Timberwolves – Page 56 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Outback Win “Big Moment” for U Program

Posted on January 2, 2020January 2, 2020 by David Shama

I have watched each of the 21 bowl games in University of Minnesota football history. The two most significant are the 1962 Rose Bowl and yesterday’s Outback Bowl.

In January of 1962 the Gophers returned to the Rose Bowl after losing the year before to Washington, 17-7. In the 1961 Rose Bowl Minnesota played a stagnant first half and was outscored 17-0 by the Huskies. Coach Murray Warmath vowed to change things upon the return to Pasadena, including having the Gophers stay in a monastery, rather than a posh southern California hotel.

The result of shaking things up? A 21-3 dominating win over UCLA that left Minnesota ranked No. 6 in the two final wire service polls. The victory was significant for more than revenge. It demonstrated the Gophers, who won Big Ten and national titles the previous season, were still a national power and would be again in 1962 when they came within a negligent referee’s penalty of winning the conference title and earning a third straight Rose Bowl invitation.

The significance of Minnesota’s authoritative 31-24 win over Auburn yesterday? It offers more compelling evidence that head coach P.J. Fleck, his staff, and players, have turned the program from decades of failure and mediocrity to high level success.

In the Outback Bowl the 10-2 Gophers were about a touchdown underdog against a 9-3 Auburn team that had competed with some of the nation’s best teams, and boasted a win over powerhouse Alabama and a narrow loss to No. 1 ranked LSU. Before the game Minnesota fans were more concerned about not seeing their favorites get embarrassed, than winning the Outback Bowl.

Quarterback Tanner Morgan threw an early interception but the Gophers didn’t cave and held the Tigers to a field goal. Overcoming adversity has been a characteristic of this team that with a final 11-2 record won the most games since the 1904 squad went 13-0. The Outback victory over No. 12 ranked Auburn was the program’s 13th in the last 17 games dating back to the close of 2018.

This fall, in Fleck’s third season, Minnesota was 7-2 in Big Ten games. That’s the most conference victories in school history, and the Gophers tied Wisconsin for the best record in the West Division. Among the milestones, and indicators the program has taken a decided change in direction, was Minnesota’s upset of No. 5 ranked Penn State in front of a delirious home crowd in November.

Minnesota was able to win yesterday despite playing without key injured personnel including linebacker Kamal Martin, right tackle Daniel Faalele and tight end Jake Paulson. The loss of Faalele was particularly significant given the lack of depth on the offensive line. The offense, though, dominated the game in time of possession and made big plays both running and passing including a superb 12 catches, 204 yards performance by wide receiver Tyler Johnson.

Scott Studwell, who retired last year after spending decades in college scouting for the Vikings, watched the Outback Bowl and described the win as a “big moment for the program.” The former Illinois and Viking star linebacker has watched the Gophers for years, and he sees how the program has improved. He believes things seem in place for Minnesota to be a “consistent contender” in the Big Ten going forward.

“They’re bigger, they’re more physical, (and) they’re more athletic than they have been,” Studwell told Sports Headliners by telephone this morning. “I mean the future is certainly very bright. P.J. has done a hell of a job getting the kind of people into the program that he wants.”

Except for losing starting seniors Johnson and running back Rodney Smith, the Gophers will have all their offensive regulars returning. Minnesota will lose several top players on defense but coordinator Joe Rossi is one of Fleck’s best assistants and the Gophers should be okay next fall. Having Morgan, one of the Big Ten’s elite quarterbacks return, along with the other offensive pieces, is all but certain to help earn Minnesota at least a top 20 preseason national ranking next summer. Minnesota will also be labeled a favorite in the race to win the 2020 Big Ten West.

The Gophers were ranked No. 18 in the College Football Playoff rankings going into yesterday’s game. Any polls that come out in the next several days will have Minnesota among the nation’s top 15. The Gophers haven’t been in that kind of company at year’s-end since 1967 when UPI poll had them No. 14.

Worth Noting

What’s Studwell’s evaluation of hometown favorite Johnson regarding his NFL draft future? Studwell, who used to spend about 250 days annually evaluating college talent, finds a lot to like about the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Johnson including his length, hands, toughness and ability to step up in big moments like yesterday when he had two touchdown receptions.

“The only underlying question is how fast is he going to run,” said Studwell, who predicted it’s more likely Johnson will be drafted rather than go to an NFL camp as a free agent.

The SuperDome, among the loudest stadiums in the NFL and the site of Sunday’s Vikings-Saints playoff game, opened in 1975 and at the time was considered an architectural marvel. The facility is the only surviving covered stadium in the NFL among those built in the 1970s and 1980s including the Metrodome.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer is a proven defensive authority who is often able to confuse opponents, but he will see his team match wits Sunday with soon-to-be 41-year-old Saints quarterback Drew Brees. “It’s hard to trick him because he reads things so quickly,” Zimmer said.

Murray Warmath, the only Rose Bowl coach in Gophers history, would have turned 107 last week if still alive. Mike Wilkinson, who wrote Warmath’s book The Autumn Warrior, celebrated his 76th birthday on Monday.

LeBron James, who turned 35 Monday, is on record as wanting to play one day in the NBA with son Bronny, the southern California high school star coming to Minneapolis for the nationally televised game Saturday against Minnehaha Academy.

Wolves TV analyst Jim Petersen Tweeted his first and second team all-decade players this week. The first unit is comprised of some high quality talents in Jimmy Butler, Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, Karl Anthony-Towns, and Andrew Wiggins, but the second group is another reminder of how few elite players have passed through here: J.J. Barea, Corey Brewer, Luol Deng, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Pekovic.

CBSSports.com is reporting this morning the Twins, Braves and Nationals have made four-year offers to high profile third baseman Josh Donaldson, considered the top free agent remaining in MLB.

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Vikes Look ‘Cooked’ with No Dalvin

Posted on December 29, 2019December 29, 2019 by David Shama

The Vikings, 10-5, play their final regular season game today in Minneapolis against the Bears, and then start preparations for next weekend’s opening playoff game. The Vikings, a No. 6 seed in the NFC, are unlikely to win in the postseason without running back Dalvin Cook, whose shoulder injury sidelined him in the December 23 loss to the Packers and will keep him off the field today.

Cook, the 24-year-old third season playmaker extraordinaire, has produced a breakout performance in 2019, and the guess is he will be available next weekend. He is clearly the offense’s most indispensable player with his ability to gain difficult yards with minimal blocking, and also outrun tacklers. With 1,135 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns (no other Viking is even in double digits), he is among the NFL’s leading runners.

Injuries sidelined Cook for 17 games the past two seasons but the team’s coaches knew what a special playmaker they had in the former second round draft choice (he excels as a wide receiver, too). That’s why after seeing the limitations of quarterback Kirk Cousins in 2018, the offense was refocused to emphasize the running game. Using zone blocking with a run game featuring Cook, the Vikings have improved their offense and at times Cousins has flourished.

But against the Packers, without Cook, the offense was a dud, producing only seven first downs. The Packers kept their defensive ends “home” and discouraged the rollouts and bootlegs that have worked well for the passing game this fall. The offensive line, including the left side with tackle Riley Reiff and guard Pat Elflein, had a long night in the 23-10 loss.

Schemes are one thing but they are a lot more successful with playmakers, and Cook is one of the NFL’s best. Football is the ultimate team game but Cook is so fast, strong, and elusive he can make plays on his own.

“The clock in your head is saying this play might be over, but it probably isn’t,” offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski said in a December 2 Sports Illustrated story. “Go to the next level, get that last shove in there and give this kid a crease, because you just never know with him.”

At times Cousins looked anxious without Cook and a successful running game in the Packer loss. The quarterback has a history of not being able to carry a team late in the season. The offensive line, while improved over its most recent predecessors, is no award winner. Star wide receiver Adam Thielen, who missed multiple games with a hamstring problem, is trying to find his way back into production. The Vikings have offensive issues as they near the playoffs. They can’t afford to be without their Cook.

Worth Noting

T-shirt seen at a local health club last week predicted the Packers are going to the next Super Bowl and showed the Lombardi Trophy. The front of the shirt also said the Vikings are bowl bound, with a toilet illustration.

The 2010 Packers were a No. 6 seed, won all their playoff road games and emerged as 2011 Super Bowl champions.

The Minnesota Wild may learn as soon as Tuesday whether the NHL is choosing Target Field as the playing site for the January 1, 2021 NHL Winter Classic. Wild owner Craig Leipold told Sports Headliners awhile ago his franchise is competing for the prestigious outdoor game that has never been held in Minnesota.

The 2020 Winter Classic is at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas and an announcement about the 2021 playing site will come next month. The Wild is competing with another city (name not publicized) for the game. The opponent for the Target Field game might be either Chicago, Colorado, St. Louis or Winnipeg.

Speculation is that elusive wide receiver and kick returner JD Spielman, the former Eden Prairie star and 2015 Minnesota prep Mr. Football, might transfer from Nebraska to the Gophers. Maybe so, but Sports Headliners is told Spielman won’t have his degree until next summer and couldn’t be a graduate transfer until then.

Cincinnati.com reports former Gophers deputy athletics director John Cunningham will earn $475,000 in base salary as the University of Cincinnati’s new athletics director. That is reportedly $77K less than previous Bearcats boss and now USC AD Mike Bohn. Gophers AD Mark Coyle’s compensation is $850,000. Cunningham oversaw the Minnesota football and men’s basketball programs, and he had worked with Coyle at Syracuse before both came to Minneapolis in 2016.

Chris Snow, the former Minnesota Wild beat writer for the Star Tribune who segued his career path into an NHL front office career, is in the early stages of battling ALS. Snow, who initially worked for the Wild after leaving the Minneapolis newspaper, is assistant general manager of the Calgary Flames.

The losing ways of the Timberwolves (lost 12 of their last 13 games) likely won’t threaten the job security of first-year head coach Ryan Saunders. But if Saunders were to be let go during the season by Gersson Rosas, the first year president of basketball operations, he could consider Staples, Minnesota native Dave Joerger, a veteran NBA head coach who was fired by the Sacramento Kings after last season.

Another option if a change was made during the season might be naming an assistant on the Timberwolves staff as interim head coach,, perhaps Pablo Prigioni. In the spring Rosas could review a list of candidates including lead Houston Rockets assistant Elston Turner. The two worked together several years ago in the Rockets organization.

Twins president Dave St. Peter speaks to the CORES lunch group Thursday, January 9 at the Bloomington Event Center, 1114 American Blvd. More information is available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net. Reservations must be made by January 6. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

Retiring Minnetonka High School football coach Dave Nelson is one of four national candidates for the American Football Coaches Association’s Power of Influence Award that will be given out at next month’s convention.

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No Twins Are Trade Untouchables

Posted on December 15, 2019December 17, 2019 by David Shama

MLB’s Winter Meetings have come and gone with no big moves by the Minnesota Twins to improve their roster. This doesn’t come as a surprise since the organization under the Pohlad family ownership has consistently been deliberate in making outside personnel changes, whether by free agency or trade.

While some teams used the gathering at the Winter Meetings to improve their clubs, there is still a lot of time to see what develops in Major League Baseball before next season including with the Twins. In an interview with Sports Headliners, team president Dave St. Peter spoke about the ongoing process to improve his roster. “We are obviously open-minded as to how we get better,” St. Peter said while indicating the possibility of acquiring players via free agency or trade.

The Twins improved so much last season they transformed themselves from mediocre into one of MLB’s better clubs. The Twins can court potential newcomers with a storyline that not only includes a talented team but also features a players manager in Rocco Baldelli.

“We think our story has gotten incrementally better over the course of the last 18 months,” St. Peter said. “We think that we have a great, compelling ball club for 2020 and beyond, and we are optimistic that one way or another we’re going to be able to add pitching.”

St. Peter mentioned pitching without being prompted, an indication of how Minnesota has prioritized finding offseason help on the mound. The Twins reined down home runs last season, setting a MLB record with 307. Every off season story on how the Twins will get better in 2020 and go beyond AL Central champs to a successful postseason run has Minnesota needing to improve the starting staff.

Who will the Twins offer up in trades for either pitchers or other players? St. Peter said the club doesn’t so much target specific individuals in their organization for potential trades as it does looking at where the organization has strength and depth. Although he didn’t mention left fielder Eddie Rosario as trade bait, Sportingnews.com reported three days ago other teams are asking about Rosario, and the Twins do have a terrific minor league prospect and possible replacement in outfielder Alex Kirilloff. It appears sooner (perhaps next year) or later Minnesota will need to make room for the 22-year-old Kirilloff who has a .317 minor league career batting average.

When asked, St. Peter couldn’t think of any Twins currently under contract who have no-trade clauses in their contracts. Does he believe any Twins are untouchable? “No, I don’t think so,” he answered. “…The reality of it is, there’s probably some players that practically speaking you’re just probably not going to move because I’m not sure that another team could offer us enough.”

Twins front office personnel decision makers Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have won St. Peter’s confidence since being hired in 2016. St. Peter said their relationships with other front office leaders are so important to the Twins as they search to make a team with 101 wins last season even better.

Although, loaded with offense a rumor is the Twins will sign free agent third baseman Josh Donaldson who hit 37 home runs last season for the Atlanta Braves. His acquisition would presumably send Miguel Sano from third base to first base and improve the infield defense.

Not referencing Donaldson, St. Peter was asked about the idea of moving Sano to first base. “It’s a possibility. We have not made that decision,” St. Peter said. “Right now Miguel is still penciled in at third base and we will be fine with that if we go to spring training. He is a difference-maker…particularly at that position. Yeah, we have to be open-minded for ways to get better. We talked about our infield defense maybe being an area that we could shore up. …”

Worth Noting

Tickets are on sale for TwinsFest at Target Field Friday, January 24 and Saturday, January 25. The annual event has typically been three days but next year will be held over two days. The Twins will be celebrating their 60th season of play since moving to Minnesota as the Washington Senators.

St. Peter is a college football fan and enjoys travelling to games. This fall he saw a game at Mississippi and last year was at Georgia.

LSU’s Joe Burrow won the famed Heisman Trophy last night, the award annually honoring college football’s best player. Bruce Smith is the only Golden Gopher who ever won the Heisman, doing so in 1941. In 1953 Minnesota’s Paul Giel finished second in Heisman balloting and seven years later the Gophers’ Tom Brown also was voted runner-up. In 1962 balloting Minnesota’s Bobby Bell finished third in the voting.

Condolences to family and friends of former Gophers and South St. Paul hockey coach Doug Woog, who passed away Saturday afternoon. A beloved hockey leader for decades, the 75-year-old Woog had been dealing this year with health care issues including Parkinson’s disease.

Former Timberwolves superstar Kevin Garnett “is a central figure” in a new Adam Sandler movie, according to a story in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. In the film Uncut Gems Garnett seeks to acquire an Ethiopian black opal.

No one seems to know when, or if, former Lynx star Maya Moore will resume her career. She didn’t play last season and continues to focus on helping others via criminal justice reform.

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