Hartman: Ohio State will be an even tougher test

The Gophers will get a much tougher test Saturday when No. 8 Ohio State comes to town. The Buckeyes handled an impressive Michigan State club 49-37 last Saturday.

In the past 25 meetings between the two teams, the Gophers have won only once, when Glen Mason's team, a three-touchdown underdog, beat the then-No. 6 Buckeyes 29-17 in October 2000 in Columbus.

Mason, a former Buckeyes player and coach, never will forget that one. The Gophers were 4-2 going into that game, had beaten Penn State the week before, and to give you an idea of how crazy college football is, after beating the Buckeyes, the Gophers lost to a 2-4 Indiana team that had lost 58-0 to Michigan the week before.

So, anything can happen.

Mason, though working for the Big Ten Network on Saturday, did watch the Gophers game.

"I thought it was just a tremendous performance by the Gophers," he said. "I've said many times that Jerry Kill's formula for success is run the ball, play good defense, get turnovers, use a good kicking game, and if the passing games works, they're really in good shape. That catch by Maxx Williams [a spectacular sideline toe-drag grab] was the best catch I've ever seen a tight end make."

Mitch Leidner played his best game, going 10-for-13 for 138 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for 77 yards.

"You've heard me say a number of times when I've been asked questions about Mitch Leidner, my analogy is he's like a 10-handicapper in golf, which isn't bad," Mason said. "The problem with 10-handicappers is they may shoot 78 for you. When they shoot 78 you win all the money. But every once in a while they'll shoot a 92, and when they shoot 92 you lose all the money. ... Well [Saturday] that 10-handicapper, in my estimation, Mitch Leidner, shot a 78, and that's why they had a big win."

When Mason coached the Gophers he was known for a run-first offense, and he likes what he sees out of Kill's offensive line.

"I was impressed with the offensive line most of the season," he said. "You don't have a guy like David [Cobb] gaining all those yards, running power football between the tackles, unless the offensive line is really doing a good job.

"There is nothing finesse about the run game for Minnesota. At times you'll have big yards put up by a team if they're an option offense or run a lot of bubble screens or stuff like that, but that's not what Minnesota is doing. They're doing it the old-fashioned way. They have guys that are blocking. Most of Cobb's runs are between the tackles, and they're doing a fine job."

Mason on Ohio State

Mason was asked for his analysis of an Ohio State team that will come into Minnesota as a 12-point favorite.

"Ohio State is a very talented team," he said. "When you look back, when they lost Braxton Miller, who I think is the most dynamic player in the Big Ten Conference, they had to go with J.T. Barrett, a redshirt freshman. He struggled. Then the defense struggled against a not very good Virginia Tech team and they lost at home. Then they got things going and struggled against a not very good Penn State team in State College, and it took them a couple overtimes to win that game.

"But against Michigan State — we all know what kind of defense Michigan State plays, to put up 51 points, they're a very talented outfit. Probably the best defensive game Ohio State has played to date. J.T. Barrett has come into his own, he executes that offense, I think, better than Braxton Miller. I'm not saying he's a better quarterback that Braxton Miller, he's not going to take that broken play and turn it into a big play like Braxton Miller, but that spread offense of Urban Meyer, he executes that not like a redshirt freshman. He looks more like a senior."

Mason got one of his signature wins 14 years ago, in his fourth season. Now it's Kill's chance to do the same in his fourth season.

Preparation was key

Kill said to try to get the Gophers to forget the shocking 28-24 loss to Illinois in their previous game, he shortened practices and made them more fun for the players as they focused on stopping Iowa's run game.

"The two-back zone they've hurt us with had been an issue," Kill said. "So I think everything we did helped us in preparation. The games that we lost last year we spent a lot of time studying on what we needed to do to win those games, what we needed to stop, what we needed to get better on, and that really helped us, there's no question about that. We really went back and analyzed, 'OK, why didn't we win? What do we have to do better?' I think all of that helped us going into Saturday."

While they beat Michigan State, the Buckeyes had to go into overtime to beat a Penn State team that wasn't as highly regarded as Iowa.

"Football is a crazy game," Kill said. "You watch yesterday and all the things that happened. I don't think anybody thought Auburn would get beat [against Texas A&M]. It's crazy. You have to be ready to play. You're working with kids that are 17, 18, 19, 20 years old, 21, and you know to get those kids understanding everything all the time is not easy to do. Football has always been this way, that's why you play on Saturdays. You can't get into comparing scores and all those kinds of things because the next week is a totally different week. That's why it is such a great game."

Leidner shares credit

Leidner talked about how the team was able to bounce back after losing to an inferior Illinois team and having a lot of people question how the rest of the season would go.

"It's just a credit to our coaching staff and the guys on our team to take that game and move on from it," he said. "We went into the bye week knowing we need to get better and needed to come out this month and play fast and start fast right away, and I think we did a good job of that."

He also talked about the importance of winning two trophy games (taking the Little Brown Jug for beating Michigan and reclaiming Floyd of Rosedale for defeating Iowa), the first time the Gophers have done that since 1967.

"It's huge for us, and it's really big for the state of Minnesota," he said. "We had really great support out here today — a great crowd. It was really cool to see, and I'm just happy for my teammates and coaches and fans."

Maye gets chance

KJ Maye, Minnesota's junior receiver, was asked if he was surprised to carry the ball 10 times for 66 yards against Iowa.

"It was in the game plan," the junior said. "All week, we've been working on getting the ball on the perimeter and making those guys run side to side, so I knew coming into the game that I was going to get those carries."

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on 830-AM at 7:40, 8:40 and 9:20 a.m. and on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. shartman@startribune.com