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A roller coaster of a West Virginia University football season meets its end Tuesday, with the Mountaineers not exactly experiencing a cakewalk ahead of the offseason.
Tuesday's bout in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl (10:15 p.m., ESPN) marks the first-ever matchup between the Mountaineers (6-6) and a Minnesota team who, this season, ranks fourth nationwide in total defense.
Through the Golden Gophers' 12 games, opponents have averaged roughly 285 yards per game in addition to struggling to put up points. Minnesota (8-4) has surrendered an average of 18.25 points per game, ranking ninth in the country.
"It's one of the best defenses we'll face, if not the best," offensive coordinator Gerad Parker said. "We've played great defenses in this league, our guys have had to face those types. It's gonna be a monumental task for our guys.
"You see a defensive front that is long and big and active, a linebacker group that is long and big and active, the safeties are very active, the corners are very active, especially from the boundary. You certainly don't have to turn on the film and wonder why. They are very functional and line up well. Everything they do is sound. They defeat blocks as good as anybody we've watched as well, so it's very easy to see as to why they're so productive."
Among the Golden Gophers' leaders on that side of the ball is linebacker Jack Gibbens, a first-year graduate student at the school who leads the defense with 86 tackles. Up front, the team's defensive line features a dynamic duo of Boye Mafe and Thomas Rush, who combined for 11½ sacks.
"Their fundamentals are really, really good," head coach Neal Brown said. "They don't do a ton defensively until you get to third down, but fundamentally they're really sound. You can tell they put an emphasis on tackling -- they tackle extremely, extremely well at all three levels."
Brown equated what the coaching staff has seen from Minnesota as being similar to what Baylor threw at the Mountaineers earlier this season, saying the Bears were the "closest comparison in our league." The similarities include attempting deep throws, executing run-pass options and defensive schemes, among others, according to Brown.
Quarterback Jarret Doege, who threw for 237 yards in a 45-20 loss to Baylor on Oct. 9, echoed his head coach, saying that the Bears' ability to execute concepts well is apparent in the Golden Gophers' secondary.
"They [Minnesota] don't do a whole lot, which makes them good at what they do," Doege said. "They play a lot of basic coverage and they're just really good at it."
Countering Minnesota's defense seems a tough task, one that has been made even tougher after WVU leading rusher Leddie Brown opted out of the game on Dec. 16. Starting tight end T.J. Banks also announced that he was entering the transfer portal, leaving two gaps on the offensive side of the ball. Running back Tony Mathis is expected to receive most of the snaps at running back, while Neal Brown said the Mountaineers had "people capable" of lining up at tight end.
Identifying ample replacements is a necessity for Brown, but not only just in hopes of winning the game. The team's desires are much more than simply leaving Arizona with a win.
"We always talk about, what's our goals for the game?" Brown said. "Number one is to win the game. Number two is make it an enjoyable, memorable experience. The third thing is to salute our senior class as they leave the program, make sure we honor them in the right way. And the fourth thing is to build momentum for the next season."
Injury update
With the extended time off that comes with playing in a bowl game, Brown said on Dec. 17 that he expected some who have missed time with injury would be able to return.
Defensively, linebacker Lance Dixon (who missed the final three games of the regular season) and defensive back Jackie Matthews (who left early in the regular season finale) will be back in the mix. On offense, wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton is also expected to return.