Let's all appreciate Mohamed Ibrahim as his record-setting career winds down

P.J. Fleck only envisioned possibilities, not limitations, the first time he met Mohamed Ibrahim in person on the recruiting trail.

Yes, Ibrahim was short by running back standards in major college football, but Fleck did not cast aspersions because he also had heard doubts about his size all the way to the NFL.

"You could see that he's going to be really thick in the lower body," Fleck said of his first impression. "He's going to have huge legs. You match that with the style that we have and he's going to fit that."

Fleck's affinity for smashmouth running aligned with Ibrahim's physical and mental makeup. He was low to the ground with a strong base. He initiated contact and dragged defenders after the initial hit.

The more he watched, the more Fleck liked.

"It's like the Three Bears," he said. "It was just right for us."

The story of Mohamed Ibrahim is a reminder that the outside of a package doesn't necessarily reveal the contents inside.

He's not the biggest, fastest or most electric running back to wear a Gophers uniform, but he will conclude his career as one of the all-time great and productive players in program history.

Ibrahim continued to etch his name throughout the record book Saturday with another Mo-like performance: 36 carries, 178 yards, three touchdowns as the Gophers dispatched one-win Northwestern 31-3 at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Ibrahim moved to sixth place in Big Ten history in rushing touchdowns and second place in program history in rushing yards, trailing only Darrell Thompson. He's basically been a one-man show for the offense in different games recently.

He's doing all this with a bum ankle and being a year removed from a season-ending Achilles injury. And, of course, the whole undersized thing.

Ibrahim is listed at 5-10 in the media guide, but he laughed when I asked him two years ago to give his true height.

"The way he plays and the type of person he is," Fleck said, "he is going to overcome what his deficiencies are in height and weight."

Ibrahim has earned a permanent place in the lineage of outstanding running backs in program history with his own unique style.

Thompson remains the gold standard. Laurence Maroney possessed dynamic game-breaking speed. The Marion Barber father-son duo ran with power but also could make defenders miss.

Ibrahim is just relentless. The dazzling nature of his running style is found in his nonstop effort. Nothing fancy, just repetitively productive.

As a high school sophomore, Ibrahim was on the wrong end of a violent collision. He remembers running timid. His coach pulled him aside and told him that it hurts more being the nail than the hammer.

"Ever since that one game," Ibrahim told me in 2020, "I became the hammer. I've never been the nail."

That's how he runs, like he's hammering nails on a job site all day long.

His carries are rarely easy. He somehow maintains his balance while pinballing off defenders, and he seeks contact when he's in the open field. He squats lower to the ground, drops his pads and boom, the defender topples backward.

He left a lot of bruises on Northwestern's defenders.

Ibrahim's best trait is his ability to turn nothing into something. Handoffs that should gain 2 yards get stretched to 6 yards as he patiently waits for a crease and then powers through the mass of bodies.

Ibrahim is a security blanket that Fleck snuggles. His carries the past four games: 30, 36, 32, 36.

"Tomorrow, we'll just piece him back together and get him back ready for next Saturday," Fleck said.

Fleck noted that Ibrahim does not practice much during the week as he recovers and gets his body primed for Saturday. He's showing no signs of fatigue or being limited by his ankle injury.

The hammer just keeps swinging.

One of the best compliments that can be given to an athlete is that he or she maximized every ounce of talent and physical ability. Ibrahim has done that and more.