Golden Gophers – Page 220 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Road Games May Not Slow Vikings

Posted on November 1, 2017November 1, 2017 by David Shama

A Wednesday notes column written during a week when the Upper Midwest could be in entertainment panic mode because the Vikings have a bye on the schedule Sunday.

The Vikings play four of their next five games on the road but that may not result in a bumpy ride. Two years ago Mike Zimmer’s team had a six-game stretch with four games away from home, and the Vikings were undefeated on the road. That team finished the season with an 11-5 record including five road wins and three losses.

The 2015 Vikings won the NFC North and this year’s team, with a 6-2 record now, appears headed toward another division championship. Zimmer has a veteran roster that should be comfortable playing on the road and won’t face a for-sure superior team in a five-game schedule that has Minnesota at Washington, home against the L.A. Rams and then at Detroit, Atlanta and Carolina.

Those five teams are a combined 20-16 this season in the parity-heavy NFL. In the latest ESPN.com NFL power rankings, the Vikings are No. 5, with the Rams No. 8, Carolina No. 12, Atlanta No. 13, Detroit No. 15 and Washington No. 18. Minnesota’s biggest worry, per ESPN, is sub quarterback Case Keenum remains somewhat untested after six-plus games.

What’s your guess as to the Vikings’ record after their December 10 game at Carolina? What will the record be at season’s end? What is an acceptable season and postseason?

Zimmer answering a question about trusting kicker Kai Forbath who has made 95.5 percent of his field goal attempts but just 75 percent of extra points: “Well, I’m probably not as jump off the wagon as you guys (media) are. You guys wanted me to get rid of him after he missed the extra point in the second game, or something. He’s done a really good job of kicking field goals accurately.

“He’s a good kid. He works hard. I think there’s a good rapport between [Kevin] McDermott, the holder [Ryan Quigley] and him. So yes, I feel comfortable with him.”

The Gophers’ P.J. Fleck could soon see his name mentioned in speculation about the many head coaching openings anticipated in major college football. Fleck’s contract with the University of Minnesota states neither he nor a representative can “seek, negotiate or accept other full-time employment” without first providing at least 48 hours written notice to the Gopher athletic director.

Drawing a lot of interest because of openings will be Iowa State second-year head coach Matt Campbell who at 37 is one year older than Fleck. The two coached against each other in the Mid-American Conference and both were born on November 29. Campbell was named Iowa State coach on November 29, 2015.

When the Gophers lost to Iowa last Saturday it ensured another year when Minnesota would not sweep its rivalry games against the Hawkeyes, Badgers and Wolverines. The 1967 season was the last that Minnesota captured Floyd of Rosedale, Paul Bunyan’s Axe and the Little Brown Jug.

Injuries have reshuffled the Gophers’ offensive line, but after last weekend Minnesota had allowed only eight sacks this year (tied for 11th in the nation, first in the Big Ten), and 27 tackles for loss (tied for 5th nationally, first in Big Ten).

Bleacher Report ranked the Gophers Richard Pitino No. 1 in an article last week about “up-and-coming college basketball coaches to watch in 2017-2018.” Candidates had to meet two criteria: not be older than 40, and have fewer than 100 career wins.

Pitino’s 2017-2018 Gophers are a popular top 25 preseason pick, with Minnesota fans hoping the Gophers will be playing for the Big Ten title on February 25 at Purdue in the last game of the regular season. The Associated Press preseason poll out today ranked the Gophers No. 15, with second ranked Michigan State the only Big Ten team higher in the poll that has Duke No. 1.

Pitino has reportedly offered a scholarship to Hopkins junior power forward Zeke Nnjai. While Nnjai is a talented and coveted recruit, Gopher fans might wonder if this is an acknowledgement it’s unlikely Minnesota can also land Rochester John Marshall superstar power forward Matthew Hurt in its 2019 recruiting class.

It will be interesting to see if Bemidji State’s Michael Bitzer or the Gophers Eric Schierhorn win the 2018 Mike Richter Award given annually to college hockey’s best Division 1 goalie. Bitzer and Schierhorn were recognized respectively Monday and Tuesday as players of the week in the WCHA and Big Ten. Bitzer, a senior from Moorhead, has 18 career shutouts. Schierhorn, a junior from Anchorage, has started every game since his freshman season, with his total of 83 total leading all NCAA goalies and ranking seventh in NCAA history.

Hard to see Twins center fielder Byron Buxton not being among the American League’s Gold Glove winners when award announcements are made next Tuesday.

The Big Ten reported Tuesday that based on average home attendance for volleyball, the league has four of the nation’s top five programs. Nebraska leads the country averaging 7,907 fans, Wisconsin is third with 5,969, Minnesota is fourth at 4,880 and Penn State is fifth at 3,428. The Gopher volleyball program has the potential to be a moneymaker for the athletic department.

The Minnesota Blue Ox (12-1-1), a junior team in the U.S. Premier Hockey League owned by Wild coach Bruce Boudreau, will play the Minnesota Moose (11-3), as part of a hockey fundraiser at Isanti County Arena next Monday. The junior game follows the annual U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Women’s Face-Off Classic between Bemidji State and UMD game that begins at 6 p.m.

Proceeds from both games will benefit Matt Olson, the hockey player from Isanti who suffered a serious neck injury in 2016 while playing for a team in the USPHL. Tickets for the doubleheader are $5 for students and $10 for adults, and are available at the arena beginning at 5 p.m. November 6.

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U Loyalists May Find Heart in Ames

Posted on October 30, 2017November 1, 2017 by David Shama

I ended a two-game road winning streak with the Gophers on Saturday night in Iowa City. Earlier this season I was in Corvallis watching Minnesota beat up on Oregon State, 48-14, and two years ago I visited West Lafayette where the Gophers embarrassed Purdue in a 41-13 win.

No such fun Saturday night. Minnesota played hard but hardly entertained in a blah 17-10 loss to the Hawkeyes. The Gophers lost the game in the first half, failing twice to score near the Iowa goal line. On one miscue quarterback Demry Croft needed to target King Kong instead of 6-10 tight end Nate Wozniak who was wide open in the end zone. Croft threw high, and was also off target later in the half when he forced a pass at the goal line that was intercepted.

Offensively the Hawkeyes weren’t much better than the Gophers, and at times worse. The Hawkeyes were sputtering like a cold engine early in the third quarter when a chorus of boos came down from the stands. The vocal “kick in the pants” seemed to help because three successful plays followed including a touchdown pass that increased Iowa’s 7-0 halftime lead to 14-0 early in the third quarter.

Despite a few boo-birds, it was a subdued Hawkeye gathering in historic Kinnick Stadium on Saturday night. I kept looking for black and gold dressed crazies, hoping to even spot an occasional flask that warmed the body and loosened the tongue on the chilly evening. Instead, I settled for eavesdropping on a few remarks from the Iowa faithful.

Behind our seats a young man asked companions to help identify P.J. Fleck so he could make fun of the energetic Gophers coach. After the game an Iowa fan bragged how the Hawkeyes had “sunk” the Minnesota boat. Hope she didn’t need a lot of time to come up with that.

The best exchange I heard between fans came when a Hawkeye booster asked a Gopher supporter what Ski-U-Mah means? “It means beat the (blank) out of Iowa,” the Minnesota fan answered.

A group of Hawkeye boosters were talking about having a better team next season. If any Minnesota fans were in listening range, they knew that’s preaching to the choir. The Hawkeyes have disappointed their fans with big game losses to Penn State and Michigan State, along with a clunker overtime defeat in Evanston against Northwestern.

The Iowa crowd was listless Saturday night as they watched the Hawkeyes improve their overall record to 5-3 and 2-3 in Big Ten games. Likely some of the fan base thinks the program has grown stale under long-time head coach Kirk Ferentz who has been leading the Hawkeyes since 1999. In the previous seven seasons, for example, Iowa has only twice won more than half of its league games. The Hawkeyes aren’t realistic contenders to win the Big Ten’s West Division or earn a trip to a New Year’s bowl game.

Part of the malaise on Saturday was probably the cold weather that contributed to fans leaving the game early, and some seats either going unsold or unused. Even retaining possession of Floyd of Rosedale didn’t seem to be a big deal at Kinnick. Maybe fans are bored with the rivalry after seeing their heroes win 12 of the last 16 games against Minnesota.

The most emotional part of the night was watching the crowd wave during the first half to patients at the Iowa children’s hospital adjacent to the stadium. In the dark of night fans used their lighted cell phones to salute the most important people in Iowa City Saturday evening. To Fleck’s credit, he instructed the Gophers to leave the bench area and go on the field to wave at the kids between the first and second quarters.

There were a surprising number of fans dressed in Gopher clothing at the game. But, holy Hawkeye, they were a quiet group. Decades of losing and disappointments will do that to a fan base.

For the more passionate and loyal Gophers fans, the years of watching teams that seldom can manage to win half of their conference games is beyond disappointment. “The Gophers will never win (championships),” a despair-filled Minnesota fan said Sunday.

Well, no promises from this keyboard, but you won’t read a death notice here. Gophers fans desperate for optimism might look south to a place about 3 hours from Minneapolis. Down in Ames, Iowa this is a strange but glorious fall for the Iowa State Cyclones—the hapless football program that hasn’t won a league championship for over 100 years.

Led by second-year head coach Matt Campbell and a walk-on quarterback, ISU has defeated two top five teams in the last three weeks. The latest bizarre development was beating previously undefeated TCU in Ames on Saturday. Back on October 7, the Cyclones may have even done more impossible work by surprising Oklahoma in Norman—the Sooners being the one team to defeat mighty Ohio State earlier this season.

The Gophers don’t have possession right now of Floyd of Rosedale, the famous bronze hog awarded annually in the Minnesota-Iowa series, but if Iowa State can do big things in college football then indeed “pigs can fly.” Despite what previous dismal decades teach us, the Gophers program may yet get airborne.

Campbell is 37 and he came to Ames from Toledo where he won nine games during three of four-plus seasons. Among his Mid-American Conference rivals was Western Michigan, where the 36-year-old Fleck coached until last January when he took over the Minnesota program. If Campbell can flip the switch in Ames, then someone—maybe Fleck—can wake up the echoes of what once was a nationally revered football program at Minnesota.

Campbell stresses culture, attitude and effort, and he is operating at a place that hardly is rich in tradition and resources including players. Within the state of Iowa he must compete for talent against Iowa and Northern Iowa—and the Hawkeyes have long been the state’s favored football son.

The population of Iowa is about 2.5 million fewer than Minnesota. That should be an edge for the Gophers in sourcing talent and so, too, should Minnesota being the only Division I program in the state. The program has historically been more successful than Iowa State, with Minnesota’s resume including two Rose Bowls and a national championship in the 1960s.

The have-nots of college football have juiced up the scene this fall. Sad programs in the past like Iowa State, Syracuse and Boston College have made headlines. Syracuse stunned defending national champion Clemson earlier this month. Lowly Boston College upset the once mighty Florida State Seminoles last Friday night.

Big wins—even a couple of them in one season are nice,—but programs that turn a corner win year after year. That will be Campbell’s challenge in Ames—if he stays at Iowa State for the long run, turning down programs and places with more resources.

At Minnesota, though, the Gophers and their fan base would be happy to have a startling win or two. With a strong defense, but struggling offense, it’s a leap of faith to expect to see Minnesota shocking Gopher Nation with a Little Brown Jug win in Ann Arbor next Saturday, or a season ending—gasp!—win against the Badgers while burying a 13 game losing streak to Wisconsin.

A victory in either of those games would be baby steps for Fleck’s program. The wins wouldn’t mean the program has arrived but Gopher loyalists know it could be the beginning of better times.

Inspiration today can be found in one of the most unlikely places on the college football map—Ames, Iowa.

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Time to See Keenum as 2017 Quarterback

Posted on October 26, 2017October 26, 2017 by David Shama

It might be time to start seeing Case Keenum as the Vikings starting quarterback for the remainder of this season. The Vikings, 5-2, will have played six games with the former backup as their starter after Sunday’s game in London, but fans view Keenum as an emergency and temporary part.

Keenum, 29, had never started more than nine games in his four-year NFL career when he signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Vikings last offseason. Yet he has been a godsend to the Vikings who have had to play the entire first half of the season without 2015 starter Teddy Bridgewater, and have had 2016 regular Sam Bradford for just a game and a half.

“We brought him here to win games,” said Kyle Rudolph, Vikings tight end. “In this league there aren’t many teams that go all 16 games and their starting quarterback goes out there every week.”

Keenum is 3-2 as the team’s starter and has been mostly good—and at least serviceable—leading an offense that includes a new line and is without potential star rookie running back Dalvin Cook, who is injured and out for the season. Keenum has thrown for 1,322 yards and five touchdowns as the Vikings near the half-way point of their 16 game regular season. He also has a career high 89 passer rating.

Case Keenum (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

Projected over a full season, Keenum’s 2017 numbers would compare favorably with Bridgewater’s totals in his first two seasons in the NFL. Keenum also throws a better deep ball than what the Vikings saw in the past from Bridgewater. Keenum’s passing is part of the reason wide receiver Adam Thielen is having a career season and ranks among NFL leaders in receptions and yards.

Bridgewater, after missing last season with a devastating knee injury, is practicing again and is a fan favorite. There’s a perception he should soon replace Keenum as the starter. Bridgewater, though, only began formal practices with the team last week and hasn’t played in a game since August of 2016. Even if he can move well enough to protect himself, there should be concerns about his timing and rhythm throwing the ball.

Bradford hasn’t played since that nightmare first half against the Bears on October 9. He was then trying to play for the first time in almost a month but his painful knee wouldn’t allow him to effectively pass, or avoid pass rushers. Bradford and the Vikings are quiet about details regarding his knee injury, and it’s anyone’s guess whether he plays again this season.

Both Bradford and Bridgewater will be rusty when—or if—they return to the field. The Vikings, led by perhaps the NFL’s best defense, are the favorite to win the NFC North with the players who are available. Those players include a quarterback who unexpectedly could be leading the offense in the playoffs while Bridgewater and Bradford watch from the sidelines.

Rudolph believes Keenum is “going a great job” as the QB. “He’s our quarterback,” Rudolph said. “We just approach each and every week as if he’s going to be the guy. It’s up to other people to decide (coaches as to who starts), and that’s the way I think he approaches it, which is why he has had success.”

Worth Noting

While the Vikings return to London this week for the first time since 2013, Keenum was there last year quarterbacking the Rams. He threw four of his 11 interceptions for the season in a loss to the Giants, but doesn’t blame the long travel to London for the bad day. “No, it was just poor decisions,” he said yesterday.

Keenum is reportedly on a one-year contract with the Vikings worth $2 million.

Sunday’s game will be the fourth NFL game this season in London. The closest victory has been by 20 points, and the Browns, 0-7 this season, could lose by more than three touchdowns to the Vikings.

Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks after being asked what he planed to do on the eight hour airplane ride to London: “Sleep.”

Darrell Thompson, the Gophers career rushing leader and now color analyst on the football team’s radio network, speaks to the CORES lunch group Thursday, November 9 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. Thompson is president of Minneapolis headquartered Bolder Options, the nonprofit youth mentoring organization. Reservations for the Thompson lunch and program need to be made by Monday, November 6. Contact Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.

Former Gophers receiver Chester Cooper received an award and recognition yesterday from Hennepin County attorney Mike Freeman for his contributions and accomplishments as the county’s community corrections director. Cooper caught the last Gophers touchdown pass ever at Memorial Stadium in a season closing game in 1981 against Wisconsin. The Gophers moved into the Metrodome for the 1982 season.

Jackson Erdmann, the former Penn State walk-on quarterback from Rosemount High School now playing for Saint John’s, is second among all NCAA Division III passers with an efficiency rating of 191.5 this season. After last Saturday’s 320 yards passing and five touchdowns, the sophomore was named the MIAC Offensive Player of the Week.

The Green Bay basketball team that plays the Gophers November 5 in an exhibition game at Maturi Pavilion to benefit the American Red Cross hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico is predicted by Athlon’s college basketball magazine to finish sixth in the 10 team Horizon League. The Phoenix roster includes guard and Wisconsin native Sandy Cohen who the Gophers once targeted as a prep recruit. The Marquette transfer is eligible to play in his first game December 21. The Phoenix has a home exhibition game Monday against Ripon before travelling to Minneapolis.

Seating for the November 5 game is general admission and tickets are priced at $10 each. Gopher Score members and University of Minnesota student season ticket holders were able to access a special pre-sale this morning. General public tickets, based on availability, go on sale next Tuesday at 9 a.m.

The Minnesota Wild practice at Bloomington Ice Garden on Sunday starts at 11 a.m. and the inventory of complimentary tickets for fans is gone. Festivities will include presentation of a $75,000 check from Kraft for improvements to the facility.

Bravo to the Dodgers and Astros for playing their opening World Series game Tuesday night in two hours and 28 minutes, reportedly the fastest series game since 1992. Baseball’s yawning pace has been creeping on for decades. When the Twins and Dodgers played in their 1965 seven-game World Series, the briefest game was two hours and six minutes, while the longest was 2:34.

Last night’s World Series game clocked in at 4:19.

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