A Look At The Incredible Career of Mohamed Ibrahim

Coming Back From An Achilles Tear

2021 was looking like it could be a good year for the Gophers and started just like that. The Gophers faced #4 Ohio State to start the year and were giving them everything they had. They even led 14-10 at the half and then 21-17 early in the third. Then everything went south for the Gophers when Mohamed Ibrahim left the game with an injury that we would later learn was an Achilles tear.

The Gophers still ended up having a good year, but it wasn’t the same. 2022 came around and Mohamed Ibrahim picked up where he left off against the Buckeyes. He went on to have a career season. One that Gopher fans will not forget for a long time.

His Career Stats

So I’m just going to go ahead here and list out his stats from 2018 through 2022.

2018: 

• Carries – 202 (Sixth in the Big 10)
• Yards – 1,160 (fourth in the Big 10)
• Average – 5.7 (Eighth in the Big 10)
• Touchdowns – 9 (Seventh in the Big 10)

2019: 

• Carries – 114
• Yards – 604
• Average – 5.3 (Seventh in the Big 10)
• Touchdowns – 7

2020: 

• Carries – 201 (First in the Big 10)
• Yards – 1,076 (First in the Big 10)
• Average –  5.4 (Eighth in the Big 10)
• Touchdowns – 15 (First in the Big 10 and fifth in the Nation)

2021 (The Ohio State Game):

• Carries – 30
• Yards – 163
• Average – 5.4
• Touchdowns – 2

2022:

• Carries – 320 (Second in the Big 10 and third in the Nation)
• Yards – 1,665 (First in the Big 10 and third in the Nation)
• Average – 5.2 (Eighth in the Big 10)
• Touchdowns – 20 (First in the Big 10 and the Nation)

Career Total: 

• Career – 867 (15th all-time in the Big 10)
• Yards – 4,668 (11th all-time in the Big 10)
• Average – 5.4
• Touchdowns – 53 (Fifth all-time in the Big 10)

Mohamed Ibrahim has left quite the mark on the University of Minnesota football program. Three 1,000-yard rushing seasons and never averaging less than five yards a carry in each of his five seasons in Minneapolis. Those are some impressive feats as a player. He also led the Big 10 in rushing in 2020 and 2022 and finished 11th all-time in rushing yards for the conference.

For rushing touchdowns, he led the Big 10 in 2020 and 2022 and the NCAA in 2022. He is fifth all time in the Big 10 with 53 rushing touchdowns. Just amazing. It is such a travesty that he wasn’t even nominated for the Doak Walker Award, let alone winning it, the with numbers he put up this season. Now let’s take a look at every record he owns as a Gopher.

Every Record He Owns

• Single season rushing record – 1,665 (Previous record: David Cobb – 1,624)
• Single season rushing touchdown record – 20 (Previous record: Gary Russell – 19)
• Single season carries record – 320 (Previous record: David Cobb 314)
• All-time rushing record – 4,668 (Previous record: Darrell Thompson – 4,654)
• All-time rushing touchdown record- 53 (Previous record: Darrell Thompson – 40)
• All-time total touchdown record -53 (Previous record: Darrell Thompson – 43)
• Most 100-yard game record – 24 (Previous record: Darrell Thompson – 23)

This is one heck of a list. Three single season records and all this year while missing a game. Another four all-time Gopher records as well. His career has been nothing short of spectacular. He broke some records by a narrow margin while others he shattered. Mo’s career was amazing to watch, and I was glad I could see it unfold over the last five years. Mohamed Ibrahim is a Gopher legend and should get his number retired next season.

A Look Ahead For Mo And The Gophers

As mentioned at the start, Mo’s career at Minnesota is over and right now we are waiting to see him declare for the NFL draft. His mock draft projections have him going somewhere in the fourth round and is considered the eighth best running back in the draft according to NFL Draft Buzz. Ibrahim had a large workload at Minnesota, so he may not be on a lot of teams’ draft boards because of it. Mo could end up being a steal because of this. In the end, it’s early when it comes to draft talk and he has yet to declare, so for now we will have to wait to see where he goes next.

For the Gophers, they don’t have another Mo on the team and that’s the reality. The good news is that Trey Potts and Zach Evans will be there next year. Bryce Williams was on the team this year and is a senior and there is no word on whether or not he is coming back for another season or not. Either way, the Gophers seem to be fine.

With Potts’ experience and the anticipation of Evans, as well as the signing of four-star recruit Darius Taylor in the 2023 class things are looking good at running back for the Gophers. Besides, it’ll be the passing game that should be the focus of the offense for next season, with Athan Kaliakmanis as the likely starter.