Ohio State is going to have their hands full with a Minnesota player on Saturday who very well could have been a Buckeye
The Buckeyes nearly landed him and now they’ll be going up against him.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are a 4-0 football team that just grabbed their first Big Ten win of the season last weekend over the Washington Huskies on the road. This weekend the Buckeyes are back at home and will host a 3-1 Minnesota Golden Gophers team in a game that has Ohio State favored by three scores. Ohio State defeated Minnesota 37-3 the last time these two teams played in 2023.
Ahead of the matchup, I got together with A to Z Sports’ Tyler Forness to learn a bit more about the Gophers. P.J. Fleck will be bringing a talented Minnesota team into The Shoe for a night game.
Koi Perich is a former major recruiting target for Ohio State. He’s had a good career with Minnesota to this point, how are the Gophers utilizing him this season?
Perich is quite an interesting player. The fact that P.J. Fleck was able to end up sealing the deal with the Buckeyes making that big of a push was huge. They absolutely love Perich, and are doing everything they can to both maximize and keep him.
Perich is a starter at safety, and he’s getting some snaps at wide receiver. It’s only 14, through four games, but they are working on getting him involved on offense. He’s also been the primary kick and punt returner. He’s going to be a huge part of the success of this team, and will be huge going up against this group of wide receivers.
What should the Buckeyes expect to see from Minnesota QB Drake Lindsey?
It’s going to be a mixed bag from Lindsey. He’s oozing with NFL tools across the board, with an arm that can attack every blade of grass on the field, plus size, and mobility to pressure the defense in multiple ways.
I believe Lindsey could end up being a first-round pick when it’s all said and done. However, he’s going on his fifth start, and lost his only road start to Cal three weeks ago. The Horseshoe is a different animal entirely, and it’s in the range of possibilities that he is overwhelmed. I will say that the Gophers are supremely confident in Lindsey being able to handle it.
If the Golden Gophers go on the road and upset Ohio State at night, how did they get it done?
Simple: they need Darius Taylor in the game and Lindsey to play mistake-free football. The Gophers do a good job of moving the ball and attacking vertically down the field. Plus, the defense needs to make life hard for Julian Sayin. Anthony Smith has been a monster on the interior, and he will need to continue doing just that.
If Ohio State struggles on offense like it did against the Washington Huskies, the Gophers can pull the upset.
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