Gophers football notes: Cobb plays through injury

FORT WORTH, TEXAS – The Gophers were straightforward all week with quarterback Mitch Leidner's playing status, but they kept another injury hidden from the media.

After Saturday's 30-7 loss to TCU, coach Jerry Kill revealed that running back David Cobb was limited all week in practice because of an ankle injury.

"He had a low-ankle sprain, so he practiced on Wednesday and Thursday a little bit, but didn't take any contact," Kill said. "He wanted to play in the game. I thought he did some good things, but he wasn't full speed, and we probably shouldn't have played him, to be honest with you."

Cobb had 29 carries for a career-high 220 yards last week against Middle Tennessee State. TCU held him to 15 carries for 41 yards.

"We knew if we were going to stop Minnesota, then we had to stop Cobb," TCU coach Gary Patterson said.

Gophers middle linebacker Damien Wilson is Cobb's cousin, and he wasn't surprised that Cobb played.

"I'm his roommate; I was with him all week," Wilson said. "Everything seemed fine to me, he told me he was ready to go."

The Gophers heaved a sigh of relief. Wilson entered the game as the Big Ten's leading tackler, with 24, and tied Derrick Wells for the team lead against TCU with 11 more tackles.

"He's a tough kid," Kill said of Wilson. "I didn't think he was going to play in the second half, but he played."

When Wilson went off the field with his ankle injury, nobody replaced him, leaving the Gophers with 10 men on the field. But on first-and-goal from the Minnesota 1, TCU running back B.J. Catalon got stuffed for no gain.

The Gophers still had 10 men on the field before finally calling a timeout. Kill chalked it up to a lesson in facing TCU's up-tempo, no-huddle offense.

"Fast pace," he said. "I mean, they snap the ball every 16 seconds. Put anybody over there trying to substitute, they're going to have that every once in a while. TCU had a penalty because they were going so fast. So it's a hard thing to get lined up, and Damien got hurt."

Forty-four coaches received votes. Jerry Kill finished third overall (behind Georgia's Mark Richt and Oklahoma's Bob Stoops). Stanford's David Shaw was fourth, and Duke's David Cutcliffe was fifth. Michigan State's Mark Dantonio and Ohio State's Urban Meyer were part of a five-way tie for sixth.

Kill and Patterson shook hands and patted each other on the back after the game. It was the first time the good friends had been on opposing sidelines.

"It was hard walking across that field," Patterson said. "But I was glad I was on my side and not the other. Kill is a good man."

• The Gophers finished the game without a sack.

• Sophomore Drew Wolitarsky caught his first three passes of the season for 24 yards. He missed the first game with a shoulder injury and played sparingly in Week 2 after a poor week of practice.