Hartman: Gophers' Leidner, Cobb ready to showcase talents in Citrus Bowl

As the Gophers football team gets ready to face Missouri in the Citrus Bowl, the school's first New Year's Day game since 1962, one big factor in its favor is that quarterback Mitch Leidner and running back David Cobb have healed from lingering injuries.

"I'm a lot better now," said Leidner, who missed the game against San Jose State on Sept. 20 because of a strained ligament in his left knee and turf toe. "I think I was pretty solid when the season ended but being able to get some running and lifting in these past couple of weeks, I've been able to put some weight back on and get some muscle back and get stronger and faster, I feel like, in these past couple of weeks."

After a very good middle stretch of the season in which Leidner threw for eight touchdowns and threw just two interceptions over five games, he was held without a passing score in the final three weeks of the season.

Still, Leidner didn't blame his knee for those final three games.

"That brace was helping me out a little bit that I had been wearing, but I mean there's a lot of things to go along with the passing game," he said. "We can't just blame it on a knee or anything."

Leidner will surely welcome the return of receiver Drew Wolitarsky, who missed the final four games. Leidner said the additional practice time is helping.

"Oh yeah, definitely, and they've been getting good work in," Leidner said. "We just have to continue to get better."

"They're good," Leidner said. "They're going to be tough and have a good front seven for us, good defensive line. We have to be ready to go against those guys.

"We're going to be able to run the ball on them, but we have to be able to definitely get some passes on them and slow their defensive end [Markus Golden, who has 8½ sacks this season] down."

This will be the biggest stage Leidner has played on. It's the lone New Year's Day bowl game on broadcast television.

"It's going to be fun," he said. "I'm always looking forward to big stages and big games. This is an exciting one because everyone in the country is going to have us on their TV and going to be watching us."

Meanwhile, Cobb, the senior running back, had perhaps the best rushing season in Gophers history. His 1,545 rushing yards set a school record, and his 13 rushing TDs tied for third all-time.

"In the back of my head, it's something you always want, but when you actually see it starting to happen and it becomes a little more real — I never actually thought it could really happen," he said. "But a couple of games I got close, and you know, the linemen on our team wanted me to have it even more than I wanted it, and those guys really bought in. That was the biggest thing that allowed me to have so much success."

Still Cobb said his original goal for 2014 was even bigger. "To win 12 games is the first thing, you want to win 12 games," he said. "Obviously we came up a little short, but it has still been a great season for us, and for me it was just to leave my senior season better than I came in. I wanted to be a better player, and I think so far I've reached that, and winning this game will top it off."

What is Cobb's relationship with his quarterback like? "Mitch is a great guy," he said. "I'm probably the toughest and most critical, and joke around with him the most. If he makes a bad throw, I make a quack sound for him. Our relationship is good, and I think that's what makes our team so close, because we have guys on our team that can tell a guy 'good job' or 'bad job' and the other guy won't take it in a bad way, he'll just pick it up."

Cobb, who played at Wisconsin in the season finale despite being listed as questionable because of a strained left hamstring, said he's feeling much better.

"Healthwise I'm pretty good and getting back to 100 percent and I feel pretty healthy," he said. "I don't think health will be a big issue. The biggest thing will be controlling the line of scrimmage. … I think the hamstring is good. It's just a matter of time. I probably feel the best that I've felt all season."

"You want to play on the big stage," he said. "When you're in front of people, good players make big plays. I look forward to it, and the challenge of playing such a great team. It's not only for me, but for some of those other guys who also have dreams [of the NFL], and some of our younger guys who want to put their name on the map. It's just a big opportunity for everyone on our team."

Jottings
• Vikings coach Mike Zimmer spoke of how important it will be to continue to instill mental toughness in players heading into next season. "When I talk about toughness, there's a lot more involved than just being physical," he said. "There's being tough in the fourth quarter, being smart in the fourth quarter, walking away from a guy hitting you instead of turning around and headbutting him — that takes toughness, too. Winning these games at the end of the game, that's a lot about mental toughness. We've shown mental toughness in some games — in Tampa we went down and scored and won in overtime, the Jets, Carolina, Redskins, some of those — and then we've not been very good in some of the critical situations."
• All the Vikings assistant coaches are under two-year contracts with the possible exception of offensive coordinator Norv Turner, who is expected to return. … Vikings linebacker Michael Mauti, a 2013 seventh-round draft pick who while at Penn State had two operations on the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and another on the ACL in his right knee, had a scope on his right knee recently, and while it's not nearly as serious an operation, he won't play in the season finale.
• Former Gophers defensive back Brock Vereen will be back playing at TCF Bank Stadium for the Bears on Sunday. Vereen recorded his first interception as a pro in Chicago's 20-14 loss to Detroit last week. On the season he has 34 tackles. … Speaking of former Gophers, Ra'Shede Hageman recorded his first NFL sack last week for the Falcons, who despite a losing record can win the NFC South by beating the Panthers on Sunday.
• Alex Wood, the Vikings quarterbacks coach from 1999 to 2002, was named coach at Florida A&M on Tuesday. He spent the past four years as the University of Buffalo's offensive coordinator.