The Gophers trailed Georgia Southern by four points Saturday and faced third-and-29 from their own 6-yard line with under four minutes to play.
Tanner Morgan threw the ball. But the target wasn't All-Big Ten receiver Tyler Johnson, who had already scored two touchdowns. It wasn't sophomore Rashod Bateman, whose one-handed, 42-yard TD catch was the highlight of the season opener against South Dakota State. And it wasn't redshirt sophomore Chris Autman-Bell, who miraculously kept one foot in the end zone on a reception that forced overtime last week at Fresno State.
Redshirt sophomore Demetrius Douglas hauled in the 21-yard pass, following it up with a 10-yard catch on fourth down to extend the Gophers' drive and hopes for a third consecutive improbable victory.
Nine plays later, Johnson's third touchdown catch of the day with 13 seconds left stole the spotlight as the game-winner in a 35-32 victory. But if these first three games have proven anything for the Gophers — besides the fact they have had luck on their side to be 3-0 amid glaring mistakes — it's that their wide receivers are the MVPs.
Even Morgan said the receivers make him look good. Like on that final pass to Johnson, he admitted he underthrew the ball just a bit. Johnson adjusted. Minnesota won.
As long as he throws it somewhere in their zip code, Morgan said, the receivers will catch it.
"We're really deep there," the redshirt sophomore quarterback said. "Just guys that are confident in themselves and that we're confident in. And it's a tribute to how hard they work in the offseason. And how hard they push each other. That's a really close unit. The wide receivers are really close to each other."
Morgan said that all starts with Johnson as the senior leader. Double-coverage limited his impact in the first two games, but he made Georgia Southern regret giving him one-on-one matchups by going for 140 yards on 10 catches. The Gophers finished with 289 receiving yards against the Eagles, with Johnson, Bateman, Autman-Bell and Douglas each totaling 40 or more receiving yards.