Gophers football: A first-class welcome

The Little Brown Jug had its own seat in first class on the flight home from Michigan.

The Gophers surrounded the 111-year-old relic with pillows, giving it a quick rest Saturday night, in between the countless photographs.

The 30-14 victory — their first win over Michigan since 2005 and second since 1986 — had touched off a celebration in Dinkytown. A throng of fans greeted their buses when they arrived at the football complex.

Senior captain Cedric Thompson hoisted the 5-gallon jug, and fans sang the rouser before serenading coach Jerry Kill with a chant of "Jer-ry! Jer-ry!"

On Sunday, Kill was still on Cloud 9. The Gophers have their first bye of the season this week, giving them a little longer to enjoy this one.

Their next three games are against Northwestern, Purdue and Illinois — three teams that have combined for seven losses. That means the Gophers have a strong chance to be 7-1 heading into their daunting November stretch against Iowa, Ohio State, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

Kill gathered the team Sunday morning, telling players to focus on getting rest, getting healthy and getting their minds right for Northwestern. Practices this week will be shorter and designed to get everyone closer to full strength.

"These people here [around Minnesota], it's their team," Kill said. "They buy the tickets. They've supported it for years, and I think everybody that wants to touch that jug in the next year needs to."

The timing of the Michigan win was perfect, with the assistant coaches set to hit the road for recruiting during the bye week. The story of Kill's latest rebuilding project just got better.

His first year at Minnesota, 2011, brought a 58-0 loss at Michigan, but it also brought an upset over Iowa. Last year, the Gophers defeated Nebraska for the first time since 1960, and they knocked off Penn State for the first time since 2004.

Asked if the Michigan win was his biggest at Minnesota, Kill smiled.

"They're all good, any time you win in this profession," he said. "But I'd say, on the road, in front of 100,000 people at the Big House, it's certainly up there."

David Cobb had 183 yards rushing and 50 yards receiving, easily outgaining the Wolverines all by himself. Michigan managed just 171 total yards. Kill was happy with Cobb and his defense, but he was most happy for quarterback Mitch Leidner.

"Probably the key to the game was, we did good things throwing the football," Kill said. "Actually, Mitch was on target on every throw he made. Mitch got some pressure, but he stood in there and threw it, didn't turn the ball over."

Leidner completed 14 of 22 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown. The redshirt sophomore had missed the previous game with a knee and toe injury after throwing three interceptions and losing a fumble in the loss at TCU.

Michigan entered the week leading the Big Ten in total defense, but the Gophers established their running game with Cobb, setting up the play-action pass.

"The way we played yesterday is the way we need to play," Kill said. "That's who we are."

"We're on a roll, but we need to heal up," Kill said.

And they need more time to reacquaint themselves with the jug.

Joe Christensen jchristensen@startribune.com