Author: David Shama

Here’s a rare prediction from Sports Headliners: the Gophers will beat Iowa tomorrow night.  Attribute the prediction as coming from the gut or the heart, certainly not the head, but there’s a feeling the Gophers, about a touchdown under dog, will win their final game in the Metrodome and end a three game losing streak.

Iowa is the better team.  The Hawkeyes have won four of their last five games including an upset of then No. 3 ranked Penn State.  Iowa’s defense, as usual, is one of the Big Ten Conference’s best under the leadership of defensive coordinator Norm Parker who coached for the Gophers in the 1970s.  Offensively, Iowa is mostly about Shonn Greene, the marvelous runner who leads the nation in rushing yards.

The Gopher defense, the strength of the team, held Wisconsin’s exceptional running attack to 117 yards last week in a 35-32 loss to the Badgers.  A similar performance will be needed against Greene with the Gophers hoping to hold the 5-11, 235-pound junior to runs of less than 12 yards.  Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi is an okay performer. His passing production is limited by a non-explosive group of receivers.

Slow down Greene and then have a 24 point night from the Gopher offense.  That could put the Gophers in position to race across the field to claim Floyd of Rosedale at game’s end.

The Gophers’ unproductive November offense perked up last week in Madison, scoring four touchdowns.  A surprise performance by freshmen wide receivers Brandon Green and Brodrick Smith, both of whom scored touchdowns, helped in Eric Decker’s absence.

“You have to feel good about that, their contributions, and you knew they were coming because they’re very talented football players,” said Gopher coach Tim Brewster.  “And then you add back to it a guy like Eric Decker. …I anticipate the passing game to do a nice job (tomorrow night).  We’ve really got some weapons in the passing game, particularly at wide receiver.”

Decker still leads the conference in pass receptions with 74 and has recovered enough from a right ankle sprain to play on Saturday even if he isn’t 100 percent.  Decker and Adam Weber have one of those special quarterback-receiver connections where they seem to have a feel for making a successful play together.  Roommates off the field, Weber said this week that Decker is his “best friend.”

The Gophers, though, won’t have much margin for goof-ups if they are to defeat Iowa for only the second time since 2000.  The offense and special teams will be on the spot to avoid fumbles, interceptions and other mistakes.

The Gophers find themselves having lost three straight conference games and thereby eliminated the goal of playing in a New Year’s Day Bowl game.  That could be an emotional drag for this Saturday if the opponent wasn’t Iowa.  The rivalry is expected to put energy back in the Gophers.

Their guts and heads are probably telling them they will beat Iowa.  We’ll see.

It’s been quarterback “musical chairs” in the NFC North the last 12 months or so.  All four of the division’s teams have changed regular quarterbacks since last season.

Aaron Rodgers is trying to replace a legend in Green Bay where Brett Favre is gone after 16 seasons.  Kyle Orton took over this year for Brian Griese and Rex Grossman in Chicago.  Dan Orlovasky replaced the injured Jon Kitna in Detroit.     Gus Frerotte, of course, is the starter here, not Tarvaris Jackson.

Whether it’s been performance issues, injury or a flirtation with retirement, the results have been new faces.  With Green Bay, Chicago and Minnesota playing .500 football with 5-5 records, and Detroit at 0-9, no one is going to make the case that the division has the best quarterbacking in the league.

Rodgers has a 94.5 quarterback rating.  That’s fifth best in the league but few will argue that his performance equals that of Favre last season when his marvelous play led the Packers to a division title and almost to the Super Bowl. The other quarterback ratings are Orton at 88.3, Frerotte at 76.6, Orlovasky at 76.7.  (The NFL quarterback rating system uses various statistics to arrive at the averages.)

Earlier this fall Houston head coach Gary Kubiak, who was an NFL assistant before coaching the Texans, was asked how important he sees the quarterback position being to an NFL team.  “I think it is the key to stability in a franchise,” he said.  “When you’ve got that settled and you know that, that guy is going to be an effective…(player) for eight-10 years then it helps you build a football team around him.

“If you are unsettled at that position, then it can get very, very difficult.  So I think it is important.  I have been through it many times in Denver, and of course having (John) Elway for years, and those types of things I’ve seen in San Francisco when I was there with Steve Young.  Those guys are difference makers every week.  They are going to touch the ball 65 to 70 times so they are in control and what they bring to the franchise is huge.”

Those comments will undoubtedly draw amens in the NFC North.

Ryan Longwell, the Vikings’ 34-year-old place kicker who has made 19 of 23 field goals, is a stretching advocate.  Among the most likeable of local athletes, Longwell has the temperament and successful resume to kick for several more years.  He needs two more field goals to tie his previous best season total as a Viking.

Viking Ryan Cook not only lost the starting right tackle position this week, his former head coach at New Mexico, Rocky Long, resigned after 11 seasons coaching the Lobos.  Cook will have a utility role now with possible future service at center, guard and tackle.

The Vikings’ rushing offense ranks fourth in the league while the rushing defense is second.

Adrian Peterson needs only 59 yards in Sunday’s game at Jacksonville to become the 14^th player in NFL history to go over 2,500 yards in his first two seasons.  

Bernard Berrian’s 20.2 yards per catch is the best in the NFL for receivers with 30 or more catches.

The Vikings are 0-4 in outdoor road games so far this season.

Troy Williamson, the former Vikings No. 1 pick who bombed here, has played in five games for Jacksonville, starting one.  He has four receptions for 27 yards and one touchdown.

Mick Anselmo’s return to local radio as the new boss of CBS properties here has knowledgeable sources anticipating program and personnel changes.  Included perhaps is the return of Vikings broadcasts to WCCO Radio.

Bryce McNeal, the Breck wide receiver who was highly publicized coming into this season, wasn’t included on the Star Tribune’s first, second or third team All-Metro selections this week.  

Joe Salem, the Gopher coach from 1979-1983, was probably more into the Minnesota-Iowa rivalry than any Minnesota coach in memory.  His son Tim, who played quarterback for his dad at Minnesota, once said that Joe had a different look in his eyes the week of the Iowa game.  Joe Salem came off the bench as a reserve quarterback in 1960 to help the Gophers beat Iowa when both were top five teams in the country.  The Gophers went on to win the national championship.

Gopher fan Ken Lien recalled this week that years ago Salem came out to practice the week of the Iowa game dressed up in overalls and a flannel shirt.  He couldn’t remember whether Salem had a piece of straw in his mouth or was wearing a straw hat. Maybe both.

The Gophers will have 12 seniors suiting up for the final regular season game tomorrow.  The Gophers expect to be invited to a bowl game and will have 15 practices.

The Wild, which has won seven one goal games this season, lost last night 3-2 to Vancouver after winning the previous two games by one goal. The Wild have four players on the NHL all-star game ballot, Niklas Backstrom, Brent Burns, Mikko Koivu and Marion Gaborik.

Boston’s Kevin Garnett, who was suspended earlier in the week because of an incident with Milwaukee’s Andrew Bogut, will play tonight at Target Center against his old team, the Wolves.  During his career here Garnett had run-ins with Wally Szczerbiak, Rick Rickert and Joel Przybilla.

The Gopher basketball team, with five new players on the roster, has its first road game tomorrow night at Colorado State, a 4-0 team coached by former North Dakota State coach Tim Miles.  The Gophers won exhibition games against St. Cloud State and Northern State, then took their first three regular season games playing in last weekend’s NABC Tournament with wins over Concordia-St. Paul, Bowling Green and Georgia State.

Gopher co-captain Jamal Abu-Shamala thought the team improved in helping one another on defense in recent games.  Shamala was asked about being ready for Colorado State.  “We’ll see,” he said.  “This weekend will be a good test for us. “

The Gophers’ leading scorer so far is junior guard Lawrence Westbrook, averaging 16 points per game.  At Chandler High School in Chandler, Arizona he led the country in scoring with a 41 point average.   Last season with the Gophers he averaged 8.5 points per game (3.5 as a freshman).

Is Westbrook more confident now than in the past?  “Actually no,” he said.  “I’ve been confident since I was a freshman.  It’s just that I am one of those guys now that I am getting more of an opportunity than I ever had.  I think my confidence level is the same.”