Golden Gophers – Page 343 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Barry Alvarez Believes in U Potential

Posted on November 22, 2013November 22, 2013 by David Shama

Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez told Sports Headliners during a telephone interview this week the Gophers football program has the potential to rival his success with the Badgers. Alvarez turned around a morbid Wisconsin program as coach starting in 1990, taking the Badgers to a 10-1-1 record by 1993 and the school’s first Rose Bowl appearance since 1963.

Alvarez said the Minnesota football program has many resources that can assist Jerry Kill who is 8-2 in his third season as Gophers coach. “They have good football in the state,” Alvarez said. “You have a great university. Play in a wonderful conference. A lot of traditions. You’re the only Division I school in the state.

“They have a lot of positives and that’s what they should be selling. I am sure that’s what he (Kill) sells. There’s no reason for them not to be successful.”

Alvarez won three Rose Bowls and three Big Ten titles before he retired as Wisconsin coach after the 2005 season. He is the winningest football coach in Badgers’ history with a record of 118-73-4, a winning percentage of .615.

Could he have duplicated that success at Minnesota?

“You know what, I do (think so) because I am confident in what I do,” Alvarez said. “I think Wisconsin and Minnesota are very similar. The type of players you’re going to get. The type of high school football they play in the (two) states. The fact you got one Division I school in the state. I think that’s very important.

“I think they’re very similar situations. I wouldn’t see myself doing anything different or having any less success if I had gone there.”

Alvarez is impressed with the Gophers and the work of Kill who in his first two seasons won only four Big Ten games but was improving the program. Now the Gophers, who are 4-2 in league games, are among the surprise teams in college football.

“He’s implemented his plan and the kids all understand it,” Alvarez said. “They’re able to play fast because they understand what they’re doing.

“Before you start winning, you have to stop losing. They don’t beat themselves. They’re a physical team. He (Kill) believes in that. You can see it (and) I am impressed with what I see.”

The Badgers are 8-2 overall, 5-1 in the Big Ten. The seniors have been to three Rose Bowls. Alvarez said the Badgers are underrated nationally and he views Wisconsin as a one loss team. The Badgers lost a controversial game against Arizona State when time expired before Wisconsin could attempt a winning field goal. The team’s other loss was to No. 3 ranked Ohio State in Columbus, a game that Alvarez said turned on one possession.

During more than two decades of Wisconsin success, the Badgers have had at least a couple of seasons when they were national championship contenders. One opportunity slipped away 20 years ago when undefeated Wisconsin was upset by the Gophers in the Metrodome, 28-21. It was the Badgers’ only loss of the 1993 season.

“Had we won that game we would have been the only undefeated team in the country, probably would have been national champs,” Alvarez said. “I think we ended up fourth in the country.”

The Big Ten’s football teams will be aligned in new divisions starting next year as the league expands to 14 schools with the additions of Maryland and Rutgers. Alvarez likes the new setup that includes rivals Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska joining the Badgers in the West Division. He also isn’t buying the argument the East Division with historically powerful programs like Ohio State and Michigan will be better than the West.

“You can’t just look at the names just because they’re some of our brand names in Michigan and Ohio State,” Alvarez said. “They haven’t won the league every year. Penn State the same way. When you break it down over the last 20 years, I think Ohio State has the most wins. We’re second (then Michigan). …So there’s a pretty good balance there.”

Part of Alvarez’s argument, too, includes Nebraska which joined the Big Ten in 2011. Dating back to 1993 and up through last season the Cornhuskers have won more games, 199, than any Big Ten program except for Ohio State.

Wisconsin keeps some pretty good company now thanks to Alvarez who came to Madison as a relatively unknown assistant coach from Notre Dame. He inherited a Camp Randall Stadium that was sometimes half empty and a program that knew next to nothing about winning after compiling a 9-36 record from 1986-1989.

Now there’s a statue of Alvarez outside the stadium and the Badgers roll on.

Worth Noting

John Kennedy was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, one day before the Gophers were scheduled to play the Badgers in Minneapolis. Many college football games were postponed on the Saturday following the death of the president, including Minnesota and Wisconsin. The teams finally played on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28, and the Gophers won 14-0.

The NFL played its regular Sunday schedule after the assassination. The Vikings, playing at home, defeated the Lions at Met Stadium, 34-31.

The 10 finalists for the 2013 Mr. Football Award have been announced by the Minnesota Football Coaches Association. The prep players and their high schools are Tory Adams, Hutchinson; Matt Christenson, Nicollet; Ejodamen Ejiya, Spring Lake Park; Jeffrey Jones, Washburn; Robert Olson, Eden Prairie; Jacques Perra, Roseville; Andrew Stelter, Owatonna; Michael Strand, Barnesville; Ezra Szczyrbak, Moose Lake/Willow River; and Blake Weber, Prior Lake.

Jones, a four-star running back, and Stelter, a three-star defensive end, have verbally committed to the Gophers, according to Rivals.com. The award, sponsored by the MFCA and Minnesota Vikings, recognizes an outstanding senior player and dates back to 2004. Gophers quarterback Philip Nelson, from Mankato West, won the award in 2011. Osseo running back Bridgeport Tusler won last year.

The 2013 winner will be announced at the Mr. Football Banquet on Sunday, December 8 at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park. Tickets are $15 and can be ordered on the MFCA website (click on MFCA ad on this page). The banquet begins at noon.

The Gophers basketball team, 5-0 after wins this week at home against Coastal Carolina and Wofford, will play Syracuse on Monday in the opening game for both teams in the EA Sports Maui Invitational. The game begins at 4:30 p.m. Minneapolis time and will be televised on ESPN2.

The Orangemen were ranked No. 8 in the country by Sports Illustrated in the magazine’s college basketball preview issue. The November 18 publication ranked Michigan State No. 3, Michigan No. 7 and Ohio State No. 11.

The Gophers’ Andre Hollins scored 19 and seven points in the two wins this week. Those numbers knocked him down from No. 1 to fourth in Big Ten scoring average per game. He is now averaging 18.8 points per game.

Former Timberwolves guard and front office executive Fred Hoiberg has coached Iowa State to a 4-0 record so far including a 77-70 upset of Michigan in Ames and 90-88 win over BYU in Provo. It wouldn’t be that surprising if Hoiberg some day replaces Rick Adelman as Wolves coach.

Jim Smith of Saint John’s is three wins behind former Western Kentucky coach Ed Diddle on the all-time win list for college basketball coaches. Smith’s 756 career wins is one better than that of legendary Oklahoma State coach Hank Iba. In 50 years of coaching Smith is 756-537. The Johnnies are 1-2 this season.

The Gophers baseball coaches have an artist’s color rendering of the proposed baseball setup in the new Vikings stadium. The visual can help with recruiting and the Gophers hope to use the downtown covered stadium for about 12 games in 2017, the first year it will be available to them.

Here are the distances from home plate to the fences in the new stadium: left field, 330 feet; left center, 375; center field, 400; right center, 340; and right field, 305. The right field fencing will extend 30 feet in the air to make hitting home runs more difficult.

The irony of the Twins’ decision this fall to move Joe Mauer from catcher to first base is it appears to end the conversation about bringing free agent Justin Morneau, who is a Mauer pal, back to Minneapolis.

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Players Meeting Sparked Football Gophers

Posted on November 20, 2013November 20, 2013 by David Shama

Senior defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman said a players-only meeting after the Gophers lost their first two Big Ten Conference games helped change the team’s season.

The Gophers under-performed in their conference opener against Iowa, losing at TCF Bank Stadium by a score of 23-7. The next week Michigan embarrassed Minnesota in Ann Arbor winning 42-13.

Hageman was concerned the season would duplicate 2012 when the Gophers went 2-6 in league games. Dozens of players showed up at a meeting to discuss how things could improve. “The coaches didn’t know about it,” Hageman said.

Players spoke out and among the messages was the Gophers should challenge each other more in practices. “We felt like it (practice) was kind of dead,” Hageman said.

The meeting helped the team get ready for Northwestern, Minnesota’s third conference game of the season. The Gophers won against the Wildcats and since then have added three more league victories. “It definitely set the tempo for the Northwestern game,” Hageman said. “It kind of carried on, especially during practice. We want people to compete at the best level they can compete at. I feel like it definitely carried on to the four wins in a row.”

Saturday the Gophers play the Badgers at TCF Bank Stadium, another Border Battle game. Hageman said the Gophers have to perform like the team that has won four in a row, not the group that was overwhelmed by Iowa. “We weren’t relaxed. We were uptight.”

Senior offensive tackle Ed Olson said the Gophers must keep their focus on Saturday. “We can’t get too excited. Can’t get too nervous for this game. We just gotta keep calm.”

The Gophers haven’t defeated the Badgers and won possession of Paul Bunyan’s Axe since 2003. Both teams are ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation. That hasn’t happened in this border rivalry since 2005 when Wisconsin was No. 23 and the Gophers No. 22.

Both teams have 8-2 records and are still contenders for championships in the Legends and Leaders divisions, but the Badgers are considered the better team in the Bowl Championship Series listings and other rankings. The Badgers are more than a two-touchdown favorite to win the game but Olson isn’t thinking about that.

“We’ve been an underdog for so long and this season as well. …It won’t affect our mindsets. We just gotta go out (and) have fun and play physical.”

The Badgers probably should be rated higher than they are. None of the four nationally recognized polls has them higher than No. 16, while the Gophers aren’t ranked in the Associated Press poll and are No. 23 in USA Today and No. 25 in both the Harris Interactive and Bowl Championship Series listings. “I know…that Wisconsin is an underrated football team because I think they’re as good as they’ve ever been,” said Gophers coach Jerry Kill.

The Gophers haven’t played since November 9 when they defeated Penn State. Kill said having no game last Saturday was beneficial to his players’ health. “I don’t like a bye week when you’re rolling pretty good, but the status of a lot of kids would have been questionable if we’d played the next week. …We do have some kids that are healthier than they would have been.”

One player the Gophers probably won’t have ready is senior wide receiver Derrick Engel who has a knee injury. Kill confirmed yesterday that Engel got hurt in practice recently but didn’t disclose details.

Gophers’ all-time leading rusher and now radio analyst Darrell Thompson predicts the score of Saturday’s game will be 32-28. “I don’t know who is going to have 32 and who is going to have 28. I wish I did. Ticket to Vegas.”

Gophers’ deputy athletic director David Benedict said the game is a near sellout. There were some $75 tickets being sold yesterday and standing room only tickets for $50 each. He expects attendance to exceed the record TCF Bank Stadium crowd set at the Iowa game, 51,382 (capacity 50,805).

Representatives from the Outback Bowl and Citrus Bowl will attend the game.

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U Not Topping Dome Football Crowds

Posted on November 8, 2013November 8, 2013 by David Shama

Despite the momentum of winning three consecutive Big Ten games for the first time since 2008, there was a reminder this week TCF Bank Stadium hasn’t been a cure-all for Gophers football attendance. The University of Minnesota athletic department has been airing radio commercials titled “Bring the Heat” to entice Minnesotans to buy tickets for tomorrow’s outdoor football game when the 7-2 Gophers play 5-3 Penn State in a November Big Ten game.

If enough ticket buyers respond and decide to watch the “hot” Gophers on a chilly day (temps predicted in the low 40s at kickoff) the athletic department will have its second sell out of the season. The Gophers have played five home games so far this season, including a historic upset of Nebraska, but sold out only the Iowa game when record TCF Bank Stadium attendance of 51,382 was announced. As of yesterday morning, an athletic department spokesman said 47,000 tickets had “been distributed” for Saturday’s game.

The $288.5 million TCF Bank Stadium, with official capacity of 50,805, opened in 2009 and that season every game sold out. The season averages since have been 49,513, 47,714 and 46,637. This year the average is 46,673, with home games yet to be played tomorrow and November 16 against Wisconsin.

In the last four seasons in the Metrodome the Gophers averaged 50,494 fans. The four-year average from 2009-2012 at the Bank is 48,667.

Winning and losing was comparable during the 2005-2008 and 2009-2012 periods. The final four years in the dome saw the Gophers win 10 conference games and lose 22. From 2009-2012 the league record was 9-23.

With a capacity of 64,172 at the dome, large crowds for some games (think ticket buying Iowans and Wisconsinites) did inflate season averages more than is possible at the Bank. But it’s hard to support the position that the new on-campus stadium created a ticket buying boom among consumers.

During the last two years the Gophers have sold out only two home games. Even when the weather is mild many of the best seats in the stadium are unoccupied. A University policy to guarantee 10,000 seats for students has been a flop, with less than half that many showing up for games and filling a portion of seats in the student section of the stadium.

When the weather turns cold — and in past years when losses are also piling up— luring fans to the Bank can be even a bigger problem than in September and October when temperatures are warm and there’s optimism about the team. The dome’s guarantee was that indoor temps were as steady in November as September and no one needed to use an umbrella or wear a parka while watching the game.

There was a vote of confidence for the dome in the first four years (1982-1985) that it was home to indoor Gophers football. Minnesota averaged 55,102 fans per game compared to the previous four seasons at outdoor Memorial Stadium when the average was 41,528.

Being back on campus with the opening of the Bank has its perks. The stadium is beautiful and the sightlines are outstanding. The environment, including a walk through campus to the stadium, provides a college experience the dome can’t offer. With the Gophers owning the facility, the team doesn’t have the scheduling problems faced at the dome when Twins playoff games created chaos. And the University captures revenues from various sources including parking and concessions.

Through the years the Gophers have learned there are trade-offs to indoor and outdoor football venues but where they play comes second to winning. That’s what really “Brings the Heat.”

Worth Noting

This year the University has designated a football tailgating lot just for students. Nadine Babu, a passionate Gophers fan and social media expert whose successes include Gopherhole.com, said “probably a handful” of students used the lot at the last game on October 26. “I just remember a lot of people came up to me and made comments; asked if that was the student tailgate lot because they couldn’t believe it was so empty.”

Gophers senior associate athletic director Chris Werle said student attendance is an issue at other schools, not just Minnesota. “You need to change behavior like you do with any consumer marketing program. And we need to get kids in the habit of coming to games to see what it (is like), to enjoy it, to see what it brings them.”

Whether it’s the students or adults, Babu encourages the athletic department to continue working on gameday atmosphere. “Create a real experience, a gameday experience like they do in Green Bay (for Packers games). Like they do down South for games, so even when the teams are losing, people are still loving that experience. They’re loving the tailgate, they’re loving the camaraderie, they’re loving seeing people. They’re going to enjoy going to the games regardless of the win or loss.”

This year the Gophers’ season ticket total is 33,361 including 4,908 student season tickets, according to Werle.

The Gophers’ offense struggled early in the season but in the last two games has scored 76 points with 1,003 yards in total offense. “We’re still not even close to where we can be,” coach Jerry Kill said.

Kill described redshirt freshman tight end Maxx Williams from Waconia as an “unbelievable player for his age.” Williams, 19, caught the winning pass in last Saturday’s 42-39 victory over Indiana.

Dieter Kurtenbach, writing for the October 31 Sun-Sentinel.com, speculated on candidates for the Florida Atlantic head football coaching job and included Tim Brewster with this comment: “This is a wildcard selection but Brewster established a better-than-expected program at Minnesota before getting the boot.”

Quarterback Christian Ponder played one of his better games last night in helping the Vikings defeat the Redskins and win their second game of the season. All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson noticed Ponder’s confidence.

“Yeah, he looked more calm. He looked comfortable. He just went out there and played football. The way he came out and approached it allowed us to be balanced offensively. He was able to complete a lot of balls to a lot of different receivers and it kept Washington’s defense on their heels. He was able to sneak a run in there and be more balanced offensively…and we were able to move the ball.”

Cris Carter was honored by the Vikings last night during halftime for his 2013 induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His son, wide receiver Duron Carter, had a tryout this year with the Vikings but didn’t make the team and is playing in the CFL for Montreal averaging 18.6 yards per catch. He has 909 receiving yards and five touchdowns.

Bethel (8-0 overall, 6-0 MIAC) can earn at least a share of the conference football title with a win tomorrow over St. Olaf (1-7, 0-6). If the Royals stay unbeaten and St. Thomas (6-2, 4-2) defeats Concordia (7-1, 5-1) tomorrow, Bethel will clinch the outright MIAC championship. Bethel last won the league title in 2007 and is seeking its fifth conference championship.

When the Gophers hockey team plays at Notre Dame tonight it won’t be the first time this fall Minnesota coach Don Lucia has seen his son Mario play for the Fighting Irish. The older Lucia’s schedule has allowed him to watch Mario’s games at Minnesota-Duluth and Vermont.

Lucia has two goals and one assist in eight games. He was friends in suburban Minneapolis youth hockey with Gophers Mike Reilly and Justin Kloos. Lucia and Reilly helped the BCHL’s Penticton Vees set a North American junior hockey record with a 42-game win streak in 2011-12 en route to RBC Cup and Doyle Cup championships.

Notre Dame, 6-2, is ranked No. 4 in the USCHO national poll while the 5-0-1 Gophers are No. 1. Boston College, who the Gophers played in an October two-game series, is probably the most talented team Minnesota has faced but the Irish will be a challenge, too. Notre Dame has 10 seniors on their roster.

The Lehigh basketball team that plays the Gophers tonight at Williams Arena in Minnesota’s opening regular season game could be a contender in the Patriot League despite losing shooting guard C.J. McCollum who went No.10 in last June’s NBA draft. The 7 p.m. game will be televised by ESPN3.

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