Mohamed Ibrahim’s season-ending injury will test Minnesota football’s culture

Back in July during Big Ten Media Days, Mohamed Ibrahim was asked a question about his legacy.

A now-haunting inquiry, given the news the Minnesota running back’s season is over thanks to a lower-left leg injury suffered Thursday against Ohio State.

But the “bowling ball  going downhill with razor blades on it,” as Gophers coach PJ Fleck calls him, comes off as a young man who understands the big picture as well as the inside zone running scheme.

“I think that the most important thing is just understanding my story in where I came from,” said Ibrahim, the 2020 Big Ten running back of the year and perhaps the best nationally at his position entering this season. He’s in the running for the best to ever do it at Minnesota — and that list includes Darrell Thompson, Laurence Maroney and Marion Barber.

Ibrahim continued: “I went from scout team to where I am now, and I want people to understand that anybody can do it. … It’s possible to be at the bottom of the totem pole and work your way all the way up to the top level.

“I just want people to understand that if you’re in a down place, or if you don’t think that you can do what you can do, you can actually do it at the end of the day.”

Golden Gophers fans have to hope Ibrahim’s teammates are paying attention.

Credit Fleck for being honest. There is no “next man up” behind a guy of Ibrahim’s caliber. That’s 1,000-yards-in-7-games, third-team All-America caliber. Or 30 carries-for-163-yards-in-less-than-three-quarters-against-Ohio-State caliber.

“There is no replacing Mohamed Ibrahim, and this isn’t like you can just say, ‘Okay, well, just put the next guy [in],’ ” Fleck said in announcing Ibrahim’s status Monday. “You can’t do that as he’s such a special player — and I think the best back in the country for a lot of reasons.”

The Gophers showed against the No. 4 Buckeyes they’re a much improved team this season.

But they also showed they’re a different team when No. 24 isn’t out there. Any squad in America would be.

So now comes a test of Fleck’s “Row the Boat” culture. College kids are resilient. But they’re also emotional. And watching your best player leave the sidelines in a walking boot and later undergo season-ending surgery is certainly a shock to the system.

It’s a mental hurdle. It can also be a rallying point.

There’s no good news out of this. But one pseudo-positive is Minnesota has three winnable conference games to finalize the running back pecking order with Ibrahim out.

Trey Potts was the first to spell him Thursday. The redshirt sophomore carried 10 times for 34 yards against Ohio State. He appeared in 5 games last season.

Ibrahim helped coach up Potts during spring practice.

“The guy can just ball,” Ibrahim said at B1G Media Days. “Knowing that he got that power to take it long distance anytime he gets the ball is very amazing. … the guy has got talent. I’d say where he’s got to keep working is just being consistent in fighting and getting those hidden yards.”

Senior Bryce Williams — who scored against Ohio State — is another option. So is Cam Wiley, who had 381 all-purpose yards last year.

“Cam had a hard time understanding his game [last season],” Ibrahim said. “He tried to run like different people at different times. He’d see Trey Potts make a big play and thought that meant he needed to go make a big play, as he wants to compete with Trey. But [running backs] coach [Kenni] Burns and I have told him, ‘No, just go be yourself. Keep doing what you got to do and be Cam Wiley, because your game is your game.’ ”

Contests against Miami (Ohio), Colorado and Bowling Green may give Minnesota a chance to let freshmen Mar’Keise “Bucky” Irving and Ky Thomas audition, too.

“Ky has become more confident in himself,” Ibrahim said. “When he first got here, he didn’t believe he could play as he was looking from the outside in as he’s like, ‘I had Mo in front of me, this guy in front of me, etc.’ Now, he’s confident that he can get in a groove. He knows he can finally play with these guys and know he knows the playbook now. He can catch and he can run. He believes in his footwork now. He’s becoming more confident as a player.”

As for Irving, “he’s under me and Trey all the time. When he’s not with Trey, he’s knocking on my door or he’s at my house. He’s always wanting to learn. Even on Snapchat, he’ll Snapchat me as he wants to know the plays. He wants me to say the play and then he’ll repeat back to me what he’s supposed to do. He just wants to learn everything and soak everything up.”

The fact that reserves are hitting up the starter for advice after hours speaks to two things: a team dynamic where the top players are invested in their backups’ development, and the sheer character of a guy who once took his own lumps before blossoming into a star.

You see it in the fact Ibrahim has an evaluation for nearly ever player behind him on the depth chart.

The son of a Minnesota native mother and a Nigerian immigrant father had Rodney Smith to look up to during his younger days. Now, it’ll be Potts, Wiley or someone else’s turn to take the torch.

It’s sooner than expected. It hurts. And it suddenly becomes the A1 story in Fleck’s 5th season.

As for legacy? That can be reflected upon and debated later. Ibrahim was scheduled to undergo surgery Tuesday. He should be able to make a full recovery and eye a meaningful professional career when he’s ready.

In the meantime, you can bet he’ll be on the sideline helping Fleck and Burns keep the machine churning in Dinkytown.

“He’s got a smile on his face,” Fleck said when asked how Ibrahim was handling the news. “He’s obviously not happy with what happened, but he’s been able to deal with it, and there’s going to be a flood of emotions. When people get hurt like that and your season’s gone, there’s a grief process to that. But he’s doing really good, and he’s completely optimistic.

“He’s got a great presence to him.”

Phil Ervin

Veteran sports writer Phil Ervin brings his expertise on Minnesota and B1G football to Saturday Tradition. Follow him on Twitter @PhilErvin.