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
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Division	West Division
Record	8–5 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Jerry Kill (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Matt Limegrover (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Tracy Claeys (4th season)
Captain	Mitch Leidner, Cedric Thompson
Home stadium	TCF Bank Stadium

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. T–5 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
# – 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. 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.

The Gophers also saw quarterback Philip Nelson leave the team, announcing his transfer to Rutgers University shortly after the conclusion of the 2013 season. 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.

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 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 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. # Name Class 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. # Name Class 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. # Name Class 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 Jerry Kill 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

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 28	6:00 pm	No. 16 (FCS) Eastern Illinois*		TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	W 42–20	44,344
September 6	2:30 pm	Middle Tennessee*		TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	W 35–24	47,223
September 13	3:00 pm	at TCU*		Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	FS1	L 7–30	43,958
September 20	3:00 pm	San Jose State*		TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	W 24–7	47,739
September 27	2:30 pm	at Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (Little Brown Jug)	ABC, ESPN2	W 30–14	102,926
October 11	11:00 am	Northwestern		TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	W 24–17	49,051
October 18	11:00 am	Purdue		TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	W 39–38	51,241
October 25	11:00 am	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPNU	L 24–28	44,437
November 8	11:00 am	Iowa		TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 51–14	49,680
November 15	11:00 am	No. 8 Ohio State	No. 25	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	ABC	L 24–31	45,778
November 22	11:00 am	at No. 23 Nebraska	No. 25	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	ESPN	W 28–24	91,186
November 29	2:30 pm	at No. 14 Wisconsin	No. 18	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (rivalry)	BTN	L 24–34	80,341
January 1	12:00 pm	vs. No. 16 Missouri*	No. 25	Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium Orlando, FL (Citrus Bowl)	ABC	L 17–33	48,624
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after October 28 released prior to game All times are in Central time

Game summaries

Eastern Illinois

See also: 2014 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

1 2 3 4 Total E. Illinois 0 0 0 20 20 • Minnesota 7 7 7 21 42 Date: August 28 Location: TCF Bank Stadium

Middle Tennessee

See also: 2014 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team

1 2 3 4 Total Mid Tennessee 0 0 17 7 24 • Minnesota 7 21 7 0 35 Date: September 6 Location: TCF Bank Stadium

TCU

See also: 2014 TCU Horned Frogs football team

1 2 3 4 Total Minnesota 0 0 0 7 7 • TCU 10 14 6 0 30 Date: September 13 Location: Amon G. Carter Stadium

San Jose State

See also: 2014 San Jose State Spartans football team

1 2 3 4 Total San Jose St 7 0 0 0 7 • Minnesota 10 7 0 7 24 Date: September 20 Location: TCF Bank Stadium

Michigan

See also: 2014 Michigan Wolverines football team and Michigan–Minnesota football rivalry

1 2 3 4 Total • Minnesota 0 10 17 3 30 Michigan 0 7 0 7 14 Date: September 27 Location: Michigan Stadium Elapsed time: 3:15 Game attendance: 102,926 Game weather: Sunny; about 75 °F (24 °C); wind 15–20 mph (24–32 km/h) NE Referee: J. McGinn

Scoring summary Q2 11:10 MICH Smith 10 yard run (Wile kick) MICH 7–0 Q2 8:00 MINN Leidner 10 yard run (Santoso kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 :00 MINN Santoso 24 yard field goal MINN 10–7 Q3 6:56 MINN Santoso 48 yard field goal MINN 13–7 Q3 6:42 MINN Campbell 30 yard interception return (Santoso kick) MINN 20–7 Q3 2:52 MINN M. Williams 1 yard pass from Leidner (Santoso kick) MINN 27–7 Q4 12:50 MINN Santoso 25 yard field goal MINN 30–7 Q4 7:27 MICH Gardner 3 yard run (Wile kick) MINN 30–14

• David Cobb 32 Rush, 183 Yds

Northwestern

See also: 2014 Northwestern Wildcats football team

1 2 3 4 Total Northwestern 0 10 0 7 17 • Minnesota 7 7 0 10 24 Date: October 11 Location: TCF Bank Stadium

Purdue

See also: 2014 Purdue Boilermakers football team

1 2 3 4 Total Purdue 14 17 7 0 38 • Minnesota 14 6 16 3 39 Date: October 18 Location: TCF Bank Stadium

Illinois

See also: 2014 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1 2 3 4 Total Minnesota 0 3 21 0 24 • Illinois 14 0 7 7 28 Date: October 25 Location: Memorial Stadium

Iowa

See also: 2014 Iowa Hawkeyes football team and Iowa–Minnesota football rivalry

1 2 3 4 Total Iowa 7 0 0 7 14 • Minnesota 7 28 7 9 51 Date: November 8 Location: TCF Bank Stadium Elapsed time: 3:19 Game attendance: 49,680 Game weather: Overcast; 38 °F (3 °C); wind 12 mph (19 km/h) NNE Referee: Shawn Smith

Scoring summary Q1 9:13 IOWA Weisman 1 yard run (Koehn kick) IOWA 7–0 Q1 5:38 MINN Maye 9 yard run (Santoso kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 12:59 MINN D. Jones 44 yard pass from Leidner (Santoso kick) MINN 14–7 Q2 6:49 MINN M. Williams 9 yard pass from Leidner (Santoso kick) MINN 21–7 Q2 3:51 MINN Cobb 6 yard run (Santoso kick) MINN 28–7 Q2 :31 MINN M. Williams 4 yard pass from Leidner (Santoso kick) MINN 35–7 Q3 9:13 MINN M. Williams 3 yard pass from Leidner (Santoso kick) MINN 42–7 Q4 11:34 MINN R. Williams 1 yard run (kick failed) MINN 48–7 Q4 6:28 MINN Santoso 35 yard field goal MINN 51–7 Q4 :14 IOWA Stone 24 yard pass from Beathard (Koehn kick) MINN 51–14

Ohio State

See also: 2014 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio St 14 3 7 7 31 Minnesota 0 14 0 10 24 Date: November 15 Location: TCF Bank Stadium

Nebraska

See also: 2014 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

1 2 3 4 Total • Minnesota 7 0 14 7 28 Nebraska 7 14 3 0 24 Date: November 22 Location: Memorial Stadium

Wisconsin

See also: 2014 Wisconsin Badgers football team and Minnesota–Wisconsin football rivalry

1 2 3 4 Total Minnesota 14 3 0 7 24 • Wisconsin 3 10 7 14 34 Date: November 29 Location: Camp Randall Stadium

Citrus Bowl

See also: 2014 Missouri Tigers football team and Citrus Bowl (game)

1 2 3 4 Total • Missouri 0 10 9 14 33 Minnesota 7 0 10 0 17 Date: January 1 Location: Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium

Rankings

Further information: 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	—	—	RV	RV	22	RV	RV	RV
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	—	—	RV	RV	RV	24	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	25	RV	RV
CFP	Not released									—	—	25	25	18	—	25	Not released

Players Drafted into the NFL

See also: 2015 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
2	55	Maxx Williams	TE	Baltimore Ravens
4	127	Damien Wilson	LB	Dallas Cowboys
5	138	David Cobb	RB	Tennessee Titans
5	150	Cedric Thompson	S	Miami Dolphins