An enormous challenge awaits Drake Lindsey and Gophers offense

Drake Lindsey completed 31 of the 41 passes he threw Saturday. He amassed 324 yards through the air, an average of 10.5 yards per completion. And he led a comeback from a 14-point second-quarter deficit, going 6-for-7 for 72 yards on a drive capped with the decisive touchdown with 3:19 left in the fourth quarter of a 31-28 victory.

That impressive showing for the Gophers redshirt freshman quarterback came against Rutgers, a team that’s giving up an average of 25.4 points per game under co-defensive coordinator Robb Smith, who was let go at Minnesota in 2018 after less than two years with the program.

Lindsey will try to build off that game against a far superior opponent: top-ranked Ohio State, the defending national champion.

The Buckeyes are allowing 5.5 points per game, fewest in the country, under defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, a three-time Super Bowl winner while he was on the New England Patriots’ coaching staff. And the game will be played in front of some 107,000 homecoming fans for a 6:30 p.m. Saturday kickoff at Ohio Stadium.

“We’re gonna do everything we can to simulate it,” Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said. “I don’t think you can ever do that exactly because that place is 107,000 fans and it’s deafening. And that’s for a noon kickoff, let alone all of those fans doing what they do tailgating all day and being ready for the night game. We know we’re walking into a really hostile environment.”

The Buckeyes defense makes the environment even more hostile for opposing offenses.

Led by All-Americans in safety Caleb Downs and linebacker Sonny Styles, Ohio State boasts two five-star and nine four-star recruits among its 11 defensive starters.

Gophers offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh Jr. likens Ohio State’s defense to that of a pro team, largely because of Patricia and the Buckeyes’ talent.

Pre-snap confusion and multiple looks are the norm.

“Coach Patricia, with his NFL pedigree and experience that he has, it’s a true NFL defense,” Harbaugh said. “If you sit there and try to figure out, ‘OK, formationally, this is what you’re going to see.’ Then it’s not.”

Said Lindsey: “Matt Patricia is a guy I’ve always seen on TV, and I always remembered him as the guy with the pencil on his ear. … They’re the best team in the country right now, and it’s an awesome opportunity to go there and shock the world — not really shock the world and our program, but other people."

Much of Ohio State’s defensive success comes from the fact that the Buckeyes don’t often let opponents near their end zone.

“If you get down into the red zone … it’s just a lot of bodies in there. How you scheme it, how you end up attacking it, it can be a challenge," Harbaugh said. “And not to mention, it’s a players game. When you place their players into that scheme, it’s tough. It’s just a challenge as a coach, getting them prepared for what they may see or what they may not see.”

Ohio State’s defensive line — ends Curry and Kenyatta Jackson Jr., and tackles Kayden McDonald and Tywone Malone Jr. — is a load for an opposing offensive line to handle.

“They get into double-eagle packages, and they are straight up the field,” Fleck said. “…They’re coming after the quarterback. If the run happens to get in the way, they’ll tackle the run."

For Harbaugh, the challenge that Ohio State presents is something to embrace.

“If you’re going into this game and you’re anxious or nervous or anything like that,” he said, “Yeah, I don’t think you should be on the field.”

That growth is impressing his coach and will be needed at Ohio State.