As was pointed out in the comments in the thread below, injuries have been a big story for the 2008 Gophers. Saturday's biggest blow came when cornerback Marcus Sherels left the game in the second half and didn't return.
The Minnesota Daily writes about the injury-plagued Gophers. On Sherels:
He appeared to have dislocated a shoulder, although head coach Tim Brewster did not confirm the nature of the injury.
“Hopefully we won’t lose him for long,” Brewster said.
Sherels came back from the locker room late in the game with his arm in a sling.
That doesn't sound so bad, right? Well, the full quote from Brewster courtesy of the AP:
"Obviously losing Marcus Sherels will be a tough one for us if we lose him for a little bit," Brewster said. "Hopefully we won't lose him for long. He's an outstanding player that we don't want to lose."
Reading between the lines, I'd guess that Sherels will be out for at least a couple weeks. I hope I'm wrong, because I think a big part of Ted Roof's defensive improvements stem from Sherels' ability to play solid on the outside. Confidence in his ability allows Roof to send Simoni Lawrence or Lee Campbell, or both on blitzes out of their 3-4 packages. We all saw what happened Saturday with Sherels out and Ryan Collado in. It wasn't pretty. Collado was giving receivers 10-yard cushions, and Kellen Lewis immediately exploited that.
Long story short, the Gophers need Sherels to have a speedy recovery.
- I led with Sherls because we can't emphasize enough how great the defense was on Saturday. The Indianapolis Star's Terry Hutchens noticed.
Moving the football had not been a problem for Indiana (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten) in its first four games. The Hoosiers came into the game ranked second in the Big Ten and No. 18 in the nation, averaging 453.5 yards of total offense per game.
This one, however, was an offensive nightmare. IU didn't get its initial first down until 2:29 was left in the first half. That came on a 77-yard touchdown pass from Ben Chappell to Marcus Thigpen, the Hoosiers' lone offensive highlight. IU had 17 plays for 101 yards in the first half. Take away that 77-yard pass play, and Indiana had 24 yards on 16 plays.
- The Minnesota Daily also talks about the use of Troy Stoudemire. The freshman lined up as a receiver against Indiana and now Brewster is saying the Gophers will use him on both sides of the ball.
- How good exactly is Eric Decker? Well, ESPN's (Insider) Mel Kiper ranks him as the 5th best third-year wide receiver in the country. Marcus Fuller of the PiPress points out that Decker's 696 yards through six games is best in the country. His 50 catches is third. And for those, like Gopher Nation, who have Decker in fantasy, well, I'm sure you're doing well.
- The U of M communications folks did a little profile of Devron Bostick available here.
- It wasn't too long ago many thought prep point guard Darius Smith would be a Gopher. Now, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, he's looking at Iowa State, Bradley, DePaul and maybe Kentucky.