Gophers 'Encore Four' seniors keep leading even with Big Ten title hopes diminished

They called themselves the "Encore Four," the quartet of sixth-year seniors who returned to the Gophers football team for the 2022 season. Quarterback Tanner Morgan, running back Mohamed Ibrahim, wide receiver Chris Autman-Bell and center John Michael Schmitz came back with the hopes of delivering the first Big Ten West Division title to Dinkytown.

The core group is down to three after Autman-Bell suffered a season-ending leg injury on Sept. 17, and that goal of a trip to Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship game is an extreme long shot. Still, Morgan, Ibrahim and Schmitz hold the keys to what this team can accomplish as the calendar flips to November for the final four games of the regular season.

Coach P.J. Fleck made that clear when he relied heavily on all three in the Gophers' 31-0 victory over Rutgers on Saturday. After a three-game losing streak stripped away the optimism created during a 4-0 September, Morgan, Ibrahim and Schmitz provided solid performances.

Morgan, concussed in the late stages of the Gophers' loss at Illinois on Oct. 15, missed last weekend's loss at Penn State. In his place was redshirt freshman Athan Kaliakmanis, the quarterback who Fleck says is the team's future and one who did enough at Penn State to lead many to believe the future should be now.

Fleck, though, stayed loyal to the quarterback who has a 32-14 record as a starter.

"Tanner has earned the right in, my opinion, to be on that field and leading our team," Fleck said. "And I told Athan, 'I'll do the same for you.' When you have that much built up, it's hard to sit there and say, 'OK, well, you go out there and see what happens.' "

Morgan was efficient against Rutgers, completing seven of nine passes and getting a 15-yard third-down scramble during the Gophers' first two possessions that led to a 14-0 lead.

Making things happen up front was an offensive line led by Schmitz, the 6-4, 320-pound brawler who is graded as the top center in the nation by Pro Football Focus College.

During the three-game skid, the Gophers offensive line wasn't at its best, and the team scored only 10, 14 and 17 points in the losses to Purdue, Illinois and Penn State. That changed Saturday when Schmitz led a unit that amassed 375 yards of offense, including 253 on the ground. The O-line was especially strong on a 19-play, 99-yard touchdown march on the team's first possession and a 13-play, 86-yard drive that boosted the lead to 14-0 in the second quarter.

That first drive lasted 10 minutes, 27 seconds. The second consumed 7:03. By the end of the afternoon, the Gophers held the ball for more than two-thirds of the game, 41:02 to Rutgers' 18:58.

The offensive line looked even better because of Ibrahim, who pounded away at the Scarlet Knights with 36 carries for 159 yards and three touchdowns. He moved into sole possession of Minnesota's career TD record with 46, three more than Darrell Thompson. He also moved into ninth place on the Big Ten's career rushing TD list.

Ibrahim has rushed 170 times for 955 yards and 13 TDs this season and has 3,958 rushing yards for his career. That ranks third in program history, trailing only Thompson (4,654) and Rodney Smith (4,122). Ibrahim needs 697 yards to break Thompson's record, and to accomplish that, he would need to average 139.4 yards over the last four regular-season games and a bowl game to set the record.

Regardless of Ibrahim's record status, his value isn't lost on his quarterback.

"To be part of this program and culture and to step out here on Saturdays is an honor," Morgan said, "especially when you get to be in the backfield next to the GOAT."