MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — As Minnesota was reveling last week in a decisive victory over Nebraska, the level of dominance by the Gophers defense dawned on standout Anthony Smith as he looked around at his teammates and started doing some quick math on their pass-rushing success.

“Everybody gets a sack,” Smith said. “It was like Oprah Winfrey out there.”

The Gophers racked up a school-record nine sacks — on a Huskers team that was ranked 25th in The Associated Press poll and averaging 41 points per game — along the way to winning 24-6.

“That’s what happens in this defense,” said Smith, one of the team's top NFL prospects who is tied for seventh in the FBS with a career-high seven sacks. “We get home.”

Home is also where Gophers coach P.J. Fleck looked first earlier this year for a new defe

See Full Page