Golden Gophers – Page 334 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Winning but Future Looks Brighter

Posted on October 17, 2014October 17, 2014 by David Shama

With five victories already and six games remaining on the schedule, the Gophers could certainly reach last year’s win total of eight. But program supporters who are close to head coach Jerry Kill such as Ray Hitchcock are optimistic that in future years the Gophers could have double figure win totals.

Hitchcock, the former Gophers center and now a postgame radio host, told Sports Headliners that “2015, 2016, those could be 10, 11 year wins.” Kill and his staff have improved the player talent since taking over for the 2011 season and done a superior job of maximizing individual and team skills. The 2014 team is heavy with underclassmen—including starters who will return in 2015—and the staff is developing players who can come off the bench when needed.

Hitchcock readily offers enthusiasm about Kill and the future. “He’s building so much depth with these guys. What is he, 6-2 in his last eight Big Ten games?”

That’s exactly the number, and only Michigan State and Ohio State with 8-0 records can boast better numbers than the Gophers. Minnesota’s 6-2 record in league games is the program’s best since the Gophers came up with the same totals from November 6, 1999 through October 21, 2000.

Going into tomorrow’s game at home against Purdue, the Gophers are 5-1 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten games. The most difficult part of the schedule will come next month against Iowa, Ohio State, Nebraska and Wisconsin. Kill will be the first to acknowledge the Gophers need to still improve a lot but Minnesota’s next win makes the team bowl-eligible and is another step toward at least an eight win season.

Gophers teams have only won eight games 11 times since the program began in 1882. Minnesota has won nine games twice, 10 games three times, and earned 13 and 14 single season win totals once each. In today’s college football world of 12 game schedules—plus a bowl game—teams play more games than in most past years but for the Gophers to accomplish a win total of eight or more this fall will obviously be special.

To get there the Gophers will need to fix another number. Kill’s teams are 0-22 when trailing at halftime. The Gophers haven’t been capable of coming from behind and one reason has been struggles with their passing game. Instability at the quarterback position has characterized the offense but the Gophers might have a fix with redshirt sophomore Mitch Leidner who has impressed in his last two games, completing 24 of 37 passes for 320 yards.

“I think over the last two games, the biggest thing about Mitch, he’s relaxed,” Kill said. “Went out and played. Had a smile on his face. I think early in the year he was pressing, then he got hurt, went through some things. I think he’s feeling good, feeling better. I always say, if you feel good, you play good. I think he’s…more comfortable.”

Offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover said Leidner, who was only a part-time starter last season, felt a lot of pressure during the nonconference season. When Leidner was injured and couldn’t play in the last nonconference game against San Jose State he watched the Gophers win without him. Limegrover believes that relieved weight-of-the-world-expectations.

Leidner was back on the field for the next game, at Michigan on September 27. “He literally was like a different young man when we went to Michigan as far as just how he was on gameday, how he was in the huddle, his demeanor gameday, the enjoyment of it,” Limegrover said. “He was out there having fun. That carried over to last week (and) then there was that confidence.”

The strength of the Gophers starts with their 15th ranked national scoring defense but the offense and Leidner might have to contribute more than usual tomorrow against a Purdue team that has scored 69 points in its last two games. The Boilermakers, 3-4 overall and 1-2 in league games, have changed quarterbacks from earlier in the season and Austin Appleby has challenged defenses with runs and passes. Gophers defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys targets holding opponents to 17 points or less and if Minnesota can limit Purdue to that total tomorrow a victory is very likely. And, so, too are a lot more wins later in the season and during the years ahead.

Gophers sophomore defensive back and kick return specialist Jalen Myrick said he has big expectations for the program. “That’s the reason I came here. I wanted to play for a Rose Bowl—so being in a Big Ten championship—that was always my goal and everyone else’s goal.”

Worth Noting

Myrick’s 100-yard kickoff return was the difference in Minnesota’s 24-17 win over Northwestern last Saturday. How has his life been impacted since? “A lot of media followed me on Twitter,” he answered while also mentioning friends who reached out.

Myrick said he was clocked at 21.5 miles per hour on the return but can run faster. “It’s not impossible,” he said.

Gophers defensive tackle Cameron Botticelli on whether tomorrow’s game could be a shootout since Purdue has a high scoring offense but suspect defense: “If I have anything to say about it, it won’t. …”

A source told Sports Headliners the Gophers received $500,000 for playing their September 13 nonconference game at TCU. The Horned Frogs, 4-1, defeated the Gophers, 30-7, and are ranked No. 12 nationally in the Associated Press poll.

Former Gophers defensive back Dom Barber hopes to have his communications degree by next March. Although he isn’t interested in coaching, Barber is working in a recruiting role for the Gophers. His brother Thomas Barber, a junior linebacker and running back, plays for Armstrong High School and is an outstanding college prospect.

The Vikings offensive line gave up eight sacks in last Sunday’s 17-3 loss to the Lions. Among those receiving blame is left tackle Matt Kalil who after a successful rookie season in 2012 has been much criticized since. In Kalil’s defense, a Vikings insider said the former USC star is facing some of the best pass rushers and highest paid players in the NFL. But he also said Kalil’s confidence needs to be restored.

“I would not trade Kalil,” the source said. “I would hope we could get him to play up to his potential.”

While rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater receives much of the public and media attention, the team’s other first round draft choice, Anthony Barr, leads the Vikings in tackles with 58 and is one of the more impressive first-year players in the NFL.

The Vikings play in suburban Buffalo on Sunday and fans here will recognize names associated with the Bills having Minnesota connections. Bills starting offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson is from Cretin-Derham Hall High School. Todd Downing, the team’s quarterbacks’ coach from Eden Prairie, graduated from the University of Minnesota and worked in quality control for the Vikings.

Bills offensive line coach Pat Morris had the same title with the Vikings from 2006-2010. Linebackers coach Fred Pagac was the Vikings defensive coordinator in 2011 and for several years was Minnesota’s linebackers coach. Vikings defensive coordinator George Edwards was the DC for the Bills from 2010-2011.

Gophers senior guard Rachel Banham is the Big Ten women’s basketball coaches choice for Preseason Player of the Year. Banham was also named to the coaches’ preseason All-Big Ten team that includes Minnesota native Nia Coffey, a sophomore forward at Northwestern.

Ali Lucia, daughter of Gophers hockey coach Don Lucia, is now with WCCO TV. Her journalism career experiences includes being a Fox news anchor in Rochester, Minnesota.

Her dad’s nationally No. 1 ranked Gophers have a bye this week after winning the Ice Breaker Tournament at Notre Dame, Indiana with games last Friday and Sunday. Only several hundred fans were in the seats at the games.

Gustavus, 6–0 overall and 4–0 in the MIAC, is off to its best start since the 1987 season when the “Cardiac Kids” went 10–0 and 9–0 while winning the league title. The Gusties probably will face their most formidable opponent tomorrow at home against Saint John’s, 4-1 and 2-1. The Gusties rank third in NCAA Division III with an average of 385 passing yards per game.

Congratulations to Luverne High School football coach Todd Oye who won his 100th career game last week. The victory gave him a 100-43 record in 13 seasons at Luverne.

Comments Welcome

Prep QB Green Set for Oregon…Or Is he?

Posted on October 15, 2014October 15, 2014 by David Shama

It was predictable that Seth Green, perhaps the state’s best prep football player, announced at East Ridge High School this morning his college choice is Oregon. What the junior quarterback may not realize is he might one day change his mind and play for the Golden Gophers.

Green told Sports Headliners in late August he was leaning toward Oregon with the Gophers also being considered. The Ducks are among college football’s elite programs and their offense is a fit for Green who is the No. 8 dual-threat quarterback in the country for the class of 2016, according to Rivals.com.

A program like Oregon can be selective in recruiting. Oregon likely will only recruit a couple of quarterbacks at most for its 2016 freshman class and Green made sure he will be one of them by announcing for the Ducks today (earlier this year they offered him a scholarship).

But a lot can happen between now and February of 2016 when Green and other high school seniors can sign National Letters of Intent binding them to college programs. What Green did this morning was verbally commit to the Ducks, and they reserved a scholarship for the talented young man who has visited Eugene a couple of times.

Beyond that, Green’s situation—like any high school player who makes a verbal commitment—remains fluid. In the more than 15 months between now and 2016 National Signing Day there could be developments that change Green’s outlook, perhaps even in the Gophers’ favor.

“That’s an eternity (of time). There’s so many things that can happen, and a verbal means nothing,” said Ray Hitchcock.

Hitchcock, the former Gophers center and now an assistant coach at Cretin-Derham Hall High School, has seen Green play against the Raiders. “He’s a top quarterback,” Hitchcock told Sports Headliners. “He has the skill set that you are looking for—a very strong arm (and) understands the defenses that he is looking at.”

The Ducks’ program committed NCAA recruiting violations awhile ago and was placed on three years probation in 2013. That probationary period is scheduled to end on June 25, 2016. What if the NCAA found more problems at Oregon in the near future? Those problems and possible NCAA penalties such as a bowl ban could impact the commitment of high school players to the school?

Then there is the possibility of the Gophers’ winning profile increasing even further and Minnesota becoming a more attractive choice for Green. If the Gophers become contenders in the Big Ten Conference West Division, nationally ranked and earn a trip or two to New Year’s Day bowl games between now and February 2016, it would impress recruits—perhaps including Green.

Certainly as a home town kid Green faces pressure to play for the Gophers and as recently as last Saturday he was interested enough in the program to attend the Minnesota-Northwestern game at TCF Bank Stadium. That pressure goes up a few notches if Minnesota becomes a legitimate top 15 national program. Sports Headliners asked Green back in August what might cause him to one day commit Minnesota?

“I don’t know—just sort of seeing how they keep building their program,” Green said. “They’re on a really great track right now and I like what they’re doing. They’re headed in the right direction with (head) coach (Jerry) Kill and (quarterbacks) coach (Jim) Zebrowski. So just seeing them continue to grow.”

Green was born in Minneapolis. His parents, Bryan and Teresa Green, both attended the University of Minnesota. Obviously for family it will one day be a lot easier to watch Green play in Dinkytown than on the West Coast.

Although Green announced for Oregon today, a lot of high school players have flipped their verbal commitments over the years. Green may not, but until Signing Day he still has college options and could eventually shoot down the Ducks if he wants.

“He could change his mind a couple of times,” Hitchcock said.

Comments Welcome

Ponder Rookie Stats Top Bridgewater

Posted on October 13, 2014October 13, 2014 by David Shama

Christian Ponder and Teddy Bridgewater have similar statistics in their first two starts as NFL rookie quarterbacks.

In 2011 Ponder threw three touchdown passes with a 80.95 rating in a loss to the Packers and win over the Panthers. Bridgewater has no touchdown passes and a 70.1 rating after a win last month against the Falcons and yesterday’s loss to the Lions. Ponder had two interceptions in his first two games while Bridgewater has three. Ponder totaled 455 yards in those games, Bridgewater 505.

Since the 2013 season Ponder’s disappointing play made him Public Enemy No. 1 with Vikings fans while Bridgewater has been greeted this year as a savior. Before yesterday’s home game Bridgewater’s mother drew attention from the media outside TCF Bank Stadium, and then sounded the Gjallarhorn prior to kickoff. All was well when her son took the field for the Vikings’ first offensive possession and the crowd chanted, “Teddy! Teddy!”

Moments later, though, the 21-year-old Bridgewater threw a bad pass that was intercepted in the Lions’ end zone, killing the best Vikings’ drive of the day. The next time Bridgewater took the field in the first quarter there was no chanting. Then on his third series of the day he fumbled, although the Vikings recovered the ball.

Before the game ended the youngest Viking had thrown three interceptions and could have had a couple more picked off by the Lions. It was a bad day for the offense as the Vikings, now 2-4, came up with only 212 yards and three points on a fourth quarter Blair Walsh field goal.

The similar stats of Ponder and Bridgewater aren’t to suggest who was initially better—or will have the superior long-term career. The numbers, though, make the point that fans expecting rookie quarterbacks to carry offenses and teams in their first games, and seasons, is a task beyond almost any player past or present.

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was angry after yesterday’s 17-3 loss to the Lions, a rival team that is now 4-2 and leading the NFC North with the Packers. He didn’t go overboard to defend Bridgewater in the postgame news conference. “There’s a lot of people that could have done better including him,” Zimmer said.

Bridgewater was sacked eight times in the game, a major indictment of the offensive line. He also threw off-target at times while during other plays his receivers dropped balls or didn’t come up with catches that looked possible.

The Vikings only rushed for 69 yards. Part of that is on the offensive line, too.

Left tackle Matt Kalil was frustrated after the game and pointed out the Lions have been among the best defenses in the league. “We definitely had our hands full. We just let some plays get away from us,” he said. “Just little mistakes we gotta fix. They capitalized on them and got pressure on Teddy, and that was the story today.”

Ponder has seen that story, too, but it’s not one an angry Zimmer wants to get used to. “We’re going to look at everything again,” he said when asked about personnel changes.

Worth Noting

Tickets reportedly were being sold for as low as $10 on the street before yesterday’s Vikings game. Other sellers were asking for prices of $20 and $30 per ticket.

Vikings executive vice president Lester Bagley said last week no “announcement is imminent” about naming rights for the new downtown stadium opening in July of 2016. There are 18 Fortune 500 companies in the state—including 17 in the metro area—and Bagley indicated it’s likely one will buy the naming rights. Benefits for a Minnesota company are expected to exceed those accrued by a business from outside the state.

Jalen Myrick’s 100-yard kickoff return was the difference in the Gophers’ 24-17 win over Northwestern on Saturday. The Georgia native said neither in college or high school had he returned a kickoff for a score. “If they come up at me again, I am gonna have to get’em to pay,” the sophomore said.

Myrick was named Big Ten Co-Special Teams Player of the week with Michigan’s Matt Wile, and Gophers’ senior linebacker Damien Wilson was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for his career high 15 tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss performance in the win over Northwestern. He leads the conference with 11 tackles per game.

Although the Gophers are 5-1 overall, and 2-0 in the Big Ten, they aren’t included in the nation’s top 25 polls. David Cobb, who rushed for 103 yards in Minnesota’s win on Saturday, was asked if the Gophers belong. “That’s up to the people who rank,” he said.

Texas Tech, coached by Tubby Smith, is last in a Big 12 coaches poll released last week forecasting the order of finish for conference basketball teams in 2015. Smith never had a winning league record in six seasons as Gophers coach, nor did he in 2013-2014 at Tech, his first season there. Smith did coach three NCAA Tournament teams at Minnesota and five times won 20 or more games. Iowa State, coached by former Timberwolves player and executive Fred Hoiberg, will place fifth in the 10-team league and Kansas will finish first, according to the poll.

Smith successfully recruited Rice Lake’s Wally Ellenson but after Ellenson transferred earlier this year Minnesota lost any chance of getting his brother Henry, now a coveted high school senior. Both Ellensons will play at Marquette a year from this fall.

Tech has offered a scholarship to Tre Jones, the Apple Valley High School ninth grader. His brother Tyus is a freshman at Duke where first-year teammate Jahlil Okafor is a favorite to win college player of the year awards but he will have competition from Wisconsin senior Frank Kaminsky.

Preseason polls will have Duke and Wisconsin at or near the top, while the Gophers are a contender for an early top 25 ranking.

Apple Valley plays DeLaSalle, featuring Gophers commit Jarvis Johnson, in one of 15 games on December 13 at Minnetonka High School as part of the Tip Off Classic.

Former Timberwolves center Darko Milicic announced last month he will become a professional kickboxer.

Flip Saunders might start answering to the nickname “Cop.” He is coach, owner (minority) and president of basketball operations for the Timberwolves.

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