The Gophers had 11 rushers surpass 1,000 yards in the eight seasons from 1999 through 2006. The lowest total to lead the team in rushing in that time was Tellis Redmon's 1,091 yards in 2001. Minnesota was the first team in the history of major college football to have three consecutive seasons with a pair of 1,000-yard rushers (2003-05).
You can't watch the 2013 Gophers and the manner in which they have muscled through four non-conference opponents without being reminded of Minnesota's ability to run the ball with Mason.
OK, maybe you can, but I can't. And thus inspired, I called Mason this week for a column that will appear in Thursday's print edition -- the theme being, Gophers' running attacks, then and now.
Mason's Gophers usually had the quarterback under center. They ran from multiple formations without having all that many running plays. It was based on zone blocking ... getting mobile linemen to the point of attack for double teams.
Jerry Kill has the quarterback in a shotgun formation with a running back nearby. The QB either hands off or keeps the ball, based on his read of the defensive end
The Spread. The Read Option. Those are the working terms.
"Joe Tiller at Purdue brought the spread to the Big Ten, but as a passing offense," Mason said. "Randy Walker, the late Randy Walker, had gone down to Tulane, to see what Tommy Bowden and his offensive coordinator, Rich Rodriguez, were doing with a running quarterback out of the spread.
"Randy was hired at Northwestern for 1999 and found out in a hurry he was going to need something different to compete, so he stole that spread with a running quarterback from Tulane. That's how the spread got to the Big Ten ... first Tiller, then Walker."