Unloading a lot of quotes and notes from various sources:
Vikings rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater makes his sixth pro start on Sunday in Chicago against the Bears. He wants to improve in not holding the ball too long before passing.
“I have a tendency of wanting to see wide receivers open before I throw the football,” he said. “Sometimes I have to just feel it and trust that a guy is going to be in the right area at the right time.”
According to Monday’s USA Today, the collective record of four NFL starting rookie quarterbacks through last Sunday’s games was 4-19. Bridgewater, 3-2, is the only QB among Blake Bortles, Derek Carr and Zach Mettenberger with a winning record.
All three of Bridgewater’s wins have been in come-from-behind situations. Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer praised his quarterback’s makeup. “Composure is big. We’d like for him to be ahead a little bit more but I just think that the game is not too big for him. He sits in there and understands what he has to get done and you know there is a heightened sense of urgency–and not just with Teddy but with everybody.”
The Bears, 3-6, have only played one home game since September 28. They are 0-3 at home this season.
Jerry Trestman and his wife Sharon, who live in the Minneapolis area, don’t plan to attend Sunday’s Bears-Vikings game. Since their son Marc Trestman became Bears coach the couple has seen two games in Chicago, the season openers in 2013 and 2014.
Jerry told Sports Headliners he usually talks to Marc “two or times per week” by telephone. “He usually calls at night after practice,” Jerry said.
Ohio State is ranked No. 8 in the AP poll and the Gophers haven’t faced a top 10 team since they played the Buckeyes in Minneapolis four years ago. The Buckeyes, 8-1 overall and 5-0 in the Big Ten, scored 49 points on Michigan State’s proud defense last Saturday and in five of their last six games are averaging 52.4 points per game.
Could the Gophers be in awe, or intimidated when the two teams play at TCF Bank Stadium on Saturday? Senior defensive tackle and team leader Cameron Botticelli said no.
He told Sports Headliners players and staff put extraordinary effort and time year-round into preparing for games like Saturday’s. “We invest a whole lot of work, so to make that investment and then come into TCF Bank Stadium and be intimidated or in awe of someone, I don’t think that’s within the realm of possibility.
“Definitely we’ll respect our opponent this week because they are a talented football team, but I wouldn’t say shock or awe. More like respect and (facing) another competitor.”
The Buckeyes, who are about a two touchdown favorite against Minnesota, have won a national-best 12 consecutive road games and are undefeated in their last 21 Big Ten regular season games. They also have won seven straight since losing to Virginia Tech at home in a nonconference game on September 6. That was before freshman J.T. Barrett established himself at quarterback and since then the Buckeyes have gone on to become arguably the hottest offensive team in the country.
Gophers junior wide receiver KJ Maye talking about playing the favored Buckeyes and being an underdog: “We play better when we’re like that.”
Ohio State totaled 568 yards against Michigan Sate, nearly 300 more than the Spartans had been giving up per game. Gophers coach Jerry Kill realizes how good Michigan State’s defense is. “I didn’t think they would be able to put that many points on the board (against MSU),” Kill said.
The Gophers gained momentum going into the Ohio State game with a surprising 51-14 win over Iowa last Saturday. A close score was anticipated, but after the one-sided win Kill danced in front of his players in the happy locker room. “Sometimes kids need to see that you’re human,” Kill said. “It’ll probably be the last time—because I figured out I’m stiff, old, and…I’m not a kid anymore.”
Tickets remain, starting at $50, for Saturday’s Ohio State game that will be televised on ABC. The game is the last of the season at home for the Gophers and will be among the most lucrative in gate receipts (prices can vary by game). In the Big Ten Conference the home team retains revenues from ticket sales.
Gophers defensive tackle Steven Richardson is among the Big Ten’s best true freshman linemen. He’s listed at 6-feet and 295 pounds. Some schools stayed away from recruiting Richardson because his height is less than they demand but the young lineman has already shown what he can do as a run stopper and is coming along as a pass rusher. He had a sack against Iowa.
“If you look at the way the kid’s built, he’s a rock and he’s explosive,” said defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys. “I mean he can play anywhere (team) in the country.”
It will be 60 years ago tomorrow that Bob McNamara made his famous 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against border rival Iowa that deserves a place among the most determined efforts in program history. McNamara shook off Iowa tacklers, refusing to go down to the ground in the November 13 game that Minnesota won 22-20. Gophers coach Murray Warmath said in his biography, The Autumn Warrior, that McNamara’s run in Minneapolis was indeed the stuff of legends. “It was the finest example of brilliance and desire I have ever seen,” the coach praised. McNamara died last summer.
In last Saturday’s Tyler Dunne online story for the Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, Brett Favre said if he had a son he probably wouldn’t let him play football “because of what I know.” The former Packers, Vikings and Jets quarterback is concerned about his memory in 10 or 20 years.
Favre turned 45 last month and is now eligible to draw his NFL pension.
You may not have read it before but neither the Gophers nor Louisville receive an appearance fee for participation in Friday night’s Armed Forces Classic in Puerto Rico. Expenses for the two schools are paid for by ESPN Regional Television, owner and operator of the basketball game that honors the military. The Classic will be played in front of military personnel with no admission cost and televised nationally by ESPN starting at 6:30 p.m. Minneapolis time.
Si.com’s college basketball preview of conferences ranks the Gophers ninth in the Big Ten, predicting Minnesota will finish with a 9-9 record (same as Nebraska and Illinois). Projected to have better conference records are Wisconsin,15-3; Ohio State, 12-6; Iowa, 11-7; and 10-8 records for Michigan State, Michigan and Maryland.
Draftexpress.com projects Minnesota natives Tyus Jones and Rashad Vaughn will be selected No. 14 and 21 respectively in the first round of next year’s NBA Draft. Both are college freshmen, Jones at Duke and Vaughn at UNLV.
Voting opened Monday in the USA Today High School Sports contest to determine the best high school football program in the country. A total of 255 programs are eligible after being determined by a panel. Minnesota programs are Blooming Prairie, Eden Prairie, Hutchinson, Rosemount and Totino-Grace. More at Usatodayhss.com.
J.D. Spielman, son of Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, played every snap offensively and defensively in last Friday night’s Eden Prairie High School football playoff win over East Ridge. Spielman, a junior, has a lacrosse scholarship offer from Ohio State but his father said the understanding is his son can change that verbal commitment to play football at a major college if he chooses.
Camden Mona, Dave and Linda Mona’s grandson, celebrated his seventh birthday yesterday. The sixth annual Camden’s Concert at the Hopkins Center for the Arts will be held July 13 next year featuring The Wright Brothers who were popular at this summer’s event helping to generate over $52,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The record amount increased the five year total from the event to more than $200,000.
Dave Mona said the National Senior Games will bring about 13,000 participants and approximately 25,000 total visitors to Minneapolis-St. Paul for competition in various sports next summer—July 3-16. Mona, the WCCO Radio “Sports Huddle” co-host, is co-chair for the games with Susan Adams Lloyd, the Clear Channel Outdoor executive.
Kevin McHale and Flip Saunders coach against each other tonight when the Rockets and Timberwolves play in Mexico City. The two former Gophers were close friends for many years and it was McHale that hired Saunders to work first in the Wolves front office and later as head coach. However, a distance has lingered between the two since McHale, as Wolves general manager, fired Saunders as coach in 2005. “It’s not that they’re (still) upset at each other, they just don’t get together,” a mutual friend told Sports Headliners.
With Garth Brooks performing at Target Center over a period of two weeks, the Wolves are in the midst of a road trip that has them without a home game from November 2 until November 19. With a long road trip, young team, 2-4 record and point guard Ricky Rubio being sidelined with an ankle sprain until perhaps next year, the Wolves are on the spot to win at least a few games this month.
The NBA has long been a leader in diversity and this season is using two female referees, Lauren Holtkamp and Violet Palmer. Dee Kantner, who once worked NBA games, is now the WNBA supervisor of officials.
The Wild will host Military Appreciation Night–presented by Thomson Reuters and benefitting Defending the Blue Line–tomorrow night when Minnesota plays the Sabres at Xcel Energy Center. More than 1,000 active or retired military members are expected to be in attendance. The Wild, along with Thomson Reuters, offered military members a lower level ticket, hot dog, chips and soda for $50.