonna do a we're going to do B you're gonna be we're gonna do C and then continue to have answers for things and that's why you spend 70 hours a week game planning I thought our defensive staff did a tremendous job - because they are very talented I mean very talented on offense a quarterback is a really good player KJ's special he made huge place tonight and then I'm telling you their tight ends or special peers special players - five screen time can you stop its mentality you know we talked about keeping people out we don't have this bend don't break mentality I don't believe in that I don't want to bend it all right I don't want to bend or break I just won't stop him all right I want to stop hoping the field goal is the best we possibly can and that's where I think our team's playing the best right now when we get inside the green zone we caught the Green Zone you call it the red zone we're coming away with points and we're stopping people and given them the most limit of points as they possibly can we stopped him on fourth down I thought that was critical they were one of two that last fourth down was a critical stop you know we got to continue to get better though that's one thing I love about this football team we got we got a long way to go well it's it's not Lance had a little bit of a health issue that we were dealing with but probably could have went but I thought Brock had a tremendous we could practice and I figured same thing with Kamal Kamal is ready to go but he got ready to go today and there's no way Mike's apne a car trainer and me can look him in the eye and say you have not practiced the majority of the week and you'd be ready to play right now it's too much football down the road not only for his college career but his NFL career I'll never put a kid in jeopardy like that ever and I know he had hurt him and turned Ewa stated Kamal I mean you're looking at your own son telling we can't play it's like telling your son he can't go outside and play you gotta stay in you know time for dinner and then go to bed and he's looking at you like you know he's got tears in his eyes but I told him one day you'll understand in terms of Brock all the confidence in the world he came out there and true Pro I mean just I believe in our team I will tell you I believe in him and we're gonna have success with me believing him and we could fail with me believe in him but I'm gonna believe in our players I'm gonna believe in our kids I'm gonna believe in what they do and how they do it I know I've been there before but I think it's 15 years since that's happened here I know you did you think it's beginning of this year inside our walls yes I think we shared that with you because you and you would have thought were crazy we talked about that inside our walls in January and we talked about in a very unique way we talked about through our cultural perspective of what we need to do for that to happen the players have to say they want that to happen then they have to commit to that happening which is a very difficult process because everything they've done this entire offseason has been harder and also smarter I got to give a lot of credit to dr. Michael Howell from the University of Minnesota our sleep doctor that's right here on campus we thought we had an advantage because we practice in the mornings and we have these really counties led type lights all over our facility that wake you up faster to get your circadian rhythm going faster again I taught sixth grade social studies but it was pretty special for him to invest the time he did to meet with our players and talk about sleep patterns and I thought the health and wellness week last week really paid off mentally physically and emotionally and I thought our players were ready to play this team is ready to play no matter what and they get prepared and they're professional about it well it's everything connectivity is everything on a team you're either a team or a group you get to decide which one you're gonna be right we're a true team this is the one of the best teams I've ever coached one of two teams that I've considered the greatest team I've ever coached as a head coach because they are connected they love each other love is a word we throw around all the time love is sacrifice forget about me I love you the family theory and they truly believe that there's a lot of people that say those things but don't really mean it like they truly invest in that which is very difficult because as Heather always tells me the hard part about being the standards you're the standard all the time and you can never not be the standard and I think with young people they always want a break they always want to rest they always want to be comfortable and you're fighting human nature all the time but this team is very very very very close and I'm proud of them for that there's so many special moments that have happened this year and players deserve a lot of credit I mean you look at you know Braylon Alvar and serious Mariano story Marin come in for Kemal Martin and we're not even a full strength and to do what they did defensively just shows we are that family room type defense that we talked about in that family type team your offensive line I'm pretty good well they do have a tremendous defensive line you can't take that away from it it's the biggest challenge we've had up to date on the defensive line I respect them wholeheartedly they play really hard they're tough they're long they're strong and very fast and elusive they can all rush the past or they can all stop the run they can do it all but our team found a way to do what we do just a little bit better than what they do really well tonight that's what that means and that's why you play one game you get one chance and you have to find a way to be one to know and today we were better than Penn State how much have I envisioned and how much I actually seen it that's why you take a job and I've told Heather numerous times and I remember taking the job here and before we took the job she looked at me said you sure you want to do another year one because at the time there was a lot of chaos going on here there was a boycott and all those other things and you're like do I really want to run into that fire because there's a certain amount of wins yeah and everybody's going to have the perception but then there's this also divided and that was the whole vision to be able to have that field swarmed on a top five team in the country and to put us undefeated and when everybody thought that you know told me don't take the job don't take the job my life is usually about don't do that don't do that ok I'll do that and sounds like a good job for me and that was the vision now there's a lot more we want to accomplish that's not the end-all be-all but what I do want to do is raise the expectation of the University of Minnesota this is about connecting people there's gonna be another coach after me there were coaches before me but the scene in the locker room of former players brought a tear to my eye the Eric Decker's of the world all those guys in that locker room we've had 7 head coaches and around 14 years it's hard to gain traction with former players everybody's connected to someone else and we feel like I played for that guy uh he played for our Minnesota that's who you play for and I just get to represent that but part of the reason why we signed the contract was we want to bring everybody back we want everybody to be like tonight every single game we want all of our alums to feel at home here not because of who you played for this is your home I'm just here to be able to do everything I can with the staff and we're a group of men every single day to provide a culture that everybody can be a part of and everybody can row the boat and everybody can use that in their life come back here and then we can be able to wear one now and we can create some type of dynasty you can create some type of cultural sustainability because your alums are the most important part of what you do and that locker room is special because of that because we connected people and that's what wins like this do whoever you play for you're still a gopher and I know I might be a little bit different but I don't know what how different I really am I don't see what you see but just maybe just maybe our row the boat different might be the way and maybe we're just ahead of the game we got to think that way because the way we do it is so unique and so different and it's not for everybody and I get that but let's step outside of our box it's 2019 we're getting ready to go 2020 it's just different and one thing I love about our program our coach our coaches our administration we evolved United are we we are one our Minnesota and we're gonna push that forward and I'm going to continue to push it forward I couldn't be more proud of our players thank you all for being here thanks for covering us thank you for all the things you put in the paper whether it's criticism or whether it's it's it's positive you have a job to do and I respect that wholeheartedly you're teaching our young players about life how to handle the adversity how to handle the critics how to handle the success you're doing your job at an elite level you are because you're shaping our young men of how to handle all that and some people don't get the training like you do here at the University of Minnesota some places protect people or they protect the team you take it for exactly what it's worth and our players get to grow up in that they get to see real-world articles and real-world opinions and it means a lot to me so thank you so much for helping our team grow up we're all in it together somehow someway I'm thankful to be the head football coach here but this is about the players today is about the University of Minnesota and every player here and every fan and that's what it needs to be about one in O Penn State season row the boats came out go Gophers Thanks [Music] [Applause]

Channel: Minnesota Gophers

Views: 64,014

Rating: 4.8951049 out of 5

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Id: 8ZKtq7oAtO0

Length: 168min 25sec (10105 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 28 2020