Minnesota (6-5, 3-5 Big Ten) vs. Alabama (6-5, 3-5 SEC West)
Nashville, Tennessee - Music City Bowl
Friday, December 31, 2004 - 12:00 pm ET - ESPN
Coaches: Minnesota - Glen Mason, Alabama - Mike Shula
Series Record: First Meeting

On December 31 st, the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Alabama Crimson Tide will travel to the Volunteer State's capital city in hopes of winning the seventh annual Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl. This year's game will match the two schools for the first time in their programs' histories.

Minnesota will represent the Big Ten in the Music City Bowl for the second time in three years, having defeated Arkansas, 29-14, in the 2002 edition. The Gophers enter the game with a record of 6-5, after opening the season with five straight wins. Minnesota comes into its 10th bowl game having been victorious in its previous two, including a one-point win over Oregon in last year's Sun Bowl. Minnesota head coach Glen Mason is in his eighth year at the helm of the Golden Gophers and has a record of 50-45 to date. Coming into the 2004 game, the Big Ten is 1-1 in the Music City Bowl.

With 52 bowl appearances and 29 bowl wins, Alabama leads all teams in both categories. Despite their history of success, the 2004 Music City Bowl marks the first bowl trip for the Crimson Tide since a 2001 14-13 victory over Iowa State in the Independence Bowl. Only seven players currently on the Alabama roster played in that game. After a 4-9 record in his rookie season as head coach at his alma mater, Mike Shula has guided the Crimson Tide to a 6-5 record in 2004, but still needs a win in the bowl game to avoid the school's first consecutive non-winning seasons in the last 48 years. The SEC is 1-5 in the Music City Bowl, with its first win coming last year in Auburn's 28-14 decision over Wisconsin.

Minnesota on Offense
It is no secret what the Golden Gophers are going to try to do on offense. With the sixth most rushing yards per game in the nation, the Minnesota focus is on the ground. The duo of Laurence Maroney and Marion Barber III has combined for over 211 yards on the ground per game in 2004. The team's co-MVPs became the first tandem in NCAA history to both rush for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons. The two backs bring styles that both contrast and complement their counterparts. Sophomore Maroney is an elusive back with a tendency to run away from would-be tacklers, while junior Barber is more of a power back with a tendency to run over them. Maroney's 113 yards each time out and Barber's 98.4 yards put them third and fourth in the Big Ten respectively. If Barber runs for 118 yards or more in the Music City Bowl, the pair will be the first in school history each to run for 100 yards per game in a season. The Big Ten's best rushing attack, Minnesota has found the end zone 28 times on the ground in 2004 while accumulating over 255 rushing yards per game.

Despite not being the focus of the offense, first year starting quarterback Bryan Cupito has had a steady sophomore season. Throwing 14 touchdowns vs. only six interceptions, Cupito has thrown for nearly 184 yards per game this year. Cupito has learned quickly how to manage a game and an offense. Minnesota's 446.3 yards of offense per game ranks third amongst Big Ten teams and their squad's seven interceptions are the fewest of any team in the conference.

Cupito has distributed the ball between four primary receivers. Freshman Ernie Wheelwright has been the beneficiary of seven of Cupito's 14 touchdown passes, while averaging nearly 60 yards receiving per game. Junior Jared Ellerson has been instrumental as well, catching three touchdown passes and totaling nearly 43 yards per game receiving. The receiving corps is rounded out by sophomore tight end Matt Spaeth and junior receiver Jakari Wallace. Spaeth has four touchdown receptions and nearly 30 yards per game, while Wallace is just a yard behind with 28.8 yards receiving per contest. While no single receiver has put up significant numbers this season, collectively their production, combined with that of the rushing game, has earned Minnesota the second highest scoring offense in the Big Ten at 31 points per game.

Alabama on Offense
The Tide's passing game has done little rolling this season as third-string quarterback Spencer Pennington was forced to steer the ship through Alabama's stretch run. After starter Brodie Croyle suffered a season-ending knee injury in the team's third game and subsequent replacement Marc Guillon was forced out with back problems, Pennington has thrown for 121 yards per game and three touchdowns in his six starts since taking over, a stretch in which the Crimson Tide has gone 3-3, with losses to No. 15/17 Tennessee (17-13), No. 12/11 LSU (26-10), and No. 3/3 Auburn (21-13). The junior quarterback has completed nearly 52 percent of his passes, but has thrown eight interceptions, despite his team leading the SEC in turnover margin.

The Alabama offense has employed a similar strategy to Minnesota's this year; run early and often. The Crimson Tide has turned to two backs and handed the ball to each often. Before a season ending injury to his knee, just three games after Croyle went down, senior running back Ray Hudson was one of the SEC's most productive rushers. Averaging over 106 yards per game when his season ended, Alabama had to find a way to replace his substantial offensive production. The Tide found their man in sophomore back Kenneth Darby. After assuming the starting role, Darby rushed for 124.8 yards per game, despite gaining only 19 against Auburn in the regular season finale. He accounted for nearly one third of Alabama's trips to the end zone, scoring nine of the team's 30 offensive touchdowns in 2004.

The best that can be said about the Crimson Tide's passing game this year is that it has been diversified. Alabama averages just over 11 receptions per game, and while three receivers put up over 20 yards per game, none have been able to reach a 30 yard per game average. Wide outs Tyrone Prothro, Matt Caddell, and Keith Brown have each recorded a score this season, while combining for 79 yards per game.

Minnesota on Defense
Conventional wisdom would say that an offense that is almost singularly focused on running the ball would consume much of the clock and keep the defense off of the field. However, Minnesota's defense has been on the field nearly two full minutes more than its opposition's. The Golden Gopher offense has possessed the ball for just over 28 minutes, primarily because of a rare quick-strike running game.

The strength of the defense has been an ability to create turnovers. With eight more takeaways than turnovers lost, Minnesota has the second best turnover margin in the Big Ten. Senior cornerback Ukee Dozier leads the team with three interceptions and tops all Big Ten players with 18 passes defended. These turnovers have led the defense to the seventh ranked scoring defense in the conference, allowing 23.4 points per game. The Golden Gophers have allowed 408.7 per game, third most in the Big Ten. The Golden Gophers' 268.1 passing yards allowed per game were the most by any Big Ten team. The best passing deterrent that the Maroon and Gold possess is senior defensive end Darrell Reid. His 16 tackles for loss, including 6.5 sacks, have resulted in a loss of 75 yards.

Alabama on Defense
The strength of Mike Shula's team is the defense. The unit was at or near the top of every category in the SEC. The conference's second-ranked scoring defense allowed only 15.4 points per game, less than half what Minnesota averaged on the season.

If the Minnesota offensive philosophy was to run as often as possible before coming into the Music City Bowl, that strategy should be increased against Alabama. The Crimson Tide led the nation in pass defense allowing only 116.5 yards per game through the air. Led by senior cornerback Anthony Madison's three interceptions, the Tide boasted the best turnover margin in the SEC. Senior middle linebacker Cornelius Wortham led the Alabama defense with 86 tackles, for the fifth most per game in the conference. The weakest aspect, or more appropriately, the least strong, of the Crimson Tide defense is stopping the run. Only fourth in the conference, the unit is allowing 119.4 yards per game, which is still less than half of what Minnesota averages on the ground, and only 6.4 more than what Laurence Maroney collects himself each time out.

There is little doubt that the strengths of each team, Minnesota's offense and Alabama's defense, will be pitted against each other, but how the game plays out will surely be affected by the field position determined by the play of the special teams. Alabama averages the second most net yards per punt in the conference. With a strong 40.5 yards per boot, the Crimson Tide allows only 2.4 yards per return. Senior Punter Bo Freelend has downed 15 of his 57 punts within the 20 yard line, leaving opponents with a long field to negotiate.

Keys to the Game
One of the major determinants of success will be to see which team is able to most benefit from the passing game. If Minnesota is able to complete a handful of passes early to loosen up the Alabama defense, the running game should benefit. With the combo of Maroney and Barber in the Gopher backfield, the tendency for Alabama's defense will be to stack the line of scrimmage. If Cupito is able to get Wheelwright and Ellerson involved early against the nation's best passing defense, the running backs will have a more productive game.

Conversely the Alabama passing offense and Minnesota's pass defense are both ranked 112 th in the nation. If quarterback Spencer Pennington is able to establish a passing game against the Gophers, that should allow Kenneth Darby more room to run for the Tide.

Both teams will run the ball and look to keep the ball in their hands as much as possible. Alabama's nearly 33 minutes of possession led the SEC, while Minnesota's barely 28 minutes was the second fewest in the Big Ten. If Glen Mason's squad is able to somehow reverse that trend, the game should turn in Minnesota's favor.