Gophers' Boddy-Calhoun is healthy, hitting and picking

His left knee was shredded and his promising season was over just moments into the second game. Lying on the New Mexico State field last fall, Gophers cornerback Briean Boddy-Calhoun allowed himself time to grieve.

"For about three minutes," Boddy-Calhoun said. "But right away, I was like, how are we going to attack this?"

The torn ACL injury was nothing new for the Gophers. Boddy-Calhoun said he drew inspiration from senior kick returner Marcus Jones, who returned with his same speed after suffering two torn ACL injuries — one in each knee — over two seasons.

This year the Gophers have had six more players go down with torn ACLs: linebackers Cody Poock and Nick Rallis, defensive tackle Scott Ekpe, tight end Duke Anyanwu, wide receiver Isaiah Gentry and offensive tackle Jared Weyler.

If those players need a fresh reminder that better times are ahead, they can watch Boddy-Calhoun flying around the field, tormenting receivers and making big tackles, just 13 months after reconstructive surgery.

"If I was a first-year coach here, I wouldn't have known that he had an injury," defensive backs coach Jay Sawvel said. "He's that good."

Boddy-Calhoun is tied for the team lead with five pass breakups and two interceptions. He's also tied for second on the team with 22 solo tackles. The junior from Wilmington, Del., will be a key figure again Saturday when the Gophers face Illinois, which leads the Big Ten in passing offense at 304.6 yards per game.

Boddy-Calhoun said the uncertainty at quarterback forces the Gophers to do twice as much preparation, but he's never shied from hard work. He was a quarterback and defensive back at Delcastle Technical High School in Wilmington, where he also made all-conference as a point guard and all-state as a high jumper.

He had the grades and test scores to play Division I, but he was too small then to draw much interest. Now listed at 5-11, 190 pounds, he spent one year playing at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas, where he caught the Gophers' attention.

They made him part of their 2012 recruiting class, and he made his presence felt in last year's season opener when he returned an interception 89 yards for a touchdown. But the next week at New Mexico State, Boddy-Calhoun went to make a play along the sideline and collided with teammate Damien Wilson, buckling his knee.

But Boddy-Calhoun, who is majoring in elementary education, is sure the rehabilitation made him stronger mentally and physically.

"That was my first major injury of my life," he said. "Football has always been there. It's never let me down before, so it kind of showed me that this game may not be here forever. So now it just allows me to really have fun and really respect the game every week that I get to go out and play."

When ESPN.com named Murray to its midseason All-Big Ten team, Gophers insiders whispered that honor could just as easily have gone to Boddy-Calhoun.

"Briean's a really good player, but his intelligence on the football field is incredible," Sawvel said. "We can move him to the nickel, and he can blitz. His timing is excellent. He's a very good man-cover guy. He can track a ball real well.

"There's a lot that he can do on a football field."