Gophers defense at tipping point: Stop the run, or get trampled trying

For a football team’s defense, the importance of stopping the opponent’s running game ranks right up there with oxygen. Stop the run, and you’re dictating second- and third-and-long situations to the opponent; you’re forcing the opponent to play left-handed; and you’re keeping the opponent’s offense on the sideline.

For a defense that can’t stop the run, the game becomes an exercise ranging from frustration to demoralization. Fail to stop the run, and you’re stuck on the field for long, clock-draining drives; you’re getting exhausted from the pounding; and you’re mentally drained by having the opponent impose its will on you.

Saturday at Michigan Stadium, the Gophers will try to stay out of that second category and return to the first. It’ll be a mighty challenge, though, because No. 12 Michigan loves to run the ball and is coming off an impressive rushing performance in a 27-24 victory over USC last week. The Gophers, meanwhile, had Iowa run roughshod over them to the tune of 24 second-half points in a 31-14 Hawkeyes victory.

“We have to stop the run,” Gophers first-year defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman said. “That’s the No. 1 goal. We have to force them to throw the football.”

For 30 minutes Saturday, the Gophers (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) were a least holding Iowa’s running game in check. They allowed 91 yards on 16 carries in the first half. Then, Kaleb Johnson and his offensive line got serious. Johnson rushed for 118 of his 206 yards, including touchdowns of 15 and 40 yards, after halftime. As a team, Iowa carried 45 times for 272 yards, including 29 for 181 after intermission.

“In the second half, we’d miss one tackle, or we’d hesitate and not shoot our gun,” Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said, referring to being aggressive in making first contact. “We had people where they needed to be. We just didn’t make the play. … We’ve got to coach it a lot better.”

The results against the run need to get better quickly because beginning with Saturday’s game, the Gophers face three teams that rush for 200 or more yards per game — Rutgers, Penn State and Michigan — and three others that go for 150 or more: Wisconsin, Illinois and Maryland.

In Big Ten play, the Gophers have allowed their past four opponents to surpass 200 rushing yards, including 353 by Purdue last year.

It’s part of a downward trend for Minnesota’s run defense. During the Gophers’ 11-2 season in 2019, they ranked 23rd nationally in run defense (127.8 yards allowed per game). In 2021 when they went 9-4, they were eighth nationally (97.5). In 2022, another 9-4 season, they were 16th (109.0). Last year, they ranked 64th at 141.1. This year, they’re 56th at 123.8, though allowing 209.5 yards rushing in their two losses.

Michigan entered the season with senior Donovan Edwards designated to take over for Blake Corum as the Wolverines’ lead running back. But fifth-year senior Kalel Mullings has earned more carries, leading the Wolverines with 53 attempts for 429 yards and four touchdowns. He was at his best against USC, rushing 17 times for 159 yards and two TDs. His 63-yard burst with 2:21 to play set up his winning touchdown dive.

Edwards has rushed for 224 yards and two TDs. Quarterback Alex Orji, who has supplanted Davis Warren as starter, has rushed for 101 yards but passed for only 47. As a team, the Wolverines are averaging 204.8 rushing yards per game and 5.6 per carry.

“Michigan’s Michigan, and they run the football at will,” Fleck said. “That’s what they do.”

Gophers linebacker Cody Lindenberg is impressed with Orji, who at 6-3 and 235 pounds can challenge a defense with his size.

“That QB run stuff, it’s tough for a defense,” Lindenberg said. “We’ve got to make sure we use our tackling system, wrapping up, running our feet and then swarming to the ball.”

For Hetherman, aggressiveness must replace hesitation for his defense to succeed against a team as talented as Michigan.

“The biggest message all week is, ‘Take your shot. Take your shot,’” he said. “In the Big Ten, we’re going to play good football players. We’re going to play a lot of guys that are going to play on Sunday. That’s what the Big Ten is, probably the best conference in college football. At some point, someone’s going to block you, someone’s going to make a catch.