Gopher The Roses

Minnesota Versus Miami (OH), The Day After

Again, people are upset. Come on, we did win. We did show improvement on the offense side of the ball and Adam Weber looked much more comfortable. Yeah, I get we played a MAC team but ease up a little.

Let the coaches do their job.

Below are links to newspaper articles and this one to the Sports Huddle With Sid and Dave and their interview with Coach Tim Brewster this morning.

From Gophersports.com: Stats, Quotes, Notes

• Gophers Victorious in Emotional Triple-Overtime Thriller Over Miami (Ohio)
• Gophers win in triple OT
• After squandering lead, Minnesota beats Miami Ohio, 41-35, in 3OT
• Jim Souhan: Two games in and already a season's worth of stomach knots
• Special teams have wrong kind of impact
• Weber reminiscent of a young Tarkenton
• Gopher Nation is looking like Weber State
• Defense gets a passing grade
• Giant-sighs victory
• U goes long; it's good

(Articles from the Minneapolis Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press may require a free subscription and may be archived by the source after 2 weeks)

Technorati Tags: Minnesota Golden Gopher Football, Miami (OH) Redhawks

Minnesota Golden Gophers And Miami (OH) Redhawks

Preview
I have done fairly well over the years picking Gopher football wins and losses. After last week and with everything being so new I am feeling a little lost.

First, we need to run the ball. I know we did it a lot last week but we need more this week. We need to take advantage of their smaller than average defensive line and we need to give our defense some rest.

This sucks, I am basically asking for Glen Mason era football. Moving on...

Our secondary will get even younger this week. It interesting to see how much of a cushion or young defensive backs are giving at the line of scrimmage. I know it’s confidence but find some. Quickly. Please and thank you.

Prediction
A shootout. No score predicted. 85 points scored. Coach Brewster and the 2007 Gophers get their first victory.

Miami (OH) Falcon Blogs
None that I could find.

Review
Final Score: Minnesota 41, Miami (OH) 35 (3 OT)

Holy Giannini. OK, I have a lot of respect for the young man and he has never been one to hide from the mistakes he has had. And I hate to say this but we need to use someone else. Joel Monroe might do as well and we had a walk on who has not been with the team since this summer. Sorry, I do not remember his name.

On defense, wow, we need some help. Maybe the coverages and blitz packages are more than we can handle at the moment. Could be, we are young. More zone defense with 5 and 6 defensive backs? Looks like we are no further along than last year.

On offense, see the “spread coast offense” does work. Lots of people have been saying it is not. Look at the statistics. Sure it is. We ran the ball more as hoped for 306 yards.

Coaching, there was some questionable play calling during the 4^th quarter. Please do not go into the conservative shell we have seen for that past 8+ years. We have had enough of that.

I was close on the points scored call but the 3 OT’s helped with that.

Congratulations Coach Brewster, staff and players on the first victory of the 2007 season.

Go Gophers.

Statistics
Rushing - Amir Pinnix 126 yards and 1 TD
Rushing - Adam Weber 97 yards and 1 TD
Receiving – Eric Decker 128 yards and 2 TD’s
Passing - Adam Weber 26 of 40 4 TD’s 1 Sack

Technorati Tags: Minnesota Golden Gopher Football, Miami (OH) Redhawks

Pictures From Minnesota Versus Bowling Green

Dang, I forgot to post these earlier...

Tailgating with the Goal Line Club:

Bumped into my Deke boys on the way in the Dome:

Pre game (yes the student section did fill up):

After the loss, Hail Minnesota:

Bowling Green being celebrating:

Technorati Tags: Minnesota Football Pictures, Gopher Football

Minnesota Versus Bowling Green, The Day After

The worse thing about losing to Bowling Green, any team from the MAC, is the public relations nightmare. We really needed to have a win out of the gate for many reasons but more than any other was to keep the bandwagon rolling down the road.

Not so lucky.

And that is not meant to take anything away from Bowling Green or the MAC. It is the perception Big Ten schools have that we should never lose to them. Frankly, other than when it is my team I like it when MAC schools taken on the neighborhood bully and win.

Below are links to newspaper articles and this one to the Sports Huddle With Sid and Dave and their interview with Coach Tim Brewster this morning.

• From Gophersports.com: Stats, Post Game Notes, Post Game Quotes
• A rally with no reward for Gophers
• Coach's confidence is rewarded
• Sid Hartman: Pass defense remains a major issue for U football
• Tough loss in opener doesn't deter Brewster
• A rough start, a rougher finish
• More stubbed toes than first steps in Brewster's debut
• Bowling Green hangs on to beat Minnesota in overtime thriller

(Articles from the Minneapolis Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press may require a free subscription and may be archived by the source after 2 weeks)

Technorati Tags: Minnesota Golden Gopher Football, Bowling Green Falcons

Minnesota Golden Gophers and Bowling Green Falcons Preview And Review

Preview
Finally, game day. About damn time.

All week I have been asked what I expect and to be honest, I have no clue. First time starting quarterback in Adam Weber. No disrespect intended towards Coach Brewster but this is the first game he has had to manage. Take into account a young defense I say we win by a little.

There may be lots of bugs to work out in this game.

I hope we run more than we pass. Coach Dunbar has been saying the spread offense is just that. Stretch the field and create running and throwing lanes. Give our defense some time to get their feet under them.

From what I gather Bowling Green runs an offense similar to ours. The bad news is we have never been able to stop a spread offense. The good news is we practice against one every day. Hopefully that means we are going to be better than years past.

Prediction
I am going with a score of 45-42. Bowling Green to score late to make it a 3 point game.

Bowling Green Falcon Blogs
FalconBlog

Review
Final Score: Bowling Green 31, Minnesota 31 (OT)

UH OH

OK, so that was not exactly the start we were looking for. Did the coaches have them ready for the game or were the emotions so high it took a while to come down?

Frankly, that first half was awful at best. Adam Weber looked a little or a lot off. It did not help that a few of the shotgun snaps were not on target.

The defense was on the field quite a bit in the first half and they looked suspect in most areas of the game.

Whatever was said or done in the locker room at halftime needs to be bottled and used before every game. The Gophers came out in the second half and looked fantastic.

All in all, I guess that is about what I expected. When you look at total yards and points one can see the potential of the offense.

Previous years we had a ball control offense and that kept our defense off the field for much of the game. Now it looks like we just need to outscore the other team. Yeah I know that sounds like common sense but what I mean is this season may be more like a track meet.

Bowling Green going for two was a great move on their part. Win-win for them and a gamble worth taking.

One thing to note, it did look like the conditioning of our team is much improved over last years. Time in the weight room last spring and those itense drills during fall practice certainly paid off.

Statistics
Rushing – Amir Pinnix 168 yards and 2 TD’s
Rushing - Adam Weber 72 yards
Receiving – Ernie Wheelwright 50 yards 1 TD
Receiving – Eric Decker 49 yards
Passing – Adam Weber 15 of 31 2 TD’s 1 INT Sacked 1

Offense Starters
WR 1 Wheelwright, E.
WR 6 Herndon, Tray
WR 7 Decker, Eric
QB 8 Weber, Adam
TE 80 Simmons, Jack
LT 64 Shidell, Steve
LG 74 Ruckdashel,Ryan
C 77 Brinkhaus, Tony
RG 53 Burris, D.J.
RT 79 DeGeest, Matt
RB 29 Pinnix, Amir

Defense Starters
DE 30 Campbell, Lee
DT 51 Small, Eric
RT 70 Meisel, Todd
RE 91 VanDeSteeg, W.
MLB 58 Sherels, Mike
SLB 56 Davis, Steve
CB 15 Harris, Jamal
SS 23 Barber, Dom
FS 26 Cooley, Duran
WLB 46 Shevlin, John
CB 11 Steib, Desi

How close was that 2 point conversion pass? If either of our defensive backs had one finger ½ inch longer they would have tipped the pass away.

As a hat tip to Bowling Green here is the replay with their audio:

Technorati Tags: Minnesota Golden Gopher Football, Bowling Green Falcons

Minnesota Golden Gophers 41 and Texas Red Raiders 44, Review

It has taken me a couple of days to get my thoughts together on the game. With the announcement of the Glen Mason firing I have been thinking about what’s next versus what was the other night.

   

Before getting started, in the previews of games I have included links to opposing team blogs. I found a couple of blogs but they had not been updated recently so I did not link to them.

   

On Saturday I came across Seth Jungman who writes the blog Double T Nation. He has a great look at the game from the Red Raider perspective. We have swapped a few email messages since the game. I wish I had found him before the game. We would have had some nice posts between us. He also has some information today on Bobby Knight getting his 880^th victory.

   

Over all I do not have much to say regarding the game between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Insight Bowl.

   

The prediction I made in the Minnesota Golden Gophers And Texas Tech Red Raiders Preview was for the most part dead on. I think I must have been one of less than a hundred people who thought the Gophers could win.

   

For 2 ½ quarters they proved me right:

-Texas Tech is an inconsistent but highly explosive team.

-They are a good, talented team but they are not Ohio State, Michigan or Wisconsin. I should toss Cal in there too.

-Their defense is good but not great.

-Give any team 30+ days to prepare for a team that is great in one category of the game and you should be able to slow it down. If not, you suck. Both played out. We shut them down and then we sucked.

-We forced turnovers.

-We did better in third down situations.

-TE Jack Simmons did a great job replacing Matt Spaeth.

-On offense we were balanced.

   

For the next 1½ quarters the Gophers (and most importantly their coaches) went in the tank:

-We stopped rushing 4 and 5 guys and went with 3.

-Simmons missed some key blocks.

-The stiff zone pass defense became a soft zone and then a non-existent zone.

-With no timeouts Texas Tech needed to run pass patterns and step out of bounds. Apparently we did not understand that.

-The plays called by the offensives coordinator(s) became extremely conservative with an occasional high risk pass play.

   

There were a few plays that the referees blew. A non-call on a Gophers pass play when one of our receivers was mugged. A likely phantom call, remember Penn State, when a back judge called a Gopher defensive back for interference when the side judge, if there was a call to be made, did not make one.

   

The second to the last play of regulation a Texas Tech running back clearly had a false start. It would have made the field goal 57 yards instead of 52. I get that the Red Raider kicker let loose on a ball (to tie the game) that would have been good from 60+ yards but maybe it would have had an impact in his brain. Who knows but I doubt it.

   

But those three plays would not have mattered if we could have had one more first down at the end of the game.

   

I have no idea why we called a play that had Bryan Cupito run a naked bootleg on 3^rd and 8. I concede that if it had worked it would have been the biggest bowl game play thus far in any game. No one would have thought  we would do that. We would have held on and would run out the clock.

   

Instead Texas Tech ran a pass blitz bringing the defensive end inside with a linebacker looping around the end right where Cupito was running. Not Cupito’s fault.

   

In fact, I find little fault with the players. Sure there were a coupl of mistakes but that happens in every game by every team. That’s part of the game.

   

The players run the plays called by the coaches. The defense runs the schemes called by the coaches.

   

And now we get to my frustration of the game and really of the season, the coaching staff.

   

For 2 ½ quarters we played like the last three games of the season. With purpose, direction, aggressive, dominating, and playing to win.

   

The last 1 ½ quarters we played not to lose. Was as if the coaching staff thought we were up enough points that even with the high octane Texas Tech offense on afterburners there was no way they could come back 31 points.

   

I lay this at the feet of the coaches.

   

We made no adjustments. We did nothing to counter what Texas Tech did. If by chanced we did, they were not noticeable and they clearly did not work.

   

There were two moments in the game that annoyed me. The first, Glen Mason had that damn smirk he has grown famous for. It was near the end of the first half. Like he thought the game was done.

   

The second, after the Red Raiders tied it with the 52-yard field goal the only expression Coach Mason had was the raising of his eyebrows as if to say “Wow”. That’s it. No emotion. Nothing.

   

An appropriate finish to the Glen Mason era…

Minnesota Golden Gophers And Texas Tech Red Raiders Preview

Here we go, the Minnesota Golden Gophers against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Insight Bowl.

   

If you go back about two months ago there were the dreamers, some would say insane people, who said the Gophers could close out with three victories and go to a bowl game. I was a little slow to go along with that but I did buy in after the Indiana game.

   

I think the Gophers are going to win tonight. Maybe I should say they can win tonight.

   

Things to know about the Texas Tech Red Raiders:

Yeah, yeah, yeah they pass the ball a lot. They average 363 passing yards a game. They are the #3 passing offense in the country.

   

QB Graham Harrell has thrown 562 passes, a 66.3 completion percentage, 4,110 passing yards, 36 touchdowns, and only 10 interceptions.

   

9 of their wide receivers have 20 or more completions.

   

This is very impressive. Watching a Texas Tech game has been compared to watching a video game.

   

But they have issues. Texas Tech only put up 3 points on TCU and 6 on a crappy Colorado team.

   

They are not Ohio State, Michigan, or (cringe) Wisconsin who have balanced passing and rushing teams.

   

Their defense is not all that great.

   

There is hope Gopher fans…

   

Speaking of the Gophers, the defense ranks 115^th against the pass giving up 254 yards per game. Most of those yards were given up earlier in the season against a defense that had no identity. Giving up 300 passing yards in this game would like bring the Gophers a victory.

   

I grant that Indiana, Michigan State, and Iowa do not have the passing game of Texas Tech but in many aspects the teams as a whole are comparable.

    

We did well on defense forcing turnovers, making big plays, and a pass rush. Most of the entire defense became very physical in their play. They became confidant.

   

My main concern on defense is we suck on third down. We have a hard time getting off the field.

   

This is a test for the coaches as much as it is for the players. You have had a month to watch videotape. You have had a month to create a plan. You do not need to shut them down, just slow them down.

   

On offense we need a balanced attack like we had the last three games of the season.

   

Some comparison should be given between Harrell and Bryan Cupito. This season Cupito has thrown for 2,556 yards, 19 touchdowns, and a 60% completion rate. That’s not bad for a run first offense.

   

We have a couple of key injuries in TE Matt Spaeth (should surgery) and OL Steve Shidell (broken leg) but their replacements are adequate. The offensive line shifts around a bit and

Jack Simmons replaces Spaeth. Simmons has seen quite a bit of playing time and while not the same player as the NFL bound Spaeth he is a good tight end.

   

Just about every defense we have faced in the Big Ten is as good as Texas Tech. We should not see anything new.

   

Prediction:

We need to score first and it needs to take some time. Coach Mason, if we have a choice PLEASE go on offense first.

   

Our offense should do well. Our defense has had a month to prepare for the track meet. I am still drinking the Kool-Aid. I have my sweatshirt and lucky maroon and gold beads (the ones from Ann Arbor two years ago) with me. I will be at Joe Senser’s in Bloomington.

   

We will see a Gopher victory.

   

Minnesota over Texas Tech.

Minnesota Golden Gophers And Iowa Hawkeyes Preview And Final

Preview

Seems like everyone born and raised in Minnesota has a relative living in Iowa. The game between Minnesota and Iowa is the last game for each team every year. A rivalry game but not nearly as bitter as the Wisconsin Badgers.

   

Iowa Hawkeye football has a massive following and they have two main chants during the game. “Let’s Go Hawks” which we hear all day and “I, O, W, A” after every score. Dang they can even spell.

   

Two chants, as simple as they are, that I hope to hear the students yell all day are “Who Hates Iowa” with a response by other students “We Hate Iowa”. And the second, “35 South” so they know how to go home after the loss. Not very high tech but if we hear them we know it has been a good day.

   

Good news for those on the area highways and interstate this weekend. Iowa people drive in the right lane unlike our North Dakota neighbors.

   

Minnesota comes in to the game with the winning streak started two games ago. Win all three, go 6-6 and get an invite to a bowl game. People will back off Mason and the seniors can feel good about how they go out.

   

Lose, and it will get real ugly around here.

   

Then there is I, O, W, A. Speaking of ugly, they were picked by the coaches and media as 3^rd place in the Big Ten. Nationally they were thought to be a Top 15 team.

   

Whoa, look out for the falling Hawkeyes they are falling hard and fast.

   

I expect this to fall just short of a high scoring game. Iowa is smaller on both sides of the ball than years past. Their stud linebackers graduated last year.

   

Keys to this game are the same as weeks past. On offense throw the ball to open the run. Repeat after me, QB Brian Cupito to TE Matt Spaeth, and repeat often. Make your extra points. D.J. Jones gets some good returns on kicks and punts. On defense I am afraid of how many yards Tate will throw for. Not very worried about their running game. Can we get some more turnovers?

   

Minnesota and Iowa play for Floyd of Rosedale and this is the 100^th meeting between the schools.

   

One last thing worth noting. A lot of us Gopher fans have been disappointed with our non-conference schedule. And more so now with the added 12^th game, which will be the likes of North Dakota State.

   

Going in to this weekend the Gophers strength of schedule is 4^th. Yes that is right, 4^th in the country. With the Iowa game that will likely go down.

   

And to the Badger fans moaning about getting no respect. You did not play Michigan or Ohio State. Going in to this weekend your strength of schedule was near 80 and that is before you play Buffalo. Get a clue…

   

Prediction

I am feeling very confident about this game, maybe an easy victory. I also am feeling very over confident and think I am setting myself up for a long off-season.

   

Iowa Hawkeye Blogs

Kinnick North, this guy lives in Minneapolis

   

Big Ten Predictions

Last week’s results 6-0 (30-6)

And there it is, my first perfect week!!! Can I do it two weeks in a row? (Me neither)

   

Minnesota over Iowa

Wisconsin over Buffalo

Ohio State over Michigan

Penn State over Michigan State

Illinois over Northwestern

Purdue over Indiana

   

Final

Minnesota Golden Gophers 34 and Iowa Hawkeyes 24

I start this by saying, whew. It feels a lot better today than it did a month ago to be a Gopher fan.

   

The three game sweep of Indiana, Michigan State, and Iowa is complete. I have found the glass is half full optimism I admittedly lost earlier this season. And from the previous posts, damn that Kool-Aid tastes good.

   

To our friends from Iowa who were at the game, that was fun. It was fun to watch you be quiet most of the time. It was fun to watch you leave early. It was fun to think about your 2+ hour drive back across the border. It was fun to watch the Gopher seniors do the victory lap with The Pig.

   

Most of all, it was fun to think about all the trash you have been talking the past week about coming up here and kicking our butt. About how bad our team was. About how the Dome sucks. Although we do agree on that but I am sticking up for the home site.

   

And you lost to us. So what does that make you?

   

Clearly I am intending this for a few select A Holes who go online in chat forums, blogs, and yes by email and post BS.

   

To those that sat around me, I appreciate your ability to come here and have a good time. To be as respectful as we were. And to have a good time.

   

OK, enough on that. Yes, I was a little tweaked by a few Hawks fans during the week and before the game.

   

Besides the normal maroon and gold Minnesota gear and the black and gold of Iowa, including the black t-shirt with a picture of the Metrodome with “Kinnick North” written above it, a new t-shirt made its debut, “Fire Glen Mason”.

   

Hopefully for now Gopherland can be happy and content.

   

The defense had another big game with four interceptions and a fumble recovery including the big one at the end of the first half by Mike Sherels.

   

Amir Pinnix and Jay Thomas rush for 198 yards and 3 touchdowns.

   

On the down side Jason Giannini missed another extra point and was replaced by Joel Monroe.

   

All in all, a great way to end the regular season.

   

Notes

-This was the 100^th meeting between Minnesota and Iowa with Minnesota leading the series 59-39-2.

-Attendance was 64,940.

-The senior classes of 2005 and 2006 are the only classes to see four bowl games in their career.

-Amir Pinnix crossed over the 1,000 yard milestone finishing with 1,093.

-Jay Thomas rushing touchdown makes three weeks in a row with a TD.

   

Statistics

Rushing

Amir Pinnix, 119 yards and 2 touchdowns

Jay Thomas, 79 yards and 1 touchdown

   

Receiving

Logan Payne, 64 yards

Ernie Wheelwright, 64 yards and 1 touchdown

Matt Spaeth, 44 yards and 1 touchdown

   

Passing

Bryan Cupito, 18-30 for 267 yards with 1 interception and sacked 1 time

   

Defense

Kevin Manion, 2 interceptions

Mike Sherels, 1interception

Mario Reese, 1 interception

Willie VanDeSteeg, 1sack

Minnesota Golden Gophers And Michigan State Spartans Preview And Final

Preview

For the Michigan State Spartan football team they have a lame duck coach in John L. Smith who has been allowed to finish the season. They lost a 16-point lead and the game to Notre Dame. They overcame a 35-point deficit to beat Northwestern. Drew Stanton, Spartan Quarterback, has his last game at home in front of fans that have been strong supporters of his. Who knows which team shows up.

    

We have the first of three needed victories for a bowl game. Yep, still drinking the Kool-Aid.

   

Last week Brian Cupito had 378 yards passing with 4 touchdowns. The Spartan defense has given up 28 TD passes, most in Division 1-A. I am thinking our game against Indiana worked out the bad karma we had going on.

   

Prediction

Not being very confident I resorted to a time honored tradition, I am picking Minnesota by way of the best 4 out of 7 coin flip. Minnesota won that 4-2. So the Gophers it is.

   

Michigan State Football Blogs

The Enlightened Spartan

Spartan Bob

   

Big Ten Predictions

Last weeks results 5-1 (24-6)

Iowa loses to Northwestern, oh the horrors that must be happening in Iowa City.

   

Minnesota over Michigan State

Wisconsin over Iowa

Michigan over Indiana

Ohio State over Northwestern

Penn State over Temple

Purdue over Illinois

    

Final

Minnesota Golden Gophers 31 and Michigan State Spartans 18

The game was not on TV. ESPNU does not count as TV. Too bad, this would have been fun to watch. Although not seeing a fake punt from our own 20 something yard line was good. So we went form being conservative early in the season, to opening it up a little, to drunken driving. I apologize for the analogy but it is the best I can come up with.

   

Then again it is being aggressive if not a little desperate.

   

But we stopped them on 4^th and goal. Way to go defense.

   

Pinnix gets tackled in the end zone for a safety, which was a bummer but after all of that we gave up two points instead of seven.

   

And then the defense stopped Michigan State again. Two series in a row.

   

The offense showed up to do its work while the defense looked awesome. Scratch that, sounded awesome. The no TV thing.

   

Drew Stanton was knocked out of the game, literally. I have a lot of respect for him but I do not understand how he is one of five finalists for the Unitas Award. I can name quite a few QB’s I could pick ahead of him.

   

Another big game for the defense. Three times they held the Spartans without a point while in the Red Zone. Two weeks in a row with a defensive touchdown.

   

3 rushing yards for Michigan State. Fantastic!!!

   

Notes

-Willie VanDeSteeg is named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.

-Matt Spaeth is now #1 for receiving yards by a tight end.

-Bryan Cupito moves to #1, Corey Sauter now #2, for career passing yards.

-Mario Reese forced his 3^rd fumble of the season ranking 4^th in the Big Ten.

-Willie VanDeSteeg with a career high 4 sacks.

   

Statistics

Rushing

Amir Pinnix, 113 yards

   

Receiving

Logan Payne, 96 yards and 1 touchdown

Matt Spaeth, 51 yards

   

Passing

Bryan Cupito, 16-28 for 243 yards

   

Defense

Willie VanDeSteeg, 4 sacks

Stave Davis, 1 fumble recovery and 1 touchdown

Dom Barber, 2 interceptions

Mario Reese, 1 sack

Minnesota Golden Gophers And Indiana Hoosiers Preview And Final

Preview

I have said many times here that I believe every year we are going to the Rose Bowl and that every weekend we will win that game.

   

People around here, including Sid Hartman, are talking about how this is the first of a three game win streak to get to a bowl game. Huh, that seams like a bit of a stretch to me. Indiana is beatable, Michigan State looks lost, and Iowa has fallen apart.

   

OK, I will drink the Kool-Aid they are serving up. It’s colored maroon and gold. Count me in.

   

I have written in previous weeks that I had seen a few Indiana Hoosier football games on TV and they look good. They are young. I am concerned that they will play us like the Randle El teams of old and that never worked out well for us.

   

Kellen Lewis is a red shirt freshman and I sort of look forward to seeing him play his college career. I think he will be better than Randle El when it is all said and done. He was last weeks Big Ten Player of the Week.

   

James Hardy is around 6’ 6” and he will clearly have an advantage over our undersized secondary.

   

Marcus Thigpen is their running back and returner and he is quick.

   

Indiana’s defense is not very good.

   

Sounds like Matt Spaeth is returning this week. He will be fitted with a special brace and surgery will be required at the end of the season.

   

Spaeth is another reason I support this team. He could very well be a first round draft choice in the 2007 NFL Draft. Playing on a team that needs to win three games to go to a bowl game. Is seriously injured and is putting his team and university above his own self-interest.

   

Prediction

I do not think we can play as bad as we have the rest of the season. Indiana comes in on a roll and I am thinking they cannot keep it going. It will be interesting to see how the home crowd on a homecoming game reacts to Coach Mason if things do not go well.

   

Minnesota by 10. That’s my heart talking, not so much my brain.

   

Indiana Hoosiers blogs

Maybe I did not spend enough time looking but I did not find any blogs about Hoosier football.

   

Big Ten Predictions

Last weeks results, 5-1 (19-5)

   

Minnesota over Indiana

Wisconsin over Penn State

Iowa over Northwestern

Michigan over Ball State

Ohio State over Illinois

Purdue over Michigan State

   

Final

Minnesota Golden Gophers 63 and Indiana Hoosiers 26

Happy Homecoming!!!

   

Lost and now found, the Minnesota Golden Gopher football team. Also found, the pass first to open up the run we were promised back in August.

   

Better late than never.

   

Scoring 21 points in the first quarter and being up 35-0 half way through the second quarter is a good way to start a game. With all that has happened in recent weeks that was one of the best games on both sides of the ball I have seen. Yeah I know it was against Indiana but remember that they have been playing well in recent weeks and this season in general.

   

At halftime the Gophers had 355 yards, 303 by air.

   

By the end of the game Minnesota had 541 total yards on offense.

   

Logan Payne and Ernie “I used stick ‘em this week” Wheelwright had 200+ yards between them.

   

The defense had multiple sacks and interception.

   

As the season has moved on and at least in the Dome, Joel Monroe has been doing a much better job of kicking the ball into the end zone, limiting the number if kick returns.

   

That was a lot of fun and yes I feel much, much better.

   

Notes

-Bryan Cupito is named Co-Offensive Player of the Week sharing the honor with Tyrell Sutton, Running Back from Northwestern University.

-Bryan Cupito was nominated as one of four players for this week’s Cingular All-America Player of the Week Award.

-Bryan Cupito is #2 in career passing yards, passing Asad Abdul-Khaliq.

-Ernie Wheelwright is now tied for 6^th in career touchdown receptions.

   

Statistics

Rushing

Jay Thomas, 79 yards and 2 touchdowns

Amir Pinnix, 68 yards and 1 touchdown

   

Receiving

Logan Payne, 137 yards

Ernie Wheelwright, 116 yards and 2 touchdowns

Eric Decker, 55 yards and 1 touchdown

Matt Spaeth, 30 yards and 1 touchdown

   

Passing

Bryan Cupito, 22-33 for 378 yards

   

Defense

Dominic Barber, 1 interception and 1 touchdown

DJ Jones, 1interception

Mike Sherels, 1 interception