Minnesota Golden Gophers Putting More Heat on QB Early This Season

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Opposing quarterbacks have rarely had to look across the line of scrimmage at the Minnesota defensive line with anything to fear. The Golden Gophers have for years fielded an undersized group that couldn't find a sack in a grocery store.

Ra'Shede Hageman is changing all that.

The redshirt junior stands 6-foot-6 and weighs more than 300 pounds, casting the kind of menacing presence usually reserved for tackles at power schools like Ohio State, Michigan and Alabama.

Hageman has three of the Gophers' six sacks in the first two games, and the front four as a whole has put more pressure on the quarterback this season than they did for most of last year. Minnesota will need to continue that performance on Saturday against Western Michigan.