DETROIT _ How do you keep the nation's leading rushing team from running all over you?
Run all over the opponent instead.
That's exactly what happened Wednesday in the Quick Lane Bowl, when the Gophers used Mohamed Ibrahim's freshman-record 224-yard rushing game, two touchdown catches by Tyler Johnson and stifling defense to roll to a 34-10 victory over Georgia Tech at Ford Field. Minnesota outgained the Yellow Jackets 392-283 on its way to winning its third consecutive bowl game and first under coach P.J. Fleck.
Georgia Tech (7-6) entered the game averaging 334.9 rushing yards per game, but the Gophers (7-6) held the Yellow Jackets' triple-option run attack to 205, including 56 in the first half. Meanwhile, Minnesota's offense went 5 for 5 in the red zone in building leads of 13-0 and 27-10.
The Gophers were especially efficient in the first quarter, when they had the ball for 10:40 to Tech's 4:20 and outgained the Yellow Jackets 124-3 in building a 10-0 lead.
The Gophers won the coin toss, chose to receive and drove down the field, setting the tone. They made it to the Georgia Tech 13 before settling for a 31-yard field goal by Emmit Carpenter. Keys on the drive were Tanner Morgan's 21-yard hookup with Rashod Bateman and Ibrahim's 19-yard run to the Tech 16. Ibrahim rushed five times for 33 yards on the drive, and would go on to be named the game's MVP.
The Gophers forced Georgia Tech to go three-and-out on its first possession, holding the Yellow Jackets to five yards.
Minnesota took over on the Tech 48 after a punt and stretched its lead to 10-0 on Morgan's 18-yard touchdown pass to Johnson with 4:14 left in the first quarter. On the play, Johnson broke the Gophers' single-season receiving yards record of 1,125 yards. Big plays on the seven-play, 48-yard drive were Morgan's a 13-yard connection with Bateman to the Tech 34 on third-and-9, and Ibrahim bowling over Yellow Jackets cornerback Lamont Simmons to finish an 11-yard gain to the 23.
The Gophers defense forced another three-and-out, with linebacker Julian Huff sacking Tech quarterback TaQuon Marshall on third down. And when Pressley Harvin III shanked a punt for only 12 yards, the Gophers took over at the Yellow Jackets 35.
The Gophers drove to the Georgia Tech 5 but had to settle for Carpenter's 27-yard field goal and 13-0 lead with 11:57 left in the first half. A false-start penalty on true freshman guard Curtis Dunlap Jr. on third-and-2 from the 5 pushed the Gophers back.
Georgia Tech got its first first down of the game on its next possession, when Marshall broke free for a 19-yard gain to Minnesota's 44. Facing fourth-and-2 from the 36, Tech converted on Jordan Mason's 7-yard run. But Winston DeLattiboudere's second-down sack of Marshall for an 8-yard loss, along with two incomplete passes, forced the Yellow Jackets to punt.
The Gophers drove to the Yellow Jackets 30, helped by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on free safety Malik Rivera. But a third-down sack short-circuited the drive, and Fleck sent Carpenter in to try a 54-yard field-goal attempt. Carpenter missed, and Tech capitalized by driving to the Minnesota 27 and cutting the lead to 13-3 on Wesley Wells' 44-yard field goal as time expired.
In the third quarter, the Gophers forced the Yellow Jackets to punt from its 42, and Harvin had another poor effort, an 18-yarder. Set up at its 40, Minnesota pounced, with Morgan finding a wide-open Chris Autman-Bell for a 41-yard gain to the 3. On the next play, Ibrahim powered through the middle for a 20-3 lead with 8:24 left in the quarter.
Georgia Tech answered by going on a 14-play, 75-yard drive that lasted 7:23 and was capped by Nathan Cottrell's 20-yard TD run on an option pitch, cutting the lead to 20-10 with 55 seconds left in the third quarter.
Ibrahim and the Gophers answered quickly, with the redshirt freshman running free 58 yards to the Georgia Tech 18. Five plays later, his 1-yard TD run boosted Minnesota's lead to 27-10.
The Gophers made it 34-10 with 6:19 to play when Morgan hit Johnson for a 30-yard TD play. Johnson's 12th TD catch this season broke a school record.
