The Elite, The Mayo & The Ugly – Virginia Tech

Mayo baths for everyone!

The Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-5) closed out the 2024 season and started the New Year with a 24-10 win over the Virginia Tech Hokies (6-7) in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

The Elite

Elijah Spencer. With Daniel Jackson opting out of the bowl game, quarterback Max Brosmer needed a new go-to target in the passing game and Spencer stepped right up, hauling in six receptions for 81 receiving yards and two touchdowns. After only recording nine receptions for 65 receiving yards and three touchdowns in his first season after transferring from Charlotte, Spencer put in the work this past offseason and gave the Gophers the No. 2 receiver they needed.

Darius Taylor. The Gophers’ star running back loves bowl games. Taylor racked up 208 rushing yards in the Quick Lane Bowl a year ago, and this year he totaled 140 all-purpose yards, including a 10-yard touchdown pass and a 28-yard touchdown run.

Max Brosmer. In his first and last bowl game as a Gopher, the signal caller finished 18-of-29 for 211 passing yards with one touchdown and one interception. It was business as usual for Brosmer, who has been the heart of the Minnesota offense all season long. He was exactly the quarterback this offense needed to take a step forward, demonstrating what you can do with a signal caller who is poised in the pocket and has the processing power to diagnose the defense and work through his reads. Brosmer also broke Adam Weber’s program record for most pass completions in a single season. Drake Lindsey has big shoes to fill next year.

The pop pass on the fourth down fake tush push. Beautiful.

The Gopher defense. What a performance. Virginia Tech was without five starters on offense, including quarterback Kyron Drones and leading rusher Bhayshul Tuten, but that also meant defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman had to game plan around a lot of unknowns. Job well done. His game plan put Minnesota in position to rack up nine tackles for loss, five sacks, a forced fumble, and one interception. They were disruptive all game long, forced four three-and-outs, and turned away the Hokies in the red zone twice in the fourth quarter.

Kerry Brown. True freshman Koi Perich has generated the most headlines this season, but redshirt freshman safety Kerry Brown has quietly put together an impressive season of his own. His impact in the bowl game was most felt in the fourth quarter when Hokies wide receiver Keylen Adams sprung loose for 47 yards on a reverse. Brown sprinted from the opposite side of the field to make the touchdown-saving tackle at the Minnesota 20-yard line. He then shut the door on the drive by breaking up a fourth down pass to Stephen Gosnell with a perfectly-timed hit.

The bowl streak continues. The Gophers extend their bowl winning streak to eight games, which is the longest active streak in the country and the longest in Big Ten conference history.

P.J. Fleck’s mayo bath. The greatest bowl game tradition of them all.

The Mayo

Dragan Kesich. What a disappointing final season for the former Big Ten Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the Year. He started the year 7-for-13 on field goal attempts, but rebounded after a bye week to go 12-for-13 over the Gophers’ final five regular season games. His bowl game performance encapsulated his confounding season, missing a 33-yard chip shot in the first quarter before drilling a 44-yard field goal attempt in the fourth quarter.

The Ugly