Minnesota has not held an official spring game in several years and today they played under the sun at Huntington Bank Stadium for the first time since 2021. Here are five takeaways from the scrimmage as we turn the corner of the sports calendar year and start heading toward football season.
1 – Watching Gopher Football is fun
It has been a while since we have seen Gopher Football on TV and it was fun to watch again. The team was playing with energy, they threw the ball often and they stayed healthy. We didn’t get to see mny of the team’s
stars, but there was a ton of youth on display. Anthony Smith, Darius Taylor, Maverick Baranowski, Greg Johnson and John Nestor did not play. And Drake Lindsey played in just the first quarter and I’m sure there were others who did not play.
But it was fun to watch Gopher Football for a couple of hours this afternoon and the excitement for the 2026 season is building.
2 – The passing game looked good
On the second play of the game, Drake Lindsay threw a beautiful, 74-yard pass to Noah Jennings, which set up a Grant Washington touchdown. Jennings made 23 catches last year for the Cincinnati Bearcats and transferred to the Gophers for his final season.
Lindsay looked great in his limited action, finishing 4/5 for 89 yards. But he wasn’t the only Gopher quarterback who looked good. Max Shikenjanski and true freshman Owen Lansu both played well.
Shikenjanski appears to be the unquestioned backup and he was 20/26 for 181 yards and a touchdown this afternoon. He looked a little shaky on the first drive, but Shikenjanski settled in and got excellent experience. He found Javon Tracy as he was running toward the end zone sideline for a touchdown to make the score 10-7 right before halftime.
But the quarterback that people will be talking about is Owen Lansu, the true freshman who enrolled early and he impressed in his limited action. Lansu was 5/7 for 110 yards and a touchdown. His day was highlighted by a 50-yard touchdown to freshman Hayden Moore on the first play of the fourth quarter. This pass was right on the money and Lansu looked poised and incredibly accurate on all of his throws.
The other freshman, Brady Palmer, struggled. He was not lacking confidence and was willing to make big throws. But Palmer was 0/5 with three picks. A day he’ll learn from.
But it wasn’t just the quarterbacks; several receivers made plays throughout the afternoon. This unit looks deeper than last year and there are some playmakers in this group. Jennings obviously had the 74-yard reception early in the game. But Auburn transfer, Perry Thompson, had a nice 32-yard touchdown, Tracy and Jalen Smith each had five receptions and Moore looked dangerous as well.
3 – The linebackers looked STRONG
Baranowski did not play, but the entire linebacker unit looked great.
Nate Cleveland saw limited action as a true freshman last year and he looked like he should be starting today as a sophomore. Cleveland finished with 10 tackles, one sack and two TFLs. Emmanuel Karmo is another true sophomore for the Gophers and he made a great, diving interception. And Matt Kingsbury led the Maroon team with five tackles and one sack.
Karter Menz did have two sacks, but overall, the defensive line was not called out on the broadcast for making very many plays. This was a day for the linebackers.
This unit is going to be a real strength of the Gopher defense.
4 – The running game struggled
Missing Greg Johnson and missing Darius Taylor certainly did not help, but the Gopher offense was not particularly strong at running the ball this afternoon. Following the 74-yard pass on the first drive, the Gophers need four plays to get into the end zone from first and goal on the two. Xavier Ford rushed for no gain on first down and lost one yard on second down. Then it was Grant Washington’s turn on third down, where he gained two yards and then finally he pushed through on fourth and goal from the one.
If you take out the quarterbacks, the Gophers rushed 19 times for 34 yards. Rushing for a 1.8 yards per carry average is not going to be good enough.
But it is also important to remember that what you see in the spring game is not indicative of what you’ll see in the fall. Berkley Edwards looked amazing in the spring, but you don’t see his name anywhere in the Gopher record books. The spring game is about getting better, not showcasing your strengths for the rest of the Big Ten to see. The things that look great may never materialize in the regular season. And the areas of concern may not be a concern in September. Maybe the running game will be fine, maybe there are things to fix, but this is not the finished product.
5 – Kicking has promise
There is a position battle happening with the Gopher kickers. But the redshirt freshman, Daniel Jackson, nailed a 51-yard field goal on the team’s second drive. This team was not in field goal range until they were inside the 25-yard line last year, so if there is a kicker on the roster who can make kicks from 50+, we are going to be much improved in that phase of the game.
Ultimately, having consistency on kicks that are under 45 yards is the goal, but Jackson’s 51-yarder was nice.
The biggest takeaway from the 2026 Spring Game is that football is going to be here soon. There is typically very little to be gleaned from one scrimmage, but this team is young, talented and should be very fun to watch in 131 days.
