PISCATAWAY, N.J. _ Carter Coughlin was on one knee in the middle of all his standing teammates, back to where his best friend Kamal Martin was down on the field, grabbing his right knee.
Martin buckled just before contact on a third-quarter play and needed help to limp off the field in the Gophers' 42-7 victory at Rutgers on Saturday. Martin eventually went to the locker room early via cart.
The No. 20 Gophers improved to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the conference, feats that haven't occurred since the 1960s, when the program won national championships and Big Ten titles. And with No. 6 Wisconsin losing a shocker to Illinois, the Gophers took sole possession of first place in the Big Ten West.
But possibly losing their best defensive player in senior linebacker Martin sours this triumph.
Even despite not playing in two games with a suspension and an injury, Martin led the team entering this game with 41 tackles. He produced highlight games, such as one where he forced two fumbles and another when he made two interceptions. He had five tackles before leaving the game Saturday.
While Rutgers' offense wasn't very challenging, with weird misplays like backward passes and snaps that bounced off the third-string quarterback's facemask, the Gophers defense was the star of the game. It held Rutgers to just 189 total yards, only allowing a late touchdown after Martin had left the game.
The offense wasn't its best, maybe because quarterback Tanner Morgan struggled. He completed 15 of 28 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns. He was a bit inconsistent, such as on the Gophers' second touchdown. He overthrew wide-open Tyler Johnson on first down and then a wide-open Rashod Bateman on second down. But he ultimately redeemed himself on third down, throwing the same play to Bateman for a 13-yard score.
Bateman and Johnson both had standout plays, Johnson on 36-yard gain where he cut back and spun out of numerous tackles, and Bateman with one of his now-trademark one-handed grabs while a Rutgers defender interfered.
But the defense had some of those as well. Safety Antoine Winfield Jr., made two interceptions, one for a 33-yard touchdown.
This plays were standouts, while Martin's injury was a low point. But in the end, the Gophers were still playing a now 1-6 team that didn't pose much of a threat. The offense still accumulated 443 yards despite a very slow start. The Gophers even put in some backups toward the end, with freshman Cole Kramer in at quarterback rather than fellow freshman Jacob Clark. Freshman running back Treyson Potts also took his first carries.
The best moment of the game, though, was definitely an extra point. Not even because of Michael Lantz's made kick. It's because of who held it.
Casey O'Brien has become a Gophers star this season despite having never played in a game before Saturday. He shared a speech about being a four-time cancer survivor at the Big Ten Media Days Kickoff Luncheon and later appeared on ESPN's Gameday to tell his story.
First diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer, as a freshman quarterback at Cretin-Derham Hall, O'Brien endured three re-occurring bouts with spots in his lungs. He's been cancer free for nearly two years now but has undergone treatments even while practicing with the Gophers.
He switched from quarterback to holder after a full left knee replacement, as contact could be catastrophic with how much hardware he has in his leg. But O'Brien has made it clear that he never wanted to just be a mascot for the Gophers. He wanted to play.
He did Saturday. And his teammates celebrated with him as if O'Brien himself had run in a touchdown.
