Golden Gophers – Page 68 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Redemption Time for Football Gophers

Posted on November 17, 2022November 27, 2022 by David Shama

What kind of statement will the Golden Gophers football team make in its last two regular season games of the year? The results of Saturday’s home game against Iowa and then November 26 at Wisconsin will say a lot about the program’s status.

The view here is it’s time for the Gophers to earn 2022 and historical redemption. Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck, who was hired in January of 2017, is 0-5 against the border rival Hawkeyes from Iowa. Worse, the Gophers haven’t defeated Iowa since 2014. That win was in Minneapolis and the last victory for the Gophers in Iowa City was 1999.

Floyd of Rosedale photo courtesy of Minnesota athletics communications.

There have been near misses for the Gophers in recent years but “what-ifs” won’t bring the famous bronze pig, Floyd of Rosedale, back to Minneapolis. Minnesota still leads the all-time series 62-51-2, thanks mostly to a stretch of dominance prior to World War II. But the 5-17 record of the new millennium gives passionate Gophers fans pain—hungry as they are for bacon, pork and ham.

Iowa won’t look much different on Saturday than in the recent past. The Hawkeyes’ defense (again) deserves mention with the best in the nation. Mostly a unit with developmental players, including Iowa natives, the Hawkeyes don’t beat themselves with mistakes and they stay true to their assignments. They’re a physical bunch that can knock the enemy on their collective butts and force turnovers.

As usual, Iowa plays for field position and boasts a great punter in Tory Taylor. College football rosters often have Australian punters these days (including Minnesota’s Mark Crawford) but Iowa’s Aussie is special. Taylor ranks third in the Big Ten with a 44.1 yards average for conference games and is deft at sending the football where he wants it to stop.

If you want to piss off Iowa fans, just bring up the names of offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz and quarterback Spencer Petras. Struggling offenses are nothing new at Iowa under Brian and there was an offseason fan petition supporting the dismissal of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz’s son.

Early season offensive production was low even by Iowa standards. The Hawkeyes relied on two safeties and a field goal for points in their season opener, a 7-3 win over South Dakota State. A week later Iowa managed a single offensive touchdown in a loss to Iowa State and even last month the offense was awful in losses to Illinois and Ohio State.

In the last three games Iowa has made strides and totaled 81 points in wins over Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin. Iowa’s young offensive line has shown improvement, allowing Petras more time to throw and opening holes for gifted freshman runner Kaleb Johnson.

The Gophers can thump their collective chests over their defense, too. Minnesota ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring defense (16.3 points) for league games, while Iowa is fifth (18). Iowa is giving up 289 yards per league game, Minnesota 318.4, placing both programs among conference leaders. Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, like Iowa counterpart Phil Parker, is a gem.

Who wins Saturday? The Gophers could be too emotional for this game at Huntington Bank Stadium and not stay true to their assignments and abilities. But home field and the crowd should be an advantage. If the crowd is at its noisy best, that could cause the Iowa offense to be confused when Petras and the Hawkeyes call signals and attempt to run plays.

To win, the Gophers will need to find their often missing passing game. Minnesota’s quarterback (either Tanner Morgan or Athan Kaliakmanis) will have to make clutch throws to loosen up the Iowa defense. But even with timely and accurate passes, is the suspect Minnesota receiving group going to get separation from defenders and consistently catch balls? Then, too, the offensive line will have to play at its highest level of the year to pass protect the quarterback and provide All-American tailback Mo Ibrahim occasional daylight.

If the Iowa defense forces the Gophers into turnovers and scores off them, it’s all but certain Fleck goes to 0-6 against the Hawkeyes. But in dreary November, why not be an optimist and predict the Gophers’ defense forces Iowa into mistakes and the Minnesota offense is just good enough in a 16-10 win bringing Floyd of Rosedale home.

Redemption road will then present the challenge of defeating Iowa and Wisconsin in the same season for the first time since 1990. Fleck’s teams have won twice against Wisconsin, most recently in Minneapolis last year.

The Gophers will not have a gimme task in Madison. Not with interim coach Jim Leonhard hoping to get the head job permanently and having a roster of players (presumably) all in on the former Badger defensive coordinator. A Wisconsin native who played for the Badgers, nobody has to give Leonhard a history lesson about another famous travelling trophy, Paul Bunyan’s Axe that annually goes to the winner of the Gophers and UW game.

The Badgers’ defense will challenge the suspect Minnesota passing game and if the Gophers have to rely just on Mo, the Axe could be residing in Madison for the next 12 months. The Wisconsin offense is similar to the Gophers, led by superb tailback Braelon Allen but unable to sustain a top passing attack with inconsistent quarterback Graham Mertz. The Badgers are 5-5 overall and 3-4 in conference games.

The Gophers, 7-3 overall and 4-3 in Big Ten games, will write a fulfilling script if they can finish the season with two wins. Fleck and Henry Williams are the only Minnesota football coaches to twice win nine games. Six Big Ten victories would match last year’s 6-3 record and be one win shy of Fleck’s 7-2 mark in 2019. Going 9-3 overall and 6-3 in the conference would boost Fleck’s record at Minnesota to 44-26. That’s a winning percentage of .628 that would rank third among all Gopher head football coaches who coached 45 games or more.

Expectations before the season were that it was finally time for the Gophers to win their first West Division championship. The talent appeared sufficient and the division competition mediocre, but a three-game conference losing streak in October was a major blow, although mathematically the Gophers are still alive in the race.

Illinois, Purdue, Iowa and Minnesota all have the same conference records as they compete for the West Division championship. Unlikely as it may seem, the Illini, Boilermakers and Hawkeyes could all lose a game before the regular season ends. Illinois and Purdue hold wins over Minnesota, and so any tiebreakers in the division standings with the Gophers will go to the Illini and Boilers.

None of the teams in the West, including the title contenders, will be remembered as great teams stocked with future pros. The Athletic’s Chris Vannini offered a ranking this week of major college football’s 131 teams and the list included No. 27 Illinois, No. 30 Minnesota, No. 40 Iowa, No. 41 Purdue and No. 54 Wisconsin.

Long suffering Gophers fans sometimes feel the program that once specialized in Big Ten titles and national championships is just never going to win the West. Well maybe the ghost of Bernie Bierman will hex the Hawkeyes, Badgers, Illini and Boilers, and inspire the Golden Gophers. Wins over Iowa and Wisconsin, and a first-place finish in the West, would be the ultimate Redemption Road for the Gophers.

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QB Kirk Cousins’ Image Changes in 2022

Posted on November 15, 2022November 15, 2022 by David Shama

Kirk Cousins is on a historic personal path in 2022. The Vikings’ quarterback is being viewed as a winner after a past of mostly mediocre results by teams he led in Washington, D.C., and Minnesota.

The 8-1 Vikings are off to a start unlike anything Cousins has experienced since he became a regular in Washington in 2015. That season the Commanders finished the season 9-7. Cousins’ next two seasons in D.C. saw the Commanders go 8-7-1 and 7-9. A hefty free agent deal (reportedly three years, $84 million) brought Cousins to Minnesota before the 2018 season where he has been part of teams with records of 8-7-1, 10-6, 7-9 and 8-9-1.

That’s a cumulative record of 57 wins, 54 losses and one tie as an NFL starting quarterback dating back to 2015. Cousins also has a 1-2 playoff record with the Commanders and Vikings.

At age 34, in his 11th year in the NFL, Cousins is gaining ground in the public view as a winner and even being mentioned as a potential NFL MVP. He is flourishing in a quarterback friendly environment unlike anything he has experienced before as a professional.

Cousins is making both routine and difficult throws that have the Vikings headed to their first NFC North championship since 2017. He has been primetime this season leading the Vikings to comeback wins, with the most recent Sunday’s game for the ages overtime victory against the Bills in Buffalo.

Cousins’ performance and leadership has been questioned in the past but he’s answered critics by thriving under new head coach Kevin O’Connell who is known as a quarterback whisperer.

Cousins’ disconnect with previous head coach Mike Zimmer is well documented but now the veteran has found a productive relationship with O’Connell whose skills include superb play-calling and creativity in adjusting offensive schemes. O’Connell said Monday, while praising Cousins, that his quarterback has been tasked with a new system this year and “we’re asking a lot out of him.”

Putting labels on football players is dicey business. For critics to label the Cousins of the past something other than a winner really depends on perspective. Just being able to quarterback an NFL team year after year can be viewed as enough to gain respect with fans and media. Cousins has been a regular starter for the last eight seasons and along the way earned a reputation as a top 12 to 15 pro quarterback.

Not bad. But the 2022 version of Cousins looks better than ever and he is surrounded by coaches and players that can do their share of the heavy lifting. Whether it’s the phenomenal WR Justin Jefferson, the explosive RB Dalvin Cook, the improved offensive line or timely playmakers on defense, the vanquishing Vikings are far from a one-man show.

Give the Vikings credit for winning seven consecutive games since losing to the Eagles on September 19. But four of their eight wins are by four points or fewer and their schedule has not been daunting. Their nine opponents have a cumulative record of 42-43. Only three opponents, the Eagles, Dolphins and Bills, have winning records.

And that stat brings up one of the beefs that has dogged Cousins’ quarterback career. He has long been criticized for his performance against teams with a winning record.

He has lost about two-thirds of such games as the Vikings’ quarterback (per Fanduel), but in fairness remember that football is a team game and a lot can go into outcomes and records (Rams QB Matthew Stafford won a Super Bowl last winter after a dreadful record of wins and losses with the hapless Lions). If the Vikings finish with a gaudy regular season record and make a deep playoff run, even that Cousins wrap of not beating teams with winning records will lose some of its sting.

Cousins believes lessons from the past help his leadership now. “…Sometimes when you’re not winning, those are the times where you have to come in with a smile on your face, upbeat, still bring energy, make sure practice is still fun,” he said. “That’s really, I think, the test of leadership, is when it’s not easy to do things, that you still bring energy and focus and preparation. And so, certainly, when you’re winning, there’s a little more wind at your back, but you can’t really let it change the way you approach things and not ever get too high or too low.”

Worth Noting

Former University of Minnesota and Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz talking about Harvey Mackay’s 90^th birthday: “He doesn’t count his years. He makes his years count.”

Mackay hosted a birthday celebration in Phoenix last weekend. Mackay, the Minnesota-born, UM alum and New York Times best selling author, is close friends with Holtz who coached the Gophers in 1984 and 1985 before going to Notre Dame and winning the 1988 national championship.

“The Amazing Hondo,” St. Paul’s John Hughes, is a Mackay favorite and he entertained with his magic tricks at the birthday celebration. Hondo, 70, is still playing recreational basketball in the Twin Cities with pals including Dennis Fitzpatrick, the former St. Thomas star.

Hughes took his nickname years ago from legendary Celtics great John “Hondo” Havlicek.

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‘Erban Safaris’ Full of Golden Gopher Tales

Posted on November 8, 2022November 14, 2022 by David Shama

In about two weeks Steve and Dorothy Erban and their Minnesota guests will be enjoying the warm temperatures of California. Their Stillwater-based Creative Charters company is offering five-and-seven-day packages to watch the Golden Gopher men’s basketball team play in the SoCal Challenge November 21 and 23 in San Juan Capistrano while experiencing the warm weather and attractions of the California Coast.

Like many of the company’s trips, there will be more to enjoy than the game. “We call ourselves creative, because that’s what we try and do,” Steve told Sports Headliners.

Creative could mean spending nine days in Hawaii as the Erbans did in 1996 when the basketball Gophers were playing there. Or it could mean experiencing what Steve refers to as the “ultimate Gopher hole.” When the football Gophers played in El Paso, Texas for the 1999 Sun Bowl, Steve came up with the idea of taking his travelers on a three-hour trip to visit the Carlsbad Caverns (maximum depth 1,600 feet). Then the Creative Charters group visited a ranch for a big party that included a country band for entertainment.

“You try to make it so it’s not just the game,” Steve said. “It’s something people can enjoy and remember.”

With a show biz flair, it’s not surprising Creative Charters’ admirer Jim Erickson said: “Steve and Dorothy are the Barnum & Bailey of Gopher sports travel.”

Creative Charters has been promoting mostly Gophers men’s basketball and football fan trips since 1993. The Creative Charters’ website does have other offerings including travel to the Kentucky Derby and to the state of Montana where Steve once lived. The Erbans come up with varied destinations and stay flexible like during the Gopher women’s dream basketball season of 2004 when Creative Charters filled up planes to attend the Final Four.

The Erbans are passionate Gopher fans and the last 29 years have been emotionally gratifying, if not always financially successful. Among recent successes was an extended trip to Pennsylvania to experience more than the Minnesota-Penn State football game. The 160 guests got to see Gettysburg National Battlefield and were appreciative of the opportunity. ”You don’t…get any better than that, when they all thank you for getting them set up,” Steve said.

Steve is an architect, and both he and Dorothy are passionate about horse racing. They have been racehorse owners, promoters of the sport in Minnesota and regular attendees at the Kentucky Derby. In 2021 they were inducted into the Canterbury Park Hall of Fame.

The Erbans devote a lot of time to Creative Charters. After all, you don’t just go out and charter an airplane. Dorothy handles much of the back-end work including reservations and transactions. “We kind of say, Steve is the creative, I am the charter,” Dorothy said.

The Erbans estimate they have taken Gopher football and basketball travelers on 500 to 600 trips over the years. And then there have been many other trips including travel to Kirby Puckett’s induction to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001 in Cooperstown, New York. That excursion came up in conversation when Steve was talking about how things don’t always go as planned.

The Erbans had four groups going to Cooperstown. Steve was bringing the last one to New York when the flight out of Chicago was cancelled. The Erbans responded by using their resources and ingenuity to make other arrangements including taking a ferry across a lake. “We walked into the (Hall of Fame) breakfast five minutes late at 8 o’clock in the morning,” Steve remembered.

After nearly three decades the Erbans are considering selling Creative Charters. “I think our reputation and what we’ve done with Gopher fans…is sort of amazing when you think about it,” Steve said. “…Obviously, we’re getting a little long in the tooth, and it’s time to hope that there are some people out there that have that same sense of Gopher sports.

“We’re not…travel agents. We create things for our Gopher fans because we are fans and season ticket holders. And so, yes, I think we’re open now to talk with people that would be interested in continuing this on.”

Creative Charters got its start when coach Clem Haskins’ Minnesota basketball team was playing in the 1993 NIT Finals in New York. For the semifinals there were only a handful of fans at Madison Square Garden watching the Gophers defeat Providence. Erban decided to charter a 727 so Gopher fans could cheer on the team in the championship game.

Response was so enthusiastic Steve chartered a second plane. “We filled two airplanes in less than 24 hours,” he said.

Steve’s delegation arrived in New York on gameday without tickets for the game. He met with the assistant ticket manager who told him a big block of seats would be far from the court. “I said, Listen, these people paid $200 to fly out to see (their team) and they’re not sitting up there. We gotta be closer to the court. ..”

Steve asked for every available ticket 20 rows or closer to the court, knowing his customers would be scattered but have prime viewing. He bought 286 tickets and had one extra. The Gophers made their fans happy winning the NIT, 62-61 over Georgetown.

Steve’s interest in travelling to Gopher games got started in 1988 when Haskins’ team played in the NCAA Tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina. A pilot himself, he flew his young son Bryce to Greensboro where there were eight to 10 Minnesota fans. With such small numbers, the strangers became friends watching the Gophers win two games in Greensboro before being eliminated from the tournament the following weekend.

Among the friends Steve made is Paul Dillon, now a semiretired farmer living near Porter, Minnesota (west of Marshall). Steve and Paul have attended every Gophers NCAA Tournament game (24 total) dating back to 1988. “I think what’s interesting about it is that we can say we’re the only human beings on planet earth that have ever done this, and you had to be at the first one (to get the streak started),” Steve said.

Paul has been a Gopher basketball season ticket holder for over 45 years, saying he “just fell in love” with the program decades ago. He and his wife have travelled often with the Erbans and are going to California later this month. He refers to the trips as “Erban safaris” and describes Steve as a “very, very close” friend.

Steve is proud of the 11 total years he and Paul attended all the tournament games. “What was real interesting is two years ago, (with) COVID, they weren’t letting anybody in except parents. Obviously, we were going to tell (AD Mark) Coyle if we got to the NCAA (Tournament) we can’t stop this tradition.

“And so, with COVID what we were going to do is if the Gophers got in, we were going to go to the stadium and stand between the doors, and listen to it (the game) on the radio, so we could say we were in the gymnasium. But we didn’t get in (the tourney), so it didn’t make any difference.”

There you go, more creativity.

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