Author: David Shama

Here’s a guess that the Gophers will try to establish a solid running game and play more physical offensive football than in recent weeks in tomorrow’s game at Wisconsin.  Earlier this week tackle Jason Meinke talked about the offensive line being more physical, and running back DeLeon Eskridge voiced his opinion about passion.

Meinke was expecting practice to be more intense this week as the Gophers attempt to end a two-game losing streak.  Eskridge and quarterback Adam Weber believe the offense needs to start Saturday’s game more effectively than in recent games.

‘We can come out with a little more passion,” Eskridge said. “At least to start the games out with more enthusiasm and not come out flat. …Play our game. Play hard. Play aggressive.”

Weber wants to establish momentum early on Saturday, playing against a Badger team that has won two of its last three games and in front of a capacity crowd in Madison where the Gophers haven’t won since 1994.  “You have to come up solid,” he said.  “You have to come out with a good attitude.  You can’t let the game get out of hand in the first quarter.  And that’s obviously been our problem, these two losses we’ve had, especially Michigan (last Saturday). …

“As an offensive squad we have to come out and have a couple of solid drives right off the bat.  I don’t know if we have to score.  Obviously, that’s our goal.  But move the ball, get some first downs.  Get some momentum going and take the crowd out of the game and I think we’ll be just fine.”

The Gophers had one first down in the first half against Michigan.  They had two field goals in the 29-6 loss and haven’t scored a touchdown for six quarters.  In their last three games (Purdue, Northwestern, Michigan) the Gophers have only four scoring drives of over 48 yards.

Wide receiver Eric Decker, a candidate for the prestigious Biletnikoff Award given to the nation’s best receiver, will not play tomorrow because of a high ankle sprain.  A healthier Decker presumably will play in the season finale at home against Iowa a week from Saturday and that will increase Minnesota’s likelihood of a win but it doesn’t brighten prospects in Madison.  That’s why the Gopher game plan might be to run more than in the past, trying to establish a physical presence on the line of scrimmage that can also protect Weber when he passes.

The Gophers (7-3 overall, 3-3 in the Big Ten Conference) rank last in the league in rushing offense at 116.4 yards per game.  Their rankings in passing yards per game and scoring are second and seventh (226.8 and 24.9).  The Badgers (5-5, 2-5 in the league) are No. 1 in the conference in rushing per game at 224.4.  Their rankings in passing yards per game and scoring are ninth and fourth (182.6 and 27.3).

Despite the statistics, the offensive players and coach Tim Brewster believe they can be effective on Saturday in a game where they will be about a two touchdown underdog. “We’ll take a team that believes they can win to Wisconsin,” Brewster said.

Minnesota Thunder general manager Djorn Buchholz expects to announce the name of the team’s new coach on Tuesday.  The coach, he said, has previous professional soccer head coaching experience. The Thunder began last season with Amos Magee as head coach but he was replaced during the summer by interim coach Donny Gramenz.

Buchholz also told Sports Headliners that seven to nine new players are expected on the 26-man roster next season.  Among the returnees will be goalie Nicolas Platter who played every minute of the season.   Buchholz considers Platter to be one of the United Soccer League’s First Division top goalies.  He’s under contract through 2010.

The Thunder, who made the playoffs last season but lost in the first round, will announce a season ticket campaign in the coming weeks.  Buchholz is excited about playing all of next season’s home games at the National Sports Center in Blaine.

Gopher coach Tim Brewster might be trying to give the Wisconsin coaches more than they need to think about with his suggestion earlier this week that Badger transfer Kim Royston, now sitting out the season as a Gopher redshirt, can provide insights to Minnesota coaches.

Brewster praised the former Cretin-Derham Hall player for his leadership and athleticism simulating opposing players in practice.  Royston has been a quarterback, receiver and defensive back in practice to help the Gophers prepare.  Next year Brewster said it’s likely Royston will be a safety when he’s eligible to play.  “He’s going to be a great football player for us,” Brewster said.  “We couldn’t be more proud of him coming home.”

Now in his second season as Gopher coach, Brewster believes that among the school’s rivalry games, Wisconsin is the most important to Minnesotans.

Against the Bucs in Tampa on Sunday, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson can tie Robert Smith’s franchise rushing record of five consecutive 100+ yard games.  Peterson leads the NFL in rushing with 1,015 yards.

Bucs’ coach Jon Gruden was a graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee in 1986-87.  Is he interested in the Vols’ head coaching vacancy?

Vikings coach Brad Childress talking about Jared Allen who played last Sunday despite a right shoulder injury: “I talk about those guys being warriors. You only have a 53-man squad. You can only have 45 (suit) up on game day and maybe you’re holding two or three guys that are already hurt.  You only have a limited number of moves you can make, putting somebody on IR (injured reserve) for the rest of the year. They (teammates) rely on each other to get back, and they’re very hard on each other.

“Nobody had to be hard on Jared.  He has that mentality that he’s going to play every game.  I think some guys say, ‘I’ll take a week off and be better in two weeks.’  If everybody did that you wouldn’t be able to field a team.  It’s a fact that when you play the first week on in this league you’re going to have bumps, bruises, and strains, particularly when you get past this mid-season point.  It’s a war of attrition.  I think they feel that commitment to that defensive unit they’re playing with and to the team they’re playing with. He’s one of those guys.”

Minneapolis native Larry Fitzgerald is featured in the most recent issue of Sporting News and also was a video guest on espn.com last week.  Fitzgerald is fourth in the NFL in receiving yards and his Arizona Cardinals, 6-3, have been receiving attention as the leaders of the NFC West Division.  He’s rated the fourth best receiver in the NFL by Sporting News.  Since the beginning of the 2005 season, he’s the “only receiver in the NFL to rank in the top five in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns,” according to the magazine.

Ron Gardenhire was named Twins manager in January of 2002 and since then has the fifth most wins among all major league managers with 622 (Joe Torre, 675, Mike Scioscia, 646, Tony LaRussa, 634 and Bobby Cox, 623). The Twins announced yesterday that Gardenhire, 51, was signed to a two-year contract extension through 2011.  His contract previously was through next year.

The Wild (9-4-1) play 10 of their next 11 games at the Xcel Energy Center, starting with tomorrow night’s game with Columbus.  Center Mikko Koivu didn’t have a point in last night’s win over Phoenix, the seventh such game this season. The Wild are 2-4-1 this year when Koivu doesn’t score, with the other win at Tampa Bay.  The Wild are 7-0-0 in games he has scored at least one point.  Minnesota is 19-4-3 all-time when Koivu has two or more points.

Don Zierden, the Minnesota Lynx coach, is the new color commentator on Gopher basketball.  He and play-by-play man Mike Grimm do their first game on WCCO tonight when the Gophers play Concordia-St. Paul at 8 p.m. in the NABC tournament at Williams Arena.   The game is the regular season opener for the Gophers, but an exhibition for Division II Concordia.  Other teams in the round robin tournament that runs through Sunday night are Division I Bowling Green (Saturday night versus Gophers) and Georgia State (Sunday evening against Minnesota).

Carleton is hoping for its first MIAC football championship since 1992 and only the second in school history when it hosts Saint John’s tomorrow beginning at 1 p.m. at Laird Stadium in Northfield.  The winner earns the conference title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs.  Both teams are 7-2 overall and 5-2 in conference.

Saint John’s is after its MIAC-record 30th conference championship and 26th under head coach John Gagliardi.  He is 25-0 all-time against the Knights.  Carleton head coach Kurt Ramler was a star quarterback for the Johnnies and was also an assistant coach to Gagliardi.

KSTP TV’s High School Sports Wrap recently reported on 5-foot-3 junior running back  Kwaku Amoah of St. Michael-Albertville.  He’s rushed for over 1,106 yards this season, according to an e-mail from coach Earl Bauman.  Bauman wrote that the 185-pound Amoah, who is averaging 6.5 yards per carry, is from Accra, Ghana and has lived in America since third grade.  Bauman describes Amoah as a “super nice young man with a big smile.”  Amoah has never been in the Metrodome but that’s about to change. The Knights have advanced to the semi-finals in the Class AAAA playoffs and meet Mankato West at the Metrodome tomorrow.

Concordia-St. Paul’s volleyball team (30-1, 19-0 NSIC) ends it regular season Saturday afternoon, hosting St. Cloud State (7-20, 5-14 NSIC). Then on Sunday Concordia will receive details on the eight North Central Region teams making the NCAA tournament.  Information will be posted at 7 p.m. at www.ncaa.com.

The Golden Bears had six players named to the All-NSIC first team.  Maggie McNamara was named Offensive Player of the Year, Mary Slinger Defensive Player of the Year and Brady Starkey Coach of the Year.