NCAA – Page 3 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Reactionary Vikings Fans Turn on Team at Home Opener

Posted on September 15, 2025September 15, 2025 by David Shama

When quarterback J.J. McCarthy pulled off a comeback opening game win on the road against the Bears last Monday night this town couldn’t wait to coronate the 22-year-old hero in U.S. Bank Stadium. But last night the expected script didn’t materialize, with McCarthy and Viking teammates playing poorly.

Boos cascaded down from the stands as fair weather fans expressed displeasure during a 22-6 loss to the Falcons. From toast of the town a week ago, to a bad dream today, doubts and anger have already surfaced in a young season about the team Minnesota is obsessed with.

McCarthy threw two interceptions and had a fumble that led to Atlanta’s last field goal of the game. For the night he completed 11 of 21 passes for 158 yards and no touchdowns, with a dismal rating of 37.5. Perhaps the worst moment was overthrowing a wide open Jalen Nailor for a potential long touchdown in the second half.

McCarthy looked frustrated and at times confused. After the game he used the cliched response of how he takes responsibility and must play “better.”

Sideline TV shots showed how eager he is to please and be coached by Kevin O’Connell. He looked the head coach in the eye and seemed quick to agree with whatever instructions or suggestions he was given, almost like a young puppy receiving training from its owner.

Frantic fans won’t help his growth and improvement with disapproval. They can only make his journey as a young, inexperienced pro QB more difficult.

It’s been a roller coaster of emotions for McCarthy in recent days. Last week fiancé Katya gave birth to a baby boy, Rome Michah. She and McCarthy got engaged in January of 2024.

In fairness to McCarthy, the run game faltered last night and didn’t give him a complementary tool to his passing. The Vikings rushed for 78 yards, while the defense gave up an uncharacteristic 218 yards on the ground.

As if the game wasn’t frustrating enough, multiple Vikings went down with injuries including running back Aaron Jones, center Ryan Kelly and left tackle Justin Skule. He was starting for Christian Darrisaw who didn’t play and was sidelined with other regulars such as linebackers Blake Cashman and Andrew Van Ginkel, safety Harrison Smith and cornerback Jeff Okudah.

Worth Noting

Where do NFL players come from? As of the opening weekend rosters, Texas, with 199 players, produced the most personnel of any state, followed by Florida (179), California (165) and Georgia (143).

There were 20 players from Bradenton (Fla.) on league rosters, the most of any city. Atlanta and Miami tied for second-most (18), followed by Detroit with 16 players.

Former Vikings coach Mike Tice, now living in Las Vegas, has a new TV show. “The Coach’s Cut” with Mike Tice, can be found on multiple platforms including YouTube.

Tice is in my top three for most colorful Vikings head coaches ever. Put Jerry Burns at No. 1 and Norm Van Brocklin second.

Darius Taylor photo courtesy of University of Minnesota

Gophers’ junior running back Darius Taylor is eligible for the 2026 NFL Draft but don’t think pro scouts aren’t fully aware of hamstring issues that have caused him to miss nine career games including Saturday night at California. With a bye next Saturday, the star running back and pass catcher could be a solid bet to return to the lineup for the September 27 game at home against Rutgers. Taylor led the team in touchdowns last season with 10 and is clearly Minnesota’s most dangerous talent on offense.

It’s difficult to quantify but without Taylor the Gopher offense isn’t as effective. Even with him, the program continues to struggle from a lack of explosive skill position players to catch and run with the ball. In Saturday’s 27-14 loss to California, the Gophers’ longest run from scrimmage was 27 yards by Fame Ijeboi, while receivers Javon Tracy and Le’Meke Brockington had receptions of 25 and 23 yards respectively.

For years now the Gophers have lacked “take it to the house” playmakers and it cost them again over the weekend as did an awful punt returning night by Koi Perich. In the first half he chose to fair catch a punt inside his own five-yard line. In the fourth quarter he fumbled a rolling punt and Cal recovered at Minnesota’s eight-yard line before scoring a touchdown that put the Bears ahead 24-14.

It looks now like the 2-1 Gophers could end up with a final regular season record of around .500 after losing to Cal in a game they were favored to win. Nearly certain losses await in road games against national title contenders Ohio State and Oregon. The Gophers could win or lose any of the remainder games, including September 27.

Woe are the Demons! Northwestern State has been outscored 136-0 the last two Saturdays, losing to Minnesota 66-0 September 6 and 70-0 to Cincinnati September 13.

At 31 years old and with an injury-filled career, Byron Buxton will make 2025 the first time he’s been able to play over 100 games in consecutive seasons. The Twins gifted hitter and center fielder went six years from 2018-2023 not reaching 100 games and had three seasons where he appeared in 61 or fewer games.

In 11 seasons his peak playing time was 2017 when he appeared in 140 games. Last season he participated in 102 and with the 2025 season ending September 28 he already totals 114 games played.

Rocco Baldelli is tied for third place with the late Sam Mele in all-time wins (522) by a Twins manager. Baldelli has a long way to go to surpass No. 1 Tom Kelly, at 1,140 wins, or Ron Gardenhire at 1,068.

The Lynx, the betting favorite to win a fifth WNBA championship and ahead 1-0 in its best of three opening round playoff series against the Valkyries, are scheduled for a off day on Monday before flying to California on Tuesday. Game Two is Wednesday night beginning at 9 p.m. Minneapolis time, with ESPN televising.

The game will be played at the SAP Center in San Jose because Golden State’s regular home arena, the Chase Center in San Francisco, is not available.

Best wishes to director Howard Lavick next Sunday with the premier of his new documentary film at the Cloquet High School Auditorium. “Beyond the Prize” tells the story of the legendary 1963 Cloquet boys basketball team that is revered to this day. An undersized, scrappy team, Cloquet was a fan favorite whose style and success captured the hearts of fans across Minnesota in the state tournament. It was Cloquet’s fate to lose the state championship game, 75-74 to Marshall, in one of the epic title games of all time.

Admission for the 6 p.m. Sunday event is free. Lavick, a CHS alum, will engage with the audience after the screening, as will players from that team and coach Ben Trochlil.

Tennis, in a battle with pickle ball and other recreation activities, is billing itself as “the world’s healthiest sport.” It’s a big claim but anecdotal experiences and research suggest tennis can increase lifespan and wellbeing with its physical and social benefits. For some participants, it’s almost a cradle to grave activity.

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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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Changing Football Landscape Gives the Gophers a New Spark

Posted on August 26, 2025August 26, 2025 by David Shama

The University of Minnesota football program dates back to the 1882 season.

Through a span of 143 years the Golden Gophers claim seven national championships and 18 Big Ten titles. The last national championship was in 1960 and the most recent before that was 1941. Minnesota hasn’t won a conference title since 1967.

In the first half of the 20^th century college football was played in tight formations and grouping of players, focusing the action in the middle of the field, and showing minimal interest in passing or other forms of wide-open play. With players crowded together on the field, physical strength was a valued asset.

In the program’s early decades, the Gophers took advantage of a mostly home-grown population of players who fit this type of football. The state’s German and Scandinavian lads were strong and well-suited to the style of play that saw the Gophers claim six national championships in the first 50 years of the 20^th century.

Minnesota attracted quality coaches, too, including the legendary Bernie Bierman. The “Grey Eagle” and Minnesota born Bierman, coached the Gophers to five national titles and seven conference crowns from 1932 through 1941.

After World War II college football began to change from more than a game of brute strength. Speed and finesse became more valued, and teams looked more favorably on passing the ball. (The old mantra was: “Three things can happen with the pass and two are bad—interceptions and incompletions.”)

The Gophers of the 1960s found prosperity with a new edge in the college football world. Minnesota became a national leader in providing opportunities for Black high school players to not only receive college scholarships, but also to excel on the field.

The pioneering movement came at a time when college programs in the south and elsewhere didn’t recruit Blacks. Under coach Murray Warmath, Minnesota began regularly recruiting Black players in the late 1950s and through the next decade.

Stephens (front passenger seat) with Bobby Bell behind him and Bill Munsey.

Warmath was a trail blazer in his open mindedness about Black players and nowhere was that more evident than at the quarterback position. Almost unheard of to play a Black athlete at quarterback, Warmath used Sandy Stephens to help lead the offense of his 1960 national championship team. (When Stephens made first team All-American in 1961 he was the first Black to do so). Black quarterbacks, including Curtis Wilson, were starters for the 1967 Big Ten champs.

As the whole world of college football integrated in the 1970s and beyond, Gopher football slipped into mediocrity and worse. It became eventful if Minnesota could fashion a winning record in Big Ten games.

The Gophers churned through coaches after Warmath’s last season in 1971, trying to replicate past glory. From 1972 through 2017 when present head coach P.J. Fleck was hired, Minnesota had nine prior head coaches, including four in the new millennium.

Fleck, who enters Thursday night’s opener against Buffalo with a 58-39 record, has shown his chops. He is the fifth longest tenured Gopher football coach, and his .598 winning percentage is third among those who led Minnesota in 45 games or more.

And if you’re looking for positives about Gopher football, there’s more good news. The landscape of college football has changed again and developments favor programs like Minnesota who in the last 55 years have faced a significant gap in results between themselves and blue-blood programs like Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and many others beyond the Big Ten.

Those heavyweights have consistently won games and championships with superior access to high school talent. In addition to geographical proximity to quality players, such programs have the financial riches to hire sought after coaches and build state-of-the-art- facilities. Their winning traditions and ability to groom players for the NFL have long attracted players, and more recently so too has their superior funding of Name, Image and Likeness compensation.

Now there is a breakthrough that doesn’t completely negate the helmet schools’ hold on college football, but it sure helps. The expansion of the college football playoffs to 12 teams last year (and perhaps a bigger field coming soon) and now the new revenue sharing to pay players in the Big Ten and other major conferences represent game changers for a lot of schools including Minnesota.

Make the playoffs and it significantly boosts perception of a program, and fuels fan interest and revenues for an athletic department. Lowly Indiana made the “dance” last year and set off an unprecedented wave of Hoosier Hysteria. Arizona State, a program that struggled for most of the new millennium, got to the playoffs, too. Iowa State, which hasn’t won a conference title since 1912, missed out on the playoffs by one win.

The revenue sharing means a lot of players can make the same or similar money at a Minnesota or Iowa State as they can at Texas or Ohio State. Rather than face the possibility of being second string early in their careers at a blue-blood, players will come to Minnesota where they can play earlier and earn similar compensation. (Major college football programs, including Minnesota, are believed to now allocate $13 to $16 million in revenue sharing with players.)

Expectations are changing at Minnesota for all concerned. Fleck said as much last year commenting “as you go through this with 12 teams, that leaves the window open for a lot of teams to get in there from different conferences.”

Fleck spoke more about expectations rising this summer. He says the Gophers are recruiting better talent and have a “legitimate chance” to make the playoffs every year now. Voicing those words on KFAN Radio last week, Fleck added he wants to raise expectations for not only his players but fans, too.

Those players want to be champions and many of them stayed at Minnesota last season rather than transferring to another school. The Gophers had one of the highest retention rates in the nation—a testimony to the culture Fleck and his staff have built at Minnesota regarding not only football but academics and life skills.

Now with the college football playoffs, revenue sharing and a growing pot of maroon and gold for NIL, resources are in place to make Minnesota more competitive than in the past. It can be done.

Just ask the Hurryin’ Hoosiers, who parlayed a dynamic new coach and unprecedented IU NIL treasury into a startling first ever 10-win year (11-1 regular season record) and playoff berth.

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