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Gophers Reverse Trends with Axe Win Over Badgers

Posted on November 29, 2024November 29, 2024 by David Shama

The University of Minnesota left a sweet taste in the mouths of their fans today with a dominant 24-7 win over the Badgers in Madison. A day after Thanksgiving, the Gophers finished their regular season in the public perception plus-column, and improved their positioning for a favorable bowl destination.

Minnesota finished 7-5 overall and 5-4 in Big Ten games. That looks and feels better than totals of 6-6 and 4-5.

With a bowl victory the Gophers can make their final record 8-5. That’s a lot better than last season’s 6-7 record that included a win in the lowly Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit. The Gophers, BTW, were 3-6 in Big Ten games during their disappointing 2023 season that had followed two nine-win years that included winning conference records.

Minnesota ended a two-game losing streak after painful missed opportunities against Rutgers and Penn State. The win over the Badgers meant the Gophers finished 2-2 in November games after being 0-4 in November last year.

The win gave Minnesota possession of Paul Bunyan’s Axe for the third time in four years. The victory stopped a 2024 string of rivalry game losses, with the Gophers unable to win the Little Brown Jug against Michigan, Floyd of Rosedale, Iowa, and the Governor’s Victory Bell, Penn State.

The win in Madison assured the Gophers they won’t go bowling in Detroit this year. Destinations in Charlotte, Nashville or Phoenix loom as warmer and more attractive possibilities. An appearance and win in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte will set up one of the more interesting on the field celebrations as the winning coach gets soaked in gallons of mayonnaise.

Gophers’ coach P.J. Fleck is undoubtedly up for the experience. His players gave him a nice 44^th birthday present today. He deflected attention from himself after the game during an interview with CBS, saying “after 40 you stop counting and you stop celebrating.”

Fleck said before the game on KFXN-FM: “We have to create turnovers.”

The Gophers didn’t do that, but they were in charge most of the game. Minnesota led 14-0 at the half and 21-7 after the third quarter. The Badgers might never have scored in the game if not for a foolish personal foul play by Joey Gerlach bailed them out of what would have been a fourth and more than 10 yards to go situation. Wisconsin got a first down and later scored their only TD of the game on a 15-yard pass that created some momentum for the Badgers then trailing 21-7.

Minnesota quarterback Max Brosmer threw touchdown passes to Daniel Jackson and Jameson Geers, and scored on a one-yard tush-push. Brosmer, arguably the program’s top passing quarterback in decades, has a .668 best-ever completion percentage at Minnesota.

His consistency through the season was a trend Gopher fans can celebrate tonight. And here’s another that makes the fans in Dinkytown happy:

The Badgers’ 5-7 final record ends 22 seasons of winning records and likely bowl eligibility.

Worth Noting

Derik LeCaptain, the linebacker and special teams standout who blocked a punt against Penn State, is a team leader and has decided to return for a seventh season with the Gophers in 2025.

Can’t let the month of November pass without recalling Bob McNamara’s game for the ages against border rival Iowa. On November 13, 1954, 70 years ago, the All-American halfback from Hastings led the Gophers to a 22-20 win and a final 7-1 record in coach Murray Warmath’s first season in Minneapolis.

With more than 65,464 fans packed into Minnesota’s Memorial Stadium, the game’s highlight came in the first half with the score tied at 7-7. McNamara received an Iowa kickoff at Minnesota’s 11-yard line and made an 89-yard touchdown run that deserves a place among the most determined efforts in program history.

McNamara shook off Iowa tacklers, refusing to go down to the ground. Warmath said in his biography, The Autumn Warrior, that McNamara’s run was indeed the stuff of legends. “It was the finest example of brilliance and desire I have ever seen,” the coach praised.

Viking Ed Ingram talking about the adjustment in losing his starting right guard spot to Dalton Risner: “At the end of the day, if they didn’t want me they would have got rid of me so they obviously see something in me and they want me to just take a step back…just learn from a veteran. Just see what I can do.”

Ingram, a third-year veteran who has been a starter during his career, is facing a challenge now. “I feel like everybody has their own way of coping with it. Me personally, I pray a lot. I go to God. Whenever something like this happens, I just put it in his hands.”

St. Thomas senior running back Hope Adebayo from Inver Grove Heights is among 35 finalists for the Walter Payton Award recognizing the top offensive player in the FCS. He rushed for 1,137 yards this season, averaging 6.3 yards in 11 games.

The Twins front office could give the team and fanbase a boost if they signed Diamondbacks free agent Christian Walker. He’s won three consecutive Gold Gloves at first base. Last season he hit .251, with 26 home runs and 84 RBI. At 33, he is looking to cash in on his best ever contract and that looks like $22 million to $30 million for multiple years.

My friend Charley Walters reminded me of some humorous Herb Brooks wisdom the other day. The legendary hockey coach said eat dessert first, you never know what’s next.

Tickets costing up to $500 are available for the WWE extravaganza at Target Center next Friday and Saturday night.

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Here’s the Scoop on U Men & Women’s Hoops Tickets

Posted on November 5, 2024November 5, 2024 by David Shama

The University of Minnesota men’s and women’s basketball teams open their seasons this week with home games. Data shows both programs have a lot of ticket availability for their games at 14,625 seat Williams Arena.

As of last week, the men’s program had sold 4,482 full season tickets including 242 to faculty and staff. That compared with 4,800 for the 2023-2024 season. There has been no significant pricing change for either men’s or women’s public season tickets. Ticket information was obtained from the U through the request process by Sports Headliners.

The women’s program had sold 2,309 full season tickets as of last week including 99 to faculty and staff. That compared with 2,424 tickets for the 2023-2024 season.

The women Gophers opened their season Monday night before an announced crowd of 2,647. Dawn Plitzuweit, entering her second season as coach, saw the Gophers defeat Central Connecticut State, 89-48.

Coach Ben Johnson’s team opens its season Wednesday night against Oral Roberts.

With their schedules just beginning, both the men’s and women’s programs may sell additional season tickets, but totals won’t change significantly.

The Gopher women averaged 4,483 fans per game last season. The men averaged 8,140.

Sellouts are rare for either program. The U is projecting over 12,000 for the men’s game with Wisconsin on March 5, with 10,000-plus for Purdue on January 2.

The U women are projected to draw more than 5,000 for the Iowa game February 6, with over 4,000 for the Wisconsin and Indiana games January 26 and February 9 respectively.

The U report said 3,168 single game tickets have been sold so far for women’s home games. Also, 120 tickets have been purchased as part of mini plan ticket packages, a 75 percent decline year-over-year.

Students are admitted free to women’s games, but they must purchase tickets to see the men. The student season ticket total is 2,600 and up from 2,056 for 2023-2024.

The U report said 246 tickets have been sold in mini plan ticket packages for the men’s program. This is up 58 percent year-over-year but down from last season’s final total of 575. Single game tickets sold for men’s games as of last week were 3,590.

Asked what reasons the public is giving for not buying women’s season tickets, the U report responded with the following: “general disinterest, change in life/event circumstances, (and) too many games.”

Regarding the men’s program: “change in life/event circumstances, unhappy with NIL changes, (and) general disinterest.”

The U said reasons cited for purchasing women’s season tickets are: “increased attention and interest in the WBB landscape as a whole, (and) more premium matchups with the expansion of the Big Ten.”

Reasons for purchasing men’s season tickets: “improvement in team performance during the 2023-2024 season, trust and confidence that coach Ben Johnson will continue to lead and grow the program, (and) more premiums matchups with the expansion of the Big Ten.”

The women’s team was 20-16 overall and 5-13 in the Big Ten last season. Only two teams, Northwestern and Rutgers, finished lower in the 14-team standings.

USA Today Sports Network’s prediction for the coming season is Minnesota will finish in a tie for ninth in the now 18-team conference. The order of finish was based on a vote by individuals who cover the conference.

The men’s team is projected to finish last in the Big Ten by many in the media. The Gophers were 9-11 in league games last season and 19-15 overall. Eight teams had better Big Ten records than Minnesota. The previous two seasons Minnesota finished last in the conference.

The women’s and men’s programs have ticket selling attractions in guard Mara Braun and power forward Dawson Garcia, both Minnesota natives.

Braun is on the 20-player watch list for the 2025 Ann Meyers-Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award. Braun was named All Big Ten Honorable Mention by both the coaches and media last season, despite playing only 20 games due to an injury. She averaged a team leading 17 points per game and is the second-highest returning scorer in the Big Ten this season. Braun was second in the nation last season in free throw percentage at 94.8 percent.

Garcia is on the 2024-25 Jersey Mikes Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watch List. He was named a top 50 preseason pick by ESPN and CBS Sports in October. He averaged 17.6 points last season while being named second and third team All-Big Ten. He is the top returning scorer in the conference.

Minnesota men’s basketball was a national power in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Sellouts were commonplace, but interest has been declining for a long time. For example, the public season tickets total in 2009-2010 was 9,946 or about twice the final total for the 2023-2024 season. As recently as 2019-2020 public season tickets were at 6,820.

In 2019-2020 the average attendance was 10,232, the lowest figure since 1970-1971. Attendance has declined even more since then. Last season, Johnson’s third leading the Gophers, average home attendance had dipped about 20 percent since 2020.

Worth Noting

The St. Thomas women’s team earned a season opening 84-81 win at home last night in overtime over Milwaukee before an announced crowd of 538. Jade Hill set a school record in the Division I era by scoring 35 points.

The St. Thomas men also opened at home last night, playing after the women’s game before an announced crowd of 1,353. The Tommies defeated North Central, 96-71.

Former Minnesota Mr. Basketball Tyus Jones, from Apple Valley High School, is receiving praise in Phoenix. The veteran point guard, 28, signed with the Suns in the offseason and he’s provided playmaking the team didn’t have last season benefiting scorers like Bradley Beal and Devin Booker. In six games (five wins) he has just five turnovers and is averaging 6.6 assists per game.

Al Nuness, 78, the former Golden Gophers basketball captain, is working as a student supervisor at Chanhassen High School. A retired longtime executive at Jostens, Nuness started his post-college career teaching and coaching. Nuness is a cousin of Tyus Jones and his brother Tre Jones.

John Hynes, who took over as head coach of the Wild in late November of last year, has the team off to a fast start and will speak to the Capital Club breakfast group Thursday, November 14 at the Wild’s executive offices in downtown St. Paul. More information about the Capital Club is available from Patrick Klinger, patrick@agilemarketingco.com.

Chanhassen High School junior Andrew Ballou, who as a sophomore was one of four Minnesota prep golfers to qualify for the U.S. Junior Amateur Golf Championship, has made a college commitment to North Dakota State.

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J.J. McCarthy Might Have Made Vikings QB History

Posted on September 4, 2024September 4, 2024 by David Shama

In the 63-year history of the Vikings, no rookie quarterback has started every regular season game. That might have changed if 2024 first-round draft choice J.J. McCarthy wasn’t sitting out his first NFL season after right knee meniscus surgery in mid-August.

Journeyman Sam Darnold will start at quarterback on Sunday when the Vikings open their regular season against the Giants on the road. But going back to before training camp opened in late July, McCarthy’s potential teased at being the day one starter.

A former NFL executive with two clubs, who asked that his name not be published, said this to Sports Headliners in May: “I expect him to be the starter, maybe not week one, but I would say certainly by October. I think he’ll have taken over for Darnold, and I think he could beat him out in training camp. That they (the coaches) may just say hey, we’re going to go with the more talented guy here.”

In training camp, the 21-year-old McCarthy impressed head coach Kevin O’Connell and others inside the organization. In McCarthy’s only preseason game, he was 11 of 17 for 188 yards and threw two touchdown passes.

Kevin O’Connell image courtesy of Minnesota Vikings

Shortly after McCarthy’s surgery O’Connell offered this highly favorable opinion of Minnesota’s No. 10 first-round selection (the highest drafted QB in franchise history): “As our fans either have already come to find out or will in the future, this guy is so motivated and so dialed in. As excited as I was to draft him, he’s confirmed everything that I hope to see not only early on through training camp, but through his performance last Saturday (August 10 preseason opening game). Our fan base and everyone should just be excited about the fact that we’ve got our young franchise quarterback, I believe, in the building.”

No one will ever know if McCarthy might have progressed so favorably after August 10 that O’Connell would have decided to make him the September 8 starter. What is certain is that the former quarterback for the 2023 national champion Michigan Wolverines is proclaimed the future starter and would have been given a lot of scrutiny between August 11 and September 8.

In the best of scenarios, McCarthy would have surpassed the stories of other Viking rookie quarterbacks including Teddy Bridgewater who started 12 games in 2014, his first season with Minnesota. Joe Kapp, who had played in Canada, started 11 games as a rookie in 1967.

Fran Tarkenton as a rookie didn’t start his first game but took over after it began and led the expansion 1961 Vikings to a stunning 37-13 win over the Bears in Minnesota’s NFL debut. The former Georgia third round draft choice went on to start 10 games as a rookie and is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Worth Noting

The Giants will be about a 1.5 underdog in the game with a roster that includes former Golden Gopher John Michael Schmitz Jr. as the starting center. Ex-Gophers and expected second teamers are inside linebacker Carter Coughlin and rookie safety Tyler Nubin.

The Gophers opening game loss to North Carolina last Thursday night at home was significant and follows a trend of so-so results against major competition. In recent years the program has been unable to match the success of the often-praised 2019 season when Minnesota was 11-2 overall, 7-2 in Big Ten games and finished No. 10 nationally in the final A.P. poll.

Minnesota’s 19-17 loss to North Carolina now gives the program a 21-18 record against Power 5 teams dating back to 2020. The Gophers are 14-13 in Big Ten games over that period.

The two point loss to the Tar Heels was clearly a missed opportunity for a win. North Carolina entered the game without an established quarterback and lost its starter in the second half. The Gophers had the better quarterback in newcomer Max Brosmer but frequently misfired on offense, defense and special teams.

Disappointments included offensive calling and absence of passing success. The offseason buzz was the Gophers would have an improved passing game but while Brosmer looked okay no receivers emerged to complement 2023 second team All-Big Ten wide receiver Daniel Jackson.

Minnesota’s passing game hasn’t drawn raves since 2019 when wide receivers Tyler Johnson, Rashod Bateman and QB Tanner Morgan dazzled, and offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca, now in his second season at Rutgers, was directing the show.

While the Gophers have an 11 a.m. start Saturday at home against FCS Rhode Island, St. Thomas hosts Northern Iowa looking for its first ever win against an FCS scholarship program. Rhode Island, 1-0, defeated Holy Cross 20-17 last Saturday. The Division I Tommies lost 34-13 at home last Saturday to Division II Sioux Falls, while Northern Iowa defeated Valparaíso 35-7.

The Twins, who are 5.5 games behind the Guardians in the race to win the AL Central Division title, need September to be their best month of the season. The second place Twins, 75-63, were 14-14 in August, the only month this season the club wasn’t over .500. Minnesota’s best record came in May, 16-12.

Third baseman Jose Miranda is second in batting average on the team at .299 (Carlos Correa, .308), after hitting .268 and .211 his first two seasons in the majors. A key reason for success is hitting off-speed pitches with a consistency few other MLB batters can match this season.

High-A Cedar Rapids outfielder Walker Jenkins, 19, hit .310 with a .909 OPS in August and is the Twins Minor League Player of the Month for August.

Travis Adams, 24, who appeared in five games for Double-A Wichita with a 0.70 ERA in 25.2 innings, is the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Month.

Congratulations to the Waconia Lakers who won their first ever Class C Minnesota State Amateur Baseball championship Monday, defeating Jordan 5-2 at the Mini Met in Jordan. It was a rewarding outcome for Waconia, a team that finished second to Isanti in the 2011 Class C tournament. Town ball teams are comprised of players from various ages, ranging from teens to adults who are decades older.

The No. 18 ranked Gophers volleyball team, coming off its upset of No. 1 Texas in Milwaukee on Monday, has an opportunity to further its national reputation on Friday with a match against No. 23 Baylor in Waco, Texas. Minnesota is 1-1 in two nonconference matches, Baylor 3-0.

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