Nebraska Football at Minnesota PREVIEW | Emmett Johnson’s REVENGE GAME Could Run WILD

It’s what I like. It’s the authenticity in in coaches, right? They’re just going to shoot you straight. Hey, give a lot of credit to team X and they did this and they’re real matter of fact. And sometimes Ryan, like I get it, like the fan base could kind of roll their eyes and it’s about what this team isn’t, but he’s very unapologetic a lot like the guy kind of that we have in Lincoln. Is that is that still playing well in in in Minnesota with with the fan base? Because by now you guys got to kind of understand that’s just who coach Fleck is, right? Yeah. I would say that I think folks know who PJ Fleck is up here whether they want to or not is he is who he is. And the way I always describe him every single time is now this he’s almost uh well he is over halfway through his ninth season here which is crazy because now with James Franklin being fired, he is the second longest tenure coach. behind Kirk Ference. I mean, it is crazy to kind of see how the coaching carousel works, but he is five Red Bulls all the time. Not just one, not just two, not just three. He is five all the time. And that’s very off-putting for a lot of people. And if that’s not your speed, I get it. It’s just that’s the way he is, whether the camera’s on or the cameras off, whether you’re sitting in his office or you’re sitting at a press conference. So, he is who he is, and what he’s done here is win like 60% of his games during this time. And it’s a place that is very hard to win at in Minnesota. Jerry Kil had some success back in the day. Glenn Mason had some success back in the day, but you look at their records, they’re above 500 in the conference here so far. And you look at 2024, 2022, 2021, they ended with winning conference records. So, he’s winning at a place that’s hard to win at. And I think if you’re going to do that, you have to be something that can’t be normal. And PJ Fleck is many things, but I don’t know that normal is something that is going to be with him. Uh Ryan, as you uh it is hard to believe that Fleck is in his in his ninth year at Minnesota. It never I don’t know, to me at least, it never felt like he was a long-term type of guy. He’s a guy whose name has been brought up in other jobs as well. Not that I’m bringing that up for any particular reason this week. um how has the view of him kind of evolved and how people think about the job he’s done here? You mentioned it’s not a super easy place to win. He had the one really really good year in what 2019 I believe. Is that has he sort of because we saw this in Penn State, right? James Franklin sort of reset his own standard and that was used against him. Has that been the case in Minnesota at all? That’s a great question. I would say I’m I I don’t think it has. Um I know that expectations are for say a place like Minnesota. You talk about that 2019 season where they go 11 and two, beat Penn State at home, beat Auburn in the Outback Bowl, I think more and more fans in this market, because it is such a unique market within the Big 10. Why do I say that? There’s four pro sports teams in town. So, you’re competing each and every week with somebody for attention. And I think that this college football town is beginning to understand the realities of the situation that they don’t have necessarily the resources that a Nebraska does or Wisconsin does. When you just look at straight even athletic department revenue or you look at total donations, Minnesota is not upfair even in the top half. They’re in the bottom five. So the expectation would be for at least for me as someone who covers this program, I’d love to see a 2019 type of season, say twice a decade. Now, is that too much? Is that too little? I mean, I know that that wouldn’t be an expectation for say Huskers fans, but I think the reality is what it is here. And for him to continue to win games, I mean, he’s won eight or more games in three of the last four seasons, and they’re four and two right now. Probably won a couple of Big 10 games. They probably shouldn’t, but he’s a good coach and they have what they have for players. So, I don’t think the clock has to necessarily be reset. I know he flirted with UCLA a couple of off seasonasons ago. I don’t see that happening in this off seasonason, but I also think we’re setting ourselves up, and I’m sure you’re already tired of coaching carousel talk down there, but I think we’re setting ourselves up to see a coaching carousel that’s once in every five or even once in every 10 years if all these jobs do end up becoming open by November. Ryan, let me ask you something before we move on to the specifics of the matchup. Uh, I was talking to one of our guys that, you know, one of your colleagues, Brian Christopherson from 247 Sports, and and I’ve noticed this covering this team for so long. There’s like this closet, and maybe it’s not closet, like this this vitriol, I think, that exists between both fan bases. I don’t know if it was a Fleck Frost thing. I don’t know if it’s the five in a row. I like it just, you know, Brian talked about 1984 and some of the guys that still cover it bring that up. Do you get the sense that there’s like this it’s it’s an off the radar disdain in my opinion? It just doesn’t seem like that fan base really enjoys anything Nebraska. Is that accurate? Yeah, it is. It is the chuckle. I think there’s it is a strange one to me because I know that from Lincoln to Minneapolis, it’s not the far furthest drive, but there’s a lot of closer Big 10 schools or at least a few closer Big 10 schools. But I think you think about even going back to when Minnesota won here against Scott Frost and it was the hoodie gate where Scott Frost and his hoodies versus Fleck comes into his press conference afterwards and I haven’t seen him that fired up. I mean, I’ve seen a lot of PJ Fleck press conferences in my day, but he’s out here yelling at the pull pit about culture over skill, and I know that riled a lot of people up. And then the reality of the situation, too, is Fleck is six and one against Nebraska, and he probably shouldn’t be. And he’s 5-0 in his last five, and that’s with three straight onepossession wins. And I think there is a little bit of envy there that why can they do it at Minnesota, but we can’t do it here. And that’s where finally now and with Matt Rule with the year three bump that team’s playing well. Ryola is starting to figure out a little bit more. I think this is a very different type of Nebraska team that’s coming to town. But I saw the the Monday presser there with Rule and I I am absolutely also gobsmacked to learn Nebraska hasn’t won back-to-back road games since 2006. That cannot be a real statistic, gentlemen. I I refuse to believe that. It’s nuts. It is absolutely Yeah, that’s super depressing. Um, appreciate you bringing that up. Um Um, so I want to talk about kind of Minnesota, the way they’ve they’ve been playing so far this year. Um, obviously they’ve been throwing the ball quite a bit more than uh they have in years past, especially uh with PJ Fleck. And it’s that was the same thing I said about Maryland coming in. And Maryland kind of went out of their way to try and run the football against Nebraska as well. Do you think Minnesota will stick to who they’ve been throughout the year so far, or will they try and depending on how you look at it, either take advantage of Nebraska’s run defense or try and avoid Nebraska’s past defense? Yeah, that’s an outstanding question because Minnesota, and it is very strange for me to say this, the truth can’t be controversial. They stink at running the football. I mean, they are last in the conference against Big 10 teams with 44 rushing yards per game. Hey, I mean it it has been tough sledding. Now, some of that is because they’re all Big 10 running back. Darius Taylor has missed a month and he returned last week against Purdue, but this kind of tells the story is Darius Taylor last week against the Boiler Makers at home. And I’ll remind you Purdue is not some elite run defense in the Big 10. He had more yards after contact than he did rushing yards. And and it seems like Fe is the better runner. Am I misreading that? Feme has gotten so Feb boy the red shirt freshman you’re talking about he has gotten a lot more run because we’ve also seen their they brought in one higher profile I would say type of running back from Marshall and AJ Turner and in the first game without Darius he goes down with a season ending knee injury. Yeah we’ve seen now this is the third straight odd year and I say odd is in 2021 Minnesota was on running back five by midocctober which is how Bucky Irving and Kai Thomas back in the day got going. 2023 they were on running back five and I mean we’re already seeing now hopefully Darius can stay healthy but they were on running back three and four. I mean SE is the more east west explosive type of guy where Darius can make you miss in a phone booth a little bit more and I think he was rusty last week against Purdue frankly but that is the thing we’ve been asking Fleck about the offensive coordinator Greg Harbo Jr. as well is what can you do to get this running game out of neutral? It’s stuck in the mud. It’s spinning its tires. It’s out in the and it it is not in a good place. And I think to me it starts up front with physicality. And this is among the least physical offensive lines I’ve covered for Minnesota. Is that is that is that Marshall Beers and Ray probably that are driving you crazy? Yes. The interior of the offensive line has been something I’ve been screaming into the ether that they should change the bodies. But they refuse to change the bodies because I think Minnesota’s actually got a couple of good tackles and Nathan Roy and and Greg Johnson out there and I’m excited to see them match up with 96 and 15. I know 96 specifically has been just a game wrecker the last couple of weeks and see how they end up doing. But the thing with Marcelus Marshall who is you’re either going to see him at left guard or right guard. You look at the pro football focus stuff and I know the grades are all subjective and whatnot, but I don’t consider say QB hits and pressures allowed that subjective. No Big 10 guard has allowed more pressures, hurries, and quarterback hits than Marcelus Marshall. Yet, he is at no point in the first six games lost his job. I just I I cannot fathom continuing to run him out there or the same interior offensive line. But if they don’t get any push on Friday night, I got a hard time believing that they’re going to be able to do much of anything. And if that allows this Nebraska pass defense that I believe against power four opponents has more interceptions than they do touchdowns allowed and you can allow 96 and 15 to pin their ears back. It might be tough sledding. So they got to figure out a way to run the football on Friday. All right. Let me ask you something cuz I this is interesting just cuz Colin Coach Collins recruited our household so hard and I know how he feels about tackling and and versatility and the secondary and things like that. How much do you think and we heard coach Fleck allude to it again this week. How much do you think tackling is driving coach CS in particular crazy given his temperament and kind of what he’s seen previous secondaries accomplish at Minnesota? Oh, he’s pulling his hair out. I know he is. I mean, I I’m the one asking them about these missed tackles. I’m the one asking Flack about these missed tackles. They got 58 of them in their last four games, and now they get to play a Nebraska offense that has over a thousand yards after the catch. My favorite stat from doing my research this week is Nebraska pass catchers have more yards after the catch than Iowa does passing yards. I mean, that is that is silly. So, it is something to where you watch these games back and guys are in positions to make the right plays. Like the scheme isn’t part of the issue for me. It is the players are in position to make plays and they’re just not making them. Now, the question is why aren’t they making them? Are they taking poor angles? Are they being hesitant? Are they thinking too much? I don’t know what the answer is. I don’t know that Collins knows what the answer is, but the I mean they got a big test coming up on Friday. Whether you want to talk about Isaiah Hunter, Dane Kee, Jakory Bardy, or even the pride of Richfield, Minnesota coming back for his first revenge game against the team who didn’t take him. EMTT Johnson who has been sensational. I mean, he is so fun to watch right now behind in that Nebraska offense. I mean, get guys into space and let them cook because that is that’s what Nebraska does. So Minnesota has struggled to tackle in space and if that is the case, you know, they’re facing a Nebraska offense that’s got more 30 yard gains than any other offense in the Big 10. So they better tackle a lot better on Friday or else this thing could get pear-shaped in a hurry. I just want to say uh you mentioned EMTT Johnson there. There was an interview that he kind of a sit down with some of his teammates he did over the summer and they’re like, “Oh yeah, don’t we don’t we play Minnesota this year?” And let me tell you, he had October 17th on his on the tip of his tongue. He’s either going to have the best game of his life or he’s going to be so wound up he’s not going to do anything. And I have no idea which it is, but it’s definitely going to be different. Well, I’ll tell you, this is a Minnesota run defense that just gave up 250 something rushing yards to Purdue. I’ll be the first to tell you Devin Makabe is a player for Purdue I hope I never see again in my life. Okay. Listen, he does Nebraska fits, too. Yeah, he’s a handful. He had his coming out party what felt like eight years ago against Nebraska. Apparently, he’s still there. And that was when he was a big back. He killed Minnesota in 2022, killed him in 2023. Now Purdue found ways to win those games against Minnesota. And then last week he had over 59 rushing yards in only one game. And he comes in here and he’s looking like Mike Allot reincarnate again. So, I’m I’m really hoping that Emma Johnson doesn’t look like the last I think isn’t isn’t the stat going around there all that the last time Nebraska wore all white was back in I think 2016 and who was was the back newbie Terrell Newbie when he had the big game against Minnesota. Yeah, I’m hoping I don’t see Emma Johnson do that on Friday. I’ll say that. Let me ask you something because I I know a lot of the guys up there in the media. I think quietly there seems to kind of be this sentiment, you could correct me, fact or fiction, that there even though Nebraska’s defensive secondary stats are what they are quietly. Do you guys kind of think you can make some plays? Is that is that just me or is that is that kind of what you think? I’ll be the first one to tell you I ain’t the highest man on this pass catching core up here. They’re uh they’re coming off a performance against Purdue where they were one for 13 in contested catch situations. Uh I think Drake Lindsay his passing total is 220 though. Like it’s it’s 220 for this game. They got to know something. I’ll say this. Uh you’re going to get to see Drake Lindsay on on Friday night and I think he’s got a chance to be what I thought Aan Cali Manis was going to be back in the day. Um, Athan is performing real well out there with Kirk Sharaka at Ruckers now, but I think the processing ability for Drake Lindsay is far and beyond what it was for Ethan Cali McManison these years and Drake’s got the arm to make many of these throws. The question is, can he get guys and can guys get open? Because Minnesota has struggled to get separation. Now, they love to use Darius Taylor as an extension of the run game. I mean, you’re going to see Darius Taylor likely catch at least six passes unless there is some vendetta to take him out of the game plan. They are going to use him as an extension of the run game. And we saw them go to some screens last week. But I I’m not the one to sell you on these Minnesota pass catchers that they’re playing particularly well right now. They’re replacing Daniel Jackson and Elijah Spencer from last year and that was over 80% of their receiver production. They need to be a lot better for Drake because Drake is putting the ball where it needs to be. A large part of these times it’s just the 50/50 balls are right now in 1090 balls and that’s not a great place to live. Ryan, you see I I’ll be honest, you seem a little pessimistic about Minnesota. How do you think this one goes? I You’re playing possum, aren’t you? Yeah. I’ll say this, it Minnesota always plays Nebraska well and especially here at Huntington Bank Stadium and I’m very curious to see how Nebraska handles the pressure of now being ranked. all the hoopla around Matt Rule and Penn State this week. You’ve got you haven’t won back-to-back road games since 2006. I feel like there’s not very much pressure on Minnesota for this one. And I think the Vegas line, and I’ve had people ask me, is there some injury news for Minnesota that I don’t know about with this thing going from four, five and a half all I was probably one of the guys that asked that, not to you directly, but I did ask a couple guys in I’m like, what is going on? Yeah, I I there is no injury news for Minnesota as far as I’m aware. all their best players are going to be playing in this game. I’ll say if Minnesota’s physicality is the same as it was last week on the offensive and defensive lines, they’re not going to win on on Friday night. They’re just not. But the question is, can they play their best football of the season against a team that they’ve done that a lot against over the years? Now, I tend to believe that as much as it is going to be a Friday night game on Fox and everybody’s going to be in town, there’ll be 50,000 people in the stadium. You are what you are. And until you change that, the missed tackles and the lack of physicality scares me. So, I I’m going to tell you, I’m picking Nebraska in this game as we sit here today. It doesn’t feel good for me to do that. Knowing what I know about Nebraska in road games, Nebraska in these games, but Minnesota’s lack of physicality up front, it’s just so out of out of character for what this team has been for so many years. But when you look back at last week, again, they ran the ball for 30 something yards against Purdue, yet they had 250 put down their throat. Now you get a Nebraska team who I think is much better than Purdue, certainly has better skill possessions than Purdue. I’m gonna be picking the Huskers in this one. I knew you wouldn’t disappoint. Just you just always keep it a buck. Just it’s what you do. That is our guy Ryan Burns from Gophers Illustrated, part of the 247 Network. Ryan, we appreciate the time and uh I hope we enjoy the game more than you on Friday. Yeah, best of luck, boys. And I appreciate it. Yep. See you soon, Ryan. Appreciate you. Get it up. Get it up.

Nebraska football running back Emmett Johnson will be running ANGRY at Minnesota on Friday night. Minnesota247’s Ryan Burns joins Hurrdat Sports Live to discuss the Golden Gophers’ opportunity to spoil the Big Red’s Big Ten winning streak on Friday. Has there been brewing tension between Minnesota and Nebraska’s fan bases? Will Nebraska be able to break another narrative?

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