Preps – Page 75 – 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 After USA Player of Year Candidate

Posted on October 24, 2017October 24, 2017 by David Shama

Gopher football fans may want to cross their collective fingers hoping head coach P.J. Fleck and his staff can hang on to Georgia prep football wide receiver Rashod Bateman who is a national player of the year candidate.

Bateman is one of 10 candidates for the American Family All-USA Offensive Player of the Year award reported on this fall in USA Today. The 6-foot-1 Tifton, Georgia star has so far this season caught 55 passes in nine games for 1,198 yards and 15 touchdowns, according to stats from Maxpreps.com. Bateman is averaging 21 yards per reception and verbally committed in June to Minnesota’s 2018 recruiting class.

Early this year most major college football programs considered Bateman a basketball-first guy and weren’t in pursuit of him. Ryan Burns, the recruiting authority and publisher of GopherIllustrated.com, said Bateman had basketball offers from Virginia Tech and Penn State, but Fleck and his staff recognized Bateman’s football talent before others did.

Bateman is listed as a three-star prospect in the 247Sports rankings on GopherIllustrated, but Burns said Bateman’s senior tape will be evaluated after the season and the new ranking will be four-star. The Gophers did their homework on Bateman, a dominant receiver who gets separation on defenders and runs by them.

“Rashod Bateman is an immediate impact player once he steps on (the field) at Minnesota,” Burns said.

Bateman’s profile is rising rapidly and the question now is whether the Gophers can keep him away from other schools and actually sign him to a Letter of Intent in either the early signing period in December, or later in February. Ole Miss has now offered Bateman and Burns expects other SEC offers are coming for Bateman.

“I am not really concerned about most of them right now because he is very firm to Minnesota,” Burns said. “He has even taken an unofficial visit up here during the season.”

The potential scholarship offer of most concern could be Bateman’s home state Georgia Bulldogs, another SEC team and ranked No. 3 nationally in the Associated Press poll this week. Burns concedes the Bulldogs could be too much competition for the Gophers, but also counters with “every kid is different,” and Fleck’s relationship with Bateman might be strong enough to bring the explosive Georgian to Minneapolis.

Matt Simon, Minnesota’s outstanding wide receivers coach, is a big plus for the Gophers, too. Simon, 31, played a major role at Western Michigan in developing wide receiver Corey Davis into a top five NFL draft choice. Simon has already turned heads at Minnesota including for the work he has done with leading receiver Tyler Johnson, who came to the Gophers as a quarterback and is a potential All-Big Ten talent. Johnson has 27 receptions for 499 yards and seven touchdowns in seven games.

If Bateman chooses Minnesota his teammates could include a quarterback with a lot of national hype, too. For the class of 2019 the Gophers are pursuing two top 10 nationally ranked quarterbacks, according to 247Sports rankings. Both are interested in Minnesota and Burns believes the Gophers might receive a verbal commitment from one or the other in the coming months.

Hank Bachmeier from Murrieta, California is the No. 4 overall quarterback. If the Gophers land him he will be the highest ranked quarterback ever at Minnesota since recruiting rankings began in 1998. Alabama, California, LSU, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Texas and UCLA are among schools that have offered scholarships, according to 247Sports.

Burns said Bachmeier has a relative living in Minnesota and Bachmeier’s parents are favorable toward the Gophers. Burns also said Bachmeier visited Boise State last weekend and is likely to make a college choice before Christmas time.

Max Duggan, from Council Bluffs, Iowa is the No. 10 ranked quarterback nationally in the class of 2019. He has offers from Georgia, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Wisconsin and others, according to 247Sports. Burns said in-state schools Iowa and Iowa State (both have offered scholarships) are “trying their hardest” to interest Duggan who Burns thinks may announce his college choice after January 1 of next year.

The Gophers aren’t likely to receive commitments from both Duggan and Bachmeier. Both of them will want “to be the guy” at Minnesota or whever they go. Burns said the two coveted quarterbacks are interested in the Gophers because they see the potential to play early in their careers, and like other high school recruits they are drawn to Fleck’s energy and vision for the program.

Meanwhile, redshirt sophomore Demry Croft is trying to claim the job as Minnesota’s starting quarterback now. He made his first career start last Saturday against Illinois and was nervous. He completed of 5 of 15 passes, throwing one touchdown pass and two interceptions in the win over the Illini. On Minnesota’s last scoring drive the Gopher coaches didn’t call one pass play.

It will be interesting to see who Fleck starts at quarterback on Saturday at Iowa. Redshirt senior Conor Rhoda, who started the first six games of the season, has thrown for 839 yards and five touchdowns. Croft is a superior scrambler and running threat on option plays. Rhoda has 11 yards net rushing yards this season while Croft has 159 yards despite starting only one game.

Minnesota, 4-3 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten, will be at least a seven point underdog in the Iowa game that starts at the unusual time of 5:30 p.m. Iowa, also 4-3 and 1-3, has defeated the Gophers seven consecutive times in Iowa City, with the last Minnesota win coming in 1999. The Hawkeyes also retained Floyd of Rosedale in Minneapolis last season with a 14-7 win.

The Gophers have lost two straight to Iowa but that’s a lot better than the record against Minnesota’s other border rival, Wisconsin. The Badgers have won 13 consecutive games against the Gophers.

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Griffen Praying for Rodgers’ Recovery

Posted on October 15, 2017October 15, 2017 by David Shama

A Sunday night notes column kicking off with the Vikings, following Minnesota’s 23-10 win over Green Bay.

Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr knocked Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers out of today’s game with a hard hit in the first quarter. After getting up off the turf, Rodgers appeared to have words for Barr while heading toward the sidelines—perhaps describing what he thought was a late hit.

After the game Barr wasn’t available to reporters because he suffered a concussion during the game but two of his defensive teammates didn’t find fault with the play that broke Rodgers’ collarbone. “We play as hard as we can to the whistle,” linebacker Eric Kendricks said. “I didn’t see a flag (penalty) on the play so it was clean.”

Defensive end Everson Griffen said he didn’t hear what Rodgers said, or to whom. “I didn’t hear nothing,” Griffen told Sports Headliners. “I am here to play ball. I want to compete against Rodgers all day. I wish him a speedy recovery—the best quarterback in the league, in my opinion. I pray for him. I hope he heals up well.”

Sam Bradford (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

While Rodgers could be out for a long time, the Vikings might be getting former starter Teddy Bridgewater back later this season. Bridgewater may receive medical clearance to begin practice with the team this week, and in three weeks the Vikings could take him off the physically-unable-to-perform list and activate him. Although Bridgewater presumably will be rusty after not playing in a regular season game since 2015, he could be an asset to the quarterback roster that is using backup Case Keenum while starter Sam Bradford is sidelined with his ongoing left knee issue.

Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur was chosen as honorary captain for Michigan State last night. The Spartans defeated the Gophers, 30-27, at TCF Bank Stadium. Shurmur was a captain and All-Big Ten center for the Spartans in the 1980s.

When Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle had the same job at Syracuse he hired Dino Babers as the school’s football coach, and Friday night the Orange stunned the nation defeating No. 2 ranked and defending national champion Clemson.

As of October 5, total men’s Gopher hockey season tickets for the public and students were down slightly from a year ago on that date, according to figures provided by the University of Minnesota. The comparative public totals were 5,511 for 2017-2018 public season tickets, versus 5,941 in 2016-2017. The student numbers were 2,483 versus 2,690. The University reported 89.2 percent of public accounts renewed for this season versus 80.4 a year ago.

The Gophers, who have already opened their home schedule at 3M Arena at Mariucci, sold 183 new public season tickets for 2017-2018. The total as of October 5 a year ago was 227. There was no increase in pricing for either public or student season tickets from last year to this.

Mariucci, with a capacity of almost 10,000, opened in 1993. The all-time single game attendance record is 10,587 set on November 6, 2004 for a Minnesota-Wisconsin game. The Gophers were defending NCAA national champions going into that game.

The Gophers, who won a sixth consecutive regular season conference title in 2017, averaged 9,595 fans per game last season at home. The averages the two prior seasons were 9,847 and 9,982.

WCHA Men’s Commissioner Bill Robertson thinks all five Division 1 men’s hockey schools in the state will for the first time finish the 2017-2018 season ranked among the top 20 teams nationally. In addition to the Gophers from the Big Ten, the other four teams are Minnesota State, Mankato and Bemidji State from the WCHA, and St. Cloud State and UMD from the NCHC.

“The state of Minnesota has never had better overall talent and depth than in 2017-2018 with regard to men’s college hockey,” Robertson said via email. “If all goes well we could potentially see a couple of Minnesota teams make it to the Frozen Four in April at the Xcel Energy Center. It should be a banner year for college hockey in this state leading up to the NCAA Tournament. It will be so exciting for the fans.”

A spokesman for men’s Gophers basketball said about 1,800 new public season tickets have been sold for 2017-2018. The student allotment of about 2,000 tickets is sold out. Single game tickets for the Big Ten season go on sale next month. Multiple sellouts of Gopher conference games at Williams Arena are likely.

Optimism is high about this year’s team, including from observers at fall practice. The Gophers are being ranked among the nation’s top 25 teams by various sources.

The public can attend a free intra-squad scrimmage that begins at 5 p.m. Sunday, October 29 at Williams Arena. There will be an autograph session after the game.

Former Timberwolf player and executive Fred Hoiberg, now the Chicago Bulls head coach, has his 45th birthday today. The Bulls are rebuilding and figure to rank with the NBA’s worst teams this season.

It will be interesting to see how much Brian Dozier is in the local baseball news this offseason. The Twins second baseman, who many observers believe was the club’s MVP during the team’s turnaround season, could be the subject of trade rumors, or given a contract extension. Dozier’s final contract season is in 2018, according to Baseballprospectus.com, which reports the 30-year-old will earn $9 million next season.

Congratulations to high school football coaches Dean Aurich of Mayer Lutheran and Joe Kemp from Wabasso on achieving 200th and 100th career wins respectively earlier this month. Aurich has coached Mayer Lutheran in four state tournaments, while Kemp has had three teams in the tourney including last year.

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