Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi told Sports Headliners about 1,100 Minnesota fans are expected at a pre-game pep rally on Saturday before the USC game, perhaps the largest such road turnout in decades for Minnesota. Fan planes from Minnesota are headed to Los Angeles, plus the southern California area is home to a large number of University of Minnesota alums.
When Gray was in high school in Indianapolis USC encouraged him to attend one of the Trojans’ quarterback camps but he didn’t do so. The Trojans didn’t offer him a scholarship.
The Minnesota-USC game starts at 2:30 p.m. Minneapolis time and will be televised by ABC. Tomorrow night beginning at 7 p.m. central daylight time UNLV plays at Wisconsin on the Big Ten Network.
Vikings marketing executive Steve LaCroix said via email on Monday the club has tickets remaining for all home games “starting @ $39 per ticket.” He also reported “limited availability” for the Green Bay game at Mall of America Field on October 23. That ticket inventory is “via a 2-game package” that includes the Detroit game on September 25, according to LaCroix.
The Vikings, 1-2, finish their preseason schedule tomorrow night at Mall of America Field against Houston. Only twice in franchise history has the team gone winless in preseason, 1961 and 1979. The Vikings went on to have losing records in the regular seasons of both years.
The August 29 issue of Sporting News Magazine has the Vikings finishing last in the NFC North with a 5-11 record.
Quarterback Joe Webb ran for 46 yards and one touchdown on two carries against Dallas last week. During the preseason he has 90 yards rushing on nine attempts while completing 12 of 23 passes (one interception) for 170 yards. His extraordinary running and impromptu scrambling ability must have head coach Leslie Frazier and offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave intrigued about using Webb occasionally in the Wildcat formation as the featured runner-passer.
The Vikings played for the first time on the new Mall of America Field last Saturday against Dallas. Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission executive director Bill Lester described the look of the new $476,000 turf as “stunning.” Marching bands tamped on the turf earlier this summer to break it in and Lester said he’s not aware of any player complaints about the new field.
Former Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is struggling with his new team, with one touchdown pass, one interception and being sacked seven times in three games. A bad season by Jackson and Seattle could position the Seahawks with the No. 1 pick in next year’s NFL draft. That choice will almost certainly be Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. If Luck isn’t available when Seattle drafts, Carroll might choose his former USC quarterback, Matt Barkley.