Enjoy a Tuesday notes column.
The Vikings substantiated their preseason label as an NFL playoff contender last night in a come from behind 27-24 season opening win over the Bears in Chicago. This looks like a top 12 team that will challenge the Packers and Lions for the NFC North Division title.
It could have been a different outlook today if first-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy and the offense hadn’t rallied in the fourth quarter after trailing 17-6 following three periods. McCarthy produced three final quarter scores with two touchdown passes and a TD run.
After the game head coach Kevin O’Connell, speaking to ESPN, said that at halftime he told his 22-year-old quarterback the Vikings were going to win. Minnesota was trailing 10-6 at the half having endured too many three and outs and failed plays.
McCarthy, though, was a leader even when things weren’t going well. On the sidelines he was interacting with his offensive teammates. Asked after the game by ESPN what he told his teammates, he said the message was “we gotta believe.”
While McCarthy received the headlines last night, the offensive line, providing protection and opening holes for the running game, was vital to the comeback. The rebuilt line with newcomers Will Fries, Donovan Jackson and Ryan Kelly gave notice they can be an upgrade from last season and a strength of this year’s team. And they played last night without standout left tackle Christian Darrisaw, with sub Justin Skule struggling at times.
The Vikings offense looked rusty for much of the game, including McCarthy. The unit hardly played in preseason games and left O’Connell open to second guessing if last night had been a disaster.
But the offense sharpened, the defense was mostly its stingy self with impact plays by such performers as newcomers Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave who caused problems for the Bears on the line of scrimmage. And place kicker Will Reichard was money as usual, making two field goals including one from 59 yards out.
With the offense coming around to meld with other strengths of the team, and winnable games at home coming up against the Falcons and Bengals, the Vikings look like who we thought they are (to paraphrase the late Denny Green.)
BTW: McCarthy became the first starting quarterback to overcome a 10-point fourth deficit to win in his NFL debut since Steve Young (1985). On Sunday night against the Falcons, he can become the first QB since 1970 to have his first two career starts be primetime games (7 p.m. EDT or later) and win both.
Among Vikings fans at the game was Minneapolis attorney Marshall Tanick. He attended the franchise’s first game ever, in 1961, also against the Bears. He might be the only person who can lay claim to being at both the 1961 and 2025 games.
There’s a rumor that the Wilfs are interested in becoming minority owners of the Twins. The family already holds ownership in the Vikings and the Orlando men’s and women’s pro soccer teams.
Sports Headliners is told Minnesota businessman and Twins fan Marty Davis is definitely not interested in being a minority owner.
The Golden Gophers, about a two-point favorite to defeat the California Golden Bears in Berkeley Saturday night, face their first game of the season against a Power Four opponent, and also first road test.
Of interest, too, is the 9:30 p.m. West Coast kickoff time. Sports Headliners is told the Gophers will fly to California on Friday, rather than earlier in the week, to allow more days to address the time change. Apparently, coach P.J. Fleck’s experience is that the best approach is to get in and get out quickly including departure for Minneapolis after the game.
It looks like status on whether star running back Darius Taylor (injured in last Saturday’s game) will play at Cal won’t be known until Minnesota’s availability report comes out Saturday night. Taylor has a history of hamstring trouble.
Two of the Gophers’ most highly ranked verbal commits for the recruiting class of 2026, Howie Johnson and Andrew Trout, attended last Saturday’s 66-0 win over Northwestern State. In 247 Sports rankings of recruits, Johnson, a defensive lineman from Forest Lake, and Trout, an offensive lineman from Rocori, are second and third only to Roman Voss from Jackson County Central.
Eli Diane, the defensive lineman from Wayzata High School, is a verbal commitment for the class of 2027 and also attended the game. 247 ranks Johnson, Trout, Voss and Diane as four-star recruits.
247 ranks the 2026 Gopher class, with 23 verbal commitments, No. 29 in the nation. Local recruiting authority Ryan Burns told Sports Headliners he believes the class is pretty much set as the early National Signing Day awaits in December. He added that “while they’re pretty good where they’re at right now,” watching senior season tape on prep players could prompt additions to the class.
Burns also said he knows the Gophers would “love” to get a verbal commit from class of 2027 Shakopee linebacker Blake Betton who has offers from Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin. Betton grew up a Gopher but wants to “go through the recruiting process,” per Burns.
The quality of the 2026 class is evident, and a factor Burns believes is impacting recruiting success is Minnesota’s placement of NFL players. Six players, three drafted and three free agents from last year’s team, are in the NFL. “Not many (college) teams can say that,” Burns said.
Many additional former Gophers players from the Fleck era are in the NFL, too. That, plus winning seasons in four of the last six years, helps attract high school talent, Burns added.
Annika Sorenstam, the women’s golf legend who spoke to the Twin Cities Dunkers yesterday at Interlachen Country Club, is part of a legacy of women who have spoken to the club during its storied history. The first female speaker was Minneapolis golf trailblazer Patty Berg who addressed the then Minneapolis Dunkers in 1951.
Sorenstam played at Interlachen in the 2008 U.S. Open. It was her final major tournament before retirement. On the last hole she recorded an eagle on the 18th hole par five with a 199-yard six iron shot fueling the signature finish to her famous career.
The ANNIKA Intercollegiate presented by 3M is being played this week at the Royal Golf Club in Lake Elmo. The tournament was founded by the ANNIKA Foundation in 2014. The 54-hole stroke play event is held each year at the Royal Golf Club and the tourney features 12 of the top Division I women’s programs in the country.
Former Gophers basketball player Jamal Abu-Shamala, now a first vice president at UBS, has been recognized by Forbes on its Best in State Wealth Advisors List of the top financial advisors across America.
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