Amid festive atmosphere, a dose of reality for Gophers football team in loss to Ohio State

Thursday night's Gophers football season opener certainly didn't disappoint when it came to atmosphere and drama. Minnesota was host to a sold-out crowd of 50,805 at Huntington Bank Stadium, with vocal fans returning to the venue after being forced away because of COVID-19 concerns in 2020.

On the Fox TV broadcast, 6,295,000 tuned in, making it the most-watched Week 1 Thursday college football game on any network.

Coach P.J. Fleck's team put up a competitive showing deep into the fourth quarter against fourth-ranked Ohio State, leading at halftime and early in the third quarter before the Buckeyes let loose their stable of speedy athletes in a 45-31 victory.

Fleck surveyed the whole scene — from pregame pomp and circumstance to the game's highs and lows to the unity of a full stadium — and came away impressed on the macro level.

"Our city's been through an awful lot. Our state's been through an awful lot in the last year-and-a-half to two years,'' Fleck said, referencing COVID-19 and George Floyd's murder by a Minneapolis police officer and its ensuing fallout. "That's the power of football. Result aside, for one minute, that's the power of football. That is what the world should look like. … That atmosphere was special.''

There was, however, an important football game to be played, and its results were not positive for the Gophers.

First, running back Mohamed Ibrahim, the heart of Minnesota's offense and among the best backs in the nation, suffered an injury to his lower left leg late in the third quarter. He limped off the field and later walked to the locker room with a protective boot.

"Hopefully, it's nothing major, but we don't know that just yet,'' Fleck said after the game. "… It's just unfortunate. He kind of got tangled up in a tackle.''

An athletic department spokesman said Friday that he did not have an update on the status of Ibrahim, who rushed 30 times for 163 yards and two touchdowns.

Second, after hanging tough in the first half as Minnesota took a 14-10 lead, the Gophers defense collapsed in the second half. The Buckeyes averaged 56.3 yards on their four second-half touchdown plays, with wideouts Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson combining for three TDs and freshman running back TreVeyon Henderson adding another on a swing pass he took 70 yards to paydirt.

Ohio State's run game, led by Miyan Williams' 125 yards on nine carries, loosened things up for the passing game, with first-time starter C.J. Stroud, to be effective. The loss of safety Jordan Howden to a second-quarter injury didn't help the Gophers, either.

"They ran the ball a little bit more effectively than we wanted them to,'' Fleck said. "We felt if we could truly stop the run, make them truly one-dimensional, we'd have a little bit better of a chance. They were able to do it enough where it kept the play-action game going. We were a little exposed at times.''

Third, the loss in the Big Ten opener puts the Gophers in a difficult position when it comes to the program taking the next step, and that's winning the conference's West Division and earning a championship game berth. Two years ago, Minnesota went 7-2 in Big Ten play, good enough to tie Wisconsin for the division title but not good enough to go to the championship game because the Badgers won the season-ending head-to-head matchup 38-17.

Since the Big Ten went to its East-West division format in 2014, the West winner has been undefeated in conference play two times, had one loss three times and had two losses twice. The Gophers already have one league loss, and it would appear that they could afford, at most, one more in pursuit of the division title. With eight more Big Ten games remaining, including a season-ending stretch of games at No. 18 Iowa, at No. 17 Indiana and home vs. No. 12 Wisconsin, Minnesota's margin is quite thin.

Not all was gloom and doom. The Gophers saw wide receiver Dylan Wright, a transfer from Texas A&M, emerge with five receptions for 57 yards, including a contested TD catch. He could become an effective complement to Chris Autman-Bell, who missed the game because of a leg injury but is progressing toward returning. Tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford hauled in three passes. And running back Trey Potts chipped in with 72 all-purpose yards.

"You'd like a few plays back; you can't take plays back,'' Fleck said. "We knew we were going to have to play pretty perfect to win that football game, and we were going to have to make sure they didn't play perfect.''