P.J. FLECK – Page 2 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Win or Lose, U Can Make Positive Impression at No. 1 OSU

Posted on October 3, 2025October 3, 2025 by David Shama

Everything seems to line up in Ohio State’s favor for its game Saturday night in Columbus on national TV against the Golden Gophers. Superior talent, home field advantage and history all weigh in on the likelihood of a Buckeyes win on NBC TV.

The Gophers, though, with a victory or defeat, can make an important statement about themselves. Upset the nation’s No. 1 ranked team and Minnesota will record one of its most stunning wins in program history. Hang competitively with the Bucks for four quarters and the Gophers will have played their best game of the season and set themselves up for confident performances in upcoming games at home against Purdue and Nebraska. BetMGM, BTW, makes the Buckeyes a 24-point favorite.

The Gophers, 3-1 on the season, have defeated Ohio State three times since 1965. Minnesota, with wins at home in 1966 and 1981, and a victory in Columbus in 2000, has an all-time record of seven wins and 47 losses against the Brutes from Columbus. No Big Ten foe has historically dominated the Gophers like Ohio State.

The 4-0 Buckeyes are the defending national champions and look to be rolling toward another College Football Playoff spot. They have several players ESPN listed on its preseason roster of the nation’s top 100 college players. That group is led by two superstars, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs, who are ranked No. 1 and 5 respectively. Minnesota has one player against Ohio State’s five in safety Koi Perich ranked No. 42.

The Buckeyes are averaging an impressive 36.3 points per game and giving up a nation’s best 5.5. The Gophers are averaging 33.5 and 16.63, with numbers skewed by a 66-0 win over patsy foe Northwestern State.

For Minnesota to stay in the game, the Gophers will need to slow the Ohio State run game and pressure quarterback Julian Sayin. A repeat performance of seven sacks like in last week’s 31-28 win over Rutgers would be a wish come true for the Gophers.

Offensively, the guess here is the Gophers will play for a third consecutive game without star running back Darius Taylor who has become almost as well known for his hamstring injuries as his running and pass catching. That will leave a lot of burden on redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Lindsey. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for his performance against Rutgers when he completed 31 passes on 41 attempts for 324 yards and three touchdowns (all career highs) with no interceptions as Minnesota rallied from a 14-point deficit to win at home.

The Gophers will need to overcome the crowd chaos of playing in arguably the Big Ten’s noisiest stadium. The “Horseshoe” seats over 102,000 and the decibel can be deafening. Lindsey can forget audibling at the line of scrimmage to change plays. Instead, the Gophers who have practiced this week amidst raucous artificial noise, will rely on hand signals for communications.

Gopher coach P.J. Fleck noted earlier in the week that OSU fans have been asking for a couple of years to see their heroes in a home night game. After fans are tailgating all day, Fleck expects his team to walk into “a really hostile environment.”

“…Our players are just going to have to have incredible poise and execute the small details, and find a way to just continue to get better and go execute the game plan that’s in front of us,” Fleck said.

Fleck refers to the game as both a challenge and opportunity for his team. That includes for individuals like Lindsey, the first-year starter, who against Rutgers further justified the confidence of his teammates and coaches. Fleck already knows Lindsey is a special talent but also realizes the trajectory of progress won’t always be vertical.

If Lindsey on Saturday, though, plays at a higher level than against Rutgers, even BetMGM would like the Gophers’ chances of making an impressive showing at the “Shoe.”

Worth Noting

BetMGM lists the 2-2 Vikings as 3.5 favorites for their Sunday game against the 1-3 Browns in London. Minnesota needs a win, because the next three opponents are the 4-0 Eagles at home and on the road against the Chargers and Lions, both 3-1.

Vikings Donovan Jackson, Ryan Kelly, Michael Jurgens, J.J. McCarthy, Brian O’Neill and Andrew Van Ginkel are ruled out for Sunday’s game, according to the team practice report this morning. Questionable are Tyler Batty, C.J. Ham and Ben Yurosek. Mike Hall is out for the Browns, with Jack Conklin and Greg Newsome questionable.

Viewership of the Steelers 24-21 win over the Vikings last Sunday in Dublin was the second most-watched NFL Network International game ever, with 7.9 million viewers (TV+digital)—trailing only the 2023 Dolphins and Chiefs game in Germany. The total doesn’t include OTA viewership from the Minneapolis and Pittsburgh markets.

It could be the Twins Pohlad ownership group will announce its new minority owners at the MLB Winter Meetings in December.

If the Yankees fire manager Aaron Boone, the Twins would be advised to take a serious look at him to fill their managerial opening.

Veteran sportswriters Jerry Zgoda and Kent Youngblood left the Star Tribune earlier this year. Now Twins beat writer Phil Miller, a terrific reporter, is retiring, too. Last Sunday he posted the following on X:

“Phillies win 2-1 in 10, and that’s a wrap on the Twins’ disappointing 70-92 season — and on my 45-year career in newspapers, which has been the utter opposite of disappointing. To all you Jazz, Utes, Gophers and Twins fans, thanks so much for reading. It’s been an absolute blast.”

Representing the Gopher men’s team at Big Ten Basketball Media Days Oct. 8 and 9 in Rosemont, Ill. will be coach Niko Medved and sophomore guard Isaac Asuma and junior forward Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, Jr. The women’s team contingent will be coach Dawn Plitzuweit and senior guards Amaya Battle and Mara Braun.

Blaze Credit Union, the official credit union of the Minnesota Wild, will have its logo on the team’s home helmets this season. As part of the sponsorship agreement between the two, the Blaze Credit Union’s Hockey Kids4Kids Program will continue. The program encourages youth players to raise funds for kids at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare.

Marc-André Fleury, now in his first season of retirement, was brought to Minnesota in 2022 to be a role model for teammates including now No. 1 goalie Filip Gustavvson. It will be interesting to see if Gustavsson can keep building on past success and have his best season. The Wild open the regular schedule October 9 against the Blues in St. Louis.

The state-of-the-art LaunchPad Golf The Meadows in Prior Lake opens Saturday at 4 p.m. Located close to Mystic Lake Casino Hotel and The Meadows at Mystic golf course, the venue will be a year-round entertainment destination.

It’s the first LauchPad location in the United States, and the venue has 40-heated suites (bays) and will be open even when temps are near 20 below. Each of the suites offers ball tracking technology, along with an auto-tee system that pops up the next golf ball after the last one has been hit. The driving range is 243 yards long and golfers can bring their own clubs or have them provided.

Serious golfers can experience some of the world’s most famous golf courses, including Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black, The Old Course at St. Andrews, and others. There’s also a variety of different games that are fun for golfers of different abilities, including suite linking technology to compete against an adjacent group.

LaunchPad’s offerings create a welcoming social atmosphere with its sports bar and quality dining options that include shareables and dinner entrees. LaunchPad is a sponsor of Gopher athletics and members of the men’s hockey and basketball team recently enjoyed a visit there.

There will be visitation starting at 11 a.m. Monday at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis for Minnesota golf legend John Harris, 73. A memorial service follows at noon at the church. In addition to excelling in amateur and professional golf, John played on the 1974 Golden Gophers national championship hockey team.

The esteemed Twin Cities Dunkers organization started in 1948 as the Minneapolis Dunkers under the leadership of Norm McGrew. Dave Mona took over in 1999 but will step away at the end of 2026 when Dunkers board member and former Twins president Dave St. Peter takes over as the next president and general manager of the civic and business organization whose activities include raising money for the Minneapolis and St. Paul public high schools to support their athletic programs. Dunkers has raised over $1.5 million for the cause.

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Vikings & Rodgers Meet Sunday After Off-Season Flirtation

Posted on September 22, 2025September 23, 2025 by David Shama

Enjoy a Monday notes column.

It looks like a soap opera season regarding the Vikings quarterback position after journeyman Carson Wentz was more than serviceable yesterday in subbing for injured first-year QB J.J. McCarthy. Wentz, starting for his sixth NFL team in six consecutive years, looked settled in the pocket and threw two touchdown passes while completing 14 of 20 throws in Minnesota’s 48-10 win.

Wentz’s poise, decision making and performance contrasted to the mostly skittish play of the 22-year-old McCarthy in the team’s first two games. His high ankle sprain perhaps will keep him sidelined until after the team’s next two games in Europe and bye week of October 12.

Since the 2-1 Vikings passed on veteran options during the past offseason to anoint McCarthy with the job, it will be interesting to see if head coach Kevin O’Connell puts Wentz back on the bench upon McCarthy’s return to the active roster. Does that happen even if the Vikings defeat the Steelers in Dublin next Sunday and take down the Browns the following Sunday in London?

Ironically, the Vikings face future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers in Dublin. The not so well known truth is there was considerable mutual interest between the Vikings and Rodgers during the offseason about having him play for Minnesota in 2025.

It’s believed Rodgers would have preferred Minneapolis to Pittsburgh. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, ownership and O’Connell looked at the possibility but in the end the coach apparently decided McCarthy was his first choice.

That decision could end up being highly supported or criticized. Same with an October decision to either continue on with Wentz or bench him upon McCarthy’s return. Remember, too, the Vikings had off-season options to retain 2024 star Sam Darnold or even turn to 2024 late season acquisition Daniel Jones, another veteran with a career of mixed results.

“As the World Turns on the Purple Quarterback Stage.”

Rodgers, 41, had two touchdown passes in the (2-1) Steelers’ 21-14 win at New England yesterday. He has 510 career regular-season touchdown passes and has surpassed Brett Favre (508 touchdown passes) for the fourth-most in NFL history.

O’Connell said after the thorough beat down of the Bengals he was pleased with the response of his team after losing the previous game to the Falcons. He’s impressed with the leadership on the team.

“…It’s not just our eight captains. We’ve got nearly 30 players (who) received votes to be captains this year, and I can name player after player that showed up today and were phenomenal for their team, and just so proud of those guys.”

Credit Minneapolis attorney and sports historian Marshall Tanick with asking the question about who was the last University of Minnesota former quarterback to play in a regular season NFL game prior to yesterday. On Sunday Max Brosmer entered the Viking game in the fourth quarter and became the first former Gopher to do that since Cory Sauter. Playing for the Bears in the 2002 regular season finale, the Hutchinson native completed 6 of 9 passes for 59 yards in the game.

Star wide receiver Jordan Addison returns for the Steeler game after serving a three-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. He had 885 receiving yards last season, second on the team to superstar WR Justin Jefferson.

Yesterday showed how topsy-turvy the NFL can be. The Bengals, now 2-1, lost their first game of the season while the Vikings made up for a poor performance in Week Two against the Falcons who struggled so much yesterday against the Panthers that starter Michael Penix, Jr. was benched and Atlanta fell to Carolina, 30-0. The Packers, after two games almost coronated as Super Bowl champs, were upset by the lowly 1-2 Browns in Cleveland.

The Gophers, 2-1, have almost a must win on Saturday at home against 3-1 Rutgers. Minnesota needs a win to keep hopes in place of having an above .500 season and quality bowl invitation.

Athan Kaliakmanis, the former Gopher starting quarterback, looks much improved in his second season leading Rutgers. He is second in Big Ten passing yards with 1,150 (USC’s Jayden Maiava is first with 1,223). Kaliakmanis was on target throwing the ball for a while in a 38-28 loss to Iowa last week, but his production fell off in the second half as the Hawkeyes defended him with more pressure.

Kaliakmanis departed the Gophers after a so-so 2023 season. Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck was asked today about his emotions regarding his former starter going into this week.

“Listen, this is Rutgers versus Minnesota. I got a lot of respect for what they do and how they do it. He’s playing really well in his fifth year in that type of same system. You’d expect to see that type of growth that he has shown, and has played in. He’s playing at a high level.”

The Gophers men’s basketball team opened fall practice today at Williams Arena where coach Niko Medved expects his team will hold workouts a couple times per week. Cal transfer B.J. Omot, a Mankato native, will be available for practice after late spring surgery for a leg issue. Omot, a 6-8 redshirt junior forward, figures into what Medved predicts will be a nine-man rotation in games for the Gophers.

Redshirt 6-3 junior guard Chance Stephens, the transfer from Maryland, has been dealing with an illness and Medved said today “he has not been able to do anything yet.” The coach said Stephens’ return plan is uncertain.

Max Gizzi, the fifth year transfer 6-1 guard from NAIA Huntington University, impressed Medved during the summer but then broke his foot. The coach estimated another six weeks or so before he returns to practice.

Guard Isaac Asuma, from Cherry, Minnesota, had extensive playing experience last season and Medved gushed about him. Not only is the 6-3 guard talented but is “just an exceptional dude” with his personality and attitude.

The Gophers have an exhibition opener at home October 16 against North Dakota State. The first game is also at home, November 3 against Gardner-Webb.

Medved’s 2026 high school recruiting class of verbal recruits is ranked No. 6 in the nation by 247Sports. He is “pretty happy” with the three-player class but said “potentially one more” recruit could be added.

Tim Connelly, president of basketball operations for the Timberwolves, speaks to the Capital Club on October 4 at Mendakota Country Club. More information about the club is available from Patrick Klinger, patrick@agilemarketingco.com.

Publicity ramps up on the Timberwolves next week with the team holding Media Day next Monday.

The Wild is making a number of training camp practices at TRIA Rink at Treasure Island Center in St. Paul open to the public. Fans need to register at http://wild.com/openpractices to attend an open practice.

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Gophers Football Season Ticket Sales Down Slightly from 2024

Posted on September 11, 2025September 11, 2025 by David Shama

As of this week, the University of Minnesota reports the Athletic Department has sold 23,089 public season football tickets. This is the third consecutive year of decline in public season tickets. The 2024 total was 23,592 total and in 2023 25,396 tickets were sold.

This year and in the past Sports Headliners requested and received ticket sales information from the University through the public records process. The public season tickets total includes the Gopher Pass and faculty-staff purchases. The Gopher Pass is a mobile ticket that allows fans access to all home games with either a seat or standing room if the game is sold out.

The U reports 7,924 student season tickets sold, after that total was 8,013 last year and 8,545 in 2023. Students can pay $116 and have a football season ticket. For $277 a ticket can be purchased for men’s hockey, men’s basketball and football. A third option is to pay $192 for football and choose either men’s hockey or men’s basketball season admission.

The student ticket pricing is the same as last year. Student enrollment at the Minneapolis-St. Paul campus, BTW, is approximately 55,000.

The U reported no increase in base pricing or required donation for public season tickets in 2025. Order charges increased from $30 to $50.

Public season ticket pricing with a guaranteed seat location for each game starts at $310. The Gopher Pass costs $254.

Recent history shows the Gophers aren’t growing their season ticket base but are sustaining a total of over 30,000 combined with public and student sales. This is the fifth consecutive year the public season ticket total has exceeded 23,000.

Factors impacting sales include pricing and time commitment to attend a game, but the list starts with winning. In 2023, when the Gophers had sold 25,396 public season tickets, the team disappointed with a 6-7 overall record that included 3-6 in the Big Ten.

Last year Minnesota bounced back, going 8-5 and 5-4. Since 2019 coach P.J. Fleck has delivered an 11-win season, and twice won nine games to go with the eight-victory total in 2024. He has also won six consecutive bowl games.

Yet, the public is still waiting for a breakthrough period when Minnesota is a top 25 team and contender for the College Football Playoff. That kind of success would fuel ticket sales and attendance to an all-time high for the Fleck era that began in 2017.

Such a development would be welcomed with open arms in the Athletic Department, which depends on football for a major share of revenue to support itself and other men’s and women’s varsity sports. For this fiscal year, the department has projected a near $9 million deficit in the first school year of sharing revenues with athletes including football players.

Photo by Marshall Tanick of Gophers-Badgers 2021 home game.

The last three seasons at Huntington Bank Stadium (capacity 50,805) average attendance starting with 2022 has been 45,019, 48,543 and 47,467. After two nonconference games this summer, attendance is averaging 45,111.

Attendance includes paid and free admission. The U reports, for example, 9,827 tickets were distributed to first-year students and freshmen for the season opening game with Buffalo.

For the opener there was also a 24-hour promotion selling tickets to the public for $10 each. The U reports that “6,323 tickets were sold during the 24-hour promotional sale, 3,725 of which were priced at $10, inclusive of all taxes and fees.”

For nonconference home games the U must pay opponents a financial guarantee. Buffalo was paid $1,450,000, while Northwestern State received $500,000.

The Gophers play at California on Saturday night and will receive $300,000. That’s the same total Cal will receive for playing in Minneapolis in 2028.

The Minnesota Big Ten home schedule includes games with Nebraska and Wisconsin. The U reports both games “are projected to sell out.”

Other Big Ten teams coming to Minneapolis are Rutgers, Purdue and Michigan State. A strong start to the season by the Gophers might push near capacity crowds for those games including for Homecoming against Purdue on October 11.

No Over Emphasis on UST Men’s First Shot at the “Big Dance”

The University of St. Thomas men’s basketball program officially begins practice in less than two weeks and prepares for its first fully eligible season within NCAA Division I. The Tommies were not eligible for the NCAA Tournament their first four seasons in Division I after transitioning from Division III. Still, the Tommies played competitive basketball in those seasons including being one win away from winning the postseason Summit League championship last March.

John Tauer photo courtesy of University of St. Thomas

Certainly the Tommies, who were 24-10 overall last season, will be excited if they earn their way into the “Big Dance” and an opportunity to play on national TV next winter but look for coach John Tauer and his players to keep things process driven and in perspective. Tauer told Sports Headliners there’s been no team meeting to discuss March Madness.

Instead, Tauer expects his team to approach things game by game and “play to our standards.” Steady is the word for the program Tauer has been leading since 2011. “Our kids are very humble. I think they have things in perspective. …”

Coming off program bests in both the NET rankings and KenPom computer rankings last season, the Tommies have five newcomers and 10 returning players on their roster. “I think we have a lot of depth, and it fits with the up-tempo style that we like to play,” Tauer said.

Tauer also said he “wouldn’t feel very confident” predicting who will be his five starters. Regardless, he likes to use nine or 10 players in each game.

Among returnees is forward Carter Bjerke from Wayzata High School. He started 17 games last season as a redshirt sophomore, finished fifth in the Summit League in three-pointers made. Tauer believes Bjerke is poised for a “breakout season.”

Another returner is sophomore guard Ben Oosterbaan who also played in all 34 games last season. He has deep ties to the University of Michigan where both of his parents attended and uncle J.P. Oosterbaan played on the 1989 national championship basketball team. The family dog is named after the school’s colors, maize and blue.

Newcomers include Austin Herro, the brother of NBA All-Star Tyler Herro. Austin, a redshirt sophomore guard, transferred in from South Carolina. “He’s an unbelievable passer,” Tauer said. “He makes the team better in every way.”

The UST men’s and women’s basketball teams will open their 2025-26 home schedules in a doubleheader against Army West Point on Saturday, November 8, at the new Lee & Penny Anderson Arena. The academy is the alma mater of Lee Anderson. Tauer said his Tommies will play a return game at West Point in November of 2026.

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