Minnesota RB presents early test for ‘D’
Urban Meyer glared at the stat sheet lying across the podium and shook his head.
Then coaching Ohio State and assessing a win over Minnesota early in the season in 2018, he lamented the effort by the defense, especially against the run.
The Buckeyes had allowed the Gophers freshman running back to rush for 157 yards and two touchdowns at Ohio Stadium.
“That's not acceptable,” Meyer said. They learned later, they were at least facing a good one in Mohamed Ibrahim. He was the Big Ten's running back of the year in 2020, surpassing 1,000 yards in only seven games of a coronavirus pandemic-shortened season.
Fast forward another year, the Buckeyes see Ibrahim for the second time when they visit Minnesota in their season opener Thursday night. The matchup looms as one of the biggest challenges for Ohio State's reloaded defense, which includes a brand new starting linebacker corps.
“Any time you're playing in the Big Ten, you're going to go against really good running backs,” coach Ryan Day said.
Ibrahim poses potential problems for defenses because of his size. Listed at 5foot-10, he hides behind a towering offensive line before using remarkable vision to hit openings.
“From what I've watched on film, he's an explosive guy,” defensive end Zach Harrison said. “He's good at finding holes and good at finding little seams, and that's something that's a challenge for us.”
The Buckeyes have used redshirt freshman Miyan Williams to mimic Ibrahim in preseason practices.
Williams is a similarly sized running back at 5-foot-8, helping with their preparation.
“They're kind of the same build,” linebacker Teradja Mitchell said. “Same playing style.”
The Buckeyes have needed some sort of a preview of Ibrahim. None of their
starters from the 2018 game against Minnesota remain on the team. Most of the roster has turned over.
If Ohio State is to slow him down, it will likely need sound tackling. Ibrahim can be evasive and break loose from the grasp of defenders.
“We definitely can't have any arm tackles,” Mitchell said. “We got to wrap him up.”
Though the NCAA earlier this year reduced the number of full-contact preseason practices from 21 to 18 for health and safety reasons, the Buckeyes sought to maximize their allotted time in camp.
“We spent a lot of time tackling in the preseason,” Day said. “We got to do a good job of getting him down, and there's a lot of different ways that we're going to look to do that.”
Harrison added that it's important for their front seven to be disciplined by staying in their defensive gaps. If they move too far out of position, a running lane could open for Ibrahim.
A veteran offensive line adds to the Buckeyes' early test and creates another reason Ibrahim could be difficult to bring down to the turf. Minnesota's starting
five up front remains intact from last season and has more combined starts than any other group in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
That is owed to the presence of Utah State transfer Karter Shaw, as well as returning left tackle Sam Schlueter and right guard Conner Olson, who took advantage of the extra year of eligibility given to all players as a result of the pandemic, returning as so-called “super seniors.”
“Definitely you can tell they're an older group,” Mitchell said.
In addition to their experience, they're big in the trenches. The five offensive linemen who started for the Gophers in 2020 weigh an average of 319 pounds.
“That's the first thing I noticed,” Harrison said. “They move well. They're very fast, and they move laterally. That's definitely going to be a challenge for us on the d-line, but I feel like we're an experienced d-line as well, so it's going to be a good matchup.”
The combination of speed and size also struck Mitchell.