Gophers football players are preparing to play Wisconsin for Paul Bunyan’s Axe on Friday, but three key pieces peered beyond the blinders to shore up their commitment to Minnesota on Monday.
Quarterback Max Brosmer and offensive lineman Quinn Carroll — two sixth-year seniors — said they will play in the Gophers’ to-be-determined bowl game, bucking a growing trend of players skipping postseason games to prepare for shots in the NFL.
Brosmer, a transfer from FCS-level New Hampshire, said he will “definitely” suit up. “It’s another opportunity for us to play as a team,” said Brosmer, who threw for 2,426 yards, 15 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in 11 games this season. “It’s a compilation of what you have worked on all season.”
Carroll said he respects higher-level prospects who might opt out and protect their draft stock, but he wants to get back to a “standard” of players not skipping the games.
“My goal ever since I came here was to be the leader, be the standard all the time, and I don’t want it to become a standard that we don’t play in the bowl game if we have NFL aspirations,” said Carroll, who has played three seasons at Minnesota after three years at Notre Dame. “Obviously it’s different for guys who are maybe touted a little bit higher or think it will be better off for them to start working on the next step, whether that is combine training or what have you. But that is one opportunity that I’m blessed with to play with the guys and I’m going to take full advantage of it.”
Left tackle Aireontae Ersery is a prime candidate of a Gophers player who might want to safeguard a higher draft stock and limit injury exposure by sitting out the bowl game. The possible first- or second-round pick has not said what he might do. For example, former U center, John Michael Schmitz opted out of the Pinstripe Bowl in 2022; he was drafted in the second round by the New York Giants.
Meanwhile, Gophers fifth-year defensive lineman Jalen Logan-Redding said he will return to Minnesota for 2025, instead of trying his luck in the NFL.
“Coming back next year is definitely going to be the best for me and being able to maximize all my opportunities and exhaust eligibility,” Logan-Redding said.
Logan-Redding said he talked with fellow D-lineman Deven Eastern, who has one more year remaining, about pairing up in 2025.
“We talk a lot about it,” Logan-Redding said. “… We are excited for it, honestly. Not only continuing to build the D-line, but just continuing to build on the experience that we already have. We’ve seen the amount of destruction that we can create when we are focused. Me, Dev and, of course, (Anthony Smith). He would be pissed if I didn’t shout him out.”
Smith, who has two more years of eligibility, has been one of the U’s best players in the last month. He has 23 total pressures and five sacks, including one sack in each of the last three weeks.
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