Spring Spotlight: Minnesota Golden Gophers

Ryan and Clinton continue to roll through Big Ten spring spotlights, talking Minnesota.Drake Lindsey took over under center for Minnesota in 2025 and had a fine season overall. He took care of the ball well with 18 TDs to 6 INTs, but the passing offense lacked explosiveness. The Gophers ranked 127th nationally at 5.9 yards per attempt for the season. Coupled with a rushing offense that struggled to gain momentum, and you have an offense that ranked in the bottom third in FBS in points per game. Lindsey will need to take his game to the next level, but would benefit from help out wide.Also helping would be a healthy Darius Taylor. After a mostly healthy 2024, the Gopher's star RB missed three full games in 2025 and large chunks of two others. Can he stay on the field and get back to the form he showed in 2024 where he had 12 TDs and 1300 all-purpose yards?New DL coach CJ Robbins enters and inherits an edge group that should be among the best in the Big Ten. Anthony Smith has a legitimate change to finish 2026 as the program's all-time sack leader, while now-sophomore Karter Menz had 6.5 sacks in 8 games last season. But 1400 snaps leave the interior DL. Can Robbins get this group up to speed? Join us on our Youtube channel live for shows. Spring time will feature shows Monday and Thursday live at 9 pm est until the conclusion of spring ball, with the episode dropping in your podcast feed the following morning. Follow us on Twitter to get notified when we are going live and to interact with the show.LINKS:Twitter: https://x.com/ITPCFBInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ITPCFB/Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-the-pylon-a-midwest-college-football-podcast/id1729819040Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0duY5MWU52VLBGm8sO7eaI