Big Ten honors Gophers' Tyler Nubin, Dragan Kesich as players of the week

Tyler Nubin and Dragan Kesich, two players who played key roles in the Gophers' 13-10 season-opening win over Nebraska, were honored by the Big Ten on Tuesday.

Nubin, a senior safety, was named conference co-Defensive Player of the Week, an honor he shared with Illinois defensive back Miles Scott. Nubin intercepted two passes against the Cornhuskers, and his second pick and subsequent 14-yard return to the Minnesota 46-yard line, came with 58 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Nubin also contributed three tackles.

Seven plays after Nubin's late interception, Kesich split the uprights for a 47-yard field goal as time expired to provide the decisive points. Kesich, a junior in eligibility, also kicked a 34-yard field goal in the first half and missed an attempt from 54 yards. The winning kick was the Gophers' first walk-off field goal in regulation since 2003 when Rhys Lloyd kicked a last-second field goal to beat Wisconsin.

This is the first time the Gophers have had two players recognized in the same week by the Big Ten since 2019 when safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (defense) and quarterback Tanner Morgan (offense) were honored after a win over Penn State.

Other Big Ten honorees were Penn State quarterback Drew Allar (Offensive Player of the Week) and Purdue defensive back Dillon Thieneman (Freshman of the Week).

During his weekly radio show on KFXN-FM, Gophers coach P.J. Fleck told the story of how he was confident Kesich would make the winning kick against Nebraska, but that he walked down the sideline to the opposite 20-yard line to get a better view of the kick in case the game went to overtime.

"I looked to my left, and guess who's next to me? Mohamed Ibrahim," Fleck said of the Gophers' career leading rusher and 2022 All-America selection. "It was so ironic, and I just watched it with him. I was on the sideline and had my arm around him. It went through, and we kind of celebrated together. It was very different."

That type of catch is something the Gophers practice, Fleck said on his radio show.

"We teach a technique when we're on the sideline to throw your opposite knee in the air. Because when you throw the foot in the air and the ball's going to be caught out of bounds and you're going sideways with it like he was, it forces your back foot to drive into the ground," the coach said. "… He did it exactly that way."

Fleck also thought Jackson's attempt at a spectacular diving catch three plays earlier that was ruled out of bounds actually was a catch. "If it was called a touchdown, it would have been really hard to reverse [on replay]," he said.