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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 8 • 10 It starts with the running game, where Cobb — a 1,200- yard rusher a year ago — aver- ages 137 rushing yards per game and is two games removed from shredding Michigan in Ann Ar- bor to the tune of 183 yards on 32 carries, his fourth game out of six this season in which he's carried 29 or more times. He's three weeks removed from going for 207 against San Jose State, a game Minnesota won 24-7 de- spite completing just one pass. "The thing that make him so effective is that he rarely goes down on first contact," Trickle said of Cobb. "Offensive coor- dinator Matt Limegrover talked about Cobb's ability to take a play that looks like it's going to be a three- or four-yard gain and turn it into eight or nine yards. He's not really a guy that's going to lower his head and run you over, but he is pretty slippery and will run through arm tackles. "The system might have something to do with Cobb's numbers through six games. I don't personally feel like it's a huge factor in what Cobb has shown that he can do. Cobb is as good of a back as Minnesota has had since Laurence Maroney. The system certainly gives Cobb his opportunity to make plays and he definitely takes advantage of it on a week-to-week basis." The offense has been buoyed by the two other phases of the game. Minnesota has also been very good on special teams this season, beating Northwestern last weekend with a 100-yard kickoff return by defensive back Jalen Myrick with seven minutes left in a tie game. In the opener against Eastern Illinois, Minneso - ta blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown. Defensively, Minnesota's nine interceptions lead the Big Ten. It's returned two of them for touchdowns. Hazell said he expects Minne- sota to play a good deal of five- defensive back sets and not bring extra pressure very much, mak- ing for some extra bodies roam- ing around the defensive back- field that need to be accounted for in the passing game. That'll be part of quarterback Austin Appleby's job in his third start in as many weeks. "They're 5-1 for a reason, and it's their defense," Appleby said. "They play very aggressive. They're led by a number of se- niors. They're very, very stout, they're very big and they're very tough. They're downhill. They're very similar structurally to what Michigan State does. "It'll be a great challenge for us, but our guys are up for the challenge, and we have an op- portunity to make a lot of big plays and put a lot of points on them." Purdue will want to establish the run same as it did against Illi- nois and Michigan State, same as any team would in any game. Akeem Hunt and Raheem Mostert will face a defense Hazell expects to widen its front to "fun- nel" the ball inside and take away the edges. Results have been mixed. Northwestern's Justin Jack- son just ran for 106 on Minnesota. Middle Tennessee State ran for nearly 200 yards against the Gophers in a 35-24 loss in Week 2. Purdue will want to have that kind of success in the Twin Cities. Coming off back-to-back productive games, the offense is confident. "We put up 31 points against probably the best defense in the country," Appleby said of the Michigan State game. "That's al- ways something to build off of. We've got to continue to move forward. We tear the rearview mirror off. We don't dwell on last week or the week before that. We've got to keep pushing and keep getting better. We've got to be a little better than we were (Wednesday in practice). We have to convert third down. That's a big deal for us. That all starts with the quarterback. I've got to be better. We're going to keep get - ting better, and we'll be good for Saturday." j Minnesota Damien Wilson leads the Gophers with 66 tackles — 30 more than the next-closest teammate — and has 1.5 sacks and an interception. OPPONENT NEWSSTAND GopherSports.com: Minnesota game notes TwinCities.com: Attention to detail pays off for special teams TwinCities.com: Losing motivation for Myrick CBSLocal.com: Gophers have eyes set on Big Ten championship TheNewsTribune.com: Gophers keep following winning formula