The Gophers were missing two of their top receivers Saturday, with Drew Wolitarsky out with a high-ankle sprain and Donovahn Jones under the weather.
Coach Jerry Kill said he actually planned to sit Jones for two series because of a minor disciplinary issue — similar to what he did with linebacker Damien Wilson one week earlier.
"Just like Damien — we have high standards," said Kill, who hinted that Wilson had been late for a meeting before the Iowa game. "I run my program that way, and I might get fired for doing it, but that's the way I am. We held [Jones] out for two series, and then he came in this morning and he was sick.
"Then the trainer said they didn't feel like he could go, so we didn't play him the rest of the game. Two-fold deal there, but that's the way we do things."
Kill has said that Wolitarsky is out for the rest of the regular season, but might be able to return for the bowl game.
Against Ohio State, Maxx Williams had three catches for 47 yards, Isaac Fruechte had three for 28, and fullback Miles Thomas had one for 10. That was it, as Mitch Leidner completed just seven of 19 passes for 85 yards, with two interceptions.
"[Jones] definitely makes good plays down the field for us, but I thought Fruechte made some great plays out there as well," Leidner said.
He can run, too
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer sounded surprised that J.T. Barrett opened the scoring with an 86-yard touchdown run Saturday. Who knew, the Buckeyes coach said, that his freshman quarterback was that fast?
"Think about that for a minute — J.T. Barrett took one, how far, 86?" Meyer said, with Barrett standing within earshot. "Pretty good for a guy who runs a 5.5 40 [-yard dash], with a big tail."
Barrett laughed, but later said "I think they do underrate my speed. ... We talk about it like [I'm] 4.8 -- I'm like, man, don't play me like that."
After watching cornerback Eric Murray try and fail to catch Barrett on that play, Kill said: "The dude can run because I know Eric Murray can run. Eric Murray is a 4.4 guy. I don't know how fast Barrett is, but he's 4.4."
Special teams praise
Ohio State freshman Jalin Marshall muffed a punt, Gophers freshman Ryan Santoso bounced a field-goal try off the upright, and another Gopher freshman, Andrew Harte, left an onside kick too short for his teammates to recover. Those were rare lapses for two of the Big Ten's best special-teams units.
"They're very good. They spend a lot of time on it," Meyer said of the Gophers' kicking and coverage game. He pointed out that Minnesota and Ohio State both rank in the top three in the conference in kickoff returns, kickoff coverage, and punting — and he said he knows why.
"Jay Sawvel is their special teams coordinator. We coached together at Notre Dame a long time ago," said Meyer, whose five seasons as wide receivers coach for the Fighting Irish (1996-2000) overlapped with the Sawvel's four seasons (1996-99) as a graduate assistant.
Record cold
It was 15 degrees for kickoff, making it the coldest game for the Gophers in five years at TCF Bank Stadium. Their previous low temperature was 18 degrees for the 20-7 loss to Wisconsin last Nov. 23.
