Minnesota broke out of their three game losing streak on Saturday by shutting out Rutgers 31-0 in a one-sided affair.
The Gophers were led by running back Mohamed Ibrahim, who finished with 159 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries.
Minnesota also held Rutgers to just 134 yards of total offense while creating three turnovers which the Gophers converted into 14 points.
Defensively, the Gophers were led in tackles by defensive back Trill Carter with six tackles. Tyler Nubin had a fantastic day, recording three tackles and hauling in two interceptions.
With the win, Minnesota improves to 5-3 overall on the season, 2-3 in Big Ten play. Rutgers drops to 4-4 on the season and just 1-4 in conference.
Minnesota will travel to Nebraska on November 5th for their next Big Ten contest.
TAKEAWAYS:
RUN MO RUN: As always, Minnesota's focal point of the offense was Mohamed Ibrahim, who brought his lunch pail on Saturday, carrying the ball 36 times for 159 yards and three touchdowns. It was his 16th consecutive game with at least 100-yards rushing. Ibrahim is gritty and tough and displayed that on Saturday, briefly heading into the tent in the fourth quarter with a left ankle injury before popping out shortly afterwards with his ankle taped and going right back onto the field. He would later record his final touchdown of the day on a 28-yard run to put Minnesota up 21-0 with 10:19 remaining.
NEW RUSHING TD KING: Ibrahim's two-yard touchdown score in the second quarter put him in the record books at Minnesota with his 44th rushing score, surpassing Darrell Thompson's previous mark.
LONG DRIVES: Saturday's contest wasn't a display of big plays on offense, however, Minnesota was able to put together some very long drives in their first two scoring drives to swing momentum in their favor and eat a ton of clock in the process. Ibrahim's two-yard touchdown run with 14:20 remaining in the second quarter capped an impressive 19-play, 99-yard drive for the Gophers that took 10:27 off the clock. On Minnesota's next possession, they orchestrated a 13-play, 86-yard drive that was capped by a one-yard score by Ibrahim. That drive took 7:03 off the clock and gave the Gophers a more than comfortable 14-0 lead.
MORGAN BACK AND EFFICIENT: Tanner Morgan was back under center for Minnesota after missing last week's Penn State game with a head injury he suffered late in the Illinois loss. Morgan was efficient, going 14-of-21 passing, but didn't put up big numbers, throwing for just 122 yards. To his credit, six of his 14 completions were for first downs and he also had a 15-yard scramble for a first down on Minnesota's first scoring drive of the game.
PITCHING A SHUTOUT: Minnesota held Rutgers to just 134 total yards on Saturday, that included 48 rushing yards and just 86 passing yards. The Gophers were able to create three turnovers. Two of those came on fourth-quarter interceptions from Tyler Nubin, which Minnesota converted into 14 points. Defensive lineman Jah Joyner also recovered a fumbled snap from Rutgers quarterback Gavin Wimsatt. Before kickoff, Rutgers announced their leading rusher Shawn Brown was out for the season, so they were already short-handed on Saturday. Regardless, it was a stellar defensive effort by the Gophers and one they've needed for a while.
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