I've seen a number of references to this game, including from media personalities, which go something like this "A lot of these guys played really well in the Holiday Bowl under Claeys and now suddenly can't play". I went back and looked and this just isn't the case. Here is the depth chart for the Gophers for the Holiday Bowl:
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools...016-17/misc_non_event/122316PositionChart.pdf
The Dline consisted of Hank Ekpe, Scott Ekpe, Steven Richardson, and Gaelin Elmore (2 Seniors and 2 Juniors) backups were Devers, Timms, Stelter and DeLattiboudere (Senior, Junior, Freshman, Freshman)
The Linebackers consisted of Celestin, Rallis, and Lynn (2 Seniors and a Junior) backups were Martin, Barber, Huff/Couglin (Freshman, Freshman, Sophomore, Freshman)
The Defensive Backs consisted of Durr, Myrick, Travis, and McGhee (Freshman, Senior, Senior, Junior) with Amoako, Huff, Ayinde listed as backups (only one CB listed as a backup though Alonzo Craighton would play in the game)
The only player listed as a starter for the Washington State game that is still on the roster is Coney Durr who tore his ACL in that game and certainly wasn't the same guy in 2017 and has still struggled with his health in 2018.
Here are the game stats:
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2016-12-27-washington-state.html
The first thing that stands out is that Blake Cashman had a fantastic game and was not listed on the two deeps. Blake played a situational role at the time and you could certainly argue that he'd be better playing in a system that allows him to rush the passer and get in the backfield more often like under Claeys. Stilll, Cashman has been our highest graded linebacker in many games this year so he's not exactly the problem. Carter Coughlin also had a productive game, but Carter has been the Gophers most impactful defender this year, so you can't argue the coaches are not using him well. The other players to register statistics in the game that are still on the roster: Coney Durr, Kamal Martin, and Julian Huff. So you have a total of 5 guys still on the roster that played (or at least registered some statistic in that game) and that includes nobody on the defensive line and just one secondary player. Huff/Cashman normally played pass rushing roles for that Gopher team and could be kept fresh because they played 4 veteran linebackers ahead of them (Cody Poock was injured for this game). There is just one secondary player left from that game in Coney Durr and as mentioned before, he had the knee injury in that game and hadn't played a ton before that injury to truly grasp who he was going to be.
This is not a defense of PJ Fleck or Robb Smith, but to suggest the current team is anywhere close to what was on the field for the Holiday Bowl just isn't the case at all. This Gopher defense is terrible, but it's terrible with a different cast of characters than were on the field for that game.
