The Gophers football team held its annual local media day on Wednesday and with 21 total players speaking to reporters, they nearly could have gone to the line of scrimmage and run a play.
But the U will have to wait until July 27 for the start of fall camp, and until Aug. 28 for the season opener at home against Buffalo. But hype, perspectives and little nuggets of information were shared earlier this week.
Here are eight standout quotes from the players’ question-and-answer sessions:
‘Delusional’ goal
It’s often hard to pry a big-picture perspective out of a P.J. Fleck-coached player, but third-year cornerback Za’Quan Bryan and linebacker Maverick Baranowski were willing to take the blinders off.
“A successful season is really just us getting to the CFP (the 12-team College Football Playoff),” Bryan said. “We are delusional this year, and that is the thing for us. … I don’t have any personal goals. My goal is this team getting to the CFP and get to that level that we want to be at.”
After an 8-5 overall record a year ago, including 5-4 in Big Ten play, the Gophers will need to fill multiple positions (including Bryan at corner), stay incredibly healthy and improve in one-possession games. But if those things happen, the schedule might set up for the U could have a run like Indiana had last season, surprise entrants in the expanded playoff field.
‘Night and day’
Drake Lindsey is the presumptive starting quarterback, stepping in for departed senior Max Brosmer, an undrafted free agent who will start training camp with the Vikings next week. The redshirt freshman got a taste of college ball last year, completing 4 of 5 pass attempts for 50 yards and a touchdown across three games.
Now a year older, with two sets of spring practices and a year of tutelage under Brosmer, Lindsey feels much…
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Publish date : 2025-07-18 16:01:00
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