Here's what the Minnesota coach had to say in his weekly press conference pertaining to NU. Do you get the feeling that the Gophers top priority will be stopping Justin Jackson?
Q. Tracy, what concerns you the most about your defense facing --
COACH CLAEYS: Well, it's control the running game part of it. We got to make sure that they don't have a big day running the football, and then keep the ball in front of us on the passing game. So, sounds like it's going to be a little windy and that, and so, we're definitely going to -- we're going to have to control Justin Jackson and keep him from having a big day, and if we do that, then I think we'll have an opportunity to win.
Q. Have you seen Thorson make pretty big strides from last year?
COACH CLAEYS: Yeah. Sure. He has, he has. As the season went on, they are playing to their strengths, and so they've -- he's definitely played better here as the season went on, you know, but it all starts with the running back.
Q. Austin Carr for them has been real effective including on third downs. How do you go about trying to minimize him as much as possible?
COACH CLAEYS: Yards after catch. I mean, again, it's going to come down to that. What you talk about, they're going to catch the ball. They're a no huddle, up tempo team. They're going to catch a few passes. You got to tackle them when they catch them. I know they won't have to throw to them when they stop the running back. That's where we'll concentrate first.
Q. Against Northwestern, you guys were going back and forth a lot since you've been there. What is your identity as a football team?
COACH CLAEYS: I mean now, you got to stop the run, you know. The Jackson kid is where it all starts. But you still have -- you have all of the up tempo teams. They possibly work faster than any of them also. And so being able to get in substitutions and all of that is a little bit of a concern for how much we've been substituting on defense and so -- but they've had their years when they really relied on the pass and scrambling around a lot more, and this year, without a doubt, it all starts with the running back and we got to take him away.
Q. Tracy, what concerns you the most about your defense facing --
COACH CLAEYS: Well, it's control the running game part of it. We got to make sure that they don't have a big day running the football, and then keep the ball in front of us on the passing game. So, sounds like it's going to be a little windy and that, and so, we're definitely going to -- we're going to have to control Justin Jackson and keep him from having a big day, and if we do that, then I think we'll have an opportunity to win.
Q. Have you seen Thorson make pretty big strides from last year?
COACH CLAEYS: Yeah. Sure. He has, he has. As the season went on, they are playing to their strengths, and so they've -- he's definitely played better here as the season went on, you know, but it all starts with the running back.
Q. Austin Carr for them has been real effective including on third downs. How do you go about trying to minimize him as much as possible?
COACH CLAEYS: Yards after catch. I mean, again, it's going to come down to that. What you talk about, they're going to catch the ball. They're a no huddle, up tempo team. They're going to catch a few passes. You got to tackle them when they catch them. I know they won't have to throw to them when they stop the running back. That's where we'll concentrate first.
Q. Against Northwestern, you guys were going back and forth a lot since you've been there. What is your identity as a football team?
COACH CLAEYS: I mean now, you got to stop the run, you know. The Jackson kid is where it all starts. But you still have -- you have all of the up tempo teams. They possibly work faster than any of them also. And so being able to get in substitutions and all of that is a little bit of a concern for how much we've been substituting on defense and so -- but they've had their years when they really relied on the pass and scrambling around a lot more, and this year, without a doubt, it all starts with the running back and we got to take him away.
