It took over 400 days to get to this point for the Minnesota volleyball team.

Two wins in as many matches against Michigan State and the Gophers are off to a strong start to the 2021 season. Getting to this point, however, was no easy task.

Flashback to December 2019, when the Gopher squad lost in the semifinal to eventual champion Stanford in front of thousands of fans. Everyone knew the loss was a disappointing end to an overall successful 2019 campaign, but no one predicted what was to come after.

Roughly 13 months of no competition. A different practice schedule in the fall. Daily COVID-19 testing. Online classes. Little to no other social interactions. And now follow that up with a conference-only schedule, with only family and media members in the stands.

All of this adds up to an unusual spring setup. The Gophers still have significant and achievable goals for this season. A Big Ten title, Final Four appearance and NCAA championship all might be within reach for this deep Minnesota team ranked No. 7 in the AVCA poll. And to reach these heights, everyone in the program is living by one mantra for the rest of the season.

“Think positive. Test negative,” head coach Hugh McCutcheon said.

This will be key in 2021. The team was obviously excited about the opportunity to compete during the pandemic, even if it meant delaying the season until the spring semester. But with the uncertainty that comes with COVID-19, the Gophers are prioritizing a true “one day at a time” mentality. This seems only logical in a world where a match might get canceled the day before it is scheduled due to a coronavirus outbreak within a team.

“We got together so many times to reinvent our goals and reset them because it’s changed so much,” middle blocker Regan Pittman said. “I think our biggest thing is having a flexible mindset of what our goals are. There’s so many unexpected [things].”

While there are several challenges to this philosophy and competing during a pandemic in general, it also comes with some benefits for some players. Opposite hitter Stephanie Samedy sees the situation a little differently and is taking a positive approach.

“For me personally, I think it’s pretty nice to have two main focuses,” Samedy said. “Being able to get school done on my own time and then having volleyball and just being able to focus on that, and not have that much noise is great.”

McCutcheon said there was a significant change in the excitement level of the team when the spring schedule was announced, citing that everyone loves competing. The Gophers clearly had little trouble harnessing their energy to open the season, winning all six sets of the two matches.

But once again, they are not looking too far ahead to the future of the season. For now, Minnesota’s main focus is getting through this week of practice healthy to face Maryland on Friday and Saturday.

“If we ever needed more validation of the concept of one day at a time, it’s this, because I do think if you start to get ahead of yourself it’ll do your head in,” McCutcheon said. “We’re going to try to think positive, test negative and protect our bubble the best we can.”

College football during a pandemic was surely going to be strange compared to normal seasons.

But now as the season has continued to move forward, the Big Ten is dealing with a potentially chaotic situation with its championship, and Minnesota is in the middle of it.

The Gophers are not in contention for the conference championship with a 2-3 record, but the COVID-19 outbreak that spread throughout the program has complicated matters for Wisconsin and the Big Ten as a whole. Early last week in a weekly press conference, Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck said he loves rivalry games because of the uncertainty of what will happen.

Except we do know what happened: nothing. Nothing happened this past week on rivalry Saturday because the game against Wisconsin was canceled. Granted, Fleck did say this before the program discovered more positive cases and had to shut down practices.

Nevertheless, the cancellation of Saturday’s game has had major implications for the rest of the season for the Big Ten. For the Gophers, missing the battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe is disappointing, but it is only that. On the other side, the loss of the game is likely the final blow to the Badgers’ chances of making the Big Ten championship game.

Wisconsin missed two games earlier this season due to a COVID-19 outbreak in its own locker room and now will most likely fail to play enough games to win the West division.

In the East division, Ohio State has also had two games canceled and is now facing the same issue. The Buckeyes absence from the conference championship would be even more significant as they are competing for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

The conference said prioritizing the health and safety of student-athletes and coaches was important throughout this season. The Big Ten implemented detailed protocols for every program to follow and had an eight-week conference-only schedule to try to mitigate the spread of the virus throughout the fourteen team league.

But the Big Ten is now facing a slight drawback in the short-term of not having the flexibility to reschedule games later in the season. While other conferences began playing earlier and were able to postpone games to a later date if needed, the Big Ten gave itself only eight weeks to finish the season knowing COVID-19 might cause some games to be canceled.

And instead of seeing a matchup between Wisconsin and Ohio State like many predicted at the beginning of the season, Northwestern and Indiana could potentially battle for the Big Ten crown because those teams have played more games.
Minnesota was supposed to host Northwestern this weekend but that game was also canceled as the Gophers are recovering from their COVID-19 outbreak.

Minnesota was unable to reclaim Floyd of Rosedale and lost its sixth straight game against Iowa, falling 35-7 Friday night at TCF Bank Stadium.

Not only are the Gophers 0-4 against the Hawkeyes under head coach P.J. Fleck, Minnesota has not had a lead in this matchup since 2016. The reason for this most recent loss to its border rival? The defense, which had another woeful performance, surrendered big runs and 347 yards to the Hawkeyes. But penalties and missed opportunities did not help the Gophers’ cause either.

Incomplete passes in the first half – 11 of them to be exact – stalled offensive drives that were previously powered by running back Mohamed Ibrahim. One of them proved to be costly when a pass from Tanner Morgan was out of reach of Rashod Bateman and went into the hands of Iowa defensive back Jack Koerner.

“Who cares about the stats? I just think we were inconsistent as a football team tonight,” Fleck said. “And take your pick. Whatever player, coach you want to pick. Offense, defense, special teams — we were just really inconsistent.”

The Gophers were unable to convert an initially promising opportunity into points. Gophers’ linebacker James Gordon IV was able to snag an interception on the third defensive possession of the game and returned it to Iowa’s 13 yard line. But a block in the back penalty from linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from Fleck negated the return and pushed Minnesota back into its own territory.

Sori-Marin, considered one of the defensive leaders, later in the half fell victim to a targeting penalty and was ejected from the contest. In total, the Gophers exceeded 50 yards in penalties, the most of the season.

A third quarter drive that lasted almost 11 minutes appeared to be the drive Minnesota had been praying for all game, trying to make it a 14-7 game while also controlling the clock. Instead, it ended up resulting in another missed opportunity with a blocked field goal and an Iowa score five plays later. After this, the game fell out of reach for Minnesota, and Floyd of Rosedale ultimately returned to Iowa City for at least another year.

Back in May following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Gophers’ football coach P.J. Fleck checked in with his players. Fast forward to when the team was able to meet again in person, and Fleck decided to bring the team’s leadership council together.

In the meeting, he asked players what they wanted to do about the issue of racism in society and how they wanted to create change from within the program. The answer came from defensive back Coney Durr, and his response was simple: educate.

“Everyone in this room, no matter who you are, needs to be educated,” Fleck said. “I think that was an incredibly powerful statement — one word to describe what we all need. … No matter where you come from, no matter what you look like, we all need education.”

Now Minnesota has added another element to its “Row the Boat” culture with its H.E.R.E. (Helping End Racism through Education) initiative. With this, the Gophers learn about a different theme or topic each week. Durr appreciates the different conversations and experiences that have come out of the initiative thus far.

“It’s different hearing something on TV than it is hearing it from a brother you’re around every single day,” Durr said.

While social change has been a significant topic throughout 2020, the H.E.R.E. initiative will be around longer than this season. Fleck said he wanted the players to come up with a solution that would be a staple of Minnesota’s football program for years to come.

Spreading “zero tolerance” of racism “is how we are going to be able to get change,” Fleck said. “You got to listen, you have to be empathetic and you have to have action, and those are the steps that are in place.”

Wide receiver Rashod Bateman has also taken public steps to bring about change and end racism. When it was announced he would be able to return to play for the Gophers in 2020, Bateman also announced he would be changing his jersey number to zero to symbolize a standard of zero tolerance for racism within the program and society as a whole.

Players and coaches have noted that learning more about this issue is not an easy thing to do. Conversations have been uncomfortable and stories have been emotional, but the Gophers believe it is an important step toward promoting any sort of change.

“Some of it’s very hard and emotional to listen to, but that’s the education that we can’t ignore,” Fleck said. “I’m really proud of our players for really putting their heads together and coming up with this plan of the H.E.R.E. initiative because I think it’s really powerful to help end racism with education.”

Coming into its matchup against Maryland, Minnesota was hoping to tune up some of its defensive issues from a week ago.

Late in the third quarter, it seemed like the Gophers would be able to overcome those deficiencies by riding with Mohamed Ibrahim as the workhorse running back. Minnesota had a 17-point lead and Ibrahim was running all over the field.

But then came the comeback.

After scoring three touchdowns to start the game, the Terrapins’ offense was quiet throughout the middle portion of the game. The Baltimore native played a large role in this effort, rushing effectively, finding the endzone and churning the clock to keep the ball away from Maryland. Ibrahim finished the half with 118 yards and four rushing scores, tied for a school record.

As the game continued, Ibrahim kept getting his attempts, finishing with 41 carries on the night. But this led to Maryland keying in on the Gophers’ run, and it was able to swallow him up when it mattered. And soon, a 17-point lead became only 10 points. And then only seven points. And eventually, a tied game heading into overtime.

Ibrahim finished with an impressive statline: 207 yards and four touchdowns. His 41 carries makes him just the sixth Gopher to have at least 40 carries in a game. But the end result is not what Ibrahim and Minnesota imagined with Brock Walker missing the extra point to tie the game in overtime. Instead of leaving College Park with what many thought might be an easier victory, the Gophers walked away with a 45-44 loss.

“I thought Mo played tremendous. We thought we could finish some drives with him,” head coach P.J. Fleck said after the game. “…But we had way too many explosive plays on defense and that put us in too many holes.”

Controlling the clock with Ibrahim to stop the bleeding from the defensive unit worked for only so long and gradually became more and more predictable. In the second quarter, the Gophers rushed for 100 yards. By the fourth quarter, they only had 11.

Ibrahim has shown these past two games what he has the previous two seasons; he can be a dominant runner in the Big Ten. In order to execute the Gophers’ overall game plan of playing balanced football offensively and defensively, it has been important for the team to run the football effectively.

But his most recent performances have been overshadowed by a defense that has allowed at least 45 points in its first two games of the season, a style that has not complemented the offense.

Coming off a loss in its highly anticipated matchup against Michigan, Minnesota looks to rebound against Maryland on Friday.

For the Gophers to be more successful and come out with the victory, the team is in need of improvement — big or small — in all three phases of the game. One of the weaknesses exposed last Saturday night was the inexperience of the defense. Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi acknowledged that players on all three levels of the defense need to play with more effort and less hesitancy in play recognition to make quick improvements in this shortened season.

“Game one, some of the guys were under the lights for the first time,” Rossi said. “I think there was some hesitation on their part in diagnosing of plays and reaction. … After getting through it, seeing it, watching the film and getting a really good week of practice, I think what you’ll find is guys reacting a little bit quicker and cutting it loose a little bit more.”

While the Gophers had their hands full defensively last week, their opponent this week does not present as many threats on paper as Michigan. In its week one matchup, Maryland fell flat in a 43-3 loss to Northwestern. The Terrapins failed to get into any sort of rhythm on the offensive side of the ball, totaling just 207 yards and turning the ball over four times. Despite this lack of offensive firepower, the Gophers are still treating Maryland like any other opponent.

“They’ve got a lot of athletes on the field,” head coach P.J. Fleck said. “They don’t have a lot of returning starters, but they brought in a lot of transfers from all over the place that are really, really talented.”

One of those playmakers is a familiar name for college football fans across the country. Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa — brother of former Alabama star Tua Tagovailoa — recently transferred to Maryland and got the starting nod for the Terrapins. He had several struggles in his first start, throwing for only 94 yards and three interceptions. But Rossi and the defensive unit are expecting Tagovailoa to take a major leap this week now that he has some more game experience.

In terms of Minnesota’s offense, the Gophers should expect to have plenty of opportunities running the ball given what Maryland showed last Saturday. Much like the Gophers’ defense against Michigan, the Terrapins struggled to stop Northwestern’s rushing attack throughout the game, allowing 325 yards on the ground. After rushing for 140 yards and two touchdowns in the loss, Gopher running back Mohamed Ibrahim could see even more success against Maryland.

All in all, the buzzword for Minnesota in this shortened week has been execution. Maryland might not appear to be a dangerous opponent to the general public, but players and coaches inside the facility know the team will have to execute plays better than they did a week ago if the team wants to have similar success against Maryland as Northwestern saw.

“Executing at our standard is the reason we’ve had success in the past,” quarterback Tanner Morgan said. “[The Michigan game] doesn’t matter anymore. It’s about now, it’s about today and today was a good opportunity to take the right next step in our execution and paying attention to the little details.”

Gameday has finally arrived for the No. 21-ranked Gophers as they take on Michigan on Saturday night at TCF Bank Stadium.

Plenty of scouting and projecting has been done about Minnesota heading into 2020 as fans hope this season will be an extension of the success in 2019. But with the opening game set to kick off this weekend and the Gophers preparing all week for the No. 18-ranked team in the country, let’s take a look at what the Wolverines bring to the table.

While the Gophers are to start veteran Tanner Morgan at quarterback, Michigan will turn to a relatively unproven signal caller in Joe Milton. Appearing in only eight games over his career, Milton is a junior who was a four-star recruit in high school. Because of his lack of playing time, Milton is somewhat of an unknown to coaches. He has thrown for one touchdown and two interceptions on 11 passing attempts while running for 47 yards on 12 carries.

“Anybody who looks at Milton knows what type of special talent he is,” Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck said. “He’s once-in-a-decade type talent that comes through the program when you’re talking about his skill set … There’s not a ton of data on him based on what we’ve been able to watch but he’s been in some games [and] we’ve watched his high school recruiting film to gather as much information [as possible] to evaluate him.”

The run game is expected to be a focal point of the offense regardless of Milton’s inexperience. Running backs Zach Charbonnet and Hassan Haskins return to the team, combining for over 1,300 rushing yards in 2019. Michigan also had 30 or more rushing attempts in 10 of its 13 games last season.

On the opposite side of the ball, Michigan has always had the perception of being a solid defensive team under defensive coordinator Don Brown. Last season, the Wolverines ranked fourth in the Big Ten in total defense, allowing just under 21 points per game.

Heading into the matchup, Gophers’ running back Mohamed Ibrahim said the Gophers will need to take each play individually given the variety of defensive looks Brown will throw at an opposing offense. But as the defensive looks change, Michigan will continue to be aggressive and bring pressure.

“[Brown’s] very difficult to prepare for,” Fleck said. “He’s one of the best in the country for a reason. There’s probably 60% that we probably know based on what they’ve done in the past and they’ve had all offseason to make it better, change it, develop it, create things that are maybe just specifically to our game.”

Michigan is just one of many other teams that have had players opt out for the season. Wide receiver Nico Collins opted out and was expected to be a top perimeter threat for the Wolverines. Quarterback Dylan McCaffrey also opted out and requested a transfer, accompanying Milton’s rise to the top of the depth chart. Jalen Mayfield, the only returning starter on the offensive line, opted back in after originally deciding to opt out.

Nevertheless, Fleck is not overlooking the opponent based on who will not be playing.

“They’ve lost some wideouts, but it’s Michigan,” Fleck said. “They’ve got 44 four-stars and two five-stars on their team, so they’ve got plenty of talent and skill that can fill a lot of the positions that they’ve lost.”

The matchup holds a great deal of weight for both teams. The Little Brown Jug is on the line in this traditional rivalry game, and a win against a ranked opponent will increase both team’s chances of making a run at the Big Ten Championship.

ESPN’s College GameDay will also be in Minneapolis for the second time since the show’s inception.

This season marks the fourth season P.J. Fleck will be the head coach for the Gophers’ football program, and his time at Minnesota has been anything but boring. With year four approaching, let’s take a look back at the first three seasons of the “Row the Boat” culture at Minnesota.

2017: 5-7, 6th in the Big Ten West

Like any program with a new head coach and culture, growing pains were a part of Fleck’s first season at the helm. After starting the season 3-0 against non-conference opponents, Minnesota lost five of its next six games against the Big Ten. With three games remaining, the Gophers needed to win two games to become bowl eligible but failed to do so, losing the last two weeks of the season against #17 Northwestern and #7 Wisconsin.

Minnesota finished 2-7 in the conference, giving up 30 or more points in six of those games. Despite the team’s finish, a silver lining for Fleck was his standing among former Gophers head coaches in their first seasons. Excluding Tracy Claeys who took over as the head coach midway through the 2015 season after Jerry Kill retired, Fleck is the only coach to win at least five games in his first season at Minnesota since John Gutekunst in 1986.

2018: 7-6, 5th in the Big Ten West

Fleck’s second season had similar shades as the first as the Gophers struggled against Big Ten foes. Minnesota again went 3-0 in the non-conference but also lost five of its first six conference games, giving up an average of 43.2 points during the stretch.

After below average quarterback play from Conor Rhoda and Demry Croft the previous season, the Gophers started Fleck’s second year with true freshman Zack Annexstad as the man under center. But Fleck had to make a switch to redshirt freshman Tanner Morgan in the midst of the losing streak after Annexstad injured his midsection in a 53-28 loss at Nebraska. Morgan has not missed a game as the starter since taking over.

On Nov. 3, Fleck decided more permanent change was necessary. Immediately coming off a 55-31 loss at Illinois, he fired defensive coordinator Robb Smith and tabbed Joe Rossi as the interim. In the final three games, the defense began to look different, giving up fewer points.

Being in the same position as it was the season prior, Minnesota not only won two of its final three games to become bowl eligible but also accomplished what seemed to be the impossible: beating Wisconsin to bring Paul Bunyan’s Axe back to Minnesota. The Gophers ended the season on a high note with the win in Madison and a victory in the QuickLane Bowl against Georgia Tech.

2019: 11-2, 2nd in the Big Ten West

If they believed in momentum of any kind, Fleck and the Gophers had plenty to work with heading into the third season of the “Row the Boat” era.

While the undefeated streak in non-conference games continued, Gophers fans were left holding their collective breath to the bitter end in each of these three games. Minnesota beat South Dakota State by only a touchdown in the opening week, stole a win on the final play of double overtime at Fresno State and barely escaped with a victory over Georgia Southern.

After the unconventional 3-0 start, the Gophers appeared to click on all phases once they began Big Ten play. The team rolled through its first five conference games to set up a match-up against fellow undefeated Penn State. With an upset ending in fans rushing the field and players securing the Governor’s Victory Bell, Minnesota moved to 9-0 and began to gain attention from the national polls and College Football Selection Committee like never before.

Only a week later was the hope of an undefeated season shattered for the team, as the Gophers fell to rival Iowa. But the Gophers still had several prizes in front of them — the Axe, the West Division crown and a chance at the Big Ten Championship as well as an appearance in the Rose Bowl. With all of this on the line against Wisconsin, the Gophers fell in an underwhelming 38-17 loss to end the regular season. Minnesota went on to beat Auburn in the Outback Bowl to finish 11-2 and capped off a season with many accomplishments the program had not had in recent memory.

2020: Check back in January

Minnesota will most certainly have the highest expectations it has seen since the beginning of Fleck’s tenure. While 2020 will be quite different compared to past years, the Gophers still face off against familiar foes with eight Big Ten games in its schedule. Fleck also has the opportunity to accomplish feats he has never reached before, including winning two trophy games against Michigan and Iowa.

2020 has been unlike any other year in many ways, and the college football season for Minnesota and other programs across the country will be different because of it.

Several conferences decided to either reduce or completely eliminate its non-conference schedule for the season. Instead of the normal 12 game schedule during the regular season, Big Ten teams will have an eight game conference-only schedule in which teams will face their six divisional opponents as well as two teams from the opposing division.

Why does this matter for the Gophers? Lack of non-conference games has already led to some sloppy play against better conference competition for teams across the country. In 2019, despite winning all three non-conference games, Minnesota looked like a team that could have been 0-3 instead of 3-0. But these games turned out to be tune-up opportunities, as the Gophers rolled through its Big Ten schedule with its only losses coming against Iowa and Wisconsin. Non-conference victories have also been practically automatic for Minnesota, as the program is 11-0 under head coach P.J. Fleck.

The season could also present issues involving roster depth and COVID-19. According to the Big Ten’s policies and procedures, players who test positive must remain out of play for at least 21 days. This could present problems for teams during that stretch given that players could miss three games of an already shortened season. Injuries are already problems dealt with in a normal season, but players potentially testing positive presents completely different challenges to teams and coaches.

“You’ve got to be able to adjust and adapt on the run very differently if there’s an ankle or an injury,” Fleck said. “You test positive on a Friday — somehow, someway, no matter the test they have to back it up — you’re out. Usually you know [with] injury status if a guy is going to make it or not.”

Following a trend found in many sports at various levels, Minnesota’s athletics department announced it would not be allowing general fans at home games and would only have family members of the team present. One of the most noticeable differences in a lack of a crowd at the college and professional levels is the ability for road teams to communicate better when on offense and use a hard count to draw defenses offsides. It also means there will be no fans rushing the field if the Gophers pull off another victory like they did a season ago against Penn State.

Despite all of these differences, Fleck has made one thing clear since the Big Ten announced it would be restarting: This season is still real football.

“The one thing that has stood out is football in 2020 is going to be different from what people have seen at times,” Fleck said. “It’s not any less real than it’s been because it’s real and it counts.”

Three-hundred and one. That’s how many carries running backs Rodney Smith and Shannon Brooks had for the Gophers last season.

But now that the two elder statesmen of the Minnesota backfield are gone, the Gophers will look to see who can step up and be the new rushing leader. A prime candidate for the job? Look no further than a back who has already had a significant share of the workload: Mohamed Ibrahim.

The redshirt junior was a relative surprise for fans in 2018, but Ibrahim’s success did not shock players and coaches who saw him in practice every day. Ibrahim won the Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year in 2017 for how well he played in practice, while learning from older runners like Smith, Brooks and Kobe McCrary.

Fast forward three seasons and Ibrahim is the back with the most experience on Minnesota’s roster. With this experience, he is embracing the leadership role of taking what he learned and passing it on to younger backs, whether it is protecting the ball or working on vision.

“It’s really good to have Mo teaching those young guys how it should look,” head coach P.J. Fleck said. “I’m really proud of him. He’s not only one of the best football players we have, he’s also one of the best people.”

Ibrahim’s impact has been felt throughout the program since he became a part of the Gophers’ rushing attack in 2018. As a redshirt freshman, his role expanded once Smith was lost for the season with an injury. Despite his 5-foot-10-inch, 210-pound frame, Ibrahim showed his success as a physical runner who takes defenders head on.

When the Gophers have needed him, Ibrahim has also stepped up in big moments. He first came onto the scene after running for 157 yards and two touchdowns in a close loss at Ohio State and helped bring Paul Bunyan’s Axe back to Minnesota with 121 yards and one touchdown in a win at Wisconsin in 2018. And it’s difficult to forget his two bowl game performances, combining for 364 total rushing yards in wins against Georgia Tech and Auburn.

While Ibrahim is expected to be the focal point of Minnesota’s rushing attack, he will not be doing the work by himself. If fans learned anything from the Gophers’ approach in 2019, they are going to have multiple players involved. Fleck noted that Ibrahim is the leader in the running back room, but there are plenty of younger players who could also get some more carries.

Nevertheless, Ibrahim has a chance to catapult himself from 24th into the top-10 all-time leading rushers list at Minnesota, as he needs only 676 yards to do so. Most importantly to Ibrahim, however, is that he and his teammates get to have a season in 2020.

“We are just happy that we got a schedule out right now, and we got something to look forward to, but we still have to prepare every day,” Ibrahim said. “It starts with today, it continues tomorrow, that’s our standard. We always have to worry about right now.”