Now that Jim Harbaugh has taken his khakis to the NFL, there’s no Big Ten coach that makes Husker fans sprain their eyeballs quite like Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck. Between all of the boat-rowing and face-lifting, Husker fans want so badly to ridicule Fleck, with only one little thing holding them back: Scoreboard. Fleck’s teams just have a way of finding ways to win. They aren’t the most talented team in the Big Ten (let alone the former west division); they just play above their talent level.
After that
infamous 2021 Gophers/Huskers game that led to our own Jon Johnston’s viral “There’s No Hope. (Eff) Everything. Go Big Red.” video, Fleck raised eyebrows when he said it was a battle between “culture and skill.” And he was right. Two years ago, Nebraska seemed to have the game under control until two turnovers in the last five minutes put the oars in the water yet again. Fleck’s culture outexecuted Nebraska’s talent. Yet again.
It almost makes doing the position previews irrelevant, to be honest. Minnesota will almost certain put together a solid team that’s simply greater than the sum of the individuals on the field.
At quarterback, redshirt freshman Drake Lindsey (6’5” 230 lbs.) appears to be the Gophers’ signal caller for 2025. Lindsey played in three games last season, completing 4 of 5 passes for 50 yards and a touchdown. Former Boston College backup Emmett Morehead (6’5” 235 lbs.) is also on the roster; he’s completed 57% of his career passes for ten touchdowns with six interceptions.
You know the Gophers are going to run the ball, and the lead back is junior Darius Taylor (6’0” 215 lbs.), who rushed for 986 yards and ten touchdowns last season. Marshall transfer A.J. Turner (6’0” 190 lbs.) led the Herd last season with 864 yards and six touchdowns, averaging an eye-popping 8.3 yards per carry. Washington transfer Cam Davis (6’0” 210 lbs.) rushed for 522 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2022 before suffering an injury prior to the 2023 season.
The receiver room is going to be a big rebuild with just senior tight end Jameson Geers (6’6” 255 lbs.) and senior receiver Le’Meke Brockington (6’0” 195 lbs.) returns. Geers caught 28 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns last season while Brockington caught 18 passes for 282 yards. From the transfer portal, the Gophers are adding first-team All-MAC receiver Javon Tracy (6’0” 195 lbs.) from Miami-Ohio, Logan Loya (5’11” 190 lbs.) from UCLA and former Husker Malachi Coleman (6’5” 190 lbs.). Tracy caught 57 passes for 818 yards and seven touchdowns while Loya caught 29 passes for 348 yards and four touchdowns.
Minnesota’s offensive line loses a second round draft pick, but has picked up reinforcements from the transfer portal to augment sophomore left guard Greg Johnson (6’6” 320 lbs.) and junior center Ashton Beers (6’6” 320 lbs.) Right guard Marcellus Marshall (6’6” 320 lbs.) started two seasons at UCF and his freshman year at Kent State. Right tackle Dylan Ray (6’6” 315 lbs.) was a spot starter at Kentucky. No reason to expect much slippage up front for the Gophers this season.
Minnesota’s defenses have been pretty strong throughout Fleck’s tenure…so much so, bigger names come poaching his defensive coordinators. Joe Rossi went to Michigan State two years ago, and Corey Hetherman only lasted one season before Miami-Florida broke open their checkbook. Now long-time Fleck assistant Danny Collins takes over. He’ll have two returning starters on the interior of the defensive line with three-year starter Jalen Logan-Redding (6’4” 290 lbs.) and two-year starter Deven Eastern (6’6” 310 lbs.), who each had 27 tackles last season. The star up front will be junior defensive end Anthony Smith, who was 12th in the Big Ten last season with 10.5 combined sacks and tackles for loss. He also led the Gophers with ten quarterback hurries. A role player last year, Smith is set to have much more playing time in 2025.
The Gophers are solid once again at linebacker, led by junior middle linebacker Maverick Baranowski (6’2” 230 lbs.), who is the Gophers’ leading returning tackler with 65 last season. Junior weakside linebacker Devon Williams (6’1” 230 lbs.) started in 2023 in place of an injured Cody Lindenberg, who’s now with the Las Vegas Raiders. Last season as a backup, Williams had 44 tackles. Oklahoma State transfer Jeff Roberson (6’2” 230 lbs.) started every game last season with 58 tackles and a team-leading seven quarterback hurries.
The secondary is led by sophomore safeties Kerry Brown (5’10” 190 lbs.) and Koi Perich (6’1” 200 lbs.). Brown was third on the Gophers’ with 63 tackles while Perich earned second team All-America honors with five interceptions. Senior Darius Green (6’1” 200 lbs.) seems to be healthy again after missing much of last season due to an injury. Cornerback might be the question mark with sophomore cornerback Za’Quan Bryan (5’10” 190 lbs.) contributing 19 tackles as a reserve last season. Junior nickelback Aidan Gousby (6’0” 190 lbs.) added 23 tackles.
Does Nebraska still have the edge over Minnesota in talent and skill? I’m going to say yes. But maybe it’s my scarlet-colored lenses clouding my vision, but I have a strong feeling that Matt Rhule has made major in-roads in closing the culture gap with Fleck’s program. This is one of those games that Nebraska should win if Rhule is truly turning the corner in Lincoln.
