players describe Minnesota

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Auburn players describe Minnesota

Posted Dec 19, 2019

4-6 minutes

Minnesota has an offensive lineman who weighs about as much as a full-grown tiger and more than Bo Nix and Anthony Schwartz combined.

At 6-foot-9 and 400-pounds of mostly muscle, Daniel Faalele is the largest player in college football. The right tackle stands out to Auburn’s defense, but he’s just one element of a Minnesota team whose film has impressed Auburn.

“They’re really, what I’d say, is a complete team,” coach Gus Malzahn said. “They’re very good on defense, very good on offense and special teams too.”

Linebackers Zakoby McClain and K.J. Britt noticed Faalele, of course, but also the entire offensive line. Faalele is the biggest by a good amount, but the others are by no means small. Left tackle Sam Schlueter is 6-foot-6 and 325 pounds, as is left guard Blaise Andries. The center, Connor Olson, is slightly smaller at 6-foot-5 and 305 pounds. Right guard Curtis Dunlap Jr. checks in at 6-foot-5 and 345 pounds. Together, they helped Minnesota rush for 175.7 yards a game.

Besides the offensive line, Britt also thinks they have a “good” running back and “solid” quarterback, but the wide receivers really have really stuck out to all the Auburn defensive players.

“They’ve got 13 and 6, their two best players,” safety Daniel Thomas said about Rashod Bateman (13) and Tyler Johnson (6). “They’ve got some good receivers who can go get the ball. Their quarterback is pretty decent. 13 and 6 really stood out on film ... Looking forward to competing against those guys.”

Both Bateman and Johnson were named to the AP All-Big Ten First Team. It was the first time in Big Ten history that both receiver spots were awarded to teammates by both the media and the coaches ballots.

Bateman, who was the first Golden Gopher to win best receiver in the conference when he was named the Big Ten’s Richter-Howard receiver of the year, had 57 catches for 1,170 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. Safety Jeremiah Dinson thinks it’s safe to say he’s one of the best receivers in the country. He described Bateman as a long guy who can win 50-50 balls and “can run any route tree, any route he wants.”

Johnson is the only receiver from a Power Five conference this year to have consecutive 1,000 yard seasons. He finished with 74 catches for 1,114 yards and 11 touchdowns. Like Bateman, Johnson is good at winning 50-50 balls Dinson said. He lines up in the slot where he’s extremely quick and shifty.

“Offensively, what do they got, two 1,000-yard receivers, one 1,000-yard rusher?” Malzahn said. “I think the only other team that has that is LSU.”

Auburn’s offensive players have also done their homework and know they’ll have a test ahead of them, too. Malzahn pointed out that, statistically, Minnesota’s one of the best defenses in the country. They allowed 127.9 rushing yards per game and made 14 interceptions. Nationally, Minnesota is ranked 15th for total defense.

The first thing that left guard Marquel Harrell noticed when he looked at the Gophers is that they won 10 games with a tough schedule and have a win over a top-five opponent, Penn State.

Schematically, Minnesota looks really different from anything Auburn has faced this season, Nix said. The coverages Big Ten defenses run aren’t influenced by the SEC coaching tree, so the Tigers can’t look at their own previous games to prepare.

Minnesota’s personnel is similar to an SEC team’s though.

“Those guys are very physical, talented, quick, athletic,” Harrell said. “They have some really good guys in the front seven and a really good safety. They make plays, they play hard, they get to the ball. I like playing defenses like those, because they resemble the SEC defenses — the Georgias, the Bamas, the LSUs.”

That “really good safety” almost won AP Comeback Player of the Year and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. Like Derrick Brown, Antoine Winfield Jr. was an unanimous All-American. He made seven interceptions, including one pick-six ,this season.

“He's a really good player, one of the better ones we played,” Nix said. “He’s as good as advertised.”

From what they’ve seen so far, the other defensive backs are also speedy and physical, wide receiver Seth Williams said.

Auburn is ready for Minnesota to come out and play its best game in all three phases, so Auburn is prepared to do the same. In this last chance to play as the 2019 Auburn team, the Tigers are going to see if they can “do something different” to try to sink the rowboat, Nix said.