Gophers offense rushes to diversify its attack

Matt Limegrover regrets his timing in implementing the play-action pass in Saturday's 28-24 loss to Illinois.

An earlier adjustment might have been enough to finish the Gophers' second-half comeback.

"I wish I would have gotten to it a little sooner," Limegrover, the Gophers assistant head coach and offensive coordinator, said on Tuesday's Big Ten coaches' teleconference. "Once we got the play-action going, then that did free some things up and David [Cobb] was able to pop a couple runs in the second half."

Cobb's 11-yard run jump-started the Gophers' second of three touchdowns in the third quarter. His game-high 67-yard burst followed up by a 13-yard touchdown run gave the Gophers their first lead of the game minutes later. He fumbled late in the fourth quarter, leading to Illinois' game-winning touchdown.

The first half was a much different story. The Gophers were held to 56 rushing and 30 passing yards. Cobb, who entered the game as the Big Ten's fourth-best rusher, was limited to 7 yards in the first quarter and 19 in the second quarter.

Without Cobb as a factor, the Gophers had to find a way to adjust.

Limegrover wouldn't pin the first-half running problems on his offensive line. Instead the credit went to Illinois and the game plan it implemented with two weeks to prepare for Cobb and the Gophers.

"But fortunately that gave us a chance to get the ball a little bit on the perimeter with some jet sweep-type of plays to KJ Maye. And that really helped in the second half with the play-action. … I think it was more of a function of what Illinois had decided that was going to be their focus to take away [the run game], and that opened up other things for us."

As a result, the Gophers' counterpunch got a little stronger.

The offense has spent the past several weeks improving its response to opponents focused on slowing down Cobb. Saturday's game forced the issue even more, and the coaching staff is confident it can build off the second-half success that showcased a more balanced offense.

Quarterback Mitch Leidner completed play-action passes of 46-plus yards on back-to-back drives, both setting up touchdowns.

"I don't think there is any doubt we can build of that," Limegrover said. "It's been such an area of priority for us this year, and to get into a ballgame like that, where the run game isn't working the way you want it to, kind of that smash-mouth football, we're well aware that you have to be able to go to other things.

Limegrover said it's still too early to determine the status of wide receiver Drew Wolitarsky, who suffered a high ankle sprain in Saturday's loss. The coach did speak hypothetically, and said if Wolitarsky is hindered at all that redshirt senior Logan Hutton would get more involved in the wide receiver rotation. The option to pull a player off redshirt would also be on the table.

Head coach Jerry Kill and other coaches were traveling while the players got extra time to rest early in the bye week.