2014 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

The 2014 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Jerry Kill and played their home games at TCF Bank Stadium. They were a member of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 8–5, 5–3 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for second place in the West Division. They were invited to the Citrus Bowl where they lost to Missouri. It was their first New Year's Day bowl game appearance in 53 years, their previous was the 1962 Rose Bowl.

2014 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Citrus Bowl, L 17–33 vs. Missouri
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
DivisionWest Division
2014 record8–5 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coachJerry Kill (4th season)
Offensive coordinatorMatt Limegrover (4th season)
Offensive schemeMultiple
Defensive coordinatorTracy Claeys (4th season)
CaptainMitch Leidner, Cedric Thompson
Home stadiumTCF Bank Stadium
(Capacity: 52,525)
2014 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
East Division
No. 1 Ohio State x$#^  8 0     14 1  
No. 5-t Michigan State  7 1     11 2  
Maryland  4 4     7 6  
Rutgers  3 5     8 5  
Michigan  3 5     5 7  
Penn State  2 6     7 6  
Indiana  1 7     4 8  
West Division
No. 13 Wisconsin x  7 1     11 3  
Minnesota  5 3     8 5  
Nebraska  5 3     9 4  
Iowa  4 4     7 6  
Illinois  3 5     6 7  
Northwestern  3 5     5 7  
Purdue  1 7     3 9  
Championship: Ohio State 59, Wisconsin 0
    1. College Football Playoff champion
  • ^ College Football Playoff participant
  • $ Conference champion
  • x Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

Preseason

Heading into their fourth off-season, Jerry Kill's coaching staff at Minnesota suffered their first departure as linebackers and assistant head coach Bill Miller accepted the linebackers coach position at Florida State.[1] After a brief coaching search, the Gophers named Mike Sherels the new linebackers coach. Sherels had an extensive history with the University of Minnesota, playing middle linebacker for the team from 2003-2007 and then serving as a special assistant and then defensive graduate assistant under Jerry Kill from 2011-2013.[2]

The Gophers also saw quarterback Philip Nelson leave the team, announcing his transfer to Rutgers University shortly after the conclusion of the 2013 season.[3] During the off season, Nelson was charged with first-degree assault after allegedly kicking Isaac Kolstad in the head during a late-night scuffle in downtown Mankato, Minnesota. These charges led to Nelson's dismissal from the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football program on May 14, 2014.[4]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight 40 Commit date
Melvin Holland
WR
Ashburn, VA Briar Woods HS 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 4.5 Jan 27, 2014 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:
Jeff Jones[5]
RB
Minneapolis, MN Washburn HS 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 4.7 Feb 2, 2013 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 80
Connor Mayes[6]
OL
Van Alstyne, TX Van Alstyne HS 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 335 lb (152 kg) 5.4 Jun 17, 2013 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

    Personnel

    2014 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team roster
    Players Coaches
    Offense
    Pos.#NameClass
    WR 1 K. J. Maye Jr
    QB 2 Dimonic Roden-McKinzy Fr
    TE 3 Jerry Gibson Fr
    WR 4 Donovahn Jones So
    QB 5 Chris Streveler  Fr
    QB 7 Mitch Leidner  So
    WR 9 Eric Carter  Fr
    WR 12 Will Reger Fr
    WR 13 Desmond Gant Fr
    WR 14 Isaac Fruechte  Sr
    WR 14 Connor Cosgrove  Sr
    QB 15 Conor Rhoda  Fr
    RB 16 Jeff Jones Fr
    WR 17 Logan Hutton  Sr
    QB 18 Jacques Perra Fr
    WR 19 Michael Conway  Fr
    RB 20 Donnell Kirkwood  Sr
    WR 21 Melvin Holland, Jr. Fr
    WR 22 Jeff Borchardt  Fr
    WR 23 E. J. Sardinha  So
    RB 24 Rodney Smith Fr
    WR 25 Devin Wright  Sr
    WR 26 Brian Smith  Fr
    RB 27 David Cobb Sr
    WR 29 Louis Tuszynski  So
    RB 31 Cole Banham  Sr
    RB 32 Berkey Edwards  Fr
    FB 34 Jephete Matilus  Jr
    RB 35 Rodrick Williams, Jr. Jr
    FB 41 Miles Thomas Jr
    FB 43 Tyler Hartmann  So
    RB 37 Josh Parks Fr
    TE 39 Nate Wozniak  Fr
    RB 44 Jacob Krisch  Jr
    TE 47 Alex Bisch  Sr
    TE 48 Matt Oldenkamp Fr
    TE 49 Noah Scarver  Fr
    OL 52 Zac Epping  Sr
    OL 53 Luke Rasmussen Fr
    OL 55 Connor Mayes Fr
    OL 58 Tommy Olson Sr
    OL 60 Matt Leidner  Fr
    OL 62 Jared Weyler Fr
    OL 63 Jon Christenson  Jr
    OL 65 Josh Champion  Jr
    OL 66 Luke McAvoy  Jr
    OL 67 Brian Bobek  Jr
    OL 68 Isaac Hayes  So
    OL 70 Chad Fahning  Fr
    OL 71 Kyle McAvoy  Jr
    OL 73 Joe Bjorklund  Jr
    OL 74 Marek Lenkiewicz  Sr
    OL 75 Ernie Heifort  Jr
    OL 76 Alex Mayes  Fr
    OL 77 Foster Bush  Jr
    OL 78 Ben Lauer  So
    OL 79 Jonah Pirsig  So
    WR 80 Aaron Marmer  Jr
    TE 81 Duke Anyanwu  So
    TE 81 Nick Hart  Fr
    WR 82 Drew Wolitarsky So
    TE 83 Drew Goodger Sr
    WR 84 Isaiah Gentry Fr
    TE 85 Lincoln Plsek Jr
    TE 86 Brandon Lingen Fr
    TE 88 Maxx Williams  So
    WR 89 Connor Krizancic Fr
    Defense
    Pos.#NameClass
    LB 1 De'Niro Laster  Fr
    DB 2 Cedric Thompson Sr
    DB 3 Derrick Wells Sr
    LB 5 Damien Wilson Sr
    DB 6 Grayson Levine Sr
    DL 9 Alex Keith Jr
    DB 11 Antonio Johnson Jr
    DB 15 Marcus Jones Sr
    DB 16 Steven Montgomery  Jr
    LB 18 Peter Westerhaus  Jr
    LB 19 Cedric Dicke  So
    DT 19 Gary Moore Fr
    DB 22 Craig James Fr
    LB 26 De'Vondre Campbell  Jr
    DB 28 Jalen Myrick So
    DB 29 Briean Boddy-Calhoun  Jr
    LB 30 Chris Wipson  Fr
    DB 31 Eric Murray Jr
    DB 32 John McKelvey  So
    DB 36 Cavonte Johnson  So
    DB 40 Alexander Starks  Fr
    LB 42 Dominic Schultz  Jr
    DB 45 Adekunle Ayinde  Fr
    DL 46 Cameron Botticelli  Sr
    DB 48 Davis Alexander Fr
    LB 50 Jack Lynn  So
    DL 52 Yoshoub Timms  So
    DL 55 Theiren Cockran  Jr
    LB 56 Nick Rallis  So
    LB 57 Everett Williams Fr
    LB 59 Ray Dixon  Fr
    DL 69 Justin Carr Jr
    DL 87 Gaelin Elmore Fr
    DL 90 Demaris Peppers  Fr
    DE 91 Julien Kafo Fr
    DL 92 Robert Nondo-Lay  Jr
    DL 93 Ben Perry  Sr
    DL 94 Harold Legania  Sr
    DL 95 Hendrick Ekpe So
    DT 96 Steven Richardson Fr
    DL 97 Scott Ekpe Jr
    DL 98 Michael Amaefula Sr
    DE 99 Andrew Stelter Fr
    Special teams
    Pos.#NameClass
    K/P 18 Ryan Santoso  Fr
    LS 25 Payton Jordahl Fr
    K 33 Andrew Harte  Fr
    P 34 Logan McElfresh Fr
    P 37 Peter Mortell  Jr
    K 38 Emmit Carpenter Fr
    LS 40 Jared Hartmann  Jr
    P 41 Christian Eldred Sr
    K 42 Justin Juenemann  Fr
    LS 49 Dave Ramlet  Sr
    Head coach
    Coordinators/assistant coaches
    • Tracy Claeys (Associate Head Coach)
    • Matt Limegrover (Assistant Head Coach / Offensive Line)
    • Brian Anderson (Running Backs)
    • Jeff Phelps (Defensive Line)
    • Pat Poore (Wide Receivers)
    • Rob Reeves (H-Backs / Tight Ends)
    • Jay Sawvel (Defensive Backs / Special Teams)
    • Mike Sherels (Linebackers)
    • Jim Zebrowski (Quarterbacks / Passing Game Coordinator)

    Legend
    • (C) Team captain
    • (S) Suspended
    • (I) Ineligible
    • Injured
    • Redshirt

    Schedule

    DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
    August 286:00 PMNo. 16 (FCS) Eastern Illinois*BTNW 42–2044,344
    September 62:30 PMMiddle Tennessee*
    • TCF Bank Stadium
    • Minneapolis, MN
    BTNW 35–2447,223
    September 133:00 PMat TCU*FS1L 7–3043,958
    September 203:00 PMSan Jose State*
    • TCF Bank Stadium
    • Minneapolis, MN
    BTNW 24–747,739
    September 272:30 PMat Michigan
    ABC/ESPN2W 30–14102,926
    October 1111:00 AMNorthwestern
    • TCF Bank Stadium
    • Minneapolis, MN
    BTNW 24–1749,051
    October 1811:00 AMPurdue
    • TCF Bank Stadium
    • Minneapolis, MN
    BTNW 39–3851,241
    October 2511:00 AMat IllinoisESPNUL 24–2844,437
    November 811:00 AMIowa
    ESPN2W 51–1449,680
    November 1511:00 AMNo. 8 Ohio State
    • TCF Bank Stadium
    • Minneapolis, MN
    ABCL 24–3145,778
    November 2211:00 AMat No. 21 NebraskaESPNW 28–2491,186
    November 292:30 PMat No. 14 WisconsinNo. 22BTNL 24–3480,341
    January 112:00 PMvs. No. 16 Missouri*
    ABCL 17–3348,624
    • *Non-conference game
    • Homecoming
    • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
    • All times are in Central time

    Game summaries

    Eastern Illinois

    1 234Total
    E. Illinois 0 0020 20
    Minnesota 7 7721 42

    Middle Tennessee

    1 234Total
    Mid Tennessee 0 0177 24
    Minnesota 7 2170 35

    TCU

    1 234Total
    Minnesota 0 007 7
    TCU 10 1460 30

    San Jose State

    1 234Total
    San Jose St 7 000 7
    Minnesota 10 707 24

    Michigan

    1 234Total
    Minnesota 0 10173 30
    Michigan 0 707 14
    • Date: September 27
    • Location: Michigan Stadium
    • Elapsed time: 3:15
    • Game attendance: 102,926
    • Game weather: Sunny; mid 70s; wind 15–20 NE
    • Referee: J. McGinn

    Northwestern

    1 234Total
    Northwestern 0 1007 17
    Minnesota 7 7010 24

    Purdue

    1 234Total
    Purdue 14 1770 38
    Minnesota 14 6163 39

    Illinois

    1 234Total
    Minnesota 0 3210 24
    Illinois 14 077 28

    Iowa

    1 234Total
    Iowa 7 007 14
    Minnesota 7 2879 51
    • Date: November 8
    • Location: TCF Bank Stadium
    • Elapsed time: 3:19
    • Game attendance: 49,680
    • Game weather: Overcast; 38°F; wind 12 NNE
    • Referee: Shawn Smith

    [8]

    Ohio State

    1 234Total
    Ohio St 14 377 31
    Minnesota 0 14010 24

    Nebraska

    1 234Total
    Minnesota 7 0147 28
    Nebraska 7 1430 24

    Wisconsin

    1 234Total
    Minnesota 14 307 24
    Wisconsin 3 10714 34

    Citrus Bowl

    1 234Total
    Missouri 0 10914 33
    Minnesota 7 0100 17
    • Date: January 1
    • Location: Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium

    Rankings

    Ranking movements
    Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
    NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
    Week
    Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Final 
    AP NR NR NR NR NR NR RV RV RV NR NR RV RV 22 RV RV RV 
    Coaches RV RV RV NR NR RV RV RV 24 RV RV RV RV 22 25 RV RV 
    CFP Not released NR NR 25 25 18 NR 25 Not released

    References

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