Minnesota’s quest for a bowl game took a hit this week when the team found out receiver Eric Decker would be lost for the remainder of the regular season with a sprained foot.
Decker suffered the injury after catching a sideline pass Saturday in Minnesota’s 38-7 loss to Ohio State.
With its offense sputtering, the loss could not come at a worse time for the Golden Gophers (4-4 overall, 2-3 Big Ten).
“All 11 guys on offense have to step up to help replace a guy like Eric Decker,” Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster said.
“I truly believe that he’s the most complete wide receiver in college football today and you just don’t replace that guy easily.”
Judging by the stats, it just might take all 11 players to make up for Decker’s production.
Decker led the team by leaps and bounds in both receptions (50) and receiving yards (758).
In fact, his receptions account for 41 percent of the team’s catches this season, 62.5 percent of the team’s touchdown catches and 51 percent of its receiving yards.
“But with a group of guys, everybody is stepping up, everybody understands you have to raise your level of play,” Brewster said.
“We’ll be fine. We’ve replaced a starting center and it’s kind of our mind-set — next man up — and we’ve really challenged our team that way with that type of mindset and our guys are going to respond well.”
Even with Decker, Minnesota’s offense has produced just 21.1 points per game this season, second-to-last in the Big Ten. Its pass offense ranks eighth in the league, while its rushing offense is last.
With that combination, the Gophers are a distant 11th in total offense, averaging 49.3 yards less than 10th place Iowa.
“I just think we have to make the plays that are there,” Brewster said.
“That’s the thing we have to do, is just take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.”
The Gophers are coming off a tough two-game road swing to Penn State and Ohio State, where the team scored a combined seven points with that lone touchdown coming in the waning minutes of a blowout against the Buckeyes.
Brewster said he’s excited to be back home at TCF Bank Stadium, where a Halloween crowd should help pump some emotion into his team.
However, Brewster is expecting a very physical game from the Spartans, who are coming off a last-second 15-13 loss to Iowa.
“They play the game extremely hard-nosed, tough and obviously there’s no surprises when you play Michigan State,” Brewster said.
“You know exactly what type of fight you’re getting into and you better be prepared to be in that type of battle or else they’ll expose you.”
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